Asphodel was not a normal woman. For one she had no last name and she was vastly older than she looked. She looked to be in her early twenties at the latest and late teens at the youngest but this was not so, she had lived for hundreds perhaps thousands of years; she could have perhaps told you how old she was precisely if she could be bothered to work it out. She hailed from a time where she had been revered as a High Priestess and the Thrice Blessed, where magic permeated the very air you breathed and was wielded with no more than an errant thought by those with the gift to harness it. She had been born the child of a powerful witch and wizard and they had been amazed to discover she was a Shape Changer, the gift was the rarest of them all and the mother had immediately taken the child to the Priestesses of the Triple Goddess to be trained and raised in the old ways. Asphodel's father did not discover the treachery of his lover till it was too late and he wept for his daughter, now lost to him for she would be raised to become a warrior, a powerful witch and a formidable foe.

Asphodel had indeed grown and become these things and more, her Shape Changer powers giving her an unprecedented advantage over her enemies. But while her powers were a blessing they were also a curse which she did not discover till it was too late; she had lain dying from a mortal wound, stabbed in the back by one she thought had loved her above all else, when her powers had taken control and changed her entire being. She burned, every bone shattering and reforming in a new form, her blood boiling in her veins as every cell in her body rearranged itself to a new pattern and she was born anew. She could not die. So, for centuries she had lived and fought and died, watching as her world crumbled into dust and empires and civilizations rose and fell. She travelled to far off lands, met with Princes and paupers alike and watched as the magic and mortal worlds evolved and changed. She saw the rise of Dark Lords and watched them fall to the Light, and then came the day when the division came, the day the world of magic and myth and legend cut itself off from the mortal world and retreated into itself. Her people had been hunted by the mortals, or as they were now being referred to as 'muggles'. She found the term endlessly amusing. Now, over four centuries afterwards she was in the midst of a small suburb in Surrey hunting down an Ashwinder that had inexplicably spawned nearby and was currently making it's way for the nearest human habitation with an open door. Bloody beast was a menace, if she didn't catch it soon it could burn down half the neighbor hood before one of the fools in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures turned up to deal with it especially as the fool 'muggles' insisted on building there houses so close together. Shaking her head in exasperation she continued following the slowly fading ashy trail left by the Ashwinder at a run when she literally ran into someone. Catching herself before she fell she pulled up short and regarded the person she'd collided with. He was a young boy of twelve maybe thirteen, he was painfully thin and dark bruises were blooming around his neck; with messy black hair and impossibly green eyes he was striking to look at and instantly recognizable.

"Harry Potter. Well, I certainly didn't see this coming." She mused with a sarcastic smile as she regarded the boy with slightly slanted burning golden eyes. He looked shocked for a moment then realizing how she knew him scowled before letting out a small, soft chuckle at the play on words.

"I can say the same, I wasn't expecting to have a witch run into me in Little Whinging either." He retorted, his green eyes sparkling. She barked out a laugh before she even realized what she was doing and quirked a perfectly tweezed ivory brow at him and for the first time noticed the large trunk and empty owl cage dumped unceremoniously on the curb beside the kid.

"It looks to me like you're the one doing the running tonight Lord Potter, I'm on a wild Ashwinder chase which I really should be returning to so while it was delightful meeting you I really must be off before it burns down the whole area." She replied with a smirk and a teasing tone to her voice. She spoke with the perfect mannerisms of an English Aristocrat but with an odd lilt on certain words that belied a different upbringing.

Harry snorted a laugh then grimaced slightly and a hand flew to his ribs which caught the woman's attention once more, her gold eyes narrowing imperceptibly as she stretched out her mind and her magic to assess the boy before her. What she sensed almost made her sick. She could feel the pain riddling his tiny frame, the bruises, blocks, gashes and broken fucking bones. She was not fond of these modern day wizards, truth be told she was not fond of anyone anymore as most people these days were selfish, worthless warts who cared for nothing but themselves but she felt for the child who was being used and abused by those who should care for him. It reminded her a little of her own upbringing but at least she had been taught how to fight, how to wield her magic at it's full potential and given every opportunity the Priestesses could offer her never mind what she had gained in the interim years from then till now.

"You are hurt." It was more a statement than a question as she already knew the answer. The boys eyes hardened and he looked away into the unnaturally cold summer night.

"Nothing I can't handle." Was his only response. Asphodel groaned internally. She had sworn to stay out of things like this, she had been involved in too many wars, had grown to like and care for too many people who had then either betrayed her or had died on her. But she could sense this boy was something special, she could see the future laid out for him and she knew if she didn't help him many people would die and that was not something she particularly relished. She abhorred killing for killings sake, she was a firm believer that if it was a war it was kill or be killed but to mindlessly slaughter innocents for personal amusement? That was not something she allowed and any and all she had met who practiced such vile acts were dealt with swiftly and without mercy. The boy needed to learn to fight, to see the truth of the people around him and to break free of the manipulators who currently controlled him. Cursing herself seven ways to Sunday for her idiocy she offered the boy a hand to help him up.

"Come with me. You look like you need a place to stay at the least and I can heal you, no questions asked which is more than you'd get anywhere else and will save you weeks of pain and stiffness." Asphodel said grimly. Harry looked at her hand, scarred and rough from years of fighting with weapons and wands, for a moment debating what to do before grasping it firmly in his own and letting her pull him up.

"I don't even know your name."

"I am Asphodel Ambrosia Le Fay. But you may call Ash. Now, shall we leave? I shall have to allow the moronic Ministry employees deal with the Ashwinder for now, Morrigu only knows they should be able to. Note I say should." She replied with an eye roll at the mention of incompetent Ministry employees who would no doubt never show up leaving Little Whinging a charred mess. With a careless wave of her hand Harry's things disappeared, then taking the boys arms she shimmered them out.

They reformed on the side of lake in the center of which rose the most beautiful castle Harry had ever seen; it was infinitely smaller than Hogwarts but in the starlight and the faint mist rolling over the lakes inky surface it looked like something out of a fairy tale. Ash smirked at him as he gazed in awe at it and laughed when he recoiled in shock as he watched the lake bubble and boil. Through the turbulent water an ancient stone bridge arose, the water pouring off it leaving it as if it had never even been wet. Indicating he follow with a nod of her ivory head she began to walk across the bridge toward the castles Gatehouse. Her ivory hair like moonlight hung to her shoulders where it brushed the top of her black dragon hide jerkin. She was dressed in clothes that could at least pass for close to 'normal' in the muggle world; the jerkin was left open, belted in place over a gray corset and skin tight brown pants that seemed to be the same material as her jerkin. Ash walked with the grace of high born lady and the soundless sensuality of a predator; she was a mass of contrasts, her bone structure was elegant and refined but her features were ethereal, otherworldly. For one her eyes, the burning golden orbs that belied her true age, they were ancient and filled with cold fire that almost hurt to look at for too long. Harry shuddered slightly. When she had looked at him it had been like she was gazing into his soul, like she could see everything he was or could be. It was understandably unsettling especially as Harry was not aware that was precisely what she had been doing. They massed under the stone Gate House and into a large courtyard of grass bisected by stone walkways that led straight on, the two going to the left and two to the right. She took the nearest path on the left that led into the eastern side of the castle and threw open the door and began to ascend the stairs up to a large, warmly beautifully decorated living area. The room was large, the stone walls decorate with tapestry's depicting ancient battles, littered around the room were lounges, sofas and arm chairs in varying shades of gold and the room itself had several doors leading off it. Ash led him to a large divan that was situated in front of the immense fire place and sat down, Harry followed and took the proffered seat beside her.

"I am aware this is rather odd and more than a little unsettling for you as you don't know me but I will swear to you now upon my blood, my bone and my immortal soul I mean you no harm. I desire only to help you, if you will let me." Ash told him in the gentlest voice she could manage. She was not by nature a particularly emotional or soft person, she had been raised to be a warrior, an assassin, something you could not be and retain any softer qualities. Which is not to say she was not kind, for she could be but it was rare. Harry sat looking at his hands and he believed her, he did, but he knew it after everything the Dursley's had done to him and put him through it would be hard to trust anyone let alone an adult ever again.

"I believe you, I do but...it will be difficult for me to trust you. As you said, I don't know you at all. Though I would like to and I would like you help." He replied softly. He would not meet her eyes, determinedly glaring at his hands in case she would turn him away, that this was all a lie or a ruse.

"I could remedy that by allowing you access to my mind while I heal you, to heal you properly I would have to do something similar to the mind joining anyway. Now, I would normally keep my walls up when I do that but if you would like I can partially lower them so you can see what you need too of me. It would mean we could skip weeks or even months of awkward small talk and pointless conversations and quite frankly I am all for giving up a little privacy if it means avoiding small talk, it annoys me to no end." Ash mused out loud with a shrug, though to Harry it seemed she was slipping into a rant slightly toward the end. He contemplated her proposal, it would mean that he would know almost instantly if he could trust her and for her to be willing to open her mind to him it showed a lot of trust in him as well which warmed him a little. Coming to a decision, though he was still a little uncertain, he agreed to her proposal. She asked him to lay his head in her lap and stretch out over the divan which he did nervously and when he was in place she pressed her fingers to either side of his forehead and told him to close his eyes. After a moments hesitation he did and after a few moments he felt it, like phoenix song, it was pure glowing melody that began to thrum through his mind, his body, his bones. It sang through his blood and danced over his very skin and where it found darkness or damage it burned, it hurt like hell fire but when the fire eased the wounds and lashes and bruises were gone leaving only clear unblemished skin in their place. It was in Harry's mind where the music-fire found the most damage: blocks and scar tissue from spells cast when he was far too young for them littered his mindscape, preventing him from his full potential and limiting him to measly mediocrity. The melody sang and shone, burned and blazed, healing everything that had been done to him and releasing his true potential. It was then Harry could feel something else as well, a presence hovering at the edge of his mind, he reached out to touch it and was pulled into a storm of information and memories, hundreds of years worth of them; he learned everything from her childhood in the service of the Triple Goddess, her teenage years as an assassin infiltrating various courts of Kings and Queens and lesser men and women to the years where she had fought in hundreds of battles, met men and women who were legends not only in the Wizarding world but in the Muggle world as well to now. With a gasp he ripped up into a sitting position, eyes flying wide, as he panted trying to regain his breath and cope under the weight of everything he had learned and the maelstrom occurring inside his mind; everything was different, he felt more powerful than ever before and everything was much clearer, like a fog had been lifted from his mind.
"Breath Harry, it'll pass." Ash murmured to him as she rose from her seat and walked to stand by the fireplace to gaze in silent contemplation into the burning embers that reflected in her eyes. Harry pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes and tried to order all the different bits of information and power she had unleashed inside of him, he suddenly had memories he had never known he'd had and could not fathom how he had forgotten them in the first place. Taking deep calming breaths he pulled his hands away and turned to Ash, the woman who had taken him in and healed him no questions asked and who had shared her secrets with him though she did not need to.

"I want you to train me."