The Grey Lady did not explain what that terrifying being was, but what she had said was enough to corroborate the news from Albania.
Shawn had now gained some understanding of the Grey Lady's temperament. If she wanted to talk, she would do so on her own. Press her too hard, and she would simply vanish.
It seemed he would have to find time to visit Albania himself.
And now the Grey Lady was turning the question back on him?
If he knew, why would he be asking?
Still, he put on a puzzled expression to indulge her sense of "superiority" in knowledge.
"I'm all ears."
Sure enough, a faint smile appeared on the Grey Lady's face, and she continued.
"Wizards already wielded tremendous power, and the wizarding world a thousand years ago was far too insular. Establishing a religion and spreading knowledge in Mother's name to gather the power of faith was extremely difficult.
"So Mother went to the Muggle world and spread wisdom in the form of a goshawk. Naturally, it worked better than it had in the wizarding world.
"But after some time, she discovered that, perhaps because of differences in the strength of their souls, the power of faith Muggles provided when they believed in her was far inferior to what wizards provided. A thousand of them could not match one wizard.
"And for various other reasons, the Witch Hunts swept across the land at the time. Mother lost a great many followers, slowing her collection of faith even further.
"Mother was deeply discouraged. In the end, circumstances forced her to return to the wizarding world.
"The goshawks that appear on the totems or national flags of many countries today were also contingencies Mother left behind back then.
"After returning to the wizarding world, Mother founded