"Hogwarts is very different from Beauxbatons," Lily said, "Tell me about the situation there." She and Harry had already spent more than two hours talking, but she was still working on dispelling the negative influence of the two Unforgivable curses from his soul.
Lily was sitting on the couch with Harry sitting in front of her on the floor, allowing her to massage his head. She was using an oil that acted as an auxiliary to help remove the negative influence.
"Well," Harry thought for a moment while enjoying the massage, "It's much colder, I'll give it that."
Lily laughed, "Yes, Norway is much colder than the Pyrenees. I was thinking more along the lines of the teachers there."
Harry chuckled, "I didn't recognize any of them other than Headmaster Dumbledore. And him also because he'd once come to Beauxbatons." He said.
"Did he talk to you?" Lily asked with a casual expression on her face as if focusing on massaging Harry's head.
"No, I don't think he even glanced at me other than when I used magic in the middle of the Great Hall." He said, "Seemed like a nice guy."
"Yeah, he's a real nice old man," Lily laughed an unfamiliar laugh to Harry. He felt weirded out and was about to ask, but she spoke first, not letting him gauge her thoughts, "Who else? I already know how you encountered Severus."
Harry didn't push it. For one, he was very much immersed in the massage and wasn't completely alert. And he was pretty sure that he wouldn't find anything out even if he asked, "There was this Goblin professor on the teacher's table who got stabbed with a fork. That was a pretty funny scene."
Lily laughed a little, "That must be Professor Filtwick. Was one of the ghosts causing trouble? It was probably Peeves."
"No, it was … um," Harry had to take a few seconds to remember, "A large man, almost as big as Madame Maxime … "
"Hagrid," Lily said.
"Yes, Hagrid. He's the one who met us when we landed and brought us to the green room to rest up before the feast," Harry said.
"It wasn't the Headmaster who greeted the arriving schools?" Lily asked.
"Nope," Harry said, "Drumstrang arrived almost at the same time as us, but the Headmaster only showed up at the feast."
"That's odd," Lily said, "Maybe he was busy with something. Tell me more." She prompted Harry.
"I barely spent a day at Hogwarts before you called me home, Mum. There isn't much more to tell," Harry laughed. He decided that it would be better not to tell her about his and Fleur's conjecture relating to a scheme around the Goblet of Fire.
"You can't spite me for worrying about you, Harry," Lily said, "You're the only family that I have."
Harry didn't say anything and leaned his head back, resting it against Lily's thigh as she continued massaging his head in silence.
A few minutes passed in peaceful silence, "Oh!" Harry remembered something, "Do you know anything about this locket?" He asked while raising the locket that Fleur's mother had given him and Fleur. "Aunt Apolline sent us this and told us to wear it, Fleur also has one. Any idea what it's for?"
Lily squinted her eyes a little, "Raise it higher," She said while continuing Harry's head massage, "I can't decipher its enchantments without going to my lab. You'll have to wait for an hour or so," She told him.
"It's fine," He said, "I was just curious about it. Just an hour longer?" He asked.
"Mhm," Lily nodded, "The negative influence on your soul isn't going to be gone with just a head massage. There are multiple steps involved." She said.
"Oh," Harry said, feeling guilty that his mother had to do so much work because of his actions.
"Don't feel bad," Lily said, "I have a much faster method to take care of it with a potion even though it would tire me out. But I want to spend time with you. Also, this method is much gentler and cleanses your soul more thoroughly."
Harry laughed helplessly, "I'll stay with you, Mum," He said, "Just send me back to school in time to attend breakfast."
"I'll send you back before that," Lily said, "Sadly, I've called your uncle Sirius to take care of Severus. I won't be able to spend time with you once he arrives."
"Oh? He's coming?" Harry asked in surprise, "Can I meet him before leaving?" He asked.
"Sure," Lily shrugged, "I don't see why not."
The mother and son spent the next hour or so talking casually before Lily finally stopped massaging Harry's head, "Okay, get up." Lily said with a hint of tiredness as she leaned back on the couch, stretching her fingers.
"Thanks, Mum," Harry spoke as he got up, "You're the best."
"I know," Lily looked at Harry with a slightly smug expression, "I'm the smartest witch of my generation. Being the best mother is obviously natural for me."
Harry coughed, "Come down from your high horse, Mum. What now? My hair's all sticky from this oil." Harry felt his long hair sticking to the sides of his head and nape and felt an innate sense of irritation. He was glad that he didn't have any eye problems, otherwise with glasses, he would've been even more annoyed.
"Go shower," Lily said, "I need to rest. We'll move on to the next step when you come down."
"Oh thank god," Harry released a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding. He almost ran up the stairs, quickly quickly dropping his clothes on the way to the bathroom. Lily could see his actions as he ran past the bedroom doors and into the main bathroom. She couldn't help but laugh at his actions before waving her hand and wandlessly casting a spell to put a towel on a table beside the bathroom door, knowing that he would be shouting for it once he came out.
"This kid can be the most organized and maintained when he's at Beauxbatons, but at home, he needs everything served to him on a platter … " Lily mumbled to herself as she got up from the couch and noticed the shirt and pants that he'd dropped on the floor, his shirt was on the stairs, his pants were hanging from the railing that overlooked the living room, and the rest of his clothes were on the floor.
Shaking her head, she pulled them all down and floated them to the laundry basket, all wandlessly, "I hate that pastel blue," Lily scrunched up her face as she looked at the blue pants that flew past her vision, 'It's fine just one more year after this, I'll destroy everything pastel blue from his wardrobes after that,' She reaffirmed to herself, 'I'll do the same for Fleur and make sure that neither of these kids has to wear that horrendous color ever again.'
…
"Okay, what now?" Harry entered his mother's office while wearing a set of casual clothes that he'd grabbed from his closet in his room.
Lily looked at Harry for a few seconds, happy to see that he wasn't in anything close to pastel blue.
"Mum?" Harry asked, pulling Lily back.
"Here, drink this," She handed him a small vial filled with a clear liquid. Harry didn't ask anything and looked at the vial before downing its contents.
"Argh!" He made a face and hissed while recoiling, "That's horrible."
"Yeah, well it's better than the alternative," Lily said with a look that told him not to ask further, "You need to rest now," Lily said before grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him out of her office. She grabbed a magnifying glass and some other things on the way.
Bringing him back to their living room, Lily had him sit on the couch, "Stay here, lie down if you need to," She said before asking, "Can you take off that necklace?" She asked while pointing to the Veela necklace on Harry's neck.
Harry thought for a moment and said, "I think it's better if I don't take it off, I don't know what effects it has."
"True," Lily agreed before placing her tools on the small coffee table in front of the couch. She then took a seat beside Harry and said, "Put your head in my lap, it'll be easier for me to see the necklace then."
"Okay," Harry didn't mind and lay down, "I don't feel the potion doing much." He said.
"That's because my massage took care of most of what needed to be taken care of," Lily told him as she placed her palm on his head, slowly running her fingers through his hair, "This potion's purpose is to perform a final scraping to clear whatever I might have missed."
"What's it called," Harry asked while wiggling a little to make himself comfortable, "The potion that you used."
"I don't really have a name for it per se," Lily said as she brought her hand to Harry's neck and grabbed the necklace, "I just call it the soul-cleansing potion."
"You never name your things … " Harry said with a lamenting tone, "Even the basest energy recovery potion is called Invigoration Draught but none of your innovations have any names."
"That's because I rarely publish any of my research," Lily said as she stopped fiddling with Harry's hair and grabbed her magnifying glass to start examining the locket, "This has to do with the political landscape of the world and the sacred magical families," Lily said.
"Can you elaborate?" Harry asked, much to Lily's surprise.
"You're actually interested in learning more?" She asked to confirm, "Every time I bring something like this up, you always brush it away."
"It's high time that I learned about these things, I guess," Harry said, "After this whole Snape thing, I've realized that my ignorance can sometimes cause me a lot of problems."
"Look at my son trying to act all grown up," Lily couldn't help but smother him once again, dropping the locket as she hugged his head.
"Mum~" Harry whined and pushed her away.
Lily was laughing as she pulled back from Harry who looked at her begrudgingly. "What do you want to know about?" Lily asked, wanting to get Harry interested in the political landscape first.
"Let's start with the reason that you don't publish your research for the wider wizard world," Harry said.
Lily picked the locket back up from Harry's neck and started examining the pendant. She then spoke, "Do you remember what I told you about muggle-kind and their knowledge-sharing systems?"
"The scientific community of the muggles works on the principle of sharing knowledge. They publish their research for the other researchers to study and build further." Harry said.
"Right," Lily nodded, "Unlike muggles, wizards are much more secretive about their knowledge. The only concepts that are taught to you in Beauxbatons are from people who published those theories hundreds of years ago. None of the newer magical concepts are taught to the students. The reason behind all this boils down to the clans and their secretive nature."
"You mean that the main problem is that the clans all hoard their knowledge and information without sharing anything?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Lily nodded, "Each clan has their own specializations and areas in which it excels. Like the Malfoy clan, they have a high-level conjuration technique. I'd heard that Lucius was able to conjure complex items from his first or second year in Hogwarts. Even though when I joined, he was already a senior and was about to graduate."
"Lucius Malfoy?" Harry said, "I think I met his son, Draco. He seemed … confusing."
"I'm sure that you'll come up with your own thoughts toward the people on Hogwarts. I don't want to project my biases on you," Lily said, "Where was I about the clans?" She asked. She was only half focusing on talking to Harry while the rest of her focus was on the locket as she attempted to decipher its enchantments.
"You were telling me about how the clans all horde their knowledge without sharing it," Harry said.
"Yes, well this nature of exclusivity in the wizarding society is the reason it's been stagnant for so long," Lily said, "But those are my political views and I would rather you come up with your own stances after getting yourself acquainted with the situation first-hand."
"Okay," Harry said, not exactly understanding what Lily expected him to do, "But I'm not reading books about politics, I'd rather research magic with you."
Lily laughed lightly, "You don't have to, honey," She said, "Once you pass out of Hogwarts and take the reigns of the Potter clan, you will get to access the privileges of the head of a pure-blood family, and everything will fall into place."
"Aren't you already able to access those privileges?" Harry asked, "You are the current head of the Potter clan after all."
"You're forgetting, Harry," Lily smiled at him, "I'm a muggle-born witch. No matter how accomplished I get, I will never have the same value as the blood supremacists that stand at the top of the wizarding society."
"Oh," Harry felt an uncomfortable feeling in his chest at Lily's words, "But you're so strong and accomplished … as long as you show them, it should change their minds."
Lily chuckled at Harry's words, "I didn't raise my son to be so naive, Harry," She said before asking, "Did I?"
Harry sighed, "No … " He wasn't naive, but he still didn't like seeing his mother overshadowed like that, "But — "
"All right," Lily said, "I'm done examining this necklace."
She let go of the necklace and waited for Harry to sit up, but instead, he just turned around and wrapped his arms around her waist before hugging her tightly. Lily yelped as she felt him nuzzling his face in her belly and laughed.
"Hey now," She lightly hugged Harry back. Harry didn't say anything and kept hugging her for a while, so Lily spoke, "You don't need to worry about me, Harry. After all, I have you here with me." She spoke while feeling emotional, "I don't mind the world's stigma as long as I can see my son safe and sound at the end of the day."
When Harry finally pulled back, he said, "I'll fight for the rights of muggle-born magical people, mum—" Lily interrupted Harry.
"You will do no such thing, Harry," She said with a stern tone, "You know why."
"I know, I know," Harry rolled his eyes, "Born as the seventh month dies, yada yada. You've drilled that prophecy in my head for three years now. I'll fight him when the time comes."
Lily bit her lower lip, "I'm so — "
"Can you stop?" Harry interrupted his mother's apology, "You didn't do anything wrong by telling me about that prophecy. I would've found out eventually. At least this way, I know about it and know what to expect."
"It's just that if your father and I hadn't defied him three times — "
"Or If I was born a day later, at the dawn of the eighth month," Harry interrupted her again, "In that case, either the prophecy would have been different, or something else. It happened. Now I have to live with it."
Lily sighed before nodding in acceptance, "Do you want to hear about the locket?" She offered to lighten up the mood.
"Yeah, tell me," Harry said before sitting up and looking at Lily excitedly.
She smiled at his abrupt change and said, "To be honest, I couldn't gleam much about that locket, but the enchantments on it are similar to the ones on the Sword of Gryffindor."
"I can use the locket as a focus like my wand?" Harry asked with surprise.
"No," Lily answered as if she'd already expected this. She shook her head and said, "The enchantments are similar in the sense that the runic medium that they are using comes from the same dialect. You remember Ancient Runes, right?"
"As much as I remember History of Magic," Harry deflected while looking away.
"So nothing," Lily looked at him dryly.
"They don't teach anything useful," He said defensively, "It's all information about what kinds of runes came from what time period."
Lily looked at Harry for a few seconds before sighing, "Fair enough," She said, "None of the schools care much about studying Ancient Magic. Because it is considered as a volatile and uncontrollable kind of magic."
"So I'm right in ignoring those subjects?" Harry questioned.
"No," Lily said, "If you knew about the history, I would discuss these runes in more detail with you. I don't have the time to help you brush up on the basics right now."
"Oh," Harry said. For once, thinking that it would've been better if he paid attention to Ancient Runes, "Can you just tell me what it does?"
"It's studying certain aspects of your magic," She said. Seeing Harry's confused expression, "I'm not familiar with the core magic of this locket but the supplementary enchantments are all for monitoring. They are examining your flow of magic to either test whether the core magic is compatible with you or studying your magic to alter the core magic to suit you. Either of those two things." She said.
"I'm lost," Harry said, "It's a Veela artifact with a special brand of magic that you don't recognize. I get that much. What are the supplementary enchantments doing exactly?"
Lily was patient, "You can cast Accio, the summoning spell, right?" She asked.
"Of course," Harry said, about to display the spell for Lily, but she pushed his wand down and shook her head.
"And almost any witch or wizard can cast Accio, right?" She asked, "As long as they've learned the spell," She added.
"Mhm," Harry nodded.
"Ancient magic doesn't work like that," She said, "It is unique to its users and one can only use certain brands of magic that they are compatible with."
"Like how the Unforgivable curses can't be cast by just anyone?" Harry asked.
"Not exactly," Lily said, "Anyone can cast an unforgivable curse. They just need to have enough willpower and meet the requirements to be able to trigger it. Modern magic works in a way that anyone with the necessary training can use it. But Ancient magic is different."
"Like hereditary magic then?" Harry asked, "Similar to Fleur's allure, I guess."
"Yes," Lily nodded, "Fleur's allure is a type of ancient magic. Do you remember our conversation about the biggest taboo when it comes to rituals, specifically blood rituals?"
"Under no circumstances can one person ingest another person's blood. It would cause a total body meltdown and the best case would be a quick death for the person who drank the blood." Harry said.
"Well, not exactly, but you're close," She said, "The caster of the ritual can drink the recipient's blood under the circumstance that the ritual is made for that purpose specifically. But the other way around is never true. The recipient can never be fed the blood of the caster of the ritual. Unless you are sacrificing the blood to achieve something."
"Got it," Harry said, "What's your point?"
"Hm? Oh, there's no point to this," Lily said, "It's just an example of a branch of ancient magic. Blood is the very medium that the user's magic flows through, and incompatibility can be catastrophic."
"Now back to this locket," She said, pulling Harry away from the previous conversation, "From what I've gleaned, whatever brand of ancient magic is contained within its core requires certain criteria to be fulfilled. Those supplementary enchantments are there to make sure that the criteria are correctly fulfilled. There is another enchantment, however, but it will only be activated once those criteria are fulfilled. Oh, and it's also a Portkey."
Harry took a few seconds to digest the information that he'd just received. He then asked, "Any idea what those criteria are?"
"No clue," Lily said, "I saw some more enchantments that I don't recognize, they might be there to alter your magic in a way to make it compatible with that brand of magic."
"What?" Harry panicked, "Should I take it off?"
Lily laughed scoffingly, "If it had any negative effects, I would've been the first to destroy it, Harry. Apolline sent me a letter before sending the lockets to you and Fleur. They're safe."
Her words left Harry speechless for a while, "You couldn't have told me that before?" He asked while taking a deep breath to calm himself down.
"You're too jumpy," Lily said, "Calm down and use your head like I've taught you."
Harry went silent at her words before saying, "But you're here. I shouldn't have to be alert in my safe place."
Lily couldn't but smile happily at his words and hug him tightly, "I love you, son." She spoke with a coddling tone and kissed his cheek.
"All right all right … " He patted her back lightly until she let him go.
"Keep wearing the lockets, sooner or later, they will activate on their own. And don't think about having sex with Fleur just yet." She said with a warning tone, "The time for that will come sooner than you think."
Harry got embarrassed by her words, "Can you not … " He said with a cringed expression.
"Are you too shy to talk about sex with your mother?" Lily asked with a laugh.
"Aren't you?" Harry asked.
"I taught you about the birds and the bees, Harry." Lily said with a laugh, "My embarrassment died the day I prepared myself to have that talk with my son as a single mother."
Harry sighed tiredly, "Whatever … "
"My very horny and uncontrollably lustful teenage son who wanted to do nothing but take Fleur — " Harry had to forcefully shut his mother up by putting his hands on her mouth to stop her from speaking further.
…
Time passed without either Harry or Lily realizing it as the mother and son just enjoyed each other's company. They didn't get to spend a lot of time together even during the summer vacation since Harry spent so much time with Fleur.
A knock sounded on the door, breaking the peaceful atmosphere of the house as Harry yawned, "I guess Sirius is here …" He said before looking at the time, seeing that it was already two in the night, "He took quite a while,"
Lily had been curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. Hearing his words, she stretched a little, "Can you open the door? I'll set up your return Portkey so that you can Disapparate back in your dorm room."
"You can?" Harry asked with surprise.
"Yes, the space-blocking wards around Hogwarts are good, but when you came here using my Portkey, it left a temporary hole that I can now use," She said before hurrying him, "Open the door quickly. He's waiting out in the cold."
Harry made an expression that showed his interest and walked to the door while saying, "I'm going to learn how to make these kinds of Portkeys from you sooner or later." He then walked to the door and saw a familiar messed up curly-haired man who looked like it had been a few days since he took a shower.
"Look who I found out and about in the cold," Sirius spoke with a heavily accented French that was slightly broken and wrapped his arm around Snape who seemed to be inherently resistant to his touch, "Old Snivellus Snape,"
Harry made an unamused expression, "Hi, Sirius," He said, "I can understand English very well, so don't hold back on my account."
Sirius laughed at his words and asked "What? No hug for your old uncle?" He let go of Snape before giving Harry a tight but brief hug which he returned.
"You are getting old," Harry said with a light laugh, "I can see your hair greying."
Sirius took it more seriously than necessary, "What?" He asked, "How can you say that to your very young and energetic uncle, Harry?"
"Don't seem so offended, come on in, leave your shoes at the side," Harry laughed and moved aside. They left Snape outside and closed the door on him as Sirius came into the house.
"Pretty cold out," He said while rubbing his hands together as he used his feet to take off his boots, "Will he be fine."
"Dickhead tried to read my mind," Harry said with a nonchalant tone, "Cold should be the least of his problems."
"Don't let your mother hear that," Sirius said laughingly.
"What?" Harry asked, "That I don't feel grateful to Snape for trying to read my memories?" His sarcasm was clear in his tone.
"I was talking about the dickhead part," Sirius said wryly, "… I know this must be hard for you, Harry. To have someone, a Professor no less, try to invade your mind so blatantly. But you know what you signed up for when you went to Hogwarts. You always had the option to stay in your little bubble at Beauxbatons."
"I know," Harry nodded to Snape, "It's all that damn prophecy's fault."
"Maybe," Sirius said, "Maybe not. Maybe it's just all a coincidence and you have nothing to do with Vol-whatever — fucking trace on his name," He mumbled the last part under his breath.
"I guess," Harry said, "But prophecies in the wizarding world have a way of being fulfilled one way or another."
"Maybe it's not you that it's talking about in the first place," Sirius said, "Longbottom is in a much worse situation — Fuck." He stopped in the middle of his sentence, cursing.
"Longbottom?" Harry asked, "As in the Longbottom family?"
"… Yeah," Sirius agreed, "It's better if your mother tells you about this."
"Why can't you?" Harry asked.
"Ask your mother, she'll have a much better answer for this," Sirius said, "After she kills me."
"So I'm not supposed to know about this Longbottom family?" Harry asked, unable to connect the dots completely since Sirius was being so cryptic.
"It's best if you don't," Sirius said as a matter of fact.
"Whatever," Harry gave up. He knew there was no use pushing Sirius for this information, "Need something to drink? Water?"
"Tea would be perfect right about now," Sirius said with an infuriating smile on his face.
"Best I can do is heated water," Harry said flatly.
Sirius' eye twitched, "Is this how you treat your guest?"
"No drinks then. Got it," Harry said and slumped down on the armchair that had his mother's vacated blanket. She was in her office, creating the Portkey.
"So, how's life on the run treating you?" Harry asked.
"Pretty fun actually," Sirius said flatly, "My ancestral home has been seized by the Order, I can't fight for it since I'm a wanted man, and on the plus side, it's impossible for me to use magic because of the trace they put on me. I'm having a great time."
"You could've stopped at pretty fun," Harry said dryly, "I was expecting to hear muggle underworld stories, not wizarding depression stories."
"Yeah, no one cares about how shit a man's life is. All they want are cool stories," Sirius said with a blank look on his face.
Harry didn't empathize with him, "You're clearly going through some stuff, man," He said, "Go through it outside, don't ruin my house's atmosphere."
"Can you stop being a smartass?" Sirius snapped at Harry, "I'm trying to be sad here."
"Yeah, I know full well just how sad you are," Harry crossed his arms and looked at Sirius coldly.
Sirius coughed, "Fine fine, I'll tell you an interesting story," He sighed and gave in, "So you know how I've been working with the Italian Mafia, right?" He asked.
"Yeah," Harry nodded, "Last I heard you weren't doing grunt work anymore, what family are you with again? I forget the name."
"The Profaci Familia," He said, "And yes, Last Christmas I told you that I wasn't doing the basic grunt work anymore and had climbed up the ladder. I'm still not close enough to their inner circle to get access to their magical means, but it's only going to be a matter of time."
"I'm happy for you old man," Harry said perfunctorily, "Now tell me a cool story before Mum comes out with the Portkey."
"You know what? I don't think I will," Sirius said, "You clearly think of me as nothing more than a damn bard, so why should I?"
"You'd be a shit bard, Sirius," Harry said dryly, "You can't sing for your life."
"You little shit — " Sirius was going to continue messing around with Harry but Lily took that moment to come out of her office, making him change his trajectory, "You have to understand Harry, you need to be alert at all times there. There's no telling when you might be subject to an ambush …"
Harry stifled a laugh at Sirius' abrupt attitude change, "Is it done, Mum?" Harry asked her.
"Yes," Lily said with a reluctant tone, "You can go back to Hogwarts now. Leaving me alone again." She lamented her sorrow.
"… Hi, Lily," Sirius greeted her awkwardly.
"Hi, Sirius," Lily gave him a light smile, "How've you been?"
"You know," He said, "The usual. How should I deal with Snape?"
"Later," Lily said while walking to Harry, "Did this deadbeat mess with you?" She asked, offending Sirius.
"Why attack me like that?" He asked, outraged as Lily ignored him.
"He's a nice guy, Mum," Harry hugged Lily, "He swears a bit too much, but hey, there are worse things he could be doing."
"I'm going to miss you, my baby boy," Lily hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek before burying her face in his shoulder.
"I'm just going to school, Mum," Harry laughed while hugging her back, "I'll be back for Christmas."
"Still," Lily said, "That's more than two months I don't get to see my son."
Harry laughed a little before remembering Sirius' words, "Hey, Mum?"
"What is it?" She asked.
"What's the deal with the Longbottom family?" Harry asked and instantly felt Lily stiffen up in his arms.
"Sirius, I'm going to kill you!" Lily pulled out her wand, seemingly about to blast Sirius out of the house but Harry barely stopped her.
"Fuck," Sirius almost expected that reaction and quickly recoiled to the main door, "I'll be out with Severus. You two can do your thing." He left those words as the door closed.
Lily had a guilty expression on her face as she looked at Harry, "Sorry about that,"
"It's not always that I can see Sirius run like that with his tail between his legs," Harry laughed to lighten the mood.
Lily chuckled lightly before looking into Harry's eyes while biting her lower lip with a guilty expression on her face, "Can you … " She hesitated before saying, "Can you trust your mother and ignore this one thing?"
***
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