May
When the weather officially turned hot, Lys's entire family was set to relocate to Germany.
Under the double-strength potion effects that Lys had secretly obtained from Snape, she could finally cast spells with ease again.
This made Senna extremely unhappy, because the damage caused by excessive potions on Lys's body was irreversible.
According to Senna's previous calculations, if Lys recovered using the least harmful method, it would take at least two years!
Now it was only May and Lys was already well—Senna could hardly imagine how much potion her little maniac had consumed! Where on earth had she gotten all those substances?!
Lys knew exactly where Senna's recent frustration stemmed from, but could only try to avoid appearing in front of Senna too often. She began busying herself with preparations for Germany.
Before departing for Germany, Lys needed a magically expanded suitcase—she intended to take her entire home with her, along with smuggling certain items and people.
Lys searched through various channels, but nothing quite met her requirements. On this day, she visited Knockturn Alley again.
"Oh! It's been ages since I've seen you! You look so much healthier!" Hagrid's booming voice began greeting Lys from a great distance.
Hagrid still remembered Lys's instruction not to call her by name.
Actually, he hadn't recognized Lys at first glance—tall and heavy, with two thick streaks of black hair that wasn't entirely the rust-red color he remembered. He hadn't dared assume.
But when Gabon poked his head up from Lys's hair, Hagrid called out with certainty.
After brief pleasantries, Lys avoided Hagrid's questions about her current allegiances, simply shaking her head at him. Seeing Hagrid's shocked and pained expression, she sighed.
"Enough, stop speculating." Lys's vague response left Hagrid uncertain, but he didn't press further. Unless he witnessed it himself, Lys would always remain the girl who, even when blind, would help him heal unicorns—the girl who fought desperately against poaching wizards for little creatures.
"Hagrid, do you know where I can buy a greatly expanded suitcase? A very large one, preferably legal."
Hagrid hesitated: "Must it be legal?"
In the end, what Lys obtained was a suitcase that was neither legal nor in good condition, and would need to be returned eventually—but it was indeed enormous.
Enormously large...
So large that after Lys disassembled the floors between her two homes and packed them inside, there was still room to stuff in those roses and lilies.
After confirming Mama Lulu's wishes in Knockturn Alley once more, she packed two people inside as well.
Finally, under Lucius's cover, she successfully transported everything to Germany.
When she saw her family, snakes, owls, and even her beloved lily plants all leave Britain—departing from the threat she most feared—her heart felt as though it had been inflated with a great breath of air. The sudden expansion made her want to burst into laughter.
In Britain, she'd had too many concerns—couldn't provoke this person, couldn't do that thing—all to avoid drawing attention, being schemed against, facing retaliation, or catching the Dark Lord's notice and having the secrets hidden behind her Occlumency exposed.
Even though her strength was no less than, and often exceeded, the Dark Lord's followers.
For this, she'd practiced Occlumency until her heart became a wasteland, imagining the worst outcomes for events that hadn't even occurred. Though filled with anticipation for the future, she was forced to endlessly conceal herself.
How desperately she wished someone could see her true self. She didn't want this—she wanted freedom, freedom commensurate with what she'd sacrificed, just as Grindelwald had once said—
The freedom to be oneself.
But...
She was too terrified. From the first moment she'd seen that man standing atop a pile of corpses until now, he remained an existence she couldn't defeat—neither psychologically nor in reality.
He had become Lys's unconquerable nightmare.
But now in Germany, those troublesome individuals were all far away.
As long as she managed carefully, even if the Dark Lord eventually expanded to Germany, with no one left in the Black family and herself having disappeared from public view for years, she wouldn't need to fear being targeted so much.
Though she'd still need to return to Britain occasionally for business, over time no one would constantly monitor her—they all had their own interests to pursue.
Yes, her life was about to begin anew... No Black, no Death Eaters... Given time, even without the freedom to be herself, she refused to believe she'd lack the ability to protect herself.
The happy smile on Lys's face carried an indescribable restraint that made Senna and Noah exchange glances and take deep breaths. Only the little dumpling in Noah's arms cackled in harmony with Lys's deep breathing, laughing at something unknown.
However, Lys now had more pressing matters—she needed to establish a secure residence. The dwelling provided by her collaborators would only serve for meetings and business; she'd found another place to settle in the distant forest.
After arranging everything, Lys hoisted Gabon and repeatedly tapped Salabold's head with her finger: "No fighting near home, no fighting near home."
The garden flowers still needed recovery time after transplantation, so even those chattering lilies had fallen silent.
Only that cluster of blood thorns, planted outside the fence, rapidly expanded their territory under abundant nourishment.
To make it easier for her parents to go out, Lys had even purchased two of the latest model flying broomsticks before leaving Britain.
Watching Noah fail repeatedly to teach Senna to fly higher, Lys finally understood why her own flying talent was so poor.
In the courtyard, Senna's toes dragged across the grass tips as she grimly pulled upward on the broomstick handle, trying to make it rise even just one foot.
However...
"Alright~ Senny, don't be angry! Don't be angry! Perhaps I could first take the broomstick for a tour of the area, then bring you along via Apparition, couldn't I..."
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