"It started when I first got to Hogwarts. I was a freshman just coming into the magical world. Just like Hermione was. Except I was not given an opportunity to have a guide or guidance the summer before. Instead I was given everything I needed the week before and tossed into the school." Lily began her explanation with a sigh.
"Just like Hermione, I was incredibly impressionable and was infatuated with the first wizard that offered to help me. Unfortunately for me, that was James Potter." Lily sighed as she touched the headmistress' desk with a complicated look. "He was in the same year as me and was kind."
"He manipulated you?" Harry asked with a frown. Seeing his mother flinch.
"Yes, he wanted to bed me. I refused. But then… I was not given a choice. I found myself waking up in his bed one day. It turned out that he knocked me out with a spell and raped me. I was going to go to the teachers. But the headmaster at the time was very… sexist. So he always turned a blind eye when the male students had their way with female students." Lily explained with a sigh waving at the photo of a person. Instead of the others it was not in a place of honor within the office, instead it had a broken frame and was stuck in a corner of the room. Harry did not recognize the person in the painting and there was no name plate.
"So… then how did you meet my father?" Harry asked, not really seeing the connection.
"He offered me a hand when I was traumatized and depressed. Initially it was not about sex. Tom was an older student who made a strong impression on me. Because he was gentle and kind, I talked to him and liked being around him. I was not the only one either, he was at the front of a massive movement. They called it the dark wizard movement and similar names because it was unpopular with high ranking men in the wizarding world. Mostly because it was a movement to change the status quo."
"I assume something went wrong. Especially since everyone thinks you married my- I mean that they think you married James Potter." Harry asked.
"Because after sleeping with Tom a few times he left. He took a short journey around the world for the next few years. During that time I ended up being passed around and used by James. I endured it simply because of the memorable time I had with Tom. I even made a number of friends. Then the movement began. I volunteered as a spy for Tom and told him everything that James and his friends were doing."
"Then one day, just when it seemed like the movement was complete. Something strange happened. James began mumbling about something strange. Then he and a group of his followers gathered in secret. I only learned later that they were casting a forbidden spell. At this point I was sleeping with Tom in secret and was pregnant with you. We kept it a secret because I was still acting as his spy."
"What type of spell did they cast?" Harry asked.
"It was a spell to open a portal to an alternate reality. But the spell went wrong. At some point the spell failed and all of those present were struck with maddening visions of the alternate reality. A few of them killed themselves. Most of them disappeared. James came back and went on a rampage after creating an artifact we call the list."
"The list contained a list of names of people that needed to be killed to merge the two realities. James immediately began killing these people and displayed a level of magic that he did not have before. But he did not just kill them, he claimed that he was recreating their deaths. Because these were the people that died in the alternate reality during a violent clash between dark wizards and the rest of the wizarding community."
"What happened? Where did they go?" Harry asked.
"James and Tom fought, the ensuing fight had an immense impact on an international level. It ended when James opened a portal to the alternate reality and they both got pulled in. They have been gone ever since. While the list that James left behind drove people crazy."
"The dark wizards went underground as part of a deal. The deal was that the movement got what they wanted and the event was buried. Never to be spoken of again. Hands were changed and we kept our deal while the dark wizards secretly watched from the shadows. Tracking down the remaining allies of James we call the White Wizards. I faked being his wife just in case some of them came to me looking for an ally."
"But they never did." Harry pointed out. He could not think of a time when it happened. When someone came to their door looking for help.
"Actually they did. A lot of them were people that James let use me like a toy showed up at our door the first few years. I just kept it a secret from you." Lily explained with a sigh as she shook her head.
"I actually had a hand in that. We would kill them and then I would help her get rid of the bodies. There are a large number of bodies buried in the forest behind your house. But that is not the point." Bella looked at Lily.
Lily nodded in response. "The point is that we thought this was James Potter. But something is not right about the way they are operating. He did not go around hiding her face."
"That is because it isn't. The basilisk said it is a copycat." Harry told them. Getting blank looks of surprise. "No, actually he said it was not who you thought and that you were a bit too reckless." He nodded at Bella. "Now what?" Harry asked.