Happy birthday to Xamusel! I'm posting this today in honor of his birthday!
Lily looked at the ritual circle dubiously. The head of the department had found a ritual that supposedly summoned the heroes of old into a containable form that even a mere mortal could handle. It came with three spells that created absolute obedience to the summoner.
With how the war was going, and the Minister desperate to do anything to end the death and chaos going on, they were finally given the go-ahead to try it.
The problem was that their copy of the ritual was fragmented, and they had to outsource knowledge 'darker' members of the department due to it's nature. Blood magic was heavily restricted for a reason.
This was to be their seventh attempt. The circle looked far more complete and they had secured a proper catalyst this time that was heavily saturated by magic.
Lily knew this would be the last attempt she would be joining in. She had been feeling off for the past week and had strong suspicions about why. She didn't want to risk any unborn children of hers for a half-assed ritual.
She joined in as the seventh point in the circle, and fell into easy cadence with the others...they all had practice by this point so it went much smoother than the first try had.
The chanting reached a crescendo and the wood fragment began to rock back and forth as they attempted to summon the spirit. No one was sure which ancient spirit would be summoned, just that the fragment had been dated far enough back to be from the origins of Camelot and it had been found in a location once believed to be a place Merlin himself would visit from time to time.
Lily felt the strain get worse...and then it happened. A sensation of judgment/cold amusement, followed by a strange euphoria that was impossible to understand or explain properly. It felt like something had latched onto her, but a later exam revealed that nothing was abnormal...save for the fact that her name would be stricken from further attempts due to her pregnancy.
The ritual was deemed yet another failure, but the results were adequately studied and everyone simultaneously agreed it was because "Lady Potter" hadn't known she was pregnant, which caused an abnormal number of casters to be present.
Lily didn't care as her coworkers all congratulated her for her pregnancy and the fact that obviously the child would be magical if it threw off the ritual that badly.
That night she broke the news to James, the failed ritual the furthest thing on her mind.
They named their daughter Iris Nimue Potter.
Lily had no idea that the ritual had some...unexpected...side effects on her daughter.
Some time later...
Lily ran towards the stairs. She had very little time to reach her daughter and hope that the protective ritual worked. She had gotten into them after the failed attempts. Reading books on rituals was a good way to kill her boredom once the pregnancy really set in and she became homebound.
James found it a useful way to bribe his increasingly hormonal (and quick to aim cutlery) wife.
To that end, she managed to make a magical bomb shelter of the nursery...partly out of boredom, but also out of a sincere desire to protect her firstborn. Particularly after what Dumbledore had told them before they went into hiding.
The problem was that the strongest ritual she could find that could safely activate and almost guaranteed her daughter's protection required a willing sacrifice of familial blood. It would create a semi-permanent ward around her daughter and would allow all the wards she had drawn to remain on her child even after her death with no prior set up beforehand.
Lily made a small cut in her lip to get the required blood needed to activate the runes. She heard Voldemort come up the stairs, and swiped her thumb on the runes.
She felt the magic take hold, and immediately stood in front of her daughter.
"Stand aside, foolish girl!" he hissed at her.
She stood her ground, feeling the magic rise up in response. A green light flashed and that was the last thing she would ever see.
The magic, newly fueled but still not properly active, was not enough to stop Voldemort from then attacking the child in the crib. A second flash of green light flew from his wand.
The wards were not quite strong enough to repel the blast and the curse's nature would have killed the child in an instant. However the spirit that had been more or less watching the girl out of bemused took an interest...and added more than enough prana to fully awaken the potential hidden in the rituals Lily had cast on the room.
The curse rebound on it's caster, to the shock and fury of the Dark Lord. The girl's eyes went from green to a more rose pink color, her skin becoming almost luminescent under the moonlight.
If one were to look a bit closer, they would have seen the flowers that ever so briefly appeared in the room. They would disappear alongside the ashes that were all that remained of the Dark Lord.
Exhausted from the effort, Iris fell straight asleep in her crib, unaware of the travesty that was to occur because of one old man's meddling.
In another life, she would have grown up in a rather abusive, neglectful house full of the worst that humanity had to offer.
In this life she had an 'older brother' who had other ideas and was more than happy to show her little tricks that allowed her to flee at the first opportunity. Her 'family' certainly wasn't going to bother filing a missing person's report as they never wanted her in their home to begin with.
Merl was always there for her, even if she couldn't properly be with him because he was in a place that humans weren't allowed to go.
He was always there when she wanted to talk, so she made do.
Lyna scowled as the humans once again tried to put her in a place that would only restrict her freedom. Thanks to Merl, she knew how to survive on her own and honestly he was a way better teacher than the people she briefly had to put up with.
Besides, goblins honestly didn't care about petty things like age when it came to the poker games. So long as she had the coin, they allowed her in. She made her living at the tables off other people's money and lived in discreet hostels that catered to magical youth that had either been thrown out or had nowhere else to go.
Right now she was currently in Ireland, as there were plenty of hidden places she could duck into to avoid the adults.
Besides, the fair folk were rather fond of her for some reason, though Merl refused to explain why.
She was about to lay down for the night when she saw it. A Cwn Annywn wandering about. Merl had explained to her about the Fair Folk, and had labeled this particular breed friendly enough so long as you didn't deliberately piss them off.
Lyna grinned and carefully came out of her hiding spot. She really wanted to pet the creature.
The spectral hound took one look at her and barked. It did not come closer.
Lyna tried to get a little closer to the hound. It took off, and without thinking too hard she followed.
Merl had the feeling this particular creature had been sent specifically to lead his sister somewhere. Only time would tell if this would end badly. After all, the faeries could sense exactly who and what Lyna was, and despite the issue with Vivian he had always gotten along rather well with them.
So you could imagine his surprise that the spectral hound lead Lyna to one of the few who could unlock her full potential...and maybe even unlock the hidden gifts that being bonded to him would give her.
The Queen of Shadows, Scáthach.
Coincidentally she took one look at Lyna and an odd look came across her face. Plus side, Lyna wouldn't have to hide from the adults anymore. Instead she would have other things to worry about, like surviving her insane "big sister's" idea of training.
Some time later...
A white cloaked figure calmly walked into the Leaky Cauldron, their hood up. Once through, they headed straight for the bank.
The goblin peered at the figure, every alarm bell going off in their minds. Even the guards gripped their weapons a bit tighter upon seeing them.
A few quiet words to the goblin at the desk had the figure lead deeper into the bank. They would walk out with a bag of gold and the almost terrified looks of the goblins. Not that they let the wizards see that.
Lyna hummed cheerfully as she explored the Alley. Her big sister had told her not to bother with any of the trinkets beyond the bare minimum of what the letter demanded, as their standards were laughable at best.
She was also very firmly instructed not to buy a wand. They were pathetic compared to the staff her big sister would be giving her once she was ready.
Lyna got the bare minimum of books and had to openly scoff at the "Iris Potter" adventure series. Honestly, they were tame compared to the adventures she got up to with her big sister.
Scáthach had a very...old fashioned...idea of safety. She also didn't believe in babying her students when it came to fighting, something Lyna was grateful for.
Once she had the least amount of 'junk' as she not-so-affectionately called the nonsense she was required to buy for Hogwarts, she went to check out the animals.
She had a familiar, but Cwn Annwyn were not exactly what you'd call indoor pets. He would stay outside in the forest, rather than go anywhere near the castle unless he absolutely had to.
The first store was rather disappointing. The animals were subpar at best and were only worth potion ingredients in her opinion. Nothing worth sharing her magic with to bond as a secondary familiar.
Then she went to the Owl Emporium. She feared she would have to settle for a bored cat sidhe when she saw her. A true queen of the owls if she ever saw one, and she knew royalty. This was someone who had royal blood and damn well knew it...she radiated the same bearing as her big sister/teacher.
She headed straight for the royal owl, who's own golden eyes were pinned firmly on her in return.
Lyna calmly walked up to her, stopped a respectful distance and said rather politely "Excuse me your majesty, would you give me the honor of removing you from this place?"
The owl stared at her for a few moments, before it let out a rather regal hoot. It promptly landed onto her right shoulder and gave her a expectant look.
Two galleons later, she walked out with a new familiar. She would have to ask her teacher what to name the rather lovely looking snow owl she had bought.
Her newly bought owl was promptly named "Gráinne" was rather pleased with her new human partner.
Officially, her name was Grace...so she didn't freak out the British idiots who might recognize the name of the infamous Irish pirate queen.
Scáthach looked at her student slash little sister with a slight nostalgic expression on her face. Nearby, Grace looked regally over the domain.
While Lyna wasn't fully ready for the staff that Scáthach had prepared, she was ready for the weaker copy. It looked like a normal wand, but in reality it was an illusion. The actual focus was a pendant Lyna had around her neck that kept her cloak closed.
Her usual outfit consisted of a pale white hoodie that could be mistake for a cloak by the wizards, dragon-leather pants that had been properly tanned and were charmed to be comfortable, a pair of sturdy shoes that were both cute, functional and good for all terrain, and a pair of black gloves made of the same leather as her pants.
Her black hair lay neatly against her head, though her bangs were more silver in color. Her green eyes were vibrant, and her skin was rather pale. Understandable, as she spent most of the past few years in the Land of Shadows learning under her big sister and it was filled with the dead.
Scáthach looked at Lyna rather pleased with her student. Lyna was attentive, respectful and highly mischievous. Her potential with magic was great, though she did have great trouble casting long strings of spells because she kept getting tongue-tied. She had a strong affinity for the more...inhuman...magicks, particularly those of the faeries, which made complete sense as the Fair Folk absolutely adored her.
Though she did wonder why the divine spirit Vivian kept giving her such strange looks.
Honestly, she didn't know why Lyna had to go to Hogwarts at all. The place was pathetic, and she would learn far more from Scáthach than from those fools. Most of them barely tapped into the tiniest fraction of potential runes had, and that was being generous!
Lyna didn't particularly want to go either, but she did want to keep her inheritance and the Ministry had made a rather annoying law over a century ago stating that a witch had to complete at least five years of schooling to gain their full inheritance, even if they were the last of their line.
"I'll come check up on you regularly. I expect frequent letters," said Scáthach.
"Yes, teacher," said Lyna. Impulsively, she hugged the older woman and was pretty much swamped by her cleavage. If she were a boy, she likely would have appreciated that position quite a bit more.