"What'd you say?" Harry snapped. "What'd you say about my mother?"
"I said, she was adopted!"
Harry increased the pressure on Dudley's neck, who started choking, gasping for air. Dudley pounded at Harry's leg, but it was like trying to pound an iron pillar.
"It seems you don't care about your son's life or death," Harry said coldly.
"Stop! It's the truth!" Petunia wailed. "It's true! I swear, it's true! When I was four, my father found an abandoned infant, and took her in! She really was adopted!"
Seeing Harry still stepping on Dudley, Petunia broke into hysterics.
"I can't prove it, but she really was! We didn't even look alike! She was pretty, she had bright orange hair, she had cultivation talent, she had everything! Everyone knew we weren't related!"
"Everyone knew!"
Once Petunia said that, Harry suddenly recalled something. Back when he met Slughorn the first time, Slughorn had shown him a picture of his mother. And at that time, he had thought the same thing – his mother and Petunia Dursley looked nothing alike, and couldn't possibly be related. He almost didn't believe they were sisters.
He took his foot off Dudley's neck, letting him breathe again. Even though Harry didn't want to believe what Petunia was saying, he felt she was telling the truth. It certainly answered a number of his questions around Lily and Petunia Evans.
"I believe you," Harry said, cutting Petunia's incoherent babbling off.
"You do?"
"I saw a picture of her... indeed, the two of you don't look alike at all. And I've heard about her talent in Alchemy and cultivation. I was told she had peerless talent, and cultivated effortlessly. Compared to you, and your pathetic cultivation – you're right – you can't possibly be related to my mother."
"Everybody knew," Petunia repeated hollowly. "When we grew up, all our neighbors knew we weren't sisters. Anyone could tell in a glance."
"But that's no excuse. Even if you two weren't biological sisters, you two still grew up together. Didn't you still have a sibling-like bond?"
"Sibling-like?" Petunia let out a loud, shrill laugh.
"Lily Evans... she was no sibling of mine!" her voice was filled with venom and vitriol, so much so that it shocked Harry. He had never seen this side of Petunia Dursley.
"She took everything away from me! Do you hear me? She took everything! She even took my parents away from me!"
"If you're slandering my mother –" Harry warned, but Petunia didn't even seem to care, and she ranted right on. It was like she was letting years of bottled emotions and anger all out at once.
"Harry, you don't understand anything! You have no idea what she was like! But after I tell you, oh, you'll see! You won't just see, you'll agree with me! Let me tell you what a wretched home-wrecker Lily was!"
Those piercing words cut through the haze of Harry's anger, like a series of verbal slaps to the face. Though the words enraged him, he was able to force himself to calm down. His foot went back on Dudley's neck – though he didn't put any pressure on it – and his eyes on Petunia.
"I'll give you one chance to explain yourself, and one chance only. But if you're lying, Dudley dies. Painfully."
Petunia nodded, shakily agreeing.
"I swear it, nothing I've said or will say is a lie. I was four years old when it happened. My father found an abandoned infant, lying by the side of the road. It was just sitting there on the dirt, completely alone and defenseless. My father had been travelling in a remote area of the Scarlet Phoenix Empire, without any other humans for miles and miles, so he knew the baby was abandoned. My parents, you've never met them, but they were good people. My father couldn't bear to see an infant left to die, so he took her in."
"Other than her clothes, there was only one thing on her – a flower, a lily, which she tightly clutched in her tiny hand. My parents named me Petunia, and not knowing the baby's name, they decided to name her Lily. That's how your mother got her name. By coincidence, both our names happened to be flowers."
"Your parents named her Lily because she picked a lily flower from the ground?" Harry clarified.
"She didn't pick it," Petunia shook her head. "According to my father, there were no lilies growing near the area she was found. In fact, there were no flowers or plants at all. They don't know how the flower got into her hand, or where it came from. But she was holding it, so they named her Lily."
"Ok. Go on."
"Right. For about a decade, everything was well. My parents weren't rich by any means, but, there was enough food and money to support the four of us. Lily and I... at that time, we were the best of friends. Just like you said, we shared a sibling-like bond. Those years of my life," - Petunia let out a painful gasp – "were the best years of my life."
"But it all started when Lily was 10. I mean, we didn't know her birthday, obviously. But since she was just a few months old when we found her, we celebrated the day we found her as her birthday. And on the 10th anniversary of that day, Lily opened her first meridian."
"What?" Harry snapped sharply. Dudley, from the floor, also looked at his mother with an incredulous expression.
The first meridian was only opened after the body finished developing, at which point cultivation could begin. For most people, including Harry and everyone he knew, that happened around the age of 15.
To open the first meridian at the age of 10 was simply impossible.
"I was just as surprised as you are," Petunia nodded. "So was Lily, and our parents. It literally happened overnight. Lily and I spent all our time together back then. I knew very clearly – she never cultivated before that day. It just... happened."
"She went to bed without cultivation, and woke up at the 1st level of the Body Tempering Realm. That's the truth."
"That day, I was 14, and hadn't even opened my first meridian yet. Of course, I congratulated Lily, and was greatly happy for her. But in reflection, that was the day our paths began to diverge."
"I tried to catch up, desperately tried as hard as I could. But, oh, opening the first meridian can't be rushed. It was impossible. No matter what I did, I just couldn't catch up. The despair I felt... for the first time, I started to resent Lily," Petunia admitted.
"When I turned 15, I began cultivating, and was able to open my first meridian pretty quickly. But by that time... Lily was already at the 7th level of the Body Tempering Realm."
Harry's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets at that claim.
"I know you may not believe me – but I swear it's the truth! Your mother wasn't even 11 years old, but she was at the 7th level of the Body Tempering Realm! Not just that, Lily didn't cultivate at all! She just slept and breathed, and her cultivation rose with no effort of her own. It was almost like... almost like her meridians just opened themselves!"
"And then... the day after we celebrated Lily's 11th birthday, she woke up and was in the Qi Absorption Realm."
"Impossible!" Dudley blurted out from his spot on the floor. Harry would have exclaimed something similar, if it weren't for him suddenly recalling something the Exalted Cat once told him.
Back then, in a rare moment, the Exalted Cat reminisced and spoke about his mother. It said that she didn't put any effort in cultivating at all, rather, she focused on Alchemy. Yet, her cultivation was still well ahead of all her peers, to the point where nobody else could hope to catch up. Never in his life did Harry think the actual situation was this exaggerated.
Qi Absorption Realm at the age of 11... just what kind of cultivation freak was his mother?
"Ok, let's say I believe you. What does this have to do with my mother being a homewrecker?" Harry sneered.
"I'm getting there, I'm getting there. That day – my parents were ecstatic. They didn't think the random baby they picked up would have this kind of cultivation talent, and they put all their attention and love on her! I – I was their real daughter!" - Petunia's voice hitched – "and Lily, she was my sister, but she wasn't my real sister! She wasn't my parent's real daughter! Obviously, a parent should love their child more than another's child, right? Or at the very least, an equal amount!"
"Well, it was the opposite for me! Do you know how it feels? To have your parents neglect you, then shower your false sibling with praise and gifts and presents and the best things they could buy? To my parents, Lily was their real daughter, and as for me, I was the stranger! Our roles were reversed!"
"I saw the looks my parents gave me – it was always disappointment! Or if I was lucky, they looked at me like I didn't exist! I was – I was – I was extra! But the adoring looks they gave Lily – it was like she was the only person that existed in the world!"
Harry found himself unable to respond. Indeed, that was a terrible feeling.
"To me, it felt like Lily replaced me! I don't have the words to describe it... I don't know how to describe it... but, that day, it was when I started to truly hate Lily."
"So, you were jealous," Harry stated flatly.
"No! Well, yes. But, that's not all!" Petunia continued her voice rising another pitch.
"It gets worse!"
"Then one day, she joined the local branch of the Alchemy Guild. Not only did Lily have cultivation talent... she also had talent in alchemy. She was immediately recruited by some Alchemist from the guild, and became one of the local stars of the guild, along with some nasty boy she met there. The two of them became friends."
"As for me, haha, I didn't know a thing about Alchemy. No matter how I studied, I didn't have any hope there. By the time Lily was at the 4th level of the Qi Absorption Realm, she was hailed as an Alchemy prodigy. It didn't take long for her to be noticed by the leader of the Alchemy Guild, and he recruited her, along with the nasty boy, as his direct disciples."
"The leader of the Alchemy Guild? You mean, the leader of the entire empire's Alchemy Guild?" Harry clarified.
"Right. His name was Slughorn, and he –"
"Wait! Slughorn? Horace Slughorn?" Harry urgently asked. Immediately, the image of the fat, kind-hearted Alchemist appeared in his head.
"Yes, that's his first name. He was the leader of the Alchemy Guild back then, until he died."
Unexpectedly, Slughorn was actually the top Alchemist in the entire empire! Harry never realized his status was that high, or the –
Wait.
Harry's brain processed what Petunia said.
"Died?" Harry echoed.
"That's what I heard. He died nearly two decades ago, not long after Lily's death, actually."
Harry frowned. That obviously wasn't right. Was Petunia's information wrong? Or, he thought back to how Slughorn hid under the dump of a house, and had people chasing after him. Perhaps, there was something deeper going on.
"Ok, continue. What happened when Lily became Slughorn's disciple?"
"What happened?" Petunia laughed mockingly.
"This is the part where your mother became a homewrecker! She left, that's what happened!"
"She packed up her bags and walked out our lives, following Slughorn to the Tier 1 sect of the empire. And after that, well, I don't know what happened to her either! Years went by, and we never heard from her!"
"She visited us one time, just once! It was three years after she left, and she came to visit for a few minutes. And then – she left again! She said her hellos, said her goodbyes, and then left for good! After that day, we never saw her again! She never wrote a letter, never sent us a gift or anything back! Not a single ounce of appreciation to the family who took her in! Once Lily left our small town, she cut off all ties with us! She discarded us like how you might discard a piece of rubbish!" Petunia was yelling herself hoarse. Flecks of spit launched themselves in all directions, and her face was mottled with rage.
"She never came back?" Harry frowned.
"Let me repeat – she never came back! Even on my parent's deathbeds, she didn't come! My parents – oh, they grew so sick. Sick from heartache, that is. They wanted to see Lily so desperately, but Lily didn't want to see us! For the rest of their lives, all they wondered about was the little baby they took in, and why she never visited. I was with them, but they didn't care about me at all! They never gave me a second glance! I took care of my parents until they died, yet they only saw me as... as... as a caretaker! And they saw Lily as their daughter! All they wanted was to see Lily!"
Petunia took multiple deep breaths, finally calming down, then sneered at Harry.
"That was your mother! An inconsiderate, heartless, homewrecker! She took all of my parents' goodwill and spat right in their faces! Even if you threaten me with my life or my son's life, the truth won't change! I wish my parents never took her in! I wish they left her on that dirt field to die! I hate her with every fiber of my being!"
Numbly, Harry stood there in silence. As far as he could tell, Petunia was telling the truth. She was far too emotional to lie. And although he didn't want to say it... he agreed with Petunia on this account. His mother had truly been heartless to abandon her foster family like that.
"My parents were still healthy when they died – healthy in body, at least. But their hearts were sick! From grief! It wasn't until many years after they died when Lily visited again!"
"What happened then?"
"She came in the middle of the night, saying that we had to talk. Well, I didn't want to hear any of it! I told her to sod off, and shut the door on her!" Petunia exclaimed.
"And? What next?"
"What next? Funny you ask. A week later, that nasty boy from our childhood shows up at my doorstep, holding you. He told me Lily was dead, and she wanted me to take care of you. Of course, I wanted nothing to do with it. The next day, I dropped you off at Wool's Orphanage."
"After that, well, you know the rest."
Petunia finished her story, her face flush with emotion.
"I see," Harry said softly. Hearing that story actually caused most of his anger to drain away. If her words were true, then it was indeed his own mother who had done a horrible thing. It didn't excuse what Petunia had done to him, but at the same time, he no longer felt so much hatred or anger. He even felt a bit of pity for her life.
'Mother, how could you have done that?' Harry sighed in his mind. The principle of filial piety was something everyone understood. Even in the cruel cultivation world, everyone knew to respect their parents and look after them, whether they were biological or adoptive. Bluntly speaking, even wild animals took care of their parents.
Perhaps his mother had some justification, some kind of hidden difficulty? But Harry couldn't imagine what would stop her from visiting her adoptive family.
"I have a few more questions. What's the name of the sect my mother went to?"
"The Tier 1 Sect of the empire? It's called Hog Warts Sect."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "What kind of stupid name is that?"
"How would I know?" Petunia snapped back. "It's not like I went there."
"Fine. You said Slughorn was the leader of the Alchemy Guild, but took my mother to Hog Warts Sect? How does that work?"
"I don't know exactly," Petunia shook her head. "But I know the sect is divided into four branches, and one of them, the one Slughorn was in charge of, doubles as the empire's Alchemy Guild. The disciples of the Alchemy Guild are all disciples of that branch of the Hog Warts Sect. At least, that's how it worked back then. I heard that after Slughorn and Lily died, things have changed dramatically."
"What was my mother's friend's name?"
"Who?"
"The 'nasty boy'."
"Severus Snape. He's replaced Slughorn as the head of the empire's Alchemy Guild, I believe."
Harry frowned. So far, all the leads he had towards his mother – Horace Slughorn, the Exalted Cat, Hog Warts Sect, and Severus Snape – all seemed impossible to follow up on. If he wanted more answers, it would be very difficult indeed.
"Very well. I don't have any more questions for you. But I'm not quite done here yet," Harry looked down and glared at Dudley.
"You aren't getting off so easily."
Harry forcefully struck a precise spot on Dudley's chest. Dudley howled in pain and rolled into a ball on the floor.
"The pain you just felt, that bursting sensation – that was me imploding your Lung Meridian. For the rest of your life, you'll never be able to cultivate again, or draw any Qi through your body. I'm curious to see just how you'll survive in this city, without your father or your cultivation. Consider it your punishment for all those years of torment."
But Dudley didn't seem to hear him, so great was the pain he was in. Not just physically, but also mentally. The cultivation he had worked so hard to get – vanished just like that.
"And you, Petunia. I won't blame you for hating my mother, or for hating me. I won't even blame you for dropping me off at the orphanage – after all, if you actually raised me, hah, you'd probably have locked me in your cupboard or something to make my life a true hell."
"But, it can't be a coincidence that out of the entire Crystal Mine City, Dudley chose to target me. You had a hand in that, didn't you?"
Petunia's frightened look was all the proof Harry needed.
"Ever since Dudley was young, you directed him towards me. Perhaps you didn't tell him why, or of our relationship, but you still did it."
"I – I –"
"You must have thought that Dudley being stronger than me was some kind of payback for my mother surpassing you."
"N-no! That's –"
As fast as lightning, Harry struck Petunia in the same location he had hit Dudley. Petunia's eyes widened, and then she collapsed, clutching her chest in agony. She too, had been crippled.
"I won't kill the two of you, or hurt you further. Your husband tried to kill me, so I killed him. But as for you two, I'll let you off. Though I'm sure the townspeople will finish what I've started."
Harry stood there for a few breaths, looking down upon the remaining Dursleys. This family terrified him when he was younger. Just Dudley was enough to make him cower in fear, never mind his parents who ruled over the whole city. He constantly lived in their shadows. But now, that past was just a memory. He had the power to decide their life and death.
"You two don't need to look at me like that. I'm already being very lenient by allowing you two to live. This is goodbye."
With that, Harry turned to leave the Dursley's house.
"Wait!" Petunia yelled.
"What is it?"
"Harry – what's your cultivation level?"
Harry turned around, not expecting that question. He hadn't thought Petunia would care about that kind of thing, but in the end, saw no harm in telling her the truth.
"2nd level of the Qi Absorption Realm."
"2nd level of the Qi Absorption Realm." Petunia echoed bitterly.
"From the 2nd level of the Body Tempering Realm to the 2nd level of the Qi Absorption Realm… Harry, you truly are your mother's son."
With that lingering comment hanging over him, Harry left the Dursley's household. Outside, he took a deep breath of fresh air, clearing his thoughts. So many questions were answered, but so many new ones were formed. He was eager to leave this accursed city and never come back.
But, there was just one thing he had to do first.
Going back to Grunnings, Harry gently took down the corpses of the inhabitants of Wool's Orphanage and gave them a proper burial. It wasn't much, but it was all he could do. After paying his respects, he turned to leave.
Just for old time's sake, before he left Crystal Mine City, he reentered the caves where he had spent most of his childhood. His feet walked down familiar tunnels, and he traversed the underground maze until he found himself in front of a recently excavated rock wall.
With a swing of his arm, Qi exploded out in front of him, and the rock wall came crashing down. Dozens of small Qi Crystals were exposed, shining in the dim light, and he reached down to pick one up.
Back then, it would have taken him half a day of mining to complete his quota of 20 Qi Crystals. Now, doing so was an effortless task for him.
"How far I've come," he remarked to nobody in particular.
Harry glanced at the Qi Crystal in his hand. In his orphanage years, he would have toiled long and hard to get a single one of these. But now, even a pile of them was worthless to him. To fill his Sea of Metal, Harry knew he would need thousands upon thousands of Qi Crystals, too many for him to carry or fit in his Space Ring. Unfortunately, he had to fill the Seas of Wood, Fire, and Earth before the Sea of Metal.
'A souvenir then, a reminder of my past,' Harry dropped the Qi Crystal into his Space Ring, and headed out the mines.
Out the mines, down the long road out of Crystal Mine City, and away from the town he grew up in and hated so much, never to return.
Alone in her house again, Petunia shakily sat down after helping Dudley. She tried to circulate some Qi throughout her body, but simply couldn't. Her meridians, something that had been part of her for many decades, were now cutoff. She was now a disabled cultivator, no different from an ordinary woman without any cultivation. The thought sent waves of fear through her body.
Vernon had ruled Crystal Mine City with an iron fist. To say he wasn't very popular was a massive understatement. Now that he was dead, neither Petunia nor Dudley had any backing to rely on. They plunged from the top of the hierarchy straight to the bottom.
In just one day, her life was flipped around.
Even now, Petunia nervously glanced around their house, as if expecting the town citizens to come charging in any moment to get their revenge. She knew it wouldn't be long until they arrived – she had thoughts of making a run for it, but she couldn't, not when Dudley was injured so badly.
A sudden knock on her door interrupted her thoughts, and she rose to answer it.
'They're here,' Petunia thought in resignation. A part of her wondered why they even bothered to knock, but she didn't think much of it. When she opened the door, she only saw a single person outside, dressed in a billowing black cape.
Petunia instantly recognized the man, and her eyes widened in shock.
"You – you!" she gasped.
"Me," the man outside the door sneered back. "Won't you let me in?"
But even as he said that, he was already stepping across the door frame, towards the terrified Petunia.
"'Nasty', isn't that what you called me?"
"What – what are you doing here?"
"I've been told all about how appallingly you treated the boy. I left him in your care, and you dumped him straight in the orphanage. Then you watched for years as your son and husband tormented the boy, nearly to the point of death, never telling him the truth."
"And?" Petunia shot back. "You knew – you knew I hated Lily! Besides me and Lily, you were the only one who knew our estranged relationship! Yet, you still showed up, and demanded I take him in!"
"I did that because that's what Lily wished for."
"Well, that's not what I wished for! I didn't want to take care of him! If you care so much, why didn't you do it?"
"Why didn't I take care of Harry Potter?" the man let out a short laugh.
"Idiot woman, you have no idea what you talk about, or what Lily and her son were involved in. You have no idea the sacrifices that Lily made! If I took the boy in, hah, what a stupid joke!"
"Stupid joke?" Petunia repeated incredulously. "You and Lily are the ones with the stupid joke! I made it clear I wanted nothing to do with Lily or her family!"
"Believe it or not, the boy growing up here, in obscurity, was the safest place for him. Do you know what they would have done to the boy, if they knew he was alive? There was no way I could have raised the boy, both Lily and I knew that!"
"Well if you couldn't take him in, but seem to care so much, why didn't you check on him?"
"Because of my position, fool!" the man hissed. "My movements are closely watched. If the head of the Alchemy Guild regularly came to this remote village where even the birds don't shit, don't you think that'd be suspicious?"
"Then why are you here now?" Petunia shot back.
"What do you think? It's time to clean up a loose end," he replied, his voice turning cold.
Petunia immediately started backing up, turning to run away. Fear filled her long and thin face. She knew very clearly – if this man wanted her dead, it would only take him a thought.
"Ironically, it is all your husband's fault. If the boy was content to live a quiet life out here, then none of you would have to die. But since he has chosen to step into the empire, then all who know his identity must be silenced."
"I was told – let the boy get his revenge, then clean up what's left. I suggest you stop struggling."
"No! No! Stop! I won't tell anyone! I promise, I won't –"
"Of course you won't."
A black flame manifested on the man's hand, seemingly with a will of its own. The frightening hand descended on the screaming woman, and the next moment, her screams stopped.
A pile of ashes was all that remained of Petunia Dursley.
The man didn't give the pile a second glance. The flame pounced in the direction of the other room, where Dudley was hiding. There was a muffled scream – and then it too fell silent.
If the anyone was observing Crystal Mine City, they would have noticed that today, the city seemed to be awfully quiet...
The man exited the house, walking through the now desolate city. But before he left, he looked off into the distance, right where Harry had disappeared over the horizon.
"James Evans," the man drawled, rolling the words off his tongue.
"What a loathsome name."