Flashback: Bellatrix, Backyard of No.12 Grimmauld Place

"Harry, look at this spell right here. You see how I used the Crucio curse to break the shield between me and my beloved cousin? That is exactly what I want you to pay attention to. Do not hesitate when the opportunity arrives. I did not make the killing blow immediately and look what it got me." Bellatrix pointed to her left eyebrow where a vertical wound cut it in half and left an ugly scar on her otherwise pretty beautiful face. The playback scene in the glass orb stopped right at the moment when Sirius Black threw a knife out from under his sleeve.

"...I understood, mother. But why did you not kill him? Was he not your enemy?" Harry said. His eyes showed no emotion when he suggested his foster mother to kill a man who was previously his godfather. From his understanding, there are either enemies where you do not hesitate to cut in half and allies where you need to make sure they survive the battle. Not much in between. Bella is an ally whereas Sirius is an enemy. He does not understand why his foster mother would hesitate.

"Well, it is one thing to kill a wizard you barely knows, but it is hard when you have seen him grow up throughout your life... Wizards are not great in number, and sometimes you have to fight the ones you met and went to the same school, maybe even lived in the same village. The last blood war was too bloody a time for such a small population. Look at you for example, if the Dark Lord did not kill your birth parents when you were young, maybe you would have several siblings. " Bellatrix explained to young Harry.

"..." Harry did not say anything. He was not really interested in such complex ideas. After all, for the whole 8 years he lived with Bellatrix, he had not really met anyone that he liked but had to kill.

"Well. I think that is enough reminiscing for now. Are you ready for another round of practice?" Bellatrix stood up and picked up her long spear. It was covered in lines of runic circles and the blade was longer than 1 meter. A true killing weapon, and Harry had to make sure he can defend against long weapons while trying to hit Bellatrix with his newly acquired sword.

"...Always ready." Harry drew out his sword as well.

"Then come!" Bellatrix lashed out her spear with a vicious sweep. Harry instinctively jumped up into the air and stepped on the rod. Bellatrix quickly withdrew her spear and Harry had to let go because of the superior strength of Bellatrix. She stabbed forward her spear again quickly and Harry had to use his sword to deflect the consecutive attacks, while trying to figure out a way to come closer to Bellatrix.

"Hah!" Bellatrix sweeped her spear another time and pushed her magic into the pole of the spear. The blade of the spear's head lighted up and became white hot as well. She slashed the spear one time and a gush of white hot flame flowed out and assaulted Harry. Just as Harry tried to bat away the flame, Bellatrix fired a Crucio curse at him and hit him right in the arm. His arm immediately started twitching and large sweat beads started to pour out of his forehead. With enough training a good warrior can move while under the effect of the torture curse, but it is not a pleasant experience.

"...hum." Harry had to retreat even further and now he maintained a 5 meter distance from Bellatrix in the open ground. His left arm started to calm down but he still felt the after effect of the Crucio curse. Bellatrix rotated her spear in her hand a few times and bared her teeth at Harry. "Well, little Harry isn't so confident now is he? Or do you feel like it is not fair that I can use my magic and wand while you don't even have a wand yet?"

Bellatrix kept wielding her spear around and Harry could not find a clear opening at all to even advance toward her. The head of the spear cut him several times and left quite a few shallow or deep cuts on his arm and legs.

Harry was getting heated up. His eyes were turning red and he felt a funny sensation in his scar; he felt like it was slightly burning. If Bellatrix could see more in detail, she would found that Harry's scar turned from black to blood red. Suddenly, a voice seemed to whisper to him. He doesn't understand consciously what it was saying, but his magic started to move in a way that he could only understand subconsciously. It happened to him before as well, but none of it was as clear as today and the feeling was never this strong. He felt his magic was alive and even agitated, like a snake waiting to strike.

"...There is no such thing as fair in battles." Harry half whispered to himself and started to push the new feeling of magic into his arms and legs. With a strong thrust, he jumped high into the air.

"Rookie mistake! Never leave the ground if you are not absolutely sure of what the enemy's next move!" Bellatrix immediately aimed her spear at Harry when he was in the air. However, just as she pushed her spear forward, Harry pushed his magic into his hand and griped on the pole of the spear. With a force that a mere 9 year old kid could not possibly possess, Harry pushed the head of the spear into the sandy ground and used the pole as a way to gain more force to quickly advance forward.

Bellatrix sensed that something was not right with the way Harry defended himself and immediately gave up the handle on her spear and fired another vicious spell at Harry. However, Harry did not even change his direction; he barely moved his hand to deflect the otherwise hard to defend spell. He then jumped into the air and flipped to the back of Bella in barely half a second.

Suddenly, just as Harry was prepared to thrust his sword into the body in front of him, the sudden feeling of blood-thirst and power left him. He quickly drew his sword back into the sheath and started deep breathing.

"You did well, my child." Bellatrix turned around and hugged him while putting his head in her chest. "What is wrong, Harry? It seemed like your head is hot." She also noticed that there was something wrong with Harry.

"...I don't know, Mother. It seems like something else was in me when I made the move." Harry said while trying to maintain focus.

Bellatrix remained silent and saw that Harry's scar was turning back to black from the previous blood red color. She touched it and felt the pulsing magic flow back into the scar.

"I might have an idea what it is... You are too young to hear it now, but I will tell you when the time comes. You shouldn't worry about it now. Now go to your room and rest. Also, tell the elf to cook the meal better. " Bellatrix said, but her heart was obviously not in the coming dinner. If the scar really is what she thinks it is, then Voldemort's power grows way faster than she expected...