Chapter 4 – Growth, Changes, and Childhood
Author's Note.
Most of the background history and action has ended. Some of the major plot issues are bubbling up. Some new questions are being raised. Some justice has been served. Let me know what you think!
Tuesday 6 August, 1985
Harry's training had begun. In her reviews, she was still befuddled with the insistence that magical training not begin until a child was eleven. The starting age looked to her as a legislated limit on the skills of muggle-born or raised witches and wizards. It made no sense to not start training once accidental magics began to appear. To her, that is nature's way of saying that someone is ready. Yes, one had to be more patient with young children. If mundane children could start learning at five and earlier then magical children should to.
Since Harry already had Occlumency barriers, she decided to teach him the rest of Occlumency first. This would make it easier for him to learn everything else. He would already have the knowledge from her or Voldemort. It would also give him finer control of his core.
She remembered as a girl throwing herself out of swings and floating to the ground. When she returned from her first year, she almost broke her leg. The instinctive connection with her magic had been broken. Tom had learned wandless and silent casting. He struggled as he didn't get the training until he was an adult. He taught himself to fly without a broom. It didn't make sense that Harry should wait for a wand.
At five-years old, he was too young for formal, structured classes. His ability to reason and native intelligence were there. It was his emotional maturity that would be the issue. His attention span was short. She would make it a game. Hide and Seek in the brain. He would build his defenses and shields. She would then have him hide. She would then try and find him. Then she would swap roles and have him search for her. He would learn where her and Tom's skills and knowledge were stored. In addition, he would gain experience in Legilimency. Once he had organized and protected himself, she would start him on spells.
Lastly, she needed to find a way for him to go to KS1. He was of age to start 1 September. While pure-bloods had private tutoring in English to prepare them for Hogwarts. Harry needed to get a solid primary education. His abuse left him socially inept. Being in a class, Harry would learn how to make friends. The question was how to keep him safe? She needed to speak with the Potter account manager.
When Harry was bedded down for the night, she asked "Mimsy?"
With a pop, the elf was there. "Yes, Lady Lily?"
"Can you get inside of Gringott's without being seen by any wizards or witches?" she asked hopefully.
"Mimsy can. Mimsy be given direct rights to Potter vault. Mimsy is head elf." The little female answered.
"Can you leave the vault and go to the account manager?" Lily asked.
"Of course, Mimsy can!" Mimsy smiled at her Mistress in Harry's body.
Lily smiled. "I have an errand for you. Can you go to our account manager in the morning and ask him to visit here? Let him know that he needs to come at night. I'll create a portkey that you can give him when he agrees to come."
Changing subjects, she continued. "Mimsy, we need to go to the training room. I'm ready to try one of the ways to create an avatar outside Harry." Lily stood up from the bed and took the elf's hand. Mimsy popped the two to the room. There were now mannequins of various sizes in the room. As she had requested, all were female and varied from a body the same height as Harry's to a six foot adult model..
"Mimsy, please stay. If anything goes wrong, I need you to keep Harry safe." Lily hugged the elf.
"Nothing will go wrong, Lady Lily. You be the best witch." Mimsy encouraged her.
To herself, Lily began going through what she needed in the incantation and wand motions. Since this was a first cast, no potential shortcuts could be attempted. The words of the spell are: "Clone my mind and animate this object [for set time]. Return all experiences when finished." Translating them into Latin gives: "Clone animus animal est, et hoc obiectum. Redire omnia experti, cum completum." To complete the spell, the wand motions are right, up, wrist circle clockwise, left, wrist circle widdershins, down to the floor, wrist snap on the diagonal right, right, wrist snap on the diagonal left, elliptical wand motion up and centered.
"Here I go, Mimsy." She performed the first two motions, then began chanting to complete the wand motions with the words. "Clone animus animal est pro IV minutes, et hoc obiectum. Redire omnia experti, cum completum." In her mind, she kept her body image in her mind.
A golden mist began flowing from the wand. It began coalescing around a 5' 4" mannequin. As the mist shrank, she and Mimsy saw features and clothes form. When it completed, she looked up to see herself as she was when she died. The animated mannequin looked down.
It smiled, reached out to hug her, "I've been wanting to hug Harry again for so long." The clone started crying. After three minutes, it felt the spell weakening. With a kiss on Harry's forehead, which Lily was mystified by, she stood up as the spell ended. The mannequin was as it begun.
As the spell ended, Lily was flooded with the memory of looking down at her son, hugging him, and the kissing him. Lily herself had been watching the flow of magic into the mannequin. The spell was costly. Harry's magical reserves dipped between twenty and thirty percent. This was not a spell to be used repeatedly. Once the spell activated, the magic began drawing on ambient magic to sustain itself. A link between herself and the animation was sustained. The next experiment would be to see if the animation could cast magic.
She recast the spell on a child sized mannequin. She set the time for thirty minutes. This time when it animated, it looked like she did at Harry's age. She had to admit, she was a cute girl. Shaking herself to focus, she sat down and began watching spell's magic. The flow between Harry's core and the mannequin quickly faded to a golden cord attaching the two. The ambient magic began flowing into the doll. She was surprised when a magical core began forming. It mimicked Harry's core size.
The doll smiled at her. It motioned for the wand. Lily handed it to her. The doll skipped to the middle of the room, giggling as it went. When it was in the center of the room, it looked over its shoulder at her. With a grin, it cast a Lumos. Light began beaming above the wand.
Lily watched the magic being pulled from the shadow core. The amount of magic was smaller than the combined power needed to support the animation and light spells.
"Wonderful!" Lily exclaimed. "You know what to try next."
Cancelling the light spell, the doll cast, "Protego!" A shield sprang up around it. Lily noticed a small pull on the golden cord. It pulled some magic from her. It quickly stabilized and went back to the original size. Lily noticed that the amount of ambient magic pulled into the doll increased as the thread decreased in size.
The doll canceled the spell. "I am going for the big one, Mom!" It giggled when Lily looked at her with a stunned look. "Protego Totalum!"
This time, the golden thread widened until it was about two inches in width. Lily could feel the magic being pulled from her core. The pull of ambient magic increased around the doll, but this time the amount available was not sufficient. The golden thread decreased in size. When it was finished, it had stabilized at around a half inch in width. This was significantly larger than the sixteenth of an inch it started from. Lily looked to see how much of a pull her core was taking. It was a small drain. The pull of ambient magic around her didn't make up the difference. She wondered if it would be the same if they were in different areas. There is only so much energy in any area after all.
"Please cancel the spell." Lily asked the doll. "It's my turn." She smiled at the doll. She needed to come up with names for them. Doll one, Doll two, etc. simply wouldn't do. She recast the spell on another child sized mannequin to end when the other did. Looking at her core, it lowered by another twenty percent. Overall, the core was down she estimated around forty percent. The automatic pull on ambient energy had already filled in some of the magic spent on the first cast. The new doll looked like the twin of the first.
"Sissy!" It yelled out and ran to the other. They hugged. The first then transformed a child's table and tea set. The two then sat down and had a play tea party. They looked at Lily. They both knew that Lily was in charge of the Harry's body, but the new animate said to the other, "Should we invite a boy to the party?"
The first giggled and said, "No stinky boys allowed.: Then proceeded to ignore Lily.
Off to the side, Mimsy was in awe of what she had seen. At this, she laughed at how crazy this was.
With a crack, Augusta Longbottom portkeyed into the Black estate. Lord Black stood awaiting her. The room she entered was the main floo entrance.
"Lady Longbottom, I truly appreciate your coming today. The circumstances behind this meeting are not the best. However, in this circumstance, I believe we will be on the same side." Lord Black led Augusta into his personal library. One side of the room had windows facing the gardens, the back wall and wall opposite the windows had book cases. The book cases were made of dark teak and were floor to ceiling. The wall with the doorway was painted a light gray. A painting of Arcturus' parents hung on the wall facing the interior. For this meeting, the portrait was covered and had a Muffliato cast upon it. The center of the room contained two comfortable reading chairs which faced each other. Each chair had a table with an oil lamp next to them.
Arcturus moved into the room, "Lady Longbottom, will you do me the courtesy of making yourself comfortable? If you would like any refreshments, at any time, let me know. We have much business to discuss."
Augusta had yet to say a word. She swept into to room and sat in the chair facing the door. "Lord Black, while I appreciate the offer of hospitality." She paused and gave him a small smile. "In order to ensure that this meeting stays private, we need to get straight to it. Do you agree?"
Chuckling darkly, Lord Black answered, "Still the Gryffindor?" Quickly raising his hands to placate Augusta, "No insult intended, Lady Longbottom. I find I have been too much a Slytherin. My family is facing line extinction because of my past machinations. I …" He smiled with self-deprecation, "I find myself in agreement with you. I fear that for once in my life, my best course is straight ahead."
He leaned back in his chair. "A few months ago, some very surprising memories and documents were sent to me. Based on the information therein, I was led to assume that you were given a similar set." He stopped.
Lady Longbottom inclined her head, "Yes, my family was delivered some diverse memories and documents. They were from James and Lily Potter. Were yours?"
"Yes, Madam, mine were. Did you know that my grandson, Sirius, was the sworn godfather of young Harry Potter?" He watched her for any reaction. Seeing no response, he continued, "Were you aware that the so-called right hand of Voldemort was denied a trial? The last male of the primary Black line was denied a trial."
Augusta replied, "Yes, I was made aware that Sirius is the Potter child's godfather. I was not aware that he had been given no trial. How could that have happened. We tried many actual Death Eaters. How did he fall through the cracks?"
"That's what I want to know. I watched a memory where Dumbledore cast the Fidelius for the Potters. Did you get that one?" Lord Black asked.
"Yes, I saw it. It made me wonder how Sirius was able to bring He Who Must Not Be Named to them." Augusta said. "Are you aware of a prophecy?"
"Yes, and I saw the memories that showed Dumbledore playing the Potters along with Frank and Alice. When I witnessed those memories and heard that you had left the country, I came to the conclusion that something had happened to Neville to make him as weak he was. There were blocks placed upon his core, if I don't miss my guess."
"Neville's core was blocked at ninety-five percent. He had been effectively turned into a squib. The healers were quite irate with me. I told them that none of the family had done that to him. They gave me the magical signature of the person who performed the binding. When I find this person, he or she will find that the Longbottom family is slow to anger, but our vengeance burns cold." She folded her hands primly in her lap. "Both of our lines face extinction through the actions of a third party. Dumbledore, though it pains me to say and based on the documents, is the primary suspect. If he is, then he has left the light."
"It doesn't pain me, Madam. I have never been a fan of the man. He has the feel of a man who feels that he is the smartest man he knows." Arcturus was not kind to Dumbledore. "Like a good Slytherin, he holds information close to his chest. I cannot take umbrage with that. My issue with the man is that he never backs his words with his actions. Can you give me an example of a single time he has effectively opposed any measure restricting the rights of any non-pureblood group? That includes half-blood, muggleborn, werewolf, or any other sentient creature? Conversely, can you give me an example where he was successful in reversing legislation that codified pureblood bigotries?" He sat back awaiting an answer from Lady Longbottom.
"My Lord, I find I cannot remember an instance." She scooted forward slightly, making herself more comfortable. "In order to save our families, I find that we are allied. The question becomes: What do we need to do? What is our end-game? Getting Sirius a trial and his exoneration must be our first goal."
"I am gladdened that our first goal is to free my grandson." Changing the subject slightly, "I find I tire of calling you MiLady, Lady Longbottom. May I call you Augusta and you call me Arcturus? We may need to continue to be seen as opposites, but I prefer not to continue this cold formality."
"I welcome that Arcturus. Please call me Augusta." The elderly woman straightened her back as she set her tea cup down. "Let us plan. We must be prepared."
Boro, Grov and Mimsy stood next to Harry's bed. They were waiting for him to go asleep and Lily come out. When Lily sat up, she looked over at them with mild surprise. "What's happened?"
"Lady Lily, wes need to be talking with you." Grov began. "Things be getting strange at the Dursleys"
"What do you mean?" She asked as she got out of the bed.
"Theys acting the same toward us as Harry," Boro began, "The Vernon and Pet has started being mean to the son."
"What? Tell me about it." Lily motioned them to continue. She focused internally and overlay Harry's image with hers as a girl. Her hair lengthened to her shoulders. She quickly transfigured Harry's plain pajamas into a pink tee, a matching skirt, and trainers. She smiled. It felt good to have her back and hips feel right. The less said about dangly bits, the better. "That's better."
"Well, Lady Lily, Boro will tell you about today." Boro began his tale.
Boro popped into the cupboard around 04:00. He quickly changed his appearance into what Harry looked like before they rescued him. He made sure that he also added the injuries Grov told him that they expected to see. The elves didn't get hurt. Whenever any of the family acted like they were going to attack, Boro and Grov used an illusion to let the Dursleys attack air. The illusion would allow them to know what injuries to mimic.
At 05:00 sharp, Petunia's light steps came downstairs. Stopping outside the cupboard, she unlocked the door and began, "Get your lazy behind up freak. If you want to earn your food today, you have an hour to get breakfast on the table." She turned around and went back upstairs.
At 06:00, Boro had breakfast ready and waiting on the table. At 06:15, the family sat down to eat.
"Boy, this food is cold! How do you expect us to eat cold food?" Vernon sneered as he placed four fried eggs and a half pound of bacon on his plate. "You want us to starve, don't you boy. Well, we'll show you."
Petunia had made a small plate for herself. As Dudley began to mimic his father, Petunia snapped at him, "You get one egg and one piece of bacon, you Dud. You're too fat."
Dudley looked at his mother stunned. "Mum?" his voice quivered. She had never spoken to him like this. "I'm a growing boy. You've always said that."
She snorted, "Growing whale, more like it." She sniffed at him.
"Dad?" He looked to his father for some support.
His father glanced up. "She's right, you've become a right whale. We need to teach you some responsibility. It costs a lot of money to keep this family fed. I won't be having it be wasted. You can join the freak in his chores today."
Dudley started sniffing. Within a few moments, he ran to his room crying.
"What are you looking at, Freak?" Vernon glanced at him. "He needs to earn his keep."
Boro didn't say a word. When Vernon and Petunia finished their breakfast, Petunia gave Boro a small glass of milk and a scrap of bacon. She then threw the remainder of the breakfast in the trash. "Get started on the dishes. The Dud will dry the dishes and put them away." She turned to the stairs and yelled, "Dud, get your big rear down here. You have work to do."
Boro began cleaning the kitchen. Vernon got up, said goodbye to Petunia, and left to work. Not hearing any movement, Petunia went upstairs.
Boro heard a door slam open and heard Petunia scream, "What are you doing crying on your bed. There's work to be done, you Dud. Downstairs now!"
There was a murmur in return. The next thing Boro heard was a slap. Dudley screamed in fright, "Mum, you hurt me."
"I'll do worse than that if you don't start moving." Came the response from Petunia. There was a shuffling on the stairs. Dudley came into the kitchen snuffling. His face was marked where a hand had slapped him hard. A little blood was coming from is nose.
"Mum, What did I do?" Dudley whimpered.
Petunia had followed, "It's what you didn't do. You haven't been doing any chores."
Boro was confused. He kept his mouth shut as he cast a glance at Dudley. The large boy stood not knowing what to do. Even though the boy was a bully to him, Boro felt sorry for him. He gently held out a towel and motioned the boy next to him. He explained how to dry and put away the dishes.
His sniffling slowly stopped. Each time he went to put a dish away, Petunia would say, "Don't break it, you clumsy oaf. If you do, you won't get lunch."
Dudley was in shock. He didn't know what to do. Boro nudged him and helped him continue.
When they finished, Petunia said, "Freak, dust. Dud, Vacuum."
"I don't know how to vacuum." Dudley stammered out.
Petunia moved toward him, "Are you talking back to me?"
"N, No, Mum. I don't know how, really." Dudley stepped back from her.
She looked at him for a long moment. "Freak, show him." She left the room and set down in the living room, turning on the television.
When they finished, Petunia told them to make the beds and clean the bathroom.
Staring at them as they stood outside a spotless bathroom, Petunia looked at the two boys with a derisive sneer. "I see a spot." She pointed to a non-existent mar on the surface of the sink. "Clean it again." She turned around and as she walked away, "If you had done things right, I was going to let you have lunch. Since you can't get your work done, you haven't earned it. When you get finished, go outside and tend the yard."
Dudley was on his hands and knees scrubbing the floor. "Why is she doing this? I'm not the freak. I've always been good." He cried. "Don't they love me anymore?"
House elves, by their very nature, love to take care of families. The worst thing for any elf to see is a child being hurt. Even with all of the abuse Boro had seen targeted against himself in his glamour as Harry, he couldn't bear to see another child being hurt.
"Dudley?" He asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, F,f, Harry?" Dudley couldn't call him freak when he was being treated the same.
"I promise to help you, Dudley." Boro said.
After a few minutes, they finished and went outside. Boro took Dudley to the gardening shed. He pulled out the tools they would be using. He then began showing the boy how to weed. Dudley was the same age as Harry. He was very uncoordinated and couldn't stay focused on the work. Boro made sure to cover for the boy so that Petunia wouldn't be more displeased with him.
As the day waned, Petunia came out. "Time to start dinner, you whelps. I've got the ingredients out for you. Don't mess it up and you'll get to eat." She smirked at the end.
The two seeming boys put their tools up. Boro stopped Dudley before he went into the house.
"Why are you stopping me? I'm tired. You heard mum0!" he whined.
Boro took him to the side of the steps where a stiff brush lay. "Dudley, we need to brush off the dirt. Aunt Petunia doesn't like to see dirt tracked in the house." He showed the boy how to brush himself off. As they brushed off, Boro used elfin magic to clean them up. He left smudges and stains. Petunia yelled at him the one time he removed those. She accused him of hiding and not working in the garden.
Vernon arrived home in a bad humor. He had been denied the promotion he'd been angling for. His manager told him that he had anger issues. Him! He didn't have anger issues. He was the nicest guy he knew. He always helped people do their jobs. It wasn't his fault they would snap at him. He only yelled in self-defence. "I'm home." He yelled entering the house. "Is dinner ready, Pet? I've had a rough day and need some nourishment."
"The twerps have it almost finished." She came out from the kitchen. After taking a quick look at him, she went back into the kitchen. "You just go have a sit down, Dear. I'll bring you a glass of your favorite or would you rather a cup of tea?"
Appreciating her, he went to the living room and sat down in his favorite chair. "I need something stiffer than tea this evening. Thanks, Pet."
She brought the drink out to him. As he took the first sip, she sat across from him. Gauging that asking him about work would enrage him, she started, "I talked with Ms. Figg today. One of her cats had five kittens. Can you imagine? That brings the number of animals in her house to fourteen. I can't imagine the stench. Everyone knows cats only use the litter box when it is clean. She can't possibly keep them clean enough that they don't find other places to go." She rambled on. She saw that Vernon was relaxing hearing her voice. She knew he wasn't listening. "Don't get me started on the males. They spray everywhere marking their territory. It amazes me every time she watches the freak that he doesn't come back scratched up or sick. I tell her to make him work and clean. Lord knows, her house needs it. It's almost like she was never taught how to clean when she was a girl. Imagine!" She huffed.
"Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon?" Boro, looking like Harry, said from the entryway.
Vernon's tension immediately went back up. "What! You better not be bothering us for nothing!" He growled out looking at the elf.
"No sir," the elf continued. "Dinner is served."
Vernon quickly finished his drink. He stood up and looked at his wife. She also stood and moved towards him. Petunia and Vernon then walked to the table. There were three place settings. One for each Dursley.
"Why is there three places?" Petunia asked.
"Aunt Petunia? I always set one for Uncle, Dudley and you." He continued. "I get the leftovers."
"Well from now on, only Vernon and I are allowed at the table. If you and the twerp have earned it, you can eat some of the scraps." Petunia looked at them. Vernon nodded. "Don't do this again. To help you remember, no dinner for either of you tonight. You can have water." She then sat down.
After dinner was over, the Dudley and Boro cleaned the kitchen before being sent to their beds.
"It's like they's thinking Dudley is bad now." Boro said to Lily.
Lily looked at Grov. He nodded his head in agreement. "Lady Lily, it's be happening slow like. At first, Petunia or Vernon started limiting his food. Saying that he needed to be fitter. Then they started insulting him. If Boro is right, today they's treated Dudley the same as they did Harry."
Lily was disturbed. Something weird was happening. Petunia had been jealous of her as a girl, but had always been caring and tender to children and babies. She didn't know what to think. Maybe the magic of the wards? They switched them to focus on Dudley. Maybe they were doing something to her sister and brother-in-law? She needed information. She had thought that the abuse Harry suffered was intentional.
"Mimsy, can you take me to the training room?" Lily still didn't trust using magic outside of that room. The Potter wards were strong. She didn't want anyone in the Ministry to even get a whisper of activity here.
With a pop, all four appeared. "I'm going to activate the clone spell. I'm going to use the first mannequin I tested. This will allow me to interact as an adult. When it is active, I want you to take me inside the Dursley home." She addressed Mimsy. "I don't want any of the neighbors to see anything." The elves all nodded their heads. She cast the spell to last the night. When the doll stood up, she saw her old self again.
"Mimsy, why don't you take Lillian to the Dursleys? She knows everything I know." Lily looked to the male elves. "Grov?" Seeing him nod, "It's your day tomorrow, right?" She waited for confirmation. "I'd like you to go to. If anything happens, you can help get them out of there. If nothing happens, you can stay and wait the morning."
"Yes, Lady Lily, Grov be going."
With a pop, the animated mannequin, Lillian, Mimsy, and Grov left.
"Lilly looked inwards to the magic core she shared with Harry. The casting of the spell had dropped the available magic by thirty percent. She could see it visible filling. The amount Harry's body generated was tremendous. In addition, the spirit skill of trapping ambient energy was also filling the core. She estimated that within five minutes, the core would be full. She could see the golden thread that connected to Lillian. It had thinned to almost nothing. She guessed that the construct was using the energy around itself rather than pull on hers. She loved this spell. A normal with or wizard would face magical exhaustion if they attempted to cast it. With her and Harry's core, she had energy to spare.
With that taken care of, she reviewed the memories created from her first clones. They seemed to have the maturity of the age being cloned. She wondered if that was due to her casting or the base spell. She had to laugh remembering the two clones playing tea party. That had been fun. Weird remembering both sides of the conversation and thoughts, but fun.
With a shrug, she decided to continue to work through her spell repertoire. She was learning how much energy was needed for each spell. It amazed her how many spells Tom had learned. She no longer would call him a made-up name. After some time, she felt a tug on her core. When she looked at it, she saw the golden thread had enlarged and energy flowed through it. She wondered what Lillian was doing, but knew she would know soon enough. That gave her a thought. When the flow throttled back down to a golden thread and the core refilled, she cast another clone spell. This time she cast it on the six-foot mannequin. She wanted to test her ability to shift the appearance of the clone. She imagined Remus Lupin standing there. When the spell coalesced onto the mannequin, the clone looked like Remus. She knew that she wasn't completely successful when the clone opened its mouth.
In her voice and inflections, it spoke, "Well, you can't name me Jane. I know! Call me Remmie!"
Lily's focus had been on the body, not the voice. She marked this up as a partial success. If she was to clone another's likeness, she needed to ensure that she included the voice. "Remmie, take my wand. I want you to continue working my spells." Lily told the clone.
"You know you didn't need to tell me that, right?" Remmie cheekily said as it took the wand and intentionally swished away.
Lily knew laughed. Remus was one of the manliest of her friends. He would be mortified seeing this. As a Marauder's wife, she knew this was a memory she would show him if she saw him again. Remmie cast a Verdimillius.
"Whee! Sparkles!" He jumped up and down and then ran in a circle. When the circle was complete, he turned toward Lily. "That will make good blackmail."
She rolled her eyes. She sighed. Harry was too young to exercise heavily. However, she needed to keep his body healthy after his healing. She started running laps around the room as Remmie settled down.
"Pop"
Three individuals appeared in the Dursley's hallway. Lillian turned to Grov. "Is there anything new in the house I should be aware of?"
"No, Lillian, there be nothing."
"Alright, I'm going to start looking at the magic and spells on the house. While I am doing this, make sure that no one wakes up." She began walking through the downstairs. She left the lights off. Spirits could see in the dark and it was easier to see the glow of magic. There was a residual energy in the cupboard, but it was almost gone. There was nothing else of interest on the ground floor. She looked out the kitchen window. The wards were up. They were weaker than she remembered. She cast a wandless Muffliato and walked upstairs. She entered Dudley's room. The little boy was asleep, holding a stuffed bear. To her eye, he must have cried himself to sleep. She looked at the magic surrounding him. The tracking spells were still active. His core was only large enough to keep him alive. It was a muggle core. A new connection had been made to him. A red thread trailed out from him. She tried to remember if Harry had the same on him. He had, but they all thought it was also a tracking spell. She saw that it was a different color and couldn't be.
With her eyes, she followed the thread to where it went through a wall. It led to Petunia and Vernon's room. She got a bad feeling. She left her nephew's room and entered the master bedroom. Vernon and Petunia lay on the bed together. She thanked her lucky stars that Vernon wore full pajamas. Petunia had on a flannel gown. She'd be wearing unflattering gowns too, if she were married to Vernon.
She focused on Vernon first. He also had a muggle core. He had no connections going in or out of him. When she turned her eyes on Petunia, she gasped.
"What be's it, Lillian?" Mimsy asked warily.
Shaking her head, Lillian answered, "I don't believe it. Petunia has the core of a powerful witch. She was bound." The reason that Lily and Petunia's relationship died was due to Petunia being normal. Lillian began analyzing Petunia's core with extreme care. She traced the bind. It appeared to have been applied while she was a baby. Why would anyone bind a baby? Especially one borne to Muggle parents. She took note of the magical signature. It did not match that of the blockages that Harry had nor to the tracking charms. Someone else had done this to her sister.
Continuing, she saw the remains of a geas. She mentally touched it to see what it was. When she accessed its power, she felt compelled to look at the Adonis lying next to her sister. She was so jealous. Realizing what was happening, she withdrew from the geas. Why? Why would someone make her sister fall in love with Vernon Dursley? He was an abusive, bull of a useless man.
She continued her analysis. The red thread connected to Petunia's core. It maintained itself off of her energy. Afraid to touch it, but knowing she must, she touched the thread to see what it was doing. She didn't notice anything. She reached deeper in the thread. Lillian started thinking, 'I must protect my family. My family does not include the other on this link(Dudley). This person is an enemy of my family and must be punished.' Pulling out, Lillian said out loud, "What the fuck?" This was what was causing the abuse from Petunia. Vernon didn't need any extra pushes.
Lillian sat back and thought. With a nod, she moved next to Petunia. She cancelled the red thread spell. The Finite Incantatem did the trick. The geas was almost gone. She removed the remains. She could remove the bind, but Petunia would be left with an undeveloped, mostly unusable magic. She'd be a hedge witch at best.
She looked at Petunia's core. She focused on the area where she could change Harry's body. There was a miniature Petunia there. It looked frozen. Where Harry's was easily reachable, hers was not. However, with spirit sight, she could reach it.
AN idea formed, she asked Mimsy, "Mimsy, can you make sure that neither Vernon nor Dudley wake up? I'm going to talk with Petunia."
"Of course, Lillian. Mimsy can be doing that." Mimsy assured her.
"Oh, will you also silence the area around the two of us?" Lillian motioned between Petunia and herself.
"It be done." Mimsy snapped her fingers.
With some trepidation, Lillian reached out and shook Petunia's shoulder. Petunia rolled over and mumbled, "Not tonight, Vernon. I have a headache."
Lillian smirked at that. She shook Petunia again. Petunia curled her legs up. "Really Vernon, I have a PMS headache."
Lillian laughed at that. The sound of the laugh caused Petunia to waken. She looked up. Seeing a shape looming over her, she screamed. "Who are you? My husband is right here!"
Lillian moved back into the light from the street. Petunia gasped. "Lily? We were told you were dead. What are you doing here?"
"It's difficult to explain. I am dead, but stuck. I'm here trying to understand what's been happening in this house to Harry." Lillian started.
Petunia's eyes widened. "Harry! Oh, my Lord. What have I done?" She started crying as she realized how awful she had been.
"I've taken Harry away from her. He is safe. Petunia, I need to tell you something." Lillian interrupted Petunia. "I'm able to see magic now. When I looked at you, I found three things affecting you."
Petunia paled. "What things?"
"Please don't interrupt. I need to tell this all together. Okay?" Lillian paused. Seeing acceptance, she continued. "Petunia, I've removed a compulsion from you that caused you to see Harry as an enemy. Unfortunately, it was transferred to Dudley a few months ago. Have you noticed your love turning to hate?" She paused. Petunia's crying started again. "The second thing I have removed is an old geas placed upon you to see Vernon as your perfect man. This one had lost most of its power. It still affected you. I never understood how you found him attractive. Now we know. These two were cast by the same person. I don't know for sure who this is, but I have a suspicion. The last thing I found is the worst, by far." Lillian moved forward to hug Petunia.
"What could be worse than hating your son or being forced to love someone?" Petunia asked.
"Petunia, I found that your magical core was bound by someone when you were a baby." Lillian slowly stated.
"Does this mean I was a witch?" Petunia asked with hope and fear.
"No, it means you are a witch who had her power bound." Lillian responded with some anger in her voice. "I can give you three choices. The first would be for me to leave and everything stays the same. The second would be for me to remove the binds. This would allow you some magic, but you would never be as powerful or skilled as you could have been. The third would be for me to unbind you and using some of my magic transform you back into a girl. This would allow you to become a powerful witch. Vernon and Dudley would be left behind."
"I always wanted to have powers like you." Petunia cried onto her shoulder. "You're telling me that somebody took it away from me and made me fall in love with Vernon." She moved her head and looked at her husband. For the first time, she saw him as he was. "Was he always this fat? My memory of him has him looking like a decathlete. All the right parts in all the right places. He looks more like all the parts went to the same place. I thought he had movie star looks. That must have been a powerful geas."
"If I take the third option, is there any way Dudley could come along?" Petunia sat back and looked at Lillian.
"It would be difficult. He is a Muggle. He'll never be able to perform magic. If he came along, he'd be around magic. It would be worse than what you went through as a girl." Lillian answered.
Saddened, Petunia said, "A boy needs his mother. I don't want him to remember me as the bitch I was to him today."
Lillian ventured, "He doesn't have to miss his mother. Vernon could be the Mum. I was going to swap your and Vernon's bodies as punishment for the abuse Harry suffered. You both would have been alive, but knowing that you would never be your normal self ever again. You would both be the freaks you claimed Harry to be. Vernon was mean without any compulsion. He still needs punishment. If 'Vernon' and 'Harry' died in a fire while you and Dudley were away, would Vernon's insurance cover their needs?"
Petunia dithered. She felt disgust towards Vernon. Her love for him was manufactured. However, she loved Dudley. "Could we check on Dudley occasionally?"
"Of course, we'll make sure that Dudley comes up right." Lillian coaxed.
"Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to unbind you. As soon as I finish with that, we'll reverse your core to be Harry's age. You'll be five." Lillian paused, making sure she had Petunia's full attention. "I'm not going to change any memories. You might regress emotionally to a child. Are you okay with that?"
"You're not going to do anything to my mind?" Petunia asked.
"Nothing. The only thing I'll do is teach you how to protect yourself from manipulations in the future." Lillian paused. "Still with me?" Petunia nodded affirmatively. "Right. I will then transform Vernon into your double. It will be permanent. I will place a charm on him where he will never be able to tell anyone that he was ever Vernon Dursley. I want him to know who he was. In the morning, he, as you, will take Dudley to the zoo. Vernon will be feeling ill and will call in sick to work. After they leave the house, a fire will be started by one of Vernon's cigars. I will create two bodies. A Vernon and a Harry body. Vernon's will be in the chair next to where the fire started. Harry's will be in Dudley's bed. We will move some of Harry's stuff in the room."
"Why fake Harry's death?" Petunia asked.
"There are people trying to control Harry. If they believe him dead, then they will leave him alone." Lillian answered with a little anger. "He was put here by one of them."
"Lily, I trust you. Let's do this." Petunia decided.
"Lay down, the unbinding will be uncomfortable at best." Lillian sat beside Petunia. "Close your eyes. I'm going to use my magic to unwrap your binds. It may be painful. They've been in place a long time."
Lillian checked her phantom core. It was linked to Harry's. She was pulling ambient magic in to keep herself powered. She also had the ability to pull from his core. She started pulling magic in. She slowly moved her magic through Petunia's body to the core. Once there, she began coating the inside and outside of the binds braids by following the foreign magic still in them. Once they were fully coated, she gently untied and released them. With each braid released, she allowed the rope to flow back into Petunia's core. Petunia started moaning as this went on. When the unbinding was complete, Lillian asked if she had hurt her.
"Oh no," Petunia smiled. "I don't think I've ever felt this good. I can't really describe it. It was like a pressure I never knew I was feeling was suddenly released. Thank you!" Petunia hugged Lillian. "Can we change the order of things around? I want to speak to Vernon after he becomes my clone."
"Why?" Lillian asked.
Petunia looked at Lillian with a vindictive smile, "I want him to know what he will be facing. I want to see his face when he realizes he'll never be normal again."
Smiling at the other woman, Lillian agreed. "Let's see to Vernon then."
Lillian sent her sight into Vernon again. Finding his core, she found the area that the body's image was held. It was difficult to get at. Being muggle, his core was small and concentrated. The area she was working in was one hundredth the size of an average adult wizard's core. Being spirit based, she was able squeeze in. Smirking to herself, she slowly overlay a vision of Petunia. She thought about everything she knew about her as she replaced Vernon's image. When only an image of Petunia was there, she made sure to tie it down. It wouldn't do for it to slip.
Retreating to herself, Lillian looked at Vernon. Where Vernon had been now lay a copy of Petunia. Up to and including the nightgown. She glanced at Petunia, "Shall we awaken her?"
"Oh, yes." Petunia's false love was gone. She reached over and slapped Vernon's face enough to sting, but not leave a mark.
"What the hell?" Vernon yelled. "Did you slap me, woman? I'll .." Vernon felt something wrong. His voice was too high. Petunia was looking straight into his eyes. Even sitting in the bed together, he always looked down into her eyes. Looking around the room, he saw the two invaders. Feeling some fear, he pulled the covers up to him. "Who are you?" Glancing at Mimsy, "What are you?"
"You remember your sister-in-law, don't you?" Lillian gestured to Mimsy. "This is Mimsy, she is a house elf. What's the matter not feeling normal? I'd suggest not getting your knickers in a knot."
"How dare you. I'm calling the police." Vernon still felt wrong. Normally, he'd have jumped up and confronted these two. For some reason, he felt like pulling away from them and curling up.
"Vernon!" Petunia snapped. She got his attention. "You were an abusive husband and father. You strove for normality. Sorry, hun. You will never be normal again. I'm leaving. Lily came to take Harry. She saw he was abused and was going to make us freaks. Imagine her surprise when she found that I was supposed to have been a witch and I was spelled to love you. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
Vernon's eyes got larger as she spoke. "Of course, I didn't know anything. You think I'd work with any freak?"
Petunia moved forward. "I'm changing my name soon. There can only be one Petunia Dursley. You see, my sister was going to transform us into each other. We would know who we were supposed to be, but would never be able to tell anyone. I was innocent. I had been cursed. She's freed me and I'm going away with her and Harry. Don't fret your little head, though, Petunia." Here she smiled and ran her hand down Petunia nee Vernon's cheek. "I'm sure you'll get your freak on. You're still young. You might find a man to take care of you and Dudley."
Vernon couldn't believe it. "No, this is a nightmare."
"Believe what you will, Petunia," Lillian said. "It's real and is happening. Goodbye and good night."
A flash of light and Vernon fell asleep.
Lillian sat down. Mimsy moved forward. "Is you alright?" She worried. "You did big magic there."
"I'll be fine Mimsy," Lillian comforted. "I had to pull more magic than I had. I'll be alright in a moment."
"While I am sitting, can you do some things for me?" Lillian asked Mimsy.
"Of course, Mimsy can." Mimsy stood tall.
"Move some of Harry's old clothes and anything left in the cupboard into Dudley's room. Set up a second chest of drawers."
"Mimsy can do that. Anything else?"
"Yes, I need enough of anything, garbage would be fine that I could transform into bodies that would pass for Vernon and Harry." Lillian asked. "Can you or Grov bring this to me?"
"We's can do more than that. We's can do the changing!" Mimsy said and popped away.
"Are you alright, Lily?" Petunia asked.
"Yes, I'm almost back to myself. I used up too much energy and needed to recharge." Standing up again, she moved to Vernon. "I'm placing the block on letting anyone know who he was on him. Also, I'm putting the suggestion in her head that Vernon is ill and it would be good to get Dudley out of the house for the day. Harry was also feeling poorly. She will leave him is his and Dudley's bed. I'm going to remove Dudley's memories of yesterday. He doesn't need to remember that abuse. Also, I'm placing a memory of his sharing the bedroom with Harry."
Petunia looked a little worried, "It won't hurt him, will it?"
"No, if anything, it will protect the two of them. I will have Grov call Vernon's office telling them that he has a stomach bug and won't be in today.
The next morning Petunia Dursley woke up. She remembered being Vernon. She didn't remember everything from the night before. She thought that she and Petunia had been swapped. She went downstairs and found him asleep in his chair. When she went into the bathroom, she found that she knew everything she needed to know to look normal. It took a lot more time and effort than it did as Vernon. She went to Dudley's bedroom and woke him up. "Duddikins?"
"Yes, mum?" Dudley asked sleepily.
"Your father and Harry are sick today. I don't want you catching it. What do you think of going to the zoo?" She asked.
"The zoo? That's great!" He hopped out of the bed. He dashed around grabbing clothes and was ready in no time. "Is breakfast ready?"
"I don't want your father getting sick from the smells. We'll eat on our way." With that Petunia led her son out to the car and drove away. Arabella Figg watched them leave and noted the time. It was 08:00.
At 11:00 that morning, a fire started in the house on Privet Drive. By the time anyone noticed, the entire building was in flames. The fire service arrived and put the fire out without it spreading to the rest of the neighborhood. However, the interior of the house was a complete loss. The investigators were in the home removing the two bodies when a car drove up.
"What's happened!" screamed a hysterical Petunia Dursley. She ran to the ambulances.
A fire investigator came forward, stopping her. "Ma'am? Are you Petunia Dursley of 4 Privet Drive?"
Sobbing, she responded, "Yes, yes, I am. What happened? I took Dudley to the zoo today. Vernon and Harry were ill at home. I didn't want my Dudley to catch it."
"Was your husband a smoker?"
"Yes, he loved a cigar now and then." She sniffed, "Why?"
"It seems that he fell asleep and caused the fire. So it was your husband and your other son, "Harry", in the house?" he asked her.
"Well, they were the two in the house. Harry was not my son. He's, no, he was my nephew. His parents had been killed when he was one. We had custody of him." Petunia paused seeing the smaller form on the second stretcher. "Oh no"
Dudley at this point came up, he was a very scared five-year-old. "Mum, what's happened? Where's Daddy? Where's Harry?"
Petunia turned to her son and began comforting him. "There was an accident. Your Daddy and Harry died."
"What do you mean died, Mummy?" Dudley's chin started trembling. He saw the two covered bodies.
"We won't be able to play or talk with them anymore. We won't see them again for a long time." Petunia comforted her now bawling son. Internally Vernon Dursley was screaming, trying anything to let someone know he wasn't dead. Unfortunately, he couldn't break the spell lain upon him. To the world and Dudley, he would be the sweet woman Petunia was before she met him.
She looked up. Arabella Figg was next to them. "You don't have any more questions for them do you, sir?" She asked the investigator.
"No, this is a very straightforward case." He said sadly. He hated these cases. He watched the woman mother her son. She was a good mother. He wished he could find a nice, normal woman like her.
"Come along, my dears, you can stay with me while you get your affairs settled." Arabella gently urged the two towards her home. "I've got plenty of room."
Petunia let herself and Dudley be led to Arabella's home. Before she left the scene, she turned to the investigator, "I am sorry. If only I had stayed home today. I was afraid that Dudley would get sick." She cried.
At 04:30 earlier that day, two elves, one woman, and one automaton popped into the Potter manor's training room.
Lillian said, "Petunia, are you ready to be five years old again?"
"If it means I can learn magic, yes. I don't look forward to being a teen again." She made a moue.
"Before we do, what name do you want to have?" Lillian asked.
"Jessamine. It can be shortened to Jess. I don't want to be anyone's 'Pet' ever again." Jessamine answered. "It was demeaning."
"That didn't take long. Had you been considering a different name in the past?"
"Yes, but every time I started to make a change, something happened and I forgot about it." Petunia said with some suspicion. With what she had just learned, everything was suspect.
"Very well, Jessamine, Jess for short. I love it. We may need to change the last name, at least for a few years." Lillian changing the subject. "You don't mind being the younger sister?"
"What and be the one that gets all the attention?" Jess teased. "I'll be fine."
"Right then. Mimsy can you bring a cot or bed for Jess to lie down on?" Lillian asked.
"It be done." Mimsy snapped her fingers. She loved helping her family. She was even happier caring for children. She was going to have two!
Jess lay down on the cot.
"I'm going to put you to sleep, Jess." Lillian began telling her what was going to happen. "I could keep you awake, but it feels really wrong when your body shifts. It's easier to sleep through it. When you wake up, you'll be quite a bit smaller and cuter."
Jess laughed. "Good night, sis!" She hadn't said that with love since Lily was eleven.
"Good night, sis!" Lillian smiled as she cast a sleeping charm onto Jess.
Once again using spirit sight, she dove into Jess' core. She found the area that controlled body image. She brought up all of her memories of her sister when she was five. She carefully melded it onto Jess' adult form. There was significant resistance. She was changing the body and thus age of a witch. Unlike Vernon Dursley, who was a true Muggle. Jess' core had enough power to resist. The power available to Lillian dwarfed the power of all but one or two others in the world. It was a struggle, but she was successful.
She sat back and looked at her little sister. She looked through her memories. There was a doll that was her sister's favorite. Paddington Bear. Though she called it "Patty Bear". Jess had refused to think of it as a boy. It was a girl! She would stomp her foot. She had a point. There weren't many men who would wear red wellies.
She created a bear for Jess and placed it into her arms. She also changed the pajamas into Paddington Bear pink pajamas. She laughed. She didn't know is Jess would hug her or hit her.
"Is there a room ready for Jess, Mimsy?" She sat down. She could feel the spell's time running out.
"Yes, Miss Lillian. Are you's okay?" Mimsy asked.
"I'm just about out of time. Can you make sure she's put into bed and taken care of? I suspect she's going to be acting like a smart five-year old child when she wakes up." Lillian started losing energy. "Thank you." With that said, the animation ended and the mannequin returned to its original form. The golden energy flowed out of the doll and went back to Harry's body. As it flowed into him, Lily received the memories. As she relived what she discovered about her sister, she began crying sad about what had happened to her and happy that she had her back.