Chapter 3
Lillith furiously wiped at her eyes, trying to stop the tears that stung her eyes from falling . She was seeing her parents for the first time in her memory, she was not gona cry like some spineless wimp .
„I can't ... I can't belive this ? ˝, she managed to stutter out, holding back her sobs of happiness at finally seeing her parents for the first time . „How is this possible ? ˝ she asked trying to get her emotions back under control, remembering what kinds of disasters used to happen whenever she lost control of her feelings .
„ Well, you see dear,˝ her mother started „we used a concept similarto magical portaits . In case you don't know, a magical portait is a magically enchanted portarit that has been gifted with the ability to move . There are old Pureblooded families that order magical portaits of their every generation . What makes magical portraits of people so special is the way they are activated . A magical portrait activates upon persons death . It does so, because when a person dies, their soul a part of their soul is fragmented, the part that connects it to its mortal body . That part of the soul is then pulled to the portrait, giving it all of the memories and characteristics of the person it was . ˝
Lillith was left gaping open mouthed like a fish out of the water . To be able to make something like that and then replicate it numerous times . Amazing ! She was so engrossed in her toughts abouth the magic that made the portaraits in the magical world that she almost missed the next part of her mothers speech .
„This portrait was made a little differently, of course . Instead of activating at the moment of our deaths, this portrait was made to store our souls until the moment that you find this portrait along with the switch that was hidden behind that illusion . We knew only you would be able to find it because it was rumored that only kitsunes were able to see through that particular illusion . As for the blood taking part, we made it so that we could verify it was you as well as for a second purpose . ˝ her mother finished with a self satisfied smirk, obviously proud of her work that went into creating that particular portrait .
„Wait, ˝ Lillith called out, „what do you mean by 'a second purpose' ? ˝ she asked slightly confused . It was her father who replied this time, smiling ruefully at her mother .
„You see, Lills, one problem of this portrait is that we would be able to see you only when you were standing in front of it . We wouldn't be of much use to you like that so your incredibly smart mother here˝ he stated, pointing at her mother who smiled smugly in her direction before bonking her husband over the head „ devised a way for us to help you 24/7 . The second purpose of that rune was to make a sort of a bridge, linking you to this portrait . Using that we can enter your subconsciousness, better known as your mindscape, and help you out from there . You would not be able to see as, but we would be able to talk to you whenever we wished . And before you ask, yes you can block us out if you so wish .˝ he ended smirking slyly .
After getting over her shock and amazement at her mother's skills, Lillith caught onto a fact that helped explain how did the castle from her mindscape appear in a portrait .
„Ah, so that is why the castle from my mindscape was there, the rune must have changed the painting to fit my mindscape as much as possible, am I right ? ˝ she asked, hoping that she was right .
„Yes, that is why ... ˝, he paused, blinked and then abruptly turned his eyes to his daughter's, „What do you mean, your mindscape ? Are you telling me that you can access your inner mind at seven ?! ˝ he asked, his voice heavy with shock and incredulity .
Lillth blinked in surprise, shocked to hear her father ask her such an insignificant question . „Of course, I could for a year now ? Why are you asking, I mean, it is something incrediby simple, I thought everyone could do it ? ˝ she asked with a slight frown .
Now it was both of her parents that were looking like fish fresh out of water, their mouths touching the floor and she could swear she saw her father shaking, almost spasming . After about a minute of silence, her father let loose a howl of joy more befitting an animal than human voice . Lillith watched in amusement and a slight bit of concern as her father started dancing and prancing around, shouting something that sounded like „My daughter ! ˝ and „Occlumency prodigy ! ˝ all the while laughing his heart out .
Lilly and Lillith enjoyed the show for a few more minutes before Lilly stalked up to her husband and bonked him over his head, finally managing to calm him down from his still unexplained high . When he realised what he was doing, James smiled a sheepish smile while scatching the back of his head in embarassment . When everyone was calmed down, they all went back to their respective resting places; That si to say, the floor of the meadow for her parents and the incredibly comftorable sitting chair .
Remembering the cause of all this madness, Lillith once again repeated her question from earlier, with her mother answering her . It seemed there was some kind of a cycle involved only this time Lillith was the one picking up her jaw from the floor . She had been shocked to learn that what she did should have been impossible for someone her age, though she just smirked later and told herself that she should have known, what with her never being normal and all that crap from the Dursleys .
After that little debate, their conversations turned to small talk until they came upon her treatment at the hands of her relatives . Lilly suddenly realised why Voldemort tried to recruit her mother so many times before killing her . To say she was scary when angered would be a gross understatement . Her mother had practically become a walking mass of rage, all directed at the woman she had called her sister . If there were any more swear words she had not already know from her Uncle she most surely knew them now . She could swear her mother had just given her a whole new vocabulary, every single page of it filled to the brimm with swear words she used to describe her sister, her brother-in-law and her nephew .
After everyone once again calmed down, this time with Lilly being the one in need of calming, they gathere to discuss the final theme of the night, reason behind Voldemort's attack . And for the third time in a row, there was an explosion of anger and hatred, this time emanating from the youngest Potter, her eyes no longer their usual calming green now replaced with burning red, speaking of her anger and hatred, all of it directed at one little, god damned, stinking fucking traitorous rat . She had been incensed that someone could sell out their best friend so easily and for so little . She had allways wanted friends above everything, never having any because of the tub of lard that was her cousin .
And just when she began calming down, that wretched prophecy came to the forefront of her mind . She was initially disbelieving, thinking no one in their right mind would trust so vague, undefined words . Not to mention that it was a bloody prophecy and that it came from a known fraud and drunkard . She had started to seriously suspect that magic somehow must have messed with the minds of most people in her parents world . How did they think a mere child, toddler at best, would be able to defeat a fully grown and trained Dark Lord all on its own ? Yes, that had to be it, she could not think of any other reason for their idiocy, except that maybe her mother was right and all that inbreeding finally broke the boundaries of what magic could fix .
She never noticed, but the longer she ranted and raved, the longer her form seemed to shimmer and waver . This was of course, not missed by her parents, who were patiently waiting for her to run out of steam so they could inquire about her real appearance . After about half an hour, Lillith seemed to have finally wasted all of her vast ammunition of swear words, all of them used to describe the idiocy that was called wizarding world . She had used quite a good bit of them on the old Headmaster of her future school, Albus Dumbledore . She kept asking herself how a man can gather so much respect for his wisdom, even if it was said that he was mad, and then have so little of the same when it came to her family and her own future .
Once she had sat back down, looking exhausted but still quite pleased with herself, if her smug smile was anything to go by, she noticed her parents inquisitve looks .
„And, what, if I may ask, has you so intrigued ? ˝ she asked a bit moodily, it seemed that for all her ranting she was still a bit temperamental .
Her parents just smiled at her before replying „We were just wondering how long you were going to keep this little illusion of yours up . We still quite want to see how our daughter really looks beneath all of that glamout . ˝
She stared at her parents, confused for a moment before she remembered that her true appearance was still hidden underneath her glamours and illusions . She scratced the back of her neck sheepishly, smiling an embarassed smile before she sighed and let go of the bit of what she thought was magic that kept her real image hidden .
Lilly and James were at first surprised, noting how she still looked mostly the same as when she had her illusions on, the main differences being her tails and ears, along with slightly elongated fangs as well as her slit pupils . They were happy that their daughter hadn't changed much from how she looked before her transformation . Those feelings were swiftly replaced with shock and pride, as they both took notice of the fact that their daughter had more than one tail, an extreme rarity for someone so young, in both human and Kitsune terms . Most fox demons only gained their second tail when they reached puberty . To see a Kitsune with two tails at seven was something that was rare, and seeing how that particular Kitsune was also their daughter only made their chests swell with pride for their little girl .
Lillith was naturally stunned to hear that she was much more powerfull than an average kitsune . She was not invincible, far from it actually, but she was still happy with the fact that when she grew up she would be powerfull enough to protect those she cared about, at least she hoped that by that time she would have people to care for . This piece of information about her power level led them to her next question; Kitsune powers and special abilities . She learned that as a Kitsune she will have a great mastery of illusion, both those that used magic and youki, as she found out her second energy was called . She also found out that she had control over Fox fire also known as Kitsune bi, an extremely potent type of flame that was said to be able to affect the very soul of those it touched . She had been told a legend about the last of her special abilities, a powerfull attack whose name was lost . Only thing that was known about it that it was only available to Kitsune who reached their ninth tail, the last one being the legendary Kyuubi no Yoko, though it was suspected that there was more to his power levels than just his age and number of tails he possessed . She filed that tidbit of information for later use, storing it deep within her mind's library . With this final theme over and done for, she excused herself and returned to the Library, where she climbed the ladder, returning to her cupboard, falling asleep the moment her head touched the hard pillow that she was given as a baby, the pillow being first and last gift she ever remembered recieving from here so called relatives .
Wgen Lillith finally bothered to wake up it was already around noon, if the chime of that was reverbating throught the house was anything to go by . She considered herself lucky, her relatives left just this morning, they were currently on a plane heading to Majorca, she basically had the house for herself . Of course they took protective measures, all of the electricity was cut off so she wouldn't be able to enjoy herself that way, fridge was almost empty with barely enough food left for her to survive the next week that they will be gone . They also locked all of the bedrooms so she wouldn't be able to take any spare money for buying new groceries . All in all, she was basically living in an abandoned house .
That didn't bother her though, she had her new trunk and her parents portraits to talk to . Then there was her new personal Library . She was awed and amazed at the number of books inside . Not to mention their content . She was enchanted by the extent of problems that magic could solve . There were recepies for potions that could cure previously incurable deseases, as well as charms that could heal even the most serious injuries in a blink of an eye . She was, however, dissapointed that a world so full of life and wonder could stagnate and become content . She now realised why Muggles were deemed as a threat to those stuck up rich snobs . They never grew content, never stayed still . They continued to expand and develop . She realised that if they accepted Muggle revelations, most of the old Pureblood families would lose their power in goverment . They relied on their old beliefs, they thought that they were cream de la crop of their world only because of something their ancestors did . If they were evalueted by their knowledge and magical power, they would find themselves near the bottom, their inbreeding and silly traditions causing them to become weak and reliant of their money and politics .
Politics aside, she was curious of her own magical power, wondering where her strenght lay and what was she best at . She knew that she would only find this out when she came to Hogwarts, where she would be free to test her limits, both theoretical and practical . From what her parents told her, when she was tested when she was barely a year old, she had magical power of someone three times older than her, and it seemed that she also had an astounding level of control over it, if the stories of her accidental magic were anything to go by . Now that she understood what they werem she remembered her later cases of accidental magic . She remember how her hair grew back after having it more or less sheared off by her loving Aunt, how she shrunk down her cousins old filthy sweater, she even remembered the latest one; she had somehow miracilously appeared on the school roof when she was running from her obese cousin just a few moments earlier . She had been especially proud of that one because she had flied on her own, something, she learned, her mother did as well . Just another thing that made them all the more similar .
Less pleasant were her memories of her punishments for those acts . She forcefully repressed those memories, not wanting to remember the feeling of her back being ripped open by her Uncle's belt, neither did she want to remember her numerous beatings and starvations, all of them caused by her so called loving family . What truly miffed her though was that whatever she did, whichever way she asked for help, be it from the police or social care, everytime something seemed to happen to prevent someone from investigating . Even when her teachers did it, something happened . The curious thing was that it only happened when the name Potter was mentioned .
Snapping out of her thought on the misterious occurences that seemed to happen whenever her name was mentioned to the autorithies, Lillith smirked a bit before entering her trunk, intent on finding out everything she could about the world she would have to enter and posibbly decieve in future .
- Line break -
After her relatives returned from their vacation to find their niece still pretty much alive, they had been in a foul mood . It did not phase Lillith too much . They were in a foul mood al most all the time, the only thing that actually changed was the cause and its consequences . And even though her Uncle tended to be just as vicious ass before if he got her, that seemed to happen less and less . It was, of course, all because of her new mastery of illusions and tricks . Just as she was promised by her parents, she did have a great control over illusions . On a sidenote, she also noticed that she got progressivelly more mischevious as more time passed by . It seemed that her parents were right once again, something that, she started to learn, was a regular occurence .
Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months . It seemed like no time at all had passed when it was Christmas already, her first Christmas with her parents, something she was completely ecstatic about . Even though they could not give her materialistic presents, for Lillith, their sheer presence was enough of a present already .
As the time progressed, so did her knowledge, at least the teorethical side of it . Her first two years were spent learning Pureblood customs . She knew that even though she didn't like them, she still needed them what with her position as the heir of the House of Potter, only aided by her title as the 'Girl Who Lived' or, as the wizarding world thought, the 'Boy Who Lived'.
Lillith discussed with her parents the apparent problem of wizarding world's confusion of her gender . That was when she was informed that her parents had taken all precaution, going so far as to charm the Hogwarts book of students to show her as Harry Potter instead of Lillith Potter . Because of that she had agreed to use her growing prowess with illsuions to put a double layered illusion over herself . The surface layer would show her as a male, a complete copy of her father with the exception of her eyes . She just could not get rid of her mother's eyes, they were a part of her that was always the sasme, no matter what . Next layer would hide her Kitsune appearance in case someone ever discovered her true gender . It had taken her a better part of those two years to become decent enough with her illusions to be able to make a double layered one . And even if it was used to hide her true gender, she could already imagine all of its incredible uses, especially in pranks and battle . She wasn't naive nor stupid enough to think that she could evade danger forever . Even if th Dark Tosser was truly dead, which she doubted, his followers were still out there and they would do anything to avenge their master .
She smirked at that . She could not wait for them to try . She knew there was probably going to be war in future and she was getting ready for . When it came, she was going to be ready .