"Hello," Lily said weakly. "Nice to meet you too."
"Thank you and welcome to Avalon," Morgan said, flourishing her hand to indicate the landscape of the island.
The landscape was mostly rocky. There was a cliff behind where Morgan stood. To the side was a hill sloping upwards. On the edge of the cliff, at the top of the hills was what remained of Morgan's castle. Dark clouds had formed above them.
"Yeah, nice place. Too bad about the flooding thing," Lily said.
"I know. The ocean has already come in miles. Most of the island is already underwater," Morgan said wistfully. "Soon it will rain and all this will be no more," she finished.
Lily was desperately scanning to see if there were more of Morgan's servants around, but for now she didn't see anyone.
"Don't worry, there's no one here," she said, see. "This was always a one woman operation. Those that serve me are onto other things," she said.
Lily finally took a good look at Morgan. She was tall and thin, with clear skin and dirty blond hair. She should have been beautiful. But there was something about the mad gleam in her blue eyes. The expression of cold calculation on her face that seemed to indicate that she would destroy the world if it fit into her equation, made her seem quite ugly indeed.
"Are you sad about seeing this place go?" Lily asked.
Lily's heart seemed to be pounding out a harder beat than most Horatio Warbeck songs. She was trying desperately to keep Morgan talking while she could think of some plan. But right now she was coming up empty. Her latest question seemed to give Morgan some genuine thought. Lily briefly noticed it had started to rain slightly.
"I suppose the island does give me some sentimental charm," she said. "I have many happy memories from my time here, but being beaten does seem to lessen the charm a bit," she remarked.
"I understand," Lily said nodding.
"Now Lily, are you at all curious to know why I tried to destroy your school?" Morgan asked.
"I am, but I'm surprised you care," Lily said.
"No it's fine. Considering the trouble you went through to try and save it I think you should know," Morgan said.
"Alright, so why?" Lily asked.
"There are a variety of reasons why Hogwarts had to be eliminated. It is an old castle that contains vast knowledge of some things that I'd prefer be secret. Some of the most powerful wizards and witches teach there. But above all Hogwarts represents the spirit of the people, and that must be crushed," she finished.
"I don't understand the last part," Lily said.
Morgan sighed.
"Hogwarts has been a sanctuary since it's inception. Initially it was a sanctuary from the very same war from which I was transported in time," she said. "Once it and all the students and teachers that reside there are eradicated, the one symbol, that represents the hope of the people would be gone. With the hope of the people gone, the battle is already won."
Only when this monologue was finished did the true madness of Morgan reveal itself to Lily. She found it hard to even say anything.
"And now we must address you, Lily," she said. "You are obviously a talented witch. You have proven that, by being a thorn in my side the last two years. I do value talent. I really do. Which is why it pains me to have to kill you," she said.
Lily made a dive for the portkey. Morgan had quickly brought out her own wand and as if by some invisible rope, took hold of the cane and cast it into the sea. It was raining very hard now and the waves were coming in. Lily ran up the hill, away from Morgan. It only took a moment before Morgan apparated in front of her but it gave her time to take out her wand.
"Conjunctivo!" Lily screamed.
Morgan easily deflected the spell. She then muttered a complicated incantation, and a blue spell just missed Lily. They had reached the castle ruins. Lily ducked behind a large stone pillar and shot a Knockback curse at Morgan. Morgan just laughed as it sailed over her. Lily felt the water reach her feet. The waves were coming ever closer.
"Confringo!" Morgan screamed and the pillar exploded.
Lily fell to the ground, dropping her wand.
"Arrricus Duo," Morgan said.
Two jets of orange light hit her legs. She cried out. It was like two knives stabbing her. She desperately tried to get up, but Morgan who was slowly walking towards her, flicked her wand and a wave from behind her crashed onto her, making her fall back down. She got up one last time. The waves were all around them now. The water was up to her knees. She desperately grabbed for her wand. She held it up.
"It's over, Lily," Morgan taunted.
Before Lily could utter a word something flew out of her wand. It was just wisps of white light at first. But then they began to take a form. Morgan's eyes went from menacing glee to horror. The white light became the ghost of a woman. A woman that looked a lot like Lily. The ghost flew at Morgan. Morgan fell over and was overtaken by a wave. She resurfaced, let out one last scream and was pulled back under.
The waves were now above Lily's waist. She could barely stand. Just as she was about to give up she saw a person run up. It was her father! He grabbed her.
"Hold on!" he said.
And then everything went black.
When Lily woke up she was in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. She had been taken there for her legs. Apparently the curse Morgan had hit her with was more serious than she had originally thought. Luckily the Healers had worked fast and she had been able to avoid any serious lasting injury.
Seth and Jane had visited twice. Seth had gone to the Headmistress right after Lily had talked to him in the library. She had in turn contacted Lily's father who Apparated to Avalon immediately. If he had been half a minute later Lily would be dead. Seth and Jane wanted to hear the entire story. Lily told them everything, except about the last part. She had told everyone that Morgan was so focused on Lily that she had let herself be overtaken by the waves, but Lily could tell no one was buying it.
She didn't tell anyone the truth until the day Eve Sage stopped by. It was the last day before Lily could go back to Hogwarts and she was listening to the radio when Eve came in.
"Lily," she said. "I'm so glad to see you. Are you feeling better?" she said.
"Better than I was," Lily said.
"I can't believe you went through all that," Eve said. "You went face to face with Morgan Le Fay!"
"I have a question about that," Lily said.
Lily went through the whole story. The conversation she had with Le Fay. The duel, and finally being saved by what seemed like her grandmother's ghost.
"But what I don't understand is that my grandma, you know, went on to whatever's next," Lily said. "So how did her ghost save me? I thought you might know, since you studied Ghoul Studies," Lily said.
"Well this is getting more into Necromancy, but I do think I know the answer," Eve said. "You use your Grandmother's old wand, correct?" she asked.
Lily nodded.
"Sometimes, you can leave an imprint of yourself, a kind of copy of your soul, on some object that's important to you," said Eve. "It can be brought out by a variety of things, and a grandchild in danger certainly qualifies," Eve said
"So that wasn't my grandmum?" Lily asked.
"No, just a kind of rough copy," said Eve. "But I know her and if it was her she'd have fought all the harder," Eve finished.
"Thank you," Lily said and reached out to hug her.
They embraced for a moment before Lily's father walked in. Eve quickly let her go.
"Hello, Harry," she said. "I'm sorry, I know you're probably mad and you have a right to be, but when I heard what had happened I just had to see-
"Eve," he said, cutting her off. "I understand. I've been thinking. It's been a long time since we had our… disagreement and you and Lily really seem to get along well," he said. "So I think if you really have changed…" Harry said.
"I have," Eve said. "I'm truly sorry about the things I said, and did back then."
"In that case you'll always be welcome in the Potter household," Harry said.
Lily pumped her fist.
"Thank you Harry, maybe we could all have tea sometime," she said. "Have a good summer, Lily," she said before leaving.
After the encounter, Lily told everyone the truth about what had happened on Avalon. The last few weeks at Hogwarts went quickly. Second year exams were pretty easy. Much to Lily's chagrin Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup despite ending the season tied with Hufflepuff on points. The rules stated that in the case of a tie the team that won the head-to-head matchup between the teams won the cup. It was the first Quidditch cup decided in this fashion since the 1910's.
After the Gryffindor match Applebee had patted her on the back and said, "We'll get them next year."
Despite the heaviness of the events Lily was playful with Jane and Seth on the train home from Hogwarts.
"What kind of demented mind do you have?" Lily asked Jane.
"Well what would be the problem with a life sized version of Exploding Snap?" Jane asked.
"I don't know, maybe because it's exploding," said Seth.
For one small moment it seemed like everything was going to quiet down, and Lily's life would return to normal. Then, suddenly Ethan Jordan opened up their compartment door.
"Oy have you lot heard the news?" he asked excitedly.
"No what is it?" Seth asked.
"Look at this headline," Ethan said, showing a copy of the Prophet. "The whole world is going to change."
A/N: And to find out what this world changing event is… you'll have to wait for the third installment of the Lily Potter series, "Lily Potter and the Potion of Magic" to come out. Yes I am that cruel! But, other things you'll see in this third installment.
That disagreement between Lily's dad and Eve? You'll find out a lot more about what happened, as well as more Eve Sage in general.
Romance has only been hinted at very briefly so far. You'll see more of that in the next book.
You may have noticed Lily and Klara's rivalry took a bit of a backseat this book compared to the first one. It'll be back with a vengeance in book three.
Hogsmeade trips and electives. How will these change the lives of our characters?
Lots more action packed adventure!