Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series, it belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Thoughts
It was February 1988.
Harry gulped down the nutrient potion and stared at the now empty lunch box. It had been the only meal he'd gotten all day. The Dursley didn't pay for his school lunch, since Petunia made Dudley a boxed lunch every day, far larger than the school servings.
The dinner Gwendolyn brought him would likely be the only meal he got the next day too. And the next. The weekends were the worst because Gwen never visited on weekends.
"Is there a way I could have food even when you're not here?" Harry asked her.
Finally. "Of course. I'll make you something."
The next day, she gave him a three-tiered bento box that was bigger on the inside and a one-person set of self-cleaning cutleries (the charm would run out of power after 30 uses). "The top tier is for breakfast, it has 8 servings for Monday to Monday, the second tier has 8 lunches and the third 8 dinners. It can't be broken easily, stolen, or seen by muggles. I have another bento box, and I'll give it to you full of food every Monday, while you'll give me the empty one."
"I won't need the nutrient potions anymore?" He asked hopefully.
Gwendolyn felt for him, potions tasted nasty. "No more potions. These meals have all the right nutrients for you, so make sure to eat every crumb."
"Did you make them?" He asked curiously.
"I made and warded the boxes, but Great Aunt Muriel's house-elf cooked the food. Minnie will deliver it to you if I can't, or if your relatives lock you up again." She grinned, "House-elves are sneaky buggers, so don't worry about your relatives catching her."
"Thank you," he told her earnestly. "Thank you so much."
§§§
A week after Harry's first request, he asked her for a way to heal bruises. Gwendolyn gave him a face-cream sized tub of bruise balm.
A week after that, he asked for a way to heal broken bones. Gwendolyn gave him a check-up, rebroke the bones that hadn't set right and gave him skele-gro and a pain relief potion. She did one bone per day, and it took two weeks for her to be done.
The week after his bones were healed, he asked her for something that would make his relatives ignore him. She made him a pendant that, with just a lock of the Dursley's hair, would make him unnoticeable to his relatives, unless they were actively looking for him.
It worked very well on Petunia, who was content to ignore him. It worked sometimes on Dudley, who was easily distracted, and not that well on Vernon, who enjoyed beating and demeaning Harry as a stress relief.
Gwendolyn, at the boy's request, taught Harry how to open locks wandlessly, and a simple diagnostic charm so he'd know how badly the man had injured him. She also taught him a wandless Episkey to heal minor injuries, and Ferula to bandage wounds and splint broken bones.
Luckily they locked him in his cupboard when he was injured so they wouldn't see the bandages (plus Dudley's cast-offs were big enough to cover them if necessary). Harry had a reputation for being quite sickly around the neighbourhood.
§§§
Bill graduated from Hogwarts. He would start an internship at Gringotts to become a Curse Breaker in October.
Mum wasn't happy about it. Dad was proud.
§§§
On his 8th birthday, Harry decided to run away.
Gwendolyn, Fred, George, Percy, Bill, and Charlie stared at the birthday boy who had just blown the candles on his chocolate and strawberries cake.
"So…" Bill drawled, "I'm guessing you don't want your presents?"
"Actually, I have a moleskin pouch bag I stole from Hagrid," Charlie chirped. "He could fit all his things in there and then some."
"Perfect for living on the streets," Percy agreed.
"I did ward it so no one can steal it," Bill pointed out to everyone. To Harry, "The bag is from me and Charlie by the way. Gwendolyn taught me the ward."
"We just got you a bag of pranks from Zonko's," Fred and George chorused.
"I bought you a book: Introduction to Wixen society for the Muggle raised, by Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts." Percy pushed his glasses up his nose, "Her class is a joke, but the book is easy to comprehend. I checked."
"I got you a selection of Honeydukes candy." Gwendolyn told him in a daze. She glared at the boy, "You're not running away. Where would you even live?"
Harry glared back, "The streets would be better than the Dursley."
Gwen scoffed, "Yeah, until it rains or snows and you get sick, or you get kidnapped by some pervert." She crossed her arms, "You don't need to run away." Just ask me. Come on, ask me.
Harry glared harder, "You know how they treat me. You're the one who fed me and healed my broken bones!" Angry tears appeared in his eyes, "How can you say there's no need?"
"I think what my sister meant to say," Fred started, "is that you could come live with us." George concluded. "We can hide you in the attic with the ghoul!" They chorused.
"He's a minor," Percy reminded them, "Taking him away from his guardians is kidnapping."
"They're muggles, they can't be his guardians according to wixen law" Charlie reminded Percy, "He's only their ward under muggle law, and those don't apply to us."
Percy had said the same thing many times 'we're wixen, we don't have to follow muggle laws'.
"Sister says that Petunia Evans is a squib," Percy pointed out, "There's no law that says a squib can't be a wixen's magical guardian. Ergo, Petunia is his magical guardian and taking him away from her without her consent would be breaking a wixen law."
"Why do you even know that?" Charlie wondered, as if it wasn't obvious.
"We could kill Vernon instead," Percy pointed out, "killing muggles isn't illegal in Magical Britain, as long as we don't use any illegal spells or potions to do it, and if no muggle sees us using magic while we do it."
"But killing squibs is illegal?" Fred wondered.
Percy nodded.
Bill, who had been watching Gwendolyn up until this point, asked, without looking away from her, "Percy, what does the law on the Unforgivables say, exactly?"
Gwendolyn stiffened.
Unbothered, Percy answered, "Casting any of the Unforgivables will have your wand snapped. Actually using any of them on a wixen or a magical creature leads to a life sentence in Azkaban prison."
"What about casting them without a wand on a squib or a muggle?" Bill asked again.
Percy looked thoughtful, "Well… it's technically not illegal to use it on a squib or a muggle. And if the caster doesn't use a wand then it can't be snapped, since it can't be proven that they're the ones who cast it. The Prior Incantato charm only works on wands, and while most people believe a magical signature comes from a person's magic, it actually comes from a mixture of the wand's core and the wixen's magic."
Percy took a breath, "A person's magical signature is registered by the wand seller after they bond with a wand and given to the Ministry, but if someone uses wandless magic, or for beings and creature who don't use wands, a magical signature will only reveal to the Aurors the specie of the caster, not the individual."
"So, if Gwendolyn wandlessly Imperiuses Harry's aunt and uncle into being nicer," Bill was still looking at Gwendolyn, "it's not illegal and she won't get into trouble for it?"
Percy paused, then shrugged, "Exactly."
A pause.
Then her brothers turned to stare at her.
Gwendolyn ignored them and looked straight at Harry, who was nervously looking between her and her brothers.
"Would you?" He asked slowly, in a whisper. He was tightly holding onto the bottom of Dudley's old shirt.
Gwendolyn smiled, "You only have to ask."
A gulp.
A choice.
"Please, make them stop hurting me."
§§§
The Imperius created a mental link between the caster and the victim. Orders had to be delivered verbally by most, but a skilled Occlumens could use the link to do so.
Gwendolyn in her first life was expected to keep out someone who literally had a piece of his soul inside of him since he was a baby. Someone his mind, and magic, saw as a part of him. Only Lily's protection saw it as a foreign entity, but that was only for Voldemort himself.
The Horcrux, the very source of then-Harry's and Voldemort's connection, was a part of Harry even for Lily's magic.
Keeping Voldemort out had never been possible. Not that Snape had even tried. His continued attacks on Harry's mind weakened his mind's natural protections and made him even more vulnerable. An Occlumens of Snape's calibre would have known that.
Gwendolyn had learned Occlumency in her second life, and practiced it religiously ever since. Now at life number 7, she was a Master of the Mind Arts (and Potions, Charms, Defence, Transfiguration, Warding and Enchanting).
Some magical creatures and beings were impossible to Imperius. Some were harder, and the curse had to be constantly reapplied. Occlumens could fight it off, in time, and using the Imperius on a wixen magically stronger than you went from hard to impossible.
Muggles were easy. Their bodies had no magic with which to fight back, so reapplying the curse once a year was more than enough.
Squibs, though they had a magical core, couldn't actively use magic. So, their magic couldn't fight back, and they were as vulnerable as muggles. The only issue with using the Imperius on them is that they could develop a resistance over time, especially if the orders they received went against their nature.
That is to say, Gwendolyn couldn't make Petunia and Vernon be nice to Harry, or make them punish Dudley for his bullying. The only thing she could do was make them ignore him.
"From now on, Harry will be staying in Dudley's second bedroom, and he will only take care of the garden." I never liked gardening, did I? Why does Harry like it? "When he's home, you will leave him be in his room, and you won't go in. You will ignore him, and you won't hit him or lock him up."
§§§
The entire Weasley family was having tea in Great Aunt Muriel's solarium.
"I have decided to become Heir Prewett." Percy told their parents.
Molly almost spit out her tea, "What?! No! You can't be."
"Of course he can." Lady Prewett sneered, "Don't worry, niece, that condition was only applicable to me and your brothers. Your son will be able to assist you financially if he chooses to, no Veritaserum needed."
"What are you talking about?" Arthur looked serious; eyes glacial. "What Veritaserum?" He turned towards Molly, "You told me your parents wanted your brothers to disown you."
"Yes, Molly," Muriel smirked, "what are we talking about? Tell your husband."
"I can't… I won't…" Molly reddened in anger and embarrassment, "there are children present."
"We already know, mother." Bill sneered.
"And we'd all love to know if you fucked us up." Gwendolyn's eyes were blue glaciers.
"Manners Gwendolyn." Muriel reprimanded her.
"I meant," Gwendolyn smirked, "that we would love to know if we have the Black Madness, or if the love potion you fed dad affected our brain chemistry."
Arthur spluttered, "It was only a weak love potion, nothing illegal. And she only used it once!"
Muriel raised a brow, "Oh? Is that why Molly has repeatedly refused to say under Veritaserum that you weren't under a love potion when William was conceived?" She sipped her tea, "That is, after all, the condition my brother placed in his will in exchange for Molly receiving a stipend from the Prewett vault."
Arthur paled, "Molly?" He laid his hand on her shoulder, "Love? That's not true, is it?"
"Of course not!" Molly yelled.
"Would you be willing to say that under a truth potion mom?" Charlie asked faux-innocently.
Her silence was damning.