"Yes Lilly, I found him, I found your eldest son" Severus's words echoed in her mind.
She was shaking and having trouble concentrating on what he was telling her, she knew she was in total shock.
She couldn't begin to explain her emotions and feeling at that exact time – a miracle had just happened in her life and she didn't know quite well how to handle it- it was total excitement mixed with a gringrots cart ride where your insides are all churning and your heart is pounding.
When James had relinquished her much loved baby boy, she was furious, and no matter what reason James gave her, she could never forgive him.
Every member of the order had searched for her baby boy, but to no end. Although she never left hope, she still went on with her life but she never felt complete. There was always a very empty feeling in her heart. She loved Charles and for his sake they'd decided to not tell him about Harry. And then she had Iris, although she loved both her children very much, but no child could ever replace the one who was lost.
"Lilly," Severus called and that brought her out of her daze and she noticed he was offering her a handkerchief, and it was then that she realized that she had been crying.
"Thank you," she said as she took the piece of cloth and wiped her tears away and then looked at her friend asked in a broken and pleading voice.
"Where is he Severus, take me to him, I want to meet him, please Severus please" she begged him but before Snape could respond , the flames in the fireplace turned green and two figures stepped out of it.
James potter and Minerva McGonagall
Both of them looked at the scene in front of them with ever the grifindor – James acted before thinking and shouted at Snapeas he moved towards Lilly .
"What have you done now, Snape?"
But before Snape could counter him with snarky reply, which Lily knew he was very good at, she spoke up.
"He has fulfilled the promise he made , unlike you James."
Now this confused James and Minerva who were still trying to process the whole situation.
"What are you talking about Lilly, and why are you crying? I know Snape is somehow the reason behind it, and what promise?" asked a now very confused James Potter.
Lilly Potter stood up from her seat shakily and held her husband close and said
"These are the tears of joy James, I have not been this happy in years" she said and then looked over to where Snape stood and said fondly
"Severus found him," and then looked at James again and said
" He found our Harry."
Whatever James was expecting to hear, this was not even close to it...Snape had found his eldest son, but Harry was dead, every evidence pointed to that sad and unfortunate but true fact.
"But- but that's, - that's not possible " james stammered , "how can he find Harry, Lilly ?" he asked his wife and then stated
"Our Harry is gone Lilly , he is dead, " and then turned towards Snape and yelled at him
"You are lying! Why are you lying?" and then he too succumbed to tears and would have stumbled and fallen had minerva not caught him and helped him to a chair ,and Snape said in a cold voice.
"Do not accuse me of lying,Potter."
"Then prove it, take me to him" James replied.
"No," Lilly said, whichshocked everyone.
"You will not go anywhere near him, I forbid you to do so," she told James.
"ButLilly, he is my son, and- and if he is alive I have to see him, I have to make sure he is all right," James supplied.
"Like you did when you left him at petunia's doorstep!" Lilly said angrily,"You abandoned him, and you will not go anywhere near him now."
"He was a squib Lilly."
""No James no, Harry was not a squib , I had seen him do magic and -"
"I know Lilly, that's what poppy said that Harry was not born a squib but the attack by Voldemorthad somehow rendered him a squib" James rebutted.
"Even if that were true James, a child needs love, unconditional love, and only a parent can provide that, and there is no excuse to shrink away from that duty,"replied Lilly Potter.
"Lilly, I had a reason for what I did. In the wizrding world squibs are looked down upon, they are treated like vermin, even worse than muggleborns, and I have seen how badly that ends. I didn't want that life for Harry, " he explained and Lilly was about to retort when Snape suddenly started laughing.
It was not the cruel laugh that Snape was linked with, it was uncontrolled laughter as if he had heard something extremely funny.
"Have you finally lost it,Snape, do you think this is funny?"James yelled at him.
Snape composed himself and then sneered at James and said
"Yes to say that your son is a squib, that could be the joke of the century" Snape said, and then donned on his usual gloomy and serious look.
"What do you mean by that?" James demanded in frustration.
"What I mean Potter is that he is far from a squib, he is probably the strongest and smartest wizard Hogwarts has seen since Dumbledore," he said and was about to continue when Lilly interrupted him.
"Hogwarts, he is at Hogwarts?" she asked.
"Where else do you think I found him?" he said.
"If he is attending Hogwarts then,Albus would have known about him," she said and then looked at Minerva and asked her,
"Then you must have met him too, why didn't you tell us?"but then understanding dawned upon her as she said
"Unless he has changed his name."
"Correct Mrs. Potter," Snape said and looked over at James and smirked at him.
"You have met him? What is he like Severus?"Lilly asked.
"He is a genius Lilly, not just in one or two branches of magic, and as much as I loathe to admit it,he is a prodigy in every field, and he has already started breaking records."
At this Lilly potter smiled with pride but then frowned at what Snape had said and asked him
"But why would you loathe to admit that Severus?"
Snape paused for a moment to think over his reply but then decided to come clean with it and replied
"Because he now bears the name of the family that I hate as much as I hate the name Potter."
While this confused James and Lilly for a moment, it was enough for Minerva to put all the pieces together and figure out the identity of the missing potter, she was so shocked that without even realizing it she blurted out the name
"Perseus"
At which James,Lilly and Severus turned towards her as this was the first time she has spoken since arriving
"Perseus Aeries Black, heir to the most noble and ancient house of Black" Minerva said.
"Have you met him?And for Merlin's sake tell me what is he like?" Lilly asked Minerva, her arms flaying.
"Yes Lilly I have met him, I have taught him and Severus is right, he is quite a genius, and he is even better than James was at transfrugation and he has quite a powerful personality, he became the only first year student ever, to become a member of the dueling club and not only that, he is also a member of the team that will represent Hogwarts in the dueling tournament next year in Japan."
Hearing about her son and his achievements made Lilly beam in pride but also saddened her at the same time that she was not able to guide him and support him. She then asked Minerva the question that has been on her mind for a long time
"Is he well? Is he happy?"
"He seemed well enough to me," she said with a smile her mind going back to the day when she had asked Perseus from whom he had learned and when he had replied by saying 'life'.
"Perseus,"Lilly repeated the name with a fond smile on her face as if checking how the name sounded and then she looked at James and said
"Perseus, it sounds beautiful, doesn't it James?"
But looking at james's expression turned her smile to look of worry. James was now staring at the fire crackling in the fireplace , he looked furious and then he said in a barely audible whisper
"Black"
"My son is a Black" he said angrily , for if there was one thing that James and Snape had in common, it was that they both hated the Black family, though for different reasons.
"Arcturus had in a way kidnapped my heir, I will not forgive him, I will drag him in front of the wizengamot and—"
"And you would do no such thing" Lilly potter said furiously. If anyone thought that James was angry, then Lilly 's rage put James temper to shame but before she could say anything else Snape interrupted them.
"And even if you were to do so, potter, do tell me on what grounds will you challenge Arcturus black?"
This confused Lilly and Minerva slightly, but James seemed to have understood what Snape was referring to as he sighed and sat back in his chair in defeat.
"What do you mean by that Severus?"Lilly asked to which Snape said giving James a twisted smile.
"Well your dear husband utilized every means he had at his disposal to make sure that no one would be able to find your son, he used his contacts at the ministry, a memory spell here and there and a bit of gold to erase every record of Harry James Potter, from the ministry , from St. Mungos, from everywhere, so as far as the ministry and the world is concerned, you only have two children. Harry James Potter does not exist, he never existed."
This shocked Lilly to the core, she couldn't believe it but as she looked at the broken form of her husband she knew Severus has spoken the truth.
"And if you were to contest for his guardianship, just think what would the world say, 'that you abandoned your eldest son in favor of the boy-who-lived,'here he gave a cruel smirk and continued
"you and your family will be ridiculed, despite the fact that your daughter, son and wife had no hand in it even then they will suffer the consequences of your actions, then you will be charged for the crime of tempering with official records, and as a auror you must know it's quite a serious crime."
Everyone thought over it for a minute but Snape again spoke
"And even if you were to find some sort of proof or evidence for your claim, do you really think you stand a chance against Arcturus Black?"
Now this gave everyone,specially James something to think over.
James knew he would never be able to win against Arcturus Black. The Black Lord carried a lot of influence in not only the British ministry of magic but also in ICW.
'The man who had once conquered an entire nation alone?No,going against someone like that would be suicide.'
"What do you mean by that Severus, I know the Black family is rich, but why is Arcturus Black so feared?" Lilly potter asked but it was James who answered her.
"Lord Black is a very powerful wizard Lilly; a direct descendant and also an apprentice of Aristaeus the is the ruler of Oceania, a genius when it comes to battle tactics. Oceania was the only country other than Velos that even Grindelwald dare not attack. And while it was Dumbledore who faught Grindelwald, it was Arcturus Black along with a handful of his men kept the entire army of Grindelwald at bay."
There was a long silence in the room as Lilly processed this news and then she spoke,
"I want to talk to Arcturus Black then."
"You will have to wait for at least a month, Lord Blackis in Oceania right now," Snape replied.
"So what? I will just go to Oceania," she replied.
"No," James said suddenly. "Lilly, no. It's a very dangerous place, and despite it being under the control of the ministry, no one, not even the aurors dare venture to Oceania."
"oh,"she said and then after a while said,"very well then, I am going to meet harr- "
"Persues," she corrected herself.
"Are you sure you want to do that Lilly?"Snape asked her.
She did admit that she had a fear that her son might hold animosity towards her and would reject her if they did ever meet again.
'Even if that were to happen, I would feel better knowing that he was doing alright. That would bring some peace to me' she thought and then looked at Snape and McGonagall and said
"Yes, I want to see him, and then I will decide if meeting him would be a wise choice or not."
"You want to,in a way, spy on him,"Snape asked her and on her nod continued
"And how would you do that?"
"I will use a Dillusenment charm, he won't be able to see me," she said as if that was the most reasonable answer.
"Somehow I doubt that would work?" Snape said.
"I am a charms mistress Severus, trust me I can do a dillusenment charm easily."
"I am well aware about your abilities Lilly, but I have also seen in action, the boy can shoot and hit the target with his eyes closed, and I think he will be able to detect you regardless of the dillusenment charm," Severus said and this shocked James and Lilly.
"Severus is right Lily, Albus himself witnessed Mr. Black's ability to fight with his eyes closed, and I agree with Severus, the chances of him detecting you are pretty high" McGonagall added.
"While you all come with some way to do that, I will inform Albus about everything." Snape said.
"You haven't told him yet?" Lilly asked him.
"No, I thought it was right to inform you first, Lilly, after all he is your son," he said and moved towards the fireplace and left for Hogwarts.
Lilly's mind was travelling faster than a snitch, she was thinking of all the ways to see her son without him being able to notice her. And then something struck her.
'James's cloak ' she thought to herself and then said out loud,
"James, your invisibility cloak, it is a very powerful magical object and no one can see through that cloak, well other that moody , but I somehow doubt har- ,"she gave a pause and then said
"Perseus, I mean what are the odds that Perseus would possess a similar ability?"
"I have got to tell you Lily, that when it comes to Perseus black, one can never be certain,"Minerva said.
But they were all in for a surprise because Unknown to them all Perseus was actually in process of obtaining such ability.
Perseus was on the seventh floor corridor, yesterday he had visited the room where voldemort had hidden one of his soul containers. And Perseus was rummaging through all the stuff that was in that room. He thought about his first visit to that room.
Flashback
He had come to the conclusion that it was an utter treasure trove for him. People had lost, or hidden a great many things in the school, and a fair amount of those things were valuable.
Of course, the illicit books were a severe boon to him. There were so many books on every imagining dark subject, hidden away in there – no doubt from students who didn't want to get caught with them, much like voldemort's own reason for having discovered the room. The difference was that the owners of those books had apparently never figured out how to get back into the room to retrieve their things later.
Looking over the many shelves he realized just how much stuff had been lost over the years. He could see everything from simple stink bombs, joke sweets, and other harmless pranks, some 'randy' books and mundane magazines, such as Witch Weekly and Play wizard, lots of fire whiskey, some muggle footballs, pretty much everything you can imagine the students of a magical boarding school to have was here.
He had already found several things that had taken his fancy, one of which was the simply massive pile of chocolate frog cards, including some he'd seen, from a brief scan, which hadn't been produced in centuries. He hadn't looked through them all yet, but hopefully the collection would contain even more of the rarer ones he needed to complete his own collection. A complete collection was a rare thing and highly valuable in the wizarding world. In the future they might even serve as much loved gifts given to prospective business partners who were fans of the cards. Little gestures like that went a long way to secure and keep a business relationship on good footing.
Before putting the cards into the sack, he had the sudden thought that he was becoming a kind of a collector of things, considering the type of things he had taken so far. After all, why take a chess set when he already had a very good one? Sure he liked chess, but he had no use for another set and it would just take up space. The chocolate frog cards, however, were actually monetarily valuable to collectors and useful for information purposes, as they contained short summaries of all major wizards and witches who had been deemed influential enough in European magical history to be added to the famous card collection.
A business idea came to him at that thought. Why limit the cards to Europe alone and limit the market of customers? Perhaps the cards could be sold in other parts of the world with a more targeted collection of figures. North America, for instance, would have a collection of cards featuring prominent American, Canadian, and Mexican wizards and witches throughout history, including the Native American shamans and sorcerers of legend. South America, Australia and Asia could be done the same way, with perhaps something other than chocolate if their cultural tastes didn't enjoy that particular treat. He'd have to have the goblins look into who owned the company which produced the cards and see if they might be willing to sell.
Back to the matter at hand, unless you had a good size collection of cards, including the rarer ones, most cards weren't individually all that valuable. The ones he had found, though, were some of the rarest cards ever produced, still in mint condition. He was still surprised that voldermort had never explored this room as he thought that other students wouldn't have anything importand to begin with unlike him, as he held himself in high regard.
What he found next surprised him, a crates of bottles of wine. He thougt that they were useless but a closer look and he found that they were no ordinary wine.
"blood wine" Perseusthought in amazement and he was even more surprised to find that they were four centuries old, the wine produced by vampires, the recipie to make them is a very close guarded secret amongst the vampire decided to take it with him on the way back.
Leaving the crates behind, he turned his attention back to scanning the shelves for anything of interest, or use. A couple more minutes passed before he saw anything else that took his fancy. He saw a shelf with what appeared to be something similar to a strong box on them, which probably meant that there was probably something valuable inside. Quickly examining the ornate wooden box, the box was quite similar in design to the viewing boxes found in the jewelry stores, with the glass serving as a viewing window for the contents inside. He silently vanished away all the dust on the box.
What he saw inside the glass surprised him, inside the box was a silver bracelet and an axe. And Perseuscould tell just by looking at them that it was goblin made.
Looking over the strong boxes, he found that they each had faint rune engravings on them which had worn down over time, mostly, it seemed, because they hadn't been properly maintained. He couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment at how lazy wizards were, how often they used magic that they barely understood, and overall at the lack of effort that was made to protect their so-called valuables. It seemed that having the Goblins and their Curse breakers protecting their wealth and exclusively fulfilling all their warding requirements had made them lazy and forgetful about the need to maintain runes to keep them functioning as intended.
He recognized that the runes were clearly Latin in origin, which was to be expected since Latin and Celtic runes were the two main rune scripts used primarily in Europe these days. This made his task considerably easier. He quickly decided that the best thing he could do was to remove the individual runes, hopefully that, coupled with its poor maintenance, and would disrupt the strong box's wards and magical protections.
He took out his own rune crafting knife quickly and begin chipping away at the faded runes. He knew it would be slow, tedious work to chip away at the runes, but it was the safest way to gain access to the valuables contained within.
He could have just banished the runes or even countered them or even overpower them, but since the runes were very old he didn't wish to take any chance as the runic array could be incomplete and could lead to a lot of trouble.
After chipping away at the runes for a good while, it was simplicity itself to open the strong boxes. In fact, all it took was a moderately powerful finite which cancelled out the most basic spells aimed at locking the box's lid, to remove most of the protective security magic. This was followed by the standard unlocking charm to shift the internal locking mechanism to 'open'.
He cautiously opened the strong box with another flick of his wand, before looking inside for any additional runes that may have been hidden and missed earlier. Part of him was disappointed that he found none. Not yet wanting to put his hand inside the open box, in case of some still undetected security spell, he cast the summoning spell inside the strongbox hoping to get access to the jewelry.
"Accio Silver Bracelet," he said aloud. Now if it ware some other wizard the charm would have failed for sure as silver was magically resistant plus it was goblin made and as such had anti-summoning enchantments on it, but it was Perseus, and he was using a very powerful wand and as such, the silver bracelet leaped into his open arm.
It was a simple silver bracelet, with a beautiful sapphire and some fine rune engravings on it. If Perseus didn't know better he would have thought that it had probably belonged to some spoiled pureblood princess. But he knew better, he knew it was made by goblins for a particular purpose, he inspected the runes that were engraved upon it .
"Aha!" Perseus said loudly as he realized what he was holding and then a small sapphire on it and instantly he felt a improved variant of dilluseunment charm take effect.
'This is even better than an invisibility cloak' he thought as he put the bracelet on his left wrist and again pressed the sapphire and he became visible again.
He then levitated the axe out of the box too and checked it for any dark magic, finding none he held the goblin made axe and read the tag attached to it
'the axe of the goblin king, grimlock the third, '
He remembered the name of that goblin, who had faught against the dwarfs in the 16th century .Someone must have stolen it from him and must have hidden it here.
"This could be very beneficial, as well as a bargaining chip with the goblins," Perseus thought as he put the bracelet and the axe in his bag which had an extension charm on it and left for his dorm.
He moved further in the room and came face to face with a skeleton with glowing purple eyes. Inside the ribcage of the skeleton was an old book , black leather cover and the oddly a design of what appeared to be human with the face of a wolf. He knew the skeleton was not just a show peace. He tried to get a read on the magic around it , but there was none but something told him that was not the case.
Although one thing he was sure of , it was a result of a sacrificial magic. And he had started dabbling a bit with his nullifier power when an idea had struck him that he might be able to expand his nullifying has only been able to do it in a very small scale; just his hand. Lack of any guidance and information on that power was the reason for his lack in progress.
He extended his right hand , his hand covered by an invisible glow , the similar glow he had gotten when the protection of those shamans had wrapped around him all those years ago. He put his hand from below the ribcage and grabbed the tome. And slowly he took it out and just as he was sure his hand was far away from the skeleton he ended the magic .and suddenly he was very tired , the last piece of magic had nearly exhausted him. But he got up and opened the tome and cursed loudly, as the book was blank.
Flashback ends
He had kept the book none the less and was glad as he had later discovered that it was just a cloaking spell and all he had to do was bypass it. Something he has been trying to do for a while now, but was unsuccessful. Other than that he'd yet to find anything else of importance in that room, but he was shocked beyond measure when Rokky informed him about the true potential of the room; the room can be anything one wants it to be, the room of requirement and Perseus was glad that Voldemort had not found that particular information.
Perseus entered the room and found the room to his satisfaction, the floor was made of stone, and torches provided sufficient light in the room.
He had been reading the grimoire of Balthazar black thoroughly; he had found several rituals that would be extremely beneficial.
Perseus had been researching on enhancing rituals for several weeks. He had seen in Voldemort's memories that he had used several rituals to boost his body's output in battle. That had been the reason why he had been so feared in battle. The man could literally appear anywhere at any time with inhuman speed.
There were many rituals in the grimoire, there was one to boost one's reflexes and strength , but Perseushas already done that. Then there was an animagus ritual, something that Perseus has never heard of before. But what baffled Perseus was that Balthazar was seeking the work of a witch named Diana and Perseus couldn't help but think that maybe it was the same witch that had created the vampires as Alistair had informed him . Balthazard believed that Diana knew of a way to combine all these rituals in one by doing a very complex sacrificial ritual.
The ritual Perseus was going to perform today was the 'ritual of sight'. It was one part of a ritual that was designed by Emora, the Vengeful, which created the first vampires. Advantages of that ritual included, the ability to see through invisibility charms and objects with similar enchantments. The ability to see past solid objects.
Perseus of course knew about Alastor Moody, and also that with his magical eye he had similar abilities. But the ritual had even more to offer, like being able to see perfectly in dark, ability to see miles away, like an eagle.
According to Balthazar, this ritual won't alter the appearance of his eyes in any way but his eyes would glow quite unnaturally whenever he would utilize the said power.
And as such Perseus proceeded to start the ritual. He took out a vial that contained the potion that he had prepared earlier and poured it in a bowl,he then took out his ritual dagger and made a large cut on his palm and let his blood fall into the bowl. The effect was immediate. The green colour potion turned bright orange.
He then took out his brush made up of unicorn feathers and dipped it into the bowl and started drawing a complex pattern of runes on the stone floor. The overall shape of the runes was that of a triangle.
Perseus then took out a case from his bag which had three objects in it. One was the skull of a dementor, the other were eyes of a blood hound; only animal that can see through any form of invisibility anddementor being the only being that could see through illusions and other concealing or cloaking magic.
The reason he was performing this ritual was that he believed it would give the ability to read the book he'd found in the room of requirement.
Perseus knew these ingridients were extremely hard to procure. No matter how much money one had or even in the depths of the black market , these ingredients couldn't be found. But fortunately for him Voldemort had been a paranoid bastard, and all the rare ingredients he had collected or stolen, all the money he had and the rare tomes he had acquired, were all stored in one place. A small island not far from Wales.
The island itself was under a fediliuscharm, but Perseus was able to go through it as he had gotten that knowledge from Voldemort's soul itself and as such the magic couldn't distinguish between him and Voldemort. Perseus has then sent Rokky to acquire these items.
He put the eyes on two corners of the triangle and the skull of the dementor at the third corner and himself sat in the centre of the runic array.
"This kind of ritual is different than the blood magic I have done before,let's hope this works," he thought and started chanting.
"Improvidus Vision, claritas, Eyesight
Oculi diemet oculos nox
redde mihi
verum conspectu meo"
He paused for a moment just as he felt the runes getting charged, he could feel the magic swirling around him and then he continued chanting.
"ut videam
magia lucem
redde oculis unius
vident in claritate refulgens
Hoc volo, sic erit"
As he finished his chanting, a soft silver glow came out of the runes and slowly enveloped his body. Perseus watched as the magic literally transferred the magical properties of the two objects he had place at the corners of the triangle to him. Which was slowly absorbed into his body. The light around him turned golden and Perseus started to feel a stinging sensation in his eyes .
As they glow of the magic vanished after a few minutes Perseus again felt normal though the stinging sensation was still there in his eyes. But then suddenly his eyes started to burn as if someone had put lava on them and his head stated to ache as if someone was ripping it open from inside.
Perseus didn't know what to do he couldn't see anything and the headache was killing him and in desperation he called out for his loyal house elf.
"Rokky"
And in an instant rokky appeared in front of him and he was too shocked to see his master in such pain.
"Master Perseus, whats happening to yous?"
"Rokky, take me to my dorm and make sure no one sees me in this condition" Perseus said in a shaky voice and the last thing Perseussaw was large eyes of rokky looking at him in worry before he lost consciousness.
He woke up and felt the soft silk sheet and without even opening his eyes he knew that he was in his bed.
And acting like a stupid grifindor he opened his eyes in an instant .His eyes felt normal, there was no burning sensation in his eyes and his headache was gone too. Though he was relieved of the pain itself, the feeling and sensation of the pain still lingered and was fresh in his mind.
'That bloddy Balthazar didn't mention that the ritual would be painful as hell,' he thought just as he started recollecting the memories of last night and in an instant he called out for Rokky who appeared before him.
"Master Perseusis awake, is Master feeling well now?" he asked and going by the tone of the house elf Perseusknew that he was still worried about him.
"I am alright now Rokky, thank you for your help yesterday," Perseus said but Perseus was surprised to see that the elf was not even meeting his eyes and Perseus was about to ask him about it when the door to his dorm open and Nicklaus marched in.
"Aah finally you are awake,"he said in his usual cheerful manner.
Now if Rooky'sbehavior surprised Perseusthen Nicklaus's presence bewildered him even more because Nicklaus should have boarded the Hogwarts express and should have left for his home by now but before he could ask him anything Nicklaus spoke up.
"I must say even for the pampered and rich Black heir, two o'clock in the afternoon is pushing it way to far" he said sarcastically as he pulled the blind on the window, which allowed the searing sunlight to enter the room.
"What are you doing here?" Perseus asked but before Nicklaus could give another sarcastic reply he rephrased his question.
"I mean shouldn't you have left for Christmas holidays by now?"
"Aah yes, I would have, but you were in such a critical condition, how could I leave you like that?" he said.
"Ah yes" Perseussaid and then continued.
"Listen. About that, you didn't have to stay, I would have been fine. I am sorry you had to miss your train due to me."
Perseus said this even though he was really glad that Nick had helped him and it also explained why Rokky was so sad, he had in a way went against Perseus's order when Perseus had instructed him to make sure that no one sees him in that condition.
"Ah,it'salright, you have a very loyal but also an intelligent elf,"Nick replied as both of them looked over to Rokky who was now shedding tears as he came near Perseus and said in a broken voice,
"I am sorry Master, I disobeyed you orders, but you were in a lot of pain and Rokky didn't know what to do and so Rokky called for master's friend and he gave master a potion and master went to sleep although master's friend also slapped master once." Here Perseus looked sharply at Nicklaus who just gave an amused smile.
"Oh Rokky is so sorry master, this is the first time Rokky had disobeyed you, Rokky is ready for any punishment."
Perseus knew the elf felt extremely sad, and he knew what Rokky did was right so as to put his worries away, Perseus knelt down so that he was on the eye level of Rokky and put one hand on his shoulder.
"You don't have to apologize Rokky, I am not at all upset with you. And I know what you did was right even if it was against my order. And you don't have to worry about any sort of punishment, not now, not ever," he said as he stood up again.
The elf looked up at him in surprise and then gave a wild smile and wrapped his tiny hands around Perseus's leg and said,
"Master Perseus is a great Master, Rokky is so happy to serve master."
"Thank you Rokky,"Perseus said and then after a moment again asked rokky,
"I'm kind of famished; you think you can get me something to eat?"
"Yes master Perseus, would Master's friend like something?" he asked as he looked over to Nick.
"A glass of juice and a sandwich will do, thank you,"Nick said and with a snap Rokky disappeared.
Nick looked at the spot where Rokky had vanished from for a moment then looked back at Perseus who was now again sitting on his bed and said,
"You treat your elf well, if only every wizarding family was like that,"he said.
"I treat him well because he is a living being he serves me well,"Perseus said as Nicklaus dragged a chair and sat on it.
"He was quite worried last night, and rightly so, you appeared to be in a lot of pain,"Nick said.
"I –I umh,"Perseus didn't know what to say.
"I was preparing for the tournament and I got hurt,"Perseus said and then Nicklaus gave Perseus an amused look.
"Don't take me for a fool, I know the aftermath of a ritual when I see one,"Nicklaus said and this surprised Perseus a bit and he was about to say something when Nicklaus spoke.
"You don't have to explain it to me Perseus, I understand. But don't lie to me at least."
Perseus had the decency to look a bit ashamed but then he decided to justify his actions and told Nicklaus,
"It's just that I don't trust easily and the only person I trust other that my grandfather is well, no one. I mean I have never had a friend before and it's difficult for me to trust anyone."
"And why do you think that is?"Nicklaus asked as this was the first time Perseus has opened up a bit.
"Let's just say that once you are betrayed by someone who was supposed to take care of you, you are bound to have trust issues," Perseus said trying to make Nicklaus understand.
Nicklaus nodded in understanding but did not ask pried any further. Just then a plate of sandwiches and two glasses and jug of juice appeared on the table beside the bed.
"Well, lets have lunch then we will head for the library, Helena is waiting and will meet us there"
Perseus was again surprised and he stopped eating and asked Nicklaus why was Helena still here.
"Well believe it or not she too was worried about you mate," he said.
They ate and made senseless chatter,well Nicklaus did mostly and then they made their way towards the library where they found a bored looking Helena reading a book and was furiously taking notes.
"Hey Helena,"Nicklaus shouted which earned them a glare from Madame Pince but they ignored her since they were the only one in the library.
Helena looked up from her book and smiled widely and asked Perseus,
"How are you feeling now?What had happened to you?Do you want to go to the infirmary?"
"I am sorry, I didn't think anyone would be that worried about me,"Perseus said teasingly.
"How you hate to be wrong?" Helena asked with a smirk.
"I wouldn't know, I am not familiar with the sensation," Perseus replied teasingly but surprisingly it didn't annoy her at just stood there, awaiting an answer to her previous questions.
"I am fine, just a little accident during dueling practice, I am perfectly fine now,"Perseus replied.
"Okay good," she said. And then she spoke up again,
"And yes, before I forget, some senior student with weird purple hair was looking for you, she asked me to remind you that the dueling club's meeting is tonight."
"Oh yes, I had forgotten about it," Perseus said as Helena packed her things and the moved out of the library.
"Wait, what meeting? But the students must have left by now." Nick asked.
"The dueling club's meeting, apparently some auror from the DMLEis coming for an interactive session, and no the members of the club didn't board the express, they will leave via floo tonight,"Perseus informed them just as they reached Professor Fitwlick's office and Perseus was about to knock when the said professor came out himself.
"AhMr. Black, I didn't see you at breakfast, and Ms Angelis, what are you doing here?Shouldn't you be on the Hogwarts express?" he asked.
"Actually that's why we are here see, I wasn't feeling well and Nick and Helena were worried about being good friends that they are, they decided to not board the express,"Perseus said.
"Ah! 10 points to each of you Ms Angelis and Mr. Mikaelson for such display of loyalty and friendship," Fitwlick said.
"Professor I was wondering if you would please allow them to use your floo to go home?"Perseus asked which surprised both Nicklaus and Helena as they looked shocked.
"Very well, Mr. request is a genuine one. Please follow me," he said as he motioned for them to follow him inside his office.
"But we have to get our luggage," Nicklaus said.
"Ah, do not worry,"Fitwlick said.
"Dipsy," he called out.
And in an instant a house elf appeared before them and he said,
"Yes Professor sir?"
"Can you please fetch Mr. Mikaelson's and Ms Angelis's luggage from their dorms?"
"Yes sir," he said and vanished and reappeared again with two trunks and wishing each other a merry Christmas, within moments they both flooed for nicklaus's house leaving only Perseus and Fitwlick in the room.
"Thank you Professor."
"Oh, not a problem Mr. Black. I will see you in the evening during the meeting then," he said.
"Yes Professor,goodbye,"Perseus replied and left his office and made his way towards his dorm. He still felt a bit tired and wanted to rest but his path was blocked by the evil Mrs Norris. Perseus didn't pay her any heed and just stunned her and moved towards his dorm and slept in till the evening, he was still so tired from the ritual that he completely forgot to check if the ritual actually worked or not.
Lilly potter moved quietly through the corridor of the seventh floor of Hogwarts. She had not been to the castle in 5 years and she would have been elated if she were not feeling nervous for what was to come.
Finally she reached her destination, as she spotted McGonagall standing outside the door who was looking just as nervous as her. She took the invisibility cloak off her which caused McGonagall to jump in surprise as she put her one hand over her chest.
"Dear Merlin,Lilly, don't scare me like that again. I am not as young as I once was," she said.
"I am sorry Minerva," Lilly Potter replied and then again asked her,
"Is this the room?"
"Yes, the members of the dueling club will assemble in this room in about fifteen minutes, along with professor Fitwlick and professor Castle, although Filius said that they would be joined by two aurors from the ministry," McGonagall replied.
"Okay, thank you very much Minerva. I will get going now," Lilly said as McGonagall gave her a nod and said,
"Best of luck Lilly, you will need it." And then walked away just as Lilly Potter entered the room.
The room was larger than any other classroom at Hogwarts, probably three fourth the size of the great the middle of the room was a large, slightly raised, round dueling platform. There were runes etched all around the platform so that no astray spell would hit the audience.
Lilly Potter went and stood at the far corner of the room and donned on the invisibility cloak and cast a silencing charm around her.
She didn't had to wait long as after a few minutes students started to enter the room. She recognized one of them, Nymphadora Tonks, Andromeda's daughter. The students were then accompanied by her favorite Professor,Fitwlick and another who she assumed was Professor Castle.
She searched amongst the students present for any sign of a first year student but couldn't find him. There were in total fifteen students and all of them were fifth year or above. Just then two more people entered the room and she recognized them at once for she knew them both very well.
Auror Kingsley Shakelbolt and Head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones.
'What are they doing here?' she thought,but then remembered that Minerva had mentioned that someone from the auror department would be visiting today.
Amelia then gave a short informal speech to the students about the career in law and asked them who was interested to become an auror and instantly all of them raised their hands, except one red head boy who she got to know was Charlie Weasley.
Amelia then asked the boy about his reasons to not pursue a career in the DMLE to which he replied that he wished to become a dragon handler.
Then professor castle suggested that students should showcase their skill to the guests and as such an informal dueling competition started although most of the duels were short and Lilly had to admit that some of the students were very good. In the end it was only Tonks and the Weasleyboy left.
Professor Fitwlick then introduced both of them to Kingsley and Amelia as the part of the trio that would represent Hogwarts in the dueling tournament in Japan next year.
And just then Kingsley asked Professor Fitwlick,
"Ah yes, I noticed that the team is missing its third member. Mr. Black right?"
"Yes yes, I am afraid he is a bit late, which is very unlike him I assure you," Fitwlick replied.
This caused Lilly to worry a little, and she thought about the reasons that could cause him to be late , and she hoped he was all right but her mind was put to ease when Charlie suddenly exclaimed,
"Oh there he is!" he said pointing towards the door but from where Lilly was standing she couldn't see anything outside the room.
But just then he entered. And upon seeing him Lilly potter wanted nothing more than to run to him and engulf her baby boy in a tight hug and never let go of him again. But she somehow composed herself and controlled her emotions and observed her son.
He was tall, he could easily pass off as a second or even a third year student. He had shoulder length hair, but the most magnetic feature was his eyes, they were so similar to her own. She remembered the he was born and when she had held him for the first time and looked into his eyes and had felt a connection, an emotion that she later came to relate to that of a mother.
But it was then that she noted that his eyes were not exactly like her's , like they once were. They were the eyes of the person who had seen hardship and misery, and those thoughts brought tears to her eyes.
She then noticed the way he moved, with a grace that made it look like he was floating in air and the way he carried himself with confidence. All in all he radiated an aura of power.
'My baby boy had grown into a handsome boy,' she thought fondly.
She looked at kingsley and Amelia and she then realized that she was not the only one taken aback by the appearance of Harr-no,Perseus she corrected herself mentally.
"You are late,Black,"Professor Castle said.
Perseus just gave a smile and said,
"You can't rush style,Professor."
Then introductions were made and she noticed that both Amelia and Kingsley held some amnosity towards her son, although it was not that obvious.
'Must be because he's a Black now,' she thought sadly.
Then Charlie weasley and tonks went to duel, and what she saw impressed her and she knew why they were the best duelers at Hogwarts.
'And to think my son is as good as them, probably even better according to Minerva, and he is just in first year,' she though with pride.
They were both trading spells, firing at such speed that Lilly was finding it hard to follow but just then the unfortunate happened and tonks stumbled and fell on her back. But it seemed like a good thing as just then three consecutive stunners fired by Charlie passed over her and while that she fired a disarming spell at Charlie, whose wand flew out of his hand towards the audience and was caught by Perseus.
Everyone was a bit surprised by the outcome of the duel. And then Perseus started clapping and rest joined in. Both of them got down from the platform and Perseus handed over the wand to Charlie and then Perseus turned towards Nymohadora and said in a bold but calm voice,
"Well done Nymphadora, I must say it takes real skill to choke on air, fall up stairs and trip over completely you seem to have that skill,"
Use of Tonks's first name irritated her as she fired a stinging hex at Harry but Harry just then, bent down and picked up something from the floor while the stinging hex went over him and struck the wall.
"Ah, look a knut!"Perseus said holding out a knut for all to see. But Lilly could have sworn that the knut was not there a moment ago.
Then Kingsley and Amelia came in and congratulated the duo over there performance and kingsley was sharing some tips with the both of them. Kingsley was telling Tonks to increase the number of spells in her arsenal and said,
"The more number of spells you know, the more feared you will be in a battle."
It was then that Perseus interrupted him and said,
"I must disagree with you on this point Auror Shakelbolt."
"And what reason you have for that?"surprisingly it was Amelia who asked it as she looked at Perseus in curiosity.
"Well I believe that as your opponent I won't be afraid of the hundreds of spells you have practiced once or twice , no" he said and gave a dramatic pause as he looked at everybody present.
"I would be afraid of that one spell that you practiced hundreds of time, that one spell you have mastered to such extend that you can cast it even under adverse conditions perfectly."
He finished speaking and Lilly couldn't help but agree with his point, even Amelia seemed to nod in understanding but unfortunately Kingsley did not share their point of view and said,
"What utter nonsense is that? There is no way one can win a duel against a trained fighter with just one spell."
"Oh well I can," Perseus said and Kingsley was about to retort when professor castle spoke up,
"Perhaps both of you should back up your claims in the arena, that would be great I guess."
His suggestion was received well by everyone beside Amelia and she was glad. For no matter how good Perseus was, he was still a student and Kingsley was one of the best aurors in the department, and Amelia spoke her mind
"Are you sure it's wise? No matter how good Mr. Black is, he is still a student and Kingsley is one of the best auror in the department," she asked Mr. castle just as Perseus and Kingsley got on the platform.
"Don't worry Amelia, even I was not able to defeat Perseus and I wish to see how well Kingsley can fare against him, speacially now that Perseus is in a way disabled in the duel."
Lilly was surprised as well as beaming in pride, for professor castle, an auror, even a retired one was not able to defeat her son. And she wondered what he meant by Perseus being disabled in the fight, and Amelia must be wondering the same for she asked him,
"Disabled?How?"
"Well Perseus would be using only two spells, when his strength lies in his knowledge of numerous spells and the creative ways in which he uses them,"Professor Castle told her and just then Perseus spoke up.
"I will be using only two spells, one offensive and one defensive spell, a shield charm and a stunner, and nothing else."
And Fitwlick, who was referee, said,
"First, duelers will bow."
And Kingsley bended his waist bowing, and Perseus too obliged but he just bowed his head slightly.
"Alright boy,"kingsley gestured to himself with both hands and said,
"Give it to me."
Perseus just shook his head and said,
"I don't take the first shot."
Kingsley just looked at Perseus for a moment and said,
"Okay,"Kingsley gave himself a shake, as if to clear the awkward moment."I'll start then."
And he fired a disarming spell at Perseus, who stood calmly, holding his wand lazily in his right spell was aimed at Perseus's head, Perseus didn't even react, he didn't even lift his wand and Lilly thought that that was it.
But Perseus surprised her as he just tilted his head a bit and the spell zoomed past him surprising Kingsley too.
Perseus then grinned and said,
"A disarming spell?" he asked, "What are you, eight?"
Kingsley looked affronted and said,
"Well enough with the kid's glove," and fired three consecutive stunners at Perseus.
Perseus raised his wand and waved it in a complex pattern and a silver, almost transparent shield appeared in front of him which absorbed the incoming stunners.
Lilly was surprised to see Perseus cast a complex spell silently and even kingsley and Amelia looked shocked.
The silver shield was still hovering in front of Perseus and no matter what spell kingsley fired , and no matter where he aimed it, the shield would just move with lightening speed and absorb the spell all the while Perseus looked at Kingsley in amusement.
It was then Kingsley did something unexpected. He used a dillusenment charm but there was still no sign of worry on Perseus's expression.
On the contrary Perseus's eyes which were now glowing even more roamed in a particular pattern, as if following someone's movement and suddenly Perseus raised his wand and in the blink of an eye fired a stunner at an empty spot.
But the stunner met a shield and kingsley's dillusenment charm wore off and he looked at Perseus in surprise. Even Lilly was surprised as she wondered how Perseus was able to see someone who was invisible just as she recalled Severus's words that Perseus might be able to see through a dillusenment she then wondered if Perseus had seen her too.
Kingsley was now furious, as he was using every spell he knew and was throwing them at Perseus with an incredible speed. But no matter what he did, Perseus's shield absorbed them all, the shield not only moved very fast to intercept the spells, it also grew in size when Kingsley had fired a dozen fireballs at him.
"My turn now,auror Shakelbolt," Perseus said out loud.
He then kept his wand slightly above his shield and fired a stunner which kingsley dodged but what Perseus did next shocked her to core. He fire stunners at such speed and succesion that reminded Lilly of the muggle machine gun. Lily also noted that Perseus only did the wand movement once, but stunners were still coming from his wand.
Kingsley tried to dodge the onslaught of spells but he just couldn't match the speed and he then used a protégo to protect himself and then started chanting a spell and finished just as his shield was broken and a golden dome formed around him, covering him completely.
But Perseus didn't stop and kept firing at him with the same fury. The golden dome was a very complicated and a tough charm and was a very powerful shield too.
But even that could not stand against the continuous attack of stunners by Perseus and there was a crack in the dome which panicked Kingsley a before he could do something,the golden dome shattered and two stunners hit kingsley square in the chest and he fell and Perseus stopped firing and vanished his shield with a wave of his wand.
"And the winner is Perseus black,"fitwlick announced as the students cheered and Amelia could only stare at Perseus in shock. Perseus then approached the prone form of the fallen auror and cast an enervate and held out his hand to him.
Kingsley took the offered hand and got up and congratulated Perseus. Then Amelia came to them and she too congratulated him and said,
"I must say Mr. Black, I have never seen such a duel before, and what was that shield, I have never seen a spell like that before."
"I agree with you Amelia, for I utilized every powerful spell I knew, but I just couldn't break that shield, it was pretty wicked," he said as he offered his hand for a handshake which Perseus accepted and said,
"Maybe I will teach that to you one day," and winked at him earning a chuckle from the auror.
"Lord black has taught you well, Mr. Black."
Lilly looked at her son and couldn't help but smile, Minerva was right when she said that he has got quite a personality. She saw as he chatted with everyone, laughed and enjoyed.
Slowly but eventually everyone left, except tonks and Perseus. Tonks was also about to leave so she asked Perseus
"You coming?"
"Nah, you go. I am going to practice some spells I picked up recently,"he said.
"Okay, be careful and a merry Christmas!" she replied and left the room too.
Lilly knew she should leave now, for she had seen how happy her son was, and that too when she had seen misfortune and hardship in his eyes earlier. She didn't want to bring more problems in his life, she just wanted him to be happy.
She had always wanted to know if he knew anything about her and she wondered if he knew how much she loved him. And so she made up her mind, despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to go and hug her son and beg him to come back, she decided to leave.
And so she saw her son once again , who was now standing against the window, with his back turned towards her. And with tears in her eyes she moved towards the door, glad that tonks had left it open. But she was about to leave when the doors closed on their own without even turning back, she knew he was behind it.
"Leaving already?" she heard the voice of her son and her heart skipped a beat.
'Oh merlin, he knows! But how did he see me under the cloak?' she thought and turned back and saw that Perseus was still in the same position and that answered her question about whether he knew about her or not.
Just then Perseus turned back and looked directly at her and gave a sad smile but his eyes were still glowing brightly and then he said,
"So much for Gryffindor courage."
Realizing that the cloak is of no use she took it off and with tears in her eyes looked at her long lost son.
Even Perseus, who prided himself for his control over his emotions, was not immune to the toil of the emotions and for the first time in many years a single tear escaped his eyes but Perseus did not care for he was looking at his mother after such a long time.
Lilly couldn't even move, she felt a mixture of emotions, sadness and happiness at the same time and looked at her son with fondness and then Perseus said in broken voice which was very unbecoming of him.
"Hello mum."