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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
- Author's notes -
Chapter 170: Constant Vigilance
"Are you that disappointed?" Harry asked after leaving the garden.
The sun was completely gone, and the sky was dark, but the streets still had some light coming from the surrounding houses.
Lily turned around and got another glimpse of the two old houses, one leaning against the other.
She now knew the abandoned house on the left belonged to the witch Pomora and her descendants.
"I mean… they have lived for so long. If it were me, I would have wanted to learn… I don't know… everything."
"They probably did, but only what was truly important to them stuck for the rest of their journey," Harry told her.
"How do you think they did it? How did they live for fifteen hundred years?"
He shrugged. "If I have to guess, they found a way to bind their bodies to the focal point here and use its magic and their own souls to extend their longevities for as long as possible."
"So they really can't leave the house…" Lily recalled their words.
"There was probably a time when they were able to move around the city, but the leash continued to get shorter. By the looks of this garden, they haven't been able to leave the house for at least a century or two."
"They sacrificed their souls and freedom to live longer… doesn't seem worth it," Lily considered.
"Everyone has different definitions for what is 'worth it'..." Harry reminded her.
"I suppose… they appeared to be happy enough."
The two of them walked through the dark alley in silence until Harry spoke again.
"How drunk are you after all that wine?"
Lily was surprised by the sudden question.
"Huh? I'm fine. It would take a lot more than half a bottle to get your mother drunk."
"That's good… because we are being ambushed."
"What?!" Lily noticed a flash of light behind her and moved aside.
A red flash passed next to her head and impacted a nearby wall.
Lily immediately pulled out her wand and scanned the area, trying to find the attacker.
"There!" Lily pointed her wand and shot a silent stunner.
The red light impacted someone, and they heard the sound of someone collapsing on the floor.
"Got him!" Lily celebrated.
"Hija de puta!" they heard a female voice yell.
"That was good, but not that useful. There are at least three enemies. Stunners are only good for duels."
"Rennervate!"
They could not see where they were, but they heard the same female from before.
"We are back to three," Harry pointed.
Lily glanced at her son; he was standing with his arms crossed and his usual calm expression.
"Wait, are you not going to do anything?"
"Are you telling your young innocent son to go fight these evildoers for you?"
Lily raised an eyebrow. He was not taking this seriously at all.
"I want to see what Lily Potter can do. Don't worry about me," Harry told her.
The last time, she was too distracted while trying to protect him. But now, she could focus on defending herself against the four enemies.
He only had time to teach her one spell, but it would surely come in handy now.
Of course, he knew she was in no real danger for as long as he remained close to her, but one day he may not be there and he wanted to make sure she could take care of herself.
"What? You are going to let y-" Lily felt something and moved her wand forward.
"Protego!"
A couple of spells hit her shield and broke it.
Lily did not waste time and went for cover.
She had one enemy behind and two more in front.
'Take the solitary one first.' She thought.
A light 'Bbombarda' against the wall near the duo of thieves served as a distraction.
The man and woman hidden in the shadows made a yelp of surprise when the wall next to them exploded, and they were forced to take a few steps back and duck for cover.
Meanwhile, Lily sent a silent lumos behind her.
The small ball of light illuminated the alley just enough to show her the position of the solitary thief.
This was no moment to hesitate...she had a small opening to take this man out.
"Silencio."
"Stupefy."
"Incarcerous."
She cast the three spells in one fluid motion, as her husband had taught her.
The thief went down quickly, making it clear that these people were not duelist experts by any means and instead were just three opportunistic thieves looking for some easy prey.
With one down, Lily focused her attention on the other two.
She could not use a stunner now as they would be able to dispel it from each other, and she was not confident in being able to take both of them at the same time.
'I'll have to use the spell he taught me…' She felt a bit troubled.
"Don't start doubting now. A moment of hesitation could kill you," Harry shouted at her.
"Protego!" Lily blocked the incoming spells, and it was time to fire back at them.
"Divulsa!" She made a cutting motion, and a wave of purple light came from her wand.
The male thief tried to use a charm shield, but that only stopped half the spell.
The reason Harry chose this particular lethal spell to teach his mother was because it was half a charm and half a curse, making it easier for her to learn it since Lily was already a master in charms.
It was also a tricky spell to block, as people would often confuse the motion for a different charm and try to block it with a Protego.
That was a deadly mistake as this would only block the charm while letting the curse pass by...
"Ahhhh!" The thief screamed as some purple liquid splashed onto his chest and started to dissolve it.
His partner panicked and made another fatal mistake. She tried to remove the liquid using her robes.
The curse spread to her and started to consume her.
Lily flinched at the macabre spectacle but did not look away.
'I did this… I ca-'
She was startled as all of a sudden, some masked man with a knife appeared on her side and tried to stab her.
She could not react in time to save herself, but then… the man went flying and was smashed against the closest wall with a loud crunching noise.
"What… what was that?!" She did not understand where that man came from.
She looked at her son's expression and realized what had happened.
"You told me there were only three!"
"I said at least three... but you should never lower your guard. I could have also been wrong in my detection. I could still be wrong, and there could be more attackers around. To be honest, I'm not that great at detection."
Lily could not argue against that. She had indeed gotten careless.
"Constant vigilance…" that's what Moody always said.
"Constant vigilance," Harry agreed.
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