Chapter 37. Motherless
Harry stopped in front of Vivian Davies and looked at the terrified visage of hers. She was beautiful in an ordinary way, unlike the women in his life, not plain but neither pretty enough to turn heads on the street. Her light brown hair was gathered in a loose bun at the back of her head and her wide hazel eyes were brimming with horror and apprehension.
She must be so scared at the moment, having listened to their earlier conversation, realising how small she was in this ever-expanding plane of existence, knowing that the ruler of the multiverse himself was there to enjoy her suffering.
To be honest, Harry wanted her to suffer. To feel pain. To cry and sob in despair for daring to hurt Tracey. Her own daughter. Whom she was supposed to love and cherish. How could this woman even meet her own gaze in the mirror after emotionally abusing her own flesh and blood? Harry couldn't ever dream of doing the same. For him, his family was everything. Even the mere thought of hurting his mother or sister made him shiver in repulsion.
Clearly, Vivian Davies was a monster, who had stubbornly ignored her maternal instincts until those very instincts fled her.
Harry sometimes feared that he was an inhumane monster too, and had dreaded it for a while now, trying to ignore the question and run away from it. While he always liked to smile and say, 'I'm not a monster after all' to placate his twin sister, he wasn't really convinced by his own words, thinking that they sounded so weak to his own ears.
Wasn't he a monster already? He had killed so many people by now that he had lost count. Although he knew that the blood he had spilled would at least fill up a river and may even flood it. Thousands have died by his hands and all of them had been evil pieces of shite who deserved it. But taking a life changed people, as Tracey had once said when they had been discussing morality. It changed the way a person viewed life and humanity.
Unfortunately, he thought that the same had happened to him. Harry feared that he had started seeing everyone as sacks of meat, ignoring that the sacks of meat had their own families and backstories, that they had their own dreams and aspirations to chase, and that they were trying to live their all in the brief time they were granted. He feared that he would hardly shed a tear if some stranger died a horrible death in front of him, however tragic that person's life had been. Because he was terrified that he had stopped seeing humans as people. In his eyes, they had become just another type of animal.
In this animal kingdom, there was a food chain where the strong were at the top and the weak at the bottom. Where the strong preyed upon the weak. And it was normal, it was the Natural Order of life. It was the truth of this world, of this existence.
Then who the fuck was he to pretend to be a hero and kill the strong so the weak could survive? Who was he to destroy the vile criminals and save the unlucky victims?
They were all animals in the end. He shouldn't choose between them. He should just let them be and let the natural order work its way.
Wasn't he already a monster for eradicating so many lives? He would like to think otherwise. He hadn't ever hurt innocent people and had always tried to help them. He really would like to think that he wasn't a monster because he had been good.
But wasn't good and evil just propaganda to establish a stable society? To establish order? But if he had already declared humans as animals then what was he fighting against? After all, chaos was the natural state for the animal kingdom where the strong ate their prey to live and prosper, where there was no peace and order but just survival. By that logic, weren't the criminals just the smarter and stronger animals?
Harry was bombarded by these confusing questions as he stared at the mother of his friend. While he didn't know if he was a monster yet and didn't know if what he had been doing and would keep on doing was right or wrong, he was sure of one thing. The woman before him needed to suffer. She needed to break so he could lose his anger and escape from the cruel thoughts that were swarming his mind.
Still, he wasn't a monster, he thought with a self-deprecating smile, he would give her a chance to explain herself instead of directly jumping to conclusions.
"Creator, let her talk." Harry said and sat on the chair that had appeared in front of Vivian Davies.
The God who was spectating this from a distance nodded and snapped his fingers, giving back her voice.
"Hello, Mrs. Davies. As you must have realised by now, we are here to make you despair utterly before giving you death." Harry said without a hint of emotion.
The woman sucked in a deep breath before sighing, curling her fingers into fists atop the armrests. She looked him right in the eyes with a fiery determination and spat. "Do your worst."
Harry wouldn't lie.
He was taken aback by that. He had expected her to cry or ask for mercy, to grovel at his feet, but here she was, renouncing her fear and staring boldly at death. It was an oddly admirable sight. And he was obviously intrigued. "Don't you want to ask why I'm doing this?"
She let out a condescending chuckle. "You're Red Grim. I've heard of you. But you are also Harry Potter, one of Tracey's best friends. I can join the dots easily. You are here to judge me for 'abusing' my daughter. Go on, take out your anger on me. I can see it in your eyes. Let it all out, boy."
Harry tilted his head to the side dubiously at the way this conversation was going and asked, "You are correct. But would you mind telling me why you are the way you are? I don't think you were always a cold heartless bitch. There must be a reason why you have treated Tracey so badly."
She snorted humorlessly, her mouth curving in a facsimile of a confident smile. "Piss off, boy. Just kill me already. Or maybe, you don't have the guts to do it?"
In an instant, Harry blurred out of his chair and was leaning over her, his right hand under her chin and his fingers clasped around her neck. He gave it a light experimental squeeze and glared at her murderously, his emerald eyes glowing with malice.
"Oh, you think that was a request?" He said coldly. "Tell me why you hate Tracey so much."
Vivian snarled at him, trying to headbutt him, but due to her arms, torso, and legs bound against the chair, she didn't have much freedom of movement. "FUCK OFF!"
An amused chuckle drew their attention towards the side where the Creator was lounging on his throne, shuffling through the popcorn in the paper bucket. He looked at Harry, smirking patronisingly. "She is a feisty one, junior. I advise raping her before torturing her. That will take away her pride and fearlessness. After that, she will happily sing for you. If you want, I can join in too, and show you how to do it. By the time I'm done teaching, you'll know how to systematically break any woman."
Vivian baulked at that, never having considered that she might go through that. She wanted a nice peaceful death, not that.
"Shut up, Creator. I'm not like you. I'm not going to rape my way through this. Some lines never ought to be crossed and this is one of them." Harry growled, ignoring the advice, having already known that Chaos was here just to bother him and pepper him with evil suggestions.
Vivian was glad to hear that. At least she wouldn't be defiled before her death.
"Oh, so killing and torturing is not as bad as rape?" Creator asked mirthfully, munching on the popcorn.
"I didn't say that." Harry answered weakly, not having a good answer. How was he to respond to that? Of course, killing and torturing were just as bad as rape, or maybe even worse. Then why did his mind instantly say no to that?
"Heh. You naive little child. I'd like to see how long your naivety lasts once you ascend to Godhood. Come on, allow me to show you how to make a girl scream. You'll love it. Her body is beautiful enough. She'll give you much enjoyment." Creator chuckled nonchalantly as if he was talking about a funny joke and not ruining someone.
But his words gave Harry his answer. He understood why his mind instantly screamed no to Creator's offer.
"No, punishment shouldn't be enjoyable for the punisher. It should be a grim duty instead of an enjoyable task. I'm not here to revel in her misery. And rape is never a real punishment anyway. It is just a sick attempt by the punisher to find pleasure in the exploitation of the damned." Harry said with narrowed eyes, taking a protective stance before Vivian.
The Creator grinned. "So, you do confess that raping her will provide you with pleasure. At least you're honest about it. But you're still lying to yourself, junior. You are not actually here to punish her. You're here to take out your anger. Don't mix things up. Tracey doesn't want her mother to be hurt, yet here you are in your childish edgy costume, playing the judge and executioner just because you are incredibly angry and want a punching bag."
It was like someone had punched Harry in the gut. He made a confused, annoyed face, knowing that the man before him was right. No quests had brought him here, even Tracey hadn't asked him to dish out punishment on her behalf.
But here he was.
Was he lying to himself all along? Was he here not at the behest of Tracey? Was he here just because he wanted to rage and calm his mind?
"But it's alright. We're Gods, well, you'll be someday, hopefully. We're entitled to do anything we want. The multiverse is our playground and we're free to play however we want. If you want to hurt her then go ahead. I'm not here to preach to you or stop you. I'm just here to see how you'll handle this situation. If it was me in your place, I'd have already broken her body and mind for hurting my loved ones. I'd have relished in her misery and used her body until she became a mindless doll before killing her. I want to see what you will do." The Creator said softly, almost gently as he peered at him.
"I'm not like you." Harry ground out, causing the God to chuckle.
"Maybe not as ruthless and cruel, but you aren't a weak softy either. Do you think I'd have given you this opportunity and power to rise above everyone if you were one of those pathetic fools who couldn't take a life? Don't be an idiot. I'd have killed you myself if you were some brainless pacifist. We are not as different as you like to think. You too may become like me when you see everything, when you listen to everything, continuously for billions of years." Creator whispered somberly, his eyes losing some of their brightness. He shook his head and shot him a grin. "Go on, continue."
Harry slumped back into his chair and faced Tracey's mother, ignoring the new well of trepidation that had opened up inside him at the Creator's words. "Tell me, Mrs. Davis, what has Tracey done to you to get such vitriol?"
This time she was a lot less pugnacious. She stared at him for half a minute before answering hoarsely, her eyes filling up with angry tears. "She killed the love of my life. She is the reason why my husband died."
Harry was shocked to hear that. "But, your husband died in an accident?"
She glowered at him hatefully. "That's a white lie. Tracey's accidental magic killed him when she was just four. Daphne's mother, Proserpina, somehow convinced me to say that to save the girl from blame. Even now, she isn't aware that she is a murderer, conveniently forgetting the reason why her father is dead ."
Harry was stunned into silence by the reveal before giving her a pleading look. "Please don't tell me that you despise her just because your husband died in an accident."
"It wasn't an accident!"
"It was a damn case of accidental magic! It wasn't intentional on her part. Are you really that dumb?" Harry couldn't help but sigh at this peak of stupidity. Did his friend face all the negligence and apathy for this? An accident?
"Maybe I'm dumb. But I don't care. Tell me, Harry, have you ever loved someone so much that you can't live without them?"
"Yes." Harry mumbled with a frown, Iris' smiling face forming in the forefront of his mind.
"If she died in an accident, would you ever be able to forgive the other party?"
…
"Hahahaha." She laughed hysterically, shooting him a superior look. "You get it, don't you?"
He stood up from the chair and vanished her restraints. He turned his back on her and began walking toward Creator, ignoring Vivian as her laughter turned into heart-wrenching sobs as she called out her dead husband's name.
"That's it? You are not even going to slap her?" The man before him asked, getting on his feet and vanishing his throne. He didn't seem surprised by this, as if he had been expecting that.
Harry shook his head. "She is already in the lowest pits of despair. She even let go of her daughter now, becoming truly alone for the first time. She will probably kill herself someday. There's no need to punish her. She is doing it herself. Murdering her now would be a mercy. It would be freeing her from this ever-present misery. But I'm not feeling too merciful right now. Let her despair some more. My work here is done, I'll be going. You'll erase her memories of this meeting, won't you?"
"Sure. Go home. It was really boring and anticlimactic, but it's fine. You really might be different from me. Because I definitely would have done something more dramatic and fun. Here, take this gift, for 'entertaining' me. You won't need to depend on quests anymore to gain levels. Keep on getting strong." The Creator said thoughtfully, giving him a weird look.
Perk Gained:
[Instant Dungeon]
— An artificial dimensional plane designed to speed up the user's growth.
Harry nodded with wide surprised eyes and picked up Iris in his arms and teleported home. But this one question would keep haunting him for days.
Will I be able to forgive my children if they caused Iris' death? Will I be able to stop myself from killing them in a blind rage?
~xXxXx~
"Hey, Iris, am I a monster?" Harry asked once they settled into her bed and cuddled together. Technically, they weren't supposed to be in each other's bedrooms at night. But who cares.
Iris gave him a strange look. And as if knowing his state of mind, she draped herself over him, throwing her leg across his hips, and stole a brief kiss.
"No, you are not even close. But don't worry. As long as I'm with you, I won't let you turn into one." She smiled encouragingly, running her fingers through his hair and breathing over his lips.
He sighed in relief, a weight lifting off his shoulder. He pulled her as close as possible, putting his arms around her, pressing his body on hers, and merging his warmth with hers, as well as his spirit with hers.
Then I just need to keep you by my side for all eternity.
~xXxXx~
The next day, Tracey woke up with a weight on her chest. She opened her eyes and yawned silently, looking dubiously at the white furball that was perched on top of her.
A big smile took over her face as she was greeted with a loud 'meow'.
"Aura! Where have you been?" Tracey asked, sitting up. She took the adorable white cat in her lap and let it snuggle into her stomach. Obviously, the reply was just another meow. But it didn't matter, she was glad to see Aura again. It had been a while.
After five minutes of just cuddling and relaxing with Aura, Tracey decided that it wouldn't do to stay in bed any longer. She definitely didn't want to be branded as lazy by her new family.
"Stay here, I'll go freshen up." The brunette said, climbing out of the bed and going into the attached bathroom to do the bathroom-y stuff.
Aura, not listening to her, ambled out in seconds and went to the kitchen where Lily was helping the house elves with breakfast. Her eyes widened at the sight of the white cat. "Aura, you are home."
The cat suddenly morphed into a girl with white cat ears and a fluffy tail. The young girl slammed into the redhead with a cry of 'Grandmother!'
Lily chuckled and hugged the excited girl back, almost lifting her off her feet. Finally, she put her down and ran her fingers through Aura's short white hair. "Nice to see you too, Aura. Did you have fun?"
"Yes! I got to see many new things." Aura grinned, jumping on her feet excitedly. Since Harry left Aura at the Potter Manor to protect his mother when he went to Hogwarts, the catgirl had to find a new hobby to occupy her time and interest. So, she often went out of the house for weeks in her cat form to explore the city.
"Glad to hear that. Now, go put on your clothes."
Aura pouted. She didn't really like wearing clothes, mostly because of her animal nature. But she knew the rule. She had to wear clothes when she was in her catgirl form. Before she could make a fuss out of it, Harry and Iris strolled into the kitchen.
"Papa!" Aura barrelled into him. Harry quickly wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, letting her rub her face against his. She made fond mewing sounds as she clung to him.
He smiled and kissed her head. "So, you finally decided to show your face. You have grown so much, Aura. You almost look like a 10-year-old."
Aura just giggled, her golden eyes shining with joy as he caressed her head and scratched behind her ear. She had missed this.
When Harry tried to put her down, she screeched and protested aggressively, acting like a cat getting forced into a bathtub. At least she didn't claw out his face. He was thankful for that.
In the end, he had been forced to sit her in his lap as he took his place at the dining table. Not that he minded it much. Aura was a sweetheart, you could hardly say no to her. He couldn't help but smile affectionately as she gushed about all the adventures she had been on since they parted. She was really so cute and adorable.
Was this how parents feel when their children want all their attention? He couldn't help but curse Vivian Davis in his mind as he imagined how Tracey too might have acted like Aura but couldn't have gotten the same results.
The girl he was thinking about, walked into the kitchen with a freshly showered look, her light brown hair still looking a little wet.
"Harry, who's that?" Tracey asked immediately once she stepped into the kitchen and saw the white-haired girl in his lap.
In response to that, Aura just turned back into a cat and then back into catgirl form.
The dumbfounded look on Tracey's face was more than amusing as Iris and Aura broke into laughter.
What followed was a partly true explanation, where he revealed that he had many special abilities, but he didn't name any. And no, he couldn't tell her how he got them.
Regarding Aura, he lied that she was a rare breed of magical cat that he luckily came across. Tracey had so many questions but none of Harry's answers were satisfactory. They all were just so vague and fanciful.
"Please understand, Tracey. It's not that I don't want to tell you everything. It is just that I can't."
The earnestness in his voice had shut her up and she decided to forgo her questions. And it wasn't as if she was entitled to know every secret of his. It was none of her business how and why he had these abilities anyway. And she wasn't petty enough to let it sour her mood and ruin the breakfast.
Although it was funny and cute how sweet Aura and Harry were around each other. She wished her mother could learn something from him. She shook her head, not wanting to think about her former mother. She had a new mum now, and Lily Potter was way more brilliant and kinder than Vivian Davies.
~xXxXx~
Daphne was regretting picking the [Sleepless] perk.
In theory, it seemed so nice that she could function optimally without needing to sleep anymore. But practically, it was… meh. When her sister and mother went to bed last night, she stayed awake in her room before slipping into the training room to practise. But she could only do it for so long before it became boring.
After 4 hours of training, five hours still remained. And she reluctantly conceded defeat and fell asleep. Not because she had been drowsy, no, she slept because she was bored and had nothing else to do. She wanted to scream at herself for this stupidity. She could have gotten massively increased magical regeneration or health regeneration. She could have even asked for the shapeshifting power, that would have been superb. Hell, she could have taken teleportation or the infinite space(Inventory) and those would still have been better than this Sleepless perk.
Alas, there was no use crying over spilled milk. She would try to make the best of it. Or so she told herself to not feel too much regret.
This was the second night after she received the Shared Skills and Perk. And as she decided what to do throughout the night to make her useless perk more productive, Harry decided to grace her with his presence and teleported into her room.
She didn't even bother to tell him how rude it was to enter someone's bedroom without a knock. Although she was glad that she wasn't in her sleepwear yet. That would have been a little embarrassing.
"Harry." She said curiously as he walked up to her before sitting beside her on the bed.
"Daphne." He said with a subdued smile.
She knew the reason for this. Apparently, Tracey's mother was a bitch and Harry had decided that Tracey would be better off living with the Potters than her.
Daphne had been shocked that they never even realised that. She felt a bit guilty about it. Tracey was her best friend before she was Harry's. She should have known about her situation at home. Still, what was done was done. There was no need to be morose. It wouldn't benefit anyone.
"So, is the visit just for pleasure or business?" She asked. And as she saw his mischievous grin, she realised that had been the wrong phrase to use.
"Pleasure or business?" Harry grinned, giving her a look that almost made her check if she was somehow naked. Because it definitely felt like that.
She bumped her shoulder against him, blushing, and shot him an exasperated glare. "You know I didn't mean that."
Really, ignorance had been bliss, but now that she knew that Harry was having 'bed-breaking' sex with his mum every day, that bliss had been shot and stabbed until nothing was left of it.
"But why else would a boy and girl meet at night in a bedroom?" He quipped, bumping his side against her.
She used all her talent in mind arts to put up a poker face and ignored his suggestive tone. "Why are you here?"
Seeing that she wasn't going to continue playing, he got right to the business. "I have acquired a new perk that would help us in training and advancing our levels. I'm here to invite you."
"Oh, what is this new perk?"
"It's called Instant Dungeon, or ID for short. It will take us to another dimension where we can fight and kill artificial monsters to gain strength. You up?"
Daphne had to take a second to comprehend his sentence. "You mean we'll go to another world where we'll fight monsters and stuff? Is it dangerous?"
"Of course. If you die in the game then you die in real life." Harry said in a deep, serious voice, trying to resist the urge to smirk.
"You are mad. But I'll come." She shrugged, jumping out of the bed and looking at him expectantly.
Harry lazily slid off the bed and opened his arms in invitation. "Come on then."
She shot him a deadpan stare. "What is this?"
She asked, pointing toward his stupid open-arms position.
"We have to teleport home where Iris is waiting for us."
"But you don't need to hug me to teleport me, do you?"
"Fine. Just let's hold our hand lewdly then." He groaned, putting his arm forward and wiggling his fingers.
She just sighed at his antics. Why were all her friends like this? At least Neville was saner than them.
"You really have a talent, Harry. You can even make a simple hand-holding feel indecent and inappropriate." She grumbled, taking his hand.
She rolled her eyes when his fingers intertwined with hers and he gave a squeeze.
"Thank you." He chuckled and they popped away.
They reappeared in his room. Iris quickly scrambled off the bed and moved toward them.
"Are we ready?" She questioned excitedly.
"Let me give Daphne a sword first to use her 'Weapon Master' Skill." Harry said instead and produced a beautiful carved silver bracelet from his Inventory. "Here. Wear it. It'll turn into a blade at your will. It can also channel magic, so you can use your special elemental magic. And additionally, it will boost your overall power by 3x. For example, you'll be as strong as level 90 while you're wielding it, even when you are originally just level 30."
Daphne took the ornament with awe and put it on. She was smart enough to know how powerful this artefact was. She offered him a grateful look and asked, "Where did you get it? From your quest?"
"No, I made this one. That's the best I can do at the moment. We'll give you a different one if we get a better sword."
"No, no, it is alright. This is good enough." She hastily said after knowing that it was created by Harry himself.
"Okay. We're ready to go now." Saying that Harry mumbled 'ID' and they were transported to a grand chamber.
Iris already had her White Sword out while Daphne experimentally slashed her new sword, her eyes taking in her new surroundings.
It was a large ceiling-less room with obsidian-coloured sky-reaching walls. The floor was spanned by dead yellow grass and the night was lit up with millions of tiny stars. The white light illuminated the entire chamber and beyond. And there was a slight wind that murmured past them occasionally.
It was a good night.
A gigantic throne lay a hundred metres before them like a seat of a God. It was made up of bones and sitting on it with closed eyes was a humongous man who was at least 10 metres tall. The man was bald and had no eyebrows. His skin clung to his frame tightly, giving him a skinny skeletal intimidating face. And he was wearing a dark black robe with its hood thrown back.
Name: Pluton
Race: Undead
Class: Necromancer
Lvl: 100
HP: 2500
MP: 10,000
Daphne was frozen in her spot, looking meekly at the behemoth who could crush them with his palm. Iris glanced at him, asking for orders.
"It's weak. You two can easily take him. I'll sit out for this one." He said thoughtfully, stepping back.
As if insulted by his remark, Pluton opened his eyelids and gazed at them condescendingly. He abruptly shifted in his throne and sat up in attention, peering at Harry frightfully. He grabbed his staff that had been lying in his lap and gave it a flick.
Suddenly, hundreds of zombies rose out of the ground and surrounded them in a small circle.
Each zombie was level 20, Harry noticed.
"Oh, you were saying?" Daphne grumbled sarcastically, her grip tightening on the hilt at finding themselves vastly outnumbered.
Harry let out a scornful laugh and conjured a three-legged stool chair before sitting on it. "Iris, kill them all. You can do it. Can't you?"
"Obviously." Iris smiled confidently and her eyes began glowing with magic and a white sheen of light enshrouded her body completely. "Watch me and see what you can become, Daphne."
Daphne Greengrass was bamboozled and was left to gape at what happened next.
Iris became a literal ray of white light and zigzagged around them at an inhumane speed. She was so fast that all Daphne could discern was a white blur. The simple touch of her sword disintegrated the zombies like they were made of sand. The blonde stood beside Harry and just stared as the ray of light demolished the entire force in under a minute.
Iris returned and stood before them, barely breaking a sweat. "Done, Harry."
He stood up and looked at the terrified giant Necromancer.
"Kneel." He said softly, his voice carrying over the wind as he gently flew toward him.
Iris picked up Daphne and flew after him.
The distance from one end to the other was covered in seconds and the three hovered over the kneeling giant who had moved out of his throne, following his command, and kneeled on the pedestal, his control over his own body vanishing as he was in the presence of a far greater Necromancer than him.
It was because of Harry's [Master of Dead] perk that gave him absolute control over the undead who were weaker than him.
"I wish I could use him and merge him in my army, but Isis said that we can't take anything or anyone from the ID. We are here just to train." Harry said aloud for the benefit of Daphne.
He cocked his hand back and delivered a [Black First] toward the kneeling man. Even though his fist was nowhere close to meeting his body, Pluton's head still blew off his neck and he too disintegrated like his minions. That was the power of [Black Fist] skill, it was a punch that disregarded distance and couldn't be dodged.
As soon as the final boss died, the three gained levels.
1 level gained (Harry Potter)
1 level gained (Iris Potter)
1 level gained (Daphne Greengrass)
A grinding noise drew their eyes behind the throne where the large double doors opened outward into another chamber.
"It was only the beginning. We have the entire night." Harry said eagerly and they flew into the next chamber.