Mother Magic and the Philosopher's stone

Chapter Two

Once Harry had left Gringotts his mind was reeling. So many odd sights and people couldn't possibly exist in the same realm as he, right? He pinched himself, just to be sure, feeling lightning pain blossom over his alabaster complexion.

And nothing happened.

With all the logic of a five-year-old, Harry came to the conclusion that no, he really wasn't dreaming. He felt a sense of belonging and wanted to protect this magical place. It was his, he thought, and he wasn't going to let anyone else take what was his ever again.

'Turn here,' the voice returned, and once more Harry happily obliged.

He turned down a small alley with thick broken cobblestones and tall looming buildings on each side. Harry felt small and closed in, but pressed on down the poor excuse for a street until he came across a tall, thin wooden door. The door seemed very old and cracked peeling paint fell away in jade scraps in several places. Above it, a small sign swinging in invisible wind that read 'Wendene Librarie,' in faded gold script. He pushed open the door with a surprising amount of force and heard a small bell chime as he walked inside. Compared to the dismal and somewhat sketchy outside, inside was magnificent, with long rows of tables and bookshelves that disappeared into a ceiling Harry couldn't even see. Above his head, books danced into place, swopping like brilliant swallows migrating from the fiction section to potion books. Small white candles hung from nothing above the tables, some empty, some covered in sepia parchment, but whenever wax dripped it vanished into nothing, leaving underneath spotless. The air of knowledge was almost overwhelming for the five-year-old, and he stood and stared at his surrounding for a solid five minutes until roused from his stupor by the voice once again.

'You have much to learn about this world, but for now, I will read to you. Simple children's stories and basic spells will suffice for now. You will be great Harry Potter, I will endeavour it.' Harry nodded mindlessly, strolling through bookshelves that ordered themselves. He felt a pull here, like an invisible string tugging him to a small section in a clearing in the shelves. The books here didn't move at all, the wax from the candles didn't melt, and the dim light allowed him to only see a few feet ahead. He stumbled over a snag in the carpet, and in an effort to right himself his fingers brushed again the spine of a particularly thin book. At once it jumped into his hands, and when he tried to set it down on the shelf it refused to leave, pages bristling almost indignantly at his efforts. He held the book up to the nearest light, trying to read the dirtied cover. 'Th? L??e O? S?u???te M??icke'. Some of the calligraphy was indistinguishable from the cracks in the blue leather, and when he cracked open the front page his name was scrawled under a short list of people who had borrowed the book before him.

'I suppose you can borrow a couple extra books if you wish,' The voice supplemented, and a stack of other books appeared before him, each one with his name on the inside cover. 'Let's leave, you should return home before it gets too dark.'

The way home seemed far quicker than the journey there, perhaps because of his protected treasures safely tucked in his Button Moon backpack. But perhaps also because he wasn't thinking about his home this time. His mind was focused on funny men in magic banks, and flying books begging for his attention. And that night, if his dreams were full of Babbity Rabbity and her cackling stump, his current favourite, as read by his voice, instead of brilliant green and the darkest night, he really didn't mind.

Lady Magic had business to attend to, as she left her surrogate son asleep in his small and dirty bed. She had a few people to visit. As the powers that be, (her and her sisters) her jobs had dwindled over the centuries. No wizard practiced the old ways in the so-called new world, and her reasons to stay a part of this Earth was a list growing shorter by the day. But not after Harry. That night in Godric's Hollow was the culmination of such evil and malice, the corruption of such unbridled purity that it was her duty as Magic, and as a mother to all magical life to intervene. She would raise Harry James Potter as her own, and she would build him from the ground up, outside of Dumbledore's chosen one, and outside of her sister's prophecy.

'Maj!,' Destiny squealed, launching herself at her older sister with glee. Lady Magic sighed, peeling her sister off of her and giving her a fixed glower.
'Do you know why I'm here, Des?' She asked, knowing full well that of course, she did, she was Lady Destiny, it was her life's work to know.
'I'm sorry Maj, most folks take no stock in the prophecy's I impart on those with the gift. Especially not that one,'
'But you didn't think that perhaps a maniacal dark lord wouldn't act upon any threat to his power?'
'The future is a river with many offshoots, I'm telling you Magic, he wasn't supposed to even hear it. If Dumbledore hadn't-'
'Dumbledore?'
'Aye, one of my daughter's told him immediately after I told her, and it just so happened that Dumbledore chose to arrange a meeting in front of one of his loyal followers.'
'How did you not foresee it?'
'I didn't think it was in his nature to be so callous, I didn't expect that to be the chosen outcome to all of this mess.'
Nature, nature, nature. Another mess to unpick with Mother nature, Lady Magic surmised. This web of problems was becoming far larger than she expected, the balance of what is good and what is evil becoming an ever-present challenge. Killing Dumbledore wouldn't change a thing, no, she must dismantle his livelihood first.
'How is the boy?' Destiny prompted, changing the subject.
'Sleeping peacefully, I hope. I am too glad to not have your wisdom Destiny, I would hate to know the hardships he would have faced without my guidance.'
Destiny smiled weakly, having already seen the path the boy would have tread. She had suffered in her heart as he has suffered in his self, which only strengthened her resolve to aid her sister.
'You know I cannot tell you what to do, it is forbidden, but know this, what you have done so far has already saved him so much hardship.'
Lady Magic hugged her sister quickly in a chaste embrace, before vanishing once more, into the mortal realm.