Chapter 11: A-Mother-Who-Changed
Lily watched the cloudy screen in front of her eyes and beamed in joy… Her baby boy was finally going to grow into his own. He was finally going to enact his vengeance on three of his tormentors. Lily was so proud of her baby boy…
Lily was quite aware of the fact that she was no longer the same woman she was before she died… Watching her son getting abused for years has changed her, and not in a good way. Not only that, but she also ended up absorbing a piece of Voldemort, who was probably one of the vilest people to ever walk on earth.
Lily would have been surprised if she remained the same even after absorbing the Soul Piece of one of the vilest people… At first, the effects were so subtle that she didn't even notice the changes, but it was already a year before she finally realized that her changes were way too obvious to ignore any longer…
~~Flashback (2 Years Ago)~~
"Hadrian, you need to understand the importance of Power. You need Power to make your place in the world… Take Albus Dumbledore, Voldemort, or Grindelwald for example. Voldemort and Grindelwald are Dark Lords, but nobody could deny the Power they wielded…" Lily paused to take a look at her son. While he was frowning, he was paying rapt attention to her every word.
"All three of them made a name for themselves and people followed them. No matter what anyone says about them… The three of them are incredibly powerful and all three of them influenced the world in one way or another" Lily explained with a hard look on her face, and after a few moments of silence, Harry nodded his head in understanding even though he seemed a bit reluctant.
"That is how the world works, Hadrian. There are only two types of people in this world… Leaders and followers. Now, it is up to you if you want to become a Leader or a follower. As your mother, I would never want you to become a follower. Look what happened to us… We followed a man who was choking on his morals at his every step" Lily explained with a frustrated look on her face.
"That is why I want you to become a Leader so that you can become your man… To become a Leader, you will need Power, lots of Power" Lily explained while nodding her head.
"...I understand, mom, but what if I don't want to?" Harry asked in a meek tone and Lily simply urged him to continue with a hard look on her face. Harry gulped audibly as he started speaking… "Mom, I understand what you are trying to say, but why should I lead stupid sheeple? I don't want to lead anyone, but I understand why Power is so necessary. If you want to achieve anything, then you need to have Power" Harry explained while nervously fiddling with his hands.
After a few moments, Harry finally raised his head and looked straight into her eyes with a fire burning in his eyes. Lily felt a shiver run down her spine… "I want Power… I want to become the strongest so I can be free" Harry explained with his eyes burning in determination, and Lily shivered for the second time after hearing his words, but she couldn't help but incline her head in confusion after hearing his words.
"You want to become the strongest so that you can be free?" Lily asked curiously and Harry nodded his head in agreement.
"Yes, I want to become the strongest so that I can be free to do anything I want… I want to become the strongest so that I can live the life I choose for myself" Harry explained with a hard look on his face.
Lily practically beamed at her son as she pulled him into her arms… First of all, her baby boy was finally growing up into his own and he was looking extremely adorable with the determined look on his face. Secondly, she couldn't help but agree with her son's philosophy. Become so strong that you can live the life you choose… Lily admitted, there was a nice ring to it.
"Then what about the people who wronged you?" After a few moments of silence, Lily finally asked, changing the topic as she no longer needed to explain the importance of Power to her son… He already understood why Power was so important and he already had his own reason to seek Power.
After hearing Lily's question, the determined look on his face disappeared and he started to fumble nervously… "...I don't know. I don't want to hurt anyone, but I also don't want to forgive anyone who has wronged me" Harry mumbled nervously, looking away from Lily.
Lily couldn't help but frown after hearing his answer… "Yes, you are right. You can't forgive anyone who has wronged you. That will send the wrong message to your enemies or whoever is trying to take advantage of you… You will need to make an example out of the people who have wronged you so that no one else dares to wrong you" Lily explained with a hard look on her face and Harry practically whimpered at her words.
Lily wanted to rush at her son so that she could console him, but she stopped herself… She needed to make him understand why vengeance was necessary… She needed to make him understand why he needed to be hard on the people who has wronged him. There were so many Death Eaters who were set free after claiming the Imperious Defense… All of them were a danger to her son and he needed to have the right mindset to deal with them, in a permanent manner.
The only good Death Eater is a dead Death Eater…
"Is it really so important?" Harry stuttered out and Lily nodded her head with a no-nonsense look on her face.
"Yes, it is important… very important. You already knew that you have so many enemies out there. Do you think they will leave you alone? Do you think they won't try to take advantage of you? Do you really think that they won't try to get back at you for getting rid of their master?" Lily questioned heatedly and Harry practically cowered at Lily's verbal onslaught.
Lily felt like someone ripped out her heart when she noticed the look Harry was giving her, but she knew that she couldn't lose at this stage… "Hadrian, I understand why you are so reluctant… I really do, but you have to understand what I am trying to say. I only want the best for you…" Lily explained with a defeated look on her face.
Harry simply heard her words and continued to stare at his feet… Lily decided that it was better to let him ponder on his own. After several minutes of silence, Harry finally took a deep breath and raised his head. "I finally understand what you are trying to say and while I don't like it… I agree with you. If I show weakness then all of my enemies will pounce at me" Harry stuttered out as tears started to roll down his eyes.
"I promise, mom, I won't disappoint you. Everyone who has wronged me will pay!" Harry declared as he continued to cry, but at the same time, his eyes were burning with determination. Lily immediately rushed at her son and pulled him into her arms…
Lily hated herself for manipulating her baby boy in such a manner, but it was necessary… There were so many enemies out there who were ready to pounce at her son, ready to take advantage of him or ready to enact their vengeance on him… There is nobody she could rely on, so she needed to make sure that her son was prepared to face them.
As she kept hugging her son, there was something she realized about herself… She has changed a lot in the past year and that is when she realized that something was wrong with her, but she decided to remain calm for the time being…
After Hadrian left, she started to panic, but after panicking for a couple of hours, she realized that she wouldn't gain anything by panicking. She needed to understand what was happening to her. She realized that she needed to know exactly what was happening to her… So, she started to think how she has changed…
The first thing Lily realized was that she had started to lust for power… She wanted power to become the strongest so that she could keep protecting her baby boy…
The next thing Lily noticed was that she had become a lot more vindictive than before… She wanted every single person who hurt her baby boy to pay with their blood…
And finally, Lily realized that her thirst for knowledge had increased several folds… She wanted to gather all the knowledge out there so that she could help her baby boy…
After pondering for hours, Lily realized that changes weren't that bad… As long as her priority was keeping her son safe, nothing else mattered to her. If she needed to burn the rest of the world for the sake of her baby boy, then she will happily alight the world with fire.
Lily knew that she was becoming way too obsessive, but did she care? No! She knew her love and care for Hadrian was turning into something very unhealthy, but once again, did she care? No!
As long as she could keep Hadrian safe, nothing else was would matter to her… She was going to keep the vow she made years ago before she found herself trapped inside her son… She will protect her son… Whatever it takes…
~~Flashback Ends~~
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