Worthy Of Magic

Part 53 - The Source

Part Seven - The Unknown

It took Harry a moment to realise he was floating in darkness. He moved his arms and felt no resistance, just emptiness. There was no air to breath, there was no sound. His mind, was calm, curious.

It could have been a second or it could have been eternity, Time was absent from absolute emptiness.

Was this the source?

His thoughts felt slow, sluggish. What was life without time? he wondered. He had travelled through time but how could his mind survive without time to take it forward?

A floor began to materialise and he felt his feet on a cold stone floor. A room shimmered around him and suddenly, Harry found himself facing the very familiar back wall of a Hogwarts classroom.

There was a light behind him, which returned the gift of sight to his mind and he turned around slowly. He felt another person in the room.

There was a woman seated behind the teacher's desk, wearing the robes of a Hogwarts Professor and she seemed engrossed in a book she was reading.

There was a pencil in her hand which she was idly tapping against the desk and Harry felt sound return to him.

He breathed fresh air with a gasp and the Professor noticed his presence.

She frowned, seeming confused. She looked around surprised by her surroundings.

Her face came into focus, under the mystical light, glowing around the ceiling and Harry was awash with aching familiarity.

Her red hair had paled with age and had grey streaking haphazardly. Lines of age had made inroads on her skin and her emerald eyes shone with warmth and dawning comprehension.

Harry goggled. She may be older but there was no way he could fail to recognise her.

"Mom," he whispered.

Lily stood up, her chair scrapping against the floor. She closed the gap between them in a blur and she hugged him tight. "Harry," she whispered.

Harry was limp in her grip. She was soft and warm and he felt safe in her arms.

She let go of him and looked into his wide eyes with her hands on his shoulders. "It's good to see you."

Her words didn't register. He just absorbed her voice, memorising it forever.

The surreality of his situation didn't escape his attention and a part of him questioned his perspective.

"Where are we?" he asked. He felt like he could talk to her. He didn't need to beat around the bush. She was his mother, almost alive and well, except that she did look a bit astral.

"Where is an interesting question," she chuckled. "Why, is what you should be asking."

Lily let go of his shoulder and gently grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the table. "Take a seat," she said. "You're here for a reason and that reason is why I'm here I suppose."

She sat behind the desk and Harry pulled up a chair from one of the desks.

He felt like he was in a bizarre detention.

"Were you this cryptic when you were alive?"

Lily pursed her lip and hummed in deep thought. "I never liked straight answers," she said after a moment with a grin.

Harry laughed and Lily giggled.

"I feel like the reason doesn't matter anymore," Harry admitted. "But, if you must know, i was looking for the source."