Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 73: Questions
"Harry!" Lyra passed by the piles of rubble and knelt down next to her brother.
"Should we go call Miss Potter?." Ginny had a concerned look on her face.
And Astoria…just stared at him. He was going to take that as 'concern'.
"No, there is no need to call her for this," Harry told them.
"But Harry!, you are bleeding a lot!" Lyra stared at his white shirt. The area around his shoulder was completely red.
'She is not wrong about the blood loss…that golem must have hit an artery.'
"Is just a superficial wound, nothing serious…so calm down." He told her before calling for his elf.
"Dobby."
The elf appeared next to him, looked over, and became horrified.
"Master Harry Sir is hurt!, oh no, this is Dobby's fault?"
"No…is not your fault so don't go now to hit your head on the wall or something. I need you to do me a favor. Go to our potions cabinet and bring me a wiggenweld potion and a blood-replenishing one…can you do that?"
The elf noted repeatedly.
"Then go."
The girls stood in silence, looking at him for a good thirty seconds until Dobby came back with the potions.
Harry took the vials and placed them in front of him while sitting cross-legged and removed his bloody shirt.
The girl stared in shock as he took the first potion and poured its yellow liquid over the wound.
They flinched when they heard a fizzing sound and smoke came out of Harry's shoulder.
The process looked very painful but Harry didn't complain.
He then took the other potion. The contents looked very much like human blood. It was thick and had a dark red color.
Harry drank the whole bottle in one go.
Afterward, the wound was completely closed and his face had recovered its normal color.
"Is it healed?" asked Lyra.
"Yes… I'm fine now."
"Good, then…can you tell me, what in Merlin's beard was all of this about?" Lyra's stern face reminded him of his mother for a moment.
He ignored her for now and pointed his wand at his stained shirt.
"Evanesco." The blood and dirt disappeared from the fabric, leaving it completely pristine.
He then did the same with his shoulder, cleaning the blood stains from his skin, and put his shirt back on.
"Where did you learn that from?" Asked Lyra.
"Reparo." With another wave of his spare wand, the golem's remains returned to their original places, repairing the walls in the process.
"Stop ignoring me!" His sister hissed.
"Fine…." Harry cleared the dust from his clothes and glanced at his sister. His expression became grave.
"But first, I need you to answer something for me. Why did you come here?"
He did not have to ask how she knew he was here already. His parents would not have told her and the only other who knew was Dobby. The elf reminded him of good old Hagrid…very loyal but damn awful at keeping secrets.
"I just wanted to know what you were up to….you have been sneaking around all week," Lyra told him.
'I didn't know she was paying so much attention to what I was doing. That was a mistake on my part.'
"I see" He now had a problem with no easy solution.
Even if he were to 'obliviate' her most recent memories, it would not remove the underlying issue. She didn't accidentally come across this room. She had been wanting to find it. This means that even if he erased her most recent memories, she would just keep trying to figure out what he has been doing.
Then there are the other two girls. There should be no problem with Ginny, but Astoria is already a victim of a potent curse. He had no idea how she could react to being subject to the charm.
As much as he preferred if they had never come here. Protecting his secrets is not worth the risk of hurting these girls.
He sighed. In reality, there wasn't much of a choice to begin with.
"Can you three promise me that you can keep this a secret?"
"You haven't told us anything yet!" Lyra reminded him.
"And I won't tell you much more. Just promise me you will not talk about what you saw here to anyone."
"Does Mom and Dad know about this?" Lyra asked.
"Yes." Harry nodded.
"Then, I have no one else to tell in any case…" Lyra shrugged. Other than their uncle Remus and Holly, everyone she ever talked with regularly, already knew.
"I can promise you that I won't tell anyone. I'm very good at keeping secrets." Ginny said.
"Contract," Astoria reminded him,.
The binding contract her father had signed would affect the entire family and prevent them from divulging damaging secrets they learned about the Potters. Of course, it also worked the other way around.
Harry wasn't sure how much Astoria was told about the contract. But that part was only referring to life or dead types of secrets, like revealing the location of their manor to Voldemort and his death eaters and that kind of stuff. His doing magic during the summer is not something that would have that much importance, as far as the contract was concerned.
But the girl seemed convinced otherwise and he would not be correcting her since it was convenient for him.
"Okay, we promise not to tell anyone, now…can you at least answer a few questions?" Lyra got closer to him.
"You can ask, but I can't promise I will answer."
Lyra frowned.
"What were you doing here?"
"Training." He told her the truth.
"Where did those monsters come from?" Lyra wanted to point at their remains but they were completely gone.
"I made them. Tranfigurational construction is a branch of magic that you will learn during your N.E.W.T.s years. If go that far in transfiguration."
"N.E.W.T? You can use magic for the sixth year already?!" Lyra was shocked.
In reality, the golems he can make are far beyond the level of Hogwarts students, but at the very least., the basics can be learned in school.
"I would love to learn that!." Ginny said with admiration.
"Where did you learn that magic? Did Dad give private lessons? " Lyra asked. She remembers hearing that their father was quite exceptional at transfiguration at school.
There was no answer from Harry. He rather keeps silent than lie to her.
"Are you really my brother?" She seemed a bit hesitant to ask. He brother now was so different than the one she knew that it was becoming really hard to believe they were once the same person.
Harry glanced at her.
"To enter here, you had to say our house words." He stated and she confirmed it.
"Do you know what they mean?"
"To honor your blood? I guess it refers to one's family, isn't it?" Lyra wasn't completely sure but that sounded about right.
He placed both hands on her shoulders.
"It means that your family is the most important thing. Not just the present one but also the past. To honor, respect, and care for one's family. Lyra…I am your family, never doubt that."
"Ah…ok." Lyra stood baffled.
"Why can't my brothers speak like that?" Ginny wondered out loud.