Awakening and Surviving

My soul drifted around in darkness, experiencing no sensations at all. Yet, it was oddly comforting as there was no pain and there were no orders to carry out. I'm sure if I had physical features, there'd be a small smile on my face.

I moved my soul aimless around, wandering through the void. I couldn't help but wonder if this was all there was to the afterlife. Would I really just be wandering around for eternity.

Time was impossible to measure. I could have been there for mere seconds or for thousands of years. At first, when I still paid attention to the void, time – from what I could tell – passed slowly. But, as I let my thoughts go and entered a sort of meditative state, time no longer became important to me as I was at peace with myself and the blackness.

Everything was interrupted by a flash of vibrant green light. It was so out of place and bright, and I had become so acclimated to the dark, that it nearly paralyzed my thoughts. However, when I was alive, my senses had been trained to react instinctively to any stimulus. Perceiving the light to be a threat, I pushed out against it with every fiber of my immaterial self.

The light halted in its tracks, seemingly inches from me. I shuddered in its presence as I felt it was filled with malice and death.

(Get the fuck out of here!) I shouted inwardly.

Putting in the last of my strength, I somehow managed to suppress it. The annoying light diminished and eventually dissipated, returning me to my sweet peace. Or so I thought.

An extremely powerful suction pulled my soul. The void vanished and in its place was all the sensations of a human body…along with a massive amount of pain.

For the first time in who knows how long, I opened my eyes. Used to the darkness for so long, the light was initially painful, but, given my extensive combat training – though my senses had become a bit rusty since my death – I quickly adjusted.

I was lying on my back in the middle of a forested area. Given the angle of the sun, it was either just before or just after midday. Hearing screams and laughter as well as flashes of light off to my left, I looked over.

Ten meters from me – their backs facing me – were five people standing, garbed in odd, thick black robes. They were looking at a man and woman on the ground, jeering at them. Taking turns, they would point sticks towards the couple, shouting a phrase, and fire a light at them that inevitably caused the couple a great deal of pain.

"Crucio!" a witch yelled.

The man on the ground – also dressed in strange clothing – screamed as he writhed and his body shook fiercely.

(Crucio? Robes as clothing? Sticks…or rather, wands?), I questioned. (This can't be the world of Harry Potter, can it?)

As soon as I thought that, knowledge from my body's original host flashed through my mind, one after another. In what amounted to no more than a few seconds, I learned who I was, information about this world, and what my current situation was.

First and foremost, this really was the world of 'Harry Potter.' It was November 2, 1981 and Voldemort had been vanquished two days previously by Harry Potter.

My name was Keira Eilean, a four-year-old girl of the Eilean house. The Eilean was a noble and ancient house. Unlike the Sacred 28 who can only trace their ancestry back several hundred years, the Eilean are a family that traces its roots back roughly 2000 years to Scathach, an extremely powerful witch. While the Eilean family had always maintained their pureblood status by marrying other Irish and Scottish purebloods, they had never entered the realm of politics. Instead, they focused on growing a business empire and developing the magical strength of their family members. Given their relative reclusiveness, not many knew of the Eilean family and its might. However, those in power who did know about them always spoke of them in a tone of respect.

Unfortunately, in the past couple hundred years, the family's birthrate had been far below normal. Very few children were born of the main and branch families each generation. Finally, after a two-thousand-year history, the family only had one surviving member: Keira's mother, Sarah Eilean.

Despite pressure from Irish and Scottish pureblood families, Sarah had fallen in love and eloped with a traveling muggle-born wizard from England. Over the protests of others, Sarah Eilean and Devin Smith had married in a very private ceremony. With the Eilean family being matriarchal in nature, Devin Smith had become Devin Eilean.

Soon after their marriage, Sarah having had enough of Scotland, made the decision to move all the Eilean family assets to England. In all actuality, with the English economy faring far better than other places in the UK and Ireland, most Eilean funds and businesses had long since moved there. As such, with Gringotts moving their wealth from the Scottish branch to the branch in Diagon Alley, they practically only had to transport their household possessions.

The transition was smooth and went mostly unnoticed. One day the Eilean family was there in Scotland on the Isle of Skye, the next they were not.

A few months after they settled in England, they discovered that Sarah was pregnant. Regardless of the ongoing political turmoil they new the child would be born in to, they were thrilled. Months later, little Keira Eilean was born as a healthy baby girl. They enjoyed three years of happiness as a loving family.

Unfortunately, that happiness was not to last.

They had been approached several times by Voldemort's followers – Death Eaters from pureblood families – to join the cause. Though Sarah had married a mud blood, they were willing to look past that so long as the Eilean family backed Voldemort with their wealth. Sarah had inwardly scoffed at their hypocrisy and had fended them off by claiming their neutrality in the war.

Finally, two days ago, news of Voldemort's defeat had resounded throughout the wizarding world. While everyone was rejoicing and while most Death Eaters were either giving up or being caught, a small group of little known yet high ambitious Death Eaters were planning an attack on the Eileans. In their minds, had the Eileans funded their cause, the war would have been won and Voldemort wouldn't have died. They were out for revenge.

A day ago, a group of seven had stormed the Eilean mansion. It was only Devin, Sarah and Keira in the mansion at the time. Greatly outnumbered, Devin had chosen to stay behind to give his wife enough time for Sarah and Keira to escape. As his two precious girls made their tearful escape, he fought the seven Death Eaters. Ultimately, he was no match for them and only managed to kill one and injure another before he met his demise.

Meanwhile, Sarah had apparated them to their closest friends, Eva and Elric Knight. They were both muggle-born and were also Keira's godparents. Though she felt guilty for coming to them when they were being hunted, Sarah didn't know where else to turn to. But Eva and Elric didn't mind. They were friends in the truest sense of the word and were willing to face any danger.

That night, Sarah only spared a few tears for the husband she knew was likely dead. Instead, as though sensing what would happen the next day, she made preparations. To Keira, she gave her a ring and ceremonial knife bearing the Eilean crest. Both items were identifying markers of the current Eilean matriarch. Keira was also given a bag that had an Undetectable Extension Charm placed on it. Inside were the deeds to all Eilean properties, a list of all assets and important contacts, various keys including the key to their vault at Gringotts, and Sarah's diary, among other important items.

Sarah had then spent the next hour writing a letter which she sealed and passed to Eva and Elric. She had also had a lengthy discussion with them, though the contents of the discussion were something Keira wasn't aware.

Finally, as night closed in on the cozy house, Sarah went to bed hugging Keira and gently stroking her dark purple hair.

When morning came, a solemn atmosphere filled the house. Almost as if it were a ritual, Sarah meticulously cleaned both hers and Keira's bodies before wearing traveling robes. She placed the Eilean ring on Keira's finger and fastened the ceremonial dagger at her waist. Then, walking out of the guest room, they had met Eva and Elric at the house's front entrance.

Sarah kneeled to be at Keira's eye level. "You need to go with Eva and Elric, honey. They'll take care of you from now on."

"What do you mean?" Keira asked, tears forming in her eyes.

Sarah didn't respond for a while, simply staring with a sad yet loving expression at her daughter. She then leaned forward and kissed Keira on the forehead. "I love you, Keira." She then placed her hand over Keira's heart. "No matter what happens, your father and I will always be with you. Live. Love. Be happy."

Standing straight, she then gestured to Eva and Elric. They both stepped forward, saying nothing, and placed a hand each on one of Keira's shoulders.

Keira, being three years old, was enduring a flurry of emotions. One part of her didn't understand what was going on. However, another part of her knew that she would never see her mother alive again. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I love you, mommy."

Sarah smiled back at her sweetly before nodding at the Knights. The next second, Keira, Eva, and Elric apparated away to the forest they were currently in.

And that brings me to my current situation.

The five remaining Death Eaters – after they presumably dealt with my new mother – had somehow managed to track us. Having cast Avada Kadavra at me and, thinking I was dead, they were now torturing the 'mudbloods.'

The entire situation of being reborn into this world and inheriting my new body's memories was highly disorienting, but my prior training helped me to focus.

I looked at the Death Eaters again, more closely than before. Noticing their robes to be in tatters, with blood oozing from some exposed flesh. Not one of the Death Eaters was unscathed. Whether the wounds were caused by my parents or my godparents didn't matter. What mattered was the fact that the Death Eaters hadn't healed their injuries. Although my knowledge of this world was relatively limited, I still knew that highly trained witches and wizards ought to be capable with healing magic. This told me that the Death Eaters were likely mediocre, probably being some sort of initiates to Voldemort's inner circle.

Wounded and not overly skilled…I might just have a chance.

Next, I performed a check of my body. Moving all my limbs, I found everything in working order. My body ached, particularly the left part of my chest over my heart. Looking at the location I saw an ugly looking scar that came from being struck by the killing curse. It wasn't jagged like Harry's would be. Instead, I was a mass of scar tissue that spread in all directions from an originating point. In all, it was three inches in diameter.

All in all, my new body was very weak. Fortunately, assassinations didn't require much strength. So long as I could catch the Death Eaters by surprise, I stood a chance of surviving.

Being as silent as possible, I stood and drew the Eilean dagger from its sheath. I tested its edge and, though it wasn't overly sharp, found it was sharp enough for the work ahead.

Taking off my outer robes to create greater ease of movement, I proceeded towards my prey. I kept my body low and carefully chose the placement of my feet so as to not cause noise.

Nine meters.

Six meters.

One meter.

They had yet to notice me, being as engrossed in torturing my godparents as they were.

I calmed my breathing as I felt excitement and adrenaline rush through my body. Despite how much I disliked killing in my past life, I had always found the hunt to be thrilling.

Gripping the Eilean dagger, I pounced forward, slashing the nearest Death Eater behind his knees, severing his arteries. He hadn't even hit the ground and had only begun the first syllables of a scream before I was at the next Death Eater. Just as with the previous one, I slashed the arteries behind her knees.

Though the cuts wouldn't cause immediate death, their movement would be inhibited and they would soon bleed out.

At this point, the other three had noticed me. They turned, letting out exclamations of surprise before turning their wands to me and forming curses.

Eva, the only one of my godparents still alert, also saw me and screamed, "Run!"

I leapt forward and grabbed the wand hand of the next Death Eater, managing to turn away his wand just enough to send the curse off course. Using the power of my legs, I thrust upward and shoved my dagger through their throat. I then pulled out the dagger and blood pour out of the wound. Releasing his wand – which I then grabbed – he collapsed to his knees with both hands clutching at his throat.

There were now only two functioning Death Eaters left.

A curse flew from the Death Eater furthest from me. To counter it, I grabbed the cloak of the Death Eater whose throat I had just stabbed, and flung it with my strength, causing it to billow in the air where it intercepted the curse and disintegrated into ashes.

Now, I was in a very precarious situation. The nearest of the two Death Eaters was a little over two meters from me. It was a distance I knew I couldn't cover quickly enough to avoid an incoming curse.

While my battle senses quickly analyzed the situation, a part of me acted off instinct. I raised the wand I had grabbed with my left hand and pointed it at the Death Eater. My thoughts then turned to an inner energy I had never felt in my past life: magic. Though I had no prior experience with it, I managed to gather the energy and force it through my body, towards the wand.

I had no clear image. No specific spell I wanted to cast. I simply needed an opening to proceed forward and kill the man.

What issued from the black, gnarled wand was an invisible, powerful shockwave. It spread out towards the Death Eater, jolting him and sending him sprawling to the ground. As he fell, he waved his wand wildly, sending out a curse.

As the curse flew towards me, I dodged to the right in an attempt to avoid it. Most of it missed me, but my left thigh and shoulder were hit. Deep gashes bit into my flesh at those spots, the horrible pain causing me to sharply intake my breath.

"Keep moving!" I commanded myself.

Shutting the pain from my mind as best as I could, I ran forward with all my force, totally abandoning all stealth or technique. Only speed mattered now. Either he would get another curse out, or my knife would end up in his throat.

As fortune would have it, he still hadn't recovered from his fall by the time I reached him. He was facedown on the ground. I pounced on his back, reach my dagger around him, and slashed his neck. As the strength of this body was limited, the slash wasn't overly deep. However, no matter how shallow it was, it was still deep enough to cause blood to pour from him.

Only one Death Eater left.

I looked to where the last one was and froze. He was looking at me, his wand raised and ready.

He was to far away. I knew I wouldn't reach him in time. In fact, the four kills so far had already been heavily reliant upon luck.

Reaching my senses to the mysterious magic power in me, my instincts told me there wasn't enough for another shockwave.

"Filthy bitch!" the man snarled in a deep voice. "Go join your parents!"

Despite what should have been a helpless situation, I was at peace. In fact, I even smiled.

A few meters behind the last Death Eater stood Eva. She had recovered in this short amount of time and had retrieved her wand. She had a fierce look in her eyes as she jerked her want and sent out a bright purple spell straight towards the man's head. He didn't even have time to turn around before it touched him.

His head exploded. Literally. Blood flew everywhere and the headless body fell to the ground with a thud.

Eva ran across the blood-stained grass to me and hugged me tightly. "You're okay," she breathed in relief. "We're all okay. Everything's going to be alright from now on. You're safe."

She continued comforting me, probably assuming I was traumatized by the whole ordeal. And, though I had a vast amount of experience with combat and death, a part of me felt comfort at her words. I felt a warmth I had never experienced before.

In fact, as I reflected on my feelings at that moment, I realized I was happy. Absent was the usual depression and sorrow that came after I killed someone. Instead, I was filled with relief. I knew the difference was because the me killing this time had resulted out of my desire to protect myself and those I cared about, not because I was ordered to kill.

In this life, though my parents were gone, I had people to love me and that I could love. I would have freedom. I could obtain happiness and experience the world.

And hell, it was a magical world at that!

Tears of sadness, relief, and happiness rolled down my cheeks while a smile lit up my face as I hugged Eva.

*Crack*

At that moment, the sounds of aurors apparating into our surroundings. With trained movements, they moved closer to us, all the while alert for dangers.

But I didn't pay them any mind. Rather, I could barely keep my eyes open. After surviving a killing curse, coming to this world, inheriting memories, killing four people, receiving cuts to my thigh and should, and experiencing a flood of emotions I wasn't familiar with, I was exhausted. Now that the adrenaline was mostly out of my system, I felt my consciousness begin to fade.

Finally, as an auror with a scarred face and strange eye approached us, darkness finally took hold of me.

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A/N:

1 - Scathach's legend will be based more off of Nasuverse's version rather than the actual mythology. That said, it has very little to do with the story.

2 - Obviously, since the MC came to the Harry Potter universe, multiverse theory is a thing. However, it will only be mentioned as a theory in relation to magic. There will NOT be other transmigrators and she will NOT deal with entities/stories from other novels/works.

3 - It's been a while since I read Harry Potter (just really felt like writing a fanfic). As such, some details will be off. Plus, as you can tell, my writing style is not similar to Rowling's. If that bugs you, too bad.

4 - Still not sure exactly how fast/slow the story will progress.

5 - It always bugged me how Harry was able to fight on par with Voldemort and other adults. Plus, for entertainment purposes and having a limited word count, I know Rowling wasn't able to dive too deeply into world mechanics. I intend to rectify some of these things.

6 - MC will become very powerful. Politics and economics will be integrated into this. She will not be Harry's sidekick (if you consider Voldemort as one force and Harry/Dumbledore as a second force, then think of our MC and her followers as a third force).

7 - In case you didn't pick up on it, Keira is 3 years older than Harry.

8 - Release rate still undetermined.

9 - There will be NO physical cultivation. I will mention it in some future chapter and will provide some reason as to why eastern cultivation and western wizardry are not compatible with each other. She will have a magic core that grows and/or condenses as she becomes stronger, but it will not have stages.

Just wanted to set some expectations and clarify things before we proceed forward. Enjoy.