Chapter Seven

An interminable time talking while walking in a single direction brought Harry and Lily to a small ridgeline, but there was no sign of any kind of habitation. Wherever they were, there weren't any people. Harry barely noticed this though, still entranced by the sheer pleasure of having his mother nearby, plying her with questions about her life.

She still wouldn't answer any serious questions about his father or their life together, not yet. Those questions should be answered in a much nicer environment, where he could curl up in a big chair and listen rather than have to walk watching his surroundings for threats. Even so, she touched on his group of 'bullies' as she called them or 'bullies that came good, the Marauders'. "Just because something is funny to you," she said finishing one detail in particular that had her eyes flashing with anger even at the memory "Does not mean that it's funny to everyone, particularly the victim."

Harry nodded, understanding that point easily enough. After all, Dudley and his friends thought Harry Hunting was fun, and Harry certainly didn't. Looking around he only then began to register that his heating charm was beginning to fade. Harry quickly redid it then looked around. "We have to find some kind of shelter or something. Er, at least for me anyway."

"Yes those kinds of charms do tend to wear off over time. And we'll need to find some food for you too. Unfortunately you can't eat anything you transfigure, it won't have the nutritional properties of actual food. Mind you, there was such a thing as the Transfiguration Diet."

"Transfiguration?" Harry asked not having asked any magic-related questions yet. "What's that?"

"That's the school of magic that deals with fundamentally changing one thing to another. A charm for example how you changed your shirts color, while an example of transfiguration would be how you changed your clothing's size. There are a few areas like that where the two disciplines overlap." Lily frowned thoughtfully as she hovered in the air next to Harry, moving with that breezy gait of ghosts. She'd attempted to simply walk, but she didn't actually move, so floating was the only thing she could do.

"I think looking back on it that a lot of the spells in Transfiguration in particular were more concentration aids than anything else. It's more about the ability to control the image in your head and then juxtapose that image onto reality."

Harry didn't know what juxtapose meant, but he could understand what it meant from the rest of the sentence. "That's what I did! It was really hard the first few times, but it got easier each time I did it."

"Which might be why the specific spells came into being. Wizards are not people who like dealing with difficult things or concepts." She shook her head sadly. "Remember this Harry if you ever have to interact with wizards. Wizards are lazy, they find a way to do something once with minimal effort, and if they find an easier way to do something the original is slowly lost. It's a mode of thought that seems to infect even muggle-born given enough time."

She had other lessons to impart about the wizards, but she wasn't certain that Harry would ever be returning to Earth. The Powers-That-Be had not been very helpful in that area, possibly realizing that Harry would attempt to bring her with him, and not wanting to influence events further. She feared that he would however, and Lily would do all she could to prepare Harry for that eventuality, and for everything else that might come his way.

With a shake of her head Lily brought her mind back to the here and now. "So, shelter."

Harry looked around, then up at one of the crystal structures. Looking into himself in a way he couldn't quite describe, Harry decided he didn't really have enough magical energy yet to try to transfigure anything that big. So he was forced to climb up a crystal standing on the top of it for a moment to look around for anything he could use as cover.

Laughing lightly Lily fluttered up next to him shaking her head as she reached out with an ephemeral hand to brush Harry's hair gently. "You know you could've just asked me to do that right?"

Harry twitched, looking away not wanting to say out loud that he had not yet really gotten used to the idea of someone wanting to help or at least going out of their way to help him. The teachers at school were sometimes kind to him, but that was so haphazard it hadn't really sunk in.

With the two of them looking in different directions, they soon covered the entire area, but didn't see anything very helpful. "Why don't you stay here and I'll see exactly how far from you I can get Harry, see if I can find any shelter." Lily said, still ruffling his hair. Harry nodded shyly, and Lily leaned in to buss his cheek with her ghostly lips before moving off. Harry watched her go, hoping that she would return quickly.

She was back about five minutes later, frowning thought fully. "Well the good news is I can get I'd say about a mile or so away from you, which means I'll be of use as a scout. The bad news is, I only found one place that looks like shelter, and it's already inhabited."

"By an animal or a person?" Harry asked as he climbed down from the crystal. It wasn't smooth like the crystals he had seen in pictures in the library or in some of the older kid's science classed. It was rough under his fingers with a few handholds here and there, and the fact it was glowing definitely helped. It also had small growths that almost looked like branches, and even leaves though it took Harry a few minutes to realize that was what they were.

"Animal, though it's almost your size. It almost reminds me of a badger, but not quite, more like a badger crossed with an ant or perhaps a beetle, since it does have some horns or something like them around its mouth."

Harry shuddered a little. "Are you sure there's only one?" he asked anxiously. Facing a horde of ants his own size did not sound fun to him.

"Yes, don't worry, I made certain to check. It's this way." She said gesturing slightly to the right of the route they had been following through the forest of crystals.

"Do you think we'll be able to scare it off, or, or kill it?"

Lily winced a little. "I don't think so, just judging from the fact it's burrow looks permanent it won't want to give it up without a fight. I'm afraid you'll have to scare it off, or, or you might have to kill it. I'm sorry Harry. It's the best I could find."

Harry shuddered again, a full body shudder this time but after a moment his gaze firmed and he nodded resolutely. Seeing this Lily nodded her head, once again leaning down to kiss him on the forehead. "Be strong Harry, I can teach you a spell that'll help. Though I don't know if you'll be able to do it without a focus."

"It's all right mom, at least this place is better than being with the Dursleys." He didn't notice her Lily's wince at that, or how she shook her head her emerald eyes brimming with unshed tears for a moment. She shook them off however, and went on to describe the spells she was hoping Harry could use.

Several moments later, Harry didn't know how long it took since telling time here was impossible, he felt he had the spell down. He gestured with the sharp flick of his fingers, and a bright red ring shot out from them slamming into a crystal across from the route he was walking. "Stupefy!"

"Excellent Harry!" Lily exclaimed, clapping her ethereal hands. Honestly, she hadn't thought Harry would be able to do it, but the concentration skills he had learned over the past few months while he was experimenting with his magic had stood Harry in good stead, so he didn't seem to need a focus, at least not so far. That was astonishing and coupled with the rest of what Harry had done Lily decided that maybe what she thought of as the basic laws of magic might not be so much laws as assumptions wizards had made over time, with only a few of them being true unbreakable rules.

She shook her head, wishing to think about that later but right now she had to get her son undercover somewhere. And maybe get him some food to. What was that spell Professor Flitwick told me about that checks food for poisons?

The two of them, James and Sirius were all drunk at the time. They had just come back from an excursion in Africa to make certain that the witch doctors there weren't going to join forces with Voldemort. After a few drinks James had asked the diminutive professor how he had made certain that the food the witch doctors gave them wasn't poisoned.

It had been, but Flitwick still negated the poisons easily enough, and he and the witch doctors had all laughed as if it was all good fun. Sirius had too Lily remembered. He said something about his family that James simply nodded at while it had shot past Lily, until James explained it later. She had been appalled at the time, but right now that wasn't important.

After a moment, she brought the spell's incantation to mind, and crossed her fingers hoping that she remembered the gestures right. Those she was much rockier on, as she confessed to Harry a few moments later as they crested another small rise in the land and could stared down into the dell where she had seen the animal and its burrow. "We were all a little tipsy I'm afraid, so you might have to experiment with the gestures, but after you're finished the spell, the meat should either glow yellow for good, or purple for poisonous."

Harry crouched down, staying low so as to not present a target if the animal was looking around it, though if it could see much with the only light coming from the crystals around them he didn't know. Lily hadn't been very helpful in describing what the animal could or could not do, only what it looked like. Why purple and yellow? And did the animal see you?"

"No it didn't, I passed right through it and it didn't respond at all. It might be sleeping for all I know, but it looked dangerous so be careful Harry." Harry Lily said seriously. "As for purple and yellow, I have no idea."

Harry nodded, and began to make his way forward still crouching down using what cover he could. He was good at hiding, though being on this end of a hunt was kind of strange. And there wasn't a lot of cover available here either. Eventually he was near enough to see the hole in the ground that Lilly had directed him to. The hole looked big enough for him though Lily's ghost might have to stay outside else her body would be with both him and the ground around it.

But as soon as he entered the small clearing around the hole, the creature burst out of its cage possibly hearing Harry's shoes on the gravel of the ground around.

The beast was actually a bit larger than Harry had expected after seeing its burrow, though Lily had warned him it was. If it stood on its hind feet, it would be as large as Harry and quite a bit wider. It did indeed look like some kind of mole with fur along its chest and arms, but it also had armor plates all along its back, which looked more like a grub than a beetle's, at least in Harry's opinion. I suppose I've spent more time around bugs than my mother, aren't girls supposed to be afraid of bugs or something anyway?

That thought was at the back of his mind however the rest of Harry's mind was busy controlling his body. Because the creature didn't just have armor plates on his back, it had long claws at the end of its paws, and the snout that emerged from under a bit of armor plate had wide mandibles open and slashing together. It was also racing straight at Harry, crossing the distance between them very fast indeed, moving on four of it's six legs.

Harry performed the swish and flick of his fingers that Lily had taught him pointing at the creature. "Stupefy!"

The first attempt was weak, only staggering the creature a little and it kept on coming. Now Harry could hear angry chittering coming from it. "GRAAHGRAAH!"

Harry quickly did the spell again, but it didn't work this time any better than the last even though the red circle looked much more powerful as it zoomed through the air. "It's not working!"

"Try to put more power into it!" Lily instructed urgently, moving forward as if to bar the creature's way automatically, only for the thing to pass through her without even noticing. She turned her face now a rictus of fear as it dawned on her that the creature was much tougher than she had expected, and that her son was in danger right in front of her and she couldn't do anything about it.

The third spell staggered the thing, and staggered from side to side shaking its head, which allowed Harry to hit it twice more with two more Stupefys. But the creature threw them off, and was on Harry before he could try again. The thing's claws sought Harry's side and chest, but he ducked away reflexively, reflexes honed by years of Harry Hunting standing him in good stead.

Desperately Harry grabbed the beast with his magic like it was one of his stones back in his hideaway then hurled it towards a few crystals. He was so scared he put as much power as he could into the spell, and the thing whistled through the air until it slammed with a boom into the crystal, shattering some of them.

It also impaled itself on bits of the crystal. Harry watched falling to his knees and gasping a little as the thing began to bleed out it's legs still moving spasmodically as it shrilled a high-pitched scream.

"Harry!" Lily flew through the air towards her son wishing desperately that she had hands, going down to her knees and looking into his face. "Harry, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Harry whispered, shaking his head. "Just really tired." With a groan of effort he pushed himself to his feet, moving over and grabbing up a small crystal from where the creature had impacted, holding it like a knife as he moved on towards where the body had fallen. He prodded the beast, but it didn't react, going still as he watched. It's back had been penetrated in seven different places, one of which was directly in back of its head, and he sighed in relief. "That thing was a lot tougher than I thought."

"It was a lot tougher than I thought too Harry, but I am so proud of you, you were magnificent!" Lily said, throwing her arms around him in the universe's most ethereal hug.

Yet Harry still felt it, and that was enough. He smiled up at her before gesturing at the creature. "What should we do with it?"

Harry knew next to nothing about woodcraft, but he knew that dead bodies tended to smell, and that smell tended to bring predators. Though they hadn't seen anything living yet besides his creature, he wasn't willing to take the chance.

"Try the spells on it first. The meat might be edible, and maybe the fur could be made into a coat or something." Lily frowned, unhappy at the fact she really couldn't do anything other than instruct her son in the spells.

Harry did the spell, and watched in confusion when the body of the creature glowed a mix of purple and yellow. "Ooookay, what does that mean?"

Lily winced. "I'm afraid that probably means that while it isn't poisoned, the meat itself is poisonous to you. Damn, that probably means we'll have to keep moving quickly, so you should take some time to rest at least."

Reluctantly Harry nodded, though Lily was not looking at him still looking at the body. "Could… I hate to suggest this, I know it's going to be a disgusting process, but do you think you could carve out a bit of its meat and set it aside, part of the underbelly I mean,then cast a spell on just at that?"

"You think that's there are some bits that could be fit to eat?" Harry asked as he went to work grimacing as the thing's blood and pus immediately spurted out of the cuts he was making in its underbelly. It steamed in the air, and it was a lot warmer than Harry had expected.

"Well, some creatures have poison glands, or other things like stomach acids that are poisonous."Lily responded shrugging her shoulders and looking away, gagging.

After a moment he had a section of the meat off the creature, setting it aside and endeavoring not to look at it even as he cast the spell Lily had taught him. It glowed yellow after a moment. Harry blanched but nodded his head. "Well, um, then we just have to find a way to make fire…"

"You're a wizard Harry!" Lily laughed, turning back to him with faint smile. "Trust me, fire and light aren't going to be an issue. I'm going to fly up past these crystals things to keep watch just in case anything else heard the noise. We have no idea about the senses of animals around here, or how far noise can travel through these crystals. We've been talking for a while and haven't seen anything, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Harry frowned, not liking having his mother leave him like that, but nodded understanding the necessity. While Harry went to work, Lily hovered in the air about forty feet above him, staring all around them. There doesn't seem to be anything else around, which is both good and bad. Bad because it meant that there was no life either, intelligent life anyway. Which meant they were really on their own here, or rather Harry was, since Lily didn't need anything in the way of survival needs.

Down below Harry methodically butchered the edible is best suited with his makeshift crystal knife and little to no knowledge of how to actually do it. He also took a bit of the creatures blood. Scanning it with the spell and seeing it glow yellow Harry grimaced, then changed a bit of it into water. It began to freeze almost immediately, but harry was able to get a few sips of it, grimacing all the while. The taste was simply foul, despite Harry having changed the blood to water, something had come through.

After that, Harry peeled off several strips of meat, laying them aside and continually going over them with spells. He eventually had what looked like enough to feed the Dursleys for a at least a day, and he hadn't gotten into anything poisonous yet. After that he looked up at his mom. "I'm done."

She came down from where she had been hovering, nodding. "I suggest you grab the corpse with that spell you were using to hold it in place then throw it as far away from you as possible. Just in case there are scavengers. I'll follow it, and if scavengers don't go after it we can come back tomorrow to harvest anything else we can think of. The cold of this place should preserve the rest of the meat as well."

Harry nodded, lifting the corpse off the crystals, shaking his head. He hadn't liked killing the creature, but it really was the beast or him. With both hands raised to help him concentrate he held it up in the air, then moved them to one side and made a pushing motion, sending it through the air to land elsewhere.

After a moment Lily returned and he smiled up at her, cutting off a yawn. "Now what?"

Lily told him the spells to create fire, particularly Incendio which created a stream of fire, the size of which was variable with the power you put into it. Even now exhausted as he was Harry's stream was rather larger than Lily expected, which she made a mental note of. Her son was quite a bit more powerful than she was, or even James she suspected.

That was interesting, and she wondered how much of that was chance, and how much of it was the fact he was supposed to be the equal to the Dark Lord. Say what you would about anything he did, but Voldemort was easily the most powerful wizard alive in terms of raw magical potential. Dumbledore and a few others had him beat for control of course, which was very important in terms of actual ability, but power was important too.

Harry tried to bring the meat in conjunction with the fire still coming out of his hands, there not being anything around here that he could actually burn. The crystals simply reflected the fire off them, even the leaves. Though they did glow brighter afterwards, which was interesting. After a moment he was able to do it.

After a second he picked it up gingerly, holding his nose with his free hand before biting into it. Harry gagged, but it wasn't the worst thing he'd ever eaten. He chewed, then swallowed. "Has sort of the taste of, of well, bad fish. But I can eat it I guess."

Lily nodded morosely. "I hope it's got some nutritional value, if not you're going to be in a very bad way soon, Harry. We'll need to move on quickly, but for now let's get you under shelter, okay?"

Harry nodded, and with the rest of the meat floating a foot off the ground behind him made his way over to the entrance to the burrow. Inside it was actually quite a bit roomier than he had expected, but thankfully there weren't any eggs or anything of that nature to indicate that the creature had a mate or children. It was also quite a bit warmer inside. The small burrow was lined with leaves from the crystals, which seemed to hold in the warmth better than mere stone, and there were several patches of fur here and there as well. With those and a single heat spell the small den was actually comfortable, since it sort of reminded Harry of his cupboard only more circular and with much better lighting thanks to a Lumos spell.

There was actually a little room for Lily as well, though she had to scrunch up or else she would be phasing though the ground around the den. She watched as Harry came in, then put the meat down at the far side of the room. He burnt another strip, now showing much more control over the Incendio spell than before, holding the flame up from one palm while gingerly holding the meat over it in the other.

"Eat a little more Harry then try to get some sleep. Tomorrow, ah…" Lily laughed. "Hehe, I don't even know if there is a daytime here yet, but still, we'll want to move on fast I think. This place, there's no way you could survive here for very long."

Harry nodded, but Lily went on before he could say anything. "I'll teach you a conjuration spell to create a blanket for herself. I don't know if you'll be able to do it though since you're so tired."

Harry thought for a moment then shook his head. "If conjuration is worse than… transfiguration you said, changing things?" Lily nodded and Harry went on. I shouldn't chance it now." He yawned again and suddenly seemed to slump as the adrenaline wore off. "I, I don't think I'm going to care anyway." He said murmuring softly now. "I'm so tired I could fall asleep sitting up."

"Get some rest Harry." Lilly smiled lovingly, reaching out with gentle hands to ruffle his hair with ethereal fingers once more. "I'll keep watch, don't worry."

Slumping against the wall of the burrow as he continued to chew the strange meat Harry nodded. But he was so tired he fell asleep between one bite and the next, the meat dropping from his fingers as his head drooped to one side. Within moments he was deeply asleep.

Sighing sadly, Lily looked at her son, reaching out with a gentle hand to stroke his cheek. Sleep well Harry. I'll watch over you. As I should've been doing all along.