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Still in Harry's description of zir memory.

JAMES: This is turning into an obsession for you! You can't–

LILY: Voldemort is hunting us, James! Do you know what that means? He could attack us at any moment–

BABY HARRY: WAAH! WAAAAAAAAAA

JAMES: Silencio! { The incantation of the Sliencing Charm. }

The baby Harry becomes silent.

JAMES: Dumbledore wants us to be living our lives, Lily, this isn't right–

LILY: Right? Of course it isn't right! It isn't right that we have to fight the fuckin'... Wizard IRA in the first place, but we have to!

JAMES: But–but–no! We don't have to! The Fidelius Charm–

LILY: Do you think that charm is invincible? Voldemort can probably rip the knowledge straight from Peter's mind if they catch him!

Lily looks rather dishevelled, and is clenching a scrap of parchment in one hand.

LILY { continuing zir monologue }: Or do you think we can fight him? The Boneses thought so too, do you remember them? Do you think I'm a better duellist than Dorcas Meadowes? She blasted his arm off before he got her, and he has a new arm now! He's not like other dark wizards, we'll need something more powerful, something he won't expect–

JAMES: Merlin's beard, just show me the spell if you care so much.

Lily hands James a scrap of parchment. James looks the other way while ze reaches zir hand out to accept it. Lily is looking down and brushing some hair off zir face with zir other hand.

(hide transcript)

Every few years, there's a story in the Daily Prophet about a baby that died because its parent(s) left it silenced and forgot to take care of its basic needs. The Ministry formally classifies using the Silencing Charm on a baby as a form of child abuse, but this rule is almost never enforced, and very few parents are able to resist the temptation forever.

Lily's comments about the IRA don't necessarily reflect the attitudes of the author. It wouldn't be surprising for a 1980s British muggle to view the IRA as nothing but a violent threat. I was specifically avoiding having Lily call Voldemort “wizard Hitler”. I thought of having Lily say “wizard Charles Manson”, but I don't know whether a British person would have known much about Charles Manson.

Approximate readability: 11.19 (606 characters, 132 words, 6 sentences, 4.59 characters per word, 22.00 words per sentence)