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First · Archive · ⚠ depicts cartoon blood and gore (disable content warnings) ⚠ disabled (enable content warnings) · encourage me
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James holds up the parchment Lily handed zem. At the top are a bunch of symbols. Below them is Lily's translation.

PARCHMENT: Trans– (Evans) "sacrificial protection" being a spell to capture the life of the parent as a shield on the child. While the child remains in the houses of his fathers, the intruder's curse will be returned a thousandfold { then, in messier writing } (worth it as last resort?)

JAMES: This is insane! We'd be better off if you'd never started looking–

LILY: Think of all the people who will die after us if we do nothing!

JAMES: Lily! Neither of us is going to die!

VOLDEMORT: Ha. Ha.

Visually, all the details of the house disappear, and the ground becomes a wash of Voldemort's color. The sharp shadows of Voldemort and zir cat and snake loom towards Lily and James. James panics; Lily has an expression of grim determination.

JAMES: Wh– Stupefy! { "Stupefy" is the incantation of the Stunning Spell, which is supposed to render the target unconscious. } The glare of the stunning spell illuminates Voldemort in a harsh light, but ze is entirely unaffected by it.

LILY: James, no! Get back!

VOLDEMORT: Boring.

Voldemort looks different now. Zir robe has no arms; Voldemort's right arm, which clutches zir wand, is a muscular human arm, but zir left arm is translucent and silvery. As before, zir face is hidden and ze is wearing a Time-Twister around zir neck.

Voldemort grabs James's hand in zir silvery hand and raises it above their heads. Then ze crushes the hand, with the wand inside it. Severed fingers and blood spill everywhere.

JAMES: AAAAAAAAAAAA

VOLDEMORT: I feel I've been here before... in my past... your future... I know what happens here.

James's wand lies in two pieces on the floor. One piece is stained with blood.

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First · Archive · ⚠ depicts cartoon blood and gore (disable content warnings) ⚠ disabled (enable content warnings) · encourage me

A few years before this, when Lily was at Hogwarts, other students made fun of zem for focusing on the study of Ancient Runes instead of something more useful for self-defense, like Charms or Transfiguration.

The Ministry prohibits the possession of books of “dark magic”, such as the one Lily got that spell from, without special authorization. The Hogwarts library has this authorization, but Lily does not. However, at the height of Voldemort's power, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement has more important things to do than bust people for having banned books. The law mainly functions as an excuse to make arrests if Ministry officials suspect someone of being a Death Eater and raid zir home, but don't find real evidence. Many people have such books out of curiosity, or for self-defense, or because a few “dark” spells were included in a book about something else. However, once it's gotten to that point, DMLE agents don't stop to wonder if the accused might be innocent.

Approximate readability: 12.75 (791 characters, 168 words, 7 sentences, 4.71 characters per word, 24.00 words per sentence)