Archive of Our Own

The thing about protective magic is that it has a mind of its own, shaped by intent but ultimately governed by the Lady Magic herself.  When Lily Potter refused to stand aside at Voldemort’s order, and sacrificed herself for her children, her final thoughts were for their safety and protection.  Lady Magic saw her dying wish and bestowed a gift, granting them her protection until they reached their majority and could fend for themselves.  This was rare and powerful magic. 

Then Dumbledore came and mucked it all up. Arrogant foolish mortal believing that her gift had limits.  He twisted and warped her gift, tying it down to that horrid little house and those people who despised all those blessed by her. That fool shaped her gift into a shoddy type of ward. A powerful ward yes but limited, only able to keep out those who were marked as followers of the dark lord.  How dare he restrict her protection.  How dare he think he knew best.  For the greater good indeed.

But Lady Magic for all her fury could do nothing.  For once the wards had been created, she could not change them. She could do nothing to fix the mess this wix had made, not until his conditions were no longer met. For as long as the children considered number 4 privet drive their home, she could do no more.  She could only watch.

She could only watch as they were shoved in a cupboard and ignored. 

She could only watch as their names were stolen and twisted. 

As they were referred to only as girl, boy, or freak. 

As they were denied food, proper clothes, and love. 

As he was given the toughest chores, forced to work outside for hours in all weathers.  As she was forced into itchy and uncomfortable dresses and taught to keep house. 

As he was forced to scrub his hands until they bled because ‘they were dirty’ (they were just brown).  As she was kept inside and slathered in smelly lotions in order to ‘make you look a proper Englishwoman’. 

Lady Magic could only watch.

The years passed, and the Potter siblings grew.  Stronger together and in fact rarely apart, the duo survived, but did not thrive.  Hari did his best to protect his sister, taking the brunt of his relatives’ hate and always taking responsibility for any sort of freakishness that might occur.  Kamala cared for her brother, sneaking him food and kindness in equal measure, and playing the perfect little doll for their aunt. 

Then one day after ten long years, a letter arrived.  A letter that would lead to their escape.  This was of course Hari’s Hogwarts letter.  It was also just the opportunity the Lady Magic had been waiting for. 

Once the children had commenced their shopping, Lady Magic could finally act.  A subtle nudge was all the aid she could offer here, but it got the job done. The children left the little shop feeling for quite the first time like things might be going their way.

The trunk they had ordered arrived with little fanfare late in the evening on august 26^th.  Hari’s school things were soon packed into the case with Kamala’s belongings smuggled in alongside them.  The remaining days were spent hoarding food and, squirreling away anything they thought could be of use, as they worked to set up Kamala’s new lodgings.

The siblings awoke bright and early on September 1^st and prepared to leave the Dursleys forever.  Kamala sequestered herself in the case while Hari created a minor distraction for their relations.  In all the chaos of leaving and distracted even further by the fuss Dudley made over sitting next to Hari, the Dursleys made no notice of the fact Kami had disappeared.  So it was, at long last, with the trunk in the car, and Kamala hidden in the trunk, the pair finally left the Dursleys after ten long miserable years.  They were left abandoned at the curb like so much rubbish and they were, finally, finally free. 

Late that evening after a long and rather eventful day Hari waited until the last of his dormmates had dropped off to sleep, then creeped into the case. And then the siblings celebrated. They were together, they had magic, and most importantly they had a place they could call their own. No more cupboards and scraps, no more bedrooms begrudgingly given, no more grueling chores, tattered hand-me-downs and itchy dresses.  No more Dursleys.  They were free.  They had the case, they had each other, and they were home. 

It was this thought, shared by the siblings as they lay tucked away in their own little world, that broke Dumbledore’s hold on the wards. 

The wards collapsed. 

The protection did not. 

It separated itself from the house it had been forcibly tied to and instead anchored itself to the siblings and the love they shared, as Lady Magic had always intended.  Now she was free to provide all that her protection entailed. 

Meanwhile elsewhere in the castle a silver trinket stopped spinning.  In the following weeks the headmaster was very carefully made not to notice.  It was in fact far into the next summer that Lady Magic finally allowed the headmaster to see.  But by then it was far too late for that arrogant young upstart to interfere. 

When he arrived at Number 4 Privet Drive in a panic, the air was dead and still and there was not a trace of magic to be found.  When he questioned Petunia, she after first slamming the door in his face, quite happily informed him that not only did she have no idea where her sister’s children were, but she hadn’t seen either since she dropped Hari off on September 1^st.  She then ever so politely... slammed the door on him one final time. 

Dumbledore for his part, shocked though he was, immediately set himself to both discovering what happened to the failed wards and locating the wayward children.  He was left guessing on both counts. 

For the wards, as far as he could tell, Lily’s protection simply vanished.  It did not break. It did not fail. It simply vanished. 

The children were similarly gone.  They still lived, those trinkets still whirled away, but all attempts to locate them were for naught.  They too had simply vanished.

Dumbledore knew that for the greater good the children must be returned to their aunt.  But for all that he had shaped those wards and had known the children’s magic he could not find them. 

Lady Magic knew that for the good of those children, they would never return to the Dursleys.  For all that Dumbledore had twisted her protection, they were now beyond even his control, and she would not allow any sort of tampering again.  The children would be protected. And so long as Dumbledore insisted that the young Potters be returned to those who had abused them, Lady Magic would shield the children from him. 

And so, it came to be that Lady Magic stood watching -  her fingers lightly stroking bright phoenix feathers - as Dumbledore paced ever more franticly.  She stood hidden in plain sight, wrapped in a cloak of her own magic, as he gave in to the inevitable and summoned his lead lackeys.  She watched as the woman broke into a stream of pure and furious Scotts at the news, while the man sneered to hide his fear and worry. 

Lady Magic nodded to herself and left.  Her work was done, and her charges were safe.

For now.