"But mum, I had to go. It was important."
"What was so important you had to go alone and unsupervised at that, hmmm? What was so important you were left standing alone and unresponsive in the library for lord knows how long before your friends found you? What was so important that you wanted to change history even though I know that Binns has told you that you cannot change history?"
Boy, was she ever heated. Think fast, Harry. "Um… only part of history is recorded. I used the book as a starting point to go back in time. I found the event that was recorded but then watched and interacted with the part that wasn't in the book. Don't you see, mum? I can change history - but only the unrecorded history."
"Harry, you were out flat on your back with a book stuck in your hands for three days! I don't care about your reasoning on this. You are not doing another stint like that in time again, mister."
"But mom, if there's something I need to do back in time, I have to do it. Fate demands it." After all, he thought, how was he going to take Safire up on her invitation to return if he was stuck uptime under his mother's thumb?
"And just how are you going to know something in history needs your fingers poking around to fix unless it is already recorded, hmmm?"
Harry was a fighter. He thought with actions more so than with words. That was Hermione's department. Even as an apprentice he could feel himself sometimes get tongue-tied when asked too many questions at once. That was why he kept his mouth shut most of the time and looked around, trying to figure out the best response while other people just spouted whatever came to their heads.
And that was what he was doing here. His mouth was shut as he tried to figure out how to answer his mother's question. How would he know about something in history unless it were recorded somehow?
Lily sighed and looked down at the floor, her fingers intertwining on her lap. "Look, Harry, I understand what it's like to be your age. Really, I do. I was 11 once. You are a very gifted young man. And I know you've gotten better at keeping secrets recently. I mean, this summer is proof of that. Cooking like me when I couldn't get you in the kitchen for years? You not bothering to study during your first five years of schooling which now that I think of it you must have skived off so you could concentrate on your magic.
"You know, a couple months ago I actually suspected you were using a wit sharpening potion but you know what convinced me you weren't using a potion at all?"
Harry looked at his mother and said, "What?"
"The sorting hat. The enchantments on that hat see through potions and spells and other artificial aids students have used throughout the centuries. It sees the real you deep down. And when it made you an apprentice, I was so proud. My little boy was now a smart little man. To be able to hide your real abilities all these years and surprise us on your first day at Hogwarts? That was something, honey."
She knows, he thought. No, she suspects something is different. You've got to quit arousing her suspicions.
"Mum," he started, "I wasn't hurt and I don't plan to ever get hurt."
She sighed again and looked straight into his now-normal eyes. "Yes, you weren't hurt this time, honey, but what's to say you won't be hurt next time? Or the time after that?"
"I might get hurt, I concede that point, mum. But what if I can save someone during a time trip that otherwise might get killed by some rampaging nundu or berserk muggle? What if I can help save a child so they don't have to grow up an orphan?" Without meaning to, the hurt in Harry's eyes could be seen by Lily.
When had her son grown up into such a fine man?
"Harry… I have no right to stop you using your power. Only… do me a favor and let someone in the present know when you are going to do this again? So we don't find you like this last time?"
Harry nodded to that request. "I apologize for making you worry, mum. I'll have a spotter the next time I do this. I promise."
"Harry, I mean it. A spotter, or a friend, or even just someone concerned for your safety can do wonders for you, especially if you are hurt in the process. I mean, look at what I have to do with your father and that silly language of his."
"What… silly language is that, mum?" Harry asked guardedly.
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