HP: The Magical Gamer [Chapter 159: Elves! ] (Patreon)

"You think I did the right thing? Should I have helped them?" Harry pondered out loud, looking beside himself at his mother.

She smiled gently, slinging her left arm around his shoulders. "Yes, you did the right thing. When you are drowning, you need to help yourself first before trying to help others."

Harry felt relieved, the guilt ebbing away. He missed his [Remorseless] and [Gamer's Mind] perks. He wouldn't even feel this way if they were active.

Not five minutes after they turned their backs on the village, they heard running footsteps behind them.

He pushed his mother behind him and prepared himself. He calmed his nerves and wished his heart wasn't thumping this hard.

Lily had her wand trained forward. Her hand was steady and her eyes were sharp.

"I mean no harm!" The being yelled, who stopped some thirty yards away from them.

The Potters were stunned as they realised who the girl was. The elf moved closer and stopped a couple of feet before them. She had an uncertain smile on her fair face.

While she had the elfish blonde hair and her eyes were sky blue, they still recognised her. How could they not? She was their sister and daughter. She was Iris Potter.

"My name is Irisviel. Please listen to my plea." She begged.

When the two remained frozen. She began unsurely. "The Wizard will kill you, I am sure of it. As he does to an elf every year. You see, there was a war between the wizard and the elves a hundred years ago. Unfortunately, we lost.”

“Even when we threw our arms and surrendered, he continued massacring us. To stop the genocide, our king begged him for mercy. Surprisingly, the wizard granted us mercy, but he made his demands. The first was that we should leave our home Calhadr. Yes, it was our home before it was ruined.”

“And the second was that every year, the elves would voluntarily send a single elf to him to sate his bloodlust. In our desperation, we acceded. Today is that day. And it is my turn to be sacrificed. I beg you to return to the village and take the longer path. There is no need for you to die. The only death today shall be mine."

Lily was puzzled for a second before remembering what Harry had said about the world being altered for the special quests. Her heart clenched at the thought of her child sacrificing her life for those elves. It made the dark side inside her darken some more.

She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Irisviel. "Worry not for us, child. We'll kill this wizard and save you. Now hurry back to your village."

"Weren't you listening? Even all the elven kind couldn't stop him." She pushed away, looking at her beseechingly.

"We are not elves. We will kill him. Go back, Irisviel. You won't meet Death today." said Harry.

"You both are arrogant. I understand why my kind doesn't like humans." Irisviel grumbled angrily.

"Say what you want. But our course had been decided. We won't change it." Lily giggled, hugging her again.

"Why do you keep on embracing me?" The elf complained, trying to wiggle out of her grasp.

"You just remind me of my daughter." Lily whispered sadly, knowing that her daughter was standing in front of her, but unable to remember her and Harry.

Irisviel felt the sorrow in her voice and ceased her protesting, bringing her own arms to reciprocate the gesture. "Fine. Since we all are going to die, you can consider me your daughter."

Lily chuckled, squeezing her one last time before stepping back. "I won't stop you from accompanying us."

"You can't stop me from accompanying you." The elf bristled and looked on in a challenging manner at Harry, watching if he would deny her.

"I won't stop you either, sister." Harry teased, pleased when her face turned red.

"I am not your sister, human."

"Actually, you are. You see, this woman who you accepted as your mother is my mother too. So, that makes you my sister."

"Isn't she your master? How can she be your master if she is your mother?" Irisviel questioned dubiously.

"Don't think about it too much, darling. Harry is just a very naughty boy, he gets off on this master-slave thing." smirked Lily.

"Oi! Don't tarnish my reputation. Even if I was into that sort of thing, I'd be the master and not the slave." Harry defended himself, but his mother was already laughing.

"You both are strange. Are all humans this way?" Irisviel commented dryly.

"No, we are special. Come on, sister, let's be on our way." he smiled, grabbing her hand and intertwining his fingers with hers. Irisviel blushed but didn't pull back her hand.

After half an hour of trudging through the forest, they came to the bank of a river. During this time, Harry and Irisviel became fast friends. 

She told him how she hadn't ever known her parents, that they died protecting the village from the giant spiders. 

She revealed how that tragedy made many children orphans, including her. Harry joked and tried to cheer her up after that conversation. 

And the way her eyes shone and the smile played upon her lips, he considered his efforts rather fruitful.

Now, they peered down at the river. It was around 200 metres from this bank to the other.

"I can cross the river by running over it. How will you cross it?" asked Irisviel.

"You go. Don't worry about us. We'll be right behind you." Harry said, untangling his fingers from hers and taking back his hand. 

She nodded reluctantly before leaping down the bank and sprinting across the surface of the river. Her steps made small ripples in the water but nothing drastic. Miraculously, she didn't fall. Must be some perk of being an elf.

"I can transfigure something into a boat, Harry." Lily said, stepping beside him. Until now she had been content in guarding the children's backs and listening in to their conversation.