The boy who went away

Special auror placed little creature behind his ears and pressed wand to it.

'Check.' - it was just a thought transmitted through heracrons, special magical beings who lived in colonies and were very docile with no intellect as far as wizard's knowledge goes. What these little guys were capable of is transmitting thoughts to other heracrons of their colony. Having them in Verga team is a must in any mission. Sadly, they are rare and have a short lifespan so every special group has a single colony to ensure secrecy of transmissions and stable supply of these unbelievable creatures.

'Hear you. Ready to go?'

"Yes." - Tedd said, fixing his wand in a regular place. - "Potion?"

"Take it." - Wilson gave him a little bottle. - "You know. Put a hair inside and it will be ready to drink."

"Yeah, mom." - Tedd rolled his eyes and transformed. - "We have done it so many times it almost became boring, don't fret."

Tedd entered the hideout with relative ease, as he was supposedly in much of a hurry to get herbs to Gram. He went inside the basement and entered the warehouse, sending what he bought to the regular place.

'Twelve of them here. Target not confirmed.' - he sent a thought and walked further.

"Hey, Seventus, come here, we need another one to escort special guest to patient Zero." - he suddenly heard a man's voice from behind and turned around, portraying annoyance. - "Again to the camera of that little shit?"

"You tell me." - Death Eater complained as if understanding the friend. - "It was more interesting to see him squirming all over the floor back then. Now he is just always reading and studying in the cell. He-he, but that girly across gave him quite a treat with her cries for help the other week. Damn, Gerhid made a short work of her."

"Yeah. But the kid is tough." - said Tedd while wishing to rip that smile off the face of the man.

"Indeed he is. Two years of Trophic Potion and constant soul strengthening inside this spell array. Sometimes he lost his voice because of screaming too much. But he survived and even remained sane, unlike other test subjects." - by that point, Tedd transmitted what he heard to the others among his team and they all went silent. Knowing his partners, right now they are polishing their wands for a brutal killing spree to come.

There is no point in mercy and talking. No point in taking them alive. Only the most efficient killing, only lethal force.

"Oh, that seems to be our guest. Never saw him before."

However, when Tedd took a glimpse of the man's face, he froze for a second.

'Selena. We might have a problem here. Duncan Black is with them.' - Tedd sent with incredulity.

'What? Wasn't he a DIA member of Reaper team? What is going on here?' - came an astonished reply from John Buick, the last of the four Verga aurors who left the Ministry to pursue what they saw as justice.

'I don't know, but he alone will make my hands more than full. If we want to rescue the kid, we need to wait and separate him from others. Wait for my signal. It can also be that he is here to save him like us.'

'Let's hope for the best but prepare for the worst. We are ready whenever you are.' - said Selena with clear anger in her voice.

Tedd entered a cell with others and saw a little kid. He was about eight with ebony hair and striking platinum eyes with golden corona to them. He didn't pay much attention to the newcomers, reading a book about magic.

Only one look at him, who was dirty, thin, and covered in rags, turned out to be enough for Tedd to confirm his identity.

'Selena, we found him. He is Alan Salvatore, Jason and Mila's child.' - he sends hastily.

'How is he?' - asked the woman with a worried tone, but then he heard the conversation among Death Eaters and felt a tinge of despair.

'They...' - his thoughts faltered. For the first time in many years, no one understood what he said, because of a mess that even Heracron can't translate. Tedd calmed down and repeated. - 'They forced him to harness obscure.'

'Fuck!' - came enraged reply. - 'What have they done to him!? Those beasts! I'll butcher them!'

'Duncan plans to use him for some kind of revenge plan. Hey, John, do you know anything? He was your friend during school years.' - Tedd just stood there planning.

'Where are they going?' - he asked immediately, after remembering a very particular story.

'France. Paris.'

'So it is that.' - John Buick sighed. - 'I thought he let it go long ago, but apparently he didn't. We can consider it a foolish love affair that came to light. To cut long story short, Duncan and Apolline Delacour loved each other deeply during school years and planned to marry, but her parents insisted otherwise. What they really did was unknown, but he harbored some resentment for it.'

'Are you serious? Just a puppy love is the reason? Let's be grown-ups here, okay?' - Selena was astonished but somehow found this explanation lacking. - 'It can't be all there is to it. Otherwise, such a man like Duncan would have let it go long ago. He is not a child anymore.'

'Well, that is what I know. Perhaps there is more to the issue than meets the eye, but should we care? Let's just get our nephew out of there and think about helping him to cope with obscure.'

Duncan was a well known former member of Reaper team and a special auror with an outstanding service record. He apprehended several notorious Death Eaters during his career, but later received a wound that influenced his mental fortitude and it was stated that because of long-lasting after-effects he died in action. Apparently that was a forged record. Although he is not a Reaper anymore, he remains as a fearsome battle wizard.

But he still was a Reaper once! That's why it was strange for him to collude with Death Eaters and attack the Delacour family. The affair about Apolline happened even before graduation. So many years have come and gone.

'Agreed. Duncan is ready to move out to France. Attack the hideout.'

'Finally, some action.' - came the reply and trio went out like a storm.

They were not some regular aurors, but the special forces team only below Reaper force. Each of them easily hurled non-verbal spells of tremendous magnitude from wand hand and could conjure proper frontal shields, counterspells, hexes and jinxes from another to control battlefield.

While attacking Death Eaters they didn't bother with collateral damages, directly hurling exploding charms and withering curses here and there, aiming for a kill.

They decimated the first floor leaving walls with holes and nothing intact. Like a searing knife through melting butter, the trio ran as if on the wings of wind down to the lower floors.

'I'm leaving the mark to track down the exit point, but maybe it is better for you to go directly to Delacour manor.'

'Will do just that. Contact us if we are wrong about their primary target. But first... let us clean up this place.'

'Good. Duncan brought Gram and his pet half-giant Gerhid. Just regular force is left, but be safe.'

They left the warehouse and changed outfits to be like any muggle out there.

"Behave yourself, kid." - warned Duncan while blindfolding Alan, however, it was unnecessary to do so. Involving muggles around into their battle will be plain stupid.

"Come on, what are you standing there for?" - Tedd came near Alan and pushed him noticeably, but in reality, he let heracron land on his clothes and make its way to his ear. - 'Alan, do you hear me? If you do, give me some signal, I'm among your escort.'

'I hear you.' - came a coherent answer after a minute. Also, his thoughts were nothing an insane or broken person can produce. They were too orderly and pure. - 'Talking through it is convenient.'

'This...' - Selena didn't find what to say after hearing him on the other side. - 'Alan, you might not remember me, but I once saw you when you were two years old at your parent's house. My name is Selena, I am a special auror from Verga team.'

'I remember.' - he rummaged his knowledge and found a fact about her visit. But it was merely that, like reading a story about another person. What a strange thing his memory of everything before the four year old mark became. No emotions, no images, just pure information. - 'You brought me chocolate toads!' - he was slightly excited to hear and know her through Vibe. - 'Are you here to rescue me?'

'Yes, dear, and I'm not alone. I have three aurors with me.' - she said being emotional.

Selena was sitting at the living room of Delacour mansion and told everything as it is to their family of four, who all stayed at home. They sent away kids in the middle of the talk and she omitted Alan's name as she didn't want Delacour to know that he is a wielder of the most notorious family background because of Ministry of Magic betrayal.

'It will be best to not let him use me. Aunt Selena, my obscure is way more powerful than you think.' - came another thought through the telepathic net.

'It was created from the origin mana of Isu and trait of my mind and bloodline. I am afraid of it. Whether I can control it without admonitor is a question. But even with it obscure already came to the point of ruining it through sheer force.' - Alan thought on the other side without transmitting it.