The boy who wasn't forgotten.

Ironically, that trait reformed his soul and healed his madness placing everything in order again, while it strengthened significantly, but with that it prolonged his suffering.

Prolonged them for years to come.

And made him remember it all. Every single second. Including an image of his dead parents. Every word and face, everything was as fresh as if it was a day ago.

"You are here again." - Amalgal walked over to Alan with concern in his eyes. - "I can roughly tell what is going on with you. You will become strong like that, unbelievably so, in soul and mind, but is it worth putting yourself through such torture?"

'I didn't choose it.'

"I see. Very cruel. Is it the ways of your society?"

'No. Only the darkest part of it. I want to believe that at least. Hardly a consolation, though.'

"And you are in their hands." - stated elder like a fact. - "Well, nothing I can do except for teaching you some meditation methods to lessen the pain and train your will. It will help in controlling mana. As for your body, don't worry. Your bloodline is able to help you with adaptation and ensure that you won't be crippled or disfigured. Now then, let's continue our conversation. I can pull you here only for eight hours a day, so we should use time wisely."

Amalgal opened his mouth and strange sound, yet not a sound came out of it. However it had a tremendous meaning inside, that shook Alan's soul.

In response the boy tried to do the same, but failed time after time.

Old man was a very patient teacher, he just repeated the process and eventually Alan understood the word, no it was a letter, a single little piece of the magical alphabet. It was a strange experience to learn something new like that.

This single letter consisted of shape, color and intensity, emotions and aura. And all of this was changing according to some obscure law of magic that Alan only started to understand. But knowledge were there, memorized in full and locked down inside his storage of memory.

Then came another, and another after that. It went like that for days... no, even months.

* * *

A newspaper was slammed on the table inside the office of Ministry of Magic.

Many employees of Department of Magical Law Enforcement, especially the ones on this level, were in uproar due to what transpired recently inside the Ministry of Magic. Aurors walked through the halls with barely hidden anger. They, as the main fighting force, were disregarded and thrown out. Their pride was trampled on and loyalty crushed under the boots of necessity to calm general populace and do it fast.

It was a sacrifice and they were victims. They and the name of the Reapers. The very name that Death Eaters feared and hated with equal intensity.

"Traitors? Maniacal killers? Shame of Wizard World?" - a woman screamed in rage at the man behind the desk who felt very uncomfortable with his subordinate outburst. - "Commander, you can't be serious! This case was barely investigated!"

"Case is closed." - he sighed with pent up emotions. - "There is nothing that can be done here."

"Closed? Close your ass or I will widen it with my boot!" - she cursed him, making the face of a man look like squashed lemon.

"Selena..."

"Shut it, Joel." - she said firmly. - "I don't care. When I applied to be a Ministry auror after graduation I never thought it would be like that. They didn't even give us time for investigation! What the hell is Head Minister doing, condemning the most loyal aurors like that! Who would even fight for them after that? They clearly died in battle with large force of Death Eaters! You can do what you want, but here it is." - she threw another paper on his desk. - "You either take it, or let us investigate everything properly."

It was a resignation letter.

"Oh, yeah, and you let me take that Percival piece of shit for questioning!" - she slammed her hand on the desk.

"I can't. He is a Ministry hero right now. Politics, you see." - the man sighed heavily fully understanding how ridiculous it all sounds, but it was a perfect political move to give an excuse to society as fast as possible and make a hero for the populace to calm all after the end of the war with You-Know-Who.

"Hero, trolls spit! He is just a useless slimy boggart playing tricks. Killed two legends of Reaper team? Who? That useless quack? Does he think we are some shitty aurors from base department or what? He thinks we are vegetarians like them? He clearly knows something and colluded with Death Eaters! What the actual fuck! Just pry open his brain and you will know!"

"It is not so simple, Selena. He is actually a very competent battle mage with great accomplishment in occlumency. He was checked with legilimency already and even with truth potion. Perhaps he even altered his memories, but there were no signs of that. Selena, he is proved to be innocent."

"And what about Jason and Mila then? They proved guilty?" - Selena slammed fist on his desk in exasperation. To that, seasoned auror Joel Harper, had nothing to say at all. - "I understand... I understand it all. Sign it." - she pointed at the resignation letter.

"Selena..."

"Sign it now or I will simply go rogue and while I'm at it, I will kill that Percival piece of shit, I swear on my magic I will do it." - she stared at the man with deathly glare, enough to send goosebumps down his spine.

"Are you insane?" - Joel screamed at her and looked around. No magic was instigated. - "You nearly made a magic oath to kill someone!"

"Sign it."

"Wait." - he tried to reason with her more, but it was utterly useless.

"Sign it now." - she took out her wand and pointed it at Joel.

"Why are you going so far for that, it can be done slowly, wait until the tide is over and investigate secretly! Gentleman has all life for righting his wrongs!"

"Sign. It. Now." - she spelled word after word as if chewing rocks. Joel took magic quill and signed it with heavy heart. She took it and without further ado went to the door.

"Time... Joel... time is what we don't have. You seem to have forgotten something." - he looked confused at first but after her next sentence his face went pale and clenched fists turned white. He looked like he aged for a decade at a moments notice. - "They had a four year old son. A boy who disappeared. A boy of a couple who saved your life once. Now I'm asking you. What the hell do you think you are doing?" - she slammed the door to the office and went away with burning determination.

"You... I always envied you and admired you, Selena. When all around try to figure out the reason to do something, await their orders or look at the bigger picture... Only you will simply ask yourself 'does it feel right?' and if it doesn't you just go on your way to correct it." - he poured a drink for himself and gulped it down. - "That's Hufflepuff for you. Loyal to a fault."

At this moment his door was knocked again and three people walked in with large strides. Joel looked at them with bitter thoughts.

"Just give it to me." - he said.

"Thanks, commander." - they answered in unison, handing over three pieces of paper.

One for each.

Ministry is done for. Who will be left in aurors after that?

"Are you going with her?" - he stared at the papers for a while and eventually raised his eyes at the trio.

"Yes." - they said with steady voices.

"If you need anything from this side, let me know." - he said and they went away nodding their heads, while hearing just one last parting phrase. - "Just find the boy and bring him back."

"Well, they are Hufflepuffs and Griffindor. I'm Slytherin. So let's use another way. Slytherin way."

With that he took out a quill and wrote couple of letters. He will use schemes and influence. His work will be to bring down that Hero from within and when his social reputation gone, that will be the time he strikes.

"You better not end up in my hands, Percival. I swear to God you won't like my ways of torture." - he hissed like an enraged snake.