MARCH 18th 1973 – The city of Skrit in North Africa
The drowning noises and the small environment of the passing customers casually walking through the Skrit marketplace was the perfect shield for the young thief. He had been scouting the target for about an hour now, just waiting for the opportunity to make his move. The target was a young woman in a beautiful, black robe that looked like it had cost more money than the thief could ever have imagined. Two men in similar attire has been accompanying her all day, which made the thief's goal that much more difficult...but the thief was good. He was good at his craft after years of experience on Skrit's streets. He eyed the woman's satchel at her side. A small group of people began to move in front of the path of the woman and her associates. The thief was agile enough to move through the crowd and slice the harness of the woman's satchel before the crowd would make it impossible for the thief to escape. He heard the shrill scream of the woman to her two bodyguards and made haste down a close alley way. The two dark robed men chased down the alley with their wands in hand. They searched enclosed alley diligently for the thief but to no avail. Once the men had left the alley in defeat, a broken crate that was pitched up against the stone wall of the building to the left of the alley began to mold into a young man with jet black hair and bright green eyes. The young man took a deep breath of relaxation before giving a large smile of success at the sight of his new prize. He wrapped the cut end of the harness around the rope where his belt should be that was holding up the rags he had been wearing for weeks at this point. He secured the stolen satchel right next to the wand he had stolen years prior from a passing wizard. Although he had never been formally trained in magic, he had learned several tricks to escape from sticky situations that he frequently would find himself in. He made sure everything was secure on his make shift belt before sliding into a passing group of people and out of sight. The young thief's name is Ryan Xienen.
Ryan made his way to the abandoned building which he had recognized as home for as long as he could remember. He entered the hole on the side of the building that he uses as shelter. A broken and dirty cot lay in the corner of the room surrounded by various bags and containers that carry the prizes he has accumulated over the years. He flopped down and adjusted himself accordingly. He cut the stolen satchel from his side and opened it for inspection.
He found several different assorted make up products that he tossed aside before opening up the coin purse. His eyes widened at the sight of a couple hundred gold coins with the British Ministry of Magic insignia carved on their faces. He smiled at the symbol as it reminded him of the life he had a long time ago. Ryan let out a small cheer as he counted each coin in his head. His golden trance was interrupted as an older man knocked on the wall outside the hole in the wall and entered much to Ryan's surprise.
"Hello, Piree" Ryan greeted.
The man Ryan referred to as Piree's eyes shifted to the gold in Ryan's lap. Piree was in no mood for a friendly conversation.
"Ryan, I've been patient with you." said Piree. "I have been waiting for months now for the money you owe me and I am through with you dodging me. I came by here every day this week and couldn't find any trace of you"
Ryan stood to his feet and raised the coin purse to his head, "I've been busy trying to get your money, Piree, and as you can see I have it right here."
"It's too late for that now." scoffed Piree.
Ryan's ears perked up at the disdainful tone in his voice. "What do you mean?"
Without response or warning, Piree had whipped his wand from his robe and sneered: "Petrificus Totalus!"
Ryan fell to the ground face first with his nose smashing hard against the stone floor. He tried his best to reach to his wand but the body binding curse had already taken effect and Ryan was defenseless. He felt someone pull upwards on his right shoulder which flipped him over to come face to face with not only Piree but two men he recognized as working for Skrit slavers. Piree crouched down next to Ryan and pulled the coin purse from Ryan's paralyzed fingers.
"Sorry it had to come to this, Ryan." Piree whispered unapologetically into his ear. Piree than turned to the slavers. The larger one of the two thanked him and handed him a bag that Ryan had no doubt would be money to help sate Piree's greedy lust for gold. Piree looked down at Ryan again before walking out of sight. The larger slaver then walks over to Ryan's head and in a sudden red light that illuminates from his wand, Ryan is knocked out cold.
All of Ryan's senses felt blurred as he awakes several hours later.
He couldn't tell where he was at but he could hear a crowd of voices a couple dozen yards behind him. As his vision began to adjust he realizes that his hands are tied together behind his back. Ryan's head feels about ten pounds heavier as it pulsates with pain coming form the left side of his forehead. He slides his bottom around to face the dozens of voices to see a large stage curtain in front of him with a line of homeless in Skrit, chained together, lined up behind the curtain away from the audience. He was at a slave auction.
One of the slavers who Ryan recognizes as one of his captors from earlier sees Ryan awake and motions two men to pull him to his feet. Ryan struggles with the men but his 17 year old frame is no match for these two.
"LET GO OF ME!" Ryan protested but the slaver who captured him waves his wand near Ryan's face which brings him to complete silence. The slaver looks to his men and orders them to bring Ryan on stage.
Ryan is blinded at first as a large ball of magical light is shown over the stage in a kind of spotlight for the audience to see. There are many more people than what Ryan had anticipated but all of them he recognized as part of the upper-class of Skrit. Ryan's face turned pitch white as several recognized him from years of thieving in the marketplace. A wizard wearing a black robe and curly mustache took stage and pressed the tip of his wand to his mouth like a microphone.
"Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen to your auction tonight. This truly is a wonderfully unique night we have upon us due to the out pour of guests from other Wizarding countries all around the world!" bellowed the auctioneer. "We here in Skrit are separate from any Ministry of Magic and any of the laws they set, which makes us the only Wizarding government in the world that allows the purchase of human slaves and we appreciate all of our clientele!"
Ryan scoffed with a slight smile. I hate this damn city he thought to himself.
"But, let's not just dwell on the pleasantries, let us begin with the auction!" The crowd applauded as the auctioneer prepared to begin. "Our first specimen is from pure-blood status. He is a little over two meters tall, 17 years old, and is perfect for any hard labor you may require of him. No physical problems at all except a slight imperfection in his right eye. We'll start the bid at 200"
Ryan smirked again. He could never seen out of his right eye as clear as his left due to an accident during his birth. They really did do their homework. Those bastards just better of not touched me...and what the hell? I'm worth a lot more than 200
A member of the audience raised their illuminated wand: "200!"
Another raised their wand as well: "250!"
The auctioneer smiled and pressed his wand back to his mouth: "Current bid is 250! Any other offers out there?"
Immediately, an old witch raised her wand: "350!"
The original bidder than yelled out "400!"
Ryan just stood there in silence, being forced to watch as rich noblemen fought over who would take him home and then found it ironic. For years, he'd stolen from the rich and now he's about to have his entire life stolen from the exact same people. Ryan had been too lost in his own thought to hear the current bid but the auctioneer began to speak once more.
"If nobody else wants to raise the bid at 475, then I think the young slave here is officia-!
Before being able to finish his sentence, a loud, shrill voice screamed from the back row of the audience: "1000!"
Every member of the auction turned their heads to see Ryan's new master who had just offered five times as much as the original bid. The auctioneer was at a loss for words but a smile creeped upon his mustached face and let out a cheerful "SOLD! To the young witch in the back! Come up and greet your new servant"
Ryan was unable to see the face of the witch who had just bought him due to the glare of the light that lit up the stage but as she walked closer and Ryan saw two men in dark robes accompanying her, he began to feel something knot up in his throat. The witch who he was previously robbed of her satchel earlier in the day had now bought herself a slave, much to Ryan's dismay.
She had a curved grin with bright red lips as she approached the stage. Her dark eyes didn't turn from Ryan. Not even for a second. Her long black hair drooped over her back and some curled in front of her face. Ryan became unsettled with fear as he realized how much more intimidating she looked up close. A large slaver grabbed Ryan by his bindings and dragged him back stage with his new master following them close behind.
The slaver turned Ryan down a couple hallways and through an archway which lead to a room with a couple men that Ryan recognized as the owners of the slave business. The slaver turned Ryan around to face the witch. She still had a crooked smile on her face. His eyes immediately locked onto hers as the slaver forced him to his knees.
A voice from one of the owners came from behind them: "Alright, let's do this quickly so this young woman can depart, but first, this belongs to him, ma'am"
Ryan turned his head to see the owners handing the witch his wand. She smiled and observed the wand. "He won't be needing this" as she concealed it inside her robes. She then ran her hand across Ryan's smooth face and inspected her new pet. She then grabbed his nose, which caused Ryan to yelp and jerk. She turned to the owners "I wasn't aware that his nose was broken!"
The owners inspected Ryan himself and then exhaled in a minor defeat/ "I'm very sorry about that, madam, we could refund you a hundred galleons if you would like"
"No, no, that won't be necessary" she smiled again as she revealed her own wand. "Episkey!"
Ryan grunted in pain as the bones in his nose magically mended back into place. She turned to the owners again. "Keep the money. He's worth every sickle. Now, let's finis this, shall we?"
She placed her thumb on Ryan''s forehead and caressed the side of his head as one of the owners placed the tip of his wand on her forearm. He began to mutter an incantation that Ryan didn't recognize nor make out, but the witch began to glow a bright golden, as did Ryan. The owner finished the spell and removed his wand. A rush of energy felt like it left Ryan's body as he hunched over his master's boots, breathing rapidly. The witch grabbed him by his black hair and pulled forced him to look at her. She looked out of breath too but still continued to smile while her dark, heavy lidded eyes stared down into Ryan's. The owner's voiced piped from Ryan's left side: "It's done. He's yours now. My personal guard will see to it that you make it out of the building just fine."
"Excellent!" The witch let out. She turned to the two bodyguards who had chased down Ryan earlier in the day. "Boys, if you both don't mind handling my new toy"
The two men came up behind Ryan and yanked him to his feet. The witch led all four of them out of the building and into an alley adjacent to the auction building. She then turned to her men and grabbed onto them. "Make sure to hold him tight, boys, I don't want a spliched slave on my hands!"
Suddenly, in a flash they disapparated away from Skrit and appeared in a large British woodland. Ryan was dazed at first and let out a large noise as he vomited all over the grass. As Ryan collapsed to the ground, he could hear the frustrated complaints of the men to the witch.
"What the hell are we doing here!" one of them bellowed. "You claim the Dark Lord ordered us to go with you to Skrit and for what? For this boy?"
"Ravish, the only reason why you're here right now is because you and your brother are too stupid to realize my lie!" the witch known by Bellatrix responded. "Skrit is one of the most dangerous places in the world and although, I can handle any danger my way, I needed a big, fool like yourself to use as a shield in case a Killing Curse came my way!"
"How dare you-!" Ravish replied.
"Shut up" Bellatrix spouted. "And for the boy...well, he was just a happy little accident now wasn't he?"
Ryan could feel Bellatrix's fingers running through his hair.
"I so despise the filth that are house elves but my brother-in-law and husband for some reason find them useful" she said, playing with Ryan's hair like a well groomed dog. "My tastes in slaves are much more picky!"
She pulled his hair again and forced him to look up at her again from his knees. "And although, I wanted a slave, what I found was much better! A thief! Who was not only able to escape me before I could curse him, but also elude a couple of the Dark Lord's Death Eaters!"
Ryan stared deeper into her eyes as she became more and more excited with her recollection of details.
"Not an easy thing to do, to cross me and live to tell about it! So, tell me, slave, how did you hide from my Death Eaters?" Bellatrix asked.
Ryan's response was delayed for just a few moments before he muttered out: "T-Tranfigured into a piece of rubbish"
Bellatrix let out a loud giggle. "The boy is much more clever than either of you two I see!"
Ravish had enough and yelled out. "ENOUGH! We're returning to the Dark Lord!"
Belltrix clicked her tongue. "No...No, you're not"
Bellatrix's wand spun out of her robes like a whip and pointed directly at Ravish.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A bright green light knocked Ravish back and smashed his still body against a tree. Bellatrix then motioned her wand in a slicing motion towards Ravish's brother. His body jerked and then stayed still with wide eyes staring at Bellatrix as blood began to leak from his throat. Bellatrix then blasted his across the woodland as well and he collided with the ground only a few yards from his brother. Ryan stared off at the two dead Death Eaters as it wasn't the first time he witnessed death, but never as sudden and quick as this.
Bellatrix came over to him and took off his bindings. Ryan looked up to her and began to stand but she forced him with a flick of her wand back to his knees.
"I came to Skrit today for a slave and not only do I have one, but I think I've got something more" she whispered. "You have potential. I can see it. You just need to be taught. So, you will obey everything I say. You will bow to me when I say bow, you will clean when I say clean, and you will kill when I say kill. My name is Bellatrix Lestrange and until I say otherwise, you will worship the ground I walk on. Do you understand me?"
Ryan could feel her blood hounding eyes stare into him. He had survived and rebelled against all authority for so long that as much as he wanted to spit in her face and run as fast as he could...he saw what she did to these Death Eaters...he now knows that she is a follower of You-Know-Who and most of all...he realized how powerful she really was and the only thing keeping him alive right now is...her...
He bowed his head in defeat. "Yes, master"
Bellatrix smiled as if she could feel her slaves spirit break. "Good. Now, slave...tell me...who are you and what are you"
Ryan stared blankly into his masters boots as he replied "My name is Ryan Xienen and I'm a servant of Bellatrix Lestrange"