Disclaimer1: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does.
Disclaimer2: I do not own the cover. Yes, I did edit it. Yes, I found it on the internet.
"…They're Unspeakables…top secret, no idea what they get up to." ~ Arthur Weasley (Chapter Seven, Goblet of Fire)
Prologue
"Wake up, firstie!"
Ten-year-old Harry Potter rolled over uncomfortably in the cot and went back to sleep. There was a dim awareness that this wasn't his room at the orphanage and that there were a lot more people here. Pain erupted in his side as Harry found himself on the ground. It hurt, but he managed to crawl onto his hands and knees.
"I said up, firstie! You know which way that is?"
The man that stood over him was dressed in a black uniform. Or at least that's what Harry thought it was. The shirt bulged with pockets like those he seen in the posters of soldiers but as his gaze fell down the man was wearing a black skirt. He was pretty sure a skirt didn't belong with any uniform. He let out a quiet snigger and the man held up brought up a small stick in response. A jet of light was all the warning he had as the beam shot towards him. It hit his leg and a shock ran through it. He gasped and backed away.
Harry wasn't afraid of anything. He had dealt with big kids at the orphanage but this man and the stick…he instinctively moved away. Other screams filled the air as more kids were woken up by the uniformed men moved among them. They were made to stand and the man who had woken Harry up turned to face them.
His voice boomed unnaturally loud. "I am Lieutenant Agénor. Welcome to the Unspeakables firsties. The rest of these men are your instructors. You will do exactly what we tell you at all times."
They were in an underground room with cement all around them. Agénor pointed at a door in the wall. "Those are the showers. You will wash and then get dressed. Your clothes are in the trunk at the foot of your bed. Let's move it firsties!"
Another shock—this time at his right arm—drove Harry into action and he scrambled to the door. There was no time to think. He didn't even know where he was. All he wanted to do was avoid that dreadful shock.
Harry was one of the first back to his cot and he clothed himself in a black t-shirt, underwear, and sweats. Some thin socks were pulled on followed by combat boots. Everything fit perfectly but he didn't have time to think as Agénor's voice boomed again.
"Let's go firsties! Up the stairs!"
Harry and the other kids stampeded onto a strip of grass. It was still dark out and bright overhead lights glared down upon them. The grass was wet with dew, and the edges of his sweats became wet and soggy. They were forced into three neat rows and Harry started to remember. He had been at Littlewood orphanage, in the heart of London. A mysterious feeling of being watched had been with him all day and he laid awake at night to see someone slip into the dorm. His nose wrinkled as he remembered a cloth with some sweet-smelling fume on it being held up to his nose. They had kidnapped him! They had—
"Jumping Jacks!" Agénor shouted. "Count off to one hundred. Go!"
The lieutenant started jumping and Harry followed him. A girl beside him hesitated and an instructor shot her with a jet of light. She gasped and fell to the ground.
"Let's go firstie." The instructor growled. Another jet of light hit her and Harry's fist clenched. He wanted to help her. However, the light hurt. He willed her to stand up. She did and started jumping.
Harry's arms and legs burned. He had never done so many jumping jacks in his life. They got to one hundred but it didn't stop there. Squats followed and knee bends after that. Sit-ups were next and then leg lifts. It was too much and he laid on the ground panting. He had to move – he'd get a jet of light if he didn't. He tried but his arms were like jelly. His legs felt as if someone had tied rocks to them.
"Stop and rest." Agénor finally called. "Instructors, get water."
Harry's gaze of the pink morning sky was blocked as a shape hovered above him; it was an instructor. He flinched as he saw the instructor bring a thin stick to bear on him. Was it a trick? Were they not going to get water? An arm cradled his head and a whispered word was followed by water gliding out of the stick.
"Open your mouth." Harry's eyes widened. "It's perfectly safe."
He stared up at the instructor but a hood concealed their face. "Drink." They repeated.
Harry opened his mouth obediently and the water flowed into his mouth slowly. It was ice cold and felt like heaven. He drank his fill and then flopped back onto the ground. The instructor moved away to aid another and Harry panted.
He was all alone. That wasn't any different. However, he was in a strange place with even stranger people. And that stick. What was it? How could these people–
"Good job, firsties." Agénor told them. Harry glanced at the man. He was the only man to not have a hood pulled over his face. His hair was shaved and black. His eyes dark and they stared at him in an almost inhuman gaze. "It's time for a run!"
Instructors fired more jets of lights and Harry scrambled with the other children onto their feet. They were herded onto a dirt path through dense forest. It meandered on for forever. They passed gurgling streams, went over a bridge, and Harry would've sworn he saw what looked like a rhino but it had a horn the size of one-third of its body. He tried to process information as they ran—where was he, who were these people—but it was just too much. He was hungry and the instructors were keeping pace beside them, those sticks of theirs waving ever warningly.
They ran into a large courtyard of stone. A low, marbled building stood at the far end and a woman stood on the wide steps that led up to it. They were led to form three straight lines again and the woman smiled. If she noticed their panting and irreverent postures she ignored it. She was the picture of sternness with a prim white lab coat and a pair of round spectacles on her face. Black hair was pulled tightly into a bun and she held her hands behind her back.
"Thank you, Lieutenant." Her voice echoed around them unnaturally and Harry shivered. "I'm sure you are confused and scared. Don't be. You have all been chosen for a greater purpose. You have been selected to become Unspeakables. Warriors of magic."
Magic? Like Merlin? What was an Unspeakable? Harry frowned and he opened his mouth to join in the hundreds of questions that had erupted from his fellow kids.
"Silencio."
Harry couldn't speak. The words wouldn't come out. He opened his mouth but nothing and grabbed his throat in panic.
"Enough!" The words that followed would be ingrained into his very being. "You exist to serve. You will obey orders. Obedience is life."