Hello everyone! I apologize for how late this chapter is. It's been a very difficult few months, but I'm hoping that things are starting fresh now and will pick up again. Illness and life combine to make things tough sometimes. I'd just like to again say that I will finish what I start on all of my stories, no matter how long it takes. I thank you all for your patience with me and for sticking with the story despite my tardiness in getting more out to you all. As always, enjoy the chapter!

-Pneuma

A group of maybe four or five teenaged boys stood around a younger looking and smaller one, all of them dressed in robes, but only the young one's face showed an expression of fear. He looked up at the circle around him from face to face, and she could see in his eyes that he was simultaneously pleading silently for them to let him go and looking for a way out. The floor and walls that she could see were made of some kind of stone, and the place was lit with torches if the yellowed and slightly flickering light was something to go by.

The group was in a hallway, one of the Hogwarts corridors, and as much as she wanted to be anywhere but there, Zia was forced to watch what Alfie, as a teenaged boy, had done for fun. It wasn't the first time but none of the memories got easier to live through, especially since she could feel the enjoyment he got from it. It made her feel sick.

"So, how would you all like to see a demonstration of that new curse I learned? We've got ourselves a subject now, not much of a loss if something goes wrong. One less mudblood in the world would make it a cleaner place," Alfie spoke, lifting his wand. His friends chuckled.

"Go on then, unless you've been bragging over nothing this whole time," another one said, voice dripping with superiority. Pale blonde hair had been the first hint that the boy was an early member of the Malfoy family when he'd first appeared in Alfie's memories, followed by his attitude and confirmed by his name.

"I will. Crucio!" Zia winced inwardly as she watched the smaller boy crumple to the ground, twitching in pain. If she could stop it, she would, but this was the past. Several excruciating minutes later, Alfie finally stopped. Another boy whipped out his wand and performed a memory jinx on the victim. It seemed to be standard procedure for this group. It was almost like what she imagined the death eaters would have done in school, the way Alfie and his group operated.

Memories pushed forward faster, and more like that one appeared between Alfie's classes and growing up. They twisted a she watched the muggle-born victims become muggles and the boys become men, but never did the cruelty vanish or the sporting way they tortured and got away with it. He often used his Ministry of Magic ties to keep from the consequences of his actions, all of the men did.

She witnessed his disturbing excitement when he had heard about her from another wizard in the Ministry. The excitement was mingled with disgust towards her being so clearly muggle-influenced and mainly revolved around his plan to pass her off for questioning and possibly Azkaban. She'd watched him set up the whole thing, planting the false memories into the head of the man she'd searched to purposefully throw her off. Stowing the Veritaserum away in a pocket of his robes. Alfie's mind was filthy, and by the time she was looking at herself, she wanted nothing more than to claw her way out.

She was released from the experience by Tom. As she fell back into her own body she felt his small fingers curl around her hand and guessed that he'd got himself released from Regulus' grip and had found his way to her.

Alfie's mind might have been disturbing, but she'd experienced a lifetime of magic and all seven years of his schooling. She'd learned. Her wand whipped up and she found herself using a simple but powerful binding spell she'd learned from Alfie's mind to twist ropes around his ankles and wrists before the man was fully back to the present himself. His mouth opened slightly as he stared at her.

Tom plucked Alfie's wand up from the ground swiftly as well as the bottle of Veritaserum out of the man's right hand, and placed the vial in Zia's palm as he moved to stand back beside her. His childlike face was still venomous, and she'd caught the flash of satisfaction that had crossed it as he'd watched the ropes work tightly around Alfie.

"Well that was certainly enlightening," Zia murmured quietly to Alfie. "It appears you've been getting away with a lot of things you shouldn't be for quite a while now." She raised her voice as she spoke the latter part so that the rest of the audience could hear.

"You filthy mudblood, how dare you accuse me of-" Alfie began, but Zia's calm smile in reaction to his words made his voice cut off.

"I don't plan to accuse you of anything," Zia responded as she uncorked the bottle of Veritaserum. The people in the stands were deadly silent as they watched her. She wondered if it was out of fear or curiosity. "I think you should confess to them yourself." She swirled the contents of the potion vial around as she watched Alfie's face.

She looked to where the head of the trial was sitting. It was an elderly witch, who was quite round and dressed in robes of an orange color that unfortunately made her look more like a pumpkin than a person from a distance. The small green witch's hat she wore did nothing to help. "May I have permission from the counsel to use Veritaserum on this man?" she directed her words to the woman. The witch paused, looking as if she was in deep contemplation over the question, then nodded slowly.

"I believe that as the purpose of this experience was to test your skills, this would constitute as a further demonstration of your…gift…and as such I will permit you to use Veritaserum," the woman said. "Proceed."

Zia poured three drops of the clear liquid into Alfie's mouth. "Alright Alfie, let's set you free." She told him with a tight smile. She waited momentarily for the potion to take effect, then when she saw Alfie's eyes cloud slightly, she knew it was time. "When was the first time you used the Cruciatus Curse?"

"I was fifteen," Alfie responded immediately, face breaking into a slack smile. The people in the room gasped collectively. "Used it on some mudblood first year while I was still at school. He never knew why he was so scared of me, the memory jinx worked a little too well, but watching his face whenever he saw me…" Alfie let out a chuckle.

"How many times have you used it since then?" Zia continued, corners of her mouth turned down slightly as she spoke. The man was disgusting.

"Too many to count!" he responded with another laugh. The potion was making him a lot less inhibited as he spoke as he probably would have been without it, but it served to reveal just how clearly messed up his mind was. "More than fifty times that's for sure."

"Have you ever used it on a muggle?"

"A muggle? Try many muggles. Too priceless to watch to use just once on one of them," he responded. "Of course as the head of that department it makes it really easy to keep from getting caught by the ministry." Another collective gasp from the seats.

"And do you do it alone?" she asked.

"Of course not! Where's the fun in that? I go with…" his mouth kept moving and his facial features were animated, but sounds no longer came from him. Alfie didn't seem to notice.

"Stop! This has no bearing on the purpose of why this woman is here," a man shouted, standing fully on his feet and shaking back a sheet of pale blonde hair, wand out.

"Afraid of getting caught, Mr. Malfoy?" Zia asked in a polite tone.