Chapter 6 – Enemies Are Just Friends You Haven't Won Over Yet

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Previously on The Forgiven: The group's first trial missions were more or less successful.

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"Bombarda Duo!"

Defodio! Wingardium Leviosa!

Grimm sent a blasting spell Liar's way, while Norse was conjuring a block of cement to defend him.

The exercise was meant to teach them to protect each other and watch each other's back, as well as instill some measure of trust.

Just when the Liar was about to be knocked off his feet, the slab of concrete intercepted the attack in the nick of time. The brick exploded and covered him with dust. When the dust cloud settled, the boy was trembling like a frightened woodland animal.

"I still don't understand why you had to take my wand away!" he complained.

"Because you keep casting a Shield Charm every time we do this," Kingsley answered him. "Since your defenses are lacking, you may find yourself in a position where relying on Grimm or Norse is your only choice. This is about trust."

"Yeah? Well, let it be noted that this is quite possibly the most twisted trust exercise in the history of all idiotic trust exercises!"

"We haven't even gotten to Killing Curses yet."

"And we never will! I'm drawing the line there! Nope! No. Thank you. VERY MUCH!"

At that moment, Moody and Dumbledore arrived in the stadium. They walked over to the four training, Mad Eye waving his wand.

"Accio."

One of the tables stacked to the sides leapt to life and flew over to the group. Moody emptied his satchel's contents onto the table, and fifteen wands clattered and rolled out on its wooden surface.

Norse and Grimm instantly brightened and hustled over to start snatching at different wands. The blue dyed witch found her match first, turning over the wand in her hand with a careful eye.

"Ebony, fourteen inches, Unyielding, and…Phoenix Core! Yes!"

"Try not to break so many. You know Phoenix Cores aren't exactly common. If you run out too fast, you'll have to make do with the dragon heartstring substitutes," Moody growled.

"Got it."

Dumbledore handed Norse a rough looking wand.

"Blackthorn, fourteen inches, Rigid, Dragon Heartstring."

Norse smiled and formally accepted the wand with open palms.

The two witches cast a couple of small spells to get a feel for their new wands. Though, the enchantments were supposed to be minor; due to Norse's nature, the effects were always rather large and loud regardless of what spell it was.

Liar stepped near the table.

"I know I don't really break mine, but there's always a chance. Have you any spares for the likes of me?"

Mad Eye pulled one attractively, crimson colored wand from his pocket.

"Red Oak, twelve inches, Flexible, Phoenix Core. These are rare too, so don't go bloody losing them."

"We have the galleons to pay for it."

"It's scarce material, Liar. Can't buy what ceases to exist."

"Duly noted, boss."

"Now! All of you are ready and equipped. It's time for your first mission together!"

Grimm, Norse, and Liar immediately straightened and stood at attention.

"A dark wizarding guild called, 'The Order of Black Fangs' is attempting to overthrow the Ministry. I know, preposterous. They're an amateur group at best, but they have the potential to become something bigger. We want you to put them out before they can get any traction.

The task is simple. You are to spy on their meeting, collect as much key intel as possible, and when they disperse, abduct one of their officers. I suggest putting them under the Imperius Curse. Avoid using Avada unless absolutely necessary."

""Sir.""

The three Forgiven responded.

"We've already went over the rules about how the Forgiven Covenant works, but to reiterate a point. If you are, at any point to be 'captured'—the Fidelius and Unbreakable Vows may activate, and you will die." Moody's Eye spun to look at each of them in turn. Not one showed a trace of apprehension. "If worst comes to worst, do anything and everything to get the hell out of there! Is that understood?!"

""Sir!""

"Alright. Remember! Constant Vigilance! Grimm has command. Move out when you are ready."

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The three ported just outside a thick forest.

Immediately, they began casting various concealment charms that would muffle their sounds and hide their presence. When the enchantments were finished, they entered the forest.

Deeper and deeper they traveled through the trees. Eventually, coming up on the Black Fang's meeting place.

It was an ancient stone formation in the middle of a grass clearing. The ruins bore a resemblance to an outdoor gazebo, but made out of marble with multiple thick pillars supporting the roof. In its center, eight shadowy figures gathered and lit a fire pit.

The Forgiven were able to maneuver themselves close with considerable ease. When they entered a certain distance, the group split to cover three spaced out points around the dark guild's circle. The Black Fangs had set some security measures, but nothing the Forgiven had trouble slipping through.

In addition to listening to the dark guild's half assed plans, Liar performed Legilimency to read their minds. Compared to their previous missions, it seemed this one would be rather easy. As if to stave off the boredom, Liar began,

"Are you reading my thoughts?" Grimm accused telepathically.

"…No."

"Liar."

"Noun or pronoun? It's possible I did not think my alias through."

"Unbelievable. Just stay on task."

"It's called multijuggling."

Grimm groaned a bit.

"Right. Just don't screw this all up. Bit unfair you can read my mind, but I can't read yours, don't you think?"

"You should brush up on your Legilimens then."

"Or you could just tell me what you're thinking and balance the scales."

"Oh, loads of stuff. What I want to eat for dinner. How to poison Fudge's fudge. How to transfigure Mad Eye into a ferret. How to save myself in case everything goes bad. What the best way to run away is."

"…"

"I make it habit to form escape plans for my escape plans. At least five or so different exit strategies for when everything goes shit up. Must always be prepared, you know."

"Yet you still got caught with your pants down when your Dark Lord fell."

"Ah, yes…In hindsight, I really should have come up with a backup plan for that. But if you told me the greatest magical tyrant of all time was going to get his ass gloriously handed to him by an adolescent runt…well…"

"Never bet full against underdogs."

"So it would seem. Still, things are going boringly smooth for this mission. Doubt I'll need to use any emergency exits."

"Don't jinx it. I've got a bad feeling. Don't know why, though."

It was then that Liar noticed Norse's concealment charms fading. To make matters worse, it seemed the witch in question was completely unaware of this fact.

Liar observed the surroundings and saw certain runes etched into the pillars, barely discernible under the growing vines and moss. They had acted as an old revealing charm. It was outdated magic, so the Forgiven had overlooked it.

Liar couldn't yell to Norse, since the Muffliato Charm had its limits. Instead, he opted to communicate with her through Legilimency like with Grimm.

Norse jumped at the sudden thoughts invading her head, being taken completely by surprise by Liar's "voice". With her sound cancelling charm wearing off, her movement had become audible. Finally realizing her concealment was fading, she aimed her wand at herself in a panic.

MUFFLIATO!

The spell backfired to a most unfortunate degree.

Norse's inherent nature of casting grandly and loudly resulted in a huge attention drawing effect. All of the Black Fang members stared in the witch's direction. Their wands, all drawn at the ready due to the sudden commotion.

"I can't believe it! Her sound cancelling spell made a bang! Terribly ironic if it wasn't for the situation!"

"Keep calm, Liar. They don't know for sure she's there yet."

"They're staring right at her!"

"The illusion's back up. Relay an order to Norse. Tell her not to move and to keep—"

CONFRINGO!

"—calm. Shite!"

Norse began aiming blasting spells at all the Black Fang members as they started to swarm her. Grimm began casting her own stunning spells and caught two of the dark wizards in the back. Liar briefly joined the fray, but was unable to get a clean shot in all the chaos.

"We need to withdraw!" he shouted.

"I know! Norse! Withdraw! That's an order!"

Grimm tried to call out to the large witch, but she wasn't listening. Norse was lost in her battle frenzy and thought only of defeating the opponents around her.

"We have to get out of here!" Liar yelled.

"I know! But how do we get Norse? Can you Apparate her?"

"Not under all that fire! Just leave her behind!"

"What?! Are you insane?!"

"Suit yourself. I'm out of here!"

"Liar?!...LIAR! Shite!"

Grimm could only assume the wizard had already Disapparated. She turned her attention back to Norse, who was on the verge of being completely surrounded.

"NORSE!" she tried to call out one last time. "DAMN IT! Imperio!"

In the confusion, Grimm was able to put Norse under the Imperius Curse. Though the witch's mind bucked like a wild bronco, Grimm was able to keep a hold on her mental tethers.

She then pointed her wand at the floor.

"FUMOS!"

A great smokescreen filled the room, as Grimm commanded her Imperiused ally to run.

The two darted out of the marble gazebo and into the woods, their enemies hot on their trail. Grimm's mind was too occupied with firing spells back at their pursuers and maintaining the Imperius to concentrate on her Apparition.

"LIAR, YOU BASTARD! APPARATE US NOW! I HAVE NORSE!"

For a moment, she wondered if the attempt was in vain, but shortly after, Liar appeared.

He grabbed the two witches, and ported them back to Moody's safe flat.

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The three held back their emotions until they touched the portkey that shifted them to the underground base. As soon as their feet hit the concrete, Kingsley, Dumbledore, and Moody rushed to meet them.

Not being able to bear it any longer, Grimm stalked towards Liar and threw a punch that knocked the wizard off his feet.

"LIAR, YOU FOCKING BASTARD!"

"Yeah, ogay…" he spat out a bloody tooth. "…I suppose that may have been deserved."

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

"You heard Mad Eye. We do anything to avoid getting caught. I still stayed behind just in case you guys found a way out, if you care to remember."

"Don't give me that! You abandoned—!"

Grimm's sentence was cut short by Norse grabbing her around the collar and pulling her up. The large witch was flushed with anger. Without writing the words herself, the glowing letters appeared in distorted, crackling lightning.

YOU IMPERIUSED ME!

"How else was I supposed to stop you?! You have a death wish so bad you were willing to die fighting like an idiot?!"

IF IT WAS MY TIME, I WOULD DIE WITH HONOR!

"Hah!" Liar scoffed. "That was honorable? See? She wanted to die. Told you we should have left her."

"Shut up, Liar! Honestly! Damn the BOTH of you! What kind of soldiers refuse to listen to their commander!—And you." Grimm locked death glares with Norse. "Put me down or I swear, I'll put you down."

I'd like to see you try, whelp!

"Ventus!"

Grimm hit Norse with a wind spell that sent her flying twenty feet. When the glowing witch got up, she scowled.

As if waiting for this opportunity, the two Forgiven faced each other with wands held in front of their eyes. It was a gesture likened to the ways knights held up their swords; a signal they both consented to a wizard's duel.

While the whole mess ensued, Moody and Dumbledore only stared at the whole debacle with a passive mood. It was Kingsley who spoke up first.

"Should we not…stop them?"

"They need this. Been a long time coming," Moody responded.

Dumbledore simply conjured a bag of chocolate coated popcorn and shared it with the other two.

"If you're going to duel, the Forgivers have exercised the right to ban you from using Unforgivable Curses!" Mad Eye proclaimed.

"Fine by me!" Grimm answered with a fervor.

Now you can't cheat!

"I don't need to cheat to stick you!"

The two witches took their battle stances with murderous intensity.

And then, simultaneously, they unleashed a long chain of unincanted spells.

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INCENDIO TRIA!

GLACIUS TRIA!

Norse sent fire balls the size of trucks at Grimm, while Grimm countered by casting high tier freezing spells. Frozen stars bloomed in the resulting collisions. The air cracked like shattering glass as ice sculptures resembling dandelions formed midair.

The two snarled at each other and looked down at the wands they were holding. Both of them had broken in the exact same moment. Without any hesitation, they tossed the useless remnants away and pulled out new ones.

"Damn it!" Moody cursed.

BOMBARDA MAXIMA!

"Protego Maxima!"

Norse caused an explosion that sent ice shards flying towards Grimm, who erected a barrier to block the icy shrapnel. The frosted daggers shrieked as they deflected off the light force bubble like scraping steel.

In the peanut gallery, Kingsley healed Liar's tooth.

"Emendo."

"'Hankz. Ay hot hen halheons hon horse."

"Pardon?"

"I said, 'Thanks. I got ten galleons on Norse.'" Liar caressed his jaw.

"You want to bet on their duel?"

"Twenty on Grimm," Moody growled as he took a swig from his flask.

Kingsley turned to him. "Alastor?"

"Twenty five!" Liar raised the stakes.

"Fifty," Moody reraised.

"Your coin, old man!" The boy then turned to Dumbledore. "Wouldn't suppose the Headmaster would like to join the betting pool?"

The old wizard fumbled with his beard for a moment.

"Fifty down, double if they tie."

"Interesting bet, Master Dumbledore. Kingsley, do you want in? Give you some good odds."

"I will abstain, thank you."

Levicorpus!

The duel seemed to be at an end when Norse threw a curve ball and elected to cast a spell to lift Grimm upside down. With her opponent's mental and physical balance disturbed, the blonde witch believed her vulnerable to a finishing blow.

"Hmph. Taught her better than to crack under pressure like that," Moody muttered.

The veteran Auror was right. Far from panicking, Grimm saw a delay in Norse's actions from the overconfidence. The cold calculating witch formulated her next strategy.

"Obscuro."

A blindfold appeared and wrapped around Norse's eyes. The large witch quickly repelled it in response.

Finite!

When Norse's vision freed, she opened her eyes wide, trying to assess the situation. It was exactly what Grimm was counting on, as she had her next spell at the ready.

"LUMOS SOLEM!"

An illumination spell as bright as the sun blinded everyone's sight. For Norse, who was scanning hard after losing her vision, the effects of Grimm's spell were doubly devastating.

PROTEGO TOTALUM!

The blind combatant desperately threw up a multilayered shield.

As Grimm stared at the glowing force field, she paused on what spell to use next. After a quiet thought, she took a deep breath. The lines on her face softened.

"….Expelliarmus."

A scarlet bolt tore away part of Norse's shield and disarmed her. At the same time, a fragment of the spell was deflected back at Grimm, causing her wand to fly through the air as well.

Dumbledore quickly raised his hand.

"As both combatants have been disarmed, I call an end to this match and proclaim the conclusion to be a draw!"

"Bullocks!" Liar shouted in disbelief.

"The judges have spoken. I am sure Mad Eye and Kingsley will agree."

"As long as the fight ends," Kingsley commented.

Moody gave a grunt. "They'd break the rest of their wands if this continued."

"That's rather cunning of you, Master Dumbledore." Liar turned to the Headmaster. The young wizard summoned a pouch of galleons and handed it to him.

"I will take that as a compliment coming from you, Master Liar."

"ALRIGHT!" Moody commanded their attentions." All of you hit the showers! Grimm, report on the mission afterwards."

"Sir."

The three Forgiven collected themselves and trudged off to the base's locker room.

Moody glanced at Dumbledore with a small smirk.

"We both know who won that match."

The Headmaster sighed and gave Mad Eye his share of the winnings.

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(On the female side of the shower room)

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You won.

Norse's glowing words drifted in front of Grimm, while she changed.

"What are you on about now?"

The duel….You won.

"It was a draw."

You could have broken my shield.

"I did. Just didn't expect it to be strong enough to mirror back a part of my spell. Careless of me, really."

Do not patronize me! It was your victory!

Grimm turned around and stared at Norse for a moment and then sighed.

"Would've taken forever to break it down. Plenty of time for you to counterattack. Any spell that didn't shatter it completely would have given away my position. Instead of letting it drag on where I would have been at disadvantage, I let it end on my terms."

Hmph. Your words ring hollow.

"Believe whatever you want, Norse. I really don't care."

…

If we were allowed Unforgivable Curses, my shield would not have mattered.

"If Avada Kedavra was on the table, it would have been a whole different match."

You would have Imperiused me.

"Probably that too. In the end, I doubt I could say for sure if it could've been done."

The two witches changed in silence for a while. Before Grimm realized, a few more sentences floated in front of her.

I apologize for questioning your mettle. You are a true warrior.

When Grimm turned around, the giant witch was trying all she could to look away.

"I didn't know you had a shy side to you, Norse. It's kind of cute."

Norse's back stiffened, even more adamant on not turning around.

"…I'm sorry for earlier—on the mission. The Imperius Curse."

Grimm's teammate seemed to go into deep thought at the sentence, and then began writing.

No. It was the correct choice. I see now the err of my ways and apologize for my disloyalty.

"Hey. How am I supposed to react if you're suddenly so docile? Don't tell me you're one of those types that makes friends after you fight?"

I have no friends.

Grimm almost laughed, but stopped herself. After all, who was she to laugh when she didn't have many friends either; before or after joining the Forgiven.

"…I can make an Unbreakable Vow to never use the Unforgivable Curses on you ever again," Grimm offered.

This time Norse turned and met Grimm's gaze. Then shook her head.

The thought is enough.

Grimm walked over and stretched out a hand.

"It was a good fight, right?"

It was.

The two witches grasped each other's forearms. A mutual respect developed between them.

You are aware this will not be our last bout.

*Sigh* "Of course, it's not…."