Chapter 10 – A Wizard Named Liar
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Previously on The Forgiven: The raid to capture Bellatrix, the Lestranges, and Barty Crouch Jr. backfired. Moody was severely injured, Kingsley and the Longbottoms were captured. At the end of the battle, Liar was suddenly called "Lynus" by Rabastan Lestrange, and was referred to as his son.
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(In the Forgiven's underground base)
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Norse lifted Liar by his collar and punched him so hard his jaw came loose.
The young boy fell to the floor, his eyes vacant of any will to resist. Inside, he felt he deserved much worse; wishing Norse had hit him harder.
The blonde witch burned with anger as she pulled back to hit him again, but Grimm grabbed her fist before it could fly.
"Enough! This isn't the time to be fighting among ourselves!"
This coward left Kingsley to the worst Death Eaters imaginable! How many times will this bastard abandon his allies?!
"I said that's enough, Norse!" Grimm turned to Liar. "You! Come with me right now. We need to talk."
Liar was set down, and followed the blue haired witch with a vacant demeanor. The two moved out of sight of the raging Norse, who took to blowing apart practice dummies as an outlet for her anger. Once they had privacy, Grimm pointed her wand at Liar's mouth.
"Emendo."
Liar's jaw realigned with a painful crack.
As soon as he was healed, Grimm drew her fist back and knocked his jaw loose again. The boy fell hard, hitting the back of his head against the wall. When Liar looked up, Grimm was aiming her wand at his eye.
"I have half a mind to do something I'll regret. Tell me what the hell happened. How did they take Kingsley?!
Liar only shook his head.
"Norse is right…I abandoned them. Even that Longbottom couple. They make quite an impression…"
"Alice and Frank…!" Grimm's expression filled with fear. "Enough with this self-pity crap! I don't give a damn about that. You need to tell me where they went so we can go get them!"
"Your part in this is over."
The two turned around and saw Dumbledore observing the whole spectacle. Grimm was surprised for a moment, but that feeling quickly turned into anger. She stalked towards the aged wizard and stopped just short of slugging him.
"This is on you! I told you to go with them! I said not to bring the Longbottoms into this!"
"I take full responsibility for my actions, but now is the time for cooler heads to prevail," Dumbledore said calmly.
"We'regoing to save Kingsley and Alice and Frank!"
"I will be working with the Ministry to find them."
"And that's all worked well so far, when we leave things to the government!"
"I am invoking my rights as Forgiver. You are hereby ordered not to pursue this matter any further."
Dumbledore's words echoed in a different way than they had before. It was as if the sound of his voice caused the Forgiven's bones to rattle uncontrollably.
Grimm felt her organs stop functioning for a second. The Unbreakable Vows the Forgiven were under activated. If she continued disobeying Dumbledore, her life would become forfeit.
"Damn you…! You focking—!"
Liar grabbed Grimm before she could attack him. Norse saw what was going on and helped in holding Grimm back. As she struggled with containing her leader, golden letters appeared before the Headmaster's spectacles.
Please, sir. You must let us go after them! Kingsley is one of us. A comrade by blood!
But Dumbledore merely shook his head.
"I will return when the matter is settled. Until then, you three are to remain here. This is an order from a Forgiver."
Grimm, Norse, and Liar flinched at the Unbreakable Vows being called upon again. It was as if steel threads were cutting deep into their skin. If the three were to move against them, their bodies would be sliced apart.
Without another word, Dumbledore moved to the portkey and exited the base.
"DAMN IT!"
Grimm drove her hand into the concrete floor and shattered the small bones in her hand. Blood leaked down between her fingers, but the pain did nothing to abate her wrath.
Liar gently took her hand and began healing it. She tried to pull away, but Norse held her arm in place until the wizard finished mending it. When her knuckles repaired, Grimm angrily stood and looked at them.
"We're going."
We cannot disobey Dumbledore's orders.
"Fock Dumbledore! There has to be some sort of loophole in the Vows."
He has carefully crafted them to make sure there are not. It is foolproof.
Grimm fumed and turned to Liar.
"Come on! I know you've got something up your sleeve! You always say you have a backup plan for your backup plans. What were you going to do if you ever needed to go against the Unbreakable Vows?"
Liar was still struggling with his internal conflicts that he couldn't answer Grimm straight away. His face twisted as he argued with himself on what to do.
Ultimately, he was sure of at least one thing.
He wanted to save Kingsley and the Longbottoms no matter what it took. They had treated him so warmly. He could not refuse to answer their affections. Even the married couple who he knew so briefly.
Liar's dead look turned into one of determination.
He stared at Grimm.
"There's only one way available to us," he said with a strained voice.
After his explanation, Grimm pointed her wand to the ceiling.
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"Expecto Patronum!"
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In a patient room of St. Mungo's Hospital, Moody slept under the heavy influence of painkillers.
All was peaceful, until a loud bang caused the room's walls to tremor.
The old Auror woke up with a start and saw a silver wisp fox standing over his bed. He immediately recognized the Patronus as Grimm's. To confirm it further, the misty animal began speaking with her voice.
"Kingsley and the Longbottoms have been taken. We're going after them. Dumbledore's ordered us to stay here, in the base. He plans to work with the Ministry, but it'll be too late by the time they make any headway."
The fox's paws stepped lightly closer.
"We can get them, Mad Eye! This is a job for the Forgiven. Dumbledore's invoked Unbreakable Vows to keep us in place, but YOU can give an order to countermand it."
There was a break in the Patronus' speech.
…..
"Please, Mad Eye. If any one of us is worth saving, it's Kingsley.
And Frank and Alice…They don't deserve any of this."
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"I'm begging you."
The Patronus fox wept, portraying the innermost emotions of the caster at the time of its recording. Moody reached a scarred hand towards the animal, but it vanished after relaying its message.
He thought hard on what to do next. He never had any reason to doubt Dumbledore's actions, but he did not deny the fact his old friend had a streak for making cruel decisions.
In the dark room, Moody closed his eye and pondered deeply for a good hour. He tried not to let the medication cloud his judgment and fought off the urge to sleep. The Auror acknowledged he had failed his part, and contemplated risking the Forgiven to experience the same.
He opened his eye and spoke to three teenagers who weren't really there.
"By my order as Forgiver…"
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(In the underground base)
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As the three waited for a message from Mad Eye, Liar was deciding something on his end. Sitting with his back against the wall, his soul was in a constant state of conflict.
Should he tell them Rabastan Lestrange was his father? About everything he knew? Would they believe him if he said why he didn't recognize them until then?
They may think I'm a traitor. They already hate me.
My own father…
Why am I so angry?
I don't understand!
I still don't have all the pieces!
"Liar. What is it?" Grimm came up beside him.
"Huh?"
"You're shaking."
The boy looked down at his trembling right hand, and then held it with his left.
"…I see. Rather embarrassing."
"What is it?"
Liar smirked at the genuine concern Grimm showed.
"Are you worried? Not too long ago, you and Norse wanted to take my head off."
"Bigger fish, Liar. Bigger fish. We can hash it all out once we get Kingsley back and make sure the Longbottoms are safe."
"Yeah. You're right about that."
"That's why I need you here. All of you. Can't have you distracted. So tell me what's going on up there?"
Liar closed his eyes.
His heart ached and he took a deep breath before speaking again.
"…You ever wanted to run away from something? So badly you just…" His words caught in his throat for a moment. "…you'd throw away everything you once were—everything you once knew? And I mean everything. Not some superficial, 'A new day, a new me' kind of optimistic foolishness." He shook his head. "I don't know… Just forget about all the things in your life, good and bad. Like to get rid of the bad, you had to get rid of the good too. Like EVERYTHING….—"
Liar frowned at how vague and stupid it all sounded.
"Ugh! Blast it! This doesn't make a lick of sense now that I'm saying it. I'm sorry. Just forge—"
As Liar held the sides of his head, a gentle hand touched his shoulder. Surprisingly, Grimm had a dead serious expression on her face. As if she were reading exactly what was behind Liar's words.
"Go on…" she ushered him. "I'm listening."
Her voice sounded softer than Liar had ever heard it. The boy took a heavy gulp and continued.
"Right. Where was I? Throw away everything? And I mean everything. Just drop all of it and run away as far and as fast as you could. You ever thought things were so bad, that life was so unbearable that you just wanted—!"
He choked on his words.
"Just wanted….."
Liar's voice trailed off.
…..
"…Oblivion," Grimm finished.
Liar stared wide eyed at her.
"Yes….To forget it all and start anew…." Tears welled up in the boy's eyes. "Course, it didn't work. I still did what I always do. I ran away…."
"Liar…"
"…."
"….You've Obliviated your own memories."
Liar shivered and nodded in confirmation. He pulled his knees in and hid his head in them. Quiet sobs escaped the wizard.
Grimm reached her hand out. She hesitated, but began patting his back as the boy shook.
"I understand the feeling, Liar. More than I'd like to admit."
"What…?"
"The three of us wouldn't be here if we weren't screwed up in some way. I'll tell you my own story another time, but you need to get some things off your chest, right?"
"I'll hold you to that," Liar said, wiping his tears and snot. "Not fair I'm the only one who's a bloody mess."
"Yeah, s'pose so."
"Be a dear and call Norse over. Saves having to tell the same story twice."
Grimm nodded and went over to the glowing witch practicing her spells.
We're all screwed up, is it?
Maybe it's because of that we can see each other with such clarity.
...
We don't have to pretend how broken we are.
Or more accurately—we don't have the ability to.
As Liar thought on how to explain it to them, he first needed organize the thoughts himself. His memories were a jumble and many interpretations had to be drawn from them. The whole picture was far from clear.
He closed his eyes and recalled his short dialogue with his "father". Liar most likely called out to him through pure physical memory than thought. It was an example of the phrase, "The mind forgets, but the body remembers".
Liar sank back to the earliest memories he could recall…
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(One Year Ago)
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The boy awoke in a prison cell.
At first, he was calm. Maybe due to his low blood pressure, he had a difficult time finding an edge right after he woke up.
He scanned his stone cell, seeing the basic bed and toilet, and then his gaze finally resting on the steel bars. Lynus grabbed them and peered down the prison hall.
He could see every inmate bore the Dark Mark on their forearm. The boy immediately looked down and saw that he too possessed the same skull and snake tattoo. Though his memories were a complete blank, he knew what the Dark Mark was and what it meant.
He was a Death Eater.
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What?!
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Wh–Who the hell am I?!
Lynus tried desperately to recall anything past waking up in his cell and found nothing. He looked back to where he was sleeping and saw a wand. The wizard picked it up and began analyzing it.
It was not his wand. Instinct told him that he had nicked it off one of the guards.
Before he could process the situation any further, he and a number of Death Eaters were led out of their cells and put in front of a Ministry court.
The one acting as judge was Barty Crouch Sr.
One by one, the prisoners stood at the podium to hear the crimes they were accused of. There were tears, a lot of yelling. Sometimes the ones on trial offered names and information to gain pardons.
Eventually, it was Lynus's turn to take the stand.
"Lynus Lestrange. Death Eater. Multiple counts of theft, Assault, illegal espionage, embezzling funds, trafficking dangerous and illegal artifacts, longtime supporter of he-who-must-not-be-named. Do you have anything to offer the court?" Crouch's voice possessed a clearly accusing tone.
"Uhh—"
"If not, I hereby sentence you—"
"Wait! Hold on a second!" Lynus cried.
The boy dug into his pocket and found a piece of paper. On it, was a list of names with the top labeled: Death Eaters. Apparently, his pre-Obliviated self attempted to leave behind a lifeline.
Lynus held the small piece of parchment out for the bailiff to take. The Ministry worker threw him a dirty look and reluctantly took the paper to Crouch. The Department Head gave a quick read through and turned his attention back to Lynus.
"Unfortunately, we are already aware of the Death Eaters you have attempted to name. A pardon will not be granted."
The boy's stomach plummeted.
"Lynus Lestrange, you are hereby sentenced to Death or Life Sentence in Azkaban."
"You can't be serious!"
"If I may, your honor."
Everyone in the court looked in the direction of the gruffy sounding voice.
"The boy is young and has committed no acts of murder," Mad Eye proclaimed. "Are petty crimes and his brand as a Death Eater enough to warrant the sentence?"
"He has committed no acts of murders we know of, Auror Moody."
"My sources have informed me the boy's part in the Dark Lord's army was something of a 'treasurer' than soldier."
Crouch gave Mad Eye a threatening look and banged his gavel.
"Death Penalty or Life Sentence. Take him away."
Lynus was shoved off the podium and back into his cell, while the trials resumed like business as usual.
Moody sat down and turned to Dumbledore beside him.
"There's something off about that one. Not a Death Eater like the others. He also has some odd talents. Might prove damn useful for the Forgiven."
The wizened wizard stroked his beard thoughtfully and nodded.
That night, the two visited Lynus in his prison cell. The boy told them all about how he Obliviated his own memories. After listening to his situation, Dumbledore and Moody made him an offer to join the Forgiven. Lynus practically jumped at the chance like a drowning man to a lifesaver.
When the two left, the young wizard sank into thought.
He didn't know how to describe it, but a great feeling of dread clouded his mind every time he tried to remember the reason he erased his memories. On a subconscious level, Lynus knew his life must have been a disaster since the moment he was born. Only something traumatizing could have motivated him to give up on his own "existence".
So life was such pits I ran away, huh? How irresponsible is that?
….
Well, technically speaking—it would be the other one…wouldn't it?
I mean….
SHITE!
He curled up in the middle of his cold cell, and wept.
This sucks so much…
The next day, Moody and Dumbledore snuck Liar out to the Underground Base. There, he officially signed on with their secret covenant, and was asked to make his mark in an old tome.
He set the pen down on the ancient parchment, but couldn't move it.
They said my name was Lynus…
But that one ran away. He wanted to be forgotten.
If I'm not him, who am I?
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A lie.
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In the book, the young wizard signed his new name.
Liar