Chapter 21 – Truth In The Pain
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Previously on The Forgiven: The Sorceror's Stone was transferred from Gringotts to Hogwarts. Also, Harry Potter's first excursion back into the Wizarding World ended safely. The success of both events due to the unseen efforts of Kingsley, Moody, and the Forgiven.
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Trains whistled in concerto, and the sound of people shuffling through their lives left not even the briefest moment of silence.
Many students and their parents pushed trolleys up and down the platforms. Good byes exchanged as children readied to leave for their respective schools, and through a certain, unassuming looking pillar, young witches and wizards gathered to board the Hogwarts Express.
While the hustle and bustle of passengers took place throughout King's Cross, hidden by the noise was a certain witch and wizard.
Grimm twisted the grown man's arm at a painful angle. With her other hand, she jabbed her wand into his spine. Quietly, but deliberately, she pushed him behind a wall, out of sight and out of mind of any passerby. The leader of the Forgiven considered using Legilimens, but the method would take an uncertain amount of time. Time she wasn't sure she could afford.
If she was going to get the information she required as quickly as possible, drastic measures needed to be taken. Grimm sighed and braced herself for what would come after.
It's going to be rough on Norse and Liar tonight. Have to treat them to something later.
After the thought, Grimm focused all her concentration on her spell work. Still holding the man in a vice grip, she pushed him down onto his knees. She leaned in to his ear, and with a deep, icy whisper, she spoke to him.
"You're going to tell me where the others are."
Without waiting for a response, Grimm pointed her wand at the bone of the back of her victim's neck. Her emotions condensed around concepts of pain and suffering. She could feel her blood run toxic and black as tar. The venom flowed into her wand, and like a fang sinking into skin, Grimm jabbed her wand into the wizard's neck bone.
"Crucio."
Veins under the man's skin colored black and drew webs all across his body. His muscles tensed and his pupils contracted into shivering, black pits. Grimm's cursed word echoed forever through his ear canal.
Pain is different for everyone. Sometimes it's more emotional than physical. Inflicting someone with the True Crucio curse is an art. Torture….is an art.
You find the person's sufferings, you connect to their pain, understand them—and then you stick them where it hurts.
…..
Grimm looked coldly on the man's suffering and gauged the damage done.
And then she pushed harder.
Nails scratching on a chalk board, the deafening beat of his own heart, and the overwhelming static noise of the blood rushing in his veins. He could hear his bones scratching, scraping, cracking. It drove the man insane.
Ah…I remember reading something like that. How a silent room was made to mute as much sound as possible. Without any relative noise, you pick up on the smallest sounds of your body. Supposedly, fifteen minutes into the quiet room, people started hallucinating and going crazy. I guess this is something like that.
The man's senses were heightened to an unbearable degree. Ambient sounds filled his thoughts and fueled his growing insanity. It was too much negative stimulation. He wanted to throw up, but his body stopped him from doing so. The wizard felt like he was breathing too slow, fearing he wasn't getting enough air. In reality, the man was hyperventilating and taking rapid, shallow breaths too short to properly fill his lungs.
He felt himself die with every passing second. All the while, Grimm pushed the torture further and further.
The wizard experienced a gut piercing ringing. He tried to cover his ears with his hands, but couldn't control them. He thought the inside of his head was bleeding from the noise.
A True Cruciatus Curse. Practically the opposite of what's needed for the Patronus Charm. It requires concentrating on all the bad and painful moments of your life.
Lucky, me! I have those in plenty~
That darkness fuels the curse. The Patronus is meant to protect, the Cruciatus is meant to harm and maim. Not even kill—just hurt.
Grimm released her Crucio and the wizard fell face first into the hard floor. He trembled, then barfed, then wept. He clutched his knees to his chest and went into the fetal position. There were fewer instances of a pitiful existence than the one the witch saw before her.
But even then, Grimm was without mercy.
She grabbed him by his collar and locked her fierce eyes into his.
"Tell me where the others are," she commanded.
The wizard's mind was in tatters. Weakened to the point where there were no traces of defense against mind reading. Grimm's face contorted with disgust at what her Legilimency revealed.
The man belonged to a ragtag group of amateur extremist wizards. Their coven was made up of a few former Death Eaters and low life thugs. Each of their appearances and locations appeared in Grimm's mind, clear as day.
Once she absorbed enough information, she pointed her wand at him again. With a faint flash, the full grown adult was transfigured into a brown rabbit. Grimm picked the creature up by the scruff of its neck, and dropped it into a pet cage she conjured.
When she completed her capture, she made contact with the rest of the Forgiven.
"You used the Cruciatus Curse, didn't you?" Liar's voice spoke to her in her head.
"Yeah. Had to be done to assess the threat."
"Understood. It's just really going to suck later tonight."
"…Sorry, you two."
"At least you have the intel. As expected, the fools pose no serious threat. Seems hardly worth the cost you'll be paying later."
"Good thing I'm so used to getting the raw end of things. You and Norse stay with the students. I can take these pricks out on my own."
"You are sure you do not require assistance?"
"It's fine, Norse. They're amateurs bluffing at something bigger than they really are. I'd feel better working free without having to worry if one of these idiots somehow reaches the students."
"….Understood."
"You two know the drill. I doubt it'll happen, but if any threats present themselves, I don't care how exposed you are. You turn them to ash."
"Got it, boss."
"Good hunting, Grimm."
The blue haired witch cut the Legilimens link to focus solely on neutralizing the dark wizards. Her targets were a bit spread out, but tracking them wouldn't prove too difficult. Compared to how the Forgiven originally perceived the threat, the mission became much easier upon learning their adversaries were foolish zealots rather than professionals.
Word reached all across London and beyond that Harry Potter was to begin his schooling at Hogwarts. As if that fact didn't draw enough attention by itself, this year was the highest admittance of Muggleborn and Halfblood students to date. The students were always targeted for violent acts, but this generation of children garnered more of it than usual.
It wasn't hard to discern the motives behind the perpetrators. Some of the radical Magi believed if they killed Harry Potter, they would somehow prove themselves more powerful than Voldemort. Some wanted to demonstrate their prejudice against Muggles and those with Muggle related heritages. Either way, there would always be dark wizards trying to assert their influence, and there would always be the Forgiven to stop them. At least this stood true for the last several years.
Honestly, everyyear these idiots come out of the woodwork. Is there a dumbass factory just spitting these guys out or what?
"We will have our revolutio—!"
"Shut up, you bloody idiot," Grimm cut the witch short.
By the end of the hour, she had subdued her fifth criminal before transfiguring them into a rabbit. The leader of the Forgiven then tapped the metal box full of captured bunnies with her wand.
"Somno Canticum."
All their beady little eyes closed as they drifted to sleep. Grimm allowed herself a small sigh of relief at the job well done, and then resumed her Legilimency connection.
"The threats have been neutralized. Still, we don't know if there are more out there so stay on guard. I'll patrol the station until the trains are about to leave. Keep me posted."
Grimm felt Liar and Norse mentally nod.
"No harm will come to the tiny ones."
"Compared to our usual missions, I'm glad we're not threading some kind of impossible needle this time around."
"It's too early to take things easy."
"I know, boss. On our toes, wands at the ready. Constant Vigil—"
She cut the connection.
The witch began her patrol around the station. As she did so, she saw a few familiar faces here and there. Grimm smiled at the sight of the Weasley family helping Harry enter Platform 9 ¾ .
Luckily, she had a diversion charm placed on her, or else the Weasleys would have recognized her in an instant. Due to the effects of an enchantment, those around the witch had their attentions diverted away from her face unconsciously, unless there was close, direct contact.
Suddenly, Grimm was assaulted with a familiar scent that sent her mind into a panic. The young woman whipped around to see a pair of Muggle parents with a frizzy haired daughter. Grimm strained her nose, trying to identify the smell she was picking up.
It stung to understand why the scent was so familiar and the reason it carried on those Muggle parents. They were dentists. They smelled like Grimm's mother did, when she came back home from work.
Wow…..It's been so long since I thought about her….
She looked out to all the mothers saying goodbye to their children.
I guess I was trying so hard not to, I just—…..*Sigh* Especially here.
Her mind drifted to memories long past. Her first and last meetings with her father. The time she broke down after returning from her third year of school. The happy faces of her now gone parents almost brought tears to her eyes.
"I don't understand….!" said a small voice behind her.
Grimm collected herself and saw the Muggle family standing between platforms nine and ten, looking thoroughly confused. Their daughter switched back and forth from her letter and the two signs.
Honestly, after all this time and the trouble it causes, Dumbledore never thought to include just one line of simple instruction. Maybe something like, "go into the third pillar from the ninth platform". See? That wasn't so bloody difficult.
Grimm shook her head and walked up to the frazzled young girl.
"Platform 9 ¾, yeah?"
The little girl blinked furiously. "Yes! Do you know where it is?!"
"Yup. It's right through there," Grimm pointed to the pillar. "Best to have a running start."
The child gave her a skeptical look.
"You think I'm mad, don't you?"
The girl nodded.
"Yeah, I guess you'd be pretty stupid if you just believed me outright. Just keep watching."
It wasn't two seconds later when a wizarding family seemed to vanish into the pillar with ease. The little girl squeaked at the sight.
"See? So you just need to do that. Got it?"
"…"
"Bit afraid for your first time?"
The child nodded.
"Alrighty."
Grimm came around and held the trolley behind the girl.
"We'll go together. Mom and Dad need to follow closely and be brave too, okay?" she called to the parents behind her. They answered with disjointed, uncomfortable smiles.
"Here we go!"
Grimm pushed the trolley with all her might, and the little girl hung on and screamed.
*Whoosh*
They flew headlong through the portal and came upon the Hogwarts Express on the other side. Grimm smiled down at the child and saw her brimming with excitement. The girl's parents stumbled shortly after them.
"That was…EXHILIRATING!" the child awed.
"Yeah. Yeah, it is."
"My name is Hermione Granger, pleased to meet you!" she said, thrusting her hand out.
"Heh!" Grimm smirked as she shook the girl's hand. "Good to meet you, Granger. My name's—" She paused. "—Grimma. Just Grimma."
"Good to meet you, Ms. Grimma," Hermione beamed.
The train gave a high pitched whistle and drew everyone's attention. When Hermione looked back, Grimm had already disappeared.
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Grimm joined Liar and Norse's side.
"Geez, some of these kids are cute."
"Yes. I wish I could just smother one of them."
"To be perfectly frank, I can't stand the little ankle biters," Liar snorted.
There, on Platform 9 ¾, the Forgiven oversaw the last of the children boarding the Hogwarts Express. Though their official missions were complete, they still had one piece of personal business to attend to.
"Confundus." Norse incanted.
The target of her spell an elderly woman standing alongside a young boy. Uncertain why his grandmother went lucid all of a sudden, the kid shook her hand.
"Gran?"
"Neville…!" Liar whispered. "Over here…!"
The boy took notice of the three Forgiven and began fidgeting nervously. His eyes downcast, while he took his small steps towards them. All the while looking like the most fragile child in the world. Four times he bumped and almost fell over as he made his way through the other students.
"Alas, I fear he will be bullied verily at Hogwarts."
"The kid breaks my heart just looking at him," Liar trying not to laugh.
Grimm delivered a swift elbow to his ribs.
"Can it with the snide comments. We all promised to try to be supportive."
Neville finally made it through the crowd and stopped in front of the Forgiven. He took several stuttered breaths before mustering the courage to speak.
"I still wish you wouldn't hex Gran like that."
"Sorry, Neville. But you know we need to keep this all hush, hush," Liar apologized.
Neville nodded silently.
The four stared at each other for a long while. No one made a single move for what felt like an eternity, until Norse became fed up with the awkwardness.
The giant witch bent down on her knee to give the boy one of her patented bear hugs. Neville blushed shyly at first, but eventually hugged back. When Norse released him, she patted his head with fond affection. Her straightforward tenderness always set him at ease.
"Yes…I, uh—*Ahem*-I'm not particularly the hugging type," Liar said with apprehension. "But hey, I stol—" Grimm elbowed him. "—PURCHASED. I purchased you a present. Yup. Bought it with my own money I must remember to leave at their counter, later today." The wizard produced a small bonsai tree from his sleeve. "I have to warn you, it isn't magic and it takes a significant amount of care to raise one. Supposedly, it grows beautifully and lives for decades under the right gardener."
Neville took the plant with great care. He looked down at the miniature tree with a worried expression.
"I'm afraid I'll kill it."
"Kid. Don't be such a downer. We've seen you tend to your gardens. Additionally, many hours were waste—" Grimm elbowed him again. "– WELL SPENT, toiling to come up with this gift. The more work and care you give it, the better it will grow. Very important life lesson and companion for you at school."
"Thank you." Neville nodded and smiled. "Is it alright if I call it 'Lynus'?"
Liar's eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat. "C-call it whatever you like. It's your bloody plant!" he blurted before turning away to hide his face. Grimm and Norse laughed at the wizard's embarrassment.
And finally it was Grimm's turn.
Out of the three Forgiven, she was the worst with him. By all accounts, she agreed with how his Grandmother wanted him to be strong like his parents. But unlike Augusta, Grimm saw Neville would never be like Frank or Alice. He didn't show the potential or the talent to be an Auror. It was cold, hard truth for her.
Grimm saw how miserable the scoldings made Neville. His grandmother was trying her best to raise him to be something greater than he was, but it always seemed to diminish him instead. And every time, it hurt the boy to never meet those expectations.
She didn't want to treat him the same way, to cause him more grief, but she didn't know how else to treat him. So she simply held her tongue and acted conservatively. Though, the witch had an inkling the boy knew her true feelings. She probably stared at him the same way Augusta did.
"Well….good luck at school," Grimm said, struggling to be supportive. "Try to get into Gryffindor, if you can. But other houses are okay too! Not Slytherin, though. If you get in there, we'll pretend not to know you. Hehe!" Norse and Liar elbowed her from each side. "Ow!— Just a joke! Um….that's it, I suppose! Do your best and try to grow some backbo—Ow!—Meet some friends and have fun..." Grimm suddenly shoved some chocolate into his hands.
Neville made a small nod, while trying to avoid eye contact.
Liar swept in to salvage the situation. "You'll be fine, Nevy. Remember, if you're ever in trouble, make a wish on Trevor, give him a kiss…" Neville laughed. "… and the three of us will show up to help. Also, if anyone tries to bully you, just tell us, and Norse will have a word with them."
Norse grinned and punched her fist into her palm.
"Now, off you go."
Neville waved goodbye to them, turned, and made his way back to his now coherent grandmother. Once he was out of earshot, Liar and Norse turned to Grimm between them.
"Wow! That was terrible! Horrendous! We've tortured and maimed people, beheld untold horrors, but THAT."
"I know!" Grimm said with her face in her hands.
"We were aware of your difficulties with the boy, but that far surpassed any expectation," Norse rested a hand on her shoulder.
"I know..."
"I thought you were good with kids!"
"I am! At least….the smart or energetic ones…"
"Ouch."
"Well, there's no denying Neville isn't that, but still…! Grimm. Come, on…."
"I know, alright! You should have seen me with this little girl before. But with Neville—he's just…!" Grimm let out a heavy groan. "I can't help thinking, 'suck it up and stop being a wimpy little prat', every time I see him. It's so worrying and annoying!" She let out another groan of frustration. "And then there's the Sorceror's Stone at Hogwarts so I'm even more worried!"
"Oh yes, I'd almost forgotten," Liar mused.
"I need a drink when we're done."
"Or eight. May I also remind you, you performed the Cruciatus Curse today."
It took a moment for Grimm to remember.
"….Shite."
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Later that night….
After the Forgiven returned to base, Grimm drank heavily before passing out and being carried to her bed. While their leader slept, Norse and Liar sat at each side of her bed, watching over her carefully. Both of them wearing grave looks on their faces.
"I can take the first shift," Liar offered.
"I am never inclined to sleep on nights like these. You should rest," Norse responded.
"Nah," he shook his head. "I'd rather not sleep either."
"How bad do you think it will be tonight?"
"The Cruciatus Curse was performed only once. Even so…."
"Grimm's Crucio is the most potent of the three of us, so it's backlash will be substantial," Norse finished.
Liar sighed as he pulled out a pack of cards. He started dealing them out across Grimm's sleeping body.
Hours drifted by while Norse and Liar played various card games. Although time lingered on, the two showed no sign of boredom or fatigue. Only playing peacefully and making quiet idle conversation.
The first sign was a small twitch in Grimm's right hand. Then her brow wrinkled and her breath went ragged. Shortly after, the sleeping witch grit her teeth so hard they threatened to grind to dust. Even if they were ready for it, Norse and Liar couldn't react by the time she started convulsing.
Norse held Grimm down, while Liar shoved a rolled piece of cloth between her teeth to keep her from biting off her own tongue. Their leader's limbs sprang out as if she were being possessed. Her arms lashed out at unseen phantoms. Liar caught a punch to the gut and Norse's face was scratched.
They did their best to hold Grimm down without harming her. Even then, their leader's nails peeled off as they sunk deep into their skin causing severe abrasions.
It was the price of using the True Cruciatus Curse. The first time they all performed it, they almost killed themselves the following night. Liar and Norse woke up to bodies full of self-inflicted injuries, torn up clothes and bedsheets, blood painting their bedroom….
And an unconscious Grimm bleeding out from a deep gash in her wrist.
Since then, they agreed never to perform Crucio unless absolutely necessary, and never all three of them in the same day. There had to be at least one, who could watch over the other two and prevent lethal injury.
A person suffering the backlash experienced feverish nightmares. Memories and made up futures that caused them pain unimaginable. Every horrible demon come to life.
Drinking helped distort the night terrors, but not by much.
When Grimm awoke the next morning, she found Liar and Norse holding each of her hands, sleeping soundly. They were covered in scratches and bruises.
The witch looked down at her own body and found she was perfectly fine. Residual aches told her what parts her comrades healed before passing out. She grabbed her wand off a nearby table.
"Geez. At least heal yourselves before healing me," Grimm muttered sadly.
She began mending Liar and Norse's wounds, while caressing their sleeping faces.
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"….I'm sorry."