Chapter - 1

It was a cold, moonless night. Few lights flickered across the small borough. The streets were silent, with not a single soul to be seen. Walking outside of the borough was a big, dark forest so dense that the moonlight could not even penetrate the thick canopy of the trees.

The forest occasionally reverberated with the echoes of the blasts. Following the sounds, one could see flashes flying all around, followed by enormous explosions. Two silhouettes could be seen standing next to each other. One was at least triple the size of the other.

*THUD!

*Thud!

The larger silhouette staggered and dropped, shaking the forest followed by the smaller one.

The sound of accelerated breathing reverberated in the forest. A boy around fourteen or fifteen lounged among a mountain of corpses breathing heavily and so tired that he couldn't even move.

It took some time, but the boy finally steadied himself. He got up, took out a small pouch, and starting throwing the corpses in the bag. And like a bottomless pit, the pouch continued to gobble up everything the boy threw in it.

After he was done clearing the area, the boy stretched his back, 'Now that all the herbs and beast corpses are collected, I can finally go back '. He thought.

Walking out of the forest, the boy headed straight towards the town. Entering one of the inns, he walked past the old haggard-looking man sleeping at the reception. After the boy walked past him, the old man slowly opened his eyes, looked at the retreating blood-soaked figure of the boy, and closed his eyes once more. The boy entered the room, and after washing up, crashed on the bed and fell asleep before long.

Next morning,

The boy took the first train from the nearest town to London. Settling himself in one of the compartments, it did not take five minutes for the boy to fall asleep once again. The boy woke up with the constant chatter of people when they reached London. Exiting the station, the boy hitched a taxi for his next destination.

Getting off the taxi, the boy stood in front of a large gate with 'Hope Springs Home' boldly written on it. As he walked in, he came across a group of children. Some were hardly five or six years old, while some were as old as the boy. Some were playing, some fighting, some crying, and some were drawing on the walls. It was a lively atmosphere. But the boy was hardly concerned about any of the children in front of him. His eyes swept all around as if looking for a particular someone. Finally, he followed his gaze to a corner. A girl about the same as the boy was surrounded by children half her age as she drew something on the wall.

Giving her painting the final touch, she took a couple of steps back and stared at the canvas with satisfaction, but one could feel a bit of sadness from her smile.

Looking at the painting, the boy smiled. The canvas was that of a boy, holding onto the hands of a girl as the two of them walked down the road.

"Looks like someone missed me a lot." The boy said, looking at the painting.

Hearing the voice, the girl turned around, and without a second thought, jumped into the boy's embrace, "Brother, you are back!"

"Hmmm..." stroking her hair, the boy said.

"When did you come?" the girl asked, looking at the boy while still hugging him.

"Just now"

"Look, I drew both of us. How is it?" leaving the boy's embrace, the girl said, pointing at the drawing.

"Good"

"I knew you will like it. Well, what did you bring for me this time?" the girl who looked dispirited moments ago was now full of energy.

"The place I went to was a remote town, so I could only bring this," the boy replied while taking out a bracelet from his pocket. This was something he bought on his way from the hotel he stayed to the railway station.

"Wow! what a pretty bracelet, let me go show it to my friends" dazed by the bracelet, she took it and was eager to show it to her friends.

"Wait, take these for them," taking out a bag full of gifts, he gave it to his sister.

"Thanks, brother," the girl tip-toed and kissed the boy on his cheeks before running away from there.

Watching the girl running away, the boy shook his head in helplessness. He turned around and went inside the building. All the nuns were looking at the boy and greeting him pleasantly. The boy was one of the largest sources of donations that came for the orphanage. How he did it, nobody knew except for the head nun. But, every once in a while, he would leave the orphanage and soon upon his return, there will be a huge donation to the church and orphanage.

The boy stood outside the office of the head nun and knocked.

"Come in"

"Oh! You are back soon this time," the head nun looked at the boy and said with a smile.

"Hmmm..." Alex nodded. Alex had been in this orphanage for quite some time now, but he has never seen the smile on her face disappear.

"Was there any problem? Are you hurt anywhere?" the head nun asked with concern.

"I am fine."

"So when will he come?" the head nun continued to ask despite the short replies.

"I don't know."

"In that case, why don't you go freshen up and rest?" the head nun suggested.

"Hmmm"

The head nun shook her head in distress. This boy, ever since he was brought by that man to the orphanage, never replied to anyone in more than a sentence. He never caused trouble for anyone, stayed out of any commotion and only minded his own business. And the only time he would smile is when he is with his sister.

Coming to his room, the boy went to freshen up, and by the time he came out, his food was delivered by one of the children to his room. He had his dinner and crashed on his bed.

At midnight,

The boy suddenly opened his eyes and looked towards the window. A man dressed in black was sitting on the chair by the window. And even though the moonlight was coming through the window, his face could not be seen.

"Master," the boy left the bed and knelt in front of the man on one knee.

"Good, You are vigilance has not diminished..." The man nodded in approval.

The boy did not say a word and continued to kneel in front of him.

"...No need to kneel anymore. Did you collect everything I asked you for?" the man asked.

"Yes, master" the boy picked a small pouch from his bedside table and gave it to the man.

"3 trolls, 9 Alizors, 5 Limaxs, 7 Grindylow, 6 Ashwinder, Dittany, Moly, Shrivelfig. On top of that, you also got me a Niffler's fancy and an unconscious Augurey, " the man was highly pleased and somewhat surprised that the boy got all these in just a week. This was even out of his own expectations.

Pleased with the boy, the man continued, " You have done well all this time. Now your training is over, and soon I will let you know about your first and only job. You don't need to worry about the orphanage. I will continue to support the orphanage, as usual. You just need to focus on the task at hand."

The boy nodded.

"Rest well, I will come back for you soon" saying this, the man disappeared in thin air.

"Brother, why are you standing by the window?" a sleepy voice sounded in the room.

"Nothing, go back to sleep," the boy told his sister and looked outside the window for the last time before going back to sleep.

Next day,

The boy woke up only to find his sister missing from her bed. He washed up and went outside. The whole orphanage was bustling with noises. The boy soon spotted his sister, along with other children, gathered around some trucks. The orphanage people and older children were unloading everything from the trucks. As soon the nuns spotted the boy, they started gossiping with one another.

"It happened again".

"He surely is the benefactor of the orphanage, but what will happen once he leaves?"

"Yes, I heard he will be leaving soon".

The boy could hear them talk about him, but without saying anything, he turned around to leave. But, he had not even taken a couple of steps when he was called out by a group of boys.

"Hey! come here and help. Aren't you ashamed to eat without helping out even a bit?..." A fat boy, supposedly the uncontested leader of this group, said out loud. He wanted to create a wave of negative opinions towards our boy.

"... Look at them," the fatso continued as he pointed towards a group of kids, "They are much younger than you, and yet they are working as hard as anybody else."

The fatty had expected the boy to lose control and flip out. But contrary to his expectation. The boy listened to him rattle, and without saying a word, continued on his way to his room.

"I said stop" the group of boys dashed and stood in front of the boy ganging upon him.

"Step aside," the boy looked at the fatty who was yapping his mouth and said without a tinge of emotion.

"You..you... are you above everyone else? All the others help around the orphanage with whatever they can. Only you don't do anything, don't you think it's unfair to others?" a little intimidated by the boy, the fatty took a step back before shouting out loud. He wanted to gain the support of all the other children. Clear enough listening to the boy, other children also started to side with him.

"Step aside" now the boy was angry.

"What will you do if I don't?" seeing that the surrounding children were supporting him, the boy asked haughtily.

"You want to know?"

"What's going on?" just as everyone thought something interesting was about to happen, a voice sounded.

"Reverend mother!" all the children, nuns and orphanage workers greeted in unison.

"What's all this ruckus about?" the head nun referred to as reverend mother asked while looking around.

The fatty was the first one to jump in. He wanted to use this opportunity and become the leader of all the children in the orphanage, "Reverend mother, everyone here is helping out unloading the supplies except for Alex, but when we asked him to..."

"I have exempted him from any duties of the church and the orphanage. If he wants to help, he can, but if he doesn't want to, then he is not obliged to do that. And as far as I know, you don't seem to have the authority to assign or force someone to do work here," the head nun spoke calmly.

"But reve..." fatty wanted to argue but was cut short by the head nun.

"I am sure I have made myself clear. The last time I checked, I was the one in charge of this church. Now you can all go back to work, and Alex, you come with me" saying this, the head nun turned around and left. Followed by Alex.

In the head nun's office,

"Here, have some tea" the head nun poured a cup of tea for Alex.

"There was no need for you to hold back," the head nun said.

Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Alex looked at reverend mother, "Is this something you should say as the head nun?"

"Everything is about balance. When the equilibrium begins to shift, you need someone to restore it." Reverend mother said, sipping on her tea.

"So now what? Did he say something?" the head nun was concerned about Alex a lot. The boy was only about fourteen this year, yet he would frequently go out in this harsh world on his own to help the orphanage. Initially, when Alex started going out, he would come covered in cuts and bruises. But as time went by, he managed to come unscathed but still, she worried about him and what the future holds for him.

"He will visit soon. I would know then," Alex told the head nun.

"He came to visit me yesterday and told me that you will be transferred to another school, so he asked me to do the necessary arrangements." The head nun said.

"Is that so?" Alex was lost in thoughts. He had this subtle feeling that his master and reverend mother knew each other, but both of them never said a thing to him.

"Alright, you can go now."

Alex stood up to leave, but when he was at the door, he asked without turning back, "Was it only me, or did he say anything about my sister too?"

"As of now, only yours," the head nun told Alex.

"Hmmm" nodding, Alex left the office.

* * * * *