Chapter - 50

It was dark. A boy was floating in a dark endless abyss. He did not know if his eyes were closed or it was just too dark for him to see.

"Where am I?"

"What happened?"

"Wasn't I fighting someone? Who was it?"

"It's all a bit hazy".

"Did I die?"

"Why do I feel at peace now? It somewhat feels comfortable to do just nothing."

"But why does it feel like I am forgetting something?"

After what felt like an eternity, the boy finally saw a speck of light. The light began to grow bigger and brighter as he slowly began to float towards it.

When he finally reached the source of light, he was dazzled by the bright light. When his eyes adapted to the light, he saw a beautiful woman looking at him smiling. Soon he passed by the woman, and now in front of him was a sturdy man sitting on his desk writing something. He looked up and smiled at him. The boy felt like he knew the two of them very well, but he could not remember. Soon a lot of such images passed by him, and without realising, the boy had tears in his eyes.

'How can I forget them? I promised myself never to forget them'.

After the images of the man and the woman, in front of him stood a small girl not more than five years old. She was smiling at him as she extended her arm and gave him the teddy she was holding.

Countless memories went past him as he watched the girl grow and turn into a fine young woman. She was sitting on a bench with a baby in her hands, playing with him. She looked at him, smiled and extended the baby for him to see, but 'poof!', all of a sudden, everything turned dark again.

'Brother wake up". the boy heard someone calling out for him.

"Hugh!" the boy slowly opened his eyes. In front of him was a small girl, looking at him with concern in her eyes, "Nicole?" the boy called out.

"Brother, how are you feeling?" Nicole asked as she helped Alex sit.

"Ahh!" Alex winched in pain as he moved. He looked down and saw his clothes covered in blood and dust. He had wounds all over his body, making him look like a miserable, homeless beggar.

"Brother, where are we? Who were those men who took you away? I am scared."

"Don't be. I am here with you. Nothing will happen to us." Alex said as he patted her head.

Alex was muddleheaded for a while, but he soon started remembering. Their father fought alone. Their mother helped them escape. He carried Nicole on his back before he finally succumbed to exhaustion. He woke up and found himself in shackles. After that, he was taken to that vicious doctor and tortured until he fell unconscious again. Things were coming back to him slowly.

His body was in a lot of pain. Nicole made a bed of haystack for Alex to rest.

The next day, the two men came again and took a couple of children with them, never to be seen again.

For the next few days, every time those men came to take the children with them. Alex would cover Nicole with haystacks or start a fight with those men so that they would ignore others and just take him along with them.

After a week,

Alex was again brought to see the doctor and was strapped to a chair. It was already his fifth time in this room since he and Nicole arrived here. Two more children were there beside him, strapped to the chairs.

Looking at Alex, who was sitting silently, the doctor looked at him and smiled, "You are here again, but not as feist as before, are you?"

"Mr Hickinbottom, this one needs to be disciplined a bit more. He bit off my ear today," One of the men said, pointing towards Alex. Blood was dripping from his ear, and his neck and shoulder were covered in blood.

"How many times I have told you not to call me that. Just call me doctor, DOCTOR!"

"Yes... Yes, doctor"

"Now, we will take it up a notch." The doctor said, smiling creepily at Alex. Then he turned towards one of the men, "Bring me the vial".

The man nodded and brought with him three small bottles. Mr Hickinbottom took the bottles and administered them to all three of the kids.

Alex felt nothing wrong after being injected, but the smile on that doctor's face made him shudder.

A minute passed... two minutes passed, and soon he started feeling hot in his stomach. The two kids beside him were already howling in pain, but it was still bearable for Alex. But he also had a limit.

"Ahhh!" finally, a painful cry escaped his lips. Veins began to bulge all over his face. His face distorted, vision blurred. With great difficulty, he turned to look at the other kids who have stopped crying. He had a hope in his heart that this was all going to end momentarily. But when he saw the two of them lying motionless with blood seeping out of their eyes, he began to lose himself in despair. His eyes began to lose clarity. What's the use of living in such pain. He has nothing to live for. His home was destroyed, his parents killed, his sister... thinking about his sister who was still waiting for him, his eyes became clear.

Hickinbottom, who was disappointed when he saw life seeping out of Alex for whom he had high hopes, was surprised to see Alex looking at him with hate. He was not at all bothered by the hateful gaze Alex was looking at him, he was rather happy that he survived.

"Attaboy, I knew you were different from those weaklings when I first saw you. You have not disappointed me, boy." Hickinbottom said, clapping.

The man called out for the two men waiting outside. As the men entered, they covered their nose, not able to withstand the staunch smell of blood reeking in the room.

"Take him, and feed him lots of food. You need to take good care of him. Do you understand?"

The two men nodded and took Alex away.

Hickinbottom walked to his desk, and from the drawer, took out a diary.

'Subject 198

Day - 1

The second subject after number 21 to be able to withstand the first dose of medicine and survive.

After the first dose was administered to the subject, the subject lost clarity of his surroundings for a moment before regaining his consciousness. The reasons are unknown, need further trials.

No visible change to the physiology of the subject.

The subject will be kept in monitoring for a night for any aftereffects before the second dose is administered.'

This was his logbook, where he kept records of the progress of subjects. Almost all of the pages of this logbook were empty except for the subject number on the top.

Alex was brought back to the cell holding the children and thrown mercilessly to the ground before he was bound to the shackles again. They threw a couple of loaves of bread in front of him and left. They did not notice the girl lying beside Alex.

"Brother, are you okay? Why is there blood on your face?" Nicole opened her eyes when she was sure that the men were gone.

Alex gave a pat to her head and said, "I am fine silly. It's not my blood."

"Are you telling the truth?" Nicole asked innocently.

"Of course, I am. Now don't overwork your tiny brain, and eat this," Alex said, giving her one of the loaves of bread.

Nicole took the loaf and looking away in annoyance, said, "Humph...My brain is not tiny. It's small because I am just a kid."

"Yeah...yeah..."

* * * * *

'Day - 7

The subject was able to withstand six doses of the medicine. The subject is getting accustomed to the pain. Although there is still no visible change to the subject's physiology, the subject is experiencing psychological changes. With each dose administered, the subject is able to express fewer emotions.

The subject will be administered double the initial dose starting today.'

Hickinbottom wrote the preliminary report and put his pen down. He turned around and smiled, looking at Alex.

"Now, shall we start?"

If it was a few days back, Alex would be shuddering in fear, but now, he just gave a look to him and looked away, closing his eyes.

Hickinbottom also did not dilly-dally. He grabbed two vails of medicine and injected them into Alex.

"Now, let the world see the miracle I have created."

* * * * *

"So you are awake." Alex heard a voice as soon he opened his eyes.

"Master? Where am I?" It was Professor Snape, sitting beside his bed.

"Where else? In the infirmary." Snape said.

Alex was confused, 'Was it all a dream?' He looked around, and indeed he was in the infirmary. 'Do I need to relieve my past even when I close my eyes?'

Snape saw the confused look on Alex's face, but he did not ask anything. He was beside him all this time, and he saw him wriggling in despair. He was unquestionably having a nightmare. This boy was the closest thing he had to a family. Though they signed a master-slave contract, he never once thought of using that as a chip to take advantage of him.

Trying to lighten up the mood, Professor Snape said, "Boy, looks like I need to pay extra attention to your training. You have grown rusty."

"No, master. It's not like that." Fearing that Snape will deem him useless, Alex hurriedly replied.

"Really, if this keeps on going, I fear, I will have to hire a nanny to babysit you and book a bed for you in the infirmary."

"Sorry, Master".

"And what's with this master... master? I told you to call me Professor when we are in the school." Professor Snape scolded Alex.

"Yes, mast... I mean, yes, Professor."

"Better." Professor Snape nodded.

"By the way, Professor. What happened to Potter? Is he fine?" Alex remembered that Potter was too with him when they were in the basement.

Professor Snape nodded, "He will live. There are a lot of people paying attention to him." He said, pointing towards the bed not too far from them. Potter was sleeping there, with a lot of gifts around him.

"His friend Weasley was quick to spread the word as to how they defeated 'You know who'. Now not only Potter, but that Weasley is also a celebrity of the school."

"Oh, I see. What about Nicole? Does she know I am here?"

"She does. I tried to come up with an excuse, but I think she has caught on to you." Professor snape told Alex, but looking at his face, it felt like something was amiss.

"What excuse?" Suspicious to his smile, Alex couldn't help but ask.

"You slipped on the soap in the bathroom." Professor Snape said, trying to hold back his laughter.

"Master!" Alex called out complaining. He grabbed the quilt and covered himself all the way to his head.

Smiling, Professor Snape got up to leave, "Rest well. You don't have any injuries, so you will be able to leave by the end of the day. You don't want to miss the year ending party." He said before leaving.

* * * * *

The Great Hall,

Nicole was standing by the large gate, pacing around in worry. No one was allowed to go in the infirmary because the famous Harry Potter has just accomplished a great deed and was resting. Because of that, she couldn't even visit her brother and had to rely on Professor Snape or Madam Pomfrey for any news about him. But today, Professor Snape told her that her brother will be attending the year-end feast. She was waiting for him along with Daphne and Hermione. Potter was already here, so what was taking her brother so long.

"Calm down, let's go inside. He will be here soon."

"That skinny, fame-seeking Potter is already here. So what's taking my brother so long?"

"Shssh, don't talk about him like this. He is the favourite of the whole school right now. If his fan club here you badmouth him, you will find yourself in unwanted trouble." Daphne said. Some girls were already glaring at Nicole after they heard her.

"What are you all doing here?"

Hearing the voice, Nicole could not control her tears. She turned around and jumped into Alex embrace.

"You smelly brother, what is wrong with you? You are in the infirmary every other day."

"It's just me having a bad day. Nothing serious, see not even a scratch."

Nicole let go of him and examined every nook and corner of his body. After only she was satisfied that he was okay, did she sighed in relief.

Alex looked at Hermione and Daphne and nodded. The two of them just smiled at him. They were also relieved to see him fine.

"Let's go in. The feast is about to start." Daphne said.

"You just want to hurry because Slytherin is going to win the house cup, isn't it?"

"You can't be sure. Didn't you guys pulled this last-minute trick?"

Chatting with each other, the four of them entered the Great Hall. Daphne and Alex walked towards the Slytherin table, and Hermione and Nicole sat with the Gryffindors.

Moments later, Dumbledore arrived. The babble in the hall died away.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully, your heads are all a little fuller than they were...you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts....

"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. Malfoy was banging his goblet on the table.

"Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

"Here it comes," Daphne, who was already expecting this, said gloomily. She switched her gaze towards Alex and found him munching on his food without a care in the world.

The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.

"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes...

"First Mro Mr Ronald Weasley..."

Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn.

"...for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be heard telling the other prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"

At last, there was silence again.

"Second — to Miss Hermione Granger...for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Hermione buried her face in her arms; Nicole, who was beside her, was gently patting her back. Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves —they were a hundred points up.

"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I, therefore, award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom."

Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. He had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor before.

Dumbledore waited for the hall to go silent again before he continued.

"At last, — to Mr Harry Potter..." said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "...for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty...."

"Boom!" The Great hall resounded with a loud, deafening sound. All the eyes in the Great hall turned towards the source of the sound. The Slytherin table at the very end was smashed into pieces.

Daphne, who was beside Alex, was shocked. She wanted to know why Alex did it, but he was not looking at her. Instead, his eyes were fixed on Dumbledore.

Before coming to the Great hall, Alex met Professor Snape. It was decided that his involvement in the whole fiasco will be overshadowed by the story Potter and the Weasle were spreading around. Alex did not have any problem with that, but now that Dumbledore was presenting points to Gryffindor in a platter, this irked him.

When Dumbledore's eyes met with Alex's cold gaze, he understood the matter. Snape also walked up to him and whispered a few words.

"Ahem!" with a flick of his wand Dumbledore fixed the table, "Looks like we need to thoroughly inspect the furniture of the school this summer, hahaha..." Dumbledore tried to lighten the mood.

"... now where were we. Oh yes, for his outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house fifty..." Dumbledore paused and looked in Alex's direction, but Alex was busying munching on his food. Now that there was no opposition from him, Dumbledore finished, " fifty points."

Those who could do their maths knew that with four hundred and seventy-two points, both the Gryffindor and Slytherin were tied.

On one hand, the Gryffindors burst into loud cheers, hugging and dancing with each other, and on the other, although Slytherin managed to continue its winning streak having to share the house cup with Gryffindor was worse than losing it to them.

* * * * *

Soon the last of the days went by, and it was already time for them to leave for their homes. Alex and Nicole were standing outside Kings Cross, waiting for a taxi along with Hermione and Daphne.

The three girls were chatting with each other, occasionally glancing at him. He was sure that they were talking about him, but he could not hear them from such a distance. He could use magic, but he was too lazy to care about what they talked about him.

Alex stopped a taxi, "Nicole, it's time to leave."

"Coming," Nicole said as she bid farewell to the girls.

But the two girls followed Nicole to the taxi. While Alex was arranging the luggage in the back Nicole sat in the taxi.

Placing the luggage, Alex was about to sit in the taxi, when the two girls walked up to him.

"See you again after summer, Alex," Daphne said.

"I will write to you, so you must reply, ok" Hermione instructed him.

"I will remember that," Alex nodded.

"Then this is your reward in advance", saying this both Hermione and Daphne tip-toped and kissed him on either of his cheeks.

* * * * *