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Gale Cleven is a death eater. He was forced to become one because of his father when he was just 14. Gale is tasked to do many things because we was at Hogwarts. Hist father told him that if he tried to turn against them than he would unalive him. Gale lives his life in fear because he is essentially owned by the dark lord. When he graduates from Hogwarts he is already one of Voldemort’s favorites.
John Egan is a auror. John’s dream was to become an auror with his best friend Gale Cleven but when Gale started ignoring him he become one by himself. John is one of the greatest aurors the wizarding world has ever seen.
John is sent to track down and bring in a death eater by that name if Gale Cleven. When John hears this he is mortified and angry that his former best friend became a death eater. After months of looking, John finds Gale in a mess. He is white as a ghost, littered in bruises and cuts, and flinching at everything. John, feeling sympathetic, takes Gale back to his place and tries to take care of him. The next day Gale fully recognizes John and spills everything about him ignoring John. John who is now putting is past with Gale together just lets Gale ramble until he hears how horrific being Voldemort's favorite is and how he got the bruises and scars.
John never turns Gale in to the ministry of magic. Instead they run away together. John slowly heals Gale’s mental state and just when it was getting good for them, Aurors found them and took Gale away. Only one week in captivity Gale starts to spiral, John is begging his superiors to let him go and that he is a good person. John gets told no and that Gale is a death eater and cannot be trusted. Weeks later, with no other choice, John talks to Dumbledore. Albus listens to John and agrees to let Gale go. When John sees Gale again he has to hold back tears because of how much Gale has spiraled. John is told that Gale’s mark got darker with each passing day. Gale got so out of control that he broke the glass and c*t his dark mark straight down the middle.
John gets to go in Gale’s cell and Gale clings to him and starts crying and apologizing for everything. John tells him not to apologize and that he did nothing wrong. Gale becomes a spy for the rest of the Wizarding war and after the war John and Gale become professors at Hogwarts.