I OWN NOTHING, except from the character of Xenophon

The second part of the story of Xenophon, a vampire, and his involvement in the story of Harry Potter, from his time at Hogwarts through the two uprisings of Voldemort, and his life.

Look at my profile for the first part.

Thanks!

It had to be here.

For too long now Albus had been searching for answers. Ever since Tom's sudden application at the school everything had seemed as if it was falling into disaster. After the unexplained disappearance of Xenophon, things had begun to get stranger and stranger. First, Tom had become Head Boy, despite the question over his aptitude for learning, secondly he had applied for Merrythought's position and lastly Grindelwald had rudely re-entered into Albus' life, dangerous to the point where he had to be killed. It all seemed to trace back to the Black Forest, the place where Avery had eventually confessed to being the place where the four boys had spent their Christmas holiday. The place where Xenophon was last seen.

Any sign, Albus begged the forest, give me any sign, a finger bone, a proudly worn Slytherin pin, anything.

But the forest was big, and with little to go on but the mutterings about a river before Avery had run away with fear, Albus could be in here all summer. So far he had traced the banks of three river lengths, with only a few sightings of unicorns, and now, on his fourth, he was getting thoroughly tired.

Albus slipped a hand into his robes and pulled out the wand he still didn't care to use. Long and dark brown, it had the amateurish appearance of an ordinary twig, but in truth it was far more than that. Arguably the most powerful wand on the planet, the Elder Wand was indecipherable; Albus doubted that even Ollivander could tell what was within it. There was something about it that made Albus wary; though he did not like to admit it, he was afraid of the power it wielded.

Despite these things now seemed the best time to use it. Using a finding charm and calling out the name of Xenophon Albus waited as the wand leapt into a life of its own. With a shower of gold sparks it flicked its way downstream. The Headmaster of Hogwarts sighed. At least it could be reliable. He followed its path, holding out a stream of light as he walked further into the depths of the trees.

A mile or so down the path the wand twisted northwards, then pulled a little farther left, cut back on itself, spun in a tight circle, then altogether gave up and fell quiet. Albus looked down at it, confused. He spoke the words again, but the wand only shivered.

"Useless thing," he cursed, and dug around for his old one.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," spoke an eerie, soft voice behind him. Albus spun around, wand out, and found himself facing with a vampire, who leant against a tree, arms crossed.

"Merlin's owl!" he cried, pointing his (old) wand at the vampire's heart.

The pale, gaunt creature smiled. "Indeed, Archimedes I believe he was called, though quite why I am unsure."

"You killed him, didn't you?"

The vampire's grin widened. "I have killed a great many people in my lifetime, wizard, and rarely do I remember the name of them."

"Eleven years ago, Xenophon Flint."

As soon as the words had been spoken the vampire stopped smiling. His body fell from its non-chalant, lacklustre pose and his red eyes widened.

"Xenophon Flint?" he said slowly, now completely ignoring the wand and its dangers.

Albus nodded. Obviously the vampire knew something. His chest rose and fell as he thought, eyes flickering from Albus' face to the ground, to nowhere in particular as he tried to decide what to do.

"Xenophon Flint," he whispered.

"You recognise the name," Albus said in a quiet voice.

The vampire said nothing, he did not even shrug. He tried to look for a way out, the muscles in his eyes working wildly overtime.

"Do you know where he is?" Albus hoped that at least the vampire could show him Xenophon's grave. It might not give him any information, but at least it could give him answers, not to mention peace of mind.

There was a longer pause this time, as the vampire became more and more nervous. He seemed to know the wand was there now, and his eyes locked onto it like eagle's eyes. They still moved around though, the ground, the trees, over Albus' shoulder. Then quite suddenly they stopped. They peered over at something far away, in the distance behind Albus, somewhere beyond. They stared, drawing in the sight and a slow smile began to appear on the vampire's face.

"Bodies are left to rot around here," he said, "I could not be sure. But if you really want to know it might be best to travel a few hundred miles upstream the way you came. If you go there you may find something more of interest than a couple of old, muggy vampires."

"Did you just say a couple?" Albus gasped as the vampire's grin became a chuckle. The eyes grew huge as Albus turned to meet as a solid fist came into contact with the side of his skull, complete with a second pair of gleaming red irises.

"Fool of a wizard," the first vampire grinned, and he leapt forwards.

Albus was lifted high off his feet with the force of the punch. His muscles screamed as his spine bent backwards and his wand was thrown right out of his hand. The second vampire's leap ended, but not onto Albus himself. He landed on his feet a metre away, and with a defined crack snapped his wand clean in half where it had come to rest.

"Seriously foolish," he chuckled, and looked over to where the fist had come from. "Want first bite?"

"Be my guest," the second vampire answered, in a voice Albus swore he had heard before.