The next day, London, England

Marco enters the leaky cauldron, Caroline clinging to his coat and hiding behind him. It seems that all the patrons look up at their entrance, most with a healthy amount of fear in their eyes. Apparently, the majority of adult witches and wizards know a vampire when they see one. Luckily, there are less than ten people in the whole place. Good, Marco thinks, that means less gossip.

"Lord C-Casper?" A man stutters from the shadows. All eyes turn to the man in black robes with a purple turban.

"Ah, Professor Quirrell!" Marco says to him, walking forward, pulling Caroline along as she refuses to release his coat. "Great to see you again, old friend." He says as he pats the man's arm, which causes him to cringe with barely concealed fear. Marco completely ignores his discomfort. "Please, how many times must I ask, call me Marco."

"Y-yes, of course." He replies with a nervous laugh, looking at Caroline in confusion. "F-forgive me, but whatever are you doing here?"

"Oh, yes, I moved to London about…six months ago?" He looks at his daughter for confirmation.

"Yes, in January. We went to Buckingham for my birthday." She replies, her eyes never leaving Quirrell.

This exchange does nothing but puzzle Quirrell, and the rest of the bar listening in, even more.

"Yes, I had heard that." Quirrell rambles, "I m-meant what are you d-doing here, in the C-Cauldron."

"Oh! I see." Marco replies, "Yes, well we are on our way to Diagon Alley. You see, I'm taking my daughter school shopping."

The bar is collectively shocked. Any patrons who had been taking a drink at the moment promptly spat it out in surprise. Many gasped in disbelief. Marco completely ignored them, for it was the reaction he had expected. Caroline looked around the room, taking in all the people gazing at her in confusion.

"Daughter!" Quirrell sputters, "Well I can tell that she is not a vampire." Now how could he know that, Caroline wonders, turning her attention back to the conversation. "Is she half muggle?"

"Muggle?" Caroline asks, not liking how the words tastes. It does not have a pleasant sound to it.

"Human." His father clarifies. "More specifically, non-magical humans. And no, Caroline's mother was a witch." Marco says, turning back to the Professor. Quirrell had suffered enough shock by this point, now he looked on the verge of fainting. "Well, I suppose that we should be off now. Caroline has a busy day ahead of her."

"Father, does this Diagon Alley sell the blood flavored lollipops?" Caroline asks sweetly.

"I believe that Sugarplum's sells them. Let's go find out."

And with that the pair strode through the pub and out the back door.

"How did that man know you daddy?" Caroline asks once they are outside in the alley behind the Cauldron.

"Quirrell is a professor at Hogwarts, and studies the dark arts. He has …interviewed me before." A look of suspicion crosses Marco's face. "But he seems…different." He kneels down to look into his daughter's dark blue eyes. "I want you to stay away from him as much as you can while you're at school, okay?"

"Okay." Caroline answers without hesitation. "I didn't like him anyways."

Marco chuckles, and Caroline asks, "Why was he dressed so strangely?"

"You mean the turban? I'm not sure."

"No, not just that. His clothes were all funny too."

"Those were wizard robes, that's how wizards and witches dress."

"No one else in there was wearing them."

"No, they were dressed normally, in what they call "muggle" clothes. It's so they can blend in with the rest of the humans as they move about London." Marco explains.

"So many customs to learn." Caroline huffs.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," Her father reminds her softly.

"I want to." Caroline says firmly, remembering the day before when her father had explained the strange letter and what it meant.


The day before, London, England

Caroline impatiently plopped down on the cream colored, overstuffed sofa in front of her father's desk. He waited for her to say something, but she just stared at him with big, blue eyes.

Sighing, Marco began to speak. "Hogwarts is a school for mortals that can use magic."

"Yes, I gathered that much from the letter." Caroline said sassily.

Marco continued, "Your grandfather Northbrook attended Hogwarts." Pause. "As did your mother."

"My mother?" Caroline murmured. Her eyes began to darken and turn violet, which only happened when she was very emotional. They never spoke of her mother. Caroline had known her mother was a witch, as were her parents, but she had never heard of Hogwarts.

Marco nodded, looking at his desk. Wanting to change the subject, Caroline asked, "What about mamie?"

"Mamie went to Beauxbatons. It's a school similar to Hogwarts for witches in France." Marco replied, smiling sadly. He knew his daughter was changing the subject. He also knew that it was time to address the elephant in the room.

"Hogwarts sends these letters to all witches and wizards in the United Kingdom." Caroline's eyes lit up at this.

"So, because I can do magic, I'm a witch?" Caroline inquired. "But I'm only half-mortal. How does this work?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. This is entirely unprecedented. But Albus Dumbledore is a very intelligent man. I'm sure he knows what he is doing." Marco said this with a confidence, and he rarely had confidence anyone. This Dumbledore must be very worthy, Caroline thought. "But you don't have to go, Caroline."

"But I want to!" Caroline squeaked immediately, a little too loudly. Especially since she was speaking to a vampire that could hear the heartbeats of people out on the streets.

"Caroline, you'll be completely surrounded by mortals. Strangers. It is going to be a very big transition.'

"I can handle it. I want to go." She wanted to learn magic, to become powerful. She wanted to experience this new world. And secretly, she wanted to learn more about her mother.

"Well then." Marco sighed. "There is much to be done."

A/N: First, thanks to the Harry Potter wikis on Vampires. Second, I need a beta, message me if you're interested! Draco and Luna will appear in the next chapter