A Vampire Legacy

Chapter 3

Author's note: Damn! So many favourites and followers! And I'm honored that my story was added on four C2 communities! My in-box was flooded this morning when I logged in! I never imagined that it would happen! Thank you everyone for your support and also for the reviews. Oh, before I forgot, I will only answer reviews who are more than a little blurb, per example, ''Great chapter, update soon plz!'' will not be answered. Not because I'm snubbing everybody else, but because it's easier to answer and saying ''thank you'' again and again would get rather tiring. Don't forget to vote on the poll on my profile, it will help me decide which kind of person Albus Dumbledore will be in this story!

After a long and tense discussion, Harry's mind was reeling. After going back to the window before his meeting with the boss, he sat against the wall and pondered. Magic was real, that one he had doubts, and he was a wizard. That one he wasn't expecting. After some digging with her contacts in the Department of magical law enforcement, Sir Hellsing was able to tell him how his parents really died. The leader of a band of magical terrorists came knocking Halloween 31th 1981. He killed his father first, and then supposedly offers his mother a chance to live if she would get out of the way. Lily Potter nee Evans stood tall in front of him till her last breath, pleading for his life in exchange of her own. Her loving and willing sacrifice activated some sort of ancient magic that permitted him to live through a one hit sure kill spell, with the curse scar on his brow as the only mark. And it wasn't over, not by a long shot! You know this Alucard guy? He was the real Count Dracula, bonded in service to the Hellsing Family by obscures rituals after been defeated long ago by Abraham Van Hellsing, Integra's ancestor and his companions. And not only was he THE vampire, he was also Harry's ancestor through his mother's line and it was this blood connection which awakened vampire powers in him, making him a hybrid. A Day Walker in the vampiric jargon. One who possess all of their strengths, and they were many but with none of their weaknesses, the few recorded anyway. Alucard was special on his own way. He was able to tolerate the light of day but he was more a night walker by nature. That was how he wasn't reduced to fine ashes when he used his own abilities to stop him to leave.

It was really something. To learn the existence of other communities hidden in the cracks and shadows of the regular society, it was mind jarring. Not only was he a celebrity for something his mother did and not him in the wizarding community, like a magical Jesus, he was expected to attend a boarding school in Scotland from age eleven to age seventeen to learn how to wield his magic. In a medieval magical castle of all things! While he was intrigued enough to go take a look, he wasn't even remotely inclined to be a boarder. The staff would have to deal with the fact that he would be a day student, like it or not. Since he first managed to travel trough shadows at will, the wanderlust ignited in his soul. He liked been able to go see things on his own. Those vampire abilities made him mature beyond his years but not only that. The fact that he had to practically raise himself, learning from inverted example by looking at his relatives about what was the good, what was the evil, was something else entirely. He was neglected so much that he thought that his living conditions where what he expected to be the standard. He never understood all those little kids who got everything on a whim when he had to work hard to earn his food and his clothes. Even if the Dursley's where neglectful bastards, they had one redeeming feature. Vernon and Petunia had only one word and when they gave it, they kept it. If he did his work and they said they would buy him new shoes, if he kept his side of the bargain they would provide. If it wasn't pushed to the extreme and employed on a child as young as he is, it would have been a good way to learn responsibility.

Then the explanation about the Hellsing Organization came next. They were mandated by the Queen and the Parliament to keep under wrap on their side of the magical divide the existence of supernatural creatures, like vampires, werewolves, ghouls and other nasty critters. If a rogue/criminal vampire like the one he killed did what he did on Privet Drive, they were the first respondents. The zombies were in fact ghouls, people bitten by a vampire who weren't virgin. Only a virgin could be turned into a vampire and it was a rare thing. Vampires usually turned other people only for a mate or a companion of some kind. So that's how the kids around Privet Drive disappeared. The vamp was turning them or more likely, draining them dry. It explained why only the adults around Privet Drive where changed into ghouls. Now he had a decision to make. Four choices were offered to him and he had to make the decision. Choice number one, enter the child welfare system of Great Britain and lives in an orphanage in hope to get adopted or until he came of age at eighteen years old to be deemed ready to live on his own. Choice number two is in fact similar to the first one, but on the magical side of the divide. Sir Hellsing did advise him that going through the Ministry of Magic would be a dog and pony show. Those magical types were stuck in the Victorian Era where money and the old boy system were the official way to go most of the time with a few novelties from the twentieth century here and there. He would likely end up in the custody of supposed ex-supporters of the terrorist leader who murdered his parents. Option three was not really an official one but it was a possible one, he could make a run for it and live for a time on the streets and hope to not get picked by the police, social services or other criminals.

That option would be the most interesting to him if not for the caveat he was given. He could run for it, but the Hellsing Organization would track him down and put him down like a diseased animal if he took one toe out of line. He was a hybrid of human wizard and vampire. It was something that has never been seen before in all of Great Britain history. If he decided to feed on the blood of the civilians and cause too much chaos, she would order Alucard to track him down and to kill him. Not that he had a need to really drink blood. The liquid of life did give him a boost of energy and strength, but he could get that with normal food as easily. How that woman could say something like that with such resolution and calmness, he had no clue whatsoever. Then option four. He could accept to be a ward of Sir Hellsing and stay with her in the manor where Alucard and she could keep an eye on him and train him on the use of his powers so he could be an operative for the Organization when he came of age if so was his choice. Of course, living here with them would make him her responsibility. So she would take care of his every needs, be it clothes, food, a roof over his head, heck; even schooling! But in exchange, he would have to obey to the letter the commands given to him. That one was really smarting. Harry had been little more than a slave to his relatives' whims from his toddler's days till two years ago after his metamorphosis. Having to obey like a soldier every command that this statuesque woman would give wasn't appalling at all. Harry Potter was his own man, thank you very much. He didn't particularly care for his ancestor one way or another, since it was clear he would never be strong or fast enough to wipe that god damn smug grin off his face. Better give that dream as a bad job. Oh he had enough sense to be wary of his elder, that man was one of the oldest persons still roaming the face of the Earth.

You don't get to live so long without the skills to back it up. But he wouldn't let his blood ties with that Ancient One govern his life. If the guy, Alucard, weird name, wanted to bond with him over their shared blood relations, great. If not, well it was just too bad. Harry wouldn't miss any sleep over it. You wonder why he was so cynical and so mature for an eight years old kid? Try to live with three human beings in whom you have blood ties with two and one through marriage who are obsessed with normality and the standard model of British citizen to the point of reneging and disparaging anything and anyone which doesn't fit their views of British and Normal. In Dudley's case, it was more of the case of a child emulating his parents. Add to that a hefty dose of jealousy unresolved on the passed away younger sister of the lady of the house and being forced to take care of their obviously magical nephew on the says so of a letter left on the porch with the toddler from the headmaster of a school of magic and you have Harry's living conditions. Now, he really needs to make the decision concerning his future. If he could, he would like to travel on his own and come back here once in a while. But no, life is not like that. On this case there would be no middle ground, it was one choice or the other. Could he ask of Sir Hellsing to tone it down with the military approach? He wasn't a fan of barked orders; he had enough of that growing up, thank you very much! Letting go a long sight, he reviewed the choices again in his mind. He guessed he could always try living here for a while and if it didn't worked out; he could always get away when Alucard was out on an assignment or feeding on a vagrant or something. Getting up, he unconsciously began to pats his Bermuda shorts to get rid of the imaginary dust. It was time to go take the offer of the battle axe in her office. It couldn't be worse than his previous accommodations. A deep amused chuckle echoed into his mind and with fire in his voice he said out loud:

''Get out of my head old man! You're lucky to be as strong as you are or I would wipe that damn smug grin off your face! Go feed on a vagrant or something!''

His answer was an amused laugh followed by the feeling of Alucard's presence getting out of his sensing range. Grumbling about vampires old as dirt and smug battle axes with guns fetishes; he let his feet lead him to Integra's office. Little did he know that his decision to accept to become a ward of Integra had the same effect of throwing a rock into a lake. The ripples caused by the shock would garner changes too numerous to count. After this day and the next few years, everything changed. He wasn't expected to do an insane amount of chores. Integra asked of him to keep his room and bathroom clean. The servants would do anything else as it was their jobs. He was also expected to go to the nearest public school and obtain good grades. No more making sure to got worst grades than Dudley to obtain some breathing room! He didn't see Integra that often since she kept irregular hours. It's not like the creatures she must send her people to hunt kept regular hours after all. At first he really didn't know what to think of his elder. Vlad, most of the time, was not seeking him out other than the allotted time to help him with his powers or if he wanted to annoy him when Integra was busy with Lord stuff, though he didn't seems to mind that Harry was calling him by his human name rather than the one Arthur Hellsing, Integra's dad, may he rest in peace, gave him. Oh, they did have a few bonding moments, through pranks of all things.

The irony of it all was that his father was the prankster extraordinaire, not his studious and well behaved mother. How does Harry did came to knew that? Well, after the cleansing of Privet Drive was over, when #4 was sold, he had to go and recover any personal items that he wouldn't sell. In the attic of the house, he found his mother's school trunk and her copy of the family vault at Gringotts wizarding bank. In the trunk were her diaries and school books and her wand. In the family vault, he could only take books and other things but not the money before his coming of age, were his father's school trunk, his school journals, school books and his wand. It was in those journals that he learned or more likely remembered the Marauders. In those journals were his pranks with his school mates and it was to those that Alucard and Harry started to bond a little. They did have a good time of it though. The only cloud in all of this was that it seemed impossible to get to Walter! The guy was so sharp and was dodging everything that was threw at him as if he wasn't even trying! Even Vlad was making the long face to not be able to catch him off guard! His last stunt cost him a lot though. Grandpa Vlad (''Stop calling me that! '') roped him into breaking into Integra's quarters and stealing all her suits and replacing them with dresses. She hated dresses. A long skirt once in a while was okay, but a full on gala dress? Those things were reserved for when she couldn't avoid the balls or when she was visiting the Queen.

Vlad, the sneaky bastard, let him took the fall by stuffing her clothes in his closet and it cost him all his TV privileges (He got addicted to some series, he never got to watch TV before, sue him!) and he had to go with her to the next five high society events! The horror! He went to one once before to see what it was like and it was boring to death! It was a bigger torture than what Vlad was calling '' good training''! He could always ditch her when she would be accosted by a self serving, self important idiot but she was sneaky and would find a way to make him pay if he tried to escape his punishment. Now, to plot revenge against Grandpa Vlad...He was right in a way, it's impossible to wipe that smug grin off his face. Physically anyway, psychologically, it was another matter entirely. Harry managed to hijack the speakers system going into the basement and with his allowance money; he managed to buy a cassette with the tunes of this little kid's show named Care Bears. With Walter's help he made it play for hours. The butler was seemingly immune to all pranks in all forms, but with a proper speech and/or proper bribe, he was willing to help. Needless to say, Grandpa Vlad was cranky and horrified to have been forced to listen to that crap for hours! One of the best things that happened to him was the possibility to make friends. Without Dudley and his gang, you would think that Harry would have it easy and made a ton of friends by no. But no, his metamorphosis didn't leave evident physical changes except leaving his body in peak condition for his age, but mentally, that and his previous ''upbringing'' made him far more mature than his pears.

He did bond with a girl a little older than him who was a real genius, with the I.Q to prove it! Hermione Granger was also a witch. He got to this conclusion when he saw her unleash some accidental magic against a bully who tried to steal her books. That girl was a bibliophile, before he came into the pictures, books were her only friends. Oh, it took a while before she trusted him, like him she has been burned by false friendships before. But he did manage to break into her confidence. Explaining to her and her parents about what made her so different helped a lot. Letting them borrow his parents' school books let them really gain a foothold in this entire new situation. That friendship was with its load of benefits. Hermione helped him study correctly and to overcome his underachiever ways. On his part, he helped her have some fun and also realize that she needs to let other people answer the teachers' questions to give them a chance to excel. She shouldn't hog all the good praises. They didn't just study and hang out in school, when Harry was free of his responsibilities at home and Hermione wasn't doing family stuff, they hang out in the city, going to the movies, to the public library, going to the closest mall to window shopping. Even if Harry made Hermione and her family aware of magic, he didn't make them aware of his nature or what exactly the Hellsing Organization was doing.

For the secrecy around the Organization, it wasn't personal; it was only the Modus Operandi. Only those who need to know are made aware, similar to the International Statute of Secrecy. For his own nature, Harry was searching for the right moment, because every time he tried to explain to Hermione, something or someone would disrupt them. Come September, they will begin their first year at Hogwarts, maybe then he would be able to explain his hybrid nature. She wouldn't care, he was sure. Heck, she might try to convince him to abuse his shadow travel ability to make midnight runs at the library or for going home the weekends. This one would need to stay under wraps though. Harry wasn't feeling generous enough to teleport all around the country like the infamous Knight Bus.