Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters you recognize; they belong to Ms. J.K. Rowling. I DO claim the plot line and any of the unique characters you will see in here.
Beta: Winter Moonglade
The Bloodshed After The War
Previously:
"Good evening," he replied and watched the Head Girl leave his office with no memory of her suspicions on Harry's true nature.
Chapter Seven: Blood Shields
Warrant For Wizarding Vampire Arrest
Special Correspondent: Vibridus Slane
Known vampire safe houses have mysteriously vanished. Groups of Hunters and Aurors who had been monitoring these safe houses say that, "they literally just disappeared one day." It was suspected that they used a Fidelius Charm to hide their houses. However, there is no sign of any human magic being used in the area. Extensive Ministry investigations have been carried out and they can guarantee that there is no signature suggesting that there is any human magic concealing them. This means that they are using some heretofore unknown form of magic that is specific to vampires. If this is the case, then it is likely that the Wizarding Vampires are the ones that invented these wards and are preventing justice from being carried out.
If you know of any Wizarding Vampire or someone that is related to one, you are asked to report them to the Department of Vampire Control for questioning on these new wards. The Minister of Magic assures us that "We will not rest until we know exactly what this magic is and how to circumvent these wards and we are determined to find the solution. We do not want another drawn out war. If you have any information that could prove useful to us, we urge you to come forward and help keep this war from unnecessary bloodshed."
Harry had a strong desire to beat his head against the nearest wall. He was thrilled that the safe houses were now all under blood wards; however, this new search for Wizarding Vampires was going to put him and anyone who was related to a vampire in a difficult situation. He could not imagine how this would affect the people who were merely related to a vampire but were still human. Before this recent law, they had the ability to remain neutral, just like the rest of the Wizarding population. This would put them at risk and they would have to decide where to stand: with their family or with their government, society and friends.
"I can't believe this! Hunting them was difficult enough as it was, this is going to be nearly impossible now that we have no way to pin point the areas where they are based. Mad Eye has said that we're going to start learning how to detect Wizarding Vampires now that it's so important. After all, if you can't identify your enemy, you have no way to fight them."
Harry numbly recognized this as one of the most intelligent comments to ever come out of Ron's mouth. It was nearly the end of the week. He had two more days and it would be Friday again. Since the curriculum had returned to normal, everything had nearly reverted to how it was before the war began. There was still the odd case of anti-vampire spells being shot in the halls; but most of the time, it was only the six Hunters who were keeping the school from returning to complete normalcy.
The Headmaster had told him about the fiasco with Hermione and what he had done to rectify it. It was one of the times he was happy that the man was slightly manipulative. It usually was a cause for headaches and flared tempers. But apparently, the Headmaster felt that he owed Harry for sixteen years of torment at the hands of his abusive relatives and his forced position as the figurehead for the Light. Harry had no qualms with accepting this method of repayment. If it kept him alive and relatively unscathed, he was willing to go to any lengths to assure that. It was this quality that nearly got him into Slytherin; however it was his determination to confront these problems head on and never give up, even in the face of insurmountable odds that allowed him to convince the hat to put him into Gryffindor.
He still caught Hermione looking at him oddly on the occasion, but that was probably because it was impossible to get rid of all of her suspicions. It was enough that she had no solid proof anymore. He was constantly on guard around her and made sure to make a production of eating at meals. It made him sick afterwards, but it was worth it to keep her from putting two and two together … again.
He had found the piece of gum that she had stuck to the underside of Ron's desk. He had to admit that it was a very clever – and disgusting – way to spy on the dormitory. No one would suspect one of the many pieces of gum under Ron's desk; he was always sticking them there instead of getting up and walking to the nearest trashcan. Harry was convinced that the house elves had given up on ever being rid of them and just decided to wait until he graduated to remove them all.
Harry was still moderately impressed with himself. Moody had taken him aside the other day to have a private conversation about constant vigilance and the necessity of being aware of his surroundings at all times. It appeared as if the old Auror was still looking out for his welfare and was concerned about the vampires trying to kidnap him and use him for leverage against the Ministry. Harry nearly scoffed at the idea. It would have been plausible, if he had been human. He barely managed to convince him that he did not need an Auror guard and that he was more than capable of defending himself. However, he did promise not to leave the castle or grounds for any reason without informing someone form the Order.
Friday at breakfast was when the game was finally over. Harry could no longer pretend that this war was going to wait for him to graduate, no matter how much he wanted it to.
The doors to the Great Hall banged open. All of the staff and Seventh Years were on their feet before they even recognized who it was that had just interrupted their breakfasts.
Dumbledore was the first to come to his sense. "Ah, Minister, what can we do for you this morning?"
The Minister of Magic strolled into the Great Hall followed on either side by a contingency of Aurors and Hunters. The Auror uniform was a dashing red, the insignias standing out in proud embroidery on their chests. The robes were made of the best dragon hide to protect them from unfriendly spells, yet still allow for maximum maneuverability. The Hunters were instead wearing black. Their uniforms were obviously designed for camouflage amongst the muggles and the night. They were not clearly of Wizarding origin, however the observant individual would realize that they were interwoven with enchanted thread that protected them from the most common spells. It was clear that they were not as concerned about magical attack as the Aurors were; instead, their focus was on a physical and vicious attack that characterized the Traditional Vampire.
"We need to question the students of Hogwarts, Headmaster. We will be singling out anyone of vampiric descent to take to the Ministry to see if they have any knowledge about these new wards."
Dumbledore hesitated momentarily before nodding his head. He knew that he could not deny the Ministry their request and could only hope that those students that knew they had vampire blood in them would take pains to leave and spare themselves from the Law Enforcement's techniques.
"Good, we'll be setting up the blood tests in the Hospital Wing. We'll begin with the Seventh Year Hufflepuffs right after lunch then." With that, the Ministry personnel turned and left the Great Hall in deafening silence.
Severus Snape was not in a good mood. A Sixth Year Hufflepuff had already been forcibly dragged from the school by a pair of Aurors. According to her, she was completely unaware that her six-times great grandmother had been a vampire. Considering that no other vampires had been born in her line, it was entirely possible that she was ignorant of that detail. However, the Ministry refused to believe her and had yet to return her to school, that was three hours ago.
He refused to sit idly by and let the same thing happen to his Slytherins. He was fairly certain that Dumbledore's good name only went so far and would only protect him while he was still the Potion's Professor. The moment he decided to operate his own apothecary or potions shop, he was bound to be arrested for being a Dark Wizard and having been a Death Eater, no matter how long ago it had been.
The portrait door slid open as it recognized his presence. He needed no password. The Common Room fell into a tense silence, waiting to hear what had brought him into the Snake Pit. Everyone was locked into their Common Rooms until every single student had been examined. Because it was still early, only one or two students were in their dorm rooms. He waited patiently for the stragglers to exit their rooms and present themselves in front of him.
"Already, one student has been taken from this school due to one of her ancestors many generations ago being a vampire. She was unaware of this fact. She has yet to return and that was several hours ago. No is not the time for pride, leave that to the Gryffindors. If any of you are aware of having vampire ancestry, I urge you to come forward now. Slytherins protect their own. I refuse to have one of my students harmed because of something that is not their fault."
He scanned the gathering of students several times and was about to give up when a small First Year came forward. He was one of the shorter members of his year, but seemed ready for a growth spurt at any moment. His hair was a light brown that hung about his ears and into his soft, expressive eyes.
"Um … sir?"
"Yes, Mr. Paudski?" Snape raised one graceful eyebrow as the young boy stepped closer to him.
"Sir, my mother is a Non-Wizarding Vampire." The boy was clearly terrified. He was uncertain if this was an intelligent move, but he knew that he would not get any sympathy from the Ministry of Magic. There was no way for him to claim total ignorance.
"I see." Snape paused in thought. He had been hoping that he would not be put in this situation, but realized that his luck was on par with the Golden Boy of Gryffindor's on most occasions. "Is there anyone else?"
Seeing that no one else was coming forward, he nodded. "Very well. If you would follow me Mr. Paudski." Severus turned and quickly left the Common Room through the portrait door that he had entered merely minutes before.
It was a silent pair that wandered through the hallways in the late afternoon. The man was lost in thought and was silently praying that if he was found out for aiding and abetting the escape of this child that Dumbledore would still be able to spare him. The child was a nervous wreck. If his mother had not been a vampire, he would have been a true muggleborn. He was completely human. The vampiric traits did not show up in him. He was aware that he ha at least one more magical growth spurt to go and that he could turn at any time, but from what he understood, that was unlikely. However, if he married a witch and had children with her, the odds that the child would be a Wizarding Vampire increased nearly exponentially.
It was this silent and thoughtful pair that met a very disturbing scene in the Headmaster's Office fifteen minutes after leaving the sanctuary of the dungeons.
Severus would have made a caustic and inappropriate remark if it had not been for the severity of the situation. There, in front of him, kicking his trunk was the Boy-Who-Lived. Snape was not surprised to see him having another of his famous temper tantrums. However, he was not prepared to see a fully vampiric Harry Potter growling and snarling while taking kick after vicious kick out on his already dented trunk.
A calm and measure voice came from behind the ruckus, "Severus, Matthas, what can I do for the two of you?"
A/N: So yes, I have been preparing for this scene for a while. In fact, it was one of the first scenes I envisioned. So the fact that I managed to write six other chapters before this one is rather impressive. There is quite a bit more to the story to go still. Have no fear.
