Several years ago Harry Dresden was almost captured by the Order of the Blackened Denarius. Their leader Nicodemus had planned on torturing the true wizard until he had either joined them or was dead. Shiro, a Knight of the Cross, had volunteered to take his place instead, and just before his death he had entrusted his sword Fidelacchius to Dresden until a worthy successor could be found. When second Knight Michal Carpenter had been crippled by several gunshot wounds, his sword Amoracchius was also given to Dresden for safekeeping. Last year Karrin Murphy had finally agreed to take up Fidelacchius, but that still left the Knights of the Cross one short of their normal three members.
"Karrin you can't seriously think that this kid is the third Knight," Dresden complained when he saw Neville Longbottom. "He's tall, but the kid still looks like he is about fifteen years old."
"I made sure he was eighteen."
When Murphy saw Dresden's arched eyebrow she added: "It is a wedding reception and I'm a single woman in my thirties who has just been dumped. It is my constitutional right to do something stupid like hit on a cute teenager. Besides who are you to criticize me? I've seen the way you ogle your apprentice's perky breasts."
"True enough. Now why do think he is the One?"
"First of all he recently used a sword to kill an evil snake..."
"Wow, that's really impressive," Dresden commented.
"...while he was actually on fire," the slightly smashed Murphy hissed. "Plus he is a direct descendent of King Alfred the Great, so he fits your stupid "a Knight of the Cross must have royal blood" rule. How did you pull that one out of your ass anyway? Never mind. Neville is six-foot four, and unlike you Mr Scarecrow he has the upper body strength to yield a broadsword like Amoracchius in battle. Best of all he is English."
"Yes, you have to love that English accent. Very sexy."
"Harry Dresden, I am being serious!" Murphy snapped. "You told me yourself that Amoracchius was once known as Excalibur. The kid fits all your requirements, so just give him the sword and see if it starts to glow in the dark."
"Alright Karrin, let me be perfectly serious with you," Dresden told his dearest friend in the world. "Amoracchius was entrusted to me by one of God's Archangels. I can't just hand it over to some boy at a party because you happen to find him attractive."
That snide comment earned him a slap across the face. "Maybe you have forgotten, but thanks to the Black Council the world around us is going to hell in a handbasket. When you were entrusted with Fidelacchius after Shiro's death you held on to it for seven fucking years before I finally took it. Sanya and I need another Knight backing us up right now, and we can't wait another seven years for you to get up off your lazy ass and find the perfect candidate!"
Dresden rubbed his red check—despite her small size Murphy was quite strong. "That does this Neville think about the idea of becoming a Holy Warrior?"
"He turned me down flat. He wants to spend the rest of his life tending his greenhouses, not fighting the forces of evil," Murphy replied. "But the fact that he doesn't want Amoracchius is probably the very reason he should be the one to have it."
Dresden let out a deep breath. "Well Michel Carpenter is the most righteous man I have ever known, and his instincts about divine matters like this are always spot-on. He is here at the party, so let's get his opinion on this."
Despite his severe limp the pair found the former Knight of the Cross dancing with his youngest daughter Hope, and they quickly explained the situation to him.
"I know you hate it when I say this Harry, but God..."
"... works in mysterious ways," Dresden supplied.
"What were the chances that young Ivy should meet one of these strange wizards and fall in love with him? And that she would bring us all together here on this beautiful island?" Michal asked. "Personally I wish this Neville was a bit older, but Karrin is right that we are living in perilous times, and that a third Knight is desperately needed. You should also keep in mind that the ultimate decision is not yours, but rather God's. He alone will choose the next Knight—the one who shall yield the power of Amoracchius in His holy name."
Since the destruction of his Chicago apartment Dresden always carried both Amoracchius the Holy Sword with him when he traveled. So less than ten minutes later he was standing in front of Neville, offering him one of the most powerful magical weapons ever crafted. The kid didn't seem happy about it.
"I've already told Mrs Murphy that I am not a practicing Christian, and that I'm not interested in becoming an Auror or whatever it is you people call it. Maybe you should offer the sword to Harry. He is more of a hero that I will ever be."
"You're wrong Neville," the Boy-Who-Lived said quietly. "The way you protected the other students from the Death Eaters at Hogwarts last year, and standing up to Voldemort like that and killing his snake Nagini... you are a bloody hero. That's the truth."
"Listen to me," Murphy said. "Things are pretty bad out there in the real world, and soon they are going to get a lot worse. As a Knight you will be able fight back, and protect those who need to be protected. If you are half the man I think you are, you won't turn this offer down."
Being praised by an attractive woman was always a powerful motivator for a young man, but Neville still wasn't convinced. "Why are you so sure it's me?"
"We aren't sure at all," Dresden admitted as held out the broadsword. "Amoracchius will either accept you or it won't."
With a great deal of reluctance the Neville reached out for the hilt of the sword and pulled it free of its sheath. Since nightfall the only source of light on the beach had been several burning torches, but now they were eclipsed by the blinding radiance coming from the sword itself. Unfortunately before anyone could congratulate him, Neville fell to the sand holding Amoracchius with one hand and clutching his head with the other.
"Are you alright?" a concerned Murphy asked as she knelt beside him. "Nothing like that happened to me the first time I touched Fidelacchius."
"I just saw an image of a man look looked like Kingsley Shacklebolt, but he had hair instead of being bald," Neville told her. "Whoever he is, he was surrounded by these hideous Inferi."
"Does that mean anything to you people?" Dresden asked.
"Kingsley is a tall, muscular man of African descent, and an Inferi is a type of zombie," Hermione explained.
"He saw an image of Sanya. I often had similar experiences when my fellow Knights were in danger," Michel told them. "And the one creäture that I fought over the years that most resembles a zombie was a Black Court Vampire.
Dresden and Murphy shared an uneasy look. The Black Court Vampires were nearly identical to the monsters found in Bram Stoker's Dracula, and that wasn't by accident. The White Court Vampires had published the novel so that the mortals would know exactly how to kill their hated rivals. This plan had worked, and now there were only a handful of these classical vampires left on Earth. However these few survivors were very dangerous opponents, and Dresden nearly had his hand burn to a crisp while fighting against one of them back in Chicago.
"Give me a minute and I'll call Sanya," Murphy said.
"What do you mean, you'll call him?" Dresden asked.
"We brought a pair of Inmarsat satellite phones last year. You may be stuck in the Dark Ages technologically thanks to your magic, but for the rest of us it's the twenty-first century," Murphy explained as she walked over to her tiki hut.
After a short telephone conversation with her fellow Knight, she filled the others in on what was happening. "Sanya is in São Paulo, Brazil at the moment visiting an old girlfriend, and he thinks he spotted several vampires over the past few nights. He says they shouldn't be too much of a problem to deal with."
"He is wrong," Neville said with absolute certainty. "He will die if Mrs Murphy and I aren't there to help him."
"I'm coming too," Harry added as he glanced over at Ivy. "I got you into this mess, and I won't let you face it alone."
"Before you go anywhere we have a major problem," Bill Weasley said as he came running up to them with his wife Fleur. "We have searched everywhere, and Ron is no longer on the island."
"We saw him wandered off into the trees an hour ago with that beautiful woman with the long black hair, and now they have both vanished," Fleur explained.
"Oh shit," Dresden muttered. "I hate to ask you this, but is your little brother Ron still a virgin?"
"Yes, he is," Hermione said a bit too quickly. "Why is that important?"
"Lara Raith is White Court vampire like her brother Thomas. She feeds off human beings during sex, and she told me once that she finds young male virgins to be irresistible," Dresden explained.
The entire Weasley family had gathered around Bill to hear the news, and now they all started shouting at the same time.
"Silence!" Ivy roared while using some obscure spell to amplify her voice. "Ronald Weasley was my personal guest. Lara Raith knows that if she harms a single red hair on his head both her life and that of her extended family will be forfeit."
"You mean if the vampire hurts Ron you will kill her? And her whole family?" a curious Ginny asked.
"Yes, that is exactly what I meant," Ivy replied. "Thomas Raith, you will accompany the Carpenter family and me back to Chicago. Once there you will inform your sister that Ronald Weasley must be returned to the United Kingdom immediately."
"I will make sure she gets the message," Thomas assured the angry Weasleys.
"I hope so... for your sake," Ivy added ominously.
Neville decided to break the long silence that followed. "I really sorry about what happened to Ron, but we have to get to São Paulo before tomorrow night or that guy Sanya is going to die."
"I can get you there in less than an hour," Dresden told him before turning to his grandfather. "Sir, could you return to Edinburgh and see if the White Council could send us some reinforcements? If this crisis requires all three of the Knights it's going to get ugly."
"I will see what I can do Hoss," a sad Ebenezer promised. It was clear to the old wizard that his own grandson no longer trusted him.
"That is the warehouse where they have been hiding," Sanya told them an hour later as they all studied the huge structure from the roof of a nearby building. "I had planned on charging in there at dawn, but then I received Karrin's call and decided to wait for the cavalry. This isn't what I was expecting."
It was a very bizarre group which had traveled through Nevernever to São Paulo. Dresden and Murphy were great in fight, but it was obvious to the huge Russian Knight that young Neville barely knew how to hold his sword, and would be useless in any battle. Harry, George, and Charlie Weasley were clearly civilians who had no business going up against vampires. And as for Hermione and Kreacher: that pair was just plain disturbing even for a man who traveled the world destroying demons from Hell.
"That was your battle plan: to blindly charge in without conducting any reconnaissance beforehand?" Hermione asked.
Sanya threw back his head and let out a great belly laugh. "It looks like someone had been taking lessons from you Karrin. Why did you bring this little girl and her purple elf into a combat zone?"
"My name is Hermione Granger, not "little girl". And I am here because I am the new Winter Knight, and I have made an extensive study of military tactics to prepare for situations just like this."
Sanya genial mood suddenly vanished as he drew his sabre Esperacchius. "What the hell is going on Dresden? Why did you sacrifice this poor child's future when it is you who should be Queen Mab's slave?"
Murphy quickly stepped between the two larger men. "Sanya put that away. Both Mab and Leanansidhe are dead because the other Sidhe Queens staged a coup. Harry is no longer the Winter Knight, but he had no choice in the matter."
"The Mantle of the Winter Knight was ripped out of my chest by Odin himself," Dresden added. "If you have a problem with any of this you can take it up with Queen Maeve."
"Queen Maeve? That will not end well," Sanya muttered as he sheathed his sabre. "As for your question little Miss Napoleon: no I have not conducted any reconnaissance inside the warehouse itself, but I have been scouring the city for the past week. I am certain the Black Court Vampires are inside, and the only thing left to do now is storm their defenses and slaughter them."
"I have my Invisibility Cloak. I could take a look around inside before we begin our attack," Harry offered.
"Several of these creatures are true wizards as well as being vampires," Dresden pointed out. "If you went inside the warehouse they would sense you almost at once."
"Oh really?" Harry asked before putting on his Cloak and disappearing. "Where am I now?"
Dresden gathered his magic and then sent it flowing out in all directions, hoping to disrupt the boy's veil. Nothing happened. He then called on his Sight which allowed him to directly see magic and pierce any illusion. Still he found nothing. Finally something wet and slimy touched his left ear.
"Brilliant work Harry," George said as he started clapping. For the first time since Fred's death he was actually smiling. "A wet willy is a bit old-fashioned for my taste, but it's still a classic."
Harry removed his Cloak to take a well-earned bow. He then turned to Dresden. "If you had bothered to ask, I would have told you that not even Ivy can see through my Invisibility Cloak."
"That's impossible."
Harry rolled his eyes at the man's arrogance. "I will be back in a few minutes," he said before silently apparating. He reappeared down by the entrance to the warehouse for a second before putting his Cloak back on.
"How in the world did he just do that?" Murphy asked.
"It is called apparition. It is just like the transporter on Star Trek, expect we use our magic instead of any advanced technology," Hermione explained.
"Jesus Christ, Dresden! You and Kincaid were going on about how weak these wizards are, but they can travel like that without having to go through Nevernever," an amazed Murphy said.
"It would seem like a very valuable skill to have in any fight," Sanya added. "Maybe they are not as useless as I first thought."
"Give my a few minutes to create a ward, and they won't be apparating anywhere," Dresden whined as he continued to clean-out his wet ear.
Twenty nerve-racking minutes later Harry returned with bad news. "There are about forty or fifty vampires in there, but there are also two hundred armed muggles."
"So much for Sanya's plan of attack," Hermione said tartly. "Why would muggles coöperate with vampires? Are they under some kind of mental control?"
"We call them Renfields, and even enthralled they can still be very dangerous," Dresden explained. "Granger is an obnoxious twit, but she has a valid point. We need a new plan."
"We could burn the place down with Fiendfyre," George offered. "That would sure get rid of your little vampire infestation."
"No, it would just force them to scatter throughout the city," Sanya explained. "Of course that is going to happen anyway if we don't destroy them before the sun goes down."
"There is something else I noticed," Harry said. "Most of the vampires were... twitchy and looked like they were in pain for some reason. But about five of them looked different. They were perfectly still and ignored the others."
"That means we are dealing with at least five vampires who could easily be centuries old. The rest of them are probably newborns," Sanya reasoned. "But why would they risk coming together like this, and why would they create so many new vampires? The old ones hate taking unnecessary risks like this."
"When we destroyed the Red Court Vampires that left a huge political vacuüm here in South and Central America. I think the Blacks are going to try and make a grab for power," Dresden said.
"And with over twenty million muggles living in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area finding recruits for a new vampire army among the poor would be a simple matter," Hermione added. "I think our best option would be to follow the tactics Caesar employed at Alesia."
The plan was simple enough in theory: they would surround the warehouse and cut it off from the rest of São Paulo at the same time. Harry had met the Brazilian Minister of Magic over the summer, and when he visited Eduardo Tavares in Brasília that morning the Minister was more than happy to help the famous Boy-Who-Lived crush a nest of vampires in his largest city. A small army of local Aurors and Obliviators soon began casting Notice-Me-Not Charms on the streets leading up to the warehouse, and Memory Charms on any muggles who accidentally made it through the perimeter.
Once that was done Harry made contact with the local chapter of the Venatori Umbrorum, whose names and phone numbers Ivy had thoughtfully given him back on the island. The Venatori were ancient secret society of mortals which knew about the existence of the supernatural. They fought against threats like vampires, and took steps to keep the truth hidden from the public. Thanks to their allies in the Brazilian government and the press, a local blackout was put in place around the industrial neighborhood where the warehouse was located. They were also able to supply them with enough portable concrete barriers to encircle the building before sundown.
Finally Harry wrote a note which contained the details of the entire situation. As the Archive, Ivy knew about the note instantly. She quickly arranged for the Queen Titania to cut the area off from Nevernever, thus blocking that one last avenue of retreat for the vampires.
"Alright, we have them locked in. What's our next move?" Murphy asked as she held the glowing Fidelacchius at her side. Sanya and Neville were on the far side of the warehouse along with the majority of the Aurors.
"We burn the place down. When the vampires come out we hit them with even more fire spells. That plus the sunlight should be enough to finish them off," Dresden answered. "What exactly does this Fiendfyre you were talking about earlier do?"
Harry smiled as he drew the Elder Wand. When the Brazilian Aurors saw his huge flaming stag attacking the warehouse they began casting themselves. None of individual Aurors were as powerful as Harry, but there were nearly sixty of them. When the vampires started coming out into the open the wizards switched over to Reducto Curses. Hermione was also using a new spell which created ice cannonballs that ripped the burning vampires in half.
"You know for a bunch of primitives these so-called wizards are pretty useful to have around," Murphy commented as they watched the carnage come to an end. "We finished off these vampires in less than a day, and I didn't even have to chop anything in half."
"No, this is too easy," Dresden muttered. "We have been up against Black Court Vampires and their Renfields before. They should have put up more of a fight. Unless they were the worm on the end of the hook."
"That would make us the foolish fish. If your analogy is correct, then where is the fisherman?" Murphy asked jokingly.
Dresden again called on his Sight, and began studying the sprawling city around them. "He is right over there."