The Power Known Not
Chapter Eleven
The door opened and Claudia poked her head out. "Neville!" she exclaimed, "so nice to have you here," she said, pulling him into the room.
"Harry, since it appears that Neville already knows who you are, why don't you go and find Nolan, and see what he can rustle up for them." Claudia said. "Possibly something near here, but not too close, because we can't have Neville interrupting your studies."
"Of course." Harry replied. "Any specifics that Alice has mentioned?"
"No, but I used to remember that she loved the big bright windows." Claudia said. "See what you can do with that, I think you've got the house-hold charms down?"
"Of course I do. I'll see what can be done, but I'll leave most of it up to Alice. Do you have their wands?" Harry asked.
"Of course, they were delivered by an interesting woman, she said they had been sitting up in an attic for years, some muggle found them." Claudia said. "Now you, go! Before I have to send Jason with you!"
"I'm going!" Harry said. "No need to torture me into going." He grinned, making a hasty exit, before he found himself drenched with something unpleasant.
-0-
"What do you mean, they're gone!" Agnes Longbottom roared at the healer. She was, after all, quite a formidable woman.
"Madam Longbottom, please do calm down, we are positive that they will turn up." The healer began weakly.
"Turn up? You lost my son and daughter-in-law, and my Grandson. All within moments of each other. The last thing he told me was that he was going to visit his parents. And now he doesn't come home. This was the last place he was." She trailed off weakly.
"There, there, Madam Longbottom, I'm sure that all three of them are fine." The Healer patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"I don't need your comfort." She said, standing. "I'll find them myself." She said over her shoulder, as she left the room.
"Oh dear." The healer murmured. She had to have drawn the short straw.
-0-
"This is just lovely." Alice breathed, gazing around the room. "Are you sure that its okay that we stay here for a while?"
"Of course it is." Jason said. "It's more of a community ran thing, where we all pitch in and help where we can."
"Well, that certainly changes things." Alice said, moving a chair and a table to a corner. "And Harry is here, is he going to be here during the school year, or return to Hogwarts?"
"Harry will likely be returning to Hogwarts, but it is possible that he will remain here. Claudia and I are instructing him."
"Do you think that you could give Neville some pointers?" Frank asked, coming in from the balcony that was standard with most of the rooms.
"You would not mind him learning with vampires?" Jason asked.
"I do mind, but he will be learning with Harry. And he's not a vampire." Frank said firmly.
Jason coughed. "Well, about that…"
After a few long drawn out explanations about certain muggles, abuse and Harry, Frank had a few different thoughts concerning the vampires.
"You see, we were taught that you were naught but blood thirsty murderers. And then back in the seventies there were all those killings." Frank said.
"Those killings were done by a pair of vampires who rejected our ways and eventually went insane. They have been since dealt with." Jason said, a cold look in his eyes.
"Well, then. What do you say about just teaching my Neville a bit? I'll be doing some work with him too, and we have a lot of catching up to do." Alice said.
"That is fine." Jason said, sealing the agreement with a handshake.
"Only one condition. Dumbledore does not find out where you are, or where Harry is."
"That is agreeable." Alice said, and shook Jason's hand again.
-0-
Harry was watching the clock nervously. It was nearly time for Lucy to come up, and it was only him and Neville. There was a knock on the door and Harry cursed before opening the door.
"What? Not happy to hear me?" Lucy asked grinning at Harry.
"No, quite happy." Harry said. "Just that Jason and Claudia aren't here."
"Well I'm sure that you'll do fine on your own, and I am quite capable of taking care of myself." Lucy said, sitting down with her three girls trailing behind her. "And as for the children, it won't hurt them to watch."
"It's not that." Harry said. "It's that one of my friends and his family has unexpectedly shown up, and he's still here."
"And he doesn't know, and you don't want him to walk in on us?" Lucy finished with a small smile on her face.
"Yes. That'd be it." Harry said. "He's in my room, he was sleeping earlier, but he'll be waking up soon."
"Well then, he can just do some baby-sitting." Lucy said, "Why don't you go and take the girls in."
"Okay then." Harry sighed. "C'mon then." He beckoned to the girls.
"I'm Jennifer." The smallest one said, stepping forward, her black curls falling out of their tie.
"And I'm Harry." He said, opening the door to his room, after knocking.
"Harry?" Neville asked, sitting up in Harry's bed.
"Good, you're up. I'm sorry, but you've been drafted for baby-sitting service. Do you mind?"
"Who'm I baby-sitting?" Neville asked amid a yawn.
"Just three of Lucy's girls. They're sweet, really." Harry said, beckoning to them. Jennifer came in, followed by Rachel and Lacy.
"Hi." Jennifer said.
"Jason usually watches them, but he's not around, and I have something that I have to do. You don't mind watching them, do you?"
"No, not at all." Neville said.
"There's a bathroom through there," Harry pointed at a door, and I have some food stashed in the third drawer of the desk, and in a box under the bed there's some toys that they might like."
"Okay." Neville said, looking surprised as Lacy dived under the bed and pulled out a big box.
"Have fun." Harry said before closing the doors.
"Is he going to watch them?" Lucy asked.
"Yes. How are you today?"
"I'm quite fine." Lucy said. "Do you want to get this done now, just in case Neville decides to come out here?"
"Now sounds good." Harry said.
-0-
"Please Neville!" Jennifer begged. "Can we just go outside for only a minute?"
"Yeah, please? We won't run away."
"And we promise to be good." Lacy chimed in.
"No. Harry said to stay in here." Neville said, picking up a set of doll clothes. "Want to play dress-up with your dolls?"
"NO! We wanna go outside, and Harry didn't really say anything about not going outside." Jennifer said, glaring at Neville.
"Fine! I'll go and check." Neville said.
He got up and opened the door, stepping out, and stopped immediately.
Lucy looked up and saw Neville. Then she looked up at the ceiling and muttered some curses.
"Harry." She said softly. "Harry, you'll never guess who just came out of your rooms."
Harry choked on some of the blood, and looked up, a finger covering the wound in Lucy's arm.
"Erm… Harry. The girls wanted to know if they could go outside." Neville said, looking anywhere but at Harry and Lucy.
"I'm not their mother." Harry said, nudging Lucy.
"No. I'll be finished in a moment." She said.
"Okay then." Neville said disappearing back into Harry's room.
"This is just great." Harry said.
"Of course it is, now you don't have to tell him, he already knows." Lucy said brightly. "Now could you heal this?"
"Of course." Harry said, and did as she asked.
"I can leave now if you want." Lucy began.
"No! You just had blood taken, good blood I may add, but you need to sit for at least another half hour." Harry said.
"Fine." Lucy replied. "Why don't you go and explain to Neville."
"Sure, I'll send your kids out here, along with a board game or something."
"Okay then." Lucy said.
-0-
"Your mum wants you guys out in the main room. Why don't you take a game out there to play with her?" Harry suggested.
Jennifer nodded, and took a favorite game from the box and went out into the main room.
"I suppose you want to know what I was doing?" Harry asked, putting the toys away the muggle way.
Neville nodded, not sure what to say.
"Well, I don't know if you knew this, but the House is a community of vampires, and mortals. The mortals live here, some giving blood to the vampires, and some because their parents lived here. Vampires live here because it is safe, and they have a secure source of blood. We all do some sort of work, I'm supposed to make sure that a section of the library stays clean.
"About a week after summer term began, I was, to put it lightly, just about beaten to death. Claudia and Jason were out hunting in the area, they hadn't been to the house for around fifty years or so, and they sensed a dying person in pain, and it would be a mercy to the person.
"Vampires don't usually kill, the just take a small amount of blood. Well, they found me, and Jason was going to feed on me, but somehow, they haven't been very clear on details, I ended up being turned, and now I'm Jason's blood-son."
"Blood-son?" Neville asked.
"Because when one vampire turns another, the vampire takes most of the human's blood and give the human their blood in return. I still have my blood, but it is very little, most of my blood comes from Jason, and if I have children, they would be Jason's grandparents, and James' and Lily's as well."
"Oh." Neville said. "So you're a vampire?" he said, a gleam in his eyes.
"Yes, and Lucy was teaching me how to take blood and not take too much, and make it not hurt for the donor."
"Why?" Neville asked.
"Because we don't want to hurt whomever we take blood from." Harry said.
"That makes sense." Neville said. "What are you going to do when you're at school?"
"There's a shop in Knockturn Alley that sells blood, I'll just have to buy some from there."
"That makes sense." Neville replied head cocked to the side.
"I suppose that you're a little on the hungry side. Do you want some breakfast?" Harry asked.
"Sure." Neville replied, following Harry out of the room. "As long as it's not blood." He joked.
"It won't be. but, I won't be feeding on you at all." Harry told Neville.
"Okay." Neville said nodding. "That's nice to know."
"I thought that you'd like to know that." Harry replied. "Do you want waffles or hot cakes?"
-0-
"The Longbottoms are missing from St. Mungoes, Severus. Have you heard anything from Voldemort about them?" Dumbledore asked.
"No I haven't." Snape replied, icily.
"Oh well, I suppose we shall have to start a search for them. I haven't the faintest idea of where they could have gotten to." Dumbledore said.
"I haven't either." Snape replied.
"By the way, there haven't been any applications for the Defense post, would you mind taking it this year?"
"Albus, I've said many times before, I am quite happy teaching potions." Severus said.
"Fine, then, after all there has been that rumor going around that you've been trying to get the post for the past decade." Blue eyes twinkled as Albus said that.
"You know very well that you started that rumor." Severus growled. "Now, I must be going."
Snape strode away from the fireplace and went to his quarters, packing a small bag. If Dumbledore was that desperate to offer him the Defense post, then he might as well find someone to fill it.
-0-
"I assure you, that I do not intend any harm to Claudia or anyone under her care." Severus said to the gatekeeper.
"Fine then. You may pass." Nolan said, pushing the gate to the House open.
"Thank you." Severus said, and strode up the pathway towards the house. Half an hour later, and three wrong corridors, and one wrong floor, Severus stood infront of Claudia's door. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.
-0-
Claudia frowned. "Who do you think that could be?"
"I don't know." Harry replied, looking at the chess board.
Jason stuck his tongue out. "I'm going to win."
"Jason, you're over two centuries old, act like it." Claudia said, going to the door.
"You want me to act dead?" Jason asked.
"No, act like an adult." Claudia said, opening the door. "Severus! What a surprise!" She exclaimed.
"Snape?" Harry yelped, as Neville squeaked.
Snape's eye's narrowed and he poked his head around the door.
"Well, Claudia, what are you doing? Kidnapping the Gryffindor fifth year boys one by one? You have quite a collection started."
"No, sadly I'm not. Neville is staying here while his parents are getting their rooms together, and Harry is just here." Claudia said brightly. "Why don't you sit down?"
"As much as I'd like to join the party, I'm delivering a message." Severus said.
"And that is?" Claudia asked.
"That Dumbledore is unable to find a Defense teacher, and I'd rather not find myself being watched by another ministry official."
"You wish for me to apply for the job?" Claudia asked.
"No. I though you'd know of a vampire or of a mix that could teach." Severus said.
"I might as well apply for it. After all, I've got to keep an eye on Harry." Claudia said smirking.
Something clicked in Severus' mind. He looked at Harry and then back at Claudia. "You didn't…"
"Nope, I didn't", she agreed.
"Then who did?" He asked, eyes wide.
"Jason. We found him half-dead by his relatives' hands. It was originally a mercy killing, but then something changed and he was not allowed to die. At least not that way," Claudia said.
"Dumbledore will have a heart attack." Snape said.
"Of course he will." Claudia said. "But he is now very capable of brewing a decent potion."
"How reassuring." Snape said. "Since you're trying to undermine my teaching techniques, why don't you teach the Longbottom boy?"
"You? A teaching technique?" Claudia asked.
"Of course." Severus said. "They're supposed to research their potion."
"I never would have guessed." Claudia said.
"Now, why don't you go and apply for the job, I have an Order meeting to attend to." Snape said, vanishing in a swirl of air.
"Well then, I suppose that I should apply for the job, especially since it gives me an excuse to stay near Harry." Claudia thought aloud. "What do you guys think?"
"It'll be cool, and you could say that Jason is your apprentice or something, so he could come too."
"I don't mind." Jason said. "As long as all three of us are here for the holidays."
Claudia turned to Neville. "Well, what do you think?"
"Me?" Neville asked.
"Yes, you. I asked for everybody's opinion, so I expect to get everybody's opinion." Claudia said grinning. If she could do one thing, that would be making sure that Neville could stand up for himself.
"Well, I guess it wouldn't be that bad. But you wouldn't be able to tell people who you were, would you?" Neville asked.
"No, I wouldn't. I think I'd tell Dumbledore that I wouldn't be at the castle full time, as I have a family that I'd like to see on weekends."
"You have a family?" Harry asked.
"Yes, you guys. But I'll be damned if I spend ten entire months cooped up in that castle."
"Good point, but while you get to come back here, I get to stay in that castle." Harry pointed out.
"Not if I have anything to do with it." Claudia said. "We'll be teaching you to walk the winds, so you should be able to get from Hogwarts to here."
"But you can't apparate or disapparate from Hogwarts." Harry said, having heard that from Hermione many times before.
"I know, but walking the winds isn't apparating. It's a from of travel that only those with vampire blood can use, and it's isn't regulated." Jason said.
"Oh." Harry replied. "When are you guys going to teach me that?"
"We'll probably start tomorrow." Claudia said.
-0-
"Ron Weasley! You get away from that door before you find yourself cursed from here into oblivion." Ginny growled at her brother.
"How are you going to do that?" Ron asked, glaring at Ginny. "You're not seventeen, remember."
"But I'm working at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and I am allowed to use magic in case of an emergency that occurs while I'm working." Ginny said. "And things can be made to look like accidents." She hissed. "Now leave Hermione alone!"
"Fine." Ron grumbled, and he went downstairs.
Ginny laughed softly, and tapped on Hermione's door. "He's gone." She said through the door.
Hermione opened the door and looked around before stepping out, making sure that Ron was gone. "How'd you know I was in here?"
"He was muttering outside your door. He must have heard you or something." Ginny said, not mentioning the Hippogriff that had been watching her brother.
"Oh. Thanks for chasing him off." Hermione said, "are you really working at the joke shop?"
"Yeah." Ginny said, "Mostly it's in the store-room, but I am certified to use magic, because of what could happen."
"That makes some sense." Hermione said, stepping back into her room.
Ginny followed her, and saw the piles of clothes and boxes. "Are you leaving?" she asked.
"No." Hermione shook her head. "I'm just moving to a different room." Hermione said, picking up a few boxes, and putting a few more into a wagon she had found.
"Do you want some help?" Ginny asked.
"Sure, why not." Hermione said, showing Ginny which boxes she was moving. The two girls set about moving Hermione's things to the library. Ginny wasn't that surprised that Hermione had found a room off of the library and was living in it.
Ginny had found a book that had interested her, and she was reading it. Hermione was working on researching a topic that interested her, and she didn't notice the time going by, and neither did Ginny.
-0-
Severus yawned as the clock chimed twelve. Molly Weasley had fallen asleep against Arthur, and Tonks was close to dropping off herself. Albus noted this and sighed. There had just been so many things to tend to this meeting. Perhaps he should hold meetings more often.
"Meeting adjourned." Albus said standing up. "I believe that we shall meet at the same time and day next week? Are there any problems with that date?"
There were murmurs of "No problem", "sounds fine", "is it really that late", and "good night."
Molly yawned as she looked around. "How did it get to be that late?" She asked her husband.
"It just happens sometimes." Arthur replied.
"I've got to go and find Ginny and Ron." She said, getting up.
"I think Ron went to see how Hermione was." Arthur mentioned, "so why don't we go and check Hermione's room?"
"That sounds good." Molly said, and went up the stairs, not paying attention to the dark shadow that followed them part-way, before turning down a nondescript hall.
-0-
Ginny had set the book down a while ago, just to rest her eyes, and had fallen asleep. Hermione was awake, only because she had been listening to her music. She had found a spare blanket and covered Ginny with it, not wanting the younger Weasley to catch cold.
The door creaked open and Hermione turned her head, rising to greet whoever was coming in. "Hello Professor." She said.
"Good evening Miss Granger, I trust you are well?"
"Of course I am." Hermione said. "Just a bit on the tired side, but that's cured by a good night's rest."
"I just thought I'd tell you that one of the vampires you met might be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Oh. So I'm not surprised when Claudia shows up to teach?"
"Yes. And what made you think that it was Claudia?" Snape asked.
"Jason was too immature." She replied. "And Jason also has a student of his own."
"But Jason's student will be attending Hogwarts." Snape said.
"He will be?" She asked.
"Yes, he will be. I saw Armand while I was there, and he said to tell you that this offer is still open."
"His offer?" Hermione asked.
"I haven't the slightest idea." Snape replied, "but he also gave me a few galleons to get you a few blood flavored lollipops from Hogsmeade."
Hermione blushed. "You do display many vampric traits," he continued, "it is nothing to be ashamed of."
"That's what you say," Hermione said.
"You do not know why I was at the House?" Snape asked.
Hermione shook her head.
"My grandmother was a vampire. By rights, I could reside in the House, as a quarter of my blood is that of a vampire." Snape said.
"That's why you're so cheerful!" Hermione exclaimed. "You've had blood recently!"
Severus smiled, a feral grin. Hermione stepped back, but then returned it with one of her own. "I suppose that I should wake Ginny, and get her back to her parents." Hermione said. "Since the meeting is obviously over."
"You go to bed, I'll take her." Snape said. "After all, you don't want to be followed back to here, do you?"
"No, not at all." Hermione said, blowing out most of the candles and shutting the door after Severus who was carrying Ginny as he would a small child.
-0-