The next day came with a wave of snow over the grounds, canceling the second-years Herbology lesson. Alucard still had to go to Arithmancy, the study of numbers and their magical properties, so he would only meet up with them after the lesson was finished.
"Seven is probably the most magically powerful number when used in creating a spell, or looking into the future. Who can tell me why?" Professor Vector asks the class, looking over everyone seated. Alucard raises his arm just before two Ravenclaws follow suit. Professor Vector nodded for Alucard to answer.
"Seven has the power of being an odd number like three and nine, along with three it is a prime number, which makes them more stable than nine. Then the ability for seven to be used to stabilise spells and also act as a control factor in the spell it is widely seen as the most powerful magical number, it also increases the accuracy of future readings. That is even though three normally creates more powerful spells and future readings that look further in time." Alucard says in a single breath.
When he finished Professor Vector looked pleased and nodded at him before waving her wand at the board, where the same information appears.
"Correct, five points to Gryffindor. Seven, when used in conjunction with three, also stabilises a spell or reading while still increasing the potency in both." Professor Vector instructs. "An example of this power difference in spells is seen in the spells Bombarda and Bombarda Maxima. Seven was used to create the original Bombarda, but the effects of three was added to Bombarda Maxima. This resulted in-"
"ATTACK! ATTACK!" Peeves' voice rumbles down the hall, making everyone's heads snap to look at the door. "ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOU LIVES! ATTAAAACK!"
Professor Vector bolts for the door, making it crash open with her wand as she heads to where Peeves was yelling, Alucard right behind her and the rest of the class behind them. Professor Vector noticed Justin Finch-Fletchley was on the floor and in danger of being stepped on, so she pushed through the crowd and forced students away from his still body.
Alucard stooped over Justin and listened for his breathing, hearing it he sighs in relief as McGonagall arrives, creating a bang with her wand to gain silence. She ordered everyone to return to their class. The only ones still in the corridor where Alucard, Harry, Peeves, some teachers and McGonagall herself.
"Peeves, leave." Alucard ordered when he noticed the poltergeist grinning at the scene. The green midget salutes before flying off with a cackle.
"Caught in the act!" A voice yells triumphantly, Alucard spots a panting second-year, Ernie Macmillan, pointing an accusatory finger at Harry.
"That will do, Macmillan!" McGonagall says sharply. Flitwick and Vector had already started to levitate Justin up to the Hospital Wing. No-one was sure what to do with Nick before McGonagall conjured a fan to waft Nick around. She instructed Macmillan to take him to the hospital Wing also.
"This way, Potter, Juvatich." McGonagall says, turning and walking towards the staircases.
"Professor, I swear I didn't-" Harry tries to plead before McGonagall cuts him off.
"This is out of my hands." She says curtly. Alucard realises they're heading to Dumbledore's office and immediately relaxes slightly.
"It'll be fine, Harry." Alucard whispers. Harry just nods back as they arrive at an ugly stone gargoyle.
"Sherbet Lemon." McGonagall says icily. The gargoyle jumps to the side and reveals a spinning spiral staircase. The three step up onto it and slowly rose in circles until they arrived at Dumbledore's door.
McGonagall knocked on the door and lead the two inside the office, revealing that Dumbledore wasn't currently there. She told the two to wait before turning and exiting the room again. Harry and Alucard start to look around, Alucard instantly moving to a shelf behind the door while Harry approached the Headmaster's desk. Harry takes the Sorting Hat from the shelf behind Dumbledore's desk and puts it on.
'What does he want with the Hat?' Alucard thinks curiously as he strokes Fawkes' feathers lightly. "It must be your Burning Day. I hope Dumbledore's treating you right." Alucard mutters quietly while Harry silently converses with the Sorting Hat.
"You're wrong." Harry told the Hat as he ripped it off his head. Fawkes gargled at Harry, making the boy look at the bird in confusion.
"Be careful with that Sorting Hat, it is about a thousand years old." Alucard says, still stroking Fawkes, who gargles again. Harry looks slightly sheepish as he replaces it back on the shelf before approaching Fawkes. Fawkes weakly nudged Alucard away from him then burst into flame. "That's one way to go out." Alucard says jokingly as watches the phoenixes death.
"Huh, wha- shouldn't-?" Harry says, looking at Alucard then around the office quickly. Alucard chuckles as Fawkes finishes burning and becomes a small pile of ash.
"This is Fawkes, he's a phoenix." Alucard explains as the office door opens, admitting a sombre Dumbledore. "Professor, Fawkes has just Burned." Alucard tells the ancient man, who smiles and walks over to look as well.
"Thank goodness, he was looking dreadful for the whole week already." Dumbledore says happily. "And here he is again." Dumbledore points out the tiny, wrinkled baby bird poking its head from the ashes with a happy chirp. "It is a shame you had to meet him on a Burning Day, Harry. He is normally quite handsome. His red and gold plumage is a sight to behold."
Dumbledore lead them back to his desk before he took his seat behind it, gesturing for the two to do the same.
"Wonder, fascinating creatures phoenixes. They only bond with those they deem worthy, an extremely high bar I am thankful I meet. But their powers are even more spectacular. They can carry immensely heavy loads, heal almost anything with their tears, and make highly faithful familiars, much like your owls."
Alucard and Harry nod, but before Dumbledore could continue, Hagrid crashed into the office, a dead rooster hanging limply in his shaking hand.
"It wasn' Harry, professor Dumbledore!" Hagrid says urgently, then notices Alucard. "It wasn' Alucard neither! I was with Harry seconds before that was found, he couldn'ta had time, sir."
"Hagrid-" Dumbledore tries to say, only for Hagrid to interrupt.
"It can't've bin 'em! I'll swear it in front o' the Ministry o' Magic if I have to!" Hagrid declares, waving the dead rooster around in agitated arm waves.
"Hagrid, I-" Dumbledore tries again.
"Yeh've got teh wrong boys, sir! I know they would never-" Hagrid says, getting so emotional that his were starting to water.
"Hagrid!" Dumbledore says sharply, cutting off Hagrid's rambling. "I do not believe that Harry or Alucard attacked anyone."
"Oh..." Hagrid mumbles awkwardly, the rooster flopping to a stop in his hand. "Right, I'll, uh... I'll wait outside then, Headmaster." Hagrid then waddles out of the room with an embarrassed flush.
"You don't think we did it, sir?" Harry asks hopefully as Dumbledore vanishes the feathers with a wave of his wand.
"Of course he doesn't." Alucard sighs, shifting his seat so he could look at Harry more easily. "If we'd done it he would be able to reverse it nearly instantly."
"I would not claim to know that for a fact, but I appreciate your confidence in me." Dumbledore says, before turning to face Harry. "As I said, I don't believe you could have done this. But I still want to talk to you both." Dumbledore presses his fingertips together and regards them over his connected hands. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me at all?"
Alucard and Harry share a glance as they consider what they knew and suspected before deciding that there was only one thing Alucard wanted to talk about.
"No, sir." Harry says. "Nothing I can think of."
"One thing." Alucard says, glancing at Harry. "But it's a private thing."
"I understand." Dumbledore says, turning to focus on Harry. "My boy, could you wait outside with Hagrid until Alucard joins you?" Dumbledore asks kindly, a twinkle in his old blue eyes. Harry looks at Alucard before nodding and exiting the office. When the door closes Dumbledore turns to contemplate Alucard.
"What is it you wanted to discuss?" Dumbledore asks kindly, leaning back in his seat to get comfortable as Alucard decides how to ask his question.
"Do you think I should become an Animagus?" Alucard asks. Dumbledore's eyebrows raise in surprise as he looks over Alucard with interest.
"I'm pleased that you believe my opinion is worth considering." Dumbledore starts, turning his head as he thinks. "I'd have to say..."
The double attack on Nick and Justin turned the unease into panic that threatened to simmer over the edge. Understandably, it was Nick's fate that drew the most attention and dread. What was able to harm a ghost, who was already dead and incorporeal? The number of people going home over the Christmas holidays had increased to encompass nearly the whole school.
At the rate people were signing up to leave it would only be the Weasleys, them, Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy left in the castle. This suited Alucard fine as it let them put their plans for the Polyjuice into motion. It also got rid of the students who avoided Alucard and Harry like the plague, believing they were responsible for the Petrifications.
Fred and George found it all very funny and went out of their way to march in front of Harry, shouting about how Harry was the Heir and was seriously evil. Well, that is until Alucard charmed their hair to shift colours and shapes every hour, starting at an eye-hurting shade of pink that dragged on the floor wherever they went. Even then they joked that Harry was the Heir, leaving out the evil bit, and their hair changing was a sign they would be his next victims.
Something the group noticed was that Malfoy was getting weirdly annoyed by Fred and George's antics. Ron theorised that was because he hated the fact Harry was getting credit for his dirty work.
"We just need some of a Slytherin's hair, and a way to be sure they won't walk into the common room while we're there, before we can confirm or deny he is actually the Heir." Alucard says with a self satisfied smile
The silence that descended upon the castle when term ended was peaceful and welcomed by those who stayed at the school. The group of four took full advantage of only having them and the Weasleys in Gryffindor Tower by playing Exploding Snap as much as they wanted, or practising their duelling in private. Alucard was the unofficial best dueller among those still at the school, minus the teachers and Percy, who didn't spend much time in the common room.
Christmas morning arrived in a cold white mass of snow. Harry and Ron were awoken very early in the morning by the full dressed forms of Alucard and Hermione barging into their room, carrying presents.
"Wake up, sleepy-heads!" Alucard yells, spraying Harry and Ron with water conjured from his wand while Hermione throws the curtains open.
"Bloody hell!" Ron yelps as he jumps out of his bed and onto the floor, face first.
"Language!" Hermione scolds, tossing Harry his present, while just putting Ron's on top of the pile already there. Alucard copies her and takes a seat on Neville's empty bed, where Hermione joins him. "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas." Harry responds as Hedwig flies into the room. Ron grumbles a 'Merry Christmas' as he drags himself back onto his bed and digs into his pile of presents.
Alucard opens up the present he got from Hermione to reveal a book, specifically Charms of Defence and Deterrence, Harry had gotten Alucard a new pair of Chaser gloves, Ron got Alucard a book on famous Quidditch Chasers and how they got so good, his parents had gotten him books on Transfiguration and its theories. He also got a present from Mrs Weasley, a black, hand-knitted sweater that had two fangs on the front along with a small number of blood flavoured lollipops.
"These are awesome." Alucard says, smiling at the other three. "These will be useful!"
"Oh! Thank you for this!" Hermione thanks him, holding up the calendar book he got her. Harry and Ron also thank him, looking at the Seeker goggles and Chudley Cannons themed scarf they respectively got.
The Christmas dinner at Hogwarts was always something to look forward to. There were a dozen frost-covered Christmas trees that had red, gold and green streamers suspended between them, snow fell from the ceiling that vanished right before it hit anything. Dumbledore lead the school through a few of his favourite Christmas carols before having to stop as Hagrid's drunken bellowing became too loud.
Percy, not noticing his Prefect badge now said Pinhead and his hair shuffled between red, green, white and gold, was asking why everyone was laughing. Draco Malfoy was making loud comments about their jumpers from the Slytherin table, until a custard pie slice he was eating jumped into his face, coating him in the food. Harry glanced at Alucard when it happened, but saw both of Alucard's hands were completely empty.
Alucard and Hermione ushered the other two out of the Great Hall once they had finished with their third helpings of Christmas pudding to go over the plan for the Polyjuice.
"We should use the Polyjuice tonight." Alucard says as they walk. "We still need a bit of who you three are turning into."
"It'd be best if you get hair from Crabbe and Goyle." Hermione cuts in. Ron and Harry make disgusted faces. "They're Malfoy's best friends, he'll tell them anything."
"We just need to make sure they don't arrive while you're interrogating Malfoy." Alucard then says as they climb up some stairs, pulling out two chocolate cupcakes. "These are filled with a simple Sleeping Draught, guaranteed to last an hour and a half. You just need to make sure the idiots find them."
"Once they're asleep you can take some of their hair and stuff them in a broom cupboard." Hermione says matter-of-factly. Harry and Ron look incredulously at the other two.
"You two know this-" Ron says in an uncertain voice.
"This can go seriously wrong." Harry says, just as uncertain. Hermione looks at the two boys with a steely glint in her eyes. Alucard looks at them coolly.
"This is still the best shot we have." Alucard says simply.
"All right, all right." Harry relents easily. "Then whose hair are you ripping out?"
"I'm not taking the potion. I have no clue how it would affect my body, being a vampire an all." Alucard informs them, surprising even Hermione with the statement. "I want to know if I can borrow your Invisibility Cloak, so I can go with you three?"
"Sure." Harry answers, thankful Alucard would be nearby. "Then who are you turning into, Hermione?"
"I've got a hair from Millicent Bulstrode." Hermione chirps happily, pulling out a vial with a single hair inside it. "It got on my robes when she was wrestling with me at the Duelling Club. She went home for Christmas, so I'll just say I decided to come back." Alucard leans in to look at the hair.
"That's cat hair." Alucard tells Hermione, making her look at the hair frantically. "I wouldn't suggest trying to use that with the Polyjuice. The notes mentioned against human-animal transformations."
"Great, so that means only you three can get into the Slytherin common room." Hermione sighs. Alucard hands the cupcakes to Harry and Ron and heads with Hermione to Gryffindor Tower to fetch Harry's Invisibility Cloak.
Alucard was waiting with Hermione in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom for the other two to arrive with the hairs they needed. Alucard was holding two of his three vials of Polyjuice, ready for use. The Cloak was thrown over Alucard's shoulder while two pairs of Slytherin robes lay at his feet, ready for Ron and Harry to take and use. Said boys then rushed into the room, showing off the hair they had gotten.
"Good, now toss those in here." Alucard tells them with a grin, handing each one a vial. Ron and Harry look faintly disgusted by the smell of the potion, an action Alucard shared when he first finished the potion. "I've got some bigger robes for once your transformation finishes and I'll transfigure you some bigger shoes once I know what size you need."
Ron and Harry put the hairs in the vials they were given and look slightly sickly at the colours the potions had become, a booger green for Harry's and a dark murky brown that resembled marsh water for Ron's.
"Wait!" Hermione exclaims when the two go to drink from their vials, her face flushing slightly red. "Go into the stalls before you change!" She exclaims in a high pitched voice, pointing at the stalls behind her. Both boys nod before rushing for the stalls, taking the robes from the floor with them.
"Toss your shoes out here so I can transfigure them!" Alucard calls, right before two pairs of shoes fly over the stall doors. Alucard catches them with ease and drops them onto the ground next to him. That leaves Alucard and Hermione to wait for the other two to finish and come back out, then the grunts of pain from both Harry and Ron's stalls started.
Alucard clenched his fist tightly as he was forced to listen to them be hurt by something he made, even if he knew the pain was only temporary. Hermione looked worried about the boys, shifting from one foot to the other in anticipation. Then the two boys walked out of their stalls revealing themselves to look like identical copies of Crabbe and Goyle.