Chapter 2: Bitter Blood

SLAM!

Daphne tumbled onto the floor and rolled over three times before finally stopped. Sweat rolled down her forehead as she gasped for breath. Her chest heaving up and down as she lay on the floor, utterly exhausted.

"Urghhh."

"Impressive Daphne, your fundamentals and footwork are solid, you just need to improve on the variety of spells and perhaps increase your spell repertoire. You can see how I broke the deadlock of trading spells and blocking at the end with my fire whips and firestorm."

Daphne blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face and sat up. Hadrian then offered a hand and pulled her up from the ground.

"A spectacular duel, although I could clearly see you being lenient Hadrian."

Hadrian and Daphne both turned around to see Roxxane standing at the entrance to the training room. She leaned against the opened door with her eyebrows knit together.

"Anyways, all of you, come. Dinner is ready. There can be time for duelling and such tomorrow and the days after."

Antoninus, Tracey, and Astoria stood up and walked down to join Roxxane, Hadrian, and Daphne, before the six of them walked out of the training room and towards the dining room to have dinner. Right before they entered the dining room, Antoninus stopped. His pupil's dilated for a second before he turned his head suddenly to look at the blank corridor wall. Antoninus had been walking at the back, so nobody really took note of his obvious irregular behaviour.

"Excuse me Roxxane, but where is the bathroom?"

Roxxane turned around and studied Antoninus for a bit.

"On the left, third room. We'll be in the dining room, near the spiral staircase."

"Okay, thank you."

Hadrian watched Antoninus go to the toilet. He was somehow not convinced he needed to actually go to the toilet. Hadrian didn't let his gaze linger and quickly continued walking along with the others to not draw suspicion. He quickly went back to walking next to Daphne. Whatever Antoninus is bothered about, he would tell me later… Hadrian fully trusted in Antoninus' ability to handle matters himself and didn't think much more on it. Hadrian started to think about what Cyrus wanted to discuss with him. Cyrus did say he wanted to talk to him and Antoninus about many things after he left to check the strength of the wards.

A dark figure stood in the shadows of a tree on the mountainside. It stared down at the valley in which Greengrass Manor was located.

"Interesting… a fire mage… with a shadow mage. Quite the pair. I wonder how the latter would taste… probably not as good as the shadow mage…"

The mysterious figure stood in the shadows and gazed down at the Manor for a bit longer before the figure suddenly dodged to the side as a wave of shadows annihilated the tree that it was hiding under.

"Care to explain why you have been following my friend and I all day?"

The shadows around them darkened and stretched out longer against the floor as Antoninus walked closer to the mysterious figure. Based on the structure of her body, it was a she. Antoninus couldn't get a good look at her face as she wore a black trench coat with a hood. There seemed to also be some magic at work that purposely kept her hood dark and covered her face from her jaw and up.

"Hmmm, interesting, you dared to come out of the safety of the wards to come face me? I don't know if you are foolish or you are…"

The silk and seductive voice paused as she realized the change in the shadows around and how much darker it felt.

"You are the shadow one… this will be interesting. If it had been your fire friend, then he would definitely have died."

"My patience is running thin, what is your purpose here."

Antoninus still hadn't drawn his wand, but he was ready to take this person down and rip out her mind with legillimency if necessary. He was unpracticed with legillimency, so he most likely wreck her mind after the process.

"Hahaha, you came without even knowing my true purpose… oh well. Since you came out…"

A snap of the hooded women's fingers and another twelve hooded figures jumped out of the trees and surrounded Antoninus. No… it would be more precise to say they jumped out of the shadows. Antoninus took a look around at the people with hoods and cloaks.

"You still haven't answered my question."

"And I don't have to. You are in no position to be making demands."

Antoninus swept his eyes around one more time before letting out a small smile.

"Is that so? Vampire?"

Although Antoninus couldn't see her face as it was covered by the hood, he could tell that the smile she had been wearing previously when talking to him disappeared instantly.

"Hmph, so you did know… why did you still come then? Surely our purpose is clear if you know we are vampires?"

"Yes. But what I want to know is why me specifically. You weren't trailing us for the both of us, you trailed us to only chase me. Why do you want my blood specifically?"

The cloaked female figure remained silent for a while. Antoninus had hit the nail in the coffin and bought himself some time. He used this time to once again remember where the twelve hooded figures had jumped out of and which shadows they used. He then quickly remembered where they were currently standing and his available options for escape if need be.

"You are a shadow mage. Your blood is very tasty… and beneficial to vampires that taste it."

"How beneficial? If so, wouldn't you want me alive? If I live I can make more blood for you."

Antoninus kept his eyes on the female hooded figure despite sensing that the other twelve vampires inched closer slightly.

"Good enough that it will let me surpass the current Vamparic Lord, Lord Mathias Cazimir. No shadow mage has appeared in Europe since Gellert Grindelwald. However, Grindelwald was too experienced and well protected. The vampires couldn't touch him… but you… you are fresh raw meat, ready for the taking!"

The female figure raised her voice slightly towards the end. The twelve vampires instantly sprung out at him. Antoninus looked up and saw vampires leaping at him from all sides. From an aerial view a flower shape formed as they leapt at Antoninus. Antoninus then summoned his wand out and did a quick 360 spin around. A flood of water arcing out of his wand as he spun around. The hooded female figure instantly recognized the spell. Aqua Eructo! The tidal waves of water released by Antoninus sent the twelve vampires flying away as they got slapped away by the water pouring out.

The air then turned colder and the shadows darken. Antoninus then did a quick circular motion with his wand, with a dark shadow trailing on the tip. After letting the shadow on the tip of his wand build up a bit of potency, Antoninus shot forth a wave of shadows at four vampires who had been left knocked down on the ground. The vampires got up to run but were stunned with fear when the shadows transformed into a thestral.

Vampires were very familiar with shadow spells, a few of the elder vampires were capable of deadly shadow spells like this. The hooded female figure was now slightly surprised. Somnum Exterreri? That was a very advanced shadow spell. This was only a thirteen-year-old boy… how is he capable of this?

"AHHHHHHH!"

A vampire screamed as the thestral collided with him and tore its skin apart. A few vampires watched in horror as four of their comrades were being killed whilst the others looked at Antoninus with anger. Three of the remaining eight attempted to sneak attack on Antoninus and shadow traveled behind Antoninus. Each vampire then threw large swords made of shadow at Antoninus, hoping to stab him in the back. Antoninus looked at the incoming swords with a slightly bored expression. He quickly deflected the swords before launching a wave of bone-shredding shadows at the three of them. Antoninus manipulated Umbra Cantarium perfectly as the shadows split apart into three pathways to strike all three vampires. Two out of the three vampires were hit and died screaming as their flesh and bone got torn away.

The third remaining one didn't hesitate, whilst his comrades were screaming and disintegrating away, he used this chance to close in on Antoninus. He blended into the shadows to dodge Antoninus' Umbra Cantarium and reappeared next to the wave of shadows. The third vampire was about to leap at Antoninus and bite down on him to drain his blood when he noticed that the shadows shooting out at his two dead comrades had reversed directions. Impossible… he… The female hooded figure was also surprised as Antoninus reversed the Umbra Cantarium channel and condensed it into his hands. Antoninus had been very devious and only sucked in the shadows with his left hand. He also stood at an angle so that the approaching vampire couldn't see the left side of his body.

The female hooded figure watched as Antoninus pulled out the ball of shadows in front of him and released it, sending one of her vampire lieutenants hurling through the trees, likely getting multiple deep cuts, contusions, and fractures. He might have even died from being knocked back that far and through that many branches. He… he wasn't as weak as I thought.

"Enough!"

The hooded female figure then walked forward. Her nails on her left hand elongated slightly to make it seem like claws.

"Stand down… I will deal with him my-"

SNAP!

The hooded female's head went flying as a lady with pale white skin, snowflake white hair, and blood-red eyes came out of nowhere. Her hand filled with the previous hooded person's blood. Despite having her hand drenched in another person's blood, Antoninus took this moment to analyze the newcomer. Her nails on her blood-soaked hand seemed quite long… just like the previous hooded female vampire, before her head went flying. Is this new voluptuous lady a vampire as well?

Antoninus also took note of her body as she came dashing in. Despite wearing black robes, Antoninus could tell that underneath her robes was an athletic and toned body.

"Princess Caz-"

The other remaining five vampires didn't stand a chance. Before any other vampire could get another word out, this new 'Princess' vampire dashed around with incredible speed and decapitated the other five vampires. Antoninus' eyes could just barely keep track as she danced around in the shadows whilst sending heads flying. The 'Princess' then turned around to stare at Antoninus, with a streak of fresh blood splattered in a vertical line down on her face, crossing her left eye.

"You have something here."

Antoninus then gestured with his hand at his face as he said this. The vampire before Antoninus now studied him. She tried to gauge how he would react, but Antoninus remained perfectly calm. He didn't even seem to be even the slightest disturbed by the blood splattered around on the forest floor and her blood-soaked hand. Antoninus then watched as she retracted her claws and then waved her non-blooded hand at her blood-drenched hand. She cast a cleaning spell of sorts as the blood on her hand and edges of her sleeves vanished away.

"What is your name, shadow mage."

Antoninus paused for a moment before responding. He ignored the brief tickle he felt across his forehead.

"Antoninus Black, what about you?"

A very awkward silence appeared between the two of them. Antoninus eyed her hands carefully. The vampire stood there and stared at Antoninus for a long time.

"Vanessa Cazimir."

I guess she really is a princess… if what the hooded vampire said earlier was true, and the Lord of the Vampires is currently Mathias Cazimir… then this must be his daughter.

"Pleased to meet you… Princess Cazimir?"

Antoninus still kept his guard up.

"Mr. Black… I must thank you for luring out Natalia here… she has been a thorn in my father's side for some time…"

Vanessa had finished gauging Antoninus to see if he was trustworthy enough. She determined that this couldn't have been a set up from Natalia to lure her out and capture her, then use her as a bargaining tool to her father. She even attempted to use passive legillemency to try and read Antoninus' mind but failed. Vanessa then came to the conclusion that if she couldn't pierce his occlumency defenses, then Natalia definitely couldn't.

"I see…"

Antoninus then glanced at the remaining body without a head.

"She did mention something about surpassing Lord Cazimir."

Vanessa snorted at that.

"She would never be able to stand up against father. She had to use these underhanded tactics to even try to get an advantage. Even if she had devoured you and sucked your blood dry, it wouldn't be enough to beat my father. Power is nothing without the skill to use it properly. My father has ruled for the last 994 years. He will be the first vampire lord to reach 1,000 years of rule."

Vanessa had stated it with such certainty that Antoninus didn't doubt her.

"Anyways… you've done me a favour."

Vanessa then tossed something into the air. It then enlarged whilst it was flying towards Antoninus, turning into a small red notebook.

"If you need a favour, turn to page 19… it will tell you where to go. Once you use this favour, you will return the small notebook to the vampire stationed there."

Antoninus opened the book and flicked through it. There were many blank pages. The only pages with text on them were 11, 19, 31, 53, and 57. All prime numbers? Why were they all prime numbers? And so far apart…

"Wait a minute. Just like that? You don't want my blood?"

Vanessa gave Antoninus a questioning look.

"If I wanted your blood I would have killed you and drained you dry by now… although I will admit, you'd put up quite the fight… but no. Tasting a shadow mage enhances a vampire's connection to the shadow element and allows them better control, thus allowing them to use more powerful spells. However, to a strong and elder vampire like myself, there is no need for me to chase after this minimal boost as I have already unlocked the ability to use more powerful spells. Draining your blood would simply be tasting wine for me, nothing but a nice drink to get drunk on, and would only increase my stamina in casting shadow spells for a longer period of time. Vampires who wish to achieve elder status quicker and gain more power would try and suck you dry…"

"I see."

Vanessa then turned around and took a step towards the shadow of a nearby tree.

"Until we meet again then Mr. Black, if you live long enough to see me again… Although these vampires that picked on you did so with ulterior motives against my family and the current vampire leadership, I won't take kindly if you hunt our kind and will retaliate."

Vanessa then dissolved into black smoke and faded away into the night.

"So that is what it feels like…"

Antoninus chuckled to himself slightly as he also dissolved into black smoke and started to quickly head back towards Greengrass Manor.

"That was a pretty long toilet? Did you take a number two?"

Antoninus turned around to look at Hadrian who sat on the steps in front of the main door to Greengrass Manor. Antoninus chuckled slightly before walking up to Hadrian.

"No, I did not… I dealt with our stalker. Turns out it was a gang of vampires who wanted my blood."

Hadrian's eyebrows shot up at the sudden change in topic. He was expecting for Antoninus to try banter it out with him before revealing what he had actually been doing. This sudden and straight up revelation was quite surprising. Hadrian was going to ask why Antoninus didn't tell him and ask him to tag along when it clicked in Hadrian's mind. Vampires are creatures of the dark… shadow magic users? No wonder why Antoninus didn't bring me… I might as well be dead weight as I can't keep up with them in the shadows… especially out there in the forest, a place full of shadows all across the floor. That is a playground for those who are proficient at shadow magic.

"I see, well… Anything interesting happen?"

"I'll tell you later… so… what is our excuse this time? Because I am not using that I took a 'number two' excuse."

Hadrian gave Antoninus a shrug and turned to open the large door that led inside Greengrass Manor.

"I honestly don't think it will work. We will just tell them what happened."

Hadrian then gave Antoninus a look to signify that they will tell an edited and vaguer version of the events. Antoninus let out a sigh, he might have to reveal his abilities with shadow magic and out himself as a shadow mage. No way Cyrus and Roxxane would buy that Antoninus sensed the intruders coming near the Manor based on a premonition and paranoia. Antoninus had sensed them coming because he felt a large movement of someone manipulating and traveling through the shadows. Antoninus then confirmed this when he looked at the window of his guest room and saw a few vampires at the edge of the Greengrass Manor wards with his Eye of Kilrogg.

"Get me back to Hogwarts already… at least the old coot won't have vampires running around… no wait… he just lets a dark lord run loose and a Basilisk to remain asleep under a castle full of children. Nevermind… crazy follows us everywhere we go."

Hadrian let out a loud hearty laugh as both boys walked back inside Greengrass Manor and towards the dining room. Antoninus had a very long and overdue meal to eat.

UPDATE*

Chapter 3: New DADA teacher... again is out →