Chapter 4: Romania
Dumbledore and his associates opened the doors to the castle belonging to Lord Balthazor, ruling leader of the vampire nation. It was normally considered impolite to enter without being let in but after waiting outside the doors for fifteen minutes in the rain Ron finally convinced Dumbledore to try opening the door. They didn't even need to use the unlocking spell; the door wasn't locked for some reason. When they entered they found a well-lit castle.
"Hello." Ron yelled. His voice echoed throughout the castle.
Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus and Ron all drew their wands, not liking the eerie silence. It was nighttime and there was not a vampire in sight. A very disturbing thought indeed.
"Ronald, you and Remus check the kitchen; Sirius, follow me." Dumbledore instructed.
The groups split up and began checking the first floor. The kitchen was deserted, there were no signs of life, normal or otherwise. Ron noticed that there were large holes in the walls as well as a few arrows, wooden stakes and the occasional knife. None of these seemed all that likely to be a good sign for a vampire. Remus noticed large quantities of blood splattered about but did not know if this was vampire blood or blood of their victims. They were in the kitchen of a vampire castle after all.
Dumbledore and Sirius had just completed their search of the Great Hall and the throne room. They had found several large piles of ashes, arrows, wooden and metal stakes, as well as metal objects littering the floor. Dumbledore assumed, judging by the state of the room and the smell in the air, that the castle had come under siege some time ago and that no one had come to reclaim it since.
When the quartet regrouped, they headed to the upper floors to continue their investigation. After spending a great deal of time checking the second floor and coming up with nothing different from the first floor, the group finally found something or better put, someone in one of the third floor bedrooms.
Ron was the lucky wizard that found a vampire maiden cowering in a walk-in closet. The group found her covered in blood, only for Lupin to announce that the blood was not her own. Ron was about the use a light spell on her when Dumbledore stopped him.
"Don't kill me. Please don't kill me." The vampire begged.
"Who are you?" Ron bellowed.
"Delilah is my name sir." She said cowering in the corner.
"What are you hiding from?" Ron asked her.
"The vampire hunters. They killed my family, almost killed me sir." She told the four men.
"Where is Lord Balthazor?" Albus Dumbledore asked Delilah.
"Dead, he and my family.... all dead." She said.
"Are there any other vampires in the castle besides you?" Remus asked.
"No, no other vampires in the nation sir." Delilah stated.
"Wait, what do you mean no other vampires in the nation." Dumbledore inquired.
"The hunters, they killed them all. A year ago a man showed up and demanded all of our anti-magic crystals and metal. The lords laughed at him and ordered him out. Warned the hunter if he persisted he would be dead." Delilah said.
"What did the first hunter look like?" Remus Lupin asked.
The vampire sneered at him momentarily. When she noticed the werewolf's wand she lost her attitude.
"He was the one you call Harry Potter." Delilah said. "I know this because of his emerald eyes and lightning bolt scar. Even we know of the wizard that defeated Lord Voldemort as an infant." she told them.
~~**~~ ~~**~~ ~~**~~
-Romania; One year ago-
"To What do we owe the please of the Great Harry Potter's company?" Lord Balthazor asked.
"I come to acquire all of the crystals and metals that you use to deprive wizards of their magical abilities." Harry stated.
The vampire lord and his entourage laughed. "Surely you jest. We would never part with any... much less all of those items."
The congregation laughed very loudly at the young wizard. When Lord Balthazor looked upon young Harry Potter however, he noticed that the boy was not laughing and had drawn his wand.
"What makes you think that you can do anything with that boy?" Balthazor inquired, then motioned for the boy to be removed from his sight.
"Lumos Solarum." Harry yelled.
The majority of the vampires in attendance gave off an eerie cry of pain as they suddenly caught fire from the spell. The light, an exact replica of daylight, shined bright in the spacious hall and easily annihilated the vampires that were closest to Harry and seared several that were unfortunate enough not to be as quick as the vampire lord and seek cover and were in the open. When the light finally dissipated Harry sheathed his wand and drew a sword. Harry had opted for templar sword and as the vampires started to recover from the spell Harry Potter began dispatching them one by one much to the vampire lords disbelief.
Lord Balthazor called for a group of ghouls to attack the fledgling wizard and as they moved in for the kill suddenly found themselves engulfed in flames. Reinforcements that had been summoned and would easily have dispatched the young wizard suddenly found themselves beseeched by a new group of vampire hunters. They were armed with tradition and untraditional vampire hunting weapons and began weeding out the underlings. Balthazor was thoroughly upset. Never before had any force ever been able to storm his castle, much less penetrate his inner sanctum. Balthazor watched in dismay as Harry boldly approached the vampire lord.
"Who do you think you are? I have ruled this land since before your school was founded, I have killed more people than have attended said school. What makes you think I won't dispatch you as easily as all the would be hunters before you?" Balthazor asked as he rose to his feet.
Harry just stood, sword in hand and prepared for the vampires next move.
With a nod two master vampires moved on Harry. The vampires appeared to be blurs. They were moving faster than the human eye was capable of comprehending. The encircled Harry, not yet harming him, just trying to get the young wizards adrenaline pumping, it made the victims blood taste sweeter.
"Kill him." Balthazor declared.
The scene played out as follows; Harry took a step forward and sliced up wards, then quickly spun about and sliced across at head level. Balthazor watched as two of his best vampires stopped moving. One because he had been cut in half, the other because his head and body were in two different locations.
Harry then seemed to vanish from the vampires sight as easily as the two vampires had. Balthazor stood and looked around the room for his foe. He had noticed that the additional hunters had left the grand hall and had proceeded upstairs to search for more of his followers. This worried him because normally any hunter would relish facing him in the hopes of becoming famous for destroying the leader of the vampire nation. This was not the case today.
"Dimitri, Armon, Vladimir, find the boy, kill him; and then dispatch those intruders."
The three vampires did not move from their stations.
"Did you not hear me? I said find him and kill him." Balthazor commanded.
As if to answer their lord the heads of the three vampires suddenly fell away from their bodies.
"Good help is so hard to find." A voice called out from behind Balthazor.
The enraged vampire turned to stare into the face of Harry Potter. Before Balthazor could attack the young man he felt his body leave the ground and slam into his throne. Harry then walked up and positioned his sword tip at the base of Balthazor's neck.
"It didn't have to be this way. I asked you politely for the crystals. I even had a generous offer for you... however now I will see to it that your way of life ends at this moment." Harry stated.
"You can't get rid of us. So long as one vampire remains, we can always replace those that are destroyed." Balthazor stated as he felt the blades tip pierce his skin.
"The only difference is that from this moment on... vampires population will be subjugated under my rule. Think on that as you're rotting in hell." Harry stated. Harry then rammed the blade forward and the vampire lord's head fell from his neck.
~~**~~ ~~**~~ ~~**~~
"Surely there must be other vampires left in Romania? They can't have wiped you all out." Ron asked the vampire.
"I assure you.... there are not. He systematically arranged the extinction of my kind over the course of a year."
"Impossible." Remus stated.
"Not for him. He seemed incapable of fear. I live only because he allowed me to live. He never said why... he killed so many of my kind and yet there was something about me that he took pity on. He ordered the other hunters to leave me alone as well." Delilah replied. "I spent three months traveling the land and found none of my kind. If any managed to survive the onslaught, I'm sure they departed these lands for greener pastures. However I have my doubts."
"Delilah, do you know if Harry Potter got the crystals and metals from the mine?" Sirius asked hoping that the answer was no.
"Of course I did you stupid git." A familiar voice echoed through the halls.
Remus Lupin stayed to protect Delilah who had sealed herself back in the closet, while the rest of the ventured into the hall to see if they could find the source of the voice. When they neared the stair well to the hall the trio found none other than the current source of their frustrations.
"It's been some time Harry." Dumbledore said to his former student.
"Three years today Albus." Harry retorted. "I wondered how long it would take you to show up here. I must admit I'm very disappointed in you... took you far longer than I thought it would. However you just haven't been on your game for about.... thirteen years." Harry mocked.
Ron, Sirius and Dumbledore noted that Harry was dressed in dark brown pants, boots, shirt, black gloves, and a black duster. On his back was a sword, on each leg he had a sheath with a knife, across his chest were several small blades. It was obvious that he was prepared to fight vampires but given Harry's power he would also be prepared to face them as well.
"Besides me, what brings you to Romania?" Harry asked in a jovial tone.
"The crystals." Albus answered.
"Ah yes... the crystals. They're all gone." Harry informed them.
"And the metal." Ron inquired.
"Them too."
"What do you plan to do with them?" Sirius asked.
"That's a surprise for another time. Stay out of my way, you'll live longer that way." Harry informed them. He then walked nonchalantly towards the castle doors as if the wizards behind him were inconsequential.
"You can't run forever Harry." Sirius called out.
"Do I look like I'm running old man?" Harry spat back at him. Harry turned around and slowly walked out of the main doors and before any of the wizards could cast a single spell Harry seemed to vanish.
"Invisibility?" Ron asked in disbelief.
"I'm not sure. I've seen the spell used quite often, I know it myself, but I've never seen that particular form of vanishing before. It was more like he melded with the shadows." Dumbledore informed the two wizards.
~~**~~ ~~**~~ ~~**~~
When they were sure Harry was gone the trio then returned to Remus and Delilah who were anxiously awaiting their return. "What could he want with anti-magic metal?" Sirius asked aloud.
"Wizard cuffs." The vampire answered.
"What?" Ron asked.
"He might want to make wizard cuffs. An old means of hindering a witch or wizard." Delilah announced. "They're designed to keep a witch or wizard from using any form of magic."
"Does Harry know how to make these wizard cuffs?" Remus asked her.
Delilah nodded her head. "The only other vampire he allowed to live was the forger. He is the vampire that has forged the wizard cuffs for a millennia."
"This is bad Albus." Remus said.
"That's an understatement." Sirius replied.
"Is there anyway to unlock a wizard cuff once it's on?" Ron asked
"Only two ways. One is the master key forged when the cuffs are made."
"And the other?" Albus asked.
"I'm sorry, I don't know." She told them. "It's a very old process and I'm only two hundred and three years old." The vampire informed them.
"We use the crystals as a way to protect ourselves from unfriendly spells. The only spell that the crystals cannot save a vampire from is the sun light spell.
"Bloody Hell." Ron said and kicked a bed post as the thought of Harry Potter with a mine full of anti-magic materials made him sick to his stomach.
~~**~~ ~~**~~ ~~**~~
"This is a most distressing turn of events." Amos Diggory stated. "How much of this metal do you think he has?"
"We can only speculate. We couldn't get into the mines because they were coated and locked with the anti-magic and thus impervious to our spells." Sirius informed the Minister.
"And he was actually there?" Amos asked.
"Apparently he was waiting for us. He felt the need to mock us." Sirius retorted.
"Why do you think that?" Amos asked.
"He's trying to make a point Amos." Albus stated.
"What point would that be?" Ron asked, just as bewildered as the minister.
"I would think that would be obvious to you Ron, he's trying to show us that he's always one step ahead of us." Albus explained. "And that we haven't a clue what he's going to do next."
Dumbledore and his associates opened the doors to the castle belonging to Lord Balthazor, ruling leader of the vampire nation. It was normally considered impolite to enter without being let in but after waiting outside the doors for fifteen minutes in the rain Ron finally convinced Dumbledore to try opening the door. They didn't even need to use the unlocking spell; the door wasn't locked for some reason. When they entered they found a well-lit castle.
"Hello." Ron yelled. His voice echoed throughout the castle.
Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus and Ron all drew their wands, not liking the eerie silence. It was nighttime and there was not a vampire in sight. A very disturbing thought indeed.
"Ronald, you and Remus check the kitchen; Sirius, follow me." Dumbledore instructed.
The groups split up and began checking the first floor. The kitchen was deserted, there were no signs of life, normal or otherwise. Ron noticed that there were large holes in the walls as well as a few arrows, wooden stakes and the occasional knife. None of these seemed all that likely to be a good sign for a vampire. Remus noticed large quantities of blood splattered about but did not know if this was vampire blood or blood of their victims. They were in the kitchen of a vampire castle after all.
Dumbledore and Sirius had just completed their search of the Great Hall and the throne room. They had found several large piles of ashes, arrows, wooden and metal stakes, as well as metal objects littering the floor. Dumbledore assumed, judging by the state of the room and the smell in the air, that the castle had come under siege some time ago and that no one had come to reclaim it since.
When the quartet regrouped, they headed to the upper floors to continue their investigation. After spending a great deal of time checking the second floor and coming up with nothing different from the first floor, the group finally found something or better put, someone in one of the third floor bedrooms.
Ron was the lucky wizard that found a vampire maiden cowering in a walk-in closet. The group found her covered in blood, only for Lupin to announce that the blood was not her own. Ron was about the use a light spell on her when Dumbledore stopped him.
"Don't kill me. Please don't kill me." The vampire begged.
"Who are you?" Ron bellowed.
"Delilah is my name sir." She said cowering in the corner.
"What are you hiding from?" Ron asked her.
"The vampire hunters. They killed my family, almost killed me sir." She told the four men.
"Where is Lord Balthazor?" Albus Dumbledore asked Delilah.
"Dead, he and my family.... all dead." She said.
"Are there any other vampires in the castle besides you?" Remus asked.
"No, no other vampires in the nation sir." Delilah stated.
"Wait, what do you mean no other vampires in the nation." Dumbledore inquired.
"The hunters, they killed them all. A year ago a man showed up and demanded all of our anti-magic crystals and metal. The lords laughed at him and ordered him out. Warned the hunter if he persisted he would be dead." Delilah said.
"What did the first hunter look like?" Remus Lupin asked.
The vampire sneered at him momentarily. When she noticed the werewolf's wand she lost her attitude.
"He was the one you call Harry Potter." Delilah said. "I know this because of his emerald eyes and lightning bolt scar. Even we know of the wizard that defeated Lord Voldemort as an infant." she told them.
~~**~~ ~~**~~ ~~**~~
-Romania; One year ago-
"To What do we owe the please of the Great Harry Potter's company?" Lord Balthazor asked.
"I come to acquire all of the crystals and metals that you use to deprive wizards of their magical abilities." Harry stated.
The vampire lord and his entourage laughed. "Surely you jest. We would never part with any... much less all of those items."
The congregation laughed very loudly at the young wizard. When Lord Balthazor looked upon young Harry Potter however, he noticed that the boy was not laughing and had drawn his wand.
"What makes you think that you can do anything with that boy?" Balthazor inquired, then motioned for the boy to be removed from his sight.
"Lumos Solarum." Harry yelled.
The majority of the vampires in attendance gave off an eerie cry of pain as they suddenly caught fire from the spell. The light, an exact replica of daylight, shined bright in the spacious hall and easily annihilated the vampires that were closest to Harry and seared several that were unfortunate enough not to be as quick as the vampire lord and seek cover and were in the open. When the light finally dissipated Harry sheathed his wand and drew a sword. Harry had opted for templar sword and as the vampires started to recover from the spell Harry Potter began dispatching them one by one much to the vampire lords disbelief.
Lord Balthazor called for a group of ghouls to attack the fledgling wizard and as they moved in for the kill suddenly found themselves engulfed in flames. Reinforcements that had been summoned and would easily have dispatched the young wizard suddenly found themselves beseeched by a new group of vampire hunters. They were armed with tradition and untraditional vampire hunting weapons and began weeding out the underlings. Balthazor was thoroughly upset. Never before had any force ever been able to storm his castle, much less penetrate his inner sanctum. Balthazor watched in dismay as Harry boldly approached the vampire lord.
"Who do you think you are? I have ruled this land since before your school was founded, I have killed more people than have attended said school. What makes you think I won't dispatch you as easily as all the would be hunters before you?" Balthazor asked as he rose to his feet.
Harry just stood, sword in hand and prepared for the vampires next move.
With a nod two master vampires moved on Harry. The vampires appeared to be blurs. They were moving faster than the human eye was capable of comprehending. The encircled Harry, not yet harming him, just trying to get the young wizards adrenaline pumping, it made the victims blood taste sweeter.
"Kill him." Balthazor declared.
The scene played out as follows; Harry took a step forward and sliced up wards, then quickly spun about and sliced across at head level. Balthazor watched as two of his best vampires stopped moving. One because he had been cut in half, the other because his head and body were in two different locations.
Harry then seemed to vanish from the vampires sight as easily as the two vampires had. Balthazor stood and looked around the room for his foe. He had noticed that the additional hunters had left the grand hall and had proceeded upstairs to search for more of his followers. This worried him because normally any hunter would relish facing him in the hopes of becoming famous for destroying the leader of the vampire nation. This was not the case today.
"Dimitri, Armon, Vladimir, find the boy, kill him; and then dispatch those intruders."
The three vampires did not move from their stations.
"Did you not hear me? I said find him and kill him." Balthazor commanded.
As if to answer their lord the heads of the three vampires suddenly fell away from their bodies.
"Good help is so hard to find." A voice called out from behind Balthazor.
The enraged vampire turned to stare into the face of Harry Potter. Before Balthazor could attack the young man he felt his body leave the ground and slam into his throne. Harry then walked up and positioned his sword tip at the base of Balthazor's neck.
"It didn't have to be this way. I asked you politely for the crystals. I even had a generous offer for you... however now I will see to it that your way of life ends at this moment." Harry stated.
"You can't get rid of us. So long as one vampire remains, we can always replace those that are destroyed." Balthazor stated as he felt the blades tip pierce his skin.
"The only difference is that from this moment on... vampires population will be subjugated under my rule. Think on that as you're rotting in hell." Harry stated. Harry then rammed the blade forward and the vampire lord's head fell from his neck.
~~**~~ ~~**~~ ~~**~~
"Surely there must be other vampires left in Romania? They can't have wiped you all out." Ron asked the vampire.
"I assure you.... there are not. He systematically arranged the extinction of my kind over the course of a year."
"Impossible." Remus stated.
"Not for him. He seemed incapable of fear. I live only because he allowed me to live. He never said why... he killed so many of my kind and yet there was something about me that he took pity on. He ordered the other hunters to leave me alone as well." Delilah replied. "I spent three months traveling the land and found none of my kind. If any managed to survive the onslaught, I'm sure they departed these lands for greener pastures. However I have my doubts."
"Delilah, do you know if Harry Potter got the crystals and metals from the mine?" Sirius asked hoping that the answer was no.
"Of course I did you stupid git." A familiar voice echoed through the halls.
Remus Lupin stayed to protect Delilah who had sealed herself back in the closet, while the rest of the ventured into the hall to see if they could find the source of the voice. When they neared the stair well to the hall the trio found none other than the current source of their frustrations.
"It's been some time Harry." Dumbledore said to his former student.
"Three years today Albus." Harry retorted. "I wondered how long it would take you to show up here. I must admit I'm very disappointed in you... took you far longer than I thought it would. However you just haven't been on your game for about.... thirteen years." Harry mocked.
Ron, Sirius and Dumbledore noted that Harry was dressed in dark brown pants, boots, shirt, black gloves, and a black duster. On his back was a sword, on each leg he had a sheath with a knife, across his chest were several small blades. It was obvious that he was prepared to fight vampires but given Harry's power he would also be prepared to face them as well.
"Besides me, what brings you to Romania?" Harry asked in a jovial tone.
"The crystals." Albus answered.
"Ah yes... the crystals. They're all gone." Harry informed them.
"And the metal." Ron inquired.
"Them too."
"What do you plan to do with them?" Sirius asked.
"That's a surprise for another time. Stay out of my way, you'll live longer that way." Harry informed them. He then walked nonchalantly towards the castle doors as if the wizards behind him were inconsequential.
"You can't run forever Harry." Sirius called out.
"Do I look like I'm running old man?" Harry spat back at him. Harry turned around and slowly walked out of the main doors and before any of the wizards could cast a single spell Harry seemed to vanish.
"Invisibility?" Ron asked in disbelief.
"I'm not sure. I've seen the spell used quite often, I know it myself, but I've never seen that particular form of vanishing before. It was more like he melded with the shadows." Dumbledore informed the two wizards.
~~**~~ ~~**~~ ~~**~~
When they were sure Harry was gone the trio then returned to Remus and Delilah who were anxiously awaiting their return. "What could he want with anti-magic metal?" Sirius asked aloud.
"Wizard cuffs." The vampire answered.
"What?" Ron asked.
"He might want to make wizard cuffs. An old means of hindering a witch or wizard." Delilah announced. "They're designed to keep a witch or wizard from using any form of magic."
"Does Harry know how to make these wizard cuffs?" Remus asked her.
Delilah nodded her head. "The only other vampire he allowed to live was the forger. He is the vampire that has forged the wizard cuffs for a millennia."
"This is bad Albus." Remus said.
"That's an understatement." Sirius replied.
"Is there anyway to unlock a wizard cuff once it's on?" Ron asked
"Only two ways. One is the master key forged when the cuffs are made."
"And the other?" Albus asked.
"I'm sorry, I don't know." She told them. "It's a very old process and I'm only two hundred and three years old." The vampire informed them.
"We use the crystals as a way to protect ourselves from unfriendly spells. The only spell that the crystals cannot save a vampire from is the sun light spell.
"Bloody Hell." Ron said and kicked a bed post as the thought of Harry Potter with a mine full of anti-magic materials made him sick to his stomach.
~~**~~ ~~**~~ ~~**~~
"This is a most distressing turn of events." Amos Diggory stated. "How much of this metal do you think he has?"
"We can only speculate. We couldn't get into the mines because they were coated and locked with the anti-magic and thus impervious to our spells." Sirius informed the Minister.
"And he was actually there?" Amos asked.
"Apparently he was waiting for us. He felt the need to mock us." Sirius retorted.
"Why do you think that?" Amos asked.
"He's trying to make a point Amos." Albus stated.
"What point would that be?" Ron asked, just as bewildered as the minister.
"I would think that would be obvious to you Ron, he's trying to show us that he's always one step ahead of us." Albus explained. "And that we haven't a clue what he's going to do next."