Disclaimer: I OWN HARRY POTTER! lawyers march in with pitchforks OKAY! I don't own Harry Potter! lawyers march off Gits. scowls after them
Warning: Might be a bit confusing as it switches from first person point of view to third person point of view frequently.
Cyfrgolledig atyn yr Dywyllwch
"Damned by the Darkness"
Chapter 5
It is almost the end of the school term now. I have been at Hogwarts for nearly all of it and never noticed except by three souls.
Nicole Tiernan, an insane American.
Lyda Malloy, a girl with vampiric ancestry.
And Briana Weasley, my kitten.
It has definitely been an interesting year with the three of them. I went to London to feed, every time I had to. Hogsmeade was closer but I did not wish the Ministry to discover that I was in Hogwarts.
It would not have been good.
So, here I am again on the tower, hanging upside down. The grounds are like a sea of jade below me, glistening and beautiful. A cold wind whips past me, sometimes hard enough to lift my back away from the stone.
The tower door opens.
I sensed who it was when they were halfway up the stairway. All three of them.
"Well, well," said Nicole, leaning on the edge of the wall and peering down at me. "Getting some air, Harry?"
"Only a little," I reply with a smirk, hearing Lyda and Briana chuckle.
"I think this is more than a little," commented Lyda.
"Oh really?" I said, pulling myself up. "You should try it sometime. Quite invigorating."
"I'll pass," said the tawny haired girl.
I laughed…and then I felt it. The slimy presence of the Damned on the back of my mind.
"No," I gasped, turning around to stare fearfully towards the Forbidden Forest. "It can't be."
"What?" asked Nicole. "What is it?"
"Harry?" said Briana when I didn't answer.
"It's them," I whispered, staring at the Forest.
"Who?" demanded Lyda.
I did not have to truly answer as they appeared like huge, monstrous dogs. They were black as pitch and had huge maws filled with razor-sharp teeth. Red eyes burned with such bloodlust that I shivered.
"The Damned," I breathed. Quickly, I grabbed Briana's wrist and yelled, "Come! We have to warn the Headmaster."
"But, Harry…!" yelled Lyda as we ran down the staircase from the tower. "If you're found out…"
"I'll deal with the consequences of that later! Someone has set them upon Hogwarts and I love this castle too much to let them have it!"
The girls seemed to accept that as they followed me without question.
"We're going too slow," I growled.
Briana panted, "You go on ahead. We'll catch up."
I turned bright eyes upon her and said, "Very well. Draw your wands and be ready. They may have already begun to find a place to enter. Be careful."
"We will," swore Nicole and I left them, nearly vanishing from sight as I used vampire speed to its full limits.
Jeremiah Westbrook, current Headmaster of Hogwarts, blinked when the door to his office flew open and something invisible entered. A moment later, a sixteen-year-old boy with alabaster skin and the most brilliant emerald eyes that had ever been seen appeared in the doorway.
"Headmaster," he breathed. "You have a problem."
"Do I know you?" asked Jeremiah, frowning at the boy.
The boy reached up and drew back his crop of dark hair, revealing a lightning bolt scar that all Headmasters' since Albus Dumbledore had been told to keep an eye out for.
"Potter!" spat Jeremiah, reaching for the bauble that would summon Aurors immediately.
"No!" hissed Harry. "Headmaster, the Damned are here. On these grounds. They are attacking Hogwarts."
Jeremiah frowned. He knew of the Damned – and the other vampire kin. His family far back had been vampire hunters.
"Why would the Damned be here?"
"I don't know!" growled Harry. "But you must summon the Aurors! And get the students somewhere safe."
"If I summon the Aurors," said Jeremiah, "they will take you into custody. You know that."
Harry nodded slowly and said, "They will try. But right now my concern is not them. It is the students in this castle."
"Very well."
Jeremiah muttered something under his breath then spoke, his voice echoing through the corridors of Hogwarts.
"All students are ordered to immediately retreat to the Chamber of Secrets! All staff must come at once to the entrance hall! MOVE!"
"The Chamber?" repeated Harry. "You use it as…a bomb shelter of sorts."
Jeremiah nodded, remembering bomb shelters from his Muggle Studies class. He then rose and started for the door.
"Come with me, Mr. Potter. We may have need of your assistance."
"The other staff will not like it."
"The other staff can go jump off the West Tower," growled Jeremiah. "We need a vampire on our side in this. The Damned are not to be taken lightly."
"How do you know of the Damned, exactly?" asked Harry. "Vampire history is not exactly a subject taught here."
Jeremiah looked at him and Harry had a flash of familiarity. Abruptly his eyes darkened and he growled – literally growled, "Your kin killed my Bloodbrother."
Jeremiah nodded slowly and said, "My father, most likely. I chose to go to Hogwarts instead of joining the Hunt."
"I hope he taught you the skills of the Hunter," said Harry, a growl still in his voice. "You'll need them."
"I remember my lessons well, Mr. Potter. Do you?"
Harry blinked and stared at the man for a moment before he nodded slowly.
"Good," said Jeremiah. "We'll need them."
"What is he doing here?" demanded Andrew Bostwick.
"He," replied Jeremiah, "is the only reason we have had warning. Now, listen closely. This is what we must do…"
As the staff gathered around Jeremiah, Harry heard the pounding of feet coming down one of the corridors. For a horrifying second, he thought that one of the Damned had already found their way inside.
A tendril of his presence extended out in that direction told him otherwise.
Fear and anger rose in him as he recognized the three presences that were coming down that corridor.
"Briana Elizabeth Weasley!" he bellowed angrily, causing several of the staff to jump.
"I thought all the students were in the Chamber!" exclaimed Melinda Bostwick.
"These three," growled Harry, "are either extremely brave or stupid. Allow me to handle them."
"You are no teacher…" began Marissa Snape.
"I am their friend, professor. They don't come out of disobedience. They come out of fear."
Harry then turned and glared as the three girls came out of the corridor.
"Harry!" exclaimed Briana, running at him. "You're okay!"
"And you," hissed Harry, "should be safely in the Chamber."
Briana winced as he spoke in the sharp, angry voice of a Parselmouth.
"But Harry," she began, speaking in Parseltongue herself.
"I want you safe, foolish girl," said Harry, grabbing her shoulders in a gentle but firm grip. "Safe!"
"I want you safe too," whispered Briana.
"I know," said Harry. "But I can take care of myself far better than you can. Now get to the Chamber. Please."
Briana nodded and glanced into his eyes before she grabbed a confused Nicole and Lyda's wrists and dragged them away.
"What was that about?" asked the DADA professor, of whom Harry had not bothered to find out the name of.
"Nothing," replied Harry. He then took a step back as several Aurors appeared in the entrance hall via Portkey. Wands were drawn on the instant he was spotted.
"Fuck," commented Harry oh-so-eloquently.
"No!" yelled Jeremiah. "We need him!"
"Explain why we need a bloodthirsty vampire on our side," growled one of the Aurors, who reminded Harry far too much of Mad-Eye Moody. Minus the magical eye.
"He warned us of the threat."
"What threat?"
There was a sudden deep growl from above them and every head tilted upwards to see one of the Damned perched in a window, its red eyes blazing with hunger.
"That would be the threat," said Marissa Snape blandly - as only a Snape could in a dangerous situation.
The Damned let loose a fierce howl and leapt.