Chapter 20
As Harry sat down, Morpheus came out of the shadows with a bag in his mouth. Shannon took the bag from him and stuck her hand inside. When she withdrew her hand, she was holding a bottle of water.
"Can anyone tell me what this is?" she asked.
"Water?" said Ron.
"Yes, but it's more than just water," she said. "Look at the bottle very closely."
"There's a cross on the front," said Pansy.
"Good, now what does that tell you about the water?" she asked.
"It's has something to do with a church," Seamus said.
"What's a church?" asked Neville.
"A church is a building where muggles go to talk to 'God'," she said. "God is believed to be the creator of the world and everyone on it in the muggle world."
"It's holy water," Hermione said.
"Good job, Miss Granger," she said setting it down and sticking her hand into the bag again and pulled out a wooden cross. "This is too easy. This is a cross. A holy object in the muggle world."
Shannon set the cross beside the water and pulled out stake. "What's that?" asked Pansy.
"It's a stake," Malfoy said proudly. "My father owns plenty of them."
"Your father owns a lot of things," said Shannon sharply as she pulled out a clear orb. "Lumos."
The clear orb suddenly lit up like a light bulb, but not as blinding. "What is that?" asked Hermione.
"Catch," Shannon said tossing it to her. "I know that no one recognizes this object."
"Is it holy?" asked Neville.
Shannon smiled. "No," she said laughed. "It's called a Sun Orb. We use this to chase out night creatures."
Hermione passed it along to Harry who passed it to Ron. "So you can throw one of these into a cave and the nocturne creatures come running out?" she said.
"Exactly," Shannon said. "They believe it's the sun and run out thinking it's safer than being in the cave or wherever they are."
"Where can you buy one of these Sun Orbs?" asked Malfoy as he looked at it.
"Forget it," said Shannon taking it from him. "Nox. Only the American Wizarding Government has these and they don't give them out to just anyone."
"Do they give them to Aurors?" asked Neville.
"I haven't met an Auror yet who didn't have one in their pocket," she said.
"What's under the black sheet?" asked Malfoy.
"I think it's about time to show you," she said standing up.
Morpheus grabbed hold of the black sheet and quickly pulled it off to reveal a tall rectangular wood box. In the center on the front was an engraved cross. Shannon slowly ran her hand over the cross before turning her attention back to her students.
"Does anyone have a guess as to what might be inside of this?" she asked darkly.
"A werewolf?" suggested Dean.
"Maybe," Shannon said. "Mr. Weasley?"
"Ghoul?" said Ron.
"Maybe," she said. "Mr. Potter? Do you have any ideas? Say the first thing that comes to mind."
"Er – vampire?" Harry said, saying the first thing that came to mind.
The corners of Shannon's mouth curled as she walked out of the shadows. "Let's find out, shall we?" she said turning her back to them.
The shutters once again slammed closed, plunging them into semidarkness. She waved her wand and the sound of a rusty lock opening filled the room. The front of the box slowly swung open and a soft hissing noise emitted from the box.
"Good morning, Angelo," said Shannon walking back to the trunk she sat on. "Did you have a nice nap?"
"Of course," said a deep voice with a thick accent.
"Why don't you come out and join us?" suggested Shannon as she sat on the trunk. "No one is going to hurt you. Their all school children."
"Last time you said that I ended up with a knife in my gut," said a young man as he stepped out of the box.
He had wavy brown hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. His eyes were a golden yellow and his skin was an ivory color. He wore a black suit, a navy blue shirt, a black tie, and black shoes.
"Everyone this is Angelo," introduced Shannon. "He's a friend of mine from Spain."
"You use to be a hunter," said Angelo sitting on the trunk. "Chasing me with stakes and holy water. Until that one full moon when I saved you from that Werewolf."
"I thought we agreed not to speak of that night," Shannon hissed.
"How can you be friends with a vampire?" asked Pansy holding onto Malfoy's arm. "Won't he kill you?"
"When he tries I just show him my stake," said Shannon sitting beside Angelo as she played with a silver cross around her neck. "Ask questions cause we've got more stuff to learn today."
As Harry looked at Angelo, he noticed a dark brown mark on the back of each hand resembling the cross around Shannon's neck.
"How old are you?" asked Parvati.
"Parvati, that's rude," said Lavender.
"It's okay, ladies," Angelo said with a sly smile. "I am a hundred and twenty."
"Ooh," the two girls said.
"Where are you from?" asked Hermione.
"Romania," said Angelo. "And who is this lovely flower?"
Shannon thought for a moment and then said, "Hermione Granger. Gryffindor."
Angelo took Hermione's hand into his own and gently kissed the top of her hand.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Granger," he said looking into her eyes. "You are quite beautiful."
His eyes moved to his right and laid upon Harry. As Harry looked into his eyes he heard Angelo's voice inside of his head. "Delicious," said Angelo. "Keep her close to you. Don't loose her." Then his voice was gone.
Angelo let go of Hermione's hand turned to Shannon. "Do you have anything to eat?" he asked.
"I think so," Shannon said standing up. "I'll be right back."
Shannon disappeared into the shadows. The sound of her shoes clicking on the stone steps echoed in the room. As the clicking sound faded, Malfoy asked, "How many people have you killed?"
Angelo narrowed his eyes and looked at the blond young man. "Too many to count," he said harshly looking at the young lady beside Malfoy. "What is your name, my dear?"
"Pansy Perkins," said Pansy shyly.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Perkins," Angelo said kissing her hand.
Malfoy sneered as Shannon's voice carried down to them from the balcony.
"Angelo, come here please," she said.
As Angelo stood and walked away, he seemed to float over to the stairs. His footsteps were silent. He disappeared into the shadows and moments later the sound of the heavy wooden door at the top of the stairs closed. The room fell silent.
"What a bunch of crap," said Malfoy with a sneer. "Vampires are meant only to be assassins."
"Shut it, Malfoy," said Harry sharply.
"Most of their kind are with Voldemort already," hissed Malfoy.
Several people hissed at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, almost the entire Gryffindor class, which increased the size of Malfoy's smile. A sudden growling sound caught Malfoy's attention as Morpheus walked out of the shadows and stood between him and Harry.
The sound of bats chattering caught everyone's attention as they looked around the dark room. Suddenly, Shannon and Angelo stepped out of the shadows. Shannon held her arm as they sat down on the trunk. She looked slightly paler than after she had touched the Patronum. A red spot glistened on the corner of Angelo's mouth as Harry looked at him.
Blood? Thought Harry. Who's though? Shannon's?
"Okay everyone," said Shannon. "Everyone open your books to chapter 5. As you can see, I will be jumping to different chapters throughout the semester. It all depends on what I believe you need to know right now, based on what's happening around the world."
"We're learning about Vampires now why?" asked Malfoy, leaning further into the couch.
"Because the Dark Lord is calling for the Vampires to join him," said Shannon. "Now please begin your reading and no more questions."