Helsing
Alex stared at Edward with his eyes wide open. His breath froze in his lungs, and he couldn't move his limbs as though paralysed. Luane seemed much more aware as she started backtracking.
"Alex, Luane, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be here" chocked Edward, his voice croaky.
Red lights were shone in the bushes surrounding them. These terrible lights spurred something primal in Alex, something that was silenced by the murmur of the civilization. He quickly pulled out the wand from his sleeve. Edward turned from them, and looked at the bushes, and shouted, "No! Alex! Run!" with that he whispered something to the small deer in his arms, and set it free. Before it could gallop far, a hand appeared out of bushes, and grabbed it. There was crack, and the woods rang with silence. Three men appeared from behind the trees, their faces ashen like that of Edwards; Their eyes burned red, and sharp teeth glowed white.
"Helsing, we have finally found you," said a tall, and slander man with long black hair, "You have brought friends, good, we will have enough to satisfy us," he said, with a smile, revealing pointed teeth.
"Aeselli!" snarled Edward, for a moment it seemed he was getting taller, and next in his place slithered a long white snake, almost ten feet in length, rushed at the slander man, and wrapped him with its thick trunk. Next moment the man was gone, morphed into a great wolf, it salivating mouth wide open snarling at the snake.
"Alex! Watch out!" shouted Luane. He saw the red-haired vampire rushing at him, and tried moved away, but the vampire took hold of Alex's hand with an iron grip. Alex tried to snatch away his hand, but it seemed as though the vampire had the strength of ten man. Alex closed his eyes shut, as the sharp pain shot through his neck, and the veins pulsed red. He heard a scream, as a warm sensation spread over his hand. He opened his eyes to see the red-haired man shaking his hand in great agony. Fierce Blue flame danced over his white palms. Another burly vampire, with horribly scarred face, took out a knife, and with one swing cut off red-haired man's hand. His screams echoed throughout the forest, waking birds, and the maned ones. Seeing this the wolf, who had subdued the snake, transformed back into the tall man. He stared at him with his intense brown eyes. An arrow came rushing out of the bushes, and missed the man's eye as he quickly moved away. The arrow lodged itself in the tree trunk. The slamming of hooves rang through the bushes, and a figure jumped out. It was a centaur, with mighty torso of a man, and celerity of a horse. The vampires snarled in fear, and disappeared in the mist.
The Centaur tapped his hooves around, taking them in his view. His nose high, and face proud. By this time Edward has already transformed back, his lower lip scarred and bloody.
"What are you doing here?" said the centaur, in gruff manner, "Scion of Helsing," he glanced at Edward, "Daughter of Morrigan," nodding at Luane. He lowered his neck, and staring at Alex, gravely said, "And the one who's name stars do not whisper."
Alex was about to reply, just when he heard the noise of heavy footsteps. He turned around, raised his wand, but before he could go any further the centaur said, "Don't be alarmed boy, it's Wilde."
Soon, Professor Wilde came rushing out of the bushes, his face wild with fury, which was soon replaced by shock when he saw them, and the hand which was burned to cinders by this time.
"What's going on here?" he said.
"Your students were attacked by the vampires, and where were you?"
"Vampires." said Professor Wilde, bowing his head, "Thank you, Saeth."
"You know the treaty, Tom, even if you have been under my care, I won't be able to help you again," said Saeth, "Be careful, the forces of darkness have taken hold over the forest, even stars do not shine anymore," and with that he galloped away in the forest.
Once Professor Wilde has heard their story, he was livid, and quite angry at Luane and Alex. He grumbled something about their head of house dealing with them. Professor Fallax wasn't in the castle, so he took them to Professor Black, and explained situation to her. She frowned at them, and said, "I thought you were better than this Mr. Fowley"
"Well, Luane..." stammered Alex.
"No excuses, three of you wait here,"
While Professor Black was gone, Edward felt quite uncomfortable, Alex was staring at him with a disturbing glint in eyes.
"What are you staring at?" asked Edward, anger evident in his voice.
"Can you show me those?" said Alex, tapping his teeth.
Edward looked flabbergasted, but reluctantly opened his mouth. Two of his teeth became thinner and sharper until they were just like a syringe.
"Wow," muttered Alex.
"Wicked!" exclaimed Luane.
Door of the office burst open, and in walked Wright and Professor Frost, followed by Professor Black. Although he couldn't see it, Alex was sure that Wright was glaring at them.
"What were you thinking? You could have lost your neck," he shouted, A vein pulsing angrily in his temple.
"Vareck, first let us here them," said Professor Frost, calmy.
They recited their tale while all three Professors listened in silence. At some point Alex started scratching his neck once again.
"I see, first, I'm afraid, I will have to forbid you, from telling this event to anyone else," said Professor Frost.
"Because Edward is a Vampire?" asked Luane.
"I see, Ms. Fischer, you haven't been paying attention in class, have you?" said Wright, with a smile.
"Vampires aren't capable of using wands," whispered Alex. Luane's face turned red in embarrassment.
"Correct, Mr. Helsing is a Half- Vampire," said Wright.
"So, why does that matter?" asked Luane.
"History of conflict between Wizards and Vampires is long one, needless to say both of them have biases'" she said, "Mr. Helsing is in truly delicate position, he is a Half-Vampire and Half-Wizard, thus could potentially be an ambassador, and he is also son of Nosferatu of the United Kingdom, leader and representative of all the vampires in United Kingdm. The three vampires you encountered in the Forbidden Forest, were there to capture him," she said, putting emphasis on the word 'Forbidden'.
"Do you understand why you must not divulge this information?" asked Professor Frost.
Both of them shook their head in agreement.
"Now, Alex you said something about the blue flames?" she asked, kindly, "What did you felt at that moment?"
"Umm, I felt this sharp pain in my neck," said Alex.
Wright pulled out his wand, and said, "Open couple of buttons of your shirt."
Alex gulped nervously, and undid two buttons of his collar. Wright used his wand to pull away the collar. Luane and Edward stared at him in shock, Professor Black raised her eyebrow, and Professor Frost intently looked at his neck, her eyes twinkling.
"What's wrong?" asked Alex. Professor Black pulled out a mirror from the drawer, and placed it in front of him. Alex saw a smudge like dark mark at the base of his neck, on the right side of his body. Alex rubbed his fingers on it, but nothing much happened.
"What is this?" Alex asked.
"It is a cursed mark," said Wright, almost inaudibly.
"Did those vampires gave this to me?" asked Alex, panicking.
"No, very few vampires are capable of that," said Professor Black, and asked, "Have you felt anything unusual lately?"
"He has been scratching his neck," said Luane, "I once told him that maybe he should get it checked."
"That's because I have been feeling uncomfortable, it's only been a week or so," said Alex.
"Stay still Alex," said Professor Frost, she pulled out her wand, pointed it at the mark, and whispered some strange word. "I can't know much at the moment, but I will cast few spells to make sure it doesn't grow," she said, pointed her wand on the mark once again, there was blue flash, and Alex felt a cold sensation spread through his body.
"If you find some changes in it, then immediately come to my office. Do you understand?" She asked.
"Yes," Alex muttered curtly.
"Then I will leave three of you to Professor Wright," she said, and then left. Wright who has been silent all this time said, "Well then, how about fifty points from each of you, with exception of Mr. Helsing of course."
"Fifty!" exclaimed Luane. Alex kicked her under the chair, Wright curled his lips, and said, "Is that too little? Fine! As you say, Ms. Fischer, detention with Professor Payne, Saturday evening, he needs help with some experiments. As for Fowley-"
"Why don't you let me handle that Professor Wright," said Professor Black. Wright stared at her for a second, with pursed lips, as though someone had just dropped a bludger on his toes, and said, "Very well, I will leave him to you," and then turning to them said, "Come along, now, I have to make sure none of you are trampled by a giant or something else."
They walked in silence to their dormitories, and would have said good night to Luane if Wright wasn't towering over them like a one pissed off gargoyle. They didn't immediately go to sleep, you certainly can't when three vampires had tried to gobble you up for dinner. They sat on beds, talking.
"So, you are a Half-Vampire," asked Alex.
"Yes, and you are cursed," reposted Edward, both of them chuckled, "Want to still hang out with me?" he asked, his eyes looked little tired.
"Of course, how many people can say they know, what that centaur had said- Scion of Helsing- let me assure you, very few," said Alex.
"Yeah, what do you think he meant, when he called Luane err Daughter of Morrigan?"
"No idea, mate, my mother says centaurs are wacky this way, you can't make head or tails out of whatever they say," replied Alex.
Next morning Alex and Edward sat on Slytherin table discretely discussing the quaintness of Helsing family.
"So, your family is sort of nobility? And your father is something like the Minister of Magic," asked Alex.
"Not exactly, but I guess you could say that. Although muggles know him as a mayor," said Edward.
"Why do you it this? And you eat lot,"
"My body burns all of this quickly,"
Owl fluttered in the Great Hall, one brought paper to Edward. He opened paper, and quickly read through the headlines. The owl stopped to take a sip from Edward's goblet.
"Ugh, even Daily Prophet is reporting unusual weather over the Hogsmeade. They are never careful," muttered Edward.
"Is it caused by them?" whispered Alex.
"Few of them,"
Alex was about to comment further when an aeroplane swooshed through the air and landed in his plate. He grinned as lifted it up.
"What's that?" asked Edward.
"Obvious, isn't it? An Aeroplane," said Alex, and started unfolding it. A short sentence was written in neat handwriting with black ink: When it's matter of magic flight, bugs are better than birds. Alex smiled as he saw the doodle of a snitch accompanying the phrase.
On Saturday morning three of them sat out for the grounds, Professor Wilde had invited Edward, and his "Two troublesome friends," as he put it for some tea. So, they gaited down the ground to his cabin. Alex was surprised how quickly Edward's lip healed, few days ago they were scarred, and now there was no sign of it.
"I mean, why would you lift that chocolate frog from the ground? That's gross," said Edward.
"Says the guy who drinks blood of animals," replied Luane.
"Tell that to the juicy steak you had yesterday," Alex chuckled, "And I think you would prefer me to be a Lavko rather than a Mavros."
"What are those?" asked Alex, curiously.
"Lavkos and Mavros? Well, around the beginning of the twelfth century, Vampires of British Isles split into two groups Lavkos, those who chose to make peace with humans, and feed onto other mammals; Mavros, those who chose to feed on humans," said Edward, and added, "Lavkos, for most part, have been ruling ever since, but then Voldy came along, and kicked the bucket."
"You mean Voldemort, that guy who hated muggles?" asked Luane.
"Yeah, what do you think? Such a major civil war between wizards won't have any effect on other creatures? Goblins were pissed off at Harry Potter," sighed Edward, "His family was attacked multiple times by Mavros, even than it took lot of convincing by quite few people for him to leave the country. What a legend," said Edward, reverentially.
They arrived at the small hut; one wonders about the funding of the Hogwarts. They knocked on the door, Professor Wilde opened door with a smile, and said, "Edward, come on in, bring your friends as well. Hagrid's hut is always ready to share its warmth."
A copper cattle whistled over the fire place. It was small, but comfortable place. They occupied chairs, while Professor Wild prepared tea. Alex heard a cry, he looked down to see fluffy white cat with large blue eyes staring at him. It jumped, and made a comfortable place in Alex's lap.
"Ah, you must be special, Alex," said Professor Wilde, beaming at him, "Peppermint doesn't show affection to just anyone." Luane looked at him jealously, he beamed at her.
"Sir, could I ask you a question?" said Luane.
"Of course, and no need of formality in private, call me Tom," he said, graciously.
"Yeah, why did you call It Hagrid's hut?"
"Oh, old habits die hard. When I was a student at Hogwarts, the keeper of keys was Rubeus Hagrid, and he was used to live here. You know he trained me, then he moved to France," he said, poring tea, "He was wonderful with animals, but not so much when it came to explaining them," he sipped tea, "You must think I am large, but you should have seen Hagrid. He wasn't just big boned; he was a half-giant."
"So, how do you know Edward? I mean, other than midnight forest trip with centaurs," asked Alex, smoothing Peppermint's fur.
"I took him to the Diagon Alley. We were trying to be discrete; I mean if he had walked with his father, half of the wizarding world would have known that son of Nosferatu was going to Hogwarts, even before we had gotten out of the Gringotts."
"I didn't know your father was famous," said Luane, to Edward.
"He wasn't, neither was my grandfather, but things changed after Voldemort killed him,"
"Oh, sorry," she said, Alex thought that was surprisingly sensitive of her.
"Nah, don't worry about it, I never met him,"
"You kids are quite fortunate; you didn't have to live in those dark times. He alienated many magical creatures Merpeople, Vampires, Centaurs, Goblins and even hags!" said Tom.
They left Hagrid's Hut near afternoon. They were going back to the castle, when Alex saw a blonde figure sitting near the lake. He told Edward and Luane to go ahead, and he will join them later. As Alex came near the calm lake, Grace looked up, and said, "Hey, Alex, did you get it?"
"Yeah, what are the chances of you teaching me that spell?"
"Naught! That's a sixth-year spell, I doubt you can learn it," she said, closing the book.
"You are in third year, and you did,"
"And it took me eight months. Anyway, why would I do it?"
"How about a chocolate frog?" he said, throwing a card at her.
"Nice try, but do you really think I collect?"
"No, but your friend does," said Alex, sitting down.
"How do you know that?"
"He plays Quidditch, even if he's not interested in other cards, he definitely collects Quidditch cards," said Alex. She was silent for a moment, tapping a quill on her lips, then she said, "Ginny Weasley."
"That's rare! I'm not trading that even for a gallon,"
"How about a bet?" she asked.
"I don't bet cards; they are utterly useless,"
"Then why do you collect them?"
"I don't collect, I trade," he said, taking out a ball of chocolate from his pocket.
"How about Honey dukes' finest chocolate, a box. If you manage to learn the spell before the end of year. Deal?" she asked.
"Deal," he said, shaking her hand.
"Alright, first, let's understand the transfiguration spell,"
"Transfiguration?" he asked, nervously.
"Yes, not everything flies. It is better to transfigure the paper into something that you already know flies."
After about countless tries, both of them were sitting in a hip of crumpled papers. Grace decided to leave after informing him that he absolutely sucks at the transfiguration. Well, Alex knew that anyway.