Hello! This chapter primarily deals with Harry beginning the process of coming to terms with what he is and what his new life will be. I don't want to belabor anything but feel it is important to at least be somewhat honest with the situation that he now finds himself in and what I think most of us would do if we were faced with this.
Thanks for reading and reviewing and for providing constructive criticism!
Here is a disclaimer that unfortunately states that I do not own anything that I am writing about and am merely hoping to play in another author's sandbox for a short time and what follows is for entertainment purposes only.
Vampire; he was now possibly a vampire. Harry let that thought flit around his mind for several moments as he came to terms with his new reality.
Once his initial shock wore off – and to be honest he had endured worse surprises than this before – he calmed somewhat and then began to go over what he knew about the creature that he had likely just become.
Only, as he stood there, standing over the bloodless wolf, he found himself having difficulty in trying to remember the specifics of what he had learned about vampires or other blood-drinking species while at Hogwarts.
In fact, the more he thought about it the more difficult it became to recall many of the specific details about his former life. Like some of the things that he knew he had read in History of Magic that could have helped him now.
But he did remember some things.
Like it was easy for him to remember the big stuff: who he was as a person; why he had escaped the Dursley's in his attempt to make his own decisions for once; and the people and things that he had left behind. But if he tried going further than that then he was met with fuzzy memories that were ill-defined and becoming more cloudy by the minute.
Plus, trying to remember anything about his human life naturally meant that he had to go to a time before the burning, and that had been so vividly ingrained into his memory that it was difficult to get passed.
It was slightly disconcerting, and Harry didn't know if remembering all of those horrible details of the burning was the reason why he couldn't access all of the memories that he knew he possessed. Harry reasoned that it could just as easily have been because he was now a different being entirely and so the life that he had lived before just didn't matter all that much to him anymore. To be honest, he wasn't even sure about what day of the week it was!
Whatever the reason, all Harry could recall about vampires was that they were immortal and preferred to subside on blood, although for some reason he knew that they could choose to eat things like pasties or blood-flavored lollipops if they so desired. It would have appeared that he could remember some specifics after all.
But then there were other bits of information that he had to try really hard to recall. Like the garlic, which Professor Quirrell had been convinced had the ability to keep them away but Harry didn't see how that was possible since his nose could detect the fragrance of the bulbous plant not too far from him and he didn't feel an aversion to that in the least.
Another item that he recalled as being dangerous to vampires was a wooden stake, and that was just ridiculous. If the razor-sharp claws of a wolf had not managed to leave their mark on his skin than what hope did a pointy bit of wood have to pierce his chest?
And then there was the sunlight – which again didn't seem to bother him in the least.
But were all those things that he had learned at Hogwarts or were some of them things he had heard about in muggle fairy tails? This was where his memory really began to fail him again; it was all so jumbled together and the harder he tried to remember the worse it became.
Either way, he was positive that he had never heard anything remotely similar to the burning process that he had endured or other aspects about the immortal life that would have given him a heads up on what he could expect in the future. Plus, he was almost certain that he had absolutely no desire for anything other than blood since just the thought of ingesting anything other than that warm and delicious substance was quite frankly, unappetizing.
All together, Harry realized that there was a great deal that he still didn't know or understand about himself – if a vampire really was the thing that he had just become. The few things that he did know were that he very much enjoyed satisfying the thirst in his throat and that he relished the thought of how much stronger he was. If he could take on a wolf so easily, what else could he stand against and overcome?
Although, thinking about his effortless takedown of the large, grey wolf only made him think of Remus, and by extension his parents. What would they think if they saw him like this? But he had a hard time worrying about that considering his first priority had and would always be his own survival.
Continuing along that trail of thought, Harry began to wonder if he was even still a wizard or capable of doing magic. Using his increased mental abilities, he quickly and logically went through what he knew.
The first was that he recognized that Remus was both a werewolf and a wizard, meaning that the bite that he had received as a child did not prevent him from having access to his magic. His first question to answer then was whether or not it was the same for him.
Because magic had been the one unifying constant in his life and had been the only remaining link to his parents that made him feel like they were always with him, that they had never truly died.
That wasn't a good thought and he knew at once that he needed to know whether he still had his magic before he contemplated anything else. And his mind was quick to supply an easy way for him to find out since he now had a vivid, almost photographic memory that told him where his wand was lying beside the fire pit that he had glimpsed from the trees above.
Almost instantly, at the same time that his mind had made the decision to test whether or not he was still magical, his body had leaped into the air and he began to run at inhuman speeds towards his holly wand at the campsite.
Like before, his body moved through the woods with ease but without the bloodlust in his eyes, he was able to take in the full experience and make note of his increased mental and physical abilities. For example, he was now quite aware as to just how fast that he had to be running given that his feet were hitting the ground and propelling him forward at the same rate that the hummingbird in the distance was flapping its wings. Each beat of the small bird's wings happened as if he was watching it in slow motion, but he knew that he wasn't because soon the bird was out of sight as he ran past it.
But that wasn't the only example, for all around him time seemed to slow down because of his speed, and he was able to process every sound and every little detail. He didn't even have to spend that much time thinking about running over and around fallen trees; his mind had more than enough time to ensure that his feet had the proper footing to continue. In fact, it was even a simple thing to launch himself over a large boulder and hit the ground running as if he hadn't of just jumped twenty feet into the air.
Yet, instead of becoming alarmed by any of this, Harry almost became distracted from his goal of retrieving his wand at the beauty apparent around him. It was so mesmerizing and he honestly didn't have the right words to describe it. The best that he could express was that the forest had come alive in a way that he had never thought possible before. The odd rays of light would enter from the small parts between the clouds and reflect off the water droplets falling from the leaves, causing a cascade of colors to radiate outwards in every direction.
And then there were the small animals, like the squirrels and field mice, which, much like the hummingbird, seemed to dance about in slow motion.
It was almost magical, and that thought helped to focus him as he concentrated on slowing down his speed to enter the clearing that held all of his earthly possessions.
Harry's quick pace slowed to a walk as he fully took in the scene before him. What had been a roaring fire was now a damp pit, and next to it in the grass was his holly wand that he had dropped when he had been violently grabbed from behind.
He remembered that moment clearer now: one minute he had been staring into the comforting fire and the next there had been two cold and very strong hands that had lifted him from his seat on the log and held him still before an excruciating pain tore into his neck.
Thinking back to that pivotal event, his hand subconsciously moved towards the gape of his neck and began to feel for the horrible scar that simply had to be there given his memory. Strangely, as his fingers traced over the area that he was sure had been where the vampire's fangs had sank into him he did not feel anything but his perfectly smooth skin.
In fact, now that he was thinking about scars, his hand moved to trace over his other scar – the one that had made him the Boy Who Lived. However, that wasn't there either. It was most unusual to suddenly find himself without one of the features that had defined him since birth.
But he pushed the questions as to what other physical changes he had seemingly undergone to the side for a moment as his eyes caught sight of his wand again and he bent to pick it up.
The thought of not having his magic was disconcerting, and as his fingers closed around the wand he got a very bad feeling in his gut. Because ever since the first time that he had held onto it inside Mr. Ollivander's, he had always been able to feel a familiar warmth flow through his fingertips upon being in contact with it.
He didn't feel that now and Harry almost didn't even need to try a spell to know that he was no longer a wizard. But he did anyways and the words of his Summoning Charm echoed off the trees and failed to make his satchel fly to him.
On some level he was happy about that because it meant that the prophecy didn't apply to him anymore and that he would be free of Voldemort. How could he fit into it if he was no longer magical?
Though, a much larger part of him began to grieve at losing that link to his parents, his friends, and the one place that he had considered home from the very first time that he had seen it: Hogwarts.
Only, as much as he wanted to cry, he couldn't.
Harry sank to his knees as he processed what his future meant now that he had been transformed into something that he knew so very little about. While he was thinking, the sun set and rose again and still his mind was busy processing everything that had and was happening to him.
But oddly, as the sun set for a second time Harry began to see his situation as the very thing that he had been looking for when he had set off on his own. Hadn't he wanted to shape his own future and take control of his own life?
In a weird way this was the very thing that he had needed. Sure, it wasn't what he had in mind but he had to be honest that it was far better than the life that he had left. Who knew how shitty his sixth year at Hogwarts would have been, and it was quite possible that he would have been dead by his seventh year given how things had been going.
Who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth if it had come in a different form than the one that he had been expecting?
It was that thought – more than anything – that finally allowed him to stand and face his new existence as the sun began to set on his second day as a vampire. He had wanted to start a new life and he had gotten one, and he was not going to waste this unexpected opportunity of true freedom.
But first, he needed to feed again. The pain in his throat wasn't as bad as it had been the first time but as the night continued to darken it became more of an issue. However, his problem was easily solved as he took off into the dark woods and discovered a herd of deer. The blood didn't taste as good as the wolf's, but it satisfied his craving for the time being.
Harry returned that night to his campsite with a clearer mind, and thus was able to better focus on his next steps.
The first thing that he began to consider was his lack of sleep. It was pitch black outside – though he didn't have any trouble seeing because of his vampire sight – and now he had been awake for nearly two full days without having the slightest feeling of fatigue or drowsiness. Surely vampires needed to get some form of rest, didn't they?
In fact, Harry thought that he had remembered reading that vampires slept during the day because the sunlight was harmful to them. Clearly that wasn't the case since the sun had managed to shine on him several times during the previous two days when the clouds had briefly parted. But then again, he had managed to deduce that he was likely a vampire – or something extremely similar to one – despite the fact that he had been outside at the time.
So perhaps not everything he knew or suspected about vampires was true, and it was therefore possible that sleep, much like sunlight, was just another thing the books had gotten wrong about them.
But if he needed to sleep at some point in the future then he would do so, which moved his mind right along to think about how he would figure out what day it was.
For the past two days he had debated how long the burning had lasted and he was curious to see how much time had actually passed. Given the fact that he was not able to perform a simple Tempus Charm given that he lacked magic, Harry knew that the only way that he would learn anything is by heading into the town that he had last passed through on his way here.
Though, he was sure that the town that he was thinking of would take him just a little bit longer – even with his new speed – to reach on foot considering that it was on the other side of the mountains and that he had flown here on his broom.
"My Firebolt!" he said suddenly.
While he no longer could use his wand, that didn't necessarily translate into him being unable to use other and, more importantly, inherently magical objects.
Thus, his broom was in his hands almost instantly, but just like with his wand Harry knew from the moment that he touched the polished wood that he no longer had the ability to fly. There was no hum that he felt flow between himself and the gift from his late Godfather, and Harry threw the broom away in a fit of anger knowing that it was useless.
Unfortunately, Harry had not yet gotten used to his increased strength and the broom smashed loudly into the nearby oak and crumbled upon impact.
Seeing the remnants of his shattered broom fall in slow motion towards the ground angered him and doing the only thing that made sense at the time, Harry went over to that tree and kicked it. Needless to say, Harry was soon watching in disbelief as the tree uprooted itself before splintering where his foot had made contact and then falling over to the ground in pieces.
His anger was suddenly nowhere to be found as he questioned if there was a limit to his inhuman strength. It was a given that he would now have to test what he could and could not do, but first he wanted to go through the rest of his belongings and see if any of them were still useful.
The Marauders' Map was automatically ruled useless since he couldn't use a wand and, carefully this time because he didn't want to damage it, he placed the parchment aside. Next he went to grab his slightly expanded satchel that he had picked up in Diagon Alley the last time he had been there. He was surprised to find that he could still use it and removed the Invisibility Cloak that had belonged to his father.
Harry held his most treasured heirloom in his hands as he wondered if the fact that he didn't need any of his magic to interact with the satchel was a possible reason for why he could still use that and not the other items.
He hoped that that was the case and that it also applied to his cloak because losing the last connection to his parents was something that he didn't want to even think about. After hesitating for a few moments, he draped it around himself – much like he did that Christmas day when he had first received it – and was very relieved to see the bottom half of himself disappear. In that moment of relief he let out the breath that he had been holding when it struck him that he wasn't out of breath in the least.
In fact, using his ridiculous memory, he thought back over the past two days and realized that not once had he felt like he had needed air. Even with the very fast running that he had been doing, there was no point at which he could remember needing oxygen.
So Harry concentrated on keeping his diaphragm still and noted that as the seconds ticked by there was no inkling of an urge to draw a breath and take in a fresh supply of air. Furthermore, in concentrating on his absence of breathing he realized that he also lacked a beating heart.
If he had had any doubts about being a member of the living dead before, well, he didn't have any now.
"Huh," was all that he could think to say as he sat back on the ground and continued going through the rest of his belongings.
Focusing on that was much easier than fixating on the fact that he was truly not alive in the usual sense.
Much easier.
Once he was finished stowing the items he could take with him in his satchel, Harry took a last look around the campsite and decided that it was time to find out what day it was.
Heading in the direction that he thought the road was, Harry took off at a more leisurely, but still very fast speed. However, he had just reached a point where he began to hear the distinct sounds of a car engine when the most delicious and mouthwatering scent reached his nose.
This was so much better than the wolf and Harry could feel moisture begin to build in his mouth. Like before, his body took over and his senses led him to an overlook where he saw a biker pedaling furiously up the side of the mountain. The breeze that washed over his body brought with it an even more enticing and all-consuming scent that begged him to action.
As if that wasn't enough, his ears were focused on the steady beating, no, pounding of the young man's heart that emphasized just how much blood was waiting for his lips and tongue to lap up.
His eyes easily honed in on the pulsing artery in the man's neck and because of how in shape the rider was it was easy for Harry to see where all of the blood was flowing under his skin-tight outfit. It was calling to him and demanded for him to drink it all.
By the time that Harry was able to process that vampires fed on all types of blood, including human, his mouth was already overflowing with that delicious nectar. And it was only after all the blood was gone and the red haze lifted from his eyes that he realized that he had just killed someone only a few years older than himself.
Hey! So, I think the first few chapters will be rather short and they will come rather quickly. The next ones – when Felix finally comes back – will be longer and Harry will start to discover that he has other urges than just the dryness in his throat.
Clearly, I think Harry will have to eat some humans. I think any of us in this situation would and it would take that first kill before we could deal with it or not.