Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything really. What a shame.
A/N: I'd like to thank everyone for reading my story and would like to encourage more people to give me their thoughts on it. In other words, PLEASE REVIEW PEOPLE!
I'll be extra extra happy with cherries on top!
A Future Riddle
Do As the Romans Do
Armenius's villa was breathtaking. It had a large second-story balcony over looking much of downtown Rome and the inside was so beautiful that Jessie was almost scared to touch anything. But in the months and years that followed, Jessie found that there was much more to the quiet, charming villa.
The bottom floor and second story were normal enough, they just had a few Vampire comforts. Heavy drapes and blinds over all the windows and a kitchen stocked with bags of blood were enough to make any Vamp feel at home.
The basement floor, however, was where the real action was. It was accessed through a hidden lever behind a portrait Armenius himself had made of Merlin.
In the picture, Merlin was raising his illuminated wand towards the heavens, where, racing down to meet his wand tip was an eager bolt of lightening. Standing in awe below the powerful wizard was an exquisitely drawn boy of about sixteen years. He had brown hair and a pleasant face. "What was Arthur like?" Jessie had asked Armenius the first time she had seen the portrait.
Armenius had looked at his painting as well and had replied, "He was the most noble human I have ever met. And I have met my fair share."
Once having descended the staircase down to the basement, Jessie had found herself in a large high-roofed den of sorts that offered no outside light. In it were all types of wondrous supplies. It had brooms, cauldrons, desks, chalkboards, a pensieve, and littering every wall were rows upon rows of ancient books. It reminded Jessie of the "batcave" she had seen in the cartoon shows of Batman when she was a little human girl.
"Welcome to your classroom for the next generation of your life." Armenius had said.
The next thing Jessie knew, she was sitting at a desk with a notebook and quill in front of her and was taking notes about the History of Magic.
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Learning under Armenius was an experience, to say the least. Everyday, he seemed to push Jessie farther than she thought she'd ever be able to go. By the end of her first year, she had mastered all the basic spells and had taken to broomsticks like she had taken to riding horses as a child. In fact, Jessie had excelled in all her studies and endeavors.
She was fond of history and it was exciting to be taught by someone who had actually lived through all the events he lectured on. Defense Against the Dark Arts was fascinating as well as fun because Armenius always concluded every lesson with a practical test. Transfiguration was challenging, but Jessie found it very useful, especially when they got to the liquid transfiguration. Changing water to blood was dead useful. Potions was probably her least favorite class, but she did well in it. Armenius was a patient instructor and taught at a pace that anyone could understand. "Afterall," he'd always say, "We have all the time in the world."
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By the end of the decade, Jessie was well above the average Wizarding standards in her magic as well as in her skills. After her 'graduation,' Armenius started focusing on intensifying her practical knowledge. She, Trixz, and him would take trips to all the different parts of the world and would kill feral vampires and study ancient Wizarding cultures as well as meet various magical creatures.
The first time Jessie met a Unicorn, she had wept. The silvery, unbridled beauty had fled as soon as the three of them had approached. The thought that she was actually an evil creature of the night and unable to enjoy the company of something so pure had really driven a stake through her heart, figuratively speaking of course. Armenius had said not to worry about it. Unicorns hardly let anyone or anything approach them anyway. He said not to take it personally. Jessie nodded her head and had wiped away her tears, but it hadn't help to alleviate the pain in her unbeating heart.
Their next magical creature encounter had been quite the opposite. The Thestrals seemed to enjoy the vampires presence. As Jessie had sat stroking the velvet black neck, she thought about the connection between Thestrals and Vampires. Both were related to death, and both were creatures of the night. They also both lived off of blood... A sudden thought occurred to her.
"Armenius?"
"Yes," he had said coming up behind her to join in her patting the Thestral.
"How did Thestrals come about? Are they the equivalent of 'vampire' Unicorns?"
"How did you know? Jessie just shrugged. "Well, a long time ago, a Unicorn named Anikon had killed another Unicorn. They were both suitors to the Queen, Arabella, and Anikon grew so jealous of the attention the Queen gave to his competition, that Anikon got rid of him. Now, in the Unicorn Society, murder of another is a primal sin. It was unprecedented that one of there own would kill them. So, unbeknownst to the Queen, who had married and was in foal to Anikon by the time his judgment was passed, the Royal Guard cast a dark curse on him. It made his outside as black and wicked as his inside. Naturally, Anikon fled. He didn't want the Queen to see him for what he really was. And there you have it. He went on to create the herds of Thestrals you see today."
"Wow. That was cool!" Jessie said as she gazed on the Thestral with new eyes. Armenius gave her an odd look. "What? I might be a forty-four year old Vampire, but I can still say 'cool' if I want to."
Armenius had simply shook his head and turned away smirking.
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Fritz occasionally accompanied the threesome on their journeys. He said it was because life was boring in D.C., but Jessie knew it was because he was prone to get lonely.
One time, when the four of them were in Egypt, Trixz had accidentally disturbed a nest of feral vampires and almost been killed. Luckily, Jessie had felt her fear and had dashed to where she sensed her cat to be in danger. Fritz and Armenius had followed, bewildered at her sudden departure from studying the hieroglyphics. They had found Trixz with her back to a wall, hissing for all she was worth in her most menacing game face.
In pure rage, Jessie had marched over to the nearest snarling Vampire and had twisted his head clean off his shoulders. The rest of the nest turned to see what the interference was and had charged at Jessie. Fritz and Armenius came to her rescue and the three of them began fighting. Once the stakes had been pulled out and Fritz's crossbow retrieved, the ten Vampires had been reduced to dust.
"Perhaps Trixz should stay closer to us in the future." Armenius had told Jessie. She nodded her head solemnly and taking her frightened cat in her arms, the four of them left the pyramid and began their journey back to Rome. Fritz had bugged Jessie the whole way back about how gross it had been when the Vamp's head had been twisted off.
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Armenius often made Fritz and Jessie duel. Their Wizarding style fights were intense and frequently ended in stalemates. While Jessie was slightly better than Fritz on her spell work, he had slightly better agility. The end result was constant bickering between the two on who was the better magician.
They became so competitive that one time, patient, always quiet-speaking Armenius had blown up at the two and handcuffed them together.
They had quickly made a metaled heap of the handcuff by the time Armenius had checked on them, so he made a special order for titanium handcuffs and ignoring the smirk of the delivery man, who he swore to drain later, he re handcuffed them. Jessie, who never knew when to keep quiet had said, "You know what that guy thinks your using this handcuff for right?"
Armenius had glared at her for a second and then left the room.
The experience was horrible for the two of them. Fritz would often drag Jessie around everywhere, and she in turn, would constantly whine. At the end of the first week, the two had already attempted to kill each other in their sleep. Even Trixz would avoid Jessie due to the bad mood she was in.
Finally, one night, tired and aching, Fritz tried a new approach. He had been staring at Jessie while she slept, knowing that she was only half-asleep after the whole "blinds being cracked at sunrise" incident, and he couldn't help but think that she looked somewhat attractive. He knew it was probably because he was going insane, but he went on instinct and leaning towards her slightly parted lips, prepared to kiss her. Unfortunately, Jessie sensed him approaching her and quickly sat up. Their heads' banged so hard that the sound woke Trixz who had been sleeping in the next room.
"What the heck were you trying to do?" Jessie screamed at the paler than normal Fritz.
He just continued to stare at her blankly. "Were you trying to kiss me!" Jessie said, not without amusement. When he still didn't say anything and averted his eyes, she knew she had caught him with one hand in the cookie jar. "Why..wouldya wanna..kiss...me?" Jessie gasped out in between her laughter.
Fritz didn't say anything, instead, with his one unhandcuffed arm, he pulled her to him and gave her a sound kiss. Having successfully quelled her laughter, he pulled away with a satisfied smirk and said, "I have no idea."
With a growl of indigence, it was Jessie's turn to pull him toward her and renew the kiss.
Much to Trixz's and Armenius's disdain, the two found themselves a new way to compete that night. Needless to say, they were promptly unhandcuffed the next morning by a highly disgusted Armenius.
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Fifty years after first coming to Rome, Jessie and Trixz left for good and journeyed to England. Armenius said that he had nothing left to teach her. Her only mentor now would be experience, the greatest way to learn.
Fritz was back in D.C., loitering around lobbyists for sure, Jessie thought to herself as she entered the Leaky Cauldron under a black cloak. The tavern had been hard to spot in the early morning darkness as it was already hidden against muggles. Trixz was on her shoulder and glaring at anyone who dared to look at her master.
It thrilled Jessie to no end when Tom the Innkeeper showed her to a room and gave her a key. It was her first meeting with someone from the books and erased any doubt in her mind that they were true. As Jessie sat waiting for the morning to break in the safety of the darkened room, she couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of her future encounters. The next Tom she met would be a Riddle.