Notes: And here is the next installment in my "Season 2" project! As the summary promises, Miss Grimwood and the Ghoul School girls will be playing a large role in this, but so will Dracula and the rest of the monsters from The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries ep, "A Halloween Hassle at Dracula's Castle." For the purposes of my timeline, that Dracula is the same as the one from Ghoul School (with the other monsters featured in that episode being the same as the other girls' fathers), but not Reluctant Werewolf (Reluctant Werewolf doesn't really fit in my timeline since I'm going the Ghoul School route and Dracula is so different there; however Shaggy being the "ideal" werewolf will be referenced at some point in this fic, and Googie will have a role—but probably not one you're expecting); and my portrayal of Dracula will be largely based on his Ghoul School portrayal, but with a bit of the original Stoker novel and the Castlevania game series thrown in—the mention of Julius Belmont refers to a previous fic of mine, "In the Blood."

The day in Castle Van Ghoul progressed with a familiar scene—Shaggy and Daphne learning magical theory with Vincent in his study as Flim-Flam, Scooby, and Scrappy played a game, inevitably listening in on the lesson. Although, today's lesson wasn't all that interesting, at least not to Daphne—

"Remind me again," Daphne sighed, looking up from the book she was reading. "Why are we memorizing the Latin names of all these plants?"

"Because the common names vary by era and by language—and mixing them up can have disastrous results," Vincent replied, calmly. "For example—putting Sphagnum moss instead of Fontinalis moss will turn your fire-resistance elixir into embalming fluid."

"…Yeah, like, let's avoid that," Shaggy said, his eyes wide.

"…Okay, I concur," Daphne agreed, also stunned.

"Your tone of voice says that you've seen it before, Vince," Flim-Flam observed, wanting to know this story.

"Yes," Vincent mused. "During my schooldays; it happened to one of the intermediate students—on a dare, someone told him to improvise some substitutions for an elixir. He would've been in a coma for six months, perhaps, if Associate Dean Leonidas hadn't swooped in with an antidote and a strong healing spell. Nevertheless, it was an effective lesson for all of us present."

"Rhi'll bet!" Scooby exclaimed.

"I'll second that!" Scrappy agreed, also wide-eyed now. "And I'm not even at the studying part yet!"

"It's never too early to…" Vincent trailed off as his crystal ball rang. "…Hold that thought, won't you?" He picked up the crystal. "Yes? …Ah, Helena!"

"How are you, Vincent?" the image of Miss Helena Grimwood asked, appearing in the crystal ball. "And your kids, of course?"

Vincent took note of her harried expression, quickly deducing that this wasn't a social call.

"We're all quite fine, Helena, but do put aside the pleasantries—something is troubling you. What's happened?"

She dropped the mask almost immediately.

"…One of my students is missing," she admitted, worry filling her voice.

The kids were all paying attention now; they'd met Miss Grimwood at Vincent's school reunion over a year ago, and even though she had been in the Advanced Class two years younger than his, she'd more or less been a part of Vincent's gang back then. She'd taken a liking to them almost instantly, and had even requested Shaggy to consider coaching her students for a gym class. Shaggy hadn't committed to anything, but he'd been flattered at the offer.

And Vincent sighed in concern, giving a nod of understanding.

"It's little Winifred—Winnie, we call her," Miss Grimwood continued. "And her disappearance is very clearly part of something bigger—something that has Count Dracula himself concerned, on account of the fact that he has very personal interests in all of this; his daughter is another one of my students, you see, and in addition to that—"

"Forgive my interruption, Helena, but if Dracula is involved in this, wouldn't Voudini be the better one to handle this?" Vincent asked, as Shaggy and Daphne exchanged wide-eyed glances. "The Count holds Voudini and yourself in much higher esteem than he would me; he knows very well that I owe my life to the Belmont Clan—his mortal enemies—and more than once."

"That's why I need you, Vincent; Julius Belmont is involved in this, too—and so are the Harkers," she said. "That's how big this is. We're here in Romania now, on the edge of the border between Wallachia and Transylvania; Voudini is already here, and so is Associate Dean Leonidas's son—in his stead, of course. And, more than that, you are the one I trust most of all with regards to finding Winnie." She gave a wan smile. "Your paternal instincts have been becoming just as well-known as your powers, lately. But, of course, I knew that about you even during our schooldays—you were the elder brother I never had."

Vincent suppressed a smile.

"You don't have to flatter me, Helena—I'll be there momentarily."

"Thank you, Vincent—truly, thank you," Miss Grimwood replied, sincerely. She already seemed relieved.

Vincent nodded and ended the call; he exhaled for a moment before looking back at the kids.

"Well, you heard. Shaggy, Daphne, I'm afraid I'll be cutting this lesson short while I take care of this," he said.

Daphne bit her lip, and Shaggy cleared his throat.

"Um, you know, Daphne and I can probably continue our reading while you take care of it," he said.

"Yeah, and we can all hold the fort here," Scrappy added.

"Rheah!" Scooby agreed.

"Wait, what…?" Flim-Flam asked, staring at Scrappy. Scooby and Shaggy offering to bow out was something he was used to—but Scrappy?

Vincent was clearly thinking along the same lines, glancing at Scrappy in confusion, and then glancing over at Daphne, who hadn't countered anything that the others had said. His confusion then turned to concern.

"Well…!" the warlock said, glancing around the study. "I'm certainly capable of handling this with my fellow mages, but this is a rather surprising turn of events—especially since I know you all got along rather well with Julius Belmont when you sought his aid to rescue me from the High Inquisitor's ghost."

"It's got nothing to do with Julius," Daphne said. "It's about Dracula being involved in this."

"The Count? …Ah, I see; this is about that incident you mentioned when Chandra was involved with him?" Vincent realized.

"Like, that's pretty much it," Shaggy gulped. "Not only is the Moonstone Medallion gone again, we didn't exactly leave on good terms with Dracula."

"Rheah, rafter all we did to rhelp him, he and all the other rhmonsters turned on us!" Scooby complained.

"Yeah, we all booked it—even me," Scrappy sighed.

Vincent's eyes narrowed as Flim-Flam nodded, understanding now.

"Is that so!?" the warlock demanded.

Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy all nodded, and Vincent's expression softened slightly.

"Well, I won't force you to go," he promised. "But just remember that I am here this time—and I vow that I will not let Dracula lay so much as a cold finger on any of you. And I will make that clear to him in no uncertain terms—while doing my best not to set Voudini's diplomatic efforts back."

"…What are you going to tell him?" Daphne asked, wide-eyed again.

"That will be between the count and myself," Vincent replied, though his voice had taken on a noticeable edge to it.

"Zoinks…" Shaggy mused. He had to admit, after Dracula had terrorized him and the rest of the gang by his sudden betrayal, seeing Vincent strike some fear into the vampire would be satisfying, but at the same time…

"Vincent…" Daphne sighed, putting the rest of Shaggy's thoughts into words. "You know we're grateful for your looking out for us but, please… don't start anything with Dracula, huh?"

"Trust me—that's the last thing I would want," Vincent assured her. "We need to be very careful and diplomatic when vampires are involved."

"Why do you need to be diplomatic with vampires anyway!?" Scrappy asked. "Why can't you just splat 'em!?"

"The entire reason why the count and his ilk have been quiet since his most recent resurrection is because of the efforts of Voudini's diplomacy," Vincent said. "As with the fae, we mages would want to avoid a war with the undead, most of whom are commanded by Dracula; the collateral damage would be disastrous if there was a war—and that collateral damage would include mortals. It would also include several of the undead, so Dracula would want to avoid that, as well."

"So he would know better than to try anything with us again because you wouldn't let that pass," Daphne realized. "Okay, then, I'll go with you."

"Are you sure?" Vincent asked.

"Well, I am your heiress—and your favorite daughter-by-choice," she pointed out, with a smile.

"Hey!" Shaggy exclaimed. "If she gets to get out of studying these plant names, so do I! I'm going, too!"

"Rhaggy!" Scooby yelped in disbelief.

"Uh…" Shaggy trailed off, only then realizing what he'd just volunteered for. "…Oh boy. Well, I've put my foot in it now, huh?"

"Rhou sure did!" Scooby chided.

"Well, you're not leaving me behind!" Scrappy said. "We've definitely got better odds with Vincent!"

"And he's got better odds with us," Flim-Flam added. "So, I'm in."

"Rhat's true," Scooby sighed. "Rhokay, Rhi'll go too."

"Very well—but stay close to me at all times, all of you," Vincent instructed. "The Count may be making an effort at a more peaceful existence, but the presence of so many mortals will still be tempting for him, no doubt. But with luck, we'll spend as little time near the Count as possible—I imagine Helena will want us to also spend time looking for her missing student, Winifred."

"Do you think Winnie's disappearance has anything to do with someone trying to stir up Dracula's ire?" Daphne asked. "I mean, what if someone wants diplomacy to break down and devolve into something worse? If Julius is involved, it's already started."

"…The possibility did cross my mind," Vincent admitted. "And I hope that isn't the case—for all of our sakes. Now, then, let's be off—Helena is waiting for us."

Shaggy and Scooby gulped, but steeled themselves as they all teleported.