Renesmee Cullen and the Locket of Michael
Chapter 6: Allies and Enemies
Renesmee's breath caught in her throat when she got into McGonagall's office. Spike leaned against the stone wall smoking a cigarette but that was normal, she thought. What wasn't normal was the unusually cute older man sitting in front of McGonagall's desk. He was tall, pale and had dark, spiked hair that showed an abnormally large forehead. Willow and Giles stood by the newer man talking excitedly to him until Renesmee came in and the man smiled at her. Renesmee smiled back and sat down beside him. "Miss Cullen," McGonagall said grinning slightly and pointing at the new man, "this is Angel from Los Angeles, and I believe you've already met Spike, Willow and Mr. Giles."
"Yes, ma'am." Renesmee said nodding then, to Angel, she said, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Renesmee Cullen." Angel shook her hand and greeted her the same way. "So, um, why am I here, Professor?"
"I called you here because Willow and Giles have found something very interesting about the murder of Professor Macmillan." McGonagall explained. "They found the vampire was actually one of the Old Ones, the first vampires to walk this planet."
"Yes," Mr. Giles said grimly, "you see, vampires have changed considerably throughout the milennia, but the Old Ones are still around to this day." With a wave of his wand, a black book with a golden title opened to the page he marked and showed Renesmee a picture of a bestial form. "This is a Moloch vampire, a direct descendant of the Fallen Angel named Moloch."
"I've heard of him," Renesmee said nodding, "and I'm starting to think that this Moloch guy is the one trying to kill me or something."
"That would be impossible, really, because Moloch the Destroyer was killed millenia ago by the Archangel Michael, I'm sure you've heard." Renesmee nodded. "Right, well, there is a chance that Moloch has not been killed again. In fact, he may just be in hiding or even lurking about somewhere trying to find sustenance."
Renesmee understood what Mr. Giles was saying but her next question was directed at Professor McGonagall. "I understand all of this because Rose Weasley told me the story of the Fallen Angels, but why are Angel and Spike here?" Surprisingly, it was Angel who answered the question.
"Professor McGonagall and the Ministry contacted Spike and myself because we can do something. Giles and Willow used to help an old friend of mine fight evil and...well, Spike and I are..." He glanced at Spike who gave him a curt nod. "We're vampires." Renesmee shook her head as if she didn't believe him and he grinned. "Don't believe me? Maybe this will change your mind." Spike stood next to Angel and, to Renesmee's shock, something happened to their faces. Their brows protruded and became lumpy, their eyes turned yellow and fangs sprouted from their upper jaws. "Believe us now?"
"Yeah, I do," Renesmee whispered and sat back down while Angel and Spike morphed back into their human forms. "The other question I have is who put the hair into this locket?" She tapped the silver locket and Mr. Giles answered.
"Vampires were the dominant species on Earth because of their insatiable hunger for blood, but there were Protectors. One Protector killed a Moloch and placed the hair inside this locket, which you know is a shard of the Sword of Angels."
"If you are to defeat Moloch the Destroyer," Spike said blowing smoke everywhere as he spoke, "then you'll need to bring all four shards together to form the Sword of Angels. That, I think, will kill Moloch once and for all."
Angel spoke again, but he was more apprehensive and unsure of what he was saying this time, "The only way to kill Moloch or any of his bloodline is to cut the body into pieces and scatter the parts into a body of water with a current like an ocean. Unfortunately, the Ba'al and Belial bloodlines are still around and...this is what they look like." He turned a page in Mr. Giles's book and showed her a picture of what the Three first vampires originally looked like and she felt sick. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too. But, we found out that the three bloodlines, Ba'al, Belial and Moloch, can transform into small animals for a limited amount of time."
"Can I make a confession?" Renesmee asked Angel and Spike. Both nodded. "I'm a human/vampire hybrid." Willow dropped her eagle-feather quill and Mr. Giles broke his glasses. Here, let me get that for you, Mr. Giles." she said and pointed her wand at the pair of glasses and muttered, "Occulus Reparo!" The pair of spectacles repaired themselves and he put them back on. "My father was a vampire since the year 1901 while suffering from the Spanish influenza virus, and Mom died giving birth to me. Is it uncommon for a vampire and human to have a child?"
Angel didn't answer at first, but looked at Spike, who nodded and said, "We have a confession to make, too, Miss Cullen. Willow and Giles know about this, but you probably don't. Spike and I are vampires but most of your myths about vampires such as a wooden stake to the heart, decapitation, holy water, direct sunlight and being put on fire, do kill us. Garlic doesn't work, though." Renesmee nodded and said she could smell death on them when she walked in. "Okay. Now, here's the weird part. The vampire who turned me, a woman named Darla...well, we kind of had a happy moment and Darla became pregnant with my son Connor. He's part demon and part human, so I know what it's like to have a kid like that.
"Unfortunately, when Connor was a baby, one of my friends took Connor from me and sent him to a hell dimension where he was taught by a man named Holtz to hate vampires and was trained to kill them and, well, me. Right now, he doesn't know about me being his father because the law firm I worked at in Los Angeles created a new life for him and wiped his memories of me being his father." Angel sighed and took a sip of pig's blood from a silver hip flask not unlike the one Renesmee used.
Spike smiled and said, "I don't have a kid, but I fell in love with a vampire slayer named Buffy. Back when I was really evil and hanging around with Angelus a lot, I killed two Slayers. One was in 1800 in Beijing and the other was in 1974 in New York. When I got to Sunnydale, I couldn't kill this Slayer." He pulled out a picture and showed it to her. Renesmee smiled at a woman who was now probably in her early thirties and her smile vanished when she saw Willow and Mr. Giles in the picture. Spike was in the picture as well, though he wore a leather jacket and had black fingernails. "That was taken shortly before Sunnydale went underground literally. The blonde girl is Buffy, the Slayer, and you know Willow and Giles." He tapped his finger on the head of a dark-haired young man who was grinning cheekily at the camera. "That ponce is named Xander Harris and the little brunette is the Slayer's little sister, Dawn."
"Yeah," Angel said rubbing his chin, "I never met her. Funny." He shook his head for a moment and went back to the matter at hand. "Your aunt Alice explained to us by letter about her vision of three of the Volturi members coming to talk to us here at Hogwarts." Alice, who was tanding near a phoenix on its perch gave a nod. "She said their names are Aro, Jane and Alec." Renesmee shuddered at the mention of Jane's name and Angel stared at her. Alice, on the other hand looked positively terrified. "You know of this Jane person?"
"To put it simply, Angel," Jasper said from the shadows, "Jane has the power to cause excruciating pain, somewhat like the Cruciatus Curse." It was Angel's turn to shudder and Spike lit another cigarette from the flame of a lit candle. "Aro is able to read thoughts and Alec...well, his power is so unusual, I can't even say it. The question I have is for Minerva. What are Angel's and Spike's staff positions here at Hogwarts, Headmistress?"
"Spike will be assisting with Defense Against the Dark Arts class and Angel will be assisting in all classes Renesmee is in. Mr. Giles has offered to use an unused classroom to teach Miss Cullen some hand-to-hand combat skills and how to hone her vampiric senses so she can sense another vampire in the vicinity." She was about to speak again when there was a light knock on the door and Albus entered the room. "Mr. Potter, is there something you need?"
"Yes, ma'am," Albus said in a slightly higher voice. "I have a suspicion about Scorpius Malfoy." McGonagall asked Albus to sit down and explain the situation. "Well, Scorpius has been acting very odd for a few days now. He snapped at Renesmee before dinner last night and I spotted him talking with Professor Marlowe earlier this morning after History of Magic. He was staring into Marlowe's eyes and not blinking. I think it might be some form of mind control, Profesor."
"Or," said the portrait of Severus Snape from beside Dumbledore's, "he could be teaching Mr. Malfoy how to use Occlumency in case anyone tried to invade his mind." Albus shrugged and told Snape the whole story. "Have you spoken with Mr. Malfoy in person?"
"I tried to, sir," Albus said automatically, "but he just told me to bugger off and went back to his common room. I talked to Professor Malfoy about it, but he said the same thing you did."
"Then," Snape said idly, "young Scorpius is just learning how to apply Occlumency. It's nothing bad...unless you lack the ability to close your mind like Harry Potter." Albus ignored this comment which Renesmee thought odd because Albus usually got defensive when someone spoke ill of Harry. "Very well, Mr. Potter, you may go." Albus walked out of the room and the door closed behind him. "Minerva, something is definitely wrong with that boy."
"I agree, Severus," McGonagall said. "Spike, could you watch Albus for a while and report back on his whereabouts and what he's doing?" Spike nodded and walked off. "Angel, could you fill Miss Cullen's flask with pig's blood? I believe she needs more after listening to our conversation." Angel took the pewter hip flask from Renesmee, filled to the brim with pig's blood and handed it back to her, then McGonagall herself escorted Renesmee to the Fat Lady's portrait, which was not in good condition. The canvas was ripped by what looked like claw marks and two large holes punctured the canvas as well. A bunch of Gryffindor students were huddled in front. "Everyone out of the way!" she hollered and the students made way for her and Filch. "Mr. Filch, round up the ghosts. The Fat Lady must be around here somewhere."
"There's no need for the ghosts, Headmistress," Filch said shining his lamp around the staircase. "The Fat Lady's over there." He pointed toward a portrait of wild animals grazing in the sunlight.
McGonagall went up to the portrait and said, "My dear, what happened?"
"It was terrible, Headmistress," said the Fat Lady trembling. "I was sleeping when something huge came up to my portrait. It looked like a bull but it was more grotesuque!"
"A bull?" Renesmee said and the Fat Lady nodded. Turning to McGonagall, she said, "Professor, you might want to rethink the possibility of a rogue vampire. If the vampire that killed Professor Macmillan was a rogue vampire, it would kill everyone in the castle including me and not kill a teacher just to get to a student." McGonagall agreed to this, thanked the Fat Lady, then appointed a knight named Sir Cadogan to protect Gryffindor Tower until the Fat Lady returned. Sir Cadogan was pleased to take this job and went to the portrait immediately. Ater giving the password to the new portrait, Renesmee went inside the common room and decided to get some homework done.
Not only did Renesmee get hand-to-hand combat training from Mr. Giles, but she learned how to meditate and control her thought projection and mental shield penetration abilities by meditation thanks to Willow. Angel assisted Renesmee in her classes and Spike was more than enough help during Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was after one of her hand-to-hand combat training session with Mr. Giles that she finally confided to someone her theory about what scared the Fat Lady. "I think it was Moloch or one of his children," she said firmly. "The Fat Lady said that a large bull standing on its hind legs scared her, but the real question now is how did the Moloch get in?"
"Good question indeed," Mr. Giles said while pulling out some hand pads. "Molochs are very interesting vampires, Renesmee. They kill for fun unlike the Ba'al vampires who feel remorse for their evil deeds. Remorse can make anyone go insane and those who do go insane are incredibly dangerous in their own way. I believe you're right about the Moloch, though."
"You do?" Renesmee asked Mr. Giles, who nodded as he put the pads on and assumed a defensive stance. Renesmee punched and kicked the pads with all her might as he taught her in past sessions and said, "Is that why you're teaching me how to use martial arts?"
"Precisely," said Mr. Giles. "Magic may not be of any use to you in a fight with a Moloch or any other Old One, so you should learn new ways of fighting besides waving your wand." Renesmee threw one final punch and he fell to the ground. "Very good. In fact, I'll say you're a little stronger than any Slayer I've met." Renesmee smiled at him, grabbed her bag and headed for bed.
Later the next day, Renesmee headed to Potions class with Angel to see a brunette woman in her mid-twenties talking to Professor Malfoy with a wide smile on her face. The Gryffindors and Slytherins sat at their tables and the teacher turned to face them. "Good morning, class," he said smiling. "I want to introduce my assistant for the remainder of the year, Dawn Summers. Her job is to give help to those who need it and grade essays and jobs like that until she gets a better job next year. Let us welcome her to Hogwarts." The class gave some appluase and Dawn smiled at them. "Miss Summers, please collect the essays on the Cure for Boils potion and we will begin brewing in a few moments."
"Hi," Dawn said as Renesmee handed over her essay. "Can we talk at lunch today? I'm a friend of Mr. Giles and Willow." Renesmee nodded. "Good. See ya then, Renesmee. By the way, I like your name."
"Thanks," Renesmee said smiling at the new person, "My mother kinda joined the names Renee and Esme and made it into Renesmee." She took out her cauldron and potion ingredients before adding, "All of my friends call me Nessie but I'm going to ask you not to use the nickname 'Little Nudger', okay?" As Dawn walked away with her essay in hand, Renesmee whispered to Rose, "I'm beginning to like Dawn a lot, you know?" Rose nodded and began brewing her potion. Renesmee looked at the instructions and started crushing ingredients with her pestle and put some of the powder into the cauldron until the liquid turned the right color. After a while, she heated her cauldron, stirred the potion and waited for Professor Malfoy to check it.
"Well done, Miss Cullen," he said nodding and called to the class, "I need a volunteer to test Miss Cullen's potion!" Scorpius raised his hand and, with a wave of Professor Malfoy's wand, Scorpius's face was full of boils. "May I see your potion, please?" Renesmee ladeled some of her potion into a phial which Professor Malfoy took and Scorpius drank. The effect was instant. The boils on his face vanished immediately. "Twenty points to Gryffindor and ten to Slytherin. Very good." Angel clapped along with everyone else and, when Renesmee packed her cauldron and ingredients into her bag, followed her to Charms class.
Professor Flitwick called for silence when the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were in their seats and stood on the books so everyone could see him. "I'm sorry to say, everyone, that after forty years of teaching Charms class, I will be retiring at the end of the year." The class groaned. "Don't worry, I have already asked someone else to take my place for next year. For now, I want to recap on the various charms you've learned to ready you for the end-of-the-year exams coming up soon. Miss Cullen, please demonstrate the Levitation Charm on your book."
Renesmee concentrated on her Charms textbook and muttered, "Wingardium Leviosa!" and the book started to float in midair under her control, then it landed softly on her desk a few seconds later. Rose was asked to demonstrate the correct movement and incantation for the Fire-Making Spell and did the right thing, then they were all given a quiz on the charms they learned. Angel helped Renesmee with some of the charms and whispered the uses of the Wand-Lighting spell. "Thanks, Angel," Renesmee whispered to him as she wrote down the answer. "I completely forgot about it."
"That's what I'm here for, Nessie," Angel said smiling. "You can do the rest of the questions on your own, right?" She nodded. "Good, because I don't know the rest." Renesmee laughed and finished off her quiz and handed it into Flitwick. "Professor, I'm sorry you have to retire from teaching at the end of the year. Who did you choose for your replacement?"
"Willow Rosenberg," said Flitwick with a grin. "Before I chose her, I had her perform some of the charms for the upcoming years and then gave her the same written exam I gave this class. Needless to say, Miss Rosenberg passed with flying colors and got the job immediately."
"That's Willow," said Angel nodding, "always a fast-learner. Anyway, I have to get Renesmee to her next class and then we'll work on the attack on Professor Macmillan. Poor guy. Never met him, but I heard he was a great wizard." Flitwick flashed a smile then walked back to his desk. Once out in the corridor, Angel turned to Renesmee and said, "Okay, let's get you to your next class and we'll see what happens later." Renesmee followed the vampire to her next class which was Transfiguration and did not speak until it was time for class.