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As the date of their departure back to Hogwarts drew nearer Laura and Carmilla made preparations to leave Britain again, though this time it was to be more in the way of a visit to Carmilla's birth place rather than travelling all over Europe.
They were to depart the day after they were to return to Hogwarts and Harry for the first time in his life, he was not looking forward to returning to the castle.
Going back to school would mean placing himself once again under the tyranny of Dolores Umbridge, who had no doubt managed to force through another dozen decrees in their absence.
Then there was no Quidditch to look forward to now that he had been banned and there was every likelihood that their burden of homework would increase as the exams drew even nearer; in fact, if it had not been for the D.A., Harry felt he might have gone to Sirius and begged him to let him leave Hogwarts and remain in Grimmauld Place.
To his surprise Dumbledore stopped by briefly again on the very last day of the holidays to tell him that he would be teaching Harry occlumency and giving him private lessons which would serve to reinforce his seal and help him defend his mind in the event it broke. He'd been horrified to learn that Snape had briefly been considered to be his teacher before Dumbledore had thought better of it.
Finally at last the Day arrived when they were to return to Hogwarts. After a hurried breakfast they pulled on jackets and scarves against the chilly gray January morning. The Knight Bus was just a uncomfortable as Harry remembered it and the journey back to Hogsmeade was an unpleasant one.
Stumbling out of the bus they begun to struggle up the slippery drive toward the castle dragging their trunks with them.
The next day Snape was as unpleasant as ever and Harry found himself day dreaming about foreign lands and wondering what Dumbledore's lessons would be like.
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The news of the outbreak from Azkaban spread like wildfire.
While the blame was being pinned solely on Sirius there was a definite undercurrent of unease among the general population.
Harry's following interview with Rita Skeeter was equally uproarious.
Umbridge incensed, banned all copies with the result that by the end of the day no one in Hogwarts had not read it. The general reaction was mixed but people seemed more open to the reality of Voldermort's return.
During the following weeks Carmilla's seal was increasingly flaring uncomfortably as it blocked Voldermort's unconscious attempts at influence and Harry knew that it had prevented more than one dream. It couldn't completely prevent him from feeling whenever Voldermort felt a particularly fierce emotion but it was always faint.
For the most though it was doing it's job and his Occlumency lessons with Dumbledore were progressing enough to offer some small protection in the event it failed.
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When the topic of professor Hollstein – a symbolic mix of Carmilla and Laura's last names now evident to Harry who still felt rather slow about the whole thing, eventually surfaced in Transfiguration a rather disgruntled professor McGonagall was met with a barrage of questions about the mysterious interim professor who had so confounded the traditional rules of Transfiguration.
With a tired put upon expression she gathered her thoughts choosing her words carefully before speaking.
For Harry it was to be a startling revelation.
"I am sure you are all curious to know how it was professor Hollstein was able to achieve the ability to take the shape of more than a singular exclusive animal, contrary to the limitations of the traditional Animagus transformation."
"I'm afraid for any other it would be an impossibility."
"Suffice it to say she is possessed of a condition of singular rarity which allows her considerable lenience when it comes to bending the rules of Transfiguration."
"For you see professor Hollstein is a Vampire, and the usual laws do not apply."
The proclamation was met by stunned silence which quickly turned to frantic whispering which McGonagall quelled with a look. Rubbing her eyes tiredly and looking a great deal older and more worn she continued on while Harry simply sat stunned.
"Vampires," she spoke at length, "do not play by the usual rules; the usual laws of Transfiguration do not apply to them."
"The knowledge and experience of several lifetimes coupled with the raw magical power and innate ability for the subject that all vampires' posses allows for what to anyone else would be impossibilities to become realities easily achieved."
"Vampires are masters of transfiguration and shape shifting, like an Animagus they can take the form of animals, they are however not limited to a singular form and they often go far beyond anything a human transfigurist is capable of."
"I think you have all heard, of their renowned ability to turn into swarms of bats at will."
"An Animagus transforms into a singular animal so it would not be impossible for a bat Animagus to take the form of a singular bat, however what a vampire does goes far beyond this, they split themselves across several different, distinct bodies."
"Of course like anyone else vampires are limited by practise and ability and many weaker ones struggle to touch upon the full spectrum of vampiric talents."
"Professor Hollstein as I'm sure you can guess is quite skilled."
"Now, bats may be the most iconic example of this extraordinary ability but they are just as capable of employing the forms of other animals such as crows."
"Truly prodigious individuals can even break themselves apart into non living gaseous forms while retaining sentience like mist and fog."
As McGonagall carried on her impromptu lecture Harry mulled over what he had just learned.
Carmilla, was a vampire.
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An: Professor Hollstein is the latest of Carmilla's extensive list of aliases, though it's more sentimental than most of them; being a symbolic mix of her and Laura's last names.