Chapter 7: Klaus
Albus shivered, a ripple of nerves that rolled underneath his skin and all the way to his toes. He stood underneath an overhang outside the door of a bookstore, peering out into the cold German drizzle that had sprung up unexpectedly.
Elsa stood beside him, the hood of the sweatshirt Albus had given her pulled up to help warm her ears and head, and to protect her from the rain. Her hands were dug into her pockets, her upper body hunched over to try and give her some extra warmth.
They had already been out for a couple of hours, questioning Muggles as well as witches and wizards, hoping for any information on the vampire clan. So far they had been completely unsuccessful. Perhaps partly due to their lack of ability to communicate with Albus' rather pitiful German, and perhaps partly due to the vampire clan not wanting everyone to know there whereabouts.
"Well, this is pleasant," said Elsa.
"No one demanded you come along," Albus retorted irritably.
"I know. I was just making conversation, not actually complaining," said Elsa, refusing to be egged on by Albus.
Albus sighed. "Blast it," he muttered under his breath. "Bloody good it does being a wizard when you can't even change the weather."
"Actually, I've read about some witches and wizards having an affinity for magic to do with weather, and occasionally being able to alter it to some degree," said Elsa, taking her hands out of her pockets and breathing on them fervently to try and warm them—to no avail.
"Well, unless you happen to be one of those witches, it does us fuzzy little good, doesn't it?" snapped Albus.
"I don't know whether it's the weather, or our lack of success, but you are really in a foul mood, aren't you?" Elsa said. "I'm going to guess it's the combo, but mostly because of the lack of success. It rains enough in England, and you aren't usually this easily upset," continued Elsa thoughtfully.
"Enough, enough," grumbled Albus.
Albus stepped abruptly out from underneath the protection of the store's overhang, and right into a man who was hurrying past at a quick pace.
Albus stumbled slightly in surprise, but didn't quite manage to lose his balance.
The man (who was on the older side of things), however, reeled and started to fall.
Albus, recovering himself, was fast, and reached forward to grab one of the man's arms.
Elsa was quick, too. Leaping forward and managing to get a hold of the man's other arm. Together, Elsa and Albus caught him before he could hit the hard cement sidewalk, and pulled him to his feet.
"Sorry, so sorry," said Albus in a rush, forgetting that he was in Germany and to speak German.
"Quite all right," said the man, surprisingly, in good English with only a slight accent. "Thanks to the timely action of you and your friend, I am none the worse." The man proceeded to straighten his coat. "Oh, I seemed to have dropped my stick," said the man, with a smile of embarrassment, as if he was regretful to be an old man found running around with a stick.
Elsa bent over and fished his wand from the ground, for a wand it was. She handed it over to him. "No worries, sir, we are wizards too."
"Ah, are you?" asked the man in delight. "And English, by your accents. Would you come in for a cup of tea? My house is right around the corner. I'd be happy for your company. I so rarely get to practice my English in this city. It's the least you can do, for knocking me over," he said with a wink at Albus.
Albus exchanged a glance with Elsa, and then replied, "We'd be glad to stop in for a few minutes, Mr.—"
"Mr. Hovenkoffer," filled in the elderly man. "But you can call me Klaus. And you are?"
Albus didn't answer, startled. Hovenkoffer? Hadn't that been the name of the vampire lord that Scorpius (if indeed it was Scorpius) had killed? Maybe it was a common enough name in Germany, Albus had no idea. In any case, this man clearly didn't seem to be any sort of vampire lord.
"I'm Elsa Brandwock," said Elsa hastily, seeing Albus' hesitation. "And this is my friend Albus, Albus Potter."
"Pleased to meet you both," said the man with a pleasant smile, shaking both their hands in turn. "Now, why don't I suggest we get in out of the rain and get that hot mug of tea?"
"Yes, please, Mr. Hovenkoffer," said Elsa earnestly.
"Klaus, sweetheart," insisted the man. "This way." With that, Klaus set off down the street at a brisk pace, with Albus and Elsa hurrying after him to keep up, surprised that an elderly man could move so fast.
They didn't talk for the next five minutes or so that it took them to get to Klaus' house. And when they got there it turned out to be a simple but homely looking place. It had a pleasant garden surrounded by a white wicket fence, and was easy on the eyes with cream walls, lots of windows, and a tiled roof.
The inside was what you would expect upon seeing the outside. Nice, but simple furniture and carpeting seemed to be his taste, with various paintings of the countryside and wildflowers adorning most of the walls. The surprise came when Klaus led them to the back of the house, through an ordinary kitchen and a sitting room in which nothing stuck out in particular, and into a cozy little library in which bookshelves stood against every wall with the exception of one that held a fireplace.
Everything in here was a wholesome, dark wood color. It was a stark comparison to the whites and creams and lighter colors that seemed to dominate most of the rest of the house. But it seemed to be where Klaus spent most of his time, if the worn carpet and stacks of books that covered every inch of spare tabletop were any hints.
"Sit down, sit down," urged Klaus, gesturing to a pair of comfortable-looking green armchairs. "Make yourselves at home." He gave his wand a flick and a fire roared to life in the fireplace. A couple of more quick flicks and there was a pot of tea suspended over the flames, and a simple wooden chair for himself.
"Now, what brings two young English wizards and witches to this part of Germany?" asked Klaus, curiosity clear in his friendly brown eyes.
Albus had removed his coat, and was sitting in one of the armchairs, his hands held out toward the fire gratefully. "A friend of ours is in trouble," he said. "And we don't know where he is. We came here following a slim lead that perhaps he's in the area."
"Ah, I see. Why would your friend be here? Is he German?" asked Klaus.
"No," said Albus slowly. "See, we don't actually know why he would be here of all places. It doesn't make any sense to either of us, that's for sure."
Klaus nodded in understanding. "Do you mind if I ask what this lead is? I will help you in any way I can, if you will allow me."
Albus looked at Elsa, but she was gazing at the floor, clearly lost in her own thoughts. Seeing that he would get no help from that corner, he looked back at Klaus, looked into his kind eyes, gauging whether or not he appeared to be trustworthy. He decided that they really had nothing to lose.
"It's a long shot, but we heard that a vampire lord who ran a clan in this general area was killed recently, and by a human, of all things. We believe that wizard may be our friend, for he fit the description."
Klaus looked away, staring into the fire and not saying anything. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, for no emotion showed on his face. At last, he turned back to Albus. "Begging your pardon, but that does seem like rather a slim chance. However, I do know that what you say is true, and that the vampire lord, Lord Hovenkoffer, was in fact killed by a young wizard, reportedly about your same age. You see, Lord Hovenkoffer was my elder brother."
Elsa's head snapped up at that, clearly shocked. Albus, however, held Klaus' gaze, unfazed.
"My brother and I were not close, though I did settle here to keep an eye on him. I've lived here these past fifteen years without him knowing. You might ask what kind of clan leader he is, if he didn't even know his own brother was right under his nose. But despite that, he was perfectly capable. He was cold, and impersonal, but he had his clan's loyalty. There are not particularly many of them, but enough to hold their own, that's for sure."
"I'm sorry, that he met his end," said Albus quietly.
"Eh, he had it coming to him after all these years. He lived long for holding such a position of power," said Klaus, getting up and pouring out the now-ready tea into three large mugs. "It was quite a shock when I found out he had been killed by a wizard, and one so young. But I guess that is the way of the world, the younger generation always coming up to replace the old."
"Klaus, could you help us find out if he is, indeed, our friend? The wizard that killed him?" asked Elsa.
Klaus sighed. "I can, and I will. I harbor no hatred towards the man that killed my brother, and I will help you for my own reasons." At that, Klaus turned and looked Albus steadily in the eye. "Your name is Albus Potter, correct? I'm going to assume I am not wrong when I surmise you are the one and only Albus Potter, son of Harry Potter, the savior of the Wizarding world?"
Albus nodded without a word.
"Then it would be an honor to help you in any way I can," said Klaus, getting slowly to his feet. "I know where they make their roost. They'll be there now, most of them sleeping. They are too weak in daylight to be out and about. If we go now, we'll have the best chance of getting away—if their leader turns out not to be your friend."
"Right," said Albus. "I hadn't really thought about that. I suppose the vampires won't be too happy about humans just showing up in their home in the middle of the day, will they?"
"That's an understatement if ever there was one," said Klaus, with a raise of his eyebrows. "You'll need to be on your toes, that's for sure. You're sure you want to do this?" Elsa and Albus answered with brief nods. "In that case, do you know how to best deal with vampires, if things turn ugly?"
"Stun them?" hazarded Albus.
Klaus shook his head. "Stunning spells won't have any effect on them. You're best off killing them. Though blasting them away is always an option. Real weapons always work well, too. Here, just a moment." Klaus got up from his chair and disappeared out of the room.
Albus glanced at Elsa, questions in his eyes. "Do you think we can fight, and kill, vampires?"
Elsa shrugged. "Do we have any choice, if we want to find Scorpius?"
"But, can we kill other living creatures? Can we go that far?" demanded Albus.
"Technically, they aren't living, because their hearts aren't beating," said Elsa simply.
"Elsa—"
"Here we are," said Klaus, reentering the small library. He held a short sword, and two long, thin, deadly daggers. Albus didn't bother asking the older man why he kept weapons in his house—he had the distinct feeling there was much more to this elderly wizard than met the eye. "Lady gets first choice, I suppose?"
Elsa took the short sword without a word, leaving Albus and Klaus to each take one of the daggers.
"By the way, if this turns out to truly be your friend, do you even know if he wants to be found? Do you even know if he will order his vampires to stand down?" asked Klaus simply, watching Albus in expectation.
"No," said Albus. "No, I don't."