Chapter 22: First strikes

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"Remind me again why I agreed to this?" Yannick said grumbling as Sean was steering him in Diagon Alley.

"Perhaps the fact that you asked the best friend of my wife in marriage," Sean replied smiling, "who talked to Cynthia about helping you find the right jeweler to make the rings and that my beloved wife left that to me?"

"I had agreed with Alex that we would do this after Andrelith was stopped," Yannick said.

"True, but the fact that the ceremony would take place after this happens does not prevent you to prepare," Sean said.

Yannick made a dubious face at this.

"Oh come on Nick," Sean said, "you have got to learn to get your mind off a case once in a while. If I were not doing this, you'd use any waking moment you have training or trying to find a lead."

"What is so wrong in wanting to stop a psychopath?" Yannick demanded, frowning.

"There is nothing wrong with that," Sean said, "but only as long as you do not ruin your health, or worse, your life doing so."

Yannick opened his mouth but could not find anything to reply to that. Sean was right, this case was starting to obsess him. All leads that he had found so far had turned cold. Andrelith was a real ghost. This made no sense. Yannick was sure that he had a base of operation somewhere. The attack where he used bloodsuckers was a good example of that. There were no records of any of those beasts in the wild, Elves having effectively wiped them out and only kept a few specimens for their blood, which was a ingredient for an important potion. These specimens were kept under tight watch, in Elven territory. There was no way he could have gotten hold of these beasts if he had not raised them himself. Thus the assumption of a base of operation somewhere.

"Nick, mind of the case if you please," Sean said, his friend having obviously seen his pensive case, "if you want to think, start thinking what type of rings you want for your wedding."

Yannick smiled at that. "You're right mate," he said, "maybe I'm becoming too obsessed with it. So which shop do you recommend for rings?" he asked his friend.

"I know just the place," Sean said, "this is where I got the ones for Cynthia and I. Not to mention the engagement ring. The owner is a good friend of Cynthia's family."

"Magical shop?"

"Aye," Sean answered, "Lydia was the one who showed me the place and introduced me to the owner. He'll be able to make any type of design you choose."

"Sounds like a good place."

"It is. Ah, there we are," Sea said as he stopped in front of the shop.

They were in one of Diagon Alley's side street and thus with not much traffic around. That suited Yannick just fine. He had never been fond of having to make his way through a large number of people. Looking at the front window of the shop, he saw that Sean had been right. The owner seemed to be extremely skilled in jewelry making, whether in gold or other metals for that matter. He doubted that he could equal Gran's mastery of handling metals but what he could see here made him quite certain that he would be able to get him to make the design he wanted for the wedding rings.

The design had actually been Alex's idea, a circle of small leaves made of gold and silver representing the wood. He had liked the idea as well and had also agreed to seek another person than Gran to make the rings. He had been surprised by that wish but she had explained that they could not have Gran do every piece of jewelry around, especially since she was getting quite busy on helping him on the case.

"So mate?" Sean asked, "What do you think?"

"I think that this jeweler should do the job nicely," he replied, "That is some very fine work there. Almost as good as Gran's."

"I thought so too," Sean said, "Of course, not everyone has Gran's magic gift with metals to make unique pieces like she does."

Yannick nodded at that. As far a he knew, Elves were the only ones with that particular gift of shaping things. While their human descendants could sometimes inherit of them, human wizards on the other hand could not.

But as he turned to face his friend who was standing by the shop's entrance, Yannick saw a dark shape appearing with the sound of an apparition. A wizard, with a black wand drawn.

"Hyandae en' luhta!" (1*) the figure said in Elven, darting its black wand forward.

"Tinechor!" Yannick countered, erecting a barrier of protection that stopped the metallic blades from reaching him.

He looked at Andrelith and was surprised to see an evil sneer there, instead of disappointment, before the dark Elf disapparated from the scene. The scream from a lady who had been in the street cause him to turn around.

Sean was supporting himself on the wall with his left hand, hunched over, his right hand holding his stomach and blood seeping through the fingers and coating the clothes near that area. His friend's wand was laying on the ground, shattered.

"Sean!" Yannick exclaimed as he rushed to his friend's side. He took his left arm and passed it around his shoulders to support him.

"Mate... it hurts..." Sean said feebly, obviously fighting to stay conscious.

"Hold on Sean, I'm taking you to St-Mungo's," Yannick replied, before to gather his will for the short apparation that would take him there.

They reappeared in the lobby of the hospital and Yannick started to look around frantically. Sean needed immediate care. The magical blade that had gotten him in the stomach was most probably still there and he was losing blood quite quickly. As he moved towards the reception desk to ask where his mother was, he saw her coming out of the elevator.

"Mum!" he shouted as he went towards her, supporting Sean.

"Yannick?" she asked, turning towards him, "Oh sweet Morgana, what happened?" she asked when she saw Sean, taking out her wand to conjure a floating stretcher, "Here, lay him there."

"We got attacked," Yannick said, as he gently deposited his friend on the stretcher, "Andrelith. The Blade Spirits spell. I used an Elven shield spell to fend them off but I did not get all of them. Sean got hit in the stomach, possibly somewhere else too."

As he said this he say his mother's hands start to glow with a soft golden light, sign that she was summoning her healing gift. She laid her hand on Sean's brow.

"He's in bad shape. I need to work on him immediately," she said, "But not here. I'll take him to the emergency floor."

Yannick was about to help her when he felt a hand grab his wrist. He looked down to see Sean looking at him.

"Nick..." Sean croaked, "Cynthia..." he added feebly, before letting his wrist go. He could see his friend's plead in his eyes.

A dreadful thought suddenly hit Yannick, the reason of Andrelith's sneer as the dark Elf went away without a fight. He was not the target. Andrelith was hitting others close to him. Alex, Cynthia, the twins, they were all in danger.

"Go Nick," his mother said, gently touching his shoulder, "I'll take care of him. He'll be fine."

"He'll need..."

"I know," she interrupted him, "I'll get him over to the manor as soon as he can be moved there. You go and prevent this madman from hurting anyone else. Be careful," she added, kissing him on the cheek.

Yannick nodded before to disapparate.

*****************

"Cynthia?" Yannick called as he apparated in the entrance of his friend's home. He hoped he was in time, that nothing had occurred.

"Yannick?" Cynthia asked as she came out of the living room, a book in her hand, "Is that blood?" she exclaimed, dropping her book on a side table and coming towards him.

"It is not my blood..." he started and soon cursed himself for that.

"Not your blood?!" Cynthia exclaimed, "whose then? Sean's?"

"Cynthia, calm down,"

"Whose blood is it Yannick?"

"It is Sean's," he replied, not wanting to hide the truth, "We were attacked by Andrelith in a side street to Diagon Alley. He was wounded and I brought him to St Mungo. Wait!" he added, stopping her to move towards the door.

"Let me go, Nick," Cynthia said, "I need to see him."

"I can't let you do that," he told her.

"Why not?!" she shot back, "He needs me by his side."

"He needs you to protect the twins," he countered, causing her to stop struggling and stare at him, "Andrelith's attack was not aimed against me directly, but against Sean."

"You mean..."

"You and the twins are in danger, Cynthia," Yannick said, "Sean is safe, my mother is taking care of him and his days are not in danger. But yours are if you stay here."

"What should I do?" she asked, resolve showing in her eyes.

"First off, take this," he said, handing her an apparition token, "You'll need it to apparate or floo to the manor and right now this is the safest place for you and the twins."

He was about add something else when he was cut by a dreadful scream and a shape breaking through a window near the door. Taking out his katana and his wand, he turned to face the snarling bloodsucker that had burst in.

"Cynthia, get the twin, now," he said, placing himself to block the creature from reaching her and to allow her to go upstairs.

He could hear one of the babies had started to cry and he saw the bloodsucker change stance, getting ready to pounce. He moved his katana, making it gleam in the light coming from through the broken window. The bloodsucker saw the move but still pounced, trying to avoid him and reach the stairs which Cynthia had taken to reach the twins.

Not on my watch you beast, Yannick thought as he used his power to make a wooden table meet with the creature mid flight. The momentum of the table kept the bloodsucker against it as it crushed it against the wall, pinning it there. It was not dead, far from it, and already was attempting to get free by clawing the wall with its paws, its tail lashing furiously. Yannick move quickly and decapitated the beast, sending the head rolling on the floor.

"Is it safe?" he heard Cynthia ask from upstairs.

"Not fully," he replied, turning to face her, "They always operate in pair, so this means the second one is around, most probably trying to find a safer way in."

Cynthia had started to go down, holding the twins protectively against her.

"We need to get you to safety," Yannick said, "flooing is safest, especially with the babies," he added.

Cynthia nodded and followed him as he moved to the living room, where the chimney was. As they moved they heard another blood chilling scream and a crash against a door coming from the back. The other bloodsucker was trying to come in that way.

"Incendio," he said, pointing his wand at the grate, causing flames to appear, "just keep the token on you and say 'Silverleaf manor'," he told Cynthia as he threw floo powder in the flames, making them turn emerald green.

She nodded and stepped into the flames. Turning she looked at him for a second before to shout 'Silverleaf Manor', and was gone.

Now they are safe, Yannick thought, lets destroy that creature before it can harm any innocents around once it realizes its preys are gone.

As if to answer his thoughts, the sound of a door crashing open and the bloodsucker scurrying through the hallway was heard. The beast soon appeared in the doorway, stopping there and snarling menacingly at him.

His wand not being of any use against the beast, Yannick quickly stowed it in his pocket and took out his shortblade, getting ready to kill the dark beast.

It attacked as soon as he took it out, barreling down on him at top speed. Yannick did not think and left the blades to guide him. He sidestepped, turning backward from the the beast as it jumped to cover the last meter faster and brought the blade down on the beast as he completed his turn, catching it in the midsection and cutting it in half.

The bloodsucker let out a pained and crazed scream as it hit the floor and lay there, the front part writhing and still trying to reach him despite the loss of its hind part. Keeping a distance from the lashing paws, he brought down his blade on the beast's head, killing it instantly.

The dark creature now dead, he took time to collect his breath and then used his power to sense the surrounding area. After a minute, he was sure there were no more bloodsuckers around and he quickly disapparated towards London.

Alex was still in danger.

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That cursed forest again, where the young fool had been lucky enough to get assistance to defeat him and prevent him to exact his revenge. No such thing this time. He had already deadly wounded the young one's friend and the bloodsuckers would make short work of that meddling human's wife and their two children. Easy targets. It left him the opportunity to focus on another one, more important for his plans.

The days was getting close to dinner but the children were coming out on the grounds. It had been easy for him to find out where she liked to go in the grove. Being the traitor's blood she shared her affinity to nature and calm.

As he waited a bit more, he spotted her, coming down the path to the castle, talking with other children her age. Her friends, most likely. They would be a problem but a minor one and she was coming straight to where he had planned.

Perfect. The first important kill of the day.

But as his target was only ten meters away, he saw here stop in her tracks, her eyes going wide. Then, before he could take bring his want to bear on her she was running away as fast as she could back to the castle, leaving her friends bewildered and looking at each other while they called her name. Quickly, she was out of his reach.

How was this possible? A youngling her age could not possibly have detected him that easily. He seethed and let out a snarl of frustration as he blasted a log to smithereens with the curse he had been ready to cast.

There was no way he would get her now. The magic around the castle was too strong for to take on by himself, even if it was puny human magic.

Curse whatever had warned his target.

But no matter, soon he would have the best prize of all, one that would force the traitor to give him what was rightfully his.

Yes, soon vengeance would be his and he would make sure they paid a dear price for having kept it away from him for such a long time.

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Alwena stood with her back to the massive entrance doors of Hogwarts, her heart hammering in her chest. She could not believe it and yet the warmth she had felt on her chest could only mean one thing, someone was intending to do her harm. She pulled her pendant from underneath her robes. The small silver cat that represented her familiar, Cassandre, was shining with what seemed to be red energy. That was the sign that Yannick had told her to look out for when he had given it to her.

That meant that Andrelith was most probably around the castle. Maybe inside? What would she do if he was inside? He was a powerful dark Elf and she only a second year Hogwarts student. Maybe he was waiting for her at the corner of one of the next corridors, to snatch her away and use her against the family. She knew plain well now what he had done to Pierrick (2*). She did not want this to happen to her.

After this moment of panic she remembered what Yannick had also told her, to seek refuge in the castle when she felt the warning, that Andrelith would not be able to get to her inside Hogwarts' walls. Was he right about that? She hoped he was. No, she knew he was. Yannick would not have told her that if he was not sure of it. So what next? Hide in the Gryffindor common room and wait for the warning to pass? That seemed to be the safest.

But as she started on her way to the common room she realized one thing. If Andrelith was not able to get hold of her, he would maybe turn his anger and frustration on another member of the family. She had to warn them, so they would know about it and be ready for anything. But how? An owl would take way too long and the only floo's available were those of teachers. Who would believe a wild tale about a dark Elf wanting to do her harm?

Dumbledore.

Yannick had told her to get in contact with Professor Dumbledore should there be any problems, that he would know what to do. She had to see him. She turned around from the direction she had been heading and went to where she knew the Headmaster's office entrance was located in the castle. Arriving in front of the gargoyle that guarded it, she stopped and gave the password Yannick had told her would open the passage.

"Pepper Imps."

The gargoyle did not budge. It had been changed. Panicking again she realized there was no way for her to go further and see Professor Dumbledore unless she had the proper password. What could it be? Maybe another type of sweet? She had heard the Headmaster was quite fond of them.

"Sherbet lemon?" she asked but the statue stayed there. It would have been too easy, those sweets were too well known, even in France.

"Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans? Pear drop? Fizzing Whizbee?" she continued, "Drooble's Best Blowing Gum?"

Come on... it had to be something like that.

"Licorice Wand? Chocolate Frog?" that one could have been right, he did have his own card in them, "Sugar Quill?" that one was a good one, useful in class as well to nibble on while still working.

"Cockroach Cluster? Jelly Slugs?" Ugh! It would have been poor taste for those to be the right password.

"Creamy nougat? Honey toffees?," she continued, "Coconut ice? Toothflossing Stringmints?"

Alwena was becoming more desperate now. She was coming to the end of the English sweets she knew and she highly doubted the Headmaster would choose a French one.

"The password is 'acid pops'," a voice behind her said, causing the gargoyle to move aside and reveal the winding up stairs to the Headmaster's office.

Alwena turned around quickly to find herself facing Professor Dumbledore, who was looking at her kindly and smiling a little.

"Professor!," she exclaimed, "I know how it looks... I was not trying to break-in..."

"Calm down Miss Silverleaf," Professor Dumbledore said, "I never would have thought that would be the case. The gargoyle informed me of a person really wanting to see me, so I came. But whatever you want to talk to me about, I think it would be best to do so in my office," he continued, motioning to the stairs going to his office, "walls in this castle tend to have ears," he added, looking at several paintings which were around.

Alwena saw one painting of a aristocratic lady looking away hauntingly, as if offended by the Headmaster's implications. Had she not been under the worry of her current situation, she would have found this reaction funny. She took his invitation to go up the stairs and soon was in his office.

"Have a seat Miss Silverleaf," Professor Dumbledore said as he closed the door and went to his desk.

Alwena went to one of the chairs on the opposite side of it. Before seating down however, she bowed slightly towards Fawkes, a respectful greeting to the noble creature. Gran had taught her much about magical creatures and Phoenixes held a particular place in her heart, along with Unicorns. Alwena actually preferred dragons and dragonets, but she was well aware of the intelligence of Unicorn and Phoenixes too. Fawkes greeted her back with a musical note, which had a little comical sound to it.

"Fawkes is not too fond of the celebrity people tend to give to Phoenixes," Professor Dumbledore explained.

"I can understand that," Alwena said with a little smile, that vanished quite quickly when the events that had brought her here came back.

"Would you like a sweet?" Professor Dumbledore asked, "Sherbets lemons," he added as he made a small receptacle float in front of her.

"No, thanks you professor," Alwena said respectfully, sweets were definitely the last thing on he mind at the moment.

"Alright. Now," Professor Dumbedore said, obviously having seen the change in her expression, "What is troubling you Miss Silverleaf?"

Alwena went on to explain why she had come to try to talk to him. She showed her still glowing medallion, explaining that she had felt its warning while being out on the grounds with her friends. What she believed it meant and the fact that she was afraid that now that Andrelith could not reach her, he would take out his frustration on another member of her family.

"It was a wise decision for you to come and see me Miss Silverleaf," Professor Dumbledore said when she was done, "Your cousin Yannick told me that there was a possibility of a danger and for that I'm thankful. I will of course warn Gwenaelle of what transpired here and that you are safe."

He was about to add something when a shriek coming from one of the windows of the room cause Alwena to look there. Flying through as fast as he could was Horus, her mother's familiar. He came to perch himself next to her and stuck out one of his legs, where a note was tied. She took it and opened it. It was from her mother.

Alwena honey,

Gran has just confirmed what my medallion had me dreading, that someone was intending to do you harm. She believes it is Andrelith and I think alike. If you have not already done so, please go to see your Headmaster and ask him to relay that you are well and in good health. Horus will remain with you until we are certain the danger is over.

I love you dearest and hope with all my heart that you are alright.

Mum

There was another note on the parchment, this time in Gran's handwriting.

Albus,

If you receive this message it means that Horus was unable to find Alwena in the castle or on Hogwarts grounds. I directed him to find you should that occur.

I was warned by the enchantment on Alwena's medallion that she was in possible danger, with someone planning to harm her. I believe that person to be Andrelith, the Dark Elf that attacked Yannick and his friends some years back and whom he warned you against recently. I sincerely hope that Alwena had time to return to the castle's safety and went to see you.

Please contact me to let me know.

Sincerely,

Gwenaelle

Alwena let out a sigh of relief. The medallion had warned Gran. She should have thought about it. She handed the note to the Headmaster who took it to read it.

"Well it would seem that Gwenaelle's fears were justified," Dumbledore said, "and this time no student got into danger thanks to her warning," he added, putting the parchment on his desk.

"I just hope that Andrelith will note take out his frustration of not being able to capture me on some other innocent person," Alwena said.

"Such worry do you much credit Alwena," Dumbledore said, startling her in his use of her first name, "But I dare say from this letter that your family is aware of the danger and that anyone in possible danger is being contacted. I will contact Gwenaelle to let her know you are safe inside the castle. You can remain here for this but when we are done I will ask you to remain with Horus in your common room until we are sure the danger is gone."

"Of course Sir," Alwena said, "Thank you for your assistance."

"I could not do less than that," Dumbledore said, smiling as he stood and walked to the fireplace.

*********************

Alex sighed in relief when she came out of the ladies' showers, drying her hair with a towel. Today's training lesson had been quite a workout but this hot shower after it had done wonders to relax her. She was glad Bob had agreed for her to leave training early today. She was supposed to meet Yannick, Laure and Valerian at the manor so they could all go out to dinner at the nearby village.

Her last thoughts made her chuckle. She realized that she no longer referred to Silverleaf manor in its full name but just as "the manor". She had grown used to being there now with Yannick that it was almost a second home. Well, it should be in any case, seeing how she was now his fiancée.

Their engagement had surprised a few of her teammates, some thinking that it had been maybe too quick. She had convinced them otherwise by letting them know that had Yannick not gone away for five years, they would have been probably married since a few years by now and with children as well. That had settled any further questions on the subject.

As she reached her locker, she took he wand that was laying on top of it and applied a drying charm on herself after having removed her towel. She opened the metallic door and started to dress. She had made sure that her clothes would be appropriate for a casual evening outing. As she dressed however, she spotted something that had not been in her locker when she had changed to training clothes, a blood red rose in a small vase.

She smiled, Yannick had somehow passed by the stadium shortly and had left this to let her know of it. He could be so caring sometimes, another reason why she loved him.

Merlin how I love this man, she thought as she reached for the rose.

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(1*) Hyandae en' luhta = Blade Spirits - a spell that sends several homing blades against enemy targets.

(2*) See Discovery for a New Student for more data on this.