"Sometimes a breakdown can be the beginning of a kind of breakthrough, a way of living in advance through a trauma that prepares you for a future of radical transformation."
~Cherrie Moraga
Walking over to the window Harry was filled with apprehension. Unlatching the lock he sculpted his features to make it seem like he exuded tranquillity. Stepping back from the window he saw a black mist seep into his room before solidifying.
Tom Riddle appeared no older than twenty. The only indication that he had lived more than his outward appearance suggested was an oldness of the eyes. It was once said that the eyes were windows to the soul but Harry could see nothing as he gazed into the turbulent blue pools. He looked like he had in the 'dream' elegant and yet nonchalant, as if nothing could bother him. He surveyed Harry impassively, his ancient eyes roaming up and down his body searching for some abnormality. His itinery done he strode over to the teenager and peered in his eyes. Harry wondered idly if Tom could see his soul.
"Hmm it appears your at the third stage of the transformation, this is good as it means I'm not too late" murmered Tom, his sweet smelling breath wafting at Harry's nose.
"How many stages are there?" asked Harry, when Tom stepped back.
"There are five stages. If you had reached the fifth before I had arrived then you would have died" said Tom emotionlessly.
"Why?" asked Harry, his curiosity burning.
"Because we need to perform a ritual in the Midnight Realm so your body does not reject the change. If it is not done then you continue feeling weaker and weaker until your organs shut down and you die" replied Tom.
"How are we going to get there?" asked Harry, panic rising in his chest like the bubble in a champagne bottle once it has been shook.
Before answering Tom pulled his wand out of a holder strapped to his thigh. Tapping Harry's luggage and Hedwig's cage Harry watched as they shrunk to the size of a matchbox. Picking them up Tom put them in one of his trouser pockets and motioned Harry to approach him.
Doing as he was directed Harry stood next to the man and Tom held out his arm. Grabbing on Harry was filled with the uncomfortable feeling that he was disintegrating into small particles before reforming at the gates of an ancient looking castle. The walls were crumbling slightly and the area had a sense of darkness to it, drawing Harry in with its power.
"This is the Castle of the Night, now I need you to cut your palm and place it on the gate" said Tom, his face remaining blank as he transfigured a rock into an ornate knife before handing it to Harry.
Slightly nervous Harry drew the cool blade along his skin, hissing when crimson drops of his life blood leaked out the wound, dribbling down his fingers. Approaching the gate he pressed his hand to the iron bars and winced as a shot of heat permeated into his hand at the contact. The heat however soon cooled and he withdrew his hand. Gazing at it he noticed the cut was now seared shut.
"Walk through the gate" came Tom's voice, floating along through the night.
Stepping forward Harry gasped as he felt the gate turn into mist around him. It was almost like walking through a ghost except it left tingles down your spine, presumably the wards allowing him access. Seeing Tom materialise next to him he followed the older man as he let him into a cobbled courtyard and up rough stone steps into the Entrance Hall. The castle, though old on the outside, had an almost modern feel with dashes of Medevial thrown in to preserve its heritage. The carpets were thick and wine red, muffling the sound of passers by. Only a few people hovered in the hall and Harry gave a start when he recognised one.
"Bella" greeted Tom warmly, approaching the mad looking woman next to the statue of what appeared to be Apollo.
"Tom, I'm glad your back, I had a vision and was worried for your safety" said Bellatrix, her words soft and miles away from the mocking baby one she had used in the Department of Mysteries.
"Bella this is Harry, I know you have already met but I thought it would be good to get to know each other again now that certain facts have come to light. Bella, Harry, is the Priestess of Apollo, the god of prophecy amongst other things. She is also part banshee."
"Nice to meet you" muttered Harry, holding out his hand.
"And you young one" said Bella, her warm hand clasped Harry's before withdrawing.
"Now I'm sorry Bella but we have to go and see Alderan, he is already nearing the end of the third stage" said Tom apologetically, the first emotion he had injected into his voice that night.
"Of course dear, I shall see you later" said Bella.
Walking further on they turned into a deserted corridor, the candles flickering in their brackets when they walked past them. It was eerie but Harry felt oddly like he belonged here. Smiling slightly he realised that he had fallen behind and ran to catch up.
Approaching large wooden doors Tom opened one and gestured for Harry to enter. Harry's eyes widened as he saw the room. It was simple, grey stone leading to steps that ascended to a platform that housed a chair. There were red curtains billowing slightly, hiding a large window opposite the door and all around the room were paintings of mythical scenes that left the viewer baffled as well as humble. A figure standing on the platform drew his attention. He was young, maybe in his early twenties and yet through his eyes Harry saw hundreds of years of wisdom. He was dressed in black trousers that clung to him like liquid darkness. His white shirt had flared sleeves and was tucked into the trousers. Over that he wore a red waistcoat that shined in the light being emitted by the candles. He stepped down from the platform, his boots clicking on the stone.
Harry watched as Tom strode forward and shook the man's hand. Seeing both men turn to him Harry walked forward and stood in front of them.
"Harry Potter meet Lord Alderan" said Tom quietly.
"It's a pleasure sir" said Harry, holding out his hand.
"It is good to meet you at last childe, please call me Alderan. Tom please leave us and report back in around an hour" said Alderan, his voice was warm contrasting magnificently with Tom's cold one.
"Of course Alderan" said Tom before walking out and closing the door softly behind him.
"Now childe I am sure that you have a lot of questions but I'm afraid that we are rather short of time."
"Yes Tom did mention something about the stages, apparently I'm in stage three" said Harry softly.
"No you have just enteres stage four which means I need to act now. Do you consent to being a vampyre?" asked Alderan calmly despite the time limit.
"Well if its either that or death I'll choose life thanks" said Harry before he could help himself.
"Alright then come with me" with that Alderan climbed up the steps and went through a door behind the chair that Harry had not previously noticed.
The room beyond was like a typical lounge. It had two red couches facing each other with a coffee table in between. A large bookcase lay in the corner filled with tomes that looked as if they belonged in a museum.
"Please take a seat Harry" said Alderan pointing to the couches. Sitting on the one facing that door he saw Alderan move through to another room and come back with a knife that looked like Tom's. Harry flinched as the elder came towards him with the knife which drew a chuckle from the vampyre.
"I'm not going to hurt you childe" he said gently, sitting down next to Harry.
Harry watched in perverse fascination as Alderan raised the blade and slashed his palm like Harry had done earlier.
"In order to complete the transformation you must ingest the blood of a vampyre" said Alderan holding out his bleeding hand to Harry.
A part of him screamed that it ws wrong but and even bigger part couldn't help his mouth watering as he watched Alderan's life blood seep from the wound. Grabbing the hand he brought it up to his mouth before sucking greedily. The blood tasted tangy, almost metallic as he swallowed however before he could appreciate it fully his chest was wracked with pain. Screaming silently his curled up on himself, the blood forgotten. It felt as if he was being torn apart by wild animals and digging his nails into the couch he tried to take his mind off the pain only for it to come back sevenfold.
Alderan's face loomed in front of him concern filling his brown eyes and he heard the vampyre whisper "I'm sorry" before the darkness claimed him.
Harry opened his eyes and everything came sharply into focus. Blinking he watched in amazement as the sun streamed through a gap in the black curtains, illuminating the dust that danced in the warm rays. Sitting up he noticed he was in a bed and still dressed in his ill-fitting clothes, the mattress was soft and springy unlike his lumpy one at home. The walls were a cream colour making it seem light in the room without the aid of the sun's full rays. Stretching he got out of bed and saw there was a couch in the corner next to a bookcase. Sitting on top of the couch were clothes and a note:
Thought you could use these, I'll drop by soon.
Tom
Opening the wardrobe next to his bed he saw a mirror on the inside door. His eyes were unusually bright, standing out next to his wan complexion. His hair seemed more tamed and now brushed his ears instead of sticking up all over the place. Opening his mouth he saw his teeth looked pearly white but there were no fangs. Maybe the fangs grew when he was about to feed? Glancing at the clock on the wall he saw it was seven o'clock at night. How long had he been unconscious? Refusing to think about this he tried to distract himself. Moving back over to the piles of clothes he pulled them on before looking at his reflection once more. The shirt was emerald and complimented his eyes, his black trousers were tight fitting and good for manoeuvrability. There had also been boots underneath the clothes and he tucked the trousers into them, mirroring Tom's look. Maybe vampyres had a thing for old fashioned outfits.
Hearing a soft knock he walked over to the door and turned the brass handle. Opening it it revealed Tom, looking as impassive as ever. Harry stood back as Tom strode into his room, his stride was confident and he moved gracefully like a lion stalking its prey. He sat down on the couch, smoothing the creases the movement made in his shirt. Closing the door Harry approached the couch, hovering and slightly unsure what to do. Tom radiated coldness and it was easy to see how he was suited to running the Dark's cause in the wizarding world. Shivering, he saw Tom appraise slightly him before motioning for Harry to sit down next to him.
"Now Harry I am sure you have questions. Alderan asked me to stop by as he was concerned about your reaction to the change" said Tom in a clipped voice, it was clear he was annoyed at being asked to comfort a childe.
"If you would rather be somewhere else then feel free" said Harry irritably.
"Alderan asked me to come here and I have vowed to serve him. Anyway I find myself vaguely curious about what powers you develop. There has never been a vampyre born with so much magic in their core and it would be interesting to see how your body reacts to the transformation" said Tom, his voice still calm and controlled but Harry could hear the fervent undertones. It appeared Tom was obsessed with knowledge like Dumbledore had said. It comforted Harry that the aged wizard hadn't lied to him on all accounts.
"Well what changes have occurred in my anatomy?" asked Harry.
"Before you feed you will form fangs, you can process food with a potion invented by the Potion Mistress Miranda Harcourt and that will help you keep your cover when you go back to school. Your skin is paler because your melanin levels are slightly lower as we are creatures of the night. Due to this you are more susceptible to the sunlight as you had begun to notice. You'll experience a slight fatigue during the daylight hours but apart from that nothing else, normal vampires cannot go out in daytime at all so we are lucky in this way. Your eyesight will improve and speed shall increase because of the increase of oxygen in your blood as your body absorbed the nutrients from the blood you ingest, however this will vary depending how much you drink. You can Phase in which you dissolve and reassemble in a different location, like the wizards apparition but you can get through wards. However each vampyre is different and form their own traits depending on the talents before they transformed so there will be more for you but those are the standard ones" said Tom in a bored voice.
"So I'll be able to survive at Hogwarts" said Harry hopefully, he couldn't stand the thought of not seeing Ron and Hermione again.
"Yes you will be our eyes and ears in the Fortress of the Light" replied Tom indifferently.
"Fortress of the Light?"
"Hogwarts is a stronghold in which Light magic is taught and houses many of the powerful Light wizards, Dumbledore and Minerva being the main examples. Miranda is working on a way to hide the more prominent affects of your vampyrism to shield you from Dumbledore and due to him taking a keen interest in you, mainly due to that blasted prophecy, you shall be able to keep an eye on him more closely than any of the others."
"Oh okay," said Harry, uncomfortable discussing spying on his old mentor as regardless of everything he could see Dumbledore truly thought he was doing the right thing, "What extra traits did you receive?"
"I became an incredibly skilled legillimens and occlumens" answered Tom.
"What can I expect?"
"We do not know, they will develop over time, anyway we better be going as it is nearly dinner time" said Tom curtly, standing up and straightening his clothes. Harry swore he had OCD.
Harry gulped as Tom strode over to the door and opened it, flashing his eyes back to Harry still sitting motionless on the couch.
"Your going to have to drink it sometime" sighed Tom, clutching his head in exasperation.
"I never thought it would be this soon"
"You are eating with Alderan tonight to discuss your stay with us, we are already late and so I suggest you come now. If you do not want to do it you don't have to, just for the love of all that is holy show up! I highly doubt that you won't want it however" said Tom his mouth curling into a smirk before walking out the door.
Standing up Harry tried to control the churning in his stomach as he remembered his reaction to Alderan's blood and followed swiftly behind.
A/N: Thank you for the feedback!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, that belongs to JK Rowling and I am most definately not her.
I apologise for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes in this chapter.
Please Review, I would love to hear your opinions so far :)