Looksie, back again! Back at Hogwarts for their third year, and oh there is so much in store for my boys!
I offer you thanks and apologies for not complaining about the ridiculous spelling mistakes, Because smart phone autocorrect is a nightmare as ever and I have no computer.
-YDHP-
"Phantom, can you not wait five minutes to start knocking things over?" Vlad was arguing with his little pest of a familiar, as she was rummaging through the stack of books Vlad was sorting in order of late night reading material. Harry placed Lily's tank back in it's usual spot, switching on the heat mat at her request and running a finger down the length of her scales as she slithered in to the glass box Vlad had made for him to give his familiar.
There was a sense of tension in the air - the last two years had started with arguments, both times initiated by Seamus reacting hot-headedly to something. First year had been Draco getting sorted into Gryffindor, second year had been Harry being a parselmouth and Vlad and Draco defending him. "So, did everyone get their Hogsmeade forms signed?" Harry realised he hadn't yet - he didn't know who to ask. No longer staying at the Dursleys, he didn't really have an actual guardian now. "Not me, but then I had nobody to ask." That brought an awkward silence, but Dean Thomas - artistic and good with a quill - offered to forge the signature on his form. Weighing up the option, Harry handed it over and spelled out the name. He could always not hand it in, or vanish the signature if he had to.
"How's this?" Dean showed a couple of rough drafts on scrap parchment, and Harry gestured to the one that closely resembled the signature he remembered vaguely. "That one works. Thanks Dean." Folding the form up, he stuck it back in his trunk and finished unpacking his pyjamas. Like every other night at Hogwarts ever, Vlad disappeared to change in the bathroom. "Dracula, do you have like, I don't know, deformities or are you just that scared I'm better looking shirtless than you?" Vlad raised a dismissive eyebrow at Seamus, who grinned unapologetically. "I just like changing in private, what's wrong with that?"
The rest of the third year boys weren't nearly as shy, particularly Harry as he had had to get used to changing with the other boys in the Quidditch changing rooms. "I'm too full of food, can we talk about why Vlad doesn't get his nipples out for Seamus in the morning?" There was an out break of chuckles in their dorm, followed by some valiant denials from Seamus as they all climbed into bed. Taking off his glasses was a blessing, the greenish glow of Vlad's glamour starting to get on his nerves.
Looking around the dormitory, he could see the reddish glow of Lily's tank where Vlad had put in heating charms, multiple jagged white lines in the curtains around his bed where they had been repaired countless times and the faint glow of Vlad's 'aura' where he was pottering about making sure his things were tidy.
"What's on your reading list tonight then geek-ula?" Vlad's tendency to stay up reading was well known, and he bit his lip while looking through the pile, thinking before holding up their third year Transfiguration book. "We don't even have timetables yet, we might not have Transfiguration for days!" Vlad shrugged, waving his wand to close the curtains around his bed and disappearing from sight for the night. Harry followed suit, leaving a small gap Lily could slither through if she wanted to and staring up at the canopy of his bed-curtains. It was good to be back.
"Stand aside girl!" The voice ordered, high and cold and unforgiving. "Never! Take me, leave my son!" A frantic, terrified female replied, and then there was the scream, the bright green light and the high, cold laugh that had haunted his dreams since infancy. Bolting upright, Harry barely made it to the bathroom before he lost his dinner, tears streaming down his face as he heaved. His scar ached for the first time in months, adding to the general sense of awful Harry felt. Knelt there, he cried weakly until a cool hand touched his cheek. "Harry, what's wrong?" Harry didn't have to answer, Vlad's fingers brushing over his clammy forehead and somehow always dulling the pain from his scar.
A whispered spell removed the sweat, tears and bile from his face, and a glass of water that glowed faintly yellow was pressed into his hand. "Drink." Voice soft, low but commanding, Harry sipped mechanically and recognised the stomach settling potion taste Vlad had given him when he ate too much chocolate. "Just a little, to help stop you feeling sick. Can you get up?" Finishing the glass, Harry leant on Vlad's outstretched arm and staggered to his feet. Vlad flushed the toilet, refilled the glass and slowly guided Harry back to his bed.
They didn't speak again until Vlad was done redrawing his curtains, silence-charms on them. "What happened?" "Bad dreams. Dementors. The screams I heard... They were my mother." Stopping to sip at the water before the nausea could return, Harry shuddered. "He... Voldemort told my mother to stand aside. Why? Did he know she was... Did he knowingly kill his own daughter just to get to me?" There was no right answer to that question, so Vlad answered him slightly differently. "Your mother died protecting you. Even if she had known he was her father, she would have done it again in a heartbeat. She loved you Harry, don't ever forget that."
Vlad brushed over his scar again, making Harry wonder if there was something in his face that told when it was hurting. Ice cool soothing calmed the pain, and after he finished the second glass of water he lay back down. "Thanks Vlad. Best vampire friend a boy could have." "Anytime. Night Harry." Vlad slipped out between the curtains, and Harry didn't hear him get back into his own bed but then remembered as his curtains glowed a sort of blurry grey - silencing charm. Feeling a little better for the potion, water and general air of comfort Vlad offered without ever judging him, Harry rolled over and went back to sleep, blissfully free of dreams this time.
Vlad was up, dressed and tickling Phantom when Harry woke again, offering him a small smile as Harry ambled to the bathroom, feeling better for having showered and dressed. "Breakfast then?" There was no mention of his bad dreams, no sign Vlad had found him crying over a toilet bowl in the middle of the night and Harry appreciated it more than words could explain. "He's finally awake. Come on snake charmer, we're hungry!" The others had waited for Harry to be ready for the day, except Seamus who had woken and somehow dressed himself while barely opening his eyes yet - he was rarely alert before there was food in front of him.
The common room was half full of half-asleep students, and excitable first years. "Morning sleepy heads! Awwww, look at the kitten!" Georgina Giles, who demanded to be called George yet again, was instantly taken with Phantom. There was a brief second where they waited to see if the Bastion familiar reacted, but her eyes stayed clear and she let the new girl stroke her fur and inspect her collar. "Phantom Dracula. What a weird name for a cat." Vlad didn't correct her - he wasn't supposed to advertise his familiars talents if he could help it. "I was going to call her Poltergeist, because she's a terror who knocks stuff over and appears wherever she can cause trouble, but it was too long. So Phantom it is."
George and the other first years clung to the third year boys group, obviously not wanting to get lost on the way to the Great Hall their first day. The Great Hall was a myriad of colours to Harry when his vision flickered back to 'magical snake' as Lily had called it, an absolute sea of aura colours and it made his head spin. Vlad, Ingrid and Bertrand stuck out the most, their base colour jet black so Harry guessed that meant vampire. Pretty much everyone else was a similar shade of pale yellow, a little paler on the students Harry knew to be Muggle born like Hermione and Dean. Neville's was a little darker, but then he was technically a pureblood. There were wisps of brown striped through it, but Harry didn't have any basic idea to put that to.
The head table was a rainbow, mostly basic yellow but so much colour mixed in. Severus was purple, with highlights of bronze and a faint shimmer of gold. Bertrand was just black, perhaps the tiniest hint of crimson. The new professor, Lupin, confused Harry slightly. His aura was similar, but if he had to guess with nobody else around, Harry would have called it a more amber colour. That could be the spectrum of colours hovering around in there, brown and bronze and a little bit of darker yellow. His head was starting to ache, so Harry went back to focusing on the warming charmed plates until it flickered out again.
Vlad suggested a trip to Hagrids to fill their morning, and two first year girls and one boy wanted to meet the gamekeeper properly - One was George, the other girl Harry thought was called Isabella, and the boy Jason who grabbed his twin as they passed the Slytherin table. Hagrid was thrilled to see them, greeting the first years enthusiastically and thankfully not offering them rock cakes as he hadn't had time to bake them yet. The new students looked hilariously minute on Hagrid's huge sofa with their bucket sized cups of tea, while Vlad, Harry and Hermione all settled on some of the squishy bean-bag chairs that tried to swallow them whole with their cushy filling.
"I'm George, this is Bella. And I only know which of them is which by their house colours which they aren't wearing." Jason and Jacob introduced themselves again, though they called each other "Jake" and "Jace", and after they finally got through the enormous beverages, Hagrid took them out to see some of the animals he had prepared for classes. "That's so cute! What is it?" Harry thought Bella's approximation of cute needed some work, but her cheeks were flushed and eyes sparkled with excitement as she looked at the strange dog-like creature. Dog was only an approximation, as the thing had feathers instead of fur on it's legs, and two tails.
"It blows that we can't take care of magical creatures until third year. Are you guys taking it?" The three Gryffindors nodded, and George squealed happily when Phantom popped up from behind a pumpkin growing ready for Halloween in Hagrid's vast garden. "Allo Phantom!" Hagrid recognised the furry bundle, who scampered up his enormous arm to rub her face against his bushy beard. "All the teachers love Phantom, because she accepts nothing less." Hagrid walked them back to the castle for lunch, promising the first years they were welcome to visit any weekend they liked, which only cheered them further.
He got through lunch without his eyes playing tricks again, and after a brief visit to greet the elves in the kitchens now they were back, they let Draco convince them over to his godfathers quarters. "I see you are taking steps to befriend the first years." Harry shrugged, getting comfortable in his usual spot on the sofa. "They wanted to meet Hagrid, and it means the twins got to hang out together away from anyone who might complain at another house member in their midst." "Like those second years last year who spent five minutes refusing to accept I was Ingrid's brother. Because I'm a lion." Vlad added, watching Lily coil her way around and around the perch Severus had put in for that exact purpose - he was fond of the magical snake who donated her shed skin to him, a rare and expensive ingredient otherwise.
"Perhaps you should tell them about your changes from Samael wizard." Lily hissed from her spot, but Harry wasn't prepared to talk about it. Not yet. "Not right now. Not until I know there isn't more coming." His hissed conversations with his familiar no longer drew attention from the current occupants of the room, letting Harry relax somewhat even as his eyes 'switched' again, the glowing of wards enclosing every wall, the bookcase, even the doors. Shaking his head slightly, he took a glug of chamomile tea and hoped it would help calm him. Third year was off to an interesting start.
Vlad hadn't understood why he woke out of nowhere until he saw Lily staring in the direction of the bathroom. Harry was crying, and the air was thick with the smell of vomit and sadness. That was pushed aside, his mate needed him. Harry took the water laced with settler potion, and Vlad contemplated adding dreamless sleep but Harry might want to talk. He silenced the curtains and let Harry talk, unsure what to say in answer because he didn't know - Voldemort may have had no idea and just not wanted to kill Lily for a multitude of reasons, Vlad hadn't been there.
After a day reacquainting themselves with Hogwarts, Harry seemed much relaxed and he didn't feel any pull to wake up that night. The next morning, they got their timetables at breakfast. Scanning Harry's briefly, he saw the wizard had a free period already, while Hermione and himself had Arithmancy. "See you in Transfiguration. Try not to get in trouble on our first day." Harry grinned, pretending to brag about all the free time he had with only two elective classes.
Vlad had been making the effort to forget how they had only one common elective, and he had only taken Care of Magical Creatures to be with Harry anyway. It would be an adjustment after every class being with Harry. "Quidditch tryouts on Saturday afternoon Potter, be there!" Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain and keeper - a bulky, muscular seventh year - called in passing, and Harry promised to use his free hour constructively... Vlad expected they had a mildly different idea on what that meant. Having already packed all his books into his backpack, Vlad joined Hermione to head to Arithmancy, a class taught by a Professor Vector.
It wasa little like school maths, though it would get more difficult as years went by and they branched into using runes and constructing spells. "This first class will be solely on what Arithmancy is and does for magic, but after this we will move on to the really interesting stuff." Professor Vector looked a little like his mother, fair skin and long dark hair. She also favoured red, velvet-like robes and wore the matching pointed hat, which very few students wore except for celebratory feasts at Hogwarts now. However, she seemed genuinely interested in imparting her knowledge, and delighted in their eager "any questions" session in the last fifteen minutes of class.
They were a few minutes early to Transfiguration, the first years in there not yet freed. Harry looked a little concerned, and Vlad let his friend pull him aside. "Snape said that it was known where I was. What if McGonogall doesn't believe the form was signed by my uncle?" Ah. Vlad remembered it being announced that the third years should get their Hogsmeade forms to their heads of house. "I'll make sure she believes it. Trust me?" Harry looked unsure as he handed over his forged form, but then the first years were leaving and conversation was halted.
"Hey Vlad! Hey Harry! Hey Hermione!" The first years who had been to Hagrids hut with them before were now the awe of the other first years - whether it was just because they knew older students, or the whispered "you guys know Harry Potter?" from the ones who recognised him as they passed. Harry rolled his eyes as they entered class, and everyone was excited - they were moving on to transfiguring inanimate to animate objects this year. Next year would be actual conjuring, though Vlad had some experience in that already thanks to his tutoring sessions involving Ingrid. They had done simpler ones last year, turning animals into inanimate objects but it was harder to turn something into a living creature than it was the other way around.
The lecture started on animagi - Vlad already knew that transformation wasn't possible for him, vampires automatically gained the power to turn into bats when they transformed, and magical vampires had never been known to be able to achieve the animagus transformation. It would be especially tricky even it were possible, as the only cure for incomplete changes (that he knew of) included mandrake leaves - toxic to a vampire.
Professor McGonogall transformed to and from a cat there in front of the class, receiving applause, then disappointed them all by explaining they wouldn't learn that in class. "It takes anything from one to five years intensive study, access to a master of Transfiguration and a potions expert in case anything goes wrong. It also takes above average power levels, which none of you have... yet. Though some of you may be due your first magical growth spurt any day now, you'll likely need your second one to have a chance. And Transfiguration that turns you into an animal temporarily is not the same thing - you'll need a wand wielding wizard to change you back, and animagi retain human thought. Transfigured animals do not."
Vlad made a note to check with his tutor about the limitations being a vampire had on that, though he didn't need it for another two years at least. They were each given a ball of wool, and told to roll out lengths then attempt either a snail or slug, depending how adventurous they felt. Everything was going fine - in that apart from making their wool slimy, only Vlad and Hermione managed to make their wool resemble the creature they were aiming for. Then there were screams from the girls sat behind them, and Vlad turned to see Harry had accidentally turned his wool into a - harmless species of - snake.
"Sorry professor, I don't know what happened!" Harry couldn't even hiss to calm the surprised snake, because that would out him as a parseltongue. Professor McGonogall waved her wand quickly to change it back, knowing exactly that and asking Harry to stay behind for a repeat attempt - they didn't have a class immediately after this one. "Gryffindors, please bring me your signed Hogsmeade forms. Mr Longbottom, your grandmother owled yours to me in advance." Neville put his hand back down, looking relieved as they filed out. Vlad felt a little sick, but Harry was more important. "I've got Harry's form, he keeps all his stuff in my bag because it's expanded."
As he handed over the forms, Vlad held his professors gaze. Hypnosis was something vampires learnt by twelve, and should have mostly mastered by thirteen. Bertrand had been surprised how quick Vlad had picked it up, and Draco had made them promise never to tell anyone about his ballet routine Vlad had hypnotized him into doing. "Both in order, yes?" "Yes Mr Dracula." The professor blinked, and turned away to file the forms away, then turned to Harry.
"I don't mind Vlad staying, he's been helping me with my issues with my magic since the Chamber last year, it's been a little... off." The professors didn't know Harry had been the basilisks chew toy, and that the venom was changing Harry. "So what do you need?" "Just a little time to clear my head. Right." Vlad knew Harry was squeezing his eyes shut, not thinking about snakes as best he could and repeating the spell. He didn't reach slug, but there was slime and a slight shape change. The second try was the same, and his third was a slug. A dead, shriveled and still oddly orange coloured slug, but a slug all the same. "Well done Mr Potter. I trust you'll continue to work on this, and seek help if it becomes unmanageable?" Harry nodded, and the two disappeared off quickly.
"We'll work on it if it happens again. Just remember not to think about snakes." "Easy to say." Harry snapped back, and Vlad had to fight not to flinch. He apologised a minute later, and the matter was forgotten - by Harry at least. Vlad couldn't help but angst about angering his mate. It was Healing after break, so Vlad started his Arithmancy reading in the library until Care of Magical Creatures was about to start. Meeting Harry, Draco and Hermione at the doors, they all crossed over the fields to Hagrid's hut.
There was a row of animals, because animal really was the only word for them. Their body, back legs and tail were that of a horse. The front legs, wings and head were that of a rather angry looking eagle. Very lethal looking beaks designed to eviscerate organs (that was his fathers voice saying that in his head, he would probably love these creatures) led up to large, brilliantly orange eyes. "Ye need ter open yer books." A general hum of "how?" came from the class, and Vlad saw many of them had belts around the large, slightly deranged books.
"Stroke the spine o'course. Or... what is it ye done to yours 'Arry?" Harry flushed slightly, but mumbled "immobilising charm". Some students pulled their wands and cast the charm, others watched as Hagrid lifted Neville's book and ran one meaty forefinger down the spine. The book quivered, then lay open and flat across Hagrids palm. "Biting books, you moron." Vlad caught some of the Slytherin students muttering, and he hoped the books had gotten a good few bites in before they were bound.
"What are those things Hagrid?" Hermione prompted, as Hagrid looked a little nervous now. "They are Hippogriffs. Gorgeous aren' they?" Gorgeous was a stretch, but the feathers were sleek and glossy looking, and the variation of colour was actually quite intriguing. They ranged from jet black inky sheen to a storm-grey one, one with a bronze hue and another pinkish. Then there was one almost white-gold in the sunlight, and the last was a chestnut browny-orange. Hagrid encouraged them up to the fence, holding thick chains attached to wide leather collars to show the Hippogriffs were restrained.
"Turn ter page nineteen, and ye should find a diagram bout their wingspan and stuff." They did so, and Hagrid tied the chains of all but the chestnut to a tree, then led the chestnut closer to them. Several students backed away. The third year Gryffindors held firm though, support for Hagrid overpowering any concern they had for the creature. "Two important things with Hippogriffs. Never insult them, they are very proud creatures. And always let 'im make the firs' move. Who wants ter go firs'?" Nobody seemed too keen, but Harry noticed and dropped his book, shrugged off his robes and stepped over the fence. "I'll do it."
"Thank ye 'Arry. Now, make eye contact, and then ye bow. If he bows back, ye can touch 'im. If not... We'll cover tha' later." Vlad had a sudden urge to yank Harry out of there, but that would embarrass Hagrid so he just kept a fiercely close eye on his mate, cringing as Harry exposed the back of his neck to the sharp beaked eagle-horse thing. Buckbeak - as Hagrid had called the chestnut - simply observed Harry haughtily, not moving and Hagrid started to encourage Harry to move away, but then Buckbeak dropped his scaly front knees and unmistakably bowed.
"Ye can pet 'im now, go on!" Harry stepped closer hesitantly, Vlad's heart racing with every step as he reached for the beak. Buckbeak let him, almost seeming pleased by the stroking over his deadly curved beak. Vlad sighed in relief as Harry did, but it didn't last long when Hagrid decided Buckbeak would now allow Harry to ride him. For a brief second, Vlad contemplated hexing their teacher. Harry was hoisted one-handedly by the large man onto the Hippogriffs back, and before Harry could contemplate where to hold on to the beast, Hagrid slapped it's hind and Buckbeak launched himself into the air with enormous twelve foot wings.
Vlad wished he could transform, wished his bat form could take over so he could soar after Harry and pull him back safely to earth, watching desperately as the feathered fiend flew around with his mate clinging to it. One circle around the paddock, though thirty feet above ground, and Buckbeak was flying back to ground. The floor shook as he landed, and Harry looked windswept and thrilled to be back on solid earth. He was grinning maniacally though, as though the nerve-wracking experience for Vlad had been thrilling for Harry.
Emboldened by his success, the others climbed into the paddock cautiously. Which was fine, until Vlad stepped up to the inky black one. The hippogriff took one look at Vlad and reared up, squawking angrily and beating his wings, waving his talons angrily in Vlad's direction. Everyone else bolted, and Vlad tried to decide which position would help keep his throat intact as he threw an arm up to protect his head. Pain sliced down his arm, and he was thankful his robes hadn't been shucked yet as there would be no hiding his dark blood from the others.
"Impedimenta!" Hermione had her wand on the one that had attacked Vlad, and it stopped in it's tracks long enough for Hagrid to distract it with a dead ferret while Harry and Draco helped drag Vlad out of the paddock. He was prepared to bet, if he looked in a couple of books, somewhere it would say vampires should be nowhere near the creatures. This was precisely why he hadn't wanted to take this class, but he couldn't drop out now and Harry was still in it, apparently with no regard for how much Vlad worried about him when he let Hagrid put him on the crazy eagle back and take flight!
A huge arm wrapped under his shoulders, the other lifting his legs as Hagrid decided Vlad needed carrying to the hospital wing. His arm was healed within seconds, but that was after a lovely stinging sensation of antiseptic, to ensure no infections as the talons that struck him had been covered in straw and dirt from the paddock. "I'm so sorry Vlad!" Hagrid was sobbing, and Vlad shook his head. "Its fine. You didn't pick that class with the express intent of getting me injured, and I'm fine now. See?" He held out the fully healed, not even a scar arm Madam Pomfrey had mended, and Vlad knew Hagrid would have to be informed he was a biter to ensure this didn't happen again. Three classes in to their first day... Why couldn't he stay out of trouble again?
-YDHP-
Oh look, magic can heal wounds instantly! Looking at you book!Malfoy.