"You cannot separate peace and freedom, because no one can be at peace if one does not have freedom.

The Purpose, Rewritten, Chapter 19 Provocation

December 1944

Seth and several students were around a big fire where teacher Mijuu Me was singing. In Egypt, it was just as warm during the winters. The songs were to open the senses and encourage the animal transformation that lay dormant in everyone. Seth confessed that hearing Mijuu's voice as his only anchor was soothing, while listening to the drums of the hearts around him. Corban's calm breathing beside him was also soothing. He felt the wolf in him gently emerge and take place in his thoughts.

''Quack.''

Several laughs rang out and Seth opened one eye before laughing back. One student was now a duck and walked proudly circling and flapping his wings. Mijuu congratulated him and urged the others to calm down before continuing her chant.

It took less time for Seth to feel his wolf again.

Even less time to be one.

"Wow! What an impressive size!'' Mijuu said, quickly approaching Seth.

More gasps of wonder were heard around him. The smells were amplified, and his senses were overwhelmed on all sides. Seth didn't feel in danger. On the contrary, he felt accepted, admired, and respected.

He became himself again, slightly out of breath, and he was smiling.

"How are you?" Mijuu asked him. "Michel was on his second total transformation… I didn't know you were already able to do a complete transformation! How long have you known how to do this?''

Seth scratched his head, hesitating to answer.

"I... actually, my first time was partial, but I had endless pain and it took me a long time before I wanted to do it again." Seth said.

Mijuu blinked, then frowned.

"Your first time? Do you mean your second time was complete?" Mijuu asked.

"Uh..." Seth said looking at the other students who were listening intently. ''Yes…''

Whispers of amazement were heard again, and Seth blushed.

"No wonder you had so much pain… an Animagus takes months, even over a year to reach full form. What you have accomplished, even today, reveals how extraordinary you are and it has never been heard of.'' Mijuu said with a smile and a tone of voice that couldn't hide her amazement too.

Corban chuckled lightly.

"You're not at the end of your surprises with Seth." Corban said.

Seth saw something move behind Corban and he took a step to go behind him and when he saw a long orange tail, he chuckled.

''A lion. Don't tell me you can be a lion, Corban? If the Slytherins knew that…" laughed Seth.

"No...it's not a lion." Corban said grabbing his tail.

Mijuu tilted her head at him.

"A Kneazle?" she asked with a smile. "That really represents you, Mr. Yaxley."

Seth pulled himself together.

"Yeah, that's right…" Seth said, thinking about how Corban loved to sleep or could fall asleep everywhere.

The rest of the class, other students had partially completed their transformations while Seth stared blankly at them. He had never felt so good, so calm, as if only the present existed.

OoOoO

December 20, 1944

Court of Justice, African Ministry of Magic, Egypt

"That really wasn't a good idea, Leadzurm." Nathaniel said.

The hubbub drowned out their silent discussion as the jury members took their seats. Nathaniel was with Leadzurm and Gellert. Several vampires and goblins sat behind them. The magical tribunal had been made the same way as the Muggle tribunals. Moreover, the African President, Rakeem Venwoerd, was also present. He was a squib, those muggles born of magical parents, but was slightly nervous when he was in the presence of so many wizards. Someone even had to take a potion of Polyjuice to replace him since he was still under surveillance.

"Good idea or not, they won't leave with our artifacts." Leadzurm growled.

The judge's gavel knocked three times and there was silence.

"Where is Albus Dumbledore?" asked Qasim Ward, the first minister of African magic.

The doors to the auditorium opened and Albus Dumbledore walked up to the stands apologizing for being late and taking his place among the jury. The prime minister cleared his throat and started to speak, but Nathaniel's attention was on Dumbledore who was now staring at Gellert Grindelwald and couldn't hide an expression of horror or his heart pounding in his chest. Nathaniel could see very well that Dumbledore was holding back from screaming and hearing his heart beating wildly irritated him ardently.

''Nathaniel Vulken, Xuq Leadzurm, Gellert Grin…'' began the prime minister.

His eyes looked up at the room and stopped at the last named. He quickly leafed through the documents in front of him and mumbled under his breath. The crowd began to whisper.

"Could we talk about the subject of why we are here. We're all very busy people.'' Nathaniel said in a voice loud enough to be heard.

The prime minister spoke to the wizard positioned below him for a moment, then returned the main document to the top of its pile and banged his gavel again.

''Mr. Vulken, you are accused, being responsible for the so-called Gellert Grindelwald, of having desecrated the tombs of Amenhotep and Tutankhamun. You have thus violated the laws of the safety of non-magicals, since four of them died, following the disarming of the curses on the tombs. You've also breached the national secret of the magical world.'' Ward said. A wizard waved his wand at a chest that opened revealing three goblin artifacts. "You have recovered these artifacts with the intention of handing them over to the goblins despite the ban on goblins acting through wizards to recover these artifacts, which do not belong to them."

''Lies! These items belong to those who created them!'' Leadzurm said as he stood up.

"Your decision cost the lives of four people! Despite your status, you owe it to yourself to face the consequences!" Said the Prime Minister in a harsh tone.

"It wasn't intentional..." Grindelwald said. "I didn't do any magic."

The prime minister's gaze turned to Grindelwald and his face showed anger and hatred.

''A lot of things weren't intentional, were they, Mr. Grindelwald? If you weren't now a vampire and out of my jurisdiction, you would finally be executed on the spot! The mere fact that you can't do magic only does partial justice to what you deserve!'' spat Ward.

The crowd approved his words, and a hubbub began again.

'Execute him!'

'To death!'

'They have no rights!'

'They have no place among us!'

The gavel banged again, but the crowd did not calm down. A booming noise resembling an explosion sounded in the room: Dumbledore had raised his wand. The crowd fell silent and sat down.

Vampires and goblins had not risen or moved, following the example of their kings, even though all of them were boiling inside.

The Prime Minister listed the events of the past weeks, told by various people and various witnesses, and ended up asking Nathaniel for his version of the facts. Negotiations with the wizards had been long and painful regarding most of the goblin artifacts, which often came from the wizarding bank of Egypt.

Since Grindelwald could remove any enchantment using runes, and some artifacts still lay in tombs, the goblins had asked the vampires if they could intervene. These artifacts could be a problem for muggles, and they wanted them back, but in the wizards' non-reaction, they had overstepped their laws.

But the deaths of four muggles had not been planned.

"Let the jury consult in the next room. We will come back with a verdict.'' Said the Prime Minister, knocking again with his gavel.

Dumbledore looked at Grindelwald again before disappearing with the other members of the jury into the next room.

"What kind of consequences could they possibly give us? One order from us in our nation and their world will be awash in debt and chaos." Leadzurm said.

"Hn. Never mind. Wizards must respect the laws of our nation since our last judgement. They can't judge Grindelwald.'' Nathaniel assured, suppressing his anger at the many whispers about them around them.

Wizards will never understand them. Whether it was the goblins or the vampires, it was an endless war that would probably never end, except perhaps, the day Seth took over the wizarding world. In the last five hundred years, nothing had changed, and the only wizards who had been able to treat them properly were the Flamels. He would never have believed that wizards saw beyond what they were. That they had the right to servants, as long as these servants had the right to a life, despite their servitudes. When Nicholas had told him that he was tired of being caught between the wizarding world and theirs... he understood, and he could not impose, nor control, friends. It would be Seth's burden and he would have no choice. Nathaniel bit his cheek, unable to help but think that Seth couldn't choose between two worlds or live a normal life either.

The jury returned to the courtroom and the crowd fell silent without the gavel being heard. The Prime Minister glanced at Dumbledore one last time before clearing his throat.

"I was told that you have passed laws with your nation, Mr. Vulken. We are therefore obliged to leave you the appropriate punishment for…Grindelwald. However, the artifacts you have robbed from the tombs will go to the Sion Wizarding Bank here in the Ministry Vault waiting for them to be auctioned off." Ward said.

"Outrageous!" said Leadzurm, banging a fist on the table in front of him.

"We can buy these artifacts, Mr. Minister. I don't believe anyone is crazy enough to bet higher than the Vulken.'' Nathaniel said through gritted teeth.

"Precisely, in the event that this situation should arise, as we would have expected, we refuse the right to sell you these artefacts, unless you give five percent of your international income." Announced the Prime Minister.

This time the goblins stood up and shouted profanities. The vampires stood up but remained silent. The guards pointed their wands at them. The minister had hit the nail on the head: he gave no choice between keeping the artifacts or controlling the economy.

"You have five days to make your decision! Let this be a lesson to you in breaking wizarding laws!'' Added the minister angrily.

The Prime Minister's voice had been amplified by his wand and he banged his gavel after the verdict. Nathaniel put a hand on Leadzurm's arm. From experience, he knew there was nothing they could do right now. Leadzurm calmed down and ordered his people to leave the room. Gellert was still staring at Dumbledore with a smirk and Nathaniel ordered his people to leave the room, not without grabbing Gellert by the collar and forcing him out.

He already regretted allowing Gellert to take Seth's blood.

OoOoO

For the first time in his life, Seth had seen the Nutcracker show with Corban. He hadn't seen the time past that Christmas was already approaching. It was unimaginable to see that in Uagadou, lessons and work did not feel like lessons and work. Magic, while similar to Hogwarts, was learned in all sorts of fascinating ways.

Ever since he got his new wand, everything seemed to be going better for him. From his Animagus form that he used almost every day to run around, to the use of wandless magic, everything was in balance. Merebelle offered herself to him when he felt the need... or not.

Perhaps in order to get closer to him, Corban had therefore invited him to see a show that Seth believed to be muggle. But when he heard the extraordinary music of this show, he realized that everything was magic and that the five hundred muggles in the same room as them saw nothing of it.

"Do you really believe Muggles would be capable of making musical masterpieces like anything you've heard in your life?" Laughed Corban. "There are only wizards to create this magic for the ears. The Minister tolerates this magic, the only one, in my opinion, because it does not change their lives in any way, and sooner or later, the music cannot be hidden from them…"

The show was coming to an end and the music was amazing. Seth closed his eyes for a moment, letting himself be spellbound by it. When the curtain closed, he applauded along with the others for long seconds. After the crowd started to leave the theater, Seth cast a notice-me-not spell on him and Corban, then a disillusionment spell before Apparating with him out of the theater into an alley between two buildings. The sound of cars and people coming out accompanied them as they decided to walk outside into the night. They had returned to London to see the show. The snow reflected the moonlight, providing a slight light.

"I want to come back every year. It was beautiful.'' Seth said.

Corban smiled.

"I think I told you my father was a pianist?" Corban said and Seth nodded. "Callum is now almost as good as him, and he was his mentor. I couldn't play that well, and I tend to say that my father always preferred him because he did everything that I didn't want to do, but that our father demanded… still happy that I was in Slytherin. I can't imagine if I hadn't been there."

"He really agreed to you going to Africa?" Seth asked.

Corban looked down and shook his head.

"Of course not, but I'm of legal age…and he can't decide anything for me anymore, but my brother is already licking his boots, and so…he just doesn't speak to me anymore." Corban.

"He didn't cast you out of the family, right?" Seth asked worriedly.

Seth knew very well, having rubbed shoulders with pure-bloods, that the family name was the most precious a wizard could have. Some made their lives with their names. Getting banished was the cruellest punishment in this case.

They had arrived in a huge park where they walked on a pathway. A dog barked further away.

Corban remained silent and Seth realized that Corban might have made more than a choice by following him to Africa.

"In my father's eyes… you are the worst choice I could have had. Not only does he firmly believe that you were Muggle-born, but the fact that your name relates to…a creature, makes him think you're absolutely worthless." Corban said softly.

"Your father voted for us when we went to court over the vampire mark though." Seth said.

"Oh…haha! Of course, yes. When it comes to Galleons and honoring family-to-family promises, like the one he has to the Malfoys… rest assured he will always do as he is told. But… don't ask him for his real opinion, he'll take you for granted. Don't try to change his mind either...it's been ingrained in him for ages." Corban explained.

Seth was silent for a moment. He then wondered if Corban had somewhere to go.

"Do you…do you have a place to stay?" Seth asked.

Corban smiled.

"Do you care where I sleep now?" Corban asked. Seth blinked and opened his mouth to speak but closed it. "Seth...I can see you're a real friend, with that simple question. Your father has already assigned me a room at the mansion in Egypt." Corban replied.

Seth had never asked himself the question that he might doubt his friendship with Corban, but did he feel more than that?

"My mother, you mean." Seth said, wanting to bring his thoughts back to Corban's last sentence.

"No… by the way, I don't think I've seen her before." Corban said, confused.

"My mother is linked to my father by thoughts. He seems to make all the decisions on everything, because my mom runs a center for magical creatures and is rarely around with him, but she's the one in charge." Seth said.

''What? A center of magical creatures? Why?'' asked Corban, not at all curious about the bond vampires may have.

''Yes… There is a lot of trafficking in magical animals and artifacts that people tries to pass in transactions… in banks or other ways, and given the amount that was accumulating, my mother intervened and she created a sanctuary for them.'' Explained Seth.

"So... it's not just you who loves magical creatures..." Corban realized.

''No. Vampires respect life above all else, and humans certainly don't. If we look at what's going on right now…'' Seth said.

"Are you talking about their war? I have a feeling it's going to end soon...and not in a good way." Corban replied.

"That's what Gellert said, twenty years ago." Seth muttered.

They arrived at the end of the park where there were game modules and swings with benches. Seth sat down on a bench and looked up at the starry sky.

"Don't you want a coffee? I would drink some tea. We're near the Leaky Cauldron.'' Corban said, hands in the pockets of his long coat.

Seth hummed and tilted his head back. He replayed the best moments of violin in his head.

''Not really. Egypt is far away. Don't you want to come to the castle for tonight?'' asked Seth before looking at him and winking.

"It depends if you're in the same bed as me." Corban retorted with a mischievous smile.

Seth smirked in response and grabbed Corban by the arm before Apparating.

OoOoO

Seth woke with a start, having felt a twinge in his body. He wondered where the twinge was coming from when he realized that the island's wards were trying to warn him that an intruder, or intruders, were trying to enter. Corban, sleeping next to him, hadn't reacted to his sudden movement. The sun let its morning light enter his room. He stood up and felt that twinge again, as his house-elf materialized in front of him.

"Master...oh." Colpy said hiding his eyes.

Seth was blazing naked.

"Who's trying to come in, Colpy?" Seth asked, picking up some pants from the floor and putting them on.

"Wizards! Colpy thinks they're from the Ministry.'' Colpy said in a high-pitched voice.

Seth frowned. The last time members of the Ministry came to the island was to mark all the vampires on their hands.

"What's going on?" Corban muttered as he stretched.

Seth found his shirt from the night before and put it on under the disapproving eye of Colpy, since he had plenty of clean shirts and had decided to put this on anyway.

''I am not sure. I'll be right back.'' Seth said to Corban before addressing his elf. ''Take me there.''

Colpy held his hand and snapped his fingers to apparating.

Christmas lights decorated all the houses and buildings around. A thin layer of snow covered the grass but was already melting in the sunlight. Curious muggles had come out of their houses, and they watched the four wizards floating on broomsticks at the edge of the island's enchantments, preventing them from entering. Behind them were a dozen other wizards.

Seth concentrated on the twinge he had felt in his magic and allowed the wizards in temporarily. He recognized, despite himself, the Director of National Security, Gregor Wood. For the director himself to come to his island made him nervous. He saw Monica's father, Emmanuel Greengrass: the latter worked in the Department of Magical Creatures. A woman and another man he didn't recognize accompanied them, as did the dozen behind them who were probably serving as security. They went through the wards, and all landed in front of Seth on the beach. Besides, Seth wouldn't have let them go any further.

Seth was joined by some vampire-guardians from the village, as well as by Galea, the one who takes care of the marina with Steven.

The wizards placed their brooms in bags, after making them smaller.

"Ah. Mr. Vulken! Thank you for allowing us to come to your island. We've traveled a long way and it took us a while to find it!'' Wood said.

Seth narrowed his eyes. There was a reason why their island wasn't supposed to be accessible by anyone else, but the fact that the enchantments were working, and that he would be warned of any intrusion since his merging with the magic of the island, reassured him. The witch had walked over to him and held out a hand to shake, but Seth had his arms crossed and pursed his lips. He wasn't the king yet, and he didn't have to follow any protocols of manners, but to look proper, he swallowed his anger at them and shook her hand briefly.

''Mr. Vulken! Hello, let me introduce myself, Sofia Moss, Director of the Department of Magical Creatures Control.'' Sofia said before pointing at the other man he didn't know. "This is Elphinstone Urquart, Assistant Director of Magical Justice and Emmanuel Greengrass, my Assistant Director."

Seth nodded in greeting. Sofia didn't introduce the others, and Seth suspected they were probably Aurors or the elite wand-shooting squad. They were also fascinated by the nearby village, and they were already observing the houses closely. Maybe too close.

"May I know why you came here? If it weren't for the Christmas holidays, you would have bumped into an impenetrable wall. I finish my studies in Egypt, where my father is also. "Said Seth.

The wizards looked at each other for a moment and Wood cleared his throat.

"Hmm, yes. We're coming to inspect the premises and re-do the vampire registry." Wood said.

Seth figured it wasn't just for that. There were very few new vampires and they had been added to the official list through Vincent's girlfriend, who works at the ministry. Moreover, he questioned the attitude of Wood, who had been extremely cold and distasteful towards them during the last court.

"You have a list with you, I presume?" Seth asked.

Sofia waved her wand and several scrolls appeared in her hands.

"We have the old list, the one that was produced by… Auror Maugrey." Sofia said.

Seth couldn't stop the memory of Felipe Maugrey's flayed body from popping into his mind. He felt the tension escalate and the anger radiating from the other vampires around him.

"Sidh." Mentioned Seth in Venthyr, urging them to calm down.

He had seen the subtle movement of Wood who was now holding his wand in his sleeve, close to his wrist.

"The minister, and several officials, know we're here." Wood said in a harsher tone. "I dare believe that we can proceed in a civil way?"

Ah. The true face of Gregor Wood.

Seth walked over to him.

''Of course. We wouldn't want an accident to happen." Seth mentioned looking at the other wizards who also had their wands in their hands.

Seth ordered Galea and Keith to round up the vampires in the village, since he doesn't know all of their names.

"Steven can't leave the marina unattended." Galea said.

Seth looked at Sofia and the scrolls she was holding.

"You just need to check off the names on your list, yes?" Seth asked.

Sofia and Gregor looked at each other for a moment. Seth had time to see Emmanuel shake his head subtly.

"A signature..." began Gregor.

"Mine will do." Interrupted Seth. "As the Prince of Vampires and in the absence of my father, I can amply vouch for my nation. You certainly have no right to inflict this on us and it is only out of complacency that I let you set foot on my island.'' Seth said, on his guard.

''Are you the one who owns the enchantments and barriers of this island?' asked Elphinstone, who spoke for the first time since his arrival.

''Do you know another wizard who lives on this island, Mr. Urquart?'' Seth said before turning to Galea. "If you know them all, they don't need to come here."

Wood cleared his throat again.

"Hmm. We need to validate…'' started Wood again.

Seth, increasingly irritated, turned to him.

"No, you don't have to validate anything. You have no authority here. You will write those that I and Galea will name and leave. If you want the names of the vampires of those who live in London, I can provide them as well." Said Seth, who suspected that Wood had something else in mind.

"Vampires may not be in my jurisdiction, but you are, Mr. Vulken." Wood retorted with a smirk. "You just turned seventeen, didn't you? So, you can be judged as an adult now."

Wood was implying that he could control him that way? A tic appeared on his upper lip: his teeth suddenly itched. Keith was coming back with the other vampires, and they had clearly heard Wood's threats. The tension escalated again, but this time Seth didn't urge them to calm down, barely managing to calm down himself. Seth held out his hand to Sofia.

"Your list." Seth ordered dryly.

Sofia hesitated and looked at Wood, who nodded. When the scroll touched his hands, he immediately felt the many enchantments imbuing them. Ranging from a simple protection spell against the environment to the magical sequences he recognized that could serve as a control for anyone writing on this scroll. That was the reason he asked for signatures, and they were unaware that Seth could sense magic in objects. It was stronger than him, his anger was such that his eyes turned black, and the air became heavy and dense.

"How dare you?" spat Seth in Parseltongue.

His voice vibrated through the air and shivers ran through the world around him.

"Parseltongue…"

"It's only a parchment…" Sofia tried, less reassured.

''NO! YOU WANTED TO CONTROL US ONCE AGAIN! GO!" Seth yelled as the winds picked up and dark clouds formed above them.

"Controlling you?" Sofia asked looking at Wood again. "But it's not…" Her voice trailed off, then she frowned. "That's not what you told me!"

He only wanted one thing: to destroy the scroll. Could he make fiendfyre? The only fire capable of destroying everything in its path? He had simply read about it and summoning that was extremely dangerous. This spell caused extreme pleasure and almost everyone got lost during the act and died. But Seth had already had an affinity with fire when he was younger and the anger, he had right now was blinding him and nothing else was in his thoughts.

He felt his hands get hot and it didn't take long for the parchment to sizzle, then the enchantments shattered as flames licked the ink, erasing the names of Vincent, Brian, William and even Darthael, before to be finally reduced to ashes at his feet.

Wood stammered something before turning red with anger.

"Your dear father is breaking our laws and you refuse to cooperate." Said Wood. "Don't be sure you can fight the Ministry of Magic, Mr. Vulken. This scroll had taken months to create.'' Wood said pulling his broom out of his bag. "It seems that you are acting just as you are described: a creature that needs to be put in its place."

"He's a wizard, Wood." Greengrass replied.

"Not in my book." Wood retorted dryly.

"Let's go before he turns the island's barriers against us." Urquart said as he mounted his broomstick, followed by the others.

"He probably doesn't know how." Wood muttered.

"I can't believe you tried to do that, Gregor! They've already gone to court for things they didn't do!" Said Sofia, outraged, before taking her broom in turn. ''This won't pass the board!''

Seth took a step forward, ready to do the irreparable, well despite Sofia's protests, when Lazarus rushed in, out of breath and placing his hands on Seth's chest.

"Seth! Don't do anything!'' Lazarus said before looking around, trying to figure out what just happened. The emotions of the others assailed him completely and he shivered. ''Oh shit. Too late.'' He mumbled before straightening up and turning to Wood, still placed between him and Seth. ''Mr. Wood. Pardon the behavior of the Prince, but…"

"Lazarus Vulken. Your Prince just destroyed an important ministry document and refused to cooperate. They will go again in court." Wood concluded and waving at the other wizards, they took off.

Out of respect for Patriarch Greengrass, Seth closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt his magic wanting to explode around him and although he could easily fend off all these wizards, he knew that his energy would be drained, and he would rather never show his vulnerability and expose his island if he were to succumb to his own wrath. Villagers had gathered behind the vampires, curious to see so many wizards flying on broomsticks, but not so shocked to see anything out of the ordinary.

Seth looked at the other vampires who all thought like him: no wizard would ever threaten his nation again. No wizard will ever dare to control a single vampire as long as there was air in his lungs.

Venthyr translation

''Sidh.''

''Peace.''