DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter. The HP franchise and all the canonical characters pertaining to it are properties of J.K Rowling.

OoOo

INTERLUDE

Four years ago.

Eight years old Harry looked left and right with eyes that looked older than his eight years. They had just left the wand crafter's shop with his new custom made wand. It was when they were two buildings away that Rowland noticed the two men following them.

He so much wished he hadn't given Sheda his new wand. He swore to himself to learn to do all the spells he knew wandlessly if he survived this day.

He was about to speak but Rowland beat him to it. "Follow me Harrion and pretend you don't know they're following us."

Harry shook his head. "They know we are aware. They've picked up their pace."

Rowland paused to look back at the men who were hurrying towards them then he gasped and grabbed Harry's hand, rushing into the nearest store that happened to be a store that sold magical candles. They were just getting into the store when Rowland disillusioned them both. The owner of the shop looked towards them but she went back to whatever it was she was doing behind the counter when she saw nobody.

Harry knew something was wrong when he saw Rowland send off a Patronus message. "What is wrong?" He questioned the man.

Rowland tightened his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Be quiet please. Those are Royal Mages. I recognized the medallion they had on."

Harry was about to ask another question when the two Mages entered the candle shop, gaining the attention of the store woman.

She looked at the men and saw their medallions, paled and started stuttering out questions.

The men looked at her, one was a short blonde and the other one had more beard than hair but his fierce face looked more troubling with his receding hair.

The bald one snorted at the stuttering woman and almost quicker that Harry's eye could follow he had his wand out and the woman was on the floor stunned. He sniffed the air and looked around, finally his eyes landed were they were, disillusioned.

"I know you are there, I'm a Mannaro, you know. You Englishs call my kind werewolves. Come out and let's talk, mio amico," the balding man said in a calming baritone.

Harry was bewildered when Rowland canceled the disillusionment charm. He looked up at his guardian and was shocked to see his eyes held a glazed look.

"Shoking isn't it," the werewolf said, drawing Harry's attention back to him. "While you two were paying attention to me, Julius silently used the revealing charm to figure out your position and also silently placed your guardian under the Imperius."

Dread started crawling up Harry's spine. "Tha... That's impossible." He should know because Voldemort had invented the Cruciatus and the Imperius curses and Harry had all his memories till that night.

"For you maybe. You English people hate progress and magical research. You will find that things work differently here. Enough of that," he said nodding to his junior partner, then he looked back at Harry with a chilling smile. "See you soon."

Harry tried to opening his mouth to speak but then his world went dark.

~Break~

He awoke to someone calling his name. Opening his eyes he had to squint to get used to the darkness around him. Someone's hand was shaking him, it was Rowland and thankfully he was himself again.

"Harry, thank goodness, you're fine. I'm so sorry. Sheda is going to rip me apart for this, I just know it. Though I'd deserve it, I was supposed to protect you," Rowland was saying.

Harry shook his head. "You did nothing to have yourself blamed, Row."

"Exactly I did nothing," Rowland said, sounding bitter with himself.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, focusing on the present.

"The Royal Palace. A dungeon beneath it I believe."

"Ah... At least we're not dead."

Row chuckled. "That sounds like something Sheda would say."

Harry nodded. "It was what she said to me the first day we met when she came to the church for her once in every four years attendance." He chuckled and then stiffened when he heard movement behind him.

Looking back he was two men looking at them. One was a handsome blonde whom's red eyes almost made Harry jump back. He looked nothing like Voldemort so he was probably a vampire then, though that conclusion didn't bring him any comfort. The other man was older, old like white hair, white beard, wrinkles, things like that. Looking closer Harry added white eyes to the list.

"So they threw us in a cell with a vampire and a blind Merlin," he stated.

The old man took no insult in Harry's words and laughed instead. "I'm no Merlin, Harry Potter else I'd have not been sitting in this place for the last three months," the old man said with a sad smile.

"How do you know my name," Harry asked warily. He stood up and Rowland stood with him.

The old man looked pained for a moment, white eyes staring at nothing. "I told them where to find you."

"What?"

Everyone was silent for a moment then the blind man began speaking. "I came to Italy because during the school year I was informed that a blindness potion had been invented in magical Rome. I should have known that it was a trap. Magicals have never been able to cure blindness, but I had hoped that it was true. I was taken by the Royal Mages at the portkey terminal then they brought me here to this palace. I was giving a potion that was worst than the Cruciatus and was told that I'd only be given the antidote if I told them who had the knowledge of the whereabouts of Cadus' Staff."

For the second time that day Harry felt dread. "Why would you know about anyone who knows were the staff is?"

"Because he's a seer," the vampire finally spoke up. "Nice to meet you. I'm Xavier Rastric."

"Uh," Rowland said in bewilderment. "Not the entertainer I hope?"

The vampire shrugged. "I was till I was rudely removed from stage with a goblin device. I owed the demons some money and it was way past payment date. So they took me to work their mines for the seventy years. When it seemed like I'd die they took me to a vampire who bit me for them. Perhaps they taught I'd be angered. A pureblood wizard now an abomination. I was glad and when they were done with me, I thanked them to their confusion and went on to start my own coven. Now I hear they teach about my early days as an entertainer in some European magical schools."

"Wow," Rowland said. "Wait. If you are a vampire and that old with your own coven, how did the Royal Mages capture you?"

"Oh, I let them. I came here because I was in love with the queen. I was taken because they caught her having an affair with me. I stayed because she kept visiting me. She's been long dead now and they've long since added wards that could hold even a powerful vampire like me."

Harry was fascinated with his story but it was the blind man that he wanted to keep speaking not the vampire. "So you are a seer and you think I know where the staff is?" He asked the man. How could they know he knew he only got that information from Voldemort memories. Cadus' staff was too dangerous in the wrong hand because it could heal anything. Whoever had it was in a way immortal.

It was the vampire that answered though. "No, not think. He knows you know where it is. You see, I know quite a lot about seers. Cassandra Trelawney was my lover one time, you know. Seers are not how people think they are, they're just people who have a stronger connection with their mind."

"You are talking about the Mind Arts?" Harry couldn't stop his inquisitive nature from making him ask.

"Part of it is. Seers can see the future, past or present only when the connect their mind to the universe's dimensional cluster. There you can find dimensions of the past, future and alternate present. Untrained seers can only do this when they are calm, peaceful or unknowingly connected with this power. But trained seers like my dear Cassandra then, can consciously see through time and dimensions anytime they want to."

The old, blind man was nodding to what Xavier was saying. "That was a fine explanation Supreme Lord Xavier," the man stated. "When I was given the potion I had to use my ability to search for the staff and I saw a future you holding the staff and absorbing its power then I saw a younger you walking through the Roman magical market with young Rowland Waters."

"How... Oh, yeah, you're a seer," Rowland said trying badly at hiding his amazement.

"Ah.. I'm disappointed that you don't recognize your professor, Rowland Rollingstar."

Rowland frowned for a second before he shot the old man a startled look. "Professor Mopsus?"

"You Know him?" Harry asked.

Rowland smiled. "Harry meet Manto Mopsus, professor of Divination at Hogwarts. Professor, this is Harry Potter."

The Blind professor smiled. "Well met, Mr Potter. Now could you please use Tom's gift to you to silence this room."

Harry shrugged, he should start getting used to being around a seer. He cast a silencing charm around the room and looked at the man to explain himself then he felt foolish for doing so when he remembered that the old professor was blind. The man spoke though like he knew Harry wanted an explanation. "It will take them a few minutes to get here now that their listening charms are no longer working, but by then we will be long gone."

"What do you mean?" asked a panicked Rowland and Harry made a mental note to ask him for the meaning of the Rollingstar nickname when they were out of there. "And since when could you do wandless magic, Harry."

"I have always been able to," Harry half lied. "I've just never practiced except when I need a particular spell for something. Thankfully the silencing spell is one of the spells I've had the need for in the past."

The Divination master jumped in. "The key to our escape is with you, Harry Potter. Xavier's blood is the focus for the spell," the blind man said to Harry.

Harry blinked once and tried to make sense of what the old man said then he recalled something Voldemort had learnt when he toured the magical worlds. "Vampires are immune to most magic so their blood must be too."

Xavier was already slicing his wrist with one of his claws and Harry was heading towards him when Rowland asked, "and how will that help us?"

"The wards won't stop any transportation ritual done with it especially ancient ones," Harry replied thinking about an ancient ritual Voldemort saw once that the Aztecs used for transporting armies to cities miles aways from theirs.

He told the vampire to use the blood to draw a circle.

"What of my wand?" Rowland asked.

Harry frowned as he started writing with the blood on the floor in Nahuatl. "You can always buy a new one, Row. Now bring the professor here and you both stand inside the circle." He commanded as he wrote the the last word which was Nahuatl for away.

Normally, a ritual like this would have demanded for hundreds to be bled dry but Harry was transporting just three people along with himself and not an army so this will do.

He entered the circle and the Supreme Vampire Lord stepped in after him. It was a tight fit but they managed. "We are heading back to London, Row. When we get back you'll find a wand immediately and send a message to Sheda to use her portkey before the Mages find her."

Not waiting for his guardian's reply he began to chant. He heard clinking at the door and sped up the chant. He was almost at the last word when the door opened.

" Sofferenza infinita," he heard as he said the last chant and magic began to take them away then his body became a vessel for pain.

He found out from Rowland later that he'd been able to take them back to London and that he'd been in his painful state for two weeks and no magic they knew could move him from it not even the magics known to the ancient Xavier Rastrick.

That was when Harry learnt to use his mind to shut down pain. And he made a vow that the Royals of the magical kingdom of Rome will one day scream more than he'd done.