The Cullens remained silent for a moment after the trio's statements. They were glad to know where their brother or son was, but dreaded the state he was in. They explained that a vampire was the cohabitation of two people, the human soul that had been detached from its carnal envelope and the vampire that had modified the carnal envelope and taken up residence there. Most of the time, the two identities cohabited peacefully, the human learning to listen to his vampire's needs, to hunt before he got too hungry, but sometimes the vampire took control: when the call of blood or his instincts were too strong. Most of the time, once the impulse was sated, the human could regain control, but if the vampire remained in control for too long, the human could disappear.
Hermione then offered to go and look for books in the Black library that dealt with vampires.
"I think that's a good idea," agreed Carlisle. ¨Edward could do that with you. Besides, is there a forest in the area where we could go hunting in peace?¨
¨I don't think so," answered Ron, "but there's the bank.¨
¨The bank?" asked Rosalie.
¨Yes, the blood bank," added Hermione. ¨Vampire wizards usually get their supplies there rather than hunting."
Only silence answered this statement as the vampires integrated the information.
"They have animal blood too, so we should be able to take you there," added the witch.
¨Take us to the wizarding world?" asked Emmett like a child being offered a visit to Santa Claus.
Rosalie punched him on the back of the head to calm him down, while Carlisle huffed in annoyance and Esmée smiled.
"I'd love to go to that bank," declared the doctor.
¨Me too!" exclaimed Emmett, causing Rosalie to roll her eyes.
So it was decided that Edward and Hermione would go to the attic to rummage through the Black library, Carlisle, Emmett and Ron to the bank, and the vampire women would pursue their idea of renovating the square. They also took up Harry's time to share their ideas, just as he was thinking of joining George at the store. Initially not very motivated, he ended up spending the rest of the day discussing them. As an interior designer, Esmée knew how to combine the functional with the aesthetic. Her daughters were mainly concerned with fashion and aesthetics, but they had a keen eye for what he might like. However, as soon as they tried to give him a makeover, the wizard fled.
It was already too late to go to the shop, but he stopped by George's apartment to find that he'd been away. He returned home with a shrug, knowing that his friend would know where to find him if he needed it. His thoughts quickly turned from the inventor to the mysterious vampire at the Ministry. This situation reawakened in him his taste for adventure and his desire to solve riddles; his whole school career had been punctuated by mysteries and adventures, and he hated to say it, but he missed the adrenalin.
The arrival of the Muggle vampires had awakened his adventurous side, and now he couldn't wait to find out more. After an hour of thinking about all this without being able to do anything else or sleep, he decided to return to the square. There he found Ron asleep on a sofa, while Emmett was telling Rosalie and Alice about his excursion to Diagon Alley. Harry waved to them and headed for the library; if his friend was asleep on the sofa, it was because his beloved had been eaten by books - figuratively, he hoped, but with Black's books you never knew. He wasn't surprised to find her sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by a dozen open books. Edward and Carlisle were also surrounded by open books, but looked up at him as he entered.
"Are you finding anything?¨
¨Not really," replied Edward, who was cut off by Hermione.
¨There's nothing on Muggle vampires and rather little on spells that can have an effect on vampires in general. None of the spells mentioned could explain the effects described."
Harry was very frustrated to hear these words, and he suspected he wasn't the only one. The two vampires had been searching for Jasper for so long, the realization that his human soul was lost would break their hearts; and Hermione hated not finding answers to her questions.
"Voldemort must have found the information somewhere," Harry thought aloud.
¨In that case, he must have kept the books with him... Harry, you're a genius!"
The witch's exclamation left everyone speechless, even Edward who was trying to understand her train of thought.
"Okay," Harry tried to prod her. ¨Would you care to elaborate?¨
¨If Voldemort or a mangemort kept the book, the Ministry must have seized it at the end of the war.¨
¨Yes, it's true that they searched the homes of all the Death Eaters...¨
¨Percy might be able to find something, what do you think?"
Harry had no idea, but Hermione didn't give him time to answer anyway.
"There might even be an archive on Jasper at the Ministry! We've got to get in touch with Percy!"
With that, the young woman left the room at full speed, leaving the three men confused.
"Is she always like that?" asked Carlisle.
¨Yes," sighed Harry.
¨Her mind is impressive, she arranges her knowledge in a giant library that she visualizes and she knows exactly in which section to find the information she needs at the moment she needs it.¨
¨It's a classic memorization technique..." intervened the doctor.
¨Except that the library of his mind must be as big as the Louvre."
Carlisle's gaze grew impressed and Harry chuckled.
"Hermione's one of a kind, I've stopped wondering about that sort of thing, otherwise I'd spend my days on it. Let's go down and see her, I'm willing to bet she's already contacted Percy.¨
¨We'll meet you downstairs, just put the books back first."
Harry shrugged and left the room, except that he was surprised when the two men arrived in the living room at the same time as he did. It took him two seconds to remember the extraordinary speed of these beings. On the other hand, he wasn't surprised to see the third Weasley son deep in conversation with Hermione, while his little brother was still snoring on the sofa. All the vampires were gathered and listening to the conversation with great interest, but without intervening.
Percy promised to investigate the next day and update them as soon as possible. He greeted Harry, nodded to the vampires and left.
"Do you think he'll find it?" asked Esmée.
¨Percy navigates the Ministry like a fish in water," replied Ron's sleepy voice. ¨If he thinks he needs to find this information to do the right thing, he'll find it."
Harry felt his heart clench; he knew that Percy's support for the Scrimgeour government had created tensions among the Weasleys that had not yet completely subsided, especially with Ron and Ginny. The fact that he came to the Survivor's defense whenever the youngest member of the family attacked him did not help him to rebuild his relationship with her, while that with Ron was growing stronger by the day.
Hermione and Ron left the square to go and sleep in their own beds, but Harry felt he couldn't do it. He stayed with the vampires and asked them why they chose to feed on animals. Carlisle then began to tell him his story, his transformation and his repugnance to the idea of killing humans. He then went on to describe the formation of his clan: his meeting with Edward, then Esmée and finally Rosalie, whom he had transformed, then the arrival of Emmett, whom he had transformed for the woman he considered his daughter, and finally the arrival of Alice and Jasper. Harry had fallen asleep during his storytelling, but the doctor didn't care.
The next morning, Harry awoke early and aching. He greeted the vampires, but left in a hurry to take a shower, swallow a cup of coffee and open the store; he needed to keep busy so as not to think about the prisoner from the Department of Mysteries all the time.