Chapter 223 Vampires
Evan was firmly bound by the sudden appearance of a crimson chain and fell heavily to the ground.
Unable to control his pain, he struggled to get up but failed. He was cold and sweaty, clueless about the intentions of the girl.
Evan attempted several spells in succession, but none had set him free.
These red chains not only bound his body but also emitted a strange magical aura that impeded the magic within him.
Evan looked up and saw the girl swaying like a kitten.
She seemed dazed, as if just awakened, her expression unchanged. For her, subduing him with this unprecedented magical power seemed like a trivial task.
The girl remained silent as she approached Evan directly. Her crimson eyes fixed on his neck. She appeared hesitant, swallowing nervously.
Beneath the wide dark cloak, it was unclear where she had concealed her short wand. She wrinkled her nose and sniffed again, then extended a pale hand towards Evan.
Despite his thick clothing, Evan could feel the girl's hand like ice, truly cold, even colder than the wintry night air.
Due to their proximity, he could detect a strange scent on her.
It wasn't the unique fragrance of the girl like Hermione's, but a faint smell of blood.
Evan could be certain that the stains on her black robe were not traces of magical potions or beverages but droplets of blood that had fallen on it.
Wine-colored eyes, pale skin, cold body temperature, the scent of blood – when all these descriptions align in one person, they are ample evidence to conclude that...
This girl is a vampire!
Evan had only harbored doubts before, but now he was utterly certain.
He couldn't believe his luck was truly so dire. In Diagon Alley, on the opposite corner of the most prosperous magical shopping street in the wizarding world, where many wizards frequented, he was the one to casually encounter a vampire that other wizards had never met in their lifetime.
Even in a dim alley, if you wish to come across a vampire, you need to be as fortunate as hitting the jackpot.
It is noteworthy that in the magical world, vampires exist. However, they are exceedingly rare; their numbers are scarce, and many mysteries surround them.
Vampires typically pay close attention to safeguarding their own secrets and generally avoid active engagement with the mainstream magical society. They have their own closed society and rules of survival.
Even in the event of sporadic contact, identifying them is challenging.
As a result, many wizards came to believe that vampires were extinct, or simply magical creatures invented, existing only in mythological tales.
Evan vaguely recalled that the original book did not offer an excessive description of vampires.
After Voldemort's return, he dispatched a Death Eater to reach out to various dark creatures to overthrow the Ministry of Magic. The three most coveted allies were werewolves, giants, and vampires, especially vampires, but they rebuffed Voldemort's overtures.
In the original book, it seemed that something significant occurred within the vampire community. They were too depleted to care about anything else and eventually vanished.
As he observed the vampire girl before him, appearing ravenous, with a longing to pounce on his neck and drink his blood...
Evan swallowed hard, his body instinctively moving back to evade her.
Given that he had not expected to encounter a vampire, he had not collected relevant books, and the second-year Defense Against the Dark Arts class had no curriculum on them.
Typically, Defense Against Vampires is a seventh-year course, or an elective, entirely dependent on the mood and preferences of the professor.
Occasionally, in the advanced wizards' exam, there may be questions related to vampires, which were also quite straightforward.
The only thing Evan had in mind about vampires was from last year when he was bored enough to skim through 'Travels with Vampires' by Lockhart.
With Lockhart's peculiar hyperbole, the book vividly describes a vampire he met on his journey and how he cleverly and courageously fought through life-and-death battles and ultimately defeated it.
Despite the exaggerations and the fact that it wasn't Lockhart's personal experience, this book was based on a true story.
The girl in front of him matched exactly the description of the vampire in the book.
According to "Travels with Vampires," transforming into a vampire is, similar to werewolves, acquired.
But unlike werewolves, where anyone, as long as they are bitten, can be infected, becoming a vampire requires what is called the first embrace.
The whole process is extremely demanding, and the success rate is very low.
The first embrace can cause great harm to the vampires themselves. They don't do it randomly and usually choose only intimate and talented wizards.
Various restrictive factors accumulate, greatly limiting the number of vampires.
In the traditional sense, the first embrace is considered a kind of magical ritual.
This magic evolved from ancient dark magic specializing in the study of the spirits of the dead, the dark wizard of the devil, the sacrifice to the undead, and the invocation of demons. For this reason, unlike other magical creatures like goblins, house-elves, centaurs, and werewolves, the first embrace is the only way to become a vampire, and vampires are considered the result of the mutation of wizards.
They are not magical creatures in essence but wizards whose magical power has been mutated under the influence of magic, and they are more taboo than malevolent dark wizards.
This point can be seen in the internal structure of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures of the Ministry of Magic.
As is well known, the Department is divided into several Divisions, responsible for all matters related to the management of magical creatures in the magical world.
So far, the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures includes the Centaur Liaison Office, the Committee for the Elimination of Dangerous Creatures, the Dragon Research and Control Office, the Pest Advisory Board, the Troll Management Office, the Werewolf Registry, the Werewolf Capture Unit, the Goblin Liaison Office, the House-Elf Relocation Office, the Spirit Division, etc.
None of them are related to vampires.
When a wizard is unfortunately bitten by a transformed werewolf and becomes a werewolf like Lupin, he must report to the Werewolf Registry.
If he rejects the support of the Ministry of Magic, then the werewolf will be tracked by the Werewolf Capture Unit.
However, if a wizard transforms into a vampire, their form and appearance do not change much.
They will still be considered human, a wizard, like a dark wizard, not accepted or trusted by mainstream society, or considered a more evil being.
But as long as they do not harm others and suck their blood, they have nothing to fear.
It sounds simple, but it is practically impossible. Unlike ordinary wizards, a vampire's strength mainly comes from blood.
The more magic contained in the blood, the more power they gain. Although it is possible to survive on animal blood, a vampire's power slowly diminishes when consumed over a long period, unless it is an extraordinarily powerful magical creature.
In the end, it is even possible that they may lose their magic forever.
Due to their need to consume magical blood, among the select hunting targets, the blood of wizards is easier to obtain than that of dangerous and powerful magical creatures. Therefore, despite being forbidden, there are still records of vampire attacks against wizards.
However, as the vampire population dwindles, such attacks have gradually disappeared.