Charlotte was in the library researching the Order of Ecclesia when a familiar sense of dread began to overwhelm her. She looked up, surprised, as screams surrounded her.
She dashed into the library proper to find a skeleton advancing towards Madame Pince. With one fluid motion, Charlotte raised her hand and an intense blast of Gale Force neatly shot from her and cut the thing to pieces.
"You're alright now." Charlotte said soothingly, as she approached her. Madame Pince was still whimpering pitifully as Charlotte cast a look down the hall.
Possessed books were floating around in circles, flapping their pages as if they were birds. Monsters described in the pages occasionally leapt out and snarled at them with ferocious teeth.
"Come with me." Charlotte commanded. "I'll escort you to safety."
Where, though? When she and Jonathan had first raided the castle the first thing they had done was secure a safe room for them to return to in between their adventures throughout Brauner's portraits. The only thing she could think to do was lead her out of the castle… but was Hogsmeade safe?
Her thoughts was still wandering as she carefully led Madame Pince through the rows and rows of books. Occasionally one would swoop down and attack her, but she would blast it to ash with a burst of raging fire.
"Not… the books…" Madame Pince whispered.
"It's alright." Charlotte said soothingly. "These are probably just monsters anyway." They weren't, but she needed to keep her calm. Her inner book lover felt a tinge of remorse. She found herself feeling very thankful that her journey through Dracula's Castle never took her through his famous library.
Immediately she stepped out into the hallway and saw a familiar face. The very same Behemoth that had chased her and Jonathan through the castle was now marching forward- thankfully away from them.
With Madame Pince in tow she couldn't guarantee that she could kill it, so she instead headed off to the opposite direction.
A minotaur was patrolling the hall. It saw them and advanced, brandishing its weapon. A blast of fire from Charlotte's tome burnt it to cinders.
They stepped forward, and a ghost slid out of the wall. Charlotte's first instinct was to relax. It was one of the Hogwarts Ghosts, she had seen it in passing several times, even when she had attended school here.
It turned to look at them, and its eyes were oddly sunken in. Charlotte barely had time to react as it lunged at them.
She barely managed to hit it with a beam of light from her tome, evaporated it instantly.
"W-what was that?"
"Dracula's Castle has turned the ghosts malevolent!" Charlotte whispered. "His very presence makes them more corporeal and aggressive!"
Pince stayed very close to her as they made their way to the great staircase. They could hear monsters moving about the castle, and once or twice something scuttled by on the wall or ceiling, but nothing came after them.
"P-professor Aulin!"
Charlotte looked up. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were advancing towards them, wands drawn.
"Boys!" She breathed. "They attacked the Tower?"
"Yes, but we drove them out." Harry said. "Hermione's working with the sixth and seventh years to secure the tower…"
"Good girl." Charlotte breathed. "And she sent you two out to survey the situation, huh?"
"We came to find you, Professor." Ron said. "We think… Dracula's Castle appeared here!"
Charlotte nodded, her face grim.
"Unfortunately, you are correct." She said. "I have not felt this evil presence in fifty years… but there is no denying it. This is indeed Dracula's Castle. Hogwarts has somehow merged into it."
"But how is that possible?"
"I don't know." Charlotte said. "But I'm going to find out. You said that the Gryffindor Tower is secure?"
"Yes."
"Then keep Madame Pince there. Wait for me there. I will notify you immediately once I have full understanding of the situation."
"But Professor-"
"No buts." She snapped. "Your safety is of the utmost importance. Neither of you are trained for this. Truth be told I'm shocked that you survived the initial assault on the tower. But right now what we need are secure locations for our fighters to rest in between Hunts. I'm counting on you to keep the tower secure."
Harry and Ron looked taken aback for a moment, and then nodded.
"Then go!" Charlotte commanded. Harry and Ron took off, with Madame Pince in tow.
The Great Staircase was shocking devoid of monsters. It reminded her a lot how, in every historical record she had ever read (Including her own) how the stairway to Dracula's Throne Room was almost always completely devoid of Monsters. It bothered her. Could Dracula's Throne Room be that near?
When she had come to Dracula's Castle, his power had been kept at bay by a lesser vampire, Brauner. She feared that if Dracula was truly in control this time, than that would lead to everyone in the school dying a horrible death.
First things first: She needed to secure an escape route out of the castle. The Ministry would doubtlessly send other Vampire Hunters to kill Dracula. They would not be allowed to use Julius Belmont, as he was being trained to be the ultimate weapon against Dracula in the battle of 1999, but doubtless Alucard and Jonathan would be notified.
But Alucard was in Romania, and Jonathan was old now… and so was she. They would likely not have the power to fight as the once had. All of their efforts had gone into preparing for 1999… none of them had thought that such a threat would arise just before then.
Think, Charlotte… what's your best course of action?
She stepped down the stairs and to the Entrance Hall. She needed to secure a route for the students to escape.
She turned downward and walked down the great staircase. She forced herself to ignore the sounds of the monsters all around her. It was night… most students should be in bed. Those that weren't could be anywhere. It was in her best interest to secure the Entrance Hall and rally together the teachers…
She stepped into the Entrance Hall and turned to the door. She saw Professor Snape rising from the Dungeons.
"Professor!"
He turned towards her, but before he could speak the great Double Doors burst open. Charlotte raised her hand, half intending to fire off a spell at the monster- before realizing that it was just the Groundskeeper, Hagrid.
"Professors!" He said. His boarhound Fang trotted out from him behind him, his fangs bared, as Hagrid lowered his giant crossbow.
The three met in the center of the room.
"Professor, how are the Slytherins?" Charlotte asked, her voice anxious.
"Secure." Snape said coldly. "I have seen to that."
"Good." Charlotte said. "But I daresay the dungeons must be infested…"
Snape nodded, his voice grim.
"They're everywhere." He said. "Have you any word to the rest of the Castle?"
"I have been informed that Gryffindor Tower is secure…" Charlotte said. "But we mustn't keep the students here. It's too dangerous. I'm here to prepare an evacuation route."
"Leave that teh me." Hagrid said. "I'll get the Thestrals ready and we'll transport anyone who can't fight to Hogsmeade."
"Can we be certain the village is secure?"
"I'll go on ahead and ask." Hagrid said. "If it's not safe I'll MAKE it safe." Charlotte believed him.
"Be careful." She stressed. "You're not dealing with ordinary forest beasts here, Hagrid…"
"Any word from Dumbledore?"
"None." Charlotte said, unhappily. "If I see him I'll inform him what you're doing. Go! Now!"
"Come on, Fang!"
Hagrid turned and ran back out of the room.
Snape stared at her, his face unreadable.
"What must we do?"
"We must attend to the students." She said. "The Gryffindors and the Slytherins are secure, but we must check up on the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Severus, can you go alone on to the Hufflepuff common room? It isn't far."
"It will be done." He said. And then he was off.
Charlotte watched him go, and then turned back to the staircase. It dawned on her suddenly that this was the first time she had ever gone back to the Ravenclaw Common Room since she had left school early to go fight Dracula.
"It's been fifty years…" She murmured, as she broke out into a trot.
…
"Oh Cho…"
Cho Chang's eyes fluttered open. She sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. The other girls in her Ravenclaw dormitory lay in complete silence.
"I've come for you, Cho…"
That dream again…
But this time it felt real.
In a strange sort of daze she slid out of her bed and placed her bare foot on the cold stone floor. Without taking the time to put on her shoes, she stepped lightly to the door, and pulled it open.
The tower was strangely dark, but she had been living here for six years. She groped her way down the stairs and into the common room, following the sound of the voice.
"Cho…. I'm here… Cho…"
She reached the bottom of the stairs and blinked. Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness. She could make out a shape in the shadows.
"Who… is-"
"It's me, Cho." The figure said. "Cedric."
Her heart leapt in her chest.
"You're dead."
"No." Cedric said, as he held out his arm towards her. "I came for you."
She couldn't help it. She let out a scream of joy and ran towards him, her arms outstretched. She embraced him, wrapping her arms around him tightly.
"Oh, Cedric." She moaned, tears welling up in her eyes. "I've missed you so much."
Cedric smiled down at her. Sharp little fangs protruded from his mouth.
"I'm here, Cho." He said. "Here for you."
She tried to rub her eyes with his robes and looked up at him, blinking. She met his eyes and looked carefully at him.
"Cedric…?" She repeated, slowly. "How… did you get into our common room?"
He pressed his finger against her chin and lifted her head up. She stood, completely still, as he lowered his teeth down to her neck-
BOOSH!
An intense wave of wind shot into the room. Cedric whirled around, eyes wild and angry, as Charlotte Aulin stepped into the room, her eyes narrowed.
"Get away from it, child!" She said. "This one is a vampire!"
The dark figure bared its teeth at her as Cho, hurriedly, took several steps away from him.
"You are not the master of this castle." Charlotte observed. "Tell me… who are you?"
"My name is Cedric Diggory." The vampire said. It placed its hand on its chest and stared at her intently. "And I have come here on behalf of my master, Lord Voldemort."
"M-master?" Cho whispered.
"I see." Charlotte said. "You survived the killing curse by becoming a vampire.. but in doing so you have lost all of your humanity."
She glanced towards Cho Chang.
"Miss Chang, this man is not the boy you loved." She said. "His vampirism has progressed too far for me to save him now… all we can do for him now is put him out of his misery."
"I would like to see you try." Cedric sneered at her. Charlotte advanced, she raised her hand and began to chant-
"N-no!"
Cho Chang threw herself at her. Charlotte had no choice but to stop mid step as the Vampire darted for the window, and crashed through it and out of sight.
Cho Chang clutched onto her robes and stared imploringly up at her.
"He's not dead!" She said, over and over again. "He's not dead, he's not dead! Cedric… Cedric… Cedric…"
Charlotte could do nothing else: She wrapped her arms around the girl and hugged her.
"Cho…" Charlotte whispered softly. "I can see that you've suffered a lot. There is no cure for the pain that you are going through. But that man was not Cedric Diggory. Not anymore."
Cho looked up at her, still crying.
"It was him." She insisted. "If I could… find a cure…"
Charlotte shook her head.
"At this stage, he is too far gone." She said quietly. "I'm warning you now, Cho… this longing for a lost lover is what turned Dracula himself to be the lord of darkness. You must not allow your feelings to get in the way of what must be done."
She gently pushed Cho away.
"Wake the dormitory." She instructed. "We need to secure this tower."
…
A/N