I do not own Harry Potter nor World of Darkness

London, England, 5th August 1993 (Thursday)

With his belongings in hand and the invisibility cloak over his head, Harry snuck into the Leaky Cauldron, passing by what appeared to be a drinking contest between Hagrid and Barnaby, and into muggle London. Making sure no one was watching, Harry removed the invisibility cloak and stepped into the night, opening the door to step into a lone yellow taxi under a flickering lamp post.

"Where to?" asked the driver, a somewhat distinguished man wearing a black leather jacket and a pair of red sunglasses.

"I need to go to Nottingham." said Harry.

"Are you certain? The trip will be long." said the man in a clearly american accent.

"I know. Is there a train I can take or is it too late?"

The cab driver tilted the rearview mirror, now looking at Harry through it. After taking a long glance at the boy, he turned on the cab and started to drive. The London landscape started to merge into a blur as the houses seemed to repeat in a loop.

"There is something troubling you? In your movement there is desperation… certainly there is an exit out of your predicament."

"It's… nothing. You wouldn't get it."

"Are you fleeing, maybe?"

Harry leaned against the window. "I guess I am. For now, at least"

"Hmm… Rabbits also flee, but sooner or later their fate is a wolf's jaw. And the wolves have your scent, Mr. Potter."

Harry's attention immediately focused on the driver. Kaa uncoiled himself from his master's arm, slithering forward into a striking position while Harry reached for his wand.

"How do you know who I am?"

"Caine's blood courses through me as well. There is no need for Masquerade."

Harry relaxed for a second, but his guard remained up. His hand grabbed his wand and pulled it out of its holster.

"You are with sir Zettler, then?"

"I only recently made the acquaintance of Mr. Zettler. He intrigues me very much. There are so very few like him these nights, I think. But then, I only know what I hear from the people of the city."

"With an accent like that, I don't think you're from around here. Who are you…"

He looked out of the window. He wasn't particularly familiar with muggle London, but he knew the way to King's Cross station, and that was certainly not the way the taxi was driving towards. He tightened his grip on his wand.

"...and where are you taking me?"

"I am just a driver… I can't take you anywhere unless you tell me where to go."

Harry narrowed his eyes.

"And what if I wanted to run away? What if I didn't have any destination in mind?"

"Then I would drive until you find your destination."

And so, Harry waited, glaring at the man, trying to find any sign of impatience. After what felt like hours, Harry cracked.

"Ok, fine. Where are you taking me?"

"I already said it. I am just a driver… I can't take you anywhere unless you tell me where to go."

"Wait… we've just been driving around aimlessly?" asked Harry, incredulous.

"Yes."

Harry wanted to scream. He took a deep breath.

"Are you with Pentex?"

"Pentex… a curious experiment. They have lost so many battles, and yet they seem to be winning even when they lose, don't they? How curious… Do you share their vision for the future?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Do you trust them? It seems to me that you're fleeing from them."

Harry sighed. He didn't know why, but he felt an urge to talk, to confide with someone, anyone. And… Well, the taxi driver seemed to be a good listener.

"Perhaps I am. I'm not… I don't know what took over me. I have never seen Sir Harold acting that way… It scared me, but… perhaps I overreacted? He's taught me a lot, and I'm grateful for what he did, but… I don't know. I was afraid he would have hurt me. He wouldn't have, right? I mean, what he made minister Fudge do…"

"It sounds as if this Zettler is one of the many who seek the blood of Caine to force others on his side, as if they could bind fate with their blood. You too are bound to Mr. Zettler, aren't you?"

"Bound?"

"The blood of Caine binds us, kindred, ghouls and revenants alike. I am surprised you weren't made aware, but if the intention was to keep you docile, then I can understand the rationale."

Harry stood in silence. The man was right. He was bound to Zettler. He was a ghoul. He was aware of the bond caused by Vitae, but he'd taken it for so long… how could he have forgotten about it? Had… Had someone done something to make him forget? Who? The only one who would benefit from it would be Sir Harold, but… why? Why go through the hassle of telling him something and modify his memory of it afterwards? It made no sense.

"There is a way out of this bond." offered the driver.

"Let me guess. - said Harry - bound myself to you?"

The driver snickered.

"You wouldn't take well to my blood. No, what you want is a bit different. And if this is the path you must take, I can take you to where the trail begins."

Harry looked skeptically at the mysterious vampire, still pondering whether he should trust him or not.

"Why are you helping me?"

"There are bigger powers at play. Destiny is watching and others will soon decide to join in. You can run, rabbit, or you can become a wolf yourself and tear the throats from the heads of the other packs."

"It sounds like you put a lot of faith in me."

"This is the path of legends and pariah. I reckon you can fit either role in this story."

Harry snorted.

"And what is your role into this? What's in it for you? - He narrowed his eyes. - Who are you, really?"

"I drive people to their destination; that is who I am."

Suddenly, the taxi stopped.

"We are here."

Harry looked outside of the window, noticing the large iron gate. He got out of the taxi, trunk in hand, to take a better look.

Nott Manor

He turned around, wanting to ask the taxi driver how he got there, but the taxi had already disappeared, leaving behind nothing but an empty road. It was rather late, but he could spot a light shining from a room on the second floor which, if his friend's description was as accurate as he remembered, was meant to be Theo's.

Nott Manor, Nottingham, 6th August 1993 (Friday)

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Harry." said Lavinia, slowly sipping tea.

"The pleasure is mine, Miss Nott. I am sorry for my sudden appearance yesterday."

"It's not a problem. - Waved off Gerard. - You said it was a potion accident?"

"Yes, sir. I'm not entirely sure what exactly happened, but the cauldron started to make a lot of foul smelling foam, which took over the kitchen and spread to my room, leaving me without a proper place to sleep. Once again, I apologize for popping here unannounced."

"Like I said, Harry, it's not a problem. Would you like some water? Milk? Or some orange juice, perhaps?"

Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of Gerard Nott. He was polite, for sure, but he looked at him with a weird look, as if he was a wild animal he wanted to dissect, taking in every detail as if the way he held a glass of water would reveal the secrets of the universe to the man.

"I'll take sssome orange juice." hissed Kaa, taking the Nott patriarch's attention away from Harry.

"Of course, of course! I dare to say, apart from your little hissing whenever you say the letter 'S', your speech is basically indistinguishable from a human's." complimented the Nott patriarch.

"That iss the final goal. I wisssh to practice a bit more if that isss not too much to asssk."

"Absolutely not! When else would we find the opportunity to converse with a magical snake with your level of intelligence, Mr. Kaa?"

The rest of the breakfast passed on rather quickly, chatting about more or less pointless things. Lavinia, despite her sickness, was doing her hardest to be the perfect host, and for the first time ever Harry had been very glad for the etiquette lessons he received from Sir Harold.

Once the meal was completed, Gerard accompanied his wife back to their room before leaving for work at the ministry. Once the door was closed, Theo stared at Harry.

"Ok, spill it. We both know the 'potion accident' was bullshit, your room is nowhere near the kitchen. What happened?"

Harry took a deep sigh.

"Take a seat, Theo. There's… there's a lot I have to explain. How much do you know about Pentex?"

Theo took a second to puzzle what Harry was trying to say and frowned. He had no clue what this was about, but considering his friend's expression… it was bound to be important.

"Just what you told me: it's the company that Sir Harold runs. That means Power Potter's is part of it, doesn't it?"

Harry nodded

"What do you know about vampires?"

Theo blinked. He did not expect this question.

"They are… uh… Dark creatures that drink blood? And burn in the sun?"

Harry frowned. He'd have to explain everything from scratch. He took a deep sigh.

"Sir Zettler is one of them. A very powerful one."

Harry started to talk, ignoring Theo's shocked expression. He didn't hold anything from his friend, explaining his condition as a Ghoul, what Sir Harold taught him about vampire Disciplines, the incident with minister Fudge, the mysterious taxi driver… even the little chat he had with Aragog back in the Forbidden forest.

"That's… a lot to take in." said Theo, his face pale at the revelations his friend had just dropped into his hands.

"I know."

"Are you sure the woman is…?"

"Yes."

Theo lurched forward, his face turning green as he tried his best to keep his breakfast inside his stomach.

"And Zettler forced the minister to kill her to… prove he could?"

"I don't know. It felt so surreal, but… I know he did it on purpose. It might have been some kind of Thaumaturgy ritual, but… He seemed to enjoy seeing Fudge in distress. It wasn't even that scary… When I was seven they showed me a video of a Garou eating a person alive, I should be desensitized to this kind of violence, but that one… it felt different."

Theo nodded, trying to puzzle together his thoughts. There was so much to unpack. Minister Fudge under the control of a vampire? Being forced to kill just for the creature's amusement? And Harry…

"What's this thing you said about being bonded?"

"You remember the vials I get via mail every week?"

"Your medicine? Wait… is that the thing that binds you?"

Harry nodded. "It does… a bit more than that. I can't use Passion without it. Nor the ritual I use to summon the Banes in our products. It does make me physically stronger, even if not by much, and I've never been sick since the day I started using it."

Theo nodded. Of course there were benefits to it. Why else would people come back for more to the point of becoming dependent on it?

"Is it too late for you to stop taking it?"

Harry shrugged.

"I don't know. I suppose we should probably see what happens when I stop."

Theo nodded.

"I'll ask dad if you can stay here for a week or two. You can help me with my Charms homework."

"You mean I can do your Charms homework while you laze around."

Theo nodded. Yes, joking around with Harry was what he needed right now. It felt right. It felt normal. And after everything Harry just told him, he really needed something normal to latch onto.

"Consider it the price for your stay."

"Asshole."

Theo smiled.

"Love you too, Potter."

Underground bunker, Blakes Woods, 29th August 1993 (Sunday)

Fenrir Greyback threw his copy of the Prophet to the ground.

"What the fuck is this!?" he shouted in rage

NEW DRACONIAN WEREWOLF LAWS APPROVED BY THE WIZENGAMOT!

In an unexpected turn of events, Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge presented

the Wizengamot with a proposal for a new series of law that heavily limit the freedom

of werewolves within the confines of Wizarding Britain and the UK at large.

"We all remember the horrific attacks suffered during the previous war - has commented

Senior Undersecretary Umbridge - and it's far past the time for the ministry to do something

to resolve the situation permanently. While these measure may seem harsh, past experiences

have proved that half measures are ineffective. While it pains my heart to subject them to

this treatment, I see this as the only way to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable

members of our community: the children that every full moon have their future destroyed

by the vicious attack of a feral animal."

Fenrir growled, having already read through the changes. While he honestly didn't care about the registry, if anything it would make finding his new recruits a lot easier, but everything else was insane. De-fanging? Locked up in quarantine zones under the full moon? He would not stand for it. His pack would not stand for this. If this Umbridge lady was so eager to declare war against them, it only made sense for her to be the first casualty of this war.

"Tasha!" he shouted, causing a small girl in a corner of the room to squeak in fear.

"Fetch me Wyett. I've got a job for him."

After a few moments, a man hunched his way toward Greyback.

"Wyett, I have a job for you. Consider this your chance at redemption after your previous… - he looked at the man's left arm, a crude wooden prosthetic he had been forced to rely on after his failure the previous July - … disappointment. Your presence is already weakening the pack. Your disability makes you a burden. It makes you weak and I will not tolerate weakness within my pack. Do you understand?"

Wyett nodded, lowering his gaze towards the ground, accepting the verbal lashing from the pack's Alpha.

"Good. This… Undersecretary Umbridge seems determined to make our lives difficult. I want you to seek her out on the next full moon and… convince her to join the pack. You have studied the Rite of Adoption, have you not?"

Wyett paled.

"B…But Greyback! The next full moon is in two days! I won't be able to prepare the rite in time!"

Fenrir growled, showing his fangs to a quickly retreating Wyett.

"Useless waste of space! I'm wondering why are we even keeping you here… Stealing our resources… Eating our food… Enjoying our beds… And now, when offered the opportunity to repay our kindness you refuse?! Shameful!"

Wyett looked down.

"If you think you are too… - he snorted in disgust, almost spitting the word out - … weak to help out the pack, you are no longer welcome here. Get out. Until you finish this job you're no longer welcome in my woods."

Wyett looked up, eyes wide open. Before he could articulate a response, two arms grabbed him, dragging him away from Fenrir and tossing him out of the bunker.

Notes

Meet the Taxi driver! Once again, thanks to ww1990ww for the excellent idea!

As you can see, the taxi driver scene functionally replaces the Knight Bus, offering Harry a bit of perspective, even if it is exceedingly cryptic, about the future. I tried to stick as close to the game as possible, but I think i managed to capture the genera vibe of the taxi driver, including a few hints that the guy is far stronger than what he might appear at first glance

Harry meets with the Notts and breaks the Fist Tradition with Theo. There will be consequences, do not worry about it. Metuselah are not what you'd call merciful, after all...

Meet Greyback! The B-plot regarding werewolves is starting and I sincerely hope you'll enjoy it. Planning things around version differences between Harry Potter's werewolves and WtA's Garou was the main hurdle I had to bypass when I decided to write this fanfic, but I think I ended up with a satisfying explanation. Hope you'll like it... but in the meantime I'm curious to hear your speculation