I do not own Harry Potter nor World of Darkness

Power Potter's, London, 24th July 1993 (Saturday)

Barnaby slid Harry a copy of the Daily Prophet.

MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE

Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the

Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon

Draw: a full paid month-long vacation to a destination of choice.

A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, they will be spending the

summer holiday in Egypt, where their eldest son works as a curse breaker

for Gringotts Wizarding Bank. The Weasley family will be spending a

month there, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts,

which five of the Weasley children currently attend.

Harry scanned the moving photograph, and a grin spread across his face as he saw all nine of the Weasleys waving furiously, standing in front of a large pyramid. Right in the middle of the picture was Ron, tall and gangling, with his pet rat Scabbers.

"Ya friend got lucky. Ya think he'll grab a mummy as a souvenir?"

"I don't think that's legal, Barnaby. - said Harry, offering a piece of ham to Kaa, who was now the size of Harry's entire arm. - He certainly got luckier than Hermione. Her vacation was cut short."

"What happened?" hissed Kaa.

"A pair of witches got kidnapped a couple of houses down from where they were staying. Their father was killed…"

Zafrina flicked a slice of salami, sending it to land across Harry's face. "No Parseltongue. Kaa's never going to learn how to speak proper English if he never practices."

The Amphiptere flapped his wings, landing on top of Harry's head, and picked the slice of salami.

"Sorry about it." muttered Harry.

"So, what are your plans for your birthday? A simple party with your school friends like last year?"

Harry nodded.

"I was hoping to have them meet Edwin and Samuel as well, but Edwin is on a mission in… South Africa, I think. Samuel should arrive in a couple of hours."

Zafrina almost choked on her coffee.

"Why wasn't I told any of this?! DOBBY!"

With a crack, the house elf appeared in their kitchen.

"One of Harry's friends will arrive later today, and we need a room ready."

"Oh, yes, miss lady sir. Dobby…"

"Less chatting and more room preparing! We don't have time!"

"Yes, miss lady!"

With another crack, the house elf disappeared.

"Harry James Potter, next time you invite someone over you tell me in advance or I'll give them your bed while you sleep on the bathroom's floor." said the blonde psychic, glaring at Harry

"I told Barnaby!"

Zafrina looked at the giant man, who smiled sheepishly under the psychic's glare.

Power Potter's, London, 31st July (Saturday)

Samuel had changed quite a lot from the last time he and Harry had met. The boy was now sporting a full afro which barely did anything to hide the many tubes coming in and out of the boy's head and back. His neck had also lengthened significantly, now almost the same length as the boy's forearm, and his teeth had been completely replaced by three circular rows of needle-like fangs. He had been amazed by the wizarding world, and the two had spent a lot of time just hanging around Diagon Alley, visiting the shops in the afternoons and playing video games in the evening.

On the afternoon of Harry's birthday, Harry introduced him to both Ron and Hermione before moving inside and waiting for Theo, Sally and Daphne to arrive via floo.

"You studied in China?" asked Hermione.

"Study is a big word… I spent most of my time in a lab. Getting my powers wasn't exactly fast and I'm still not completely recovered."

"Is that why you have…you know…" Ron gestured at his own mouth.

Samuel laughed.

"Yeah. They're pretty cool, uh?"

"Pretty freaky, more likely." muttered Ron under his breath.

"Ron! - shouted Hermione - That was incredibly rude!"

Ron looked down, muttering an apology as the green flames erupted, revealing the figure of Theo.

"Happy birthday, Harry!" he announced, before stopping to look at Samuel.

"Hello Theo! This is Samuel, my old roommate when I was in Park Royal."

Theo eyed the psychic, taking note of the tubes, the neck and the teeth.

"I… see. Is he… ok? Are all muggles like that?"

Samuel chuckled.

"Not a muggle mate. I'm a Fomori."

"I thought you were a Psychic." asked Hermione.

"I'm both. A Fomori and a Psychic. - He grabbed onto Harry's shoulder, pulling the boy's head under his own armpit, rubbing his knuckles on Harry's skull. - Just like Harry here is both a Fomori and a wizard."

"Ow, ow, Samuel, stop it! Let me go or I'll turn you into a pig!" complained Harry, freeing himself from his friend.

"Ah! We all know you have no idea how to do that!"

There was another explosion of green fire as Daphne and Sally appeared in the room together.

"Happy birthday, Harry!" they chorused, their attention immediately falling onto the weird boy with the afro. After a few seconds of staring at the two girls, Samuel pulled Harry closer, turning his back to the new arrivals, trying and failing to whisper silently.

"Harry! Why didn't you tell me you invited two hot girls here!?"

Daphne cleared her throat.

"Daphne Greengrass, and this one is Sally-Anne Perks. You are…?"

"Samuel Davis. A pleasure meeting you, misses. - He bent forward in an awkward imitation of a bow. - My brother and I have been Harry roommates since he was six."

"And you are… - she looked at his tubing and teeth - human?"

"Fomori and Psychic."

"Ah, like Miss Lessard? Can you control electricity?" exclaimed Sally, excited.

"I'm sad to say I can't use Cyberpathy. I do, however, have an affinity to both Clairvoyance and Synergy. They're a rare combination and the whole reason why they kept me on the project."

"Ok… so what can you do?" asked Theo, halfway between curiosity and skepticism.

"Let me show you."

Samuel sat down, closing his eyes and took a deep breath. The tubes on his back flared to life, filling up with a glowing red fluid. He opened his eyes, now completely white.

"Hold my hands"

Harry took his friend's hand, swiftly followed by Hermione, then Ron and Sally, both looking at each other skeptically, and finally two very hesitant Theo and Daphne.

The group now felt like the world around them stopped moving properly. Their eyes were closed, and yet they could see perfectly. They could see the shop, peering in all of the room simultaneously. They could see Barnaby and Zafrina in the kitchen, discussing something in muffled voices. They could see two witches closing down the shop's cash registry before heading home. They could see the neighbors inside their houses, as well as many random witches and wizards walking down Diagon Alley. As quickly as the vision came, it disappeared when Samuel, now panting and dotted with sweat, let go of their hands.

"I'm… still working… on the… duration." panted the Psychic.

"That was wicked! And you can do it any time you want?" shouted Ron

"Within… reason."

Samuel reached for a glass of water, downing it in one gulp.

"You know… my parents mentioned something about Psychics being pretty useful underlings. Guess they weren't kidding." said Theo.

"Theo! Don't be rude!" said Sally, slapping Theo's arm before Hermione could.

"No, he's right. I'm not particularly strong, but I am probably the best scout in the facility. The new head of the project said I have a lot of potential and maybe one day I'll be able to join a First Strike team."

"Wait… First Strike teams are real?! - asked Theo in disbelief - I thought they only existed in the comics!"

"You read 'Action Bill's Danger Squad' too!? That's so cool! You read the issue from last August, right? That story was inspired by one of my brother's missions!"

"The one with the warlock? That happened for real?!"

"Yes! They got the mission straight from Sir Zettler!"

Theo and Samuel, soon joined by the others, spent a good portion of the night talking about Edwin's adventures. The group made fast friends with Samuel, sharing their own adventure with the Basilisk and had an overall fun evening. Before heading back home via floo, Theo offered Harry to visit his house in Nottingham and then, they all went back home. Samuel also went to his room, trying to catch a few hours of sleep before his flight back to Erenhot on the following day.

Power Potter's, London, 5th August 1993 (Thursday)

Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban.

He was, according to the Daily Prophet, a vicious murderer who had been a spy for You-Know-Who during the war, who had apparently gone insane the day the Dark Lord was defeated, killing off his old friend Peter Pettigrew and twelve unlucky muggles that happened to be witness of Pettigrew's murder.

Harry knew the man: he was in his album. Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin were his father's best friends. Or at the very least, that was what everyone thought. In hindsight, it was probably to be expected: the Blacks were, after all, one of the very few families that had served Lord Voldemort without magical compulsion and Sirius was, somehow, the only Black to not have sided with Voldemort. In hindsight, him being a traitor and a spy wasn't that big of a surprise. Not that it made his betrayal any less painful: if it wasn't for Sirius Black, then maybe Harry would still have his parents.

Regardless of his opinion on the situation, the ministry had taken actions: posters of the deranged murderer were strung all over Diagon Alley, and the floo system had been shut down. Aurors were patrolling the streets and even the muggle police had been informed about the man's jailbreak, although muggles believed that Black was just a crazy man with a gun.

For the day, Harry had been kicked out of the shop: Sir Harold had a scheduled meeting with Minister Fudge and the vampire had decided that Power Potter's was a perfect location for it. Hence, the shop was closed. Barnaby had left to listen to the Quidditch match at the Leaky Cauldron, while Zafrina had left without telling anyone where she was going, but probably somewhere in muggle London. Harry, on the other hand, had asked to stay at Miss Dean's, the owner of Scribbulus Writing Implements, in order to finish his school assignments.

He had just finished his Transfiguration essay and decided he would finish his report on the Wideye Potion that Snape had assigned them for the summer.

The only problem was… he had left the half-done report in his room.

Figuring that popping in the shop to grab the report wasn't that big of a deal, Harry threw his dad's invisibility cloak on him and walked across the road and silently opened the door to Power Potter's.

As he walked towards the stairs, he couldn't help but notice the weird sounds coming from the half-closed door where Sir Harold and Minister Fudge were having their meeting. Unable to resist the curiosity, Harry leaned close to the door, taking a peak.

Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, was curled up on the flood, bleeding and sobbing at the feet of Sir Harold. The vampire was clenching on the wizard's wrist, blood dripping down the man's arm. But what caught Harry's attention was a woman, gagged and bound in chains, calmly sitting on one of the chairs, a glazed over look in her blank eyes.

"Why are we still doing this, Fudge? You know I am stronger than you. Better than you. Must we really put up this charade? We've been at this for almost an hour and while I admired your tenacity, this is starting to get tedious."

Fudge didn't respond, still whimpering. With an exasperated sigh, the vampire grabbed the minister's hand and clasped his hands around a small dagger.

"Seriously Fudge, that is quite the pathetic display. Stop being stubborn and kill her already."

"B-but… I can't…" Fudge managed to whimper

"Are you still on about that? Caine's blessing, you are as much a pain as those self-righteous Camarilla Princes."

"I… I cannot…"

Sir Harold's eyes shone like crimson lights, his face contorting in anger.

"Kill the woman, Fudge."

Fudge went stiff for a second, before his body moved without hesitation, plunging the blade into the woman's chest. Her eyes opened, confusion and disbelief across her face as she opened her mouth to scream, her voice replaced by the gurgling of blood pouring out. Fudge's hands left the blade, and a shaking minister of magic now stepped backwards, shaking.

A very faint, slow clapping echoed through the room.

"Well done, minister. How does it feel to finally take personal credit for a murder instead of hiding it behind mountains of paperwork?"

Fudge knelt to his side, and the retching sound of a stomach being emptied filled the room.

"Now, now… no need to be so dramatic… - Sir Harold smirked in a sadistic smile. - I suppose you want your reward now, don't you, Fudge?"

The vampire bit his wrist, causing drops of Vitae to fall on the floor as he extended his arm toward the minister. Despite his current condition, Fudge skittered toward Zettler's hand, licking the blood from the wound. Harry had to contain the urge to gag at the scene. This was wrong… So many levels of wrong… and Sir Harold was torturing the minister… and he was enjoying this? How? What kind of monster would…

"Listen here, kine. When I first met you, I thought you'd be fun to play. An inept buffoon I could use as a puppet, but it seems clear to me now that your ineptitude reached far deeper than what I thought possible. Your incompetence is so pervasive that I can't even trust you can follow through simple orders given via Domination. Your ineptness is so pervasive not even magic can fix it! So, listen now and listen well: tomorrow you will push your cretin of a secretary's ridiculous anti-werewolf bill. Since I am very familiar with your history of incompetence, I have already made generous donations to people of influence that will ensure that the bill will pass. Do as I command and things will go your way and continue to go your way. You will keep your worthless position, but only if you do exactly what she tells you. Is that clear, you miserable, worthless kine?"

Fearful, Harry took a few steps back. He needed to go. This… this had to be a nightmare. Sir Harold was a kind man. Strict, but benevolent. This… this wasn't him. This was a mistake. A nightmare. He rushed out of the shop, his heart was beating like crazy and his frown drenched in sweat. He needed to get out of there. He didn't know why, or how he knew, but his instincts were screaming at him that the shop was not safe. He needed to leave, right this instant.

He dashed into Scribbulus', locking himself in the room Miss Dean had set out for him, and removed his invisibility cloak. With trembling hands, he reached for a piece of paper.

Going out by Theo's. Will owl Zafrina once I get there

to let her know when I'll be back.

Thank you again for letting me use the shop, Miss Dean.

Harry

Without looking back, he stepped out of the shop, taking in the fresh night air of Diagon Alley.

"I'll grab your trunk, master" hissed Kaa, launching himself towards the open window of Harry's bedroom. After a few minutes, the Amphiptere flew back to him, awkwardly trying to balance his flight under Harry's Hogwarts trunk.

"Thank you, Kaa."

Now that the panic had passed, he started to think rationally. The best course of action would be to get back at Scribbulus and just lock the door, waiting for Sir Harold… no, Zettler to leave the shop. But there was a mistake. The Metuselah had scared him, almost as much as that Garou video he had been shown back when he was seven, and right now he didn't think he'd be able to look at the vampire the same way he had looked at him earlier. What if Sir Zettler started to suspect something? What if he used some kind of compulsion to reveal what he had seen? No, the risk was too great.

He couldn't stay there. He needed to get somewhere else to spend the night. He had written that he'd be going to Theo since that was the first place that popped into his head, but… all things considered, that was probably the best place for him to go to. He'd just tell Theo that he had fucked up a potion recipe and had to leave the house. Theo wouldn't have believed it, but it should have been enough for his parents, right?

Now, the question was… how to get there? He knew Theo's house was near Nottingham, but that was the extent of it. The floo network was locked, and Harry had no idea how to apparate. He could take a taxi, but that would have been… What, a three hour drive? If he counted traffic that'd probably be more like four? Five, maybe? He had maybe less than 50 pounds, but he was pretty sure they wouldn't be enough. Maybe there was a train that could take him closer? Yeah, that could have worked. But with Sirius Black on the loose…

His train of thoughts were interrupted as Kaa dropped something over his head. After blinking a couple of times, Harry smiled, recognizing his familiar had covered him with his father's invisibility cloak. Well, that was one way to board the train without a ticket and avoid Sirius Black at the same time.

"I thought you'd want not to be noticed" hissed the familiar.

Samuel is back! With new powers and a suitably unsettling appeareance to match. He's not going to be in the spotlight anytime soon, but he's going to pop in and out every now and then, so expect to see more of him in the future!

Fudge is ghouled... which honestly should not come to a surprise to anyone, but still... confirmation!

Why did Zettler forced Fudge to kill someone? Was it a ritual? A display of power? Was he just doing for the lulz? Up to you! There are rituals that require a living sacrifice, but Zettler is also a sadistic bastard, so... pick your poison

Harry gets a glimpse of Zettler's true nature and is suitably horrified, which... fair. I'm willing to bet most people would have had a similar reaction. I wanted Harry to see the ugly underbelly of Zettler's operations and I have spent a lot of time debating as to how to do that. I'm pretty happy with how the scene turned out and while I think I nailed Zettler's character to a T, Harry's reaction was a lot harder to write. I hope you liked it!

Next chapter will have a special guest. Hope you excited to meet a certain taxi driver...