Chapter 2: Andrews Castle

Deep in the Romanian forest under several layers of protection wards, lies Andrews Castle. Given to the Andrews family by King Andrei V in the early 20th century for their support of the Romanian monarchy during World War I, the 17th century castle sat on over 160,000 acres of land and was one of the oldest properties owned by the Andrews family. When Archie and Veronica arrived via the floo, two of the house elves that were assigned by King Andrei walked into the room.

To say Archie was surprised that the house elves assigned to watch over Andrews Castle were still alive would be a total understatement, but he wasn't going to complain. "Good morning, Master and Mistress Andrews, I be Draconius I am the house elf in charge of the grounds of Andrews Castle and this be my wife Oana she is in charge of the kitchens and the inside of the castle." The little elf said. "Oana will take you to your room. How long will Master and Mistress be staying?" Oana asked

"Just for a couple weeks, Oana we needed to get out of Avalon for a bit. If you didn't hear, I was shot a few days ago." Archie said. "Oh yes, Oana heard that Master Archie had been shot. Draconius and I hope that bad wizard that shot Master Archie gets captured soon." Oana said shaking her head. She took Archie and Veronica to the master bedroom. "This be the master bedroom, Master Archie. I've instructed the other elves to unpack your things. Breakfast will be ready in an hour." Oana said.

"Rest Archie. I'll go and help Oana with breakfast." Veronica said walking out of the room. Archie laid down and fell asleep floo travel always took a lot out of him for some reason, so he thought a nap was in order. An hour later, Veronica woke him up for breakfast and after they ate, went out to the grounds to enjoy the nice Romanian weather.

Veronica went back into the house an hour later, and Archie went to the stables. As well as being fully staffed, Andrews Castle served as a sanctuary for nomadic vampires who didn't wish to join any of the many Romanian vampire covens, or were Constanovitchian vampires who were extremely loyal to King Dragomir Stefanou II and refused to become members of any of Romania's covens.

In one of the stalls of the stables, stood a magnificent creature named Trixan. Trixan was an abraxan horse and one of the only abraxans left in Europe. Trixan was being used by King Dragomir Stefanou II for a year to act as a mode of transportation for the King of Constanovitch. "Hello, Trixan. I take it that Dragomir is finished with you?" Archie asked the horse. Trixan nodded and nuzzled Archie's cheek. There was a pop and Oana appeared before handing Archie a letter from King Dragomir. "This is for you, Master." She said.

"Thank you, Oana." Archie said taking the letter from the elf. Oana popped away and Archie checked the letter for potions and charms then opened it.

The letter read:

Dear Archie,

I'd like to thank you for allowing me to use Trixan for the year. The carriage that is usually used by the Constanovitchian Royal Family had to have it's rear wheels replaced and it took a year as the wheels that fit needed to be custom made as they were no longer made by the wheel company.

Anyway, another reason why I was writing is because I wanted to extend an invitation to you and the Duchess of Gryffinsmore to attend the wedding of my eldest son, Crown Prince Dragomir Stefanou III to Maria Harkness, Duchess of Constanta on 10/27/1991 at the Vladimir I Cathedral. My wife Queen Antonia and I look forward to seeing you after so many years.

Hoping you are well,

King Dragomir Stefanou II

King of Constanovitch.

Archie smiled and gently patted Trixan on the snout before turning to walk back into the castle. "Oana, would you mind making me a cup of tea?" He asked as he sat down in the lounge. "Yes, Master Archie how do you take your tea?" Oana asked. "Two cubes of sugar no cream, thank you Oana." Archie said. Oana bowed and went into the kitchen.

"How are you feeling, Archie?" Veronica asked. "I feel fine, love." Archie said stretching. Oana brought Archie his tea and bowed. "Thank you, Oana." Archie said taking a sip of his tea. "So, we've been invited to a wedding in Constanovitch." He said as Veronica sat down. "Is the Crown Prince finally getting married?" Veronica asked. Archie nodded. "Yes, to the Duchess of Constanta." He said.

"I'll send King Dragomir a letter when you're back at Hogwarts." Veronica said. Archie nodded and finished his tea before standing up. "Wake me up when lunch is ready love." He said before walking back to the bedroom to take a nap. Veronica went into the kitchen to find out when lunch would be ready.

After lunch, Archie went to the office and went to update the ward book and to work on some House Andrews business. Pulling out the ward book, he opened to the first page to look to see if he needed to update the names. He noticed that the Head of House and the Lady of the House names had been magically updated, so that was one thing he didn't need to worry about.

Veronica brought him another cup of tea and some mail that had been brought by Tipsey. "Thanks, love." Archie said. "Don't overwork yourself, Archie you're still not fully healed from your injuries." Veronica said before kissing Archie's forehead and leaving the office. Archie smiled and looked at the mail. One was his monthly statement from Gringotts and the other was a letter from Madam Marchbanks with the dates of committee meetings for his approval.

A few days into the trip, Archie went to the shopping district of Magical Romania and bought two gallons of phoenix tears and basilisk venom for the lycanthropy cure and sent it to the potions lab of the Great Mansion. He sighed and looked at the proprietor of the apothecary. "Do you have a floo?" Archie asked. The proprietor, Dimitri Anderson nodded. "Yes, I do right in the corner." He said. Archie nodded his thanks and took the floo back to Andrews Castle.

After two weeks, Lord and Lady Andrews returned to Avalon and Archie immediately went to his lab to continue working on the lycanthropy cure not willing to give up. He was going to finish this cure even if it killed him.