Draíocht - jolly_love - Harry Potter (2024)

Chapter 1: Orenda

Chapter Text

It was the first time, Boy had ever witnessed death. Or at least, so he thought. Staring out into the garden while he was standing on his small pedestal so he could clean the dishes, he had always liked to watch Mrs. Figg’s nasty cats. It gave him something to see, while Dudley watched TV. He had the perfect view, sideways, so he could watch without being noticed. And they always fought with each other anyway. It was actually quite fun to watch. But now, there were people there, cleaning out everything. The cats, the furniture, the kitchenware, everything was thrown out and put away rather carelessly in huge white bags.

It only took them about two hours until they were gone and nobody but Boy had seen a thing. First, he had been working in the kitchen, then in the garden. Things needed to be nice, when Uncle Vernon would come home. They had once again a party where Boy had to pretend not to exist. Not that it was hard. He actually preferred it that way – he didn’t had to hide in his cupboard but was imprisoned in the attic, where he could lie in front of the window for all eternity, if it came down to it.

Old Mrs. Figg’s house was empty for about two weeks afterwards. But nobody went to look at it and there was no sign in front of it. However, soon after, on a beautiful day, Boy heard what seemed like a loud car driving down the street. He looked up and saw the most polished and shining red car he had ever seen. He almost couldn’t keep his eyes off of it. But just when a car pulled up to the now nicely cleaned house, the window of Boy’s home opened and a hysterical woman screeched louder than the crows when they were fighting. “Boy!”

Looking up, Boy quickly turned to the window. Aunt Petunia didn’t like to be loud around neighbours so the fact that she was screaming for him, made this an emergency, he was sure.

He hurried through the garden and stood in front of the patio door. If he was working in the garden, he wasn’t allowed back into the house unless he had brushed every small piece of dirt off of him. “Yes, Aunt Petunia?” he asked quietly. She turned to look at him with her red face almost matching the pink flower dress she was wearing to fit in – which she never did with her horse face.

“I ask you to do one thing! One thing. And you mess it up! Where are my plates you ungrateful bastard!?”

Boy swallowed and shrugged his shoulders. She wouldn’t believe him anyway. “I put them into the...”

“Don’t lie to me! Dudley saw you breaking one!” Aunt Petunia glared at poor Boy and if he could, he would have made himself even smaller. It wasn’t true! Dudley broke one. He was trying to push Boy’s head under water in the sink with all the soap end even some forks and knives still in there and while Boy ran away and hid in his cupboard, Dudley broke two plates.

But he couldn’t say that. Dudley was always more trustworthy than he was. Even though Boy rarely spoke and when he did, it was the truth. However, in his short life he had learnt two important things. One: His cousin was always right and two: not to trust adults. They never believed him. It also hadn’t surprised him that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon kept him in the house most of the time, hidden from any official people. They didn’t want to spend money on him and well, apparently school was money?

While Dudley could already write and read, Harry had to teach himself in his cupboard with books he stole from his cousin. At least he could already count to fifteen and he could cook. That was impressive, right? A six year old shouldn’t be able to cook... or should he?

Aunt Petunia snapped her bony fingers in front of his eyes. “Wake up, Boy! Take the trash out and don’t come back until you finish weeding the garden. We’re going out tonight, so you better finish before we go or you’ll stay out until we’re back.”

Boy nodded and took the garbage, dragging it behind him over the grass and successfully put it into the bin out front. However, he did lose the lid and it made some noise. He quickly caught it and placed it on top of the bin, walking back into the garden and picked up the spray for plants.

Over in Mrs. Figg’s old house, Boy was sure he had seen a window open and he could hear some faint laughter. It seemed as if there was finally some life in there. Mrs. Figg to him had always looked half dead, so he wasn’t surprised when she had died.

Kneeling down, Boy started working through the garden again. Usually, he was much faster, but hearing that he could be alone during the evening made him extremely happy and he didn’t want to work in the area where he could be seen by his aunt or cousin. That had to wait. So for now, Boy was going to work slowly, but carefully.

Well, as the evening came, it was clear to Boy that he wouldn’t finish with the garden. As he had planned, he had done almost two thirds, but around the patio was still a lot of weed left. In all honesty, he had done it on purpose so he could work on it while nobody was home to watch him. Dudley would have probably taken it as an opportunity to hit him and Aunt Petunia seemed to think everything he did was wrong. Maybe it was...

“Boy!”

He flinched when he heard his uncle’s voice and the shovel in his hands fell down against a pot and broke off a tiny bit. Boy widened his eyes and quickly grabbed the thing and put it back, just when Uncle Vernon walked around the corner, glaring at him.

“When I’m calling, you’re standing in front of me! Are we clear, boy?”

Nodding quickly, Boy stood straight and placed his hands behind his back. “Yes, Uncle Vernon. I’m sorry for not listening.”

Uncle Vernon narrowed his eyes. “You better be sorry, Boy. We’re going out now. Make sure to finish everything. There’ll be no food for you.”

He turned around and walked back into the house, while Boy nodded and picked up the shovel, hearing the car doors open and close, chatter and then the engine starting to drive away. At least now, he could work on his own without fearing that someone might try and destroy his progress.

In fact, he was done within an hour and sat down by the street close to the bushes, so people walking and driving by couldn’t see him properly.

And so, he was even more surprised, when he found someone talking to him. “Hi there, young man.” The accent was a little weird, not from London anyway. Boy looked up, intrigued who was talking, when he found the kindest eyes directly on him. They were soft brown, like sand in a desert and the edge was dark, almost black.

“Are you okay, young man?” he asked and Boy frowned slightly.

“Why are you talking to me?”

The man chuckled and looked around. His soft laugh was so warm and welcoming as if he was hugging Boy only through his vocal cords alone. When he finally looked back at Boy, he still had a soft and honest smile. “Well, I’ve seen you working, ever since we moved into that house” he pointed at Mrs. Figg’s old house. “And I think I saw your family drive away and leave you outside. So, I wanted to ask: Are you okay?”

Boy nodded. “They do that. I’m fine, thank you.”

It seemed as if the man was a little surprised by his words, since he didn’t say anything for a short amount of time. That, however, gave Boy time to look at his clothes. They were neat and clean, almost as if they had never seen the light of day or even dirt anywhere.

“What’s your name?” the man asked and once again placed his warm smile on his lips.

Shrugging his shoulders, Boy looked away. He knew this wasn’t his name. Dudley had a name. But his family never bothered telling him. So, calling himself ‘boy’ was easier than to give himself a name – he also didn’t know many names.

The man seemed to understand that Boy didn’t want to talk about names and nodded. “Well, it’s getting quite cold out here, these days. Would you like to come in and have some hot cocoa?” He looked over to the house and Boy followed his gaze where another man showed up by the front door and smiled at the man with the biggest smile Boy had ever seen. The man by the door was wearing a nice cosy dark green sweater with just some ripped jeans.

“Okay” Boy said quietly and got up.

They crossed the street and soon enough, Boy found himself in a beautifully decorated house. Hadn’t they moved in only a few hours ago? And now it was already decorated? They seemed to be working as hard as he was.

The man standing at the front door had slightly pointy ears and seemed a little taller than Uncle Vernon, though that wasn’t a huge achievement. When Boy finally sat down at their kitchen table, the man with pointy ears placed a cup of hot chocolate in front of him.

“Drink, Henry. It’ll help” he smiled and turned around, placing a kiss on the other man’s cheek. Boy watched curiously and frowned.

“I’m not Henry” he said sheepishly and the first man nodded.

He sat down as well, though before he could say anything, the other man placed hot chocolate in front of him too and he chuckled, before taking a sip. Boy looked at his drink and smelled the almost entrancing chocolate. He grabbed his cup and took a sip as well, half expecting his tongue to be burnt, but it didn’t.

“Eric has a gift for guessing people’s names” the man sitting at the table said. “He’s got a talent, though he’s not always right about it.”

Boy caught a twinkle in his eyes which made him smile and he took another sip of his amazing hot chocolate. It was so much better than all that packaged stuff Aunt Petunia would give Dudley, which he occasionally stole just to try.

The man by the stove who seemed to be called Eric rolled his eyes, only for Boy to see, and winked at him. “I am always right. Though, your name we don’t need to guess, Chico.”

Frowning, Boy shook his head. “I don’t know my name. Why do you?”

“Well, where we come from, every child knows your name” the man who wasn’t Eric said and motioned to his own forehead.

Boy didn’t understand. He rubbed his forehead and shrugged his shoulders. Luckily, he had help from Eric, who smiled and seemed to have the same kind of soft, welcoming eyes, though they were deep blue.

“Your name is Harry Potter, Bubsy. Everyone knows who you are because you defeated a very bad and big man when you were a baby. He gave you the scar” Eric pointed at his forehead. He then sighed. “And then you disappeared” he explained.

Boy... or rather Harry widened his eyes. He had a name! And it did feel so... right. “Harry?” he repeated almost awestruck.

Eric nodded and placed a hand over the other man’s mouth, since he had already huffed when Eric talked about him disappearing. There seemed to be something else, though Eric made sure to keep it from him.

“I’m Alamar, by the way” the first man said when he finally removed Eric’s hand. He smirked and took his cup again. “Eric’s my husband.”

The man with pointy ears ruffled through Alamar’s hair and the other man rolled his eyes, as if to show Harry that he hated it, though he didn’t even try to stop it. It was the first time for quite some time that Boy... Harry showed a smile. It was soft and sheepish, but it existed and he immediately felt safe with these two men.

The way they looked at each other was so loving and soft that he had almost asked them if he could stay with them forever. If they could be his parents. But he knew that couldn’t work out.

When he grabbed his mug again, an animal walked into the kitchen purring and Eric chuckled. “Look who finally woke up from her nap, Princess Aurora!”

A faint “Meow” was all that comment got and suddenly, Harry caught eyes of the animal. It looked like a white cat with a light brown tail. The only huge difference was that this cat was actually a brown owl. Or at least it had the head of an owl and the wings of an owl.

As the owl-cat saw Harry, it stopped walking and meowed, before walking closer and purring again. Alamar chuckled. “She likes you. Don’t worry, she doesn’t hurt anyone, you can just pet her.”

Harry looked up and carefully held his hand towards the animal. It purred again, rubbing its owl head on his hand. “What’s that? It looks like a cat and an owl.”

Eric smirked. “She’s a Krimnee.” He placed a bowl of what seemed like small chunks of meat on the floor and the owl-cat meowed and jumped towards the food. “They’re very rare and we saved one of the last living creatures with her. Krimnees have the body of a cat and the wings and head of an owl.” He pointed at the features he explained and finally sat down between Harry and Alamar.

“So, she’s the last one?” Harry asked and looked at the moving tail.

“I think there are about ten or fifteen left, but yes.” Alamar said and leaned back in his chair. “People don’t like them because they’re very peculiar.”

Harry shrugged his shoulders. “So are humans. What’s her name?”

“Aurora.” Eric smirked. “She likes to sleep for almost the whole day. I thought that name suited her.”

Frowning, Harry had to shrug his shoulders. He had never really heard of anyone called Aurora, so why would it suit an owl-cat or Krimnee as it were, was a little confusing for him.

Alamar smiled warmly. “It’s a fairy tale. I’m sure I got the book around here, somewhere.” He got up and walked out of the kitchen, while Harry turned to Eric.

“How are you already finished moving in?” Harry asked intrigued.

Eric chuckled and leaned back in his chair. “Well, you see, Harry. We’re wizards. We can do magic. So moving a home isn’t that much work for us. Alamar and I usually travel around the world; we can do our job from anywhere and... we don’t even have much to begin with.”

Harry stared at him, as if he had been talking in a different language. “Wizards? Like in a fairy tale?”

“Well, yes.” Eric’s eyes were twinkling and he smiled broadly. “Do you want to know a secret, Harry? According to the books, I am a fairy tale character as well!”

“What do you mean?” Harry thought his eyes were about to fall out of his head, when Eric chuckled.

He grabbed the hot chocolate left over from Alamar and took a sip. “I’m a fairy, you know. Actually, I’m a Haltija, but we’re just a sub-species of fairies.”

Harry was gobsmacked and stared at Eric, when he found his pointy ears again. It really did look like the man escaped a fairy tale book. “Is Alamar also a fairy?” he asked.

Eric chuckled. “No!” He looked at the door, where Alamar had left through, before he turned back to Harry. “We fairies need other people or species around us. We hate our own species. Or at least, Haltija do. Other fairies even travel in groups.” He shuddered as if it was the last thing he had ever wanted to do.

“Found it!” Alamar called through the house and walked back into the kitchen with a thin book in his hands. “It’s called ‘Sleeping Beauty’. You’ll like it.”

He sat down and looked at the table, where his hot chocolate had magically changed owners and Eric smirked at his husband when his eyes finally reached him, while Harry tried his hardest not to smile over their actions. Alamar shrugged his shoulders and opened the book to start the fairy tale Harry had never heard.

Listening with wide eyes and the attention of a lioness about to strike, Harry had almost forgotten his real life, when shortly after the end, he heard a car driving by and Eric looked up.

“Your family’s back, Cocoa Puff. We better get you home, before they realize you’re gone” he said and got up.

Harry shook his head. “I don’t want to go back. They don’t even know my name.”

Alamar smiled. “You can always come here, if you want to! If we’re not home, Aurora could always need a little company.”

“And you are very welcome to read the fairy tale books if you want” Eric smiled and kneeled in front of Harry putting his arms out. Harry looked at him sceptically for barely a second, before falling into his embrace. “Don’t worry, Bud, it’s going to be okay. We’re here if you need us. Okay?”

“Okay.” Harry nodded. He now had a name and people who cared about him. His life could only get better from here, right? At least that was what he hoped for, when he hushed into his own garden and presented himself in front of the patio door where Aunt Petunia let him in and shooed him to the shower with the order not to use too much water. Yes, life could only go up from here.

Chapter 2: Zemblanity

Chapter Text

While the morning of the next day hadn’t even started, Alamar yawned, feeling cold again. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sighed, not even willing to open them. The only reason why he was cold again, was that Eric wasn’t back in bed. And after what they had seen yesterday, he knew exactly where to find him.

Sighing yet again, he got up and yawned. Aurora in her soft bed stirred as well and when Alamar stood up, she followed him as well, down the stairs into the barely lit kitchen. And there he was. Eric sat there with a cold cup of tea, an open book, though his eyes were in the distance, not even looking at the book. He stared at the black dot in the table and only awoke from his thoughts, when Alamar kissed the top of his head.

“Morning, Eric.”

Eric jerked and turned around. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“Don’t worry, love.” Alamar smiled lovingly and grabbed himself a cup of tea while re-heating Eric’s as well. Aurora meowed and jumped onto Eric’s lap, rubbing her head on his chin.

“I’m sorry.” Eric sighed and shook his head, while he petted Aurora, who gave him an almost as reproachful look as Alamar was.

Smiling softly, Alamar sat down next to him and placed a calming hand on his arm. “Love, at least now we know why you felt the need to move here. I don’t think it ever was that easy to find a reason for the calling.”

Eric seemed to calm down, as he looked at the book again and nodded, weakly. “Well, there was one other time where my calling was very easy to find.”

Alamar laughed loudly and shook his head. “You’re being too kind, love. We both know it took you quite some time to get me to trust you.”

“But you did. In the end, you know.” Eric quickly turned to look at the front door and then just as quickly back to the book. “He looked so broken.”

Yes. Yes, he did. Little Harry Potter looked broken, hurt and scared. At first he did. Once he had fallen into Eric’s arms without more than a second’s thought, Alamar knew that Harry trusted him with his life. His husband had this secret power. Everyone he seemed to meet, trusted him immediately.

“Darling, will you come back to bed? It’s not even four in the morning.” Alamar got up and pressed a kiss on Eric’s cheek.

“No” Eric shook his head. “I need to figure this out.”

And that was also typical. Alamar nodded and grabbed his jacket. “If you’re staying awake, I will do so as well.”

Looking up, Eric narrowed his eyes. “Are you going to visit them?”

“Yes. I need to see how they treat him and maybe it’ll help put your mind at ease?” Alamar offered and while he closed his jacket, Aurora looked up alarmed and jumped from Eric’s lap to walk to the door, where she sat down and looked at Alamar expectantly.

“Well” Eric turned back to Alamar. “Her action absolutely doesn’t put my mind at ease.”

Nodding, Alamar sighed. “At least I’ve got her for safety. Even though I intended on going there to make you feel good again, it looks like I need to check up on little Harry.”

Aurora meowed and her owl head turned to look at the door, before quickly turning back to Alamar, looking at him expectantly.

“Tell me what you find, love. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep before you’re both back.” Eric sighed. “And be careful. Aurora wouldn’t walk with you if it’s safe.”

“I know” Alamar smiled and walked to the door. When he opened it, Aurora jumped into the darkness of the night.

Before he could follow her, Alamar heard Eric call out to him: “And don’t drink their blood, Alamar! We don’t want too much interest in us!”

Snorting, Alamar closed the door and walked over the street. The lamps were still out and he followed the weakly glowing Aurora through the set traps. She walked calmly up to their door, where she started playing with a pot next to the door. Well, even if there was a key inside, Alamar didn’t need it. Harry’s family was apparently one that liked traditions: there was a welcome mat.

Well, there was nothing easier. Alamar pressed the door handle and it opened through the power of the welcoming vampire spirit emitting from the door mat. Whoever had invented them and made them normal was Alamar’s favourite person – well right after Eric, of course.

Aurora stopped and turned her head to a heater and hissed at it. Alamar sighed and took out his wand. It was going to be one of these house visits. Magic everywhere. Well, Aurora had found a magical tracker. How he hated these: In all of his life, he had never seen magical trackers work in someone’s favour. Mostly because they could be easily used to keep track of children and people you want supervised.

He placed a stabilizer spell around it and followed Aurora deeper into the house, placing all kinds of stabilizers all around the home. All in all, he had found about fifty-five magical trackers. That was excessive even for a detail oriented person.

Alamar didn’t like to think about it, but he was sure old Dumbledore had placed them there. That man went to all kinds of lengths to keep his picture perfect persona away from any harm. So, checking up on little Harry was the best way to see if his trophy boy would follow him.

When he passed the kitchen, Aurora hissed again and her wings were suddenly in the air as she stared at a picture on the counter. Such an aggressive behaviour wasn’t normal for her, so Alamar pointed his wand at the picture of the family minus Harry and found a very strong hateful charm on it. It was supposed to divide little Harry from his family.

“No wonder they hate each other” Alamar whispered and sighed when he found a tracker on the picture as well. He couldn’t take away the spell without notifying whoever had placed it there. Well, honestly, who else could have put it there but Dumbledore?! “Sorry, Aurora, I can’t take it away. You need to ignore it.”

She snarled and walked by the photo with hackles high up into the air. Alamar sighed and followed her, while she tapped around the corner and finally sat down in front of the stairs and looked at a small door.

Alamar raised his eyebrows. An uneasy feeling came over him as he reached out and pulled the hidden door handle. The complete darkness inside quickly made his vampire eyes adjust. What he saw destroyed every hope he had for the little child he had seen yesterday.

Little Harry lay in a mattress, barely fitting in the cupboard and not suiting his size at all, rolled into a ball and eyes closed hard. On the wall behind him stood with child’s scribbling ‘Boy’s room’, though ‘boy’ was crossed out and he had written ‘Harry’ on top of it.

Aurora meowed painfully and jumped on top of the mattress, when Harry ripped his eyes open and sat up, shook. Alamar smiled weakly and illuminated the tip of his wand softly, just so that Harry could see him. Aurora purred loudly and rubbed her head on his face, while Alamar sat down carefully.

“I’m sorry, Harry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Eric was worried” he explained. “Well, I was too” he quickly added and chuckled softly. He then looked at Aurora who licked Harry’s cheek, while the little boy widened his eyes and placed his arms around her as if she was his favourite stuffed animal. He seemed to have soft spot for her as well.

“I’m fine” Harry said and smiled down at Aurora, petting her softly. “Where you really worried?” he looked up at Alamar with what seemed like hope in his eyes.

Nodding, Alamar presented him with a smile. “I was. And I still am. Why are you sleeping here? Don’t you have a bedroom?”

Harry shook his head, while he continued petting Aurora who rolled into a ball as well, lying in the little boy’s lap, purring happily. “This is my bedroom. It’s close to the kitchen, so I can start breakfast easier.”

Alamar’s brain seemed to stop working. “Breakfast?”

“Yes. Uncle Vernon gets really mad if he comes down and there’s no breakfast on the table. He needs to eat quickly before he goes working. And Dudley needs food before school” Harry explained as if it was the easiest explanation ever.

Frowning, Alamar shook his head. “And how do you go to school then?”

Harry shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not in school right now. Maybe next year.”

“Hm.” Alamar decided not to tell him that it was barely legal to keep a child out of school. Was it even legal to do that? Well, whatever it was, he needed to bury his own thoughts, when he smiled at Harry again. “Do you maybe want to come over today, when you’re free?”

“I’m never free.” Harry suddenly grinned. “But Aunt Petunia has her book club meeting at two, so I can come over then. She won’t realize I’m gone then.”

Nodding, Alamar softly brushed a lose hair strain out of Harry’s face. “See you in a few hours then. I’ll make sure to have some cookies ready, if you want.”

“Cookies?” Harry’s eyes widened and he grinned broadly.

“Eric makes the best cookies ever!”

Nodding enthusiastically, Harry hugged Aurora again, who looked up and hooted surprised, before she licked Harry’s cheek again and got up.

“See you later, Harry. Sleep tight now.” Alamar smiled and placed a soft charm on Harry’s mattress, so he could sleep well and also a memory charm not to forget their meeting at two. Before Alamar had even closed the door again, Harry was fast asleep.

Sighing, Alamar turned to Aurora who meowed softly and safely led him back out of the house without tripping on any magical triggers. Once he was outside, standing in the middle of the street, he stopped walking and turned back to the house of Harry’s horrible family.

It wasn’t their fault. If the magic around the home was an indicator, old Dumbledore had his hands in there almost everywhere. Aurora sat down next to him and looked up at him, silently. With only the cold night wind rushing through the sleepy town, Alamar turned around and stopped, when he saw yellow eyes on him from a shadow.

An Animagus! It couldn’t be Dumbledore, right? He had evaded this fool long enough to hopefully fall into a part of his forgotten mind. If this was how they would finally meet, he would be rather mad. Well, Aurora didn’t hiss at the Animagus, so it couldn’t be Dumbledore.

In fact, when the animal walked out of the shadows, it was a cat a little smaller than Aurora. Before Alamar could do anything, it transformed and in front of him stood another witch. She brushed some dirt off her robes and looked at him over her glasses.

“I feel like we need to talk, Mr. Rogers.”

Frowning, Alamar turned to look at Aurora who unhelpfully still stared at him as if he had some tuna hiding in his jacket pockets. When he turned back to the Animagus on front of him, she had the weakest smile on her face.

“I can assure you that your Krimnee knows exactly what she’s doing.”

“Follow me, then” Alamar presented her with a smile and turned around. He once again had a bad feeling that whatever this Animagus was going to tell him, he was not going to like. And well, Eric might not like anything he had seen tonight. He still needed to know.

When he opened the door, Eric was quickly standing in front of him and frowned slightly, when Alamar stepped away from the door the let the Animagus in as well. Aurora happily jumped onto the kitchen table and rolled into a ball, falling asleep almost immediately.

“Good morning” the Animagus said towards Eric. Alamar saw how he eyed her sceptically. Even though she was an Animagus and they did side with the creatures, most wizards tried to hide their animal forms. Especially since the Ministry was hunting them down like actual animals during shooting season. So, it was special to see a wizard actually transforming in front of someone. It meant serious business, Alamar was sure of it.

After a second, Eric smiled and offered tea, which she accepted and within a few moments, they all sat around the table, where Aurora was peacefully asleep.

The Animagus introduced herself as Minerva McGonagall. “I’m the Deputy Head Teacher from Hogwarts.”

“You work for Dumbledore?” Eric asked and looked up from his tea. Alamar could see him almost chasing her out of their house.

Nodding, she sighed. “He doesn’t know me. I’ve been keeping an eye on little Harry Potter. And I was very surprised to see him in this very house, enjoying himself.”

Alamar frowned. “Will you tell your boss?” If she was, the two of them needed to go back on the run as soon as possible. They had evaded the Ministry and its stupid creature laws successfully for quite some time. He wasn’t going to risk it, just because an Animagus told someone.

As a vampire, Alamar would be shipped back to Croatia or wherever they thought vampires were from. And once he was shipped back there, he was in the system. No creature wanted that. There had only been a few reports of creatures who survived and ran away after years inside it. What they said wasn’t good.

The Animagus shook her head. “Outing you would be outing me. I was trying to help Harry Potter myself. But I wasn’t able to get into the house undetected.” She looked at the Krimnee and nodded impressed. “I’ve never seen one in my lifetime.”

As if Aurora realised someone was talking about her, she raised her head and looked at Minerva McGonagall and meowed before stretching and rolling on her back, exposing her belly. This was the ultimate show of trust. Apparently, Aurora trusted their guest completely.

“Why didn’t you just do something? He’s having it really bad in there” Alamar said, ignoring Eric’s worried look on him. He was going to tell him everything when their guest was gone again.

Sighing, Minerva McGonagall shook her head and took a sip of her tea. “Dumbledore would have found out. He would have also found out about me being an Aminagus. He already doubts me; I don’t want to give him more information on me.”

Eric nodded. “If the new Animagus law is passed, the Ministry could imprison any unregistered creature for up to five years in Azkaban.”

Minerva sighed. “Nobody wants to be registered with the hunters. They throw us into the system, just as they do with you, but they then use us as pawns in undercover fights.” She shook her head. “Someone needs to fight these creature hating ministers.”

“Not with Reese inside the Wizengamot” Eric rolled his eyes.

Alamar had to hold back a smirk. Eric could talk for hours about this topic. As a fairy, he was one of the creatures hated most by the wizards. Even more than werewolves, centaurs and goblins. The fairies were one of the last creatures to resist the wizard’s take over. In fact, Eric’s home area was still an active war zone.

Minerva McGonagall nodded grimly. “Reese will only rest once he’s killed every last creature on earth.”

“And enslaved all the Animagi” Alamar added, while Minerva nodded.

“Yes.” She sighed and emptied her cup. “Well, I must be going back. I just wanted to tell you to take care of him.” She smiled at Eric. “But I trust with a Haltija by his side, little Harry Potter is in good hands.”

Eric returned her smile and walked her to the front door, while Alamar sat by the table, staring at the sleeping Krimnee. It didn’t take Eric long until he was back in their kitchen, frowning at his husband.

“Alamar? What is going on?” he asked, placing Minerva McGonagall’s cup in the sink and sitting down on his chair again.

Rubbing his forehead, Alamar sighed. “It’s much worse than I thought. I don’t think we can let him stay there.” He frowned, disapprovingly. “There’s controlling magic everywhere. If it weren’t for Aurora, I would have never even gotten close to him.”

Eric looked at Aurora, who purred in her sleep. “So, what do we do now?”

“We might have to get him out there as soon as possible.”

“And without Dumbledore realising that, right?” Eric asked and leaned back in his chair. It was quiet for a few moments, before a malicious smirk appeared on his lips. “Alright, challenge accepted.”

Chapter 3: Datsuzoku

Chapter Text

“Eric, what are you doing?” Alamar leaned at the door frame of their house, looking at Eric who was so slowly cleaning up what he was doing in the garden, even a slug would have been faster. He had called his husband for the fifth time already and finally decided to put the food on a warming charm and headed outside.

Looking up, Eric let the garden hose fall down and looked at it without showing any intent of getting it again. A malicious smirk appeared on his lips, as he turned to Alamar with a sudden sweet expression. “I’ve got no idea what you’re referring to.”

Alamar shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “You haven't? Are you not hungry then? Because we both know I don’t really need to eat. I think I’ll throw it away then.”

Eric rolled his eyes, knowing very well that Alamar was absolutely not going to waste any food. He grabbed the almost empty watering pot and poured it out over the grass when he walked to the other end of the garden to pour some water in.

“Eric” Alamar had a hard time hiding his smirk, yet he still decided to repeat his question. “Love, what are you doing?”

“Waiting for the perfect moment, when the uncle’s coming home.”

“Why?”

Eric smirked, when a car drove into the driveway in Harry’s home and when his uncle got out of the car, he called over the street. “Evening Mr. Dursley!” His wave was way bigger than usual and with a snap of his fingers he made the garden hose roll back into place. And almost everything he had used so much time cleaning up before was done in almost two seconds. Alamar couldn’t help himself, but laugh at Eric’s clear intention of making Harry’s uncle uncomfortable. It wasn’t nice, not even close, but the tension he had felt, made him laugh loudly.

They had been living here for five weeks already and Eric had shown absolutely no respect for the Muggles over the street. One week, he had – of course accidentally – charmed the postman not to give them any mail and the poor man had kept putting it into their box. Every morning, Eric had marched over the street to personally hand Vernon Dursley his mail. One day, all the water had mysteriously turned into syrup and Eric said it was an experiment that went awry. And that other week he had completely ‘forgotten’ his address, since they lived here for only a few weeks and given the landscapers the wrong address. While the Dursley’s were gone, these poor workers dug a hole so deep you could fit a whole donkey in there. And when Harry’s uncle came to protest, Eric had shrugged his shoulders and with a wave of his hand completely undid the hole in the earth in front of him. He seemed about to explode.

Alamar had not gotten enough of his indeed slightly evil husband. Yes it was evil, but it kept the Dursley’s away from Harry and most of the time gave him a huge list to do while they were gone and Alamar usually helped him with it, after which they went to look for Eric and Aurora.

From the corner of his eyes, he could now see Vernon Dursley with a red face and when Alamar turned to look at the man, Eric unceremoniously placed a kiss on Alamar’s cheek, which seemed to be the last straw to break the camel’s back. However, instead of making a scene, he just walked back into the house, quite clearly swearing under his breath.

“Someone ought to remind you how to act normal around Muggles” Alamar grinned and looked over to Harry’s house where a nosy woman just looked outside and glared at them. He smiled and waved at her, while she quickly tore the curtains close.

Eric grinned at him. “Am I the only one who’s forgotten that memo?”

Smirking, Alamar shook his head and placed an arm around his husband as they entered their home. While they walked to the kitchen, their steps echoed through the empty house. Since they already knew, they were going to move away again very soon, most things had stayed in boxes. They hadn’t even bothered putting pictures up or decorating their new temporary home and only used the things they needed most. Which meant that they had been able to pack everything they owned in less than four hours. Without magic.

Well, the kitchen was still almost fully furnished. In actuality, it had even more things on the table. Alamar pushed the bow and arrows aside and let the one-pot-pasta float onto the table. Eric already sat there, looking at the plan they had made in the last five weeks.

It was difficult this time: Dumbledore’s magical markers were everywhere and there had only been one thing that could stabilize the magic for as long as possible: Vampire blood.

“Eric, stop thinking and eat. We’ll need a lot of energy tonight. Harry really needs us and if one thing isn’t working in our plan, we can forget it.”

Sighing, Eric nodded and placed the map on his bow. “I just really wish all this was over.” He got up and grabbed two plates from the box and a few glasses.

Alamar nodded. “Me too. It’ll be over soon. We just have to wait until they’re asleep, get Harry and leave as soon as possible.”

“Sounds easy” Eric smirked and started eating, while Alamar laughed and poured the last bit of the red wine into a glass, pushing it over to Eric. Protective vampire blood should be as clean as possible sadly.

“If you define ‘easy’ as having to kidnap a child from a magically protected home surrounded by some of the strongest magic I’ve seen in my life connected with basically mind controlled relatives, sure.”

Before Eric could say anything, probably making fun of Dumbledore losing his prized possession, Aurora looked up and meowed. Alamar got up and walked through the home to open the door. Aurora jumped behind him, though not even slightly scared. It looked like an old friend was about to enter their home.

In front of the door stood a familiar cat, looking up at him with a tilted head. Alamar chuckled and stepped back, only for Aurora to jump at the Animagi. Minerva McGonagall jumped to the side and raced over the threshold only to turn into a human again as soon as the door was closed.

“Minerva, how lovely of you to come by!” Alamar greeted her as Aurora meowed and sat down by her feet, looking up at her expectantly.

The Hogwarts professor chuckled and took a treat for Aurora out of her pocket and gave it to her. Alamar could swear that he saw their Krimnee with huge eyes as she purred happily and went off to the kitchen. There, she lay down under the table, chewing contently.

Alamar and Minerva followed her and Eric smiled, quickly placing the weapons and tools on the kitchen counter so she could sit down next to them. “I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to say goodbye.”

“Good evening, gentlemen” she greeted them. “And I wouldn’t let that happen.”

Chuckling, Alamar offered her a plate as well. “Sadly, the only thing we could offer you is a part of Aurora’s meat, the little pasta we’ve got left or Eric’s homemade herbal tea.”

Aurora meowed as if to protest that Minerva would eat her meat, which they all knew she wouldn’t. Krimnee fodder wasn’t really tasty or even good for humans or animals. It had to be specifically produced with some magical protection spells. Luckily, Alamar was the one who knew almost everything about Krimnees and their needs.

Minerva laughed and shook her head. She did accept the leftovers from their dinner and while Eric was already checking his weapons again, she turned to Alamar. “So you’ll be leaving tonight, then?”

“Yes.” Eric was the one to answer. He grabbed an arrow and sat down, cleaning the metal tip. “We’ve spent enough time here and it’s time Harry gets out of that home and away from Dumbledore’s influences.”

Nodding, Minerva looked up from the food. “I agree. I’m just sad to see you go.”

Eric smirked. “There’s a section in The Prophet especially built for creature information. I’ll have you put on the list so you’ll receive the creature news as well. You can choose what ‘additional information’ you want to receive, so it’s something you’re actually interested. We’ll inform you where we are through it.”

“How come I’ve never heard of that?” Minerva frowned and shook her head as if she was surprised she had never heard of something like a secret newspaper inside the huge newspaper organization.

Well, actually, almost no wizard or witch had heard of it. That was the whole point of a creature part of the newspaper and if the lead editor didn’t have his secret army of creatures and wasn’t married to a Veela, this thing would have probably never happened.

Alamar chuckled. “Well, even though Animagi are on the creature’s side, you do have your own rules and regulations. The creature information is basically just for creatures.” He grabbed a decoder and pushed it over the table, smiling. “This one will work for our messages only. Eric’s name is Drya Dalis. So keep an eye out for any of his articles.”

“We’ll be going to Russia first thing tonight.” Eric told her and placed the arrow on the table, charming another one to float over to him, so he could continue to clean them.

Minerva nodded and looked at the decoder interested, before she turned to Eric. “Yes, Russia is rather well adapted to young wizards and witches.”

“And the creature laws are pretty lenient” Eric grinned.

“Mostly because our vampires are basically everywhere.” Alamar smirked and grabbed a syringe. “I hope you don’t mind. It needs to be done after a meal.”

Minerva shook her head and chuckled. While she turned to Eric, Alamar took out a little bit of his blood. Vampire blood especially placed there to protect someone or something was so strong that you didn’t need much. Well, given with free will. Most wizards and witches thought that no matter what happened to that blood, it had protective attributes, but they were just stupid.

Eric placed a box in front of him for the syringe and Alamar put it in there, while his husband cleaned up the miniature wound.

Sighing, Minerva shook her head. “Well, I am happy that you take Harry out of here, but I did like coming here and talking to people I trust. So I am sad, that you’re leaving. Maybe I can come visit you three in Russia sometime?”

“I would really appreciate it, Minerva” Alamar smiled at her and nodded. In these five weeks, he had actually started to like her very much as well. She did feel like a little sister to him and he didn’t really like that she was so close to old Dumbledore. Then again, he had no doubt that she had the old fool in her hands as well.

Aurora walked out from under the table and jumped up onto her lap. Minerva chuckled and petted her as well. “And I will be missing you too, Aurora. Keep an eye out for little Harry for me, will you?”

As if to agree – which Alamar was happily going to argue their Krimnee did until he was about to die - Aurora meowed with a rather serious expression and she jumped down and walked to the door, looking outside through the glass window at the side of the door.

Minerva smiled at them and got up. “I would like to thank you for some really nice evenings and I wish you well. Hopefully, we’ll see each other again?”

“Of course, Minerva!” Eric got up as well and hugged her, before she followed Alamar to the front door.

“Take care, Minerva.”

“You too, Alamar.” With that she transformed back into a cat and when Alamar opened the door slightly, she raced outside and was gone in a matter of seconds.

Turning back to his husband, he entered the kitchen again. Eric had already cleaned up everything and shrunken all their possessions down to place them into their small travel bag. The only things lying on the floor were a few smaller knives, Eric’s magical bow and arrows and Alamar’s vampire protection.

Dumbledore was not even going to realize what hit him, only when it was by far too late. Something in Alamar really wanted him to be able to see his expression when Harry was turning eleven and he would realise that his trophy boy was gone. How much fun would that be?! Well, maybe Minerva would be in the room and she’d let him see her memory.

“Are you ready?” Eric asked as he inspected his bow again.

Alamar sighed. “Absolutely. Aurora?”

She meowed from the door and her wings flattered as if she made herself ready to fight. Eric chuckled and walked to the living room window. “Then we only have to wait.”

It only took about three hours. Three hours of Eric being creepy and standing in the dark room by the window watching the neighbours. Yes, nobody could compete with a patient fairy and a protective vampire. Since, while Eric pretended to be a stalker, Alamar sat on the floor surrounded by their tools and cast thousands upon thousands of spells on their weapons, increased the protectiveness of the vampire blood and inspected everything again. If it worked properly now, Dumbledore would sleep deeply and happily and nothing would tell him that something went wrong in the Dursley household.

Shortly before midnight, Eric appeared next to Alamar and nodded. “They’re all in bed. The last light went out half an hour ago. If we’re quiet, I’m sure we can already start going in there.”

Alamar nodded. “Or start protecting everything.”

Once the street lamps went out, three shadows snuck over the street and stopped a few feet away from the magically protected property. Alamar took out the syringe and let a drop of blood fall onto the pavement. He closed his eyes, remembering the Latin chanting which was going to start the supreme protective spell.

„Defendat nos, et domui huic,
Protegas me, et huic puero,
Tueri corporis animaeque amet,
Et custodierit omnia quæ pretium non sciatur.”

While he said that, Alamar slowly walked along the property, slowly dripping around ten drops of blood on the floor. As soon as they hit the floor, they evaporated. Once the last drop of blood was gone, Aurora carefully walked onto the grass, keeping an eye out for any magical triggers. While she helped Eric finding everything and he stabilized the magic around the house, Alamar continued walking along the property line and dropped his blood in even distances along said line. He only needed about ten minutes until the heavy air around the house suddenly lightened and he felt the good old trustworthy vampire essence working.

“All good?” Eric whispered when Alamar joined him at the back door.

Nodding, he motioned his husband to open the door. Sadly, most back doors didn’t have any welcome mats, so he really couldn’t just go in. Eric grinned quickly and quietly pushed the door open.

Aurora scurried inside and after about ten seconds, Alamar saw her owl head appear at the door again. She meowed quietly and her tail seemed to point at the direction of a magical trigger. Eric quickly placed a charm around it and they cautiously entered the magically watched home. Every movement was carefully chosen and while Eric placed stabilizing charms around the triggers and Aurora searched for them, Alamar gently removed the hateful charms on some pictures and where else Dumbledore had placed them.

At least like that, the Dursley’s weren’t going to look for Harry and potentially warn Dumbledore that his trophy boy had run away. If he was not important to them, they would probably just forget he even existed. Which was their goal for now.

Once Aurora and her human had found each and every evil magical trigger and he had removed all the harmful spells, Alamar told his husband to keep a watch at the living room window. He didn't want him to find out where Harry's room was and probably freak out over the terrible parenting Vernon and Petunia Dursley had done. It really wasn't their fault, with so much magic in the air - but still.

Opening the door, Alamar found Harry once again rolled into a ball and Aurora raced through his legs and jumped on the bed, meowing softly and effectively waking up Harry. When he saw Aurora looking at him, he sat up quickly, grabbed his glasses and hugged the Krimnee.

“Hi Alamar!” Harry said quietly and smiled. “Why are you guys here now? I can come over tomorrow, if you want?”

Alamar chuckled. “Would you like to come with us? Leave this place, Harry?”

Widening his eyes, Harry looked down at a purring Aurora and back at the vampire. “I can come to you now? Isn’t it late?”

“Harry” Alamar smiled and kneeled down. “Do you want to live with us? Eric and I would…”

“Yes!” Harry had such huge hopeful eyes, that Alamar couldn’t help himself, but chuckle.

He motioned Harry to get out of the cupboard and when they appeared in the living room, Eric grinned broadly at the boy. “Hi Harry! Coming with us, I assume?”

Nodding over enthusiastically, Harry ran through the living room and fell into Eric’s hug. Alamar’s husband looked at him, smiling, and then grabbed the child and pulled him into his arms. The four of them left the house and walked over to their old house.

“We’ll have to go to Gringotts first” Alamar said and smiled at Harry. “After that we’ll leave England behind us. Sounds good?”

“Where are we going?” Harry asked and held his arms tightly around Eric’s neck.

Eric smiled down at the boy. “We’re going to Russia, Slugger. No one’s going to look there for us and we can live happily ever after.”

Harry snigg*red, while he stared yawning and Alamar chuckled, ruffling through the child’s hair. “Don’t worry, Harry. It’ll be over in at most two hours, then you can sleep as long as you want.”

Chapter 4: Sternschnuppe

Chapter Text

Travelling at night was always interesting. Watching the people in their perfectly normal lives: some asleep, some young teenagers out drinking something somewhere hidden. People driving home, dead tired and others just having the time of their lives. Eric had always enjoyed people watching. That was until one day he had realized how repetitive it had gotten.

A normal life wasn’t interesting. Wake up at six, eat breakfast at half past six, drive to work at seven, work from nine to five and go back home to eat dinner and watch TV. All of that was just boring.

No, the true joy of watching people was when you were somewhere you didn’t know anybody and you could just sit there and do nothing – well, except for people watching. Not that they had any time to do that.

Currently, they were on their way to get out of England. However, with the amount of magic Alamar and Aurora had found in Harry’s home, Eric wasn’t going to take the boy out of the country without having him looked at by some friends. Luckily, he knew exactly where to find them.

As the night turned to the witching hour, Eric and Alamar entered Diagon Alley. They walked in the shadows and since the moon was almost gone by now, they could hide away rather well. Not that there were any witches or wizards around, but two creatures with The Saviour, about to kidnap him, surely was going to attract a lot of attention.

Even though they were in the shadows, Eric exhaled as they finally entered the safety of the Gringott’s creature wards. What the wizards didn’t know was that the goblins were on their side ever since the wizards and witched started taking away their gold. The creature wards made every creature either look like a goblin or a wizard or witch, depending on what was closer – people could make of that what they wanted.

“What are we doing here?” Harry asked as he curiously looked at the huge und extremely unstable looking building.

Eric smiled at the young boy. “We’ll make sure that you’re ready to travel. We wouldn’t want people to come and find you, right?”

Harry shook his head and looked at Alamar. “Are people looking for me?”

The vampire chuckled and shook his head. “Absolutely not. Nothing bad will ever happen to you again, okay?”

While Alamar ruffled through Harry’s hair, Eric smiled at his little family. Well, even though Eric didn’t like his fairy family, it didn’t mean that his own was problematic. In fact, he had asked his partner for years upon years to start a small one. Alamar had always said that they didn’t have time for a child. And also… to think that his husband had always tried to counter with the fact that he wouldn’t know how to behave around a child was completely out of his head.

Before he could think even more about it, they entered Gringott’s through the side doors especially built for creatures. No wizard or witch has ever seen it and most of the time, if they had been turned into a creature, they wouldn’t say a thing. Not with this Ministry.

“That cannot be true!” someone called out as soon as Eric put a foot through the door and a goblin saw him. Smirking, Eric rolled his eyes. “Eric Rogers! I think I may have just died!”

A rather huge goblin walked up to him and tried to put his arms around his waist, though he didn’t quite manage. “Dwarfbart, how are you?”

“Good, good!” The goblin positively beamed at him and motioned them to walk with him. While he almost made two steps when Eric made one, he was still faster than they were. Eric had always liked this place, especially since the goblins actually liked colours very much and Dwarfbart especially was wearing a bright yellow jacket with a dark red shirt and almost green glowing pants.

While the wizard and witches’ side looked probably bleak and maybe a little scary, the goblins had always tried to make the creatures feel welcomed. There was a bar and snacking area, even a hospital corner, just in case someone came in seriously injured. The lights were bright and warm and there was even some soft soothing music playing. The goblins greeted everyone by name and if you just needed a bed for a night, they were sure to help you out. It was a safe zone for every creature and the goblins made sure to help as much as they possibly could.

Tonight seemed to be a slow night as only two other creatures were in sight: a Veela, doing business with a goblin, and a man who seemed to have been turned into a werewolf only a few days ago and had no idea what to do next. Eric could feel the pain surrounding the man. He seemed to be so lost, as if his entire life was crashing down around him. Actually, there were four goblins surrounding him and trying to help out.

Dwarfbart led them through a corridor to his own office. Ever since Eric had first stepped into Gringott’s, Dwarfbart had been his personal accountant. And that was not going to change. Even though he was now aging a little faster than the goblin, they were still going to life longer than any wizard or witch, so their friendship had a few hundred years more to blossom even brighter.

When the three of them sat down and Dwarfbart sat on his chair as well, he looked at the child intrigued. “Is that Harry Potter?”

“It is” Alamar confirmed and sighed. “Dumbledore made...”

“Don’t even start” Dwarfbart rolled his eyes. “It’s always Dumbledore, right now. His newest thing is trying to talk people out of their power. He’s trying to take over quite a few seats the Potter family has had in their century of ruling, as a matter of fact.”

Eric frowned. “What do you mean? In the Wizengamot?”

Dwarfbart sighed. “Not just there. What do you know about the creature rulings?”

Creature ruling were the first laws the wizards established after enslaving the Veelas and driving most of the free ones out of the country. It was supposed to ensure a peaceful coexistence of creatures and wizards, but ended up mostly on the Wizarding side, starting the stupid Ministry they had to deal with right now.

“The Potter family founder Linfred of Stinchcombe was vehemently against most rules and he was one of the most heard voices in the Creature Ruling Court. While he was alive, he actually tried to buy out a few families to get more seats. Right now, the Potters own ten seats in there” Dwarfbart smirked and nodded impressed.

Eric widened his eyes. “That’s a tenth.”

Nodding, the goblin raised his eyebrows quickly. “The Potters were one of the better witches and wizards: They really tried to help the creatures. Well then, what can I do for you fine young gentlemen?”

Alamar snorted and shook his head. “Stop calling us ‘young’ would be a good start?”

“Oh well, Alamar, you don’t look a day over two hundred and fifty” Dwarfbart smirked, while Eric chuckled and was on the receiving end of a push. Meanwhile, Harry sat between them and grinned from Eric to Alamar. He seemed to like their banter and Eric was glad he wasn’t scared of the goblin, though he did look tired, which wasn’t surprising.

“We rescued young Harry Potter from a house that was full of Dumbledore’s magic and we wanted to make sure that if we went out of the country, he wouldn’t be able to find us” Eric explained when he turned back to his old friend.

Dwarfbart raised an eyebrow and frowned. “Old magic?”

Eric couldn’t quite answer that and so he turned to Alamar who sighed and nodded. “I’ve never seen so much magic in a home. It was everywhere. It wouldn’t surprise me if Dumbledore placed something on Harry as well, just to keep track of what he was doing.”

Nodding, Dwarfbart looked at Harry and took his wand in his hand. “Do you mind, young Harry Potter, if I would analyse your magical core for a few seconds?”

Harry widened his eyes and looked at Eric with a shimmer of fear hiding inside. Eric smiled down at him and nodded.

“Don’t worry, Sweetcakes, we’ll be with you at all times, I promise. And Aurora would never let anything bad happen to you.” He pointed at the Krimnee who was asleep on Harry’s lap and at the mention of her name; she looked up and purred before placing her owl head back on his legs.

That seemed to have helped Harry, as he nodded shyly and Dwarfbart carefully placed the spell on Harry. The small boy had closed his eyes and petted Aurora. He looked so little right now and even though he was six years old, he seemed to be too tiny.

After a solid minute, where Dwarfbart looked increasingly worried down to the parchment that was apparently writing a book, it finally stopped at the goblin took a deep breath. Wordlessly, he shoved the paper over to Eric. He leaned over it and while he read on, his heart felt as if it was being crushed by the reality of what was going on with the little boy.

Name: Harry James Potter
Parents: Lily Alyssa Potter (née Raven) and James Potter
Godparents: Sirius Orion Black and Tom Marvolo Riddle
Adoptive family: Petunia Dursley (née Evans) and Vernon Dursley
Creature family: Ljósálfar elves (maternal side); living in Alfheim
Lordship: Potter, Peverell, Stinchcombe, Fleamont, Gryffindor

Wizengamot Seats: Peverell (2x), Stinchcombe, Potter, Fleamont, Gaunt (2x), Riddle, Gryffindor (2x)
Creature Ruling Seats: Stinchcombe (10 seats), Gaunt (2 seats), Riddle
Creature Conference Seats: Raven
Merlin’s Court: Gryffindor (2x)

Creature inheritance: unknown (will show up at 17)
Creature Soul Mate: unknown (will show up at 15)
Creature power: animal language, light speed reactions and agility, night vision
Creature ability: unknown (will show up at 17)
Creature protector: Nachtkrapp

Magical inheritance: Horcrux (Tom Marvollo Riddle)
Magical trigger: 5 controlling magical triggers; Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Specific triggers: inhibition of magical control, hindrance in eye sight, containment of animal language (exception: snakes), food surveillance, disdain mechanism against Slytherins
Magical marriage: Ginevra Molly Weasley or Pansy Parkinson (signed by Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore)
Magical spell: Various (see additional list)
Magical core stability: 1/10 (interrupted by Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore), without interruption: 7/10
Magical protector: Kneazel

That was incredible. Well, mostly concerning, especially, since Dumbledore’s name appeared far too often even though he shouldn’t have anything to do in there. What was incredible was the other information, Eric had learnt today.

“Harry’s mother was a Ljósálfar?” Alamar asked and turned to Eric. “They’re the good ones, right?”

Nodding, Eric smirked. “Light Elves, yes. Interesting that Lily was adopted by a Muggle family. I can’t imagine Dumbledore had nothing to do with that with how much he’s doing here.”

Dwarfbart nodded. “Sadly, I cannot confirm this, since Lily Potter has never appeared in here to make an inheritance test. And we can’t really do one with dead people.”

“I also cannot believe Harry’s a Raven! They’ve got so much power!” Alamar laughed out of sheer surprise and shook his head, he then turned to the little boy who sat between them. “Do you know that you could basically be our king with that name?”

“Really?” Harry asked and widened his eyes.

Eric chuckled and shook his head. “Not really, but definitely royalty.”

“Cool!”

Alamar laughed and Eric snorted over such an honest answer, while Dwarfbart chuckled as well. Eric felt some magic rush by him and he saw how Harry softly sank into the chair and fell asleep right there. Looking back at the goblin, he knew that some serious topics were about to start. He wouldn’t make their client fall asleep if there wasn’t something easy to discuss. For goblins, children were fully grown people as well. Dwarfbart took back the parchment and addressed the more serious points.

“So, the marriage contracts can be annulled, since not even the girl’s families have been informed they existed. That’s the easiest part.” He looked at the other parchment, where the spells Harry was under were still being written down, even though the goblin had long ago stopped his spell. “The five magical triggers can also be removed fairly easy. What worries me is... well” he motioned to the parchment and shook his head. “Mr. Potter’s magical core is already quite strong, even though Dumbledore tried to restrict it. Otherwise, he could have never stayed alive with so much magic in his veins.”

“Can you take away Dumbledore’s magical core restrictions on Harry?” Alamar asked and looked at Harry, who was peacefully asleep, while Aurora slept equally as peacefully on his legs. It was a cute picture, though Eric needed to concentrate on something else.

Dwarfbart nodded. “I can’t take away all of it right now. But I can minimize his influence and with that it will go away naturally with Harry using his magic regularly.”

That was all well and good, but there was something that Eric wanted to address quite quickly. He narrowed his eyes and sighed. “Is it possible for you to remove the Horcrux? I really don’t want Harry walking around with a piece of Tom.”

Dwarfbart nodded. “Of course. At least now we know where Tom went. It’s still confusing how he found out about the Horcruxes and why he tried to go after the Potters, but it should be easier to track him down now.”

“Let’s hope so” Alamar sighed.

The parchment finally stopped writing and Dwarfbart looked it over. It was quiet for two minutes, before he looked at Eric and Alamar. “The good news: All of that can be removed by the end of the night.” He grabbed another parchment and filled it out, before he handed them to Alamar. “Please bring young Harry Potter to the Infirmary; they’ll take care of him there. Meanwhile” he turned back to Eric, “let’s finish the paperwork so you can have access to your money from wherever you are?”

“Agreed” Eric nodded and smiled at Alamar who carefully picked up Harry along with Aurora who only sleepily opener her eyes for a few seconds. And with that, they walked out of the office and into the hospital.

It took Eric about an hour until he was finally done with all the paperwork. When he left Dwarfbart’s office, the goblin leaving with him, though heading towards the inside of the bank, he yawned and walked back into the welcoming hall.

In there, he spotted his husband fairly quickly. Alamar sat on a couch, facing the infirmary and rubbed the back of the werewolf who was still there. Eric stopped and smiled softly. Of course Alamar was there to help out.

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to tell my wife!” the poor man said and pressed his face on his hands. “Her family will hate me. They’ll throw me out! And my children!”

Alamar said something quietly and continued rubbing his back. By now the man even started sobbing. How bad must his situation be? Or rather, how much fear did he have? Maybe his wife was understanding and even helped him?

“You can’t stay here forever, Kyle” Alamar said, apparently already on a first name basis with the man. “Sometimes it’s best to just face the fear you have inside.”

“But this...” Kyle shook his head. “I’m a monster!”

Eric frowned as Alamar smiled at the man. Wizards had no idea of creatures, did they? Werewolves weren’t monsters, they were protectors. Yes, they weren’t as strong as Haltijas and it might seem cursed if they had to transform into werewolves every full moon... but they were the best thing the wizards had been able to create.

“You are not a monster, Kyle!” Alamar said and emphasised it, while he leaned forward. “You have to remember that, okay? Monsters don’t know what they’re doing. You do know that.”

Kyle shook his head. “A werewolf isn’t worth anything in this day and age! They will rip me into pieces as soon as it’s revealed. And they might even think that my children have been infected and...”

Alamar placed a calming hand on Kyle’s arm. “It’s not a virus. I’ve been telling you that for the fifth time already. Kyle, there are a lot of helpful organisations out there, especially designed to help werewolves live in a normal life. You wouldn’t even have to tell your wife that you’ve been turned.”

Eric walked closer and placed a hand on his husband’s shoulder. Alamar jerked slightly, though he leaned back and looked up at him.

“All good?” he asked and smiled weakly.

“Good to go” Eric answered. He then looked at the man who faced the two of them now. “Hi, I’m Eric. I’m sorry for eavesdropping, but there’s a helpful academy for werewolves in Iceland. They’ll train you to keep composure even when your wolf instincts try to come through and once a month they’ll hold ‘meetings’. It’s all tailored to the job someone has. What do you do?”

Kyle rubbed his eyes and inhaled deeply. “I’m a private investigator for the Auror corps.”

Nodding, Eric smiled. “Nice. So they’ll probably send you ‘recruiting’ letters or monthly gathering for professionals and whatever else you would want and need.”

“Isn’t that too obvious?”

Alamar chuckled softly and shook his head. “They’re very good. They’ve been doing that for over two centuries.”

Kyle looked from Eric to Alamar and shook his head. “Why would you help me? I’m a stranger to you guys and... I’m a werewolf!”

“We’re all a family here. And how else would you find out about the werewolf academy?” Eric asked and smiled.

That moment, Dwarfbart walked back into the area and headed to the infirmary. Eric placed a kiss on Alamar’s head. “I’ve got this, love. Don’t worry about... him.” Kyle worked for the Aurors, he really didn’t want him to find out about Harry. His husband seemed to have read his thoughts as he simply nodded and turned back to Kyle. Meanwhile, Eric nodded at Kyle and walked behind the goblin into the medical corner.

“Everything is good to go” Dwarfbart said, when he found Eric next to him.

The Druid gave Eric a parchment. There were a good fifteen potions on there. “These will help with the side effects of loosing so much magic in his body. It will take around two years until he is finally able to control his magical abilities and everything that comes with it.”

Sighing, Eric nodded. He did not want to think about what would have happened if they would have found him later on in his life. How much of what could have been reversed now, would be stuck by then? Magic was a difficult topic, especially for wizards who had absolutely no idea what they were doing to it.

“Could you reverse all the spells on him?” Eric asked and turned to look at the sleeping boy in a hospital bed. Next to him was Aurora, cleaning her fur and wings. Both looked almost peaceful.

“Everything is resolved. And if he takes the potions, there won’t be any repercussions” the Druid stated and smiled. “I was even able to heal the scar on his forehead. It’s still there, but not as visible and weirdly shaped. The scar was apparently a place to hide a curse and since Dwarfbart removed the curse, everything is fine.”

Eric nodded, extremely relieved. Harry was going to be fine!

Dwarfbart presented him a vial with an almost invisible liquid inside, though it was still moving. It was almost a ghost looking substance. While Dwarfbart handed him the vial, Eric felt his husband moving closer and he stopped next to him in only a few seconds.

“This is Tom’s Horcrux” Dwarfbart sighed and shook his head. “Our healers have found a terrible secret: This is not even half of Tom, this is a seventh.”

Looking up, Eric was shell-shocked. “What?”

“How is that possible?” Alamar asked and widened his eyes. “I thought wizards were unable to split their souls in more than four parts for their own mental good?!”

Dwarfbart nodded. “Nobody knows. However, our goblins may have found another part of Tom Riddle in the Lestrange family vault.”

Eric was now completely confused. Another part of Tom Riddle’s soul was inside the Lestrange family vault? All of that looked far too much like a set-up. “What? That doesn’t make sense! The Lestranges have always been creature allies. Why would they go against one of their best?”

“Your guess is as good as mine” Dwarfbart exhaled. “They’re currently extracting the soul part. I know it’s too much to ask, but would you be so kind as to take them with you? I doubt there’s a place in the UK where we can hide them from Dumbledore. We’ll send a few people out to look for more soul parts, but I’ve got my reservation we’ll find anything in a short amount of time. It might take a decade at least.”

“Can they hurt anyone like this?” Alamar asked suspiciously and looked at the vial in Eric’s hand.

Dwarfbart shook his head. “No. And the glass keeps them inside; they won’t be able to do any harm like that.”

Alamar turned to Eric. “Then we should take it.”

“I agree” Eric nodded and looked at the vial as well. “Maybe we’ll find a cure for this and we can bring Tom back from the cursed life he’s currently living.”

“Thank you.” Dwarfbart sighed relieved.

Alamar smiled and then turned to Dwarfbart as if there was something else he had wanted to ask, but completely forgot until now. “Since you’re still here, the parchment said something about creature power and creature ability. Why does Harry have creature powers, even though it’s not clear if he’s a creature? And what’s the difference between creature power and creature ability?”

Dwarfbart chuckled, as if that was an old question, which Eric believed it was. He had asked himself the same questions, though there were much more pressing matters to discuss before. The goblin started to explain: “The powers have been passed down from generation to generation, adapting to what was needed to survive. The ability will be specifically for whatever creature Harry Potter might turn into. If he isn’t a creature, he will receive no abilities, but since his mother was an elf, he still has whatever the Ljósálfar considered important for their survival.”

Nodding, Alamar then turned to Eric. “So how come he has night vision? Aren’t the Ljósálfar supposed to be around during day light only?”

“Yes” Eric chuckled. “However a few thousand years ago, before the wizards even realised they could harvest magic, the Ljósálfar were one colony with the Dökkálfar, the dark elves. When the wizards found magic, they went underground, claiming the night and the Ljósálfar believed that wizards could be responsible and stayed. Somewhere in Harry’s family tree, there must still be a Dökkálfar who must have passed down the night vision.”

Apparently, that was enough to satisfy Alamar’s thirst for knowledge, since he nodded and turned back to the sleeping boy. When another goblin came back with the second vial of Tom’s soul, Eric accepted it as well and carefully placed them in his satchel.

“I hope we’ll see each other again sometime soon” Dwarfbart said as Alamar carefully lifted Harry into his arms and Aurora jumped from the bed to sit down next to Eric.

Chuckling, Eric shrugged his shoulders. “Time is rather irrelevant when you live for a few hundred years, Dwarfbart, we both know that. So, I do believe we’ll see each other soon. Whatever that might mean.”

And well, once the first sun beams hit England, the Golden Boy had disappeared. Nobody was ever going to find him in the UK ever again – at least for a few years. Eric and Alamar had made sure of that.

Chapter 5: Cynefin

Chapter Text

The next time Harry opened his eyes, he found himself in a small room. It looked beautiful and expensive. Most of the wood was dark and polished. Harry wondered who had cleaned it so amazingly. Aunt Petunia would have probably fallen in love with them. Well, looking around a little more, Harry quickly found someone else in his room: In the corner in an old looking rocking chair sat Alamar, reading a thick book and on his lap slept Aurora dreaming about hunting.

As soon as Harry had found Alamar, he looked up and smiled at Harry.

“Good morning, Harry. How did you sleep?” he asked and closed the book to place it on a table next to him.

Harry frowned. “Where are we? I’ve never seen a place like this.”

Alamar chuckled. “We’re in Russia. In Sviyazhsk to be exact. Eric needs to confirm our arrival first and then we can move on and finally hide from stupid people.”

“Aren’t they everywhere?” Harry asked and a weak grin grew on his face, while Alamar chuckled.

“Where did you hear that?”

“Uncle Vernon said that” Harry explained and pulled the blanket back. Never in his life had he laid in such a perfect bed. And the pyjamas were so comfortable, it felt like soft flowing water on his skin. He walked over to the window and looked outside. “It’s snowing! Can we go outside and walk around?”

Alamar nodded. “Of course! But you do need to eat some breakfast first.”

Harry turned to look at Alamar with puppy eyes. “But it’s snowing! What if it stops once we’ve eaten breakfast?!”

Chuckling, Alamar shrugged his shoulders. “It will not be the last time it snowed, Harry. And if it actually does stop snowing, I’ll make sure to find another place for you where we go outside when it snows. But today, you’re going to eat breakfast first.”

“Okay.” Harry grinned as he turned around to the window to look outside for the last time with huge eyes. He then faced Alamar again, who woke up Aurora and placed her in a small soft bed, when she stretched and rolled back into a circle with her eyes closed.

Harry grinned and walked behind Alamar through the huge house. While Alamar walked down the first flight of stairs, Harry followed slowly, looking at the pictures on the wall. There were huge party scenes and sometimes small bowls of fruit. People walking busily through a rainy street and two old ladies arguing.

Harry stopped and turned back to the last picture. No, he hadn’t imagined it, there actually were two old ladies arguing with each other. One had a cane and continuously tried to hit the other grandmother with it, while the other grey haired woman used her black umbrella as a shield and attack weapon. It was almost like watching a movie.

“Are you okay, Harry?” Alamar asked and walked back around the corner to look at him.

Nodding, Harry pointed at the picture. “Is it a movie? I thought these were pictures?”

Alamar chuckled and nodded. “Yes. They are pictures. But magical pictures are moving. And I believe these two are Madam Zellweger and Madam Novik. They’ve been fighting ever since they first met each other.”

“Why?”

“Nobody knows” Alamar chuckled. “There are rumours though.” While the walked down another flight of stairs, Harry listened intently on what Alamar had to say about these two women. “One was that they were twins, separated after birth. One twin went to Switzerland, the other to Belarus. When they met, they apparently both lost their true identity and fought until the end of their lives about who was who.”

Harry shook his head. “That’s terrible.”

Alamar smirked. “They’re all terrible. The second rumour was that they both fell in love with the same man and tried to fight over who could keep him. Even once the man had died.”

“I don’t like these stories” Harry admitted and they walked down the final flight of stairs, where Harry once again, concentrated on all the portraits along the walls. All of these people were looking old and almost tired.

When they finally reached to ground floor, Alamar walked through a living room that was almost four times the size of the Dursley’s living room and they finally stood in the kitchen. The kitchen had everything: A huge island with a cooking area, two fridges, though one was probably a freezer and even a small bar area.

Harry climbed up on one of the stairs and looked at what Alamar was creating. It felt weird not being the one to make food, but whenever he had been with Eric and Alamar, they never let him touch anything in the kitchen that wasn’t food. It was a welcomed change from what he had to do in the Dursley’s household.

Within a few seconds, Harry had a hot chocolate standing in front of him and he grinned broadly, before thanking Alamar.

“Can I tell you something?” Harry asked after he took the first sip of his perfect hot chocolate. When Alamar nodded, Harry continued still grinning. “You make the best hot chocolate.”

“Even better than Eric’s?” Alamar asked and looked at him questioningly.

Harry nodded. “Yes! Your hot chocolate is the best!”

“Oh no! How could you do that to me?!” a voice sounded and Harry turned to see Eric standing in the door with a considerable amount of snow on his shoulders and head. “You were my favourite human being, Spartan! And now my ego has officially been wounded!”

Eric held his heart and fell to his knees, as if he was in fact wounded and couldn’t go on. Harry looked at Alamar who had quite a lot of trouble hiding his smirk. He wordlessly poured some more hot chocolate into a cup and walked from behind the kitchen island to place the cup in his hands.

“Taste some of that victory, love.”

Eric placed it on the floor and laughed so hard, he fell on his side. Harry almost choked on his hot chocolate and placed it on the counter while Alamar chuckled as he walked back and winked at Harry.

When Eric finally stopped laughing, he was on his back, holding his stomach and had his eyes closed. “You’re terrible, Alamar.” He groaned as he got back up on his feet and grabbed the hot chocolate. “However, I must agree with Harry. Your hot chocolate is very good.”

“The best” Alamar corrected him and grinned when Eric threw him a glare over which Harry giggled.

Eric shook his head and emptied the cup. He then turned to Harry and grinned. “Want to go outside and enjoy the snow?”

“Yes!” Harry almost jumped up, when Alamar shook his head.

“No, first breakfast” he insisted and looked at Eric as if he couldn’t believe what his husband was saying. Harry grinned and watched as these two seemed to have a stare-off going on. It wasn’t surprising that Alamar won, since Eric sighed and turned to Harry, shaking his head.

Not that it mattered to Harry. Being around Eric and Alamar was always a good time. “So, do I now live with you?” Harry asked and tilted his head.

Eric frowned slightly and nodded. “If you want, yes. We don’t want to just take you some place where you don’t want to be. But if you’re okay with being with us, then we’d like to have you around and...”

“What Eric wants to say” Alamar interrupted and fondly shook his head over how much Eric was saying, “you can stay with us. However, should you decide that we’re not a good match, there’s a rather good magical organisation for orphans in Russia, so...”

“No, I...” Harry was now interrupting Alamar and he smiled. “I really want to be with you guys. I like it here and I feel weirdly safe.”

Eric smiled broadly and nodded. He then opened the fridge and turned to Harry. “How about pancakes for breakfast? Something warm for our precious new addition to this family and then we can go outside and play in the snow? Maybe Alamar would even join us?”

Alamar rolled his eyes. “I hate snow.”

“You hate everything” Eric grinned, while Harry agreed to some pancakes.

“Not everything. I do love you and I like Harry as well” Alamar held up his hands and shook his head.

While Eric mixed the ingredients for pancakes, he smirked at his husband. “So then, come outside and play with us in the snow, because you love both of us.”

Harry grinned over the ridiculous puppy eyes Eric made while Alamar sighed and crossed his arms. “You’re insufferable. Fine.”

Eric smirked and winked at Harry. “I hope you’re taking notes on how to change Alamar’s mind.”

The outraged expression on Alamar’s face made Harry giggle and Eric laughed as well, while he poured the batter into the hot pan.

“I do not change my mind so quickly!” Alamar protested and shook his head.

“Sure, love. If it makes you feel better, I’ll agree.” Eric snorted and evaded a flying vase towards him. Harry followed it with his eyes and turned back to Alamar who rolled his eyes. However, when he turned to Harry, he had a huge smirk on his face and shook his head as if to tell him that all of this was normal behaviour.

Walking over to the pile of vase fragments, Alamar grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment as well as a huge container. Harry tilted his head, looked over to Eric to see that he was still making breakfast, and jumped down from his chair.

Before he could say anything, he felt Alamar’s magic surround him and he was lifted up from the ground and placed on the sofa next to him. “Watch out for the broken pieces, Harry. They can be very small.”

“What are you doing?” Harry asked and settled down on the sofa, looking down on Alamar.

Smiling softly, he turned to him. “Well, we are quite a messy couple. So, a lot of vases or glasses fly around and get broken into pieces. Nevertheless, we still love each other and we think that it is important to tell the other that, even though we were mad at them, our love is still as strong as before.”

Harry frowned and looked at the set-up. “How do you do that?”

“Well” Alamar grinned and pointed at the vase fragments. “Big pieces are the reason why I love him and the small ones are just moments in the last few months that showed and proved to me that we match together and that I am in love with him.”

Counting the six vase fragments, Harry turned to the man sitting on the floor. “So, you’re writing six reasons why you love him and then however many small moments there are on the smaller things? Which fragments are you choosing for big ones?” Harry frowned.

Alamar laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “As many as I want. This is not some school assignment, but basically a love letter in a different way. I have to break something to tell him how much he means to me.”

This time, Eric decided to speak up as well. “You know, we don’t need to do this, but it’s just a nice way of getting rid of the pieces.”

“Don’t trust what he says” Alamar whispered and winked at Harry. “He’s got a personal trunk full of my letters and he keeps re-reading them almost every other day.” His laughter was so warm and clearly in love.

“I can hear you, you know!” Eric shook his head, clearly unable to believe that his husband would give away a secret like that. Well, there was also a fond expression on his face and he turned to the batter with a smile on his lips.

Harry laughed and watched as Eric silently made breakfast and Alamar cleaned up the floor and wrote things on the parchment. It was so peaceful and happy in this place. And it smelled like pancakes. Everything was better with pancakes.

After breakfast, Eric made sure that all three of them had some fun and he dragged Alamar with them outside to explore the area and the snow. Luckily, it was still snowing and within a few seconds, Harry probably looked like a snowman himself. Even Alamar seemed to have fun and he especially laughed over Eric’s antics around snow.

Harry quickly learnt that even though sometimes Eric seemed like the actual adult, when there was snow around, he turned into quite the child. He started at least five snowball fights, made three snowmen and once ‘accidentally’ built a magical snowman around Harry from which Alamar had to free him. Not that Harry had anything against that. In fact, his laughter had probably destroyed the snowman alone.

He had never realized that one could have fun in the snow. Yes, he had always wanted to do something fun and the awareness that for the first time in his life, someone didn’t expect him to shovel the drive-way or whatever made it even better. He was just supposed to have fun right now and enjoy the weather and cold snow.

For lunch, they went into a small restaurant, where Harry enjoyed the best chips and chicken cutlet he had ever tasted. It was so good, that he opted on never going away from here ever again.

“So Harry” Eric started and smiled. “You know how we took you away from your relatives? There was a reason why we left the country.”

Harry caught him sharing a look with Alamar who smiled and nodded softly. Stuffing more chips into his mouth, Harry nodded and waited to find out where this was going to go.

Eric quickly continued: “There’s a man in power who seems to want to take over the Wizarding Government. And we think he wants you to be his secret weapon.”

“What for?” Harry asked and stopped eating. He was a weapon? That was stupid.

“Well, there were some weird things going on, before your parents died, you know?” Alamar said and smiled weakly. “And the rumour is that all of this was staged by him. So, we wanted to save you from being used your whole life.”

Harry nodded. He understood a little bit. Maybe when he was older he would understand everything. Or maybe never?

Eric luckily saved him from his thoughts. “In order to keep you save, we thought that maybe you should blend in and go to school here, in Russia. The problem is that with a name like yours, everyone will know who you are. So, what do you think about changing your name?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Harry resumed eating his chips. He didn’t really mind that, as long as he could stay with Eric and Alamar and Aurora. “I don’t mind.”

“How about Harrison Corbin Rogers?” Alamar offered and smiled softly. “Harrison so we can still call you ‘Harry’. Corbin is old French and means ‘little raven’ in honour of your mother’s family name and Rogers so you’re our son?”

Harry stopped and looked up at Alamar in shock. “I love it!” he said after a few quiet seconds and beamed at his honorary fathers.

Eric chuckled and ruffled through his hair. He was about to say something, when another voice interrupted their little discussion.

“Eric?! I cannot believe it!” A blond woman walked up to the table. She was wearing all black and a name tag from the restaurant on which stood ‘Kira’. Her dark blue eyes were full of life and very interested. “How did we both run away and find each other in Russia of all places?!”

Eric sighed and shook his head. “Hi Kira. I don’t know. But I’m just stopping to travel through here.”

Kira chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. “Everyone’s doing that.” She grinned and turned to Alamar. “Hi, dear. How are you doing, lovely?” Her voice was so sweet and high that Eric threw her a right out evil glare.

He got up, grabbed Kira’s arm and pulled her with him to basically the other end of the almost empty restaurant and sat down there with her as well.

Harry frowned and turned to Alamar who was chuckling and shook his head. “Who is she? And why did she call you lovely?”

“That is Eric’s sister. Kira constantly flirts with me whenever we meet just to drive Eric crazy. It usually works.” He smirked and looked through the restaurant. Harry followed his gaze and found the two siblings who were clearly arguing quietly with each other. “Nonetheless” Alamar got his attention back, “these two are actually quite close. And their arguing is just a sign of sibling’s love. I bet if something were to happen to Eric, she would come and help him in a heartbeat.”

Harry watched as Eric rolled his eyes and shook his head, but got up and walked over back towards them, Kira in tow.

“Well then” Eric sighed and rolled his eyes. “I think we’re leaving this town as soon as possible.”

“Why?” Kira asked and made puppy eyes. “If I had to stay around someone of my family, I would choose you!”

Eric snorted and shook his head, while Harry watched their interaction rather interested. When they first met, Eric had said that he didn’t like his fairy family and now to finally meet someone from there was fascinating.

Alamar smirked. “So, how was your year back home? Last year you had to fight, did you not?”

Kira sighed, but her eyes sparkled, as she started talk. “I did. Mother was ruthless. She’s really not in the mood to fight for a few more hundred years. This had been our land first. What did these idiots think they could just take it over?!” She pulled her shirt away from her neck and showed a deep red scar running from her neck down to her shoulder, where it disappeared under the clothes. “Got this nasty scar from a stupidly used magical trick by the wizards. It’ll be gone in a few decades, but I cannot believe I didn’t see it coming!”

Eric chuckled. “To be honest, I’ve never seen someone fighting more reckless than you do. Last time we fought together I saw you sneak up on a wizard until you basically stood behind him to fight. No one would have done that!”

“No one’s big on fun, Eric. You should know that best. You and me against the rest of them, you remember?”

“Nope” Eric tried to hide a lopsided grin and received a shove from his sister.

She then smiled at Harry. “So who are you? Did they kidnap you?”

“No” Alamar answered and raised his eyebrows, while Harry giggled.

“They saved me!” he said instead. “And my name is Harry... Harrison Corbin Rogers!”

Kira bowed mockingly. “Then I believe I need to tell you my full name as well, huh? I’m Kyreena Harmony Radella Rogers. Not married, so no other last name. I think my three first names are quite enough.”

Alamar chuckled and shook his head, while Eric sighed. “How’s father?”

Kira smirked. “Better than ever. He has gotten back onto the field and in Maiselle’s name, you should see him fight! He actually got back almost a fourth of what we lost in the last few centuries. It was awesome!”

“You clearly like to be around them, then” Eric commented and smirked.

“If I don’t have to talk to them” Kira laughed. “You know me, Freddy. Fighting is one of my hobbies. I cannot get enough of it.”

“Which is exactly why you’re here in Russia, right?” Alamar asked and smirked.

Harry frowned and turned to Eric. “Why did your sister call you ‘Freddy’?

Eric rolled his eyes. “My parents decided to call me Frederick. I honestly hate this name. So I have a few nicknames, but the one I go with is Eric.” He looked at Kira as if she should have known not to call him Freddy, which made her shrug her shoulders and grin.

“Anyway, you guys don’t have to worry. I won’t tell anyone you’ve been here and decided to settle down in Russia for a while” Kira smirked and turned to Eric. “And I won’t tell mother I’ve seen you the next time I go fight for our country. However, fairies have complained that you haven’t been around a lot as of lately. So, make sure to come by in the next decade.” She smiled and motioned towards Harry. “At least you now have a reason not to stay too long. The rules for fairies with actual families are still the same it has been.”

“At least something good to look forward to?” Eric rolled his eyes while Kira chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. She waved goodbye and went to some people who had just entered the restaurant.

Harry grinned and turned to Eric. “I like her.”

Eric narrowed his eyes and raised his eyebrow, while Harry chuckled and was pulled away towards Alamar. “I’ll keep you safe from him!”

Shaking his head, Eric grabbed some chips from Harry’s plate and sighed. Even though his actions might have looked as if he couldn’t believe that Harry would say something like that, there still was a sparkle in his eyes. “Well, I choose to ignore that last comment.” He stifled a laugh and turned to Alamar for a more serious discussion. “When we move closer to the core of Russia, we can get a wand for Harry and maybe even get you in a good school for magical children, how does that sound?” he asked Harry.

Nodding with wide eyes, Harry grinned broadly. “I like that!”

“It’s a plan, then” Alamar smirked. “Should we head back outside for some more snow, now?”

“Yes!” two voices called out and Alamar chuckled.

Chapter 6: Vorfreude

Chapter Text

Norway opens up border for all creatures

by Tyler KOZŁOWSKI

Good news to all our creature allies: Norway has finally decided to open up its borders for all creatures, after Denmark announced their plans of shipping all UK creatures back to England last week. It has seen a massive rush of creature refugees in the last few days and numbers are still rising.

Since Great Britain is one of the most powerful nations, there are a few countries that have closed their borders for creatures and keep a close watch for any movement. Here are the countries that aren’t safe at the moment, adding to the list of last month: Germany, Poland, France, Spain, Netherland and Belgium.

If you intent on travelling to any of the aforementioned countries or you are staying there, please stay hidden and don’t move. Creature rescue boats are travelling up and down the shore of France and Spain to bring you to Portugal, however, do not intent to do anything hasty. Creature allies warned of reckless behavior, as Thomas Opal said in his creature press conference: “The best thing we can do is what we’ve always done. Hide and wait for the storm to pass. There is only so much build up a storm can have.”

There are still a few countries that might change their mind: Switzerland is still on the verge of choosing either side. It might be best to leave while it’s still open and Italy has seen a more relaxed approach to the creature laws. For now, Italy might be the next country to open the borders. We’ll keep informing you if anything changes.

May Ceto be with you and your families and keep them safe.

Alamar sighed and placed the paper down by his morning coffee. It had been getting worse and worse for over a century. France was at least somewhat nice to the Veelas, but them telling everyone else that they were on their own wasn’t really helping. And Belgium stopping all help to the creatures was a death threat to the Phoenix breeders there. Europe wasn’t careful at all. All this tension could one day just break everything into pieces.

“What are you reading?” a voice finally brought him out of his mind and he felt a familiar presence in the kitchen. He didn’t have to look up to know that Eric was standing behind him. It still startled him when he put his arms around his neck and kissed his temple. “Darling? What’s on your mind?”

Chuckling, Alamar leaned back and closed his eyes. “How bad our situation’s gotten. The creature’s situation I mean.”

Eric hummed and nodded. “Not a surprise, really. Everyone’s just too scared to do anything about that, I believe. At least Iceland hasn’t stopped their support.”

“You already read the article, then?” Alamar asked and opened his eyes to see Eric smiling softly.

“Love, I have been awake for three hours already, trying to tire down Harry. He just doesn’t get tired in the snow!”

Alamar laughed over how desperate Eric sounded, right when Harry ran into the kitchen. His hair was even more disheveled, eyes sparkling and his nose red from the cold outside. He hadn’t looked more alive and healthy ever since they had first met him.

“Good morning, Harry” Alamar greeted him and smirked. “Enjoying the snow?”

“Yes!” Harry called out and beamed at him. “But Eric promised me hot chocolate, so I came inside.” He grinned as if he knew that Eric might have been too tired to keep playing with him. “Also I won the last snow ball fight.”

Alamar gasped playfully and looked at Eric as if this was the worst thing that ever happened. His husband only rolled his eyes and went to make some hot chocolate, while Harry sat down at the table.

They had been staying in Sviyazhsk for almost two months and it was soon time to move on. Harry had finally gotten his creature travel visa and they were able to move further into Russia. Eric had been travelling there on his own looking for a place to stay for the four of them and where Harry could go to school. Apparently, he had found something and they were going to move in two days.

“Alamar, what is your job?” Harry suddenly ripped him out of his thoughts.

Frowning, Alamar looked up and shook his head. “What?”

Harry grinned. “What do you do? Just sit around all day?”

“He does” Eric called over and hid behind the counter as if he was expecting something coming flying his way. When Alamar simply smirked and waited, Eric finally looked up carefully and Alamar made the water flow sprinkle right into his face over which his husband laughed. Over all of this, Harry had smirked and shook his head.

“I’m an extraction expert” Alamar started and smirked. He could see Harry about to ask what on earth that was and decided to start talking before he could. “That means, I free enslaved creatures. Much like I did with you, you know. I go into houses, find the creatures and get them out of their enslavement.”

Harry widened his eyes. “That’s why you could just walk into the house?” he asked.

Alamar chuckled and nodded. It was probably too complicated to tell Harry that his extraction was extremely complicated and had it not been for Aurora, he would have probably never succeeded. “Exactly.”

Eric placed three cups of hot chocolate on the table and sat down next to him, yawning. “Alamar freed our creature leader, by the way.”

“No, I didn’t.” Rolling his eyes, Alamar grabbed his cup. It was always that story; and Eric never got it right. Well, yes. Technically, Roy Adler was now their creature leader and he had helped set him free, but when he had freed him he had been nothing but a boy. Just like Harry!

Chuckling, Eric kissed his cheek, probably knowing exactly what he was thinking about, while Harry seemed to marvel about that information.

“Can I do that too? I want to help people as well!” he widened his eyes and looked at Alamar. “Can I come with you next time you go and save someone?”

“No.” Alamar and Eric said at the same time. Harry titled his head slightly, but didn’t say anything. While Eric seemed to try and come up with a good response, Alamar smiled at the small boy. “It’s too dangerous, Harry. Maybe in a few years, I’d feel comfortable, taking you with me. But for now, I’d rather know you’re safe at home. Okay?”

Harry nodded. “Sure. Thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it” Alamar said and winked at him, not entirely happy with promising Harry to take him with him one day. That day might suddenly be here and then what? He couldn’t just tell him off until all eternity. Although... vampires aged much slower, so maybe he could tell Harry that he was counting in vampire years? Well, no, that would be playing dirty and cheating.

When it was quiet afterwards, Eric frowned and turned to Harry. “How come you ask Alamar what he does but not me?”

Alamar chuckled. “Because you stay home all...” Eric held his mouth closed and shot him an evil glance, while he really couldn’t hold back his laughter.

Harry snorted and shook his head. “No. But you always do something and Kira said sometimes you go back home and fight with other fairies for your land. So you’re a warrior.”

“Kira said that?” Eric narrowed his eyes for a second and sighed then. “I’m not a fan of you quoting her.”

“Well, Kira said” Harry stated and smirked over Eric’s eye roll, “that in reality you two are quite close. She said you have ten other siblings!”

Alamar laughed over Eric’s defeated expressions. Yes, family talk wasn’t really his favourite topic. Nevertheless, he seemed to have himself under control when he answered Harry. “I do, yes. Kira is the youngest of all of us. And I’m a decade older. The next closer sibling is I believe one and a half century older than us, so we always felt like we needed to stick together if we wanted to be someone.”

They talked for a while about their families, before Harry finally went upstairs to pack his things and Eric went to help. Alamar stayed in the kitchen reading up on new creature laws in Europe, and the panic that was slowly settling in. This wasn’t a good time to be living close. Luckily, they were moving away as soon as they could.

Two days later, they had travelled to a very small town in Russia called Bor, lying on a river. It wasn’t so cold that your hands would freeze off if they met the air for two seconds, yet still rather cold. Even the house they had entered was so cold you could see people breathing. Luckily, Alamar was quite skilled in magic and within a few seconds, the house was warm and cosy.

Well, while Eric had gone off with Harry quite possibly placing a bed down for the small boy to go to sleep immediately, Alamar decided to snoop around their new temporary stay for however long they decided to stay.

Sadly their new kitchen wasn’t as big as the other one anymore, though still with enough space to place down a table. However, the couch had to go into another room. On the bottom floor were next to the kitchen, a dining room and a somewhat sizable living room, two offices and an animal play room.

When Alamar snuck up the stairs, he passed a lot of old looking portraits of witches and wizards. Stopping in front of one that vaguely reminded him of a former head teacher in Hogwarts, he sighed softly. For their own safety, he secretly placed a reversed notice-me-not spell over all the portraits in the house for the time being. Like that, they could walk around the house and the portraits wouldn’t even realise anyone was in here.

As he nodded softly and walked to the landing on the first floor, he stopped, hearing Eric and Harry talk quietly. Yes, eavesdropping wasn’t appropriate, but he was interested in what was going on with the two people he wanted to protect from all harm.

“Why does Aurora sleep in my room? I thought she belonged with you?” Harry asked and Alamar could make out a soft purring noise. He was sure that Harry was petting Aurora and that their Krimnee was probably already half asleep.

Eric chuckled softly and a ruffling of sheets made Alamar think that he likely sat down on Harry’s bed. “She’s a protector, you know. And I think all she wants to do right now is to make sure that you’re doing okay. Are you okay, Cowboy?”

Harry giggled softly and Alamar hears sheets shuffle again. “Can you read me a fairytale, Eric?”

“Of course, Rebel. Which one would you like?”

Alamar slowly walked closer to the only room where light was coming from and peered inside. Harry was lying in his bed, blanked up to his nose and his eyes were twinkling with the reflection of the candle on his bedside table, while Eric sat with crossed legs on his bed, leaning at the wall facing the door.

Harry tore down the blanket and said: “Cinderella”, before hiding half of his face again.

Eric looked over to him with a smirk on his lips. “Because it has a fairy godmother in it? Do you want to make me angry?” He leaned over Harry, who giggled under the blanket. He didn’t even have time to respond as Eric started to tickle him and rolling him into a burrito with his blanket so Harry had no way to escape him. Not that Harry seemed to care as he laughed loudly.

Alamar chuckled and shook his head, when Harry finally got his breath back, still encased in his blanket, and Eric leaned back at the wall. He grabbed a book and opened it, before clearing his throat. “Once upon a time, a girl named Cinderella lived with her stepmother and two stepsisters. Poor Cinderella had to work hard all day long so the others could rest. It was she who had to wake up each morning when it was still dark and cold to start the fire. It was she who cooked the meals. It was she who kept the fire going. The poor girl could not stay clean, from all the ashes and cinders by the fire. ‘What a mess!’ her two stepsisters laughed. And that is why they called her ‘Cinderella.’”

Smiling softly, Alamar retreated and looked at the first floor, while he heard Eric reading Cinderella in the background. This level had four bedrooms and another office and then there even was another level, though it quickly showed that it was just a huge attic.

When Alamar walked down the stairs, he found Eric sneaking out of Harry’s room and quietly closing the door again. He caught his husband’s eyes and smiled while holding his index finger to his mouth. “He just fell asleep” Eric whispered and they both snuck down into the barely furnished living room.

Yawning, Alamar grabbed a parchment and wrote down a few things they needed to do in the next few days. Harry should start going to school here and he needed a wand. Eric also needed to write a message in the creature news so Minerva would know where they were and hopefully visit them soon. And he needed to tell his extraction team where he had moved to, just so they knew where to reach him.

“Stop working, Alamar” Eric sighed and took away the parchment to place his own head in Alamar’s lap. “It’s too late for that.”

“Well love, someone had to be the adult in this family” Alamar chuckled when Eric only half offended raised his eyebrows.

His husband grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “Thank you for taking on this responsibility, I’m not ready to be an adult yet.”

Laughing gently, Alamar tenderly ran his fingers through Eric’s soft hair. His husband had closed his eyes and was breathing heavily, as if he was about to fall asleep himself. Yes, even though the two of them didn’t have that much trouble moving their stuff, it was still a lot of work and they were both knackered at the end of the day.

Out of nowhere, Alamar suddenly remembered something weird. He turned to his husband. “Do you remember Harry’s parchment?” Alamar asked.

“Yes, why do you mean?” Eric opened his eyes, trying his hardest to focus on anything, though Alamar saw how they closed automatically, making it really hard for him to stay awake.

He still decided to ask the question. Should his tired husband actually fall asleep, he could always write it down on his list and ask Eric tomorrow. “It said, ‘Creature Protector Nachtkrapp’. What on earth is a Nachtkrapp?”

Eric smiled softly and tried to stifle a yawn, even though he didn’t manage. “They are scary creatures, let me tell you that.” He smiled with his eyes closed and hummed. “They’re basically huge ravens with pitch black eyes and holes in their wings. They used to live in Germany, but travelled up to Sweden. People said they would kill and eat humans.”

Alamar widened his eyes. “What? Why is that a protector?!”

Eric laughed and opened his eyes, somehow managing to focus on him. “Don’t worry, love. That’s just a rumour. They’re hauntingly beautiful, almost like Veelas and they are extremely powerful. I’m not surprised they’re Harry’s protector. I’m sure when he finds a Nachtkrapp, they’re going to be inseparable.”

“They’re not going to eat him, right?”

“Love, it’s a fairy tale so the children would go to bed as soon as it was dark out.” Eric smiled tiredly and closed his eyes again. “You can hear them calling through the night and parents used that as a threat for the naughty children to finally go to bed. They’re not eating humans. I think they’re dietary needs are fish and mice.”

Alamar shook his head. “Hm. I’m not really happy with that.”

“You need to see them first, darling. Once you see them, you’ll know what I’m talking about.” Eric said quietly and then turned to his side.

Before Alamar could say anything else, he realised that Eric fell asleep right there and then. He chuckled softly, placed a kiss on his husband’s temple and slowly got up. With what little magic he had left, he made Eric float up the stairs behind him and they went to bed in their new home. He really needed to sleep for as long as he could. Hopefully, Harry was going to sleep in for as long as possible.

The next morning, Eric and Harry had decided to look around their new home for a bit and trying to find a place where one could get food. Alamar happily started to decorate their new home. One positive thing of having to travel around the world and being a wizard was that he could try new things with the decor. Though right now, he didn’t feel the need to make huge differences. What he did decide on was to hide all the previous portraits behind their own ones.

He hadn’t done anything else, when an owl pocked at the window and he opened it to find one of the creature owls. Their patterns weren’t like normal owls. This one had a beautiful dark brown back and reddish wings with an interesting black spot on one of his eyes. “Morning Nigel. What is it you’ve got for us today?”

Nigel placed a booklet on the kitchen table and grabbed one of Aurora’s meat balls before he headed out again. Aurora just tapped into the kitchen when Nigel left and she looked at her food as if she knew exactly what had happened to it.

Alamar chuckled and sighed. “Sorry Aurora, Nigel was here and he clearly took something from you.” Aurora meowed to protest and then walked over to her bowl and started eating nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Alamar opened the booklet and sighed at the sight of it: Further Educations. “So it’s this time of a decade again” Alamar sighed and sat down by the table to look through all the courses they had to offer. The academy for all creatures always had good courses; however, learning new things was getting harder and harder. At least Eric and he had already completed the language courses.

He wasn’t even half done with the booklet, when Harry stormed in with sparkling eyes, bringing so much cold and even wetter snow into their home, while he laughed. Eric wasn’t far behind though he was packed with stuff they bought.

“You’re awake! Can we go play in the snow?!” Harry called out and jumped up and down.

Chuckling, Alamar shook his head. “Breakfast, Harry. We’re eating first, I thought you would remember that simple rule in our home!”

Harry rolled his eyes and walked over to pet Aurora. She meowed and purred quickly, before she returned to eating her food. Alamar placed the booklet on the table and walked over to help Eric putting their food away.

“Actually” Eric started and grinned at Harry. “I thought we’d go and buy you a wand after breakfast. I’ve already enrolled you in the closest magical school.” He turned to Alamar and smiled. “They work with both kinds of magic and they even teach creature culture. Do you want to know the best thing?”

Alamar frowned and nodded. “Yes, please, darling. I would like to know what you consider ‘the best thing’.”

Eric hit him over the head with a chocolate bar that broke into two pieces, while he snorted. Harry laughed, probably over Eric’s surprised expression that the chocolate bar actually broke into pieces. “It’s a day school. So Harry will still be with us every day.”

He hadn’t thought that this information was such a relief, but when Eric told him this information, Alamar felt himself relax. Eric chuckled as if he knew exactly what was going on in Alamar’s head, which he wasn’t going to rule out. Eric knew him better than anybody else – sometimes even better than he knew himself.

“What do you mean with ‘different kinds of magic’, Eric? Are there more than one?” Harry sat walked to the window and sat down on the windowsill, looking intrigued.

Alamar chuckled and started with a simple breakfast, while Eric nodded and walked over to Harry to sit on the floor. “There’s ‘magic’ and then there’s the second layer of it. We call it ‘Draíocht’. It’s the living, breathing personification of magic; sometimes the wizards call it Lady Magic. Wizards use magic and it works fine, but if you want to have acceptance of magic and want to use it without much effort and know that whatever you do, it will turn out fine, you have to ask Draíocht to be your guide.”

“Can you still like... make whatever you want?” Harry asked with wide eyes.

Eric nodded. “Yes. Draíocht has a trial phase, where she wants to see what you do with the power she’s granting you, but after that... you can do whatever you choose. However, Draíocht can also take back her power. Like I’ve said, she’s a living, breathing, magical being.”

Harry was listening with wide eyes and he nodded. “I want to be able to do that! I can’t wait!” He clapped his hands and Eric chuckled. Alamar smirked as well and he placed their English breakfast onto the table.

While Harry sat down by the table, Eric caught the booklet with his eyes. “Oh no. I thought we just did a course with the academy!”

“Twelve years ago, yes.” Alamar smirked and nodded when Eric looked at him rather surprised.

“Unbelievable. Well Harry” Eric turned to him and grinned. “Looks like we all are going to be in school together. Though not in the same building.”

Alamar laughed when Harry looked at him confused. “And our courses will be shorter than Harry’s. First and foremost, Eric: We should get Harry a wand, okay?” Both men nodded and started eating breakfast as if their lives depended on it. Alamar smirked and sent his husband a loving glance, before he grabbed a toast as well.

Chapter 7: Fantods

Chapter Text

A few thousand miles or kilometres away from where a certain person was staying currently, an old white haired supposedly wise wizard was looking through some parchments as if he was looking for something precious he had lost. That wasn’t something new. People who knew him would tell anyone who would listen that he was planning and plotting ever since they knew him.

Well, this was new. He almost looked desperate. In fact, he was desperate. He had lost something and just now found out by accident. And at present, he wasn’t able to figure out what had happened.

A knock at the door made him stop and he looked up. “Enter!” Sitting down by the desk he quickly made the paperwork disappear, when the door opened. Luckily, it wasn’t some Ministry fool, but Minerva McGonagall walking in.

“Albus, you’ve been in your office for the past two months. People have started to worry and the professors think you’ve died. What is going on? Ever since Christmas you’ve been behaving weirdly” Minerva sighed and shook her head.

Albus Dumbledore narrowed his eyes. He didn’t really have proof that anybody in his school was betraying him, so there really wasn’t a reason not to trust her. He had trusted her with everything to be honest.

So he cleared his throat and motioned to the chair on the other side of his desk. Once she sat there and looked at him expectantly, he smiled with an intentional sparkle in his eyes. This always made people relax around him.

“Well, you see, I’ve just been informed that Mrs Figg died. She was supposed to keep an eye on little Harry Potter.” He watched her closely, as she frowned and shook her head. There really seemed to be nothing in her manner that showed she had something to do with the disappearance of his little pawn.

Minerva rubbed her nose and shrugged her shoulders. “So, what does this have to do with anything? Who’s keeping an eye on Harry Potter now?”

Shaking his head, Albus was sure now that she had nothing to do with it. Well, if she had... she was hiding it extremely well. “Nobody. I went there this afternoon. He’s gone.”

“What?” Minerva widened her eyes and leaned forward. “Albus, this is very bad news! What if the Death Eaters got him? He’s just a small child! We need to find him. We should alert the press and...”

Albus calmly raised his hands so his deputy head teacher would settle down a little. He really didn’t need the Ministry all over him, just because he had lost the future saviour. However, he needed to do something, especially now that Minerva knew that Harry Potter was no longer around.

The deputy headmistress shook her head. “Albus, I’ve been looking at them last summer. Nothing was out of order... I don’t understand...”

“You were looking at them?” Albus frowned and raised his eyebrows. How could she have looked at them last summer? What had she seen?

Minerva seemed to be genuinely too agitated, as she apparently didn’t hear him. “We need to tell the people! Together we could go and look for him. A child all alone! He could be dead right now... And maybe with The Prophet we could...”

“I doubt the press could help right now” he interrupted her, before she would freak out even more. He really didn’t need that right now. “I believe what we need to do is keep this under wraps and investigate secretively. Should the Death Eaters find out that we lost the weapon against them, they might attack us right now.” When Minerva frowned, Albus immediately realised that he had said something wrong. Before he could figure out what it was, she already spoke up.

“Weapon? He’s a child, Albus!”

She wasn’t ready for his big plan then. Albus sighed. “It’s not what they see, you know Minerva. They won’t see him as a child, but as a weapon. I’m just talking with what they would think of that.”

Minerva nodded, though she looked a little tense. He couldn’t trust her, then. “So then, what do we do about his?”

Albus shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve got some friends, they’ll look into it. I will tell some Aurors I trust as well. I’m sure they’ll figure it out.” For a second, Albus pondered over removing this memory from Minerva’s mind. However, she was a rather strong witch and would have clearly figured out that something was missing. “Don’t worry, Minerva. I’m sure he’ll resurface again and I’ll take him under my wing as soon as he does.”

“Let’s hope so.” Minerva agreed, though she didn’t sound sincere. Albus nodded and cursed himself over the fact that he thought he could trust her.

She had been sneaking away from Hogwarts as well, he knew it very well. Though he had never been able to figure out where she was going so late at night. And the fact that she hadn’t done it in a few months was even weirder. Did she maybe know where Harry Potter was?

Maybe she had even taken him away once old Mrs Figg died. However, that couldn’t be true, since she hadn’t been gone in so long and if Harry Potter had been in his castle, he would have known it. He had knowledge over everything that happened in here.

Finally, after a solid minute of silence, Minerva seemed to figure out that Albus wanted her gone and she excused herself with the stupid reason of having some essays to correct. He knew that nobody really worked in her classes; they all looked as if they were having fun.

Shaking his head, Albus walked to the window and stared outside, where a few students were throwing around the snow and practised a few spells. Scoffing at their mocked innocence, he turned back to his desk and made the paperwork appear again.

He was missing something. Something seemed off. He couldn’t find the people who had moved into the house Mrs Figg had had. Frowning, he walked back to the table and leaned over it to look for one specific parchment.

Within a few seconds he had located it. Triumphantly, he pulled it out of a stack of loose parchments, which fell and everything flew around the desk and the floor. It wasn’t important to him, as he had finally gotten the paper he had been looking for.

The yellow parchment copy was a document he had gotten through some secret help and with huge letters, there was a sold written on it and the new owners added with the acronym: COAL.

Narrowing his eyes, Albus growled at it and for a split second, he thought about throwing the innocent parchment into the fire. That could not have happened! Not only, had he not been notified that his spy had died his house, which he had paid for... it had been sold to the traitors of this world. Balling up the piece of paper, he threw it against a portrait of some other former head teacher. The idiot complained, but Albus wasn’t listening, too deep in his own thoughts.

After that old good for nothing idiot died, the house went onto the market and was bought by COAL, the Creature Office for Alternate Lodgement. Albus knew them all too well. And he hated them with every fibre of his body. That could only mean that some creature must have gotten Harry Potter.

Sitting down by his desk, he groaned, when suddenly, he looked up with a smirk on his face. Creatures kidnapped Harry Potter? That could work in his favour... If he could tell a few chosen people, he could potentially reach unprecedented power against the brutes.

First and foremost, he needed to find his precious war hero. Once again, clearing his desk and his floor, Albus silently called for his minion. Within a minute, a knock on the door made him smile and he opened it to find Severus Snape standing there.

He looked even worse than before and Albus silently stepped back to let the potion’s master into his office. He was glad to know that his spells were still working. Manipulating old owls like Minerva was hard work, but young idiots, like Severus, they were fun to play with. And Severus had a very distinct magic, which Albus loved to have around himself.

“Severus, I am so glad you came to look for me. Is there something I can help you with?” Albus asked and sat down by his desk again, while his servant frowned and shook his head, sitting down as well.

“I just suddenly had the idea I could help you with something, Albus.”

Stifling a laugh, Albus nodded and pretended to be fascinated by their ‘bond’. It was only a few rather complicated spells on Severus who hadn’t even realised that they were in place. And wherever Severus was, he would know when Albus needed him to come see him. Magic kept fascinating him.

“Well, I am happy you’re here. You know, I think I need you to take a few weeks off. At least until summer break” Albus chuckled when he found Severus’ surprised look.

“Sir, I haven’t even done anything. And yes, I might have been a little hard on Mr. Weasley, but he brought a real baby dragon to class! I haven’t even given him that much detention and...”

Albus held up his hand, already over the long monologue Severus was giving away like free candy. Yes, this sixth year Weasley boy was a little obsessed with these animals, but he didn’t want to know anything. Children were just trouble makers without real ideas.

He needed Severus to do something else. “It’s not a punishment, Severus. I have chosen you, because I cannot leave my position here and I need someone out there whom I can trust. I can trust you, can I not?”

“Yes, sir.” Severus nodded, while Albus smiled sweetly. Yes, asking people if he could trust them was the best kind of manipulation. Nobody wanted to be untrustworthy! They all fell right into his trap; after that, they would usually do what he wanted them to do. Albus was sure that Severus was one of them as well.

He turned to his minion and placed a smile on his face. “You see, Severus, I’m trusting you with some very important information.” He grabbed his wand under the table and started another incantation on the potions master. In all honesty, he had lost count of how many spells he had placed on him. Nevertheless, there was no limit of spells on people. “I have found Harry Potter right after his parents had died and I had placed him in a safe house. Now it seems as if someone has taking him away from my protection. We really need to find him, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Absolutely, sir!” Severus nodded and Albus could see his own magical incantation forming another layer around the other man.

Smiling sweetly, Albus kept the incantation going while he continued talking to the pale looking young man. “Well, I think we need to get the people who abducted him and are probably torturing him right now. So, I have a special assignment for you: From now until the summer’s over, I need you to go and track down Harry Potter. Don’t bother coming back before.” He stopped the spell and made the stack of paper appear and placed the housing report on top.

Severus eyes all of it suspiciously. “Sir, what am I supposed to do with Harry Potter, once I’ve found him?”

“Bring him here?” Albus offered and smiled again. He needed to have full control over the little war hero. Only then could he fulfil his goal of taking over the Wizarding World and finally chase these stupid creatures out of Great Britain and eventually destroy them all. Especially the north with all the fairies fighting was a huge thorn in his side. “I believe some creature has kidnapped him.” Albus pointed at the parchment nodded, while Severus weakly copied his actions.

Severus coughed, grabbed the stack of papers and walked out, while Albus rolled his eyes. At least now, someone was looking into it. That man wasn’t his favourite puppet, but he could just send him away without problems. He had nobody to stay with and the students hated him, he surely wasn’t going to be missed.

Meanwhile, Minerva had hurried through the castle and locked the door of her office, cancelling all spells around the room just to make sure that Albus had no way of spying on her. That wasn’t good. They had hoped for him not finding out about Harry being gone for another four years at least. It hadn’t even been half a year and Albus had already figured out that he was gone?

Minerva grabbed a parchment and started an encoded letter to Eric and Alamar. They needed to know that they were probably being hunted right now. She knew Albus had wanted to tell her more but she must have somehow destroyed his trust in her. Still, he didn’t know that she was more involved in Harry’s disappearance than anybody would think.

The old addition of the newspaper where Eric had written their address was hidden in Minerva’s desk. Grabbing the paper, Minerva transfigured her necklace into the original form of the decoder and quickly wrote the address. And with a whistle, her dark brown owl appeared at her window and she gave him a treat as an apology for what she was going to ask of him. Flying to Russia was probably going to take a few days.

“Bring this to Mr. Rogers” she said quietly, hoping that the open window wasn’t giving Albus another way to listen to what was going on in her office. Toffee hooted and pelted through the open window as if he knew exactly how important this letter was going to be.

Sighing, Minerva looked over the parchments and found another three detention slips for her Gryffindors. She placed them to another pile and glanced back at it. A dragon in potion’s class? This boy was slowly going crazy. She needed to talk to him about these animals, especially with the new laws about to come out. Dragons were quickly becoming part of illegal magical animals. Maybe he could help these animals in some way or another.

Well, that thing could wait. The important thing was that Eric and Alamar knew what was happening in Hogwarts and that they were prepared to deal with whatever was coming their way.

My dear friends

Life has been crazy here; a lot of things have changed. Did I tell you that my cat Artemis escaped? I thought nobody realised but Cerberus is trying to sniff her out. I’m sure he’s already hard on her trail. I’m looking forward to seeing her again, but maybe she’s happier outside?

Whatever’s going on, I just wanted to let you know that maybe you shouldn’t come visit here any time soon, with your cat allergy. I’m sure you’ll be able to smell her from everywhere in the UK.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to talking to you again, soon. Give my love to your families and I’ll update on my lovely cat and Cerberus again as soon as there is anything to update.

Love, Minnie

Chapter 8: Caim

Chapter Text

“I knew it was a bad idea to stay around my sister” Eric growled as he stared at the parchment in front of him.

Alamar looked up from breakfast and he was a little worried. “How bad is it?” he asked, quietly. As if he hoped by whispering, the news of whatever was going on wouldn’t be that bad. Which he knew wasn’t going to work, as Eric’s family was rather strict…

“Well, since Kira blabbed to my family, they’re insisting on getting me home for a decade.”

Harry widened his eyes and let his spoon hit the table. “No!” he called out and shook his head. “You can’t leave!”

It was actually really sweet. Alamar chuckled at that and he reached over to ruffle his hair. “Love, don’t worry” he said softly. “Eric will be… safe.” The poor child didn’t need to know what Eric was supposed to do for his country. And usually, Eric had come home more or less healthy.

Eric looked at them and smiled softly. “They don’t know I’ve got a kid, buttercup. Once I’ll tell them, they will let me go much faster. Don’t worry.”

While Alamar saw his husband smiling at the child, he did know the unfortunate truth. Having a child only let him go for half the time. So five freaking years…

They had managed to escape so many times, sometimes by the skin on their teeth. But they always got away. With a child, this was never going to work. He knew that. They had both been aware that Eric would have to go back, to fight for his folk. Neither had expected it to be so soon.

“When do you have to leave?” Alamar asked softly.

Eric sighed and rubbed his forehead tiredly. “Tomorrow. Kira is coming by to take me back.”

“Then, we’ll make today the best day. So, you’ll never forget us, right, Harry?”

Harry looked at them both with wide eyes, but he eventually nodded. Alamar knew that the boy had no idea about how much time Eric was going to spend away from them. But he seemed to grasp the fact that it was probably going to be a while. Five years was a lot of time for a six year old.

“You and I will have a fun project while Eric’s at home, okay?” Alamar asked and winked at the boy.

Hesitating a little, Harry finally nodded. “You won’t forget me, right?” he asked in a meek voice.

Eric melted away immediately. Alamar saw his eyes grow soft and he practically ran over to Harry, pulling him into a tight hug, that made Harry giggle through growing tears. “I will never forget you, my sweet prince!” he whispered his promise.

Harry looked up at him and cuddled closer. “I love you.”

Alamar’s heart almost stopped. He watched as Eric stopped breathing, his eyes flashing in teal, as he took in the child in his lap. Harry clearly had no idea what kind of emotions he had dragged up, but Alamar knew.

He had met Eric when he had lost the fight for a similar child. Harry was different though. He was stronger, more powerful. And he seemed to have a feeling for magic, maybe even more. Alamar could tell that the child was going to do great things.

If properly taught and educated. Something that Great Britain couldn’t do. However, they could. And Alamar would make sure that this was going to happen.

Especially now that Harry had been able to pick a wand. It was an Acacia wand – unusual as the vendor had told them. It apparently only worked for the intended people. So even if someone managed to get Harry’s wand, they couldn’t produce any magic with it, but in the right hands, an acacia wand would patch any for power.

Adding to that was a Blackthorn core wood. No one had ever had wood for a core – at least that was what Alamar knew. He didn’t know everything, that was for sure. It was a wand for warriors, since it would apparently have a need to go through hardships with their owners to truly be bonded with them. Once that happened, they were the most loyal and faithful wands ever.

Alamar had no idea how someone could even think of creating such a wand, but then again… he was an extraction expert and not a wand maker.

“Do you want to know a fun fact about my family, Buck?” Eric asked Harry, both of them still on the floor.

Harry nodded softly, leaning fully into the fairy’s hug. Alamar softly cooed which was only noticed by Eric (who sent him the darkest glare he could muster). Not that Alamar cared about that much.

“We – just like the wizarding world – have portraits made of our families. They’re not magical, so there’s that. But we do have our last words underneath the portrait. It’s become a family tradition to make them as wild as possible.”

Frowning, Harry looked up at Eric. “Really?!” he asked, clearly not believing anything.

“Yes” Eric winked at the child. “My great-uncle apparently said ‘My shoe hurts’ before he died. My aunt told someone to ‘fix your front teeth’.”

“And what are your words going to be?” Harry asked, clearly not happy to do so.

Eric shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Alamar asked with raised eyebrows. Where was his usual answer of ‘At least my outfit is on point’.

“I don’t know” Eric repeated and smiled up at Alamar. “I haven’t thought about it in a while and frankly” he turned back to Harry, “since I’m not planning on dying, I won’t need to have a sentence ready.”

Harry stared at him intensely, before he nodded. “Come back to us! Okay?”

“I promise, Rogue.”

The day passed without many hiccups. Obviously, Harry had attached himself closely to Eric. Despite being so young, he obviously knew what it meant if someone would be leaving for a while. Eric himself seemed to hate everything in his life – mostly Kira, it seemed.

When evening arrived, Eric was the one to tuck Harry in. He then placed a kiss on the boy’s forehead. “Nugget, can you do something for me?”

Harry nodded, tiredly. Alamar leaned at the door frame, watching them with a soft smile. Harry glanced in his direction with a tired smile, before all his attention was on Eric.

“Take care of Alamar for me?”

“Hey” Alamar interjected. “I can take care of myself.”

Eric grinned into his direction. “Sure you can.” He then leaned closer to Harry. “We’ll just let him believe that” he whispered conspiratorially.

Harry giggled and pulled Eric closer for a hug. “I love you!” he said meaningfully. Alamar chuckled, leaning his head on the door frame. He loved watching his partner dealing with children. He had always loved children as well, couldn’t get enough of their innocence.

And while Harry had been robbed by quite a bit of this innocence, they had gotten him out early enough to make sure he wasn’t too damaged by the time he would grow into a man. And he would make a good, powerful man one day.

One day, in the far future.

There were so many other days coming their way, where they could take care of him and make sure he had a childhood to remember. One he deserved.

“I love you too, little munchkin.”

Then, he placed a final kiss on Harry’s forehead and switched places with Alamar. He too knelt next to Harry and made sure that he was tucked in, before softly brushing a few stains of hair away from his face.

“Sleep tight, my dear” he whispered softly, and sent Harry a smile.

The small child smiled at him, before his eyes found Eric again. Sadness flashed through them, but he nodded and looked at Alamar. “Good night, Alamar” he answered back, yawning.

After making sure that Harry was indeed falling asleep, the two adults crept out of the room and down the stairs. Alamar sighed heavily when he sank into the couch around the corner.

“This adventure could have gone better.”

“We shouldn’t have met Kira” Eric growled. He headed into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of ice cream. In his hand, he only had one spoon and his look was daring enough so that Alamar knew not to take anything away from him.

He wouldn’t have done it anyway.

Alamar chuckled. “We both know she doesn’t mean you any harm, love.”

Eric sighed and took a seat across from Alamar, most likely to make sure that his ice cream wasn’t going to be messed with – or eaten. The silence in the room wasn’t uncommon. When spending so many years together, sometimes there really was nothing else to talk about. And Aurora often spent her days sleeping away. Silence seemed right up her alley – unless she was hungry.

“Will you take Aurora with you?” Alamar finally asked, his eyes moving to the owl-cat sleeping on the last step in front of the entrance. She was definitely going to attack whoever would walk in.

Eric shook his head. “She’d just be caged and regarded as a lucky charm. The fairy world never had been kind to animals.”

Alamar snorted. “Kinder to animals than humans.”

“Alright, I meant magical animals.”

Grinning at his husbands annoyance, he tapped the seat next to his. “I won’t eat your ice cream, I promise. Will you come over here?”

Eric narrowed his eyes in suspicion, though Alamar could see his playful annoyance shine through. “Why?” he asked.

“It’s our last night together for who knows how many years. And if more people will find us, we’ll have to run… I fear that… I might not find you again.”

That seemed to be enough for Eric to move places and he sank into the comfortable couch next to Alamar quickly. He held his ice cream away from him, though, which amused Alamar to no end. Even if it was their last night for a considerable number of years.

“Love, even if you’ll have to move. I will find you. There’s nothing in this world that would keep me away from you. I’ve found you before. I will find you again.”

Alamar chuckled and placed a kiss on Eric’s cheek. “You did find me in a time where I didn’t want to be found, that is true” he admitted and smiled softly, when Eric scoffed.

They watched in silence how the world around them turned dark. It was just the two of them – well, and a sleeping child upstairs. They could have been a real family, if not for the creature stuff.

They enjoyed their time a bit longer, before Eric sighed and got up. The clock at the wall showed half past eleven. Alamar could tell that his partner was not happy with how this day had turned out to be. Nevertheless, he grabbed his weapons.

They had been hidden around the house, mostly downstairs. It was a curse and a blessing to have someone around who was so battle-hardened and had so much knowledge about weapons, such as Eric.

Alamar watched in silent sorrow, as his partner got ready to be escorted away. Eric checked everything methodically, packed his things orderly and made sure everything was clear. All while avoiding eye contact with Alamar.

Finally, there was nothing else to do and the clock almost hit twelve.

Eric knelt in front of Alamar, placing a hand on his knee. “I love you, Alamar. This will not tear us apart from each other. Much like a moth and the flame, I will seek you out. You are my sun, I am but a tiny moth in this huge universe of other moths. How I came to find you I cannot understand.”

Alamar leaned forward, kissing Eric’s hair. “You think so lowly of yourself, Eric. You think you’re the one not worthy of so much love, yet you seem to forget that I was running from you. Running from my true self, my love.”

“This sounds like our wedding speech” Eric said with a soft smile.

“You started it.”

Eric laughed softly, before he grabbed Alamar’s hand and placed a kiss on it. “You better not have a sexy young man by your side when I come back, Al.”

Alamar laughed, when they heard a knock at the door. “I wouldn’t dare, darling. I love you for always.”

“Love you too” Eric leaned in for a kiss and sent him one more smile. Then he headed out the door, not before hesitating and looking back at Alamar one last time.

“Love you” Alamar stated firmly, which Eric answered with a nod.

He could hear his husband talk quietly to Kira, before the door closed behind them. Alamar leaned forward, his arms on his knees. He felt… empty.

Overwhelmed but empty. His husband was gone.

They had spent so many years escaping his family that it was strange how they had found him and taken him away so quickly. It hadn’t even been three months.

Having Eric so far away from him suddenly felt like a physical blow. A sharp pang ripped through Alamar’s chest, leaving a gaping hole where warmth and contentment used to reside. He inhaled a ragged breath, the air catching painfully in his throat. Silence pressed down on him, heavy and suffocating. He strained to hear a sound from upstairs, a creak of the floorboard, Eric’s familiar chuckle – anything to break the deafening quiet.

Alamar squeezed his eyes shut, willing the tears back, the sting of them already prickling behind his eyelids. He clenched his fists, knuckles turning white, focusing on the pressure in his hands, anything to distract from the ache in his heart. He had to be strong. For Harry. Their son in all but blood, oblivious upstairs, needed him now more than ever. The thought of Harry, his bright eyes and infectious laughter, was a lifeline.

But the dam broke anyway. A single tear escaped, tracing a glistening path down his cheek. It was quickly followed by another, and another, until a silent storm raged within him. His shoulders slumped, the weight of the world settling on his back. He sank onto the couch, burying his face in his hands, the muffled sobs wracking his entire body. He allowed himself to grieve, the loss of Eric's physical presence a gaping wound that needed to breathe before it could begin to heal. He knew Eric wouldn’t want him to be miserable, but for now, the pain was a raw, undeniable truth. He wept for the empty space beside him in bed, the missing warmth of a hand in his, the silence where shared laughter used to fill the room.

But as the storm subsided, leaving behind a trail of glistening tears and sniffles, a spark of determination flickered in Alamar’s eyes. He straightened his back, wiping his face with the back of his hand. He would be strong. For Eric, for Harry, for their family. The miles couldn’t sever the bond they shared, and he would find ways to bridge the distance, to fill the empty spaces with love and laughter, until Eric returned home.

Chapter 9: Sillage

Chapter Text

Harry could tell that Alamar was sad but kept a brave face for the two of them. They went out and did fun activities, before school would start. Aurora usually stayed with them, no one seemed to think twice about the owl-cat. He liked it that way, even if he himself would have gawked at the animal.

“Why don’t people stare at us for Aurora?” Harry asked Alamar.

Alamar chuckled softly. “Well, we’re in the land of creatures. A lot of people have familiars or protectors with them all the time.”

Harry tilted his head. “Aurora is your protector? On my parchment it said that I have a creature and a magical protector. What is she?”

Smiling, Alamar nodded. “She came to me when Eric found me. We haven’t checked which one of us she’s the protector of, but since she’s remaining here and she likes following me around on my extraction jobs… It’s pretty obvious that she’s my creature protector.”

That made sense.

When the dark blue school bus for Академия Велеса, Akademiya Velesa, the magical day school for creature and human children, lumbered into view, its cheerful horn a jarring contrast to the quiet house, Harry's stomach did a nervous flip-flop. For the first time he was allowed to go to school and no one was going to be mad at him for doing good!

He could meet new people, find friends… but it also meant that he would leave Alamar alone… Without Eric who knew what he would do!

Two weeks had passed since Eric’s departure, two weeks of hushed mornings and tear-streaked evenings. Alamar, Harry noticed, wore a mask of forced cheer. He’d make breakfast, a lopsided smile pasted on his face, but his eyes remained distant sometimes, a flicker of sadness lingering in their depths.

Harry, at almost seven years old, navigated the emotional landscape of his small family with the sensitivity of a seasoned sailor. He saw the way Alamar’s hand would linger on Eric’s coffee mug a beat too long, the way a familiar song on the radio could instantly transform his dad’s smile into a wistful grimace.

He loved both men fiercely, Alamar the steady lighthouse guiding their home, and Eric, the whirlwind of laughter and adventure. The sight of them together, a comfortable hand on a shoulder, a stolen kiss in the kitchen, had brought a warmth that filled every corner of the house.

Now, that warmth felt dimmed, replaced by a lingering chill. Harry grabbed his backpack, the straps heavier than usual. He longed to see his friends, to lose himself in the world of building blocks and finger paints, but the thought of leaving Alamar alone added a new weight to his small shoulders.

“Hey, love” Alamar said and crouched next to him. “This is going to be good, you know. You can learn all of the important everyday skills like math, literature, different languages if you want and in addition, magic! All kinds of magic!”

Harry nodded hesitantly. “But you can’t come?”

“I’ve got important visitors today. If they wouldn’t find me here, they’d think I was running away from them. Again.”

At the last word, Harry snigg*red and he nodded. “What if I don’t like it there?”

“Then we’ll find a new school for you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, love.”

Harry nodded and looked back towards the dark blue school bus. It came to a halt shortly after and when the door opened, he took a deep breath, smiling back to Alamar and boarded the vehicle. Inside, the seats were blue leather and he took the first free seat, settling in for the ride.

Harry bounced in his seat, excitement warring with nervousness as the bus lumbered through a dense forest. Gone were the neat rows of houses and shops of his neighbourhood; they were replaced by towering pines that clawed at the twilight sky, their branches heavy with secrets. Every few minutes, the bus would slow to a halt, the doors hissing open to reveal a waiting figure. A small, shimmering fairy with wings the colour of moonlight would board, followed by a gruff-looking werewolf boy whose worried parents waved goodbye from a ramshackle cabin nestled amongst the trees.

“Hey, is this seat taken?” the werewolf asked quietly, as if he was scared to be shooed off. Harry was surprised to hear English in this place, but he smiled and shook his head.

“No, you can sit here, if you want. I’m Harrison Corbin Rogers. And you?”

“Wait, you’re a Rogers?” the werewolf asked with wide eyes. Then he sat down and shook himself out of his stupor. “Aleksandr Petrov. Call me Sasha.”

“Harry then” Harry answered and smiled at him. “Are you new to this school?”

Sasha nodded. “My brothers went there, but they’re… normal. I wasn’t sure if I would fit in there. They’ve both graduated a few years ago, so I’m… scared.” He whispered the last sentence, when the school bus came to a stop again to let someone else in.

Harry shook his head. “You don’t have to feel that way anymore. We’re friends now, right?”

“Yeah!” Sasha perked up and beamed at him. “Yeah, we’re friends!”

Frankly, Harry hadn’t had a friend before, so starting a friendship felt amazing. And it seemed as if Sasha could really use someone in his corner.

Finally, after twenty exhilarating minutes, the bus pulled up to a clearing bathed in the ethereal glow of twilight. Harry's jaw dropped. The Academy wasn't a school, it was a fairytale made real. A colossal building, grander than any palace Harry had ever seen in a picture book, dominated the clearing. Its spires pierced the dusky sky, and its walls, a deep blue that mirrored the colour of the bus, shimmered with an otherworldly sheen.

Atop the highest spire, a magnificent rook perched proudly, its weathered stone surface etched with strange symbols that glowed faintly with an inner light. As Harry stepped off the bus, a gasp escaped his lips. The entrance hall was a breathtaking spectacle. A crystal-clear fountain bubbled merrily in the centre, its water sparkling like scattered diamonds. Towering tapestries, woven with scenes from myths and legends, adorned the walls. But the most captivating sight was the throng of students milling about.

Here, amidst the human children, bustled a menagerie of magical beings. A group of fairies, their tiny bodies adorned with shimmering clothes, flitted around a particularly grumpy-looking werewolf boy, their laughter tinkling like wind chimes. A towering centaur, easily three times Harry's height, patiently waited in line, his head brushing the arched ceiling. Further down the hall, a group of vampires, their skin pale and their eyes glinting with an inner light, whispered amongst themselves, their voices devoid of the hiss Harry had always associated with creatures of the night.

Nervousness prickled at Harry's skin, but it was quickly overshadowed by a sense of wonder. This was no ordinary school. This was the Academy, and from the moment he stepped through its magical doorway, Harry knew his life would never be the same.

Sasha grabbed his hand and together, they followed the calls for ‘first years’ where an adult centaur stood and greeted them all. This was going to be so much fun!

“You have no f*cking idea how long it took us to find you!”

Alamar snorted at that and looked up from his parchments to where Sanguis Primus, the Head Vampire, stood. “I see you found the ‘welcome mat’ outside” he answered instead of explaining why it had taken the vampires over two centuries to find him again.

The head vampire narrowed his dark brown eyes. “You have duties, you know.”

“I remember the Rogues not having to come in every decade to help out. Or have the rules changed? I keep up with my education, I’m not trying to overthrow the government… There is no real reason for me to be part of our world.”

And truer words had never been spoken. While in his youth, Alamar had been a whirlwind of rebellion. Fuelled by idealism and a burning sense of injustice, he'd been drawn to a group notorious for toppling corrupt regimes. But the thrill of revolution quickly soured. He saw the power vacuums they created, the new tyrants who rose from the ashes, often more ruthless than the ones they'd replaced. Disillusioned, Alamar found himself adrift, unsure of his place in the world.

That’s when he stumbled upon the Rogues. Nestled in a forgotten corner of Russia, they were a motley crew of vampires who defied every stereotype. No elaborate machinations, no thirst for power. They simply existed, a haven for those who craved a life outside the endless gamesmanship of their kind.

It was a radical concept, almost laughable. Vampires – creatures built on strategy and intrigue – choosing a life of quiet anonymity? Yet, here they were, living proof that even the undead could yearn for something different. Alamar felt an immediate kinship with them, drawn to their quiet defiance, their refusal to be pawns in a game they didn't want to play.

Of course, there were whispers in the shadows. Whispers that the Rogues were naive, foolish even. That their pacifism would be their downfall. But Alamar saw a different truth. He saw a strength in their simplicity, a courage in choosing their own path.

“And what have you done to keep yourself satiated?”

“Human blood is easier to come by than you think” Alamar quoted his first trainer in vampirism with a crooked grin.

The head vampire looked at him suspiciously. “Is that why you have a human with you?”

Alamar looked up and stared the other vampire down silently. He kept his rage down as much as possible. The nerve of this studip vampire to even think that this was why he had Harry with him?! It didn’t take long, before the head vampire cleared his throat. “If I hear him being harmed, I will remove him from your care” he said, though he avoided eye contact.

“If you remove him against his will, I’ll send Aurora after you. That's before I'll get my revenge on you.”

The Krimnee looked up from where she had been eating her meatballs. The other vampire tried to not show any fear when the animal stared him down, but Alamar could smell it. He was scared sh*tless.

What was it with the other vampires and Krimnees?!

Alamar got up and stood across the head vampire. “What is my punishment then, for hiding from you for over a century?”

“You’ll join the Healing Clan. For six months. If you move around, you’ll have to notify us, unless you want this matter to be taken to the Creature Court” he stated. Obviously, he was trying to sound authoritarian.

Alamar couldn’t help but notice that the other vampire was weak. He must have had a lot of people helping him out to become head vampire. He was weak, young and inexperienced in all matters of vampirism. He wondered when this man had been reborn into a vampire, it couldn’t have been more than a couple of decades, since he lacked practically all of the respect for other vampires.

Before even agreeing to this – which he knew he had to, or he would have been named a vampire to the Hunters – he decided to teach Harry the proper way of speaking and acting around vampires. This could one day surely save his life.

“Of course” he said darkly. “Will I be working from home or is there a specific base you want me to work at?”

“You’ll be working on the Siberia base” Sanguis Primus announced, looking pleased with himself.

Alamar narrowed his eyes. “We’re too far away from that base. My human goes to school here, I’m not taking him away from that.”

The head vampire looked irritated. “Then you’ll be working at home as an emergency healer for our kind. Day and night, I hope you understand.”

“I do.”

Sanguis Primus felt threatened by him. It was funny in a way.

If Eric had been around, he definitely would have made fun of the head vampire and Alamar would have to separate the two of them. Even Eric knew more about vampire etiquette than the Sanguis Primus.

When the idiot vampire finally left, Alamar breathed out in relief. He smiled over at Aurora who stared at him a bit longer, before turning to her food. He turned back to write a letter to Minerva and some other friends/ allies.

You could never have enough of those.

Tension grows as Morrocco and Egypt send their Creature Advocates to Europe

By: Investigative Correspondent, Beatrice Dubois

Paris, France - In a move defying Speaker Thomas Opal's request for international non-interference, Morocco and Egypt have dispatched human Creature Advocates to Europe to lobby for a change in refugee policy. This unprecedented action comes amidst escalating tensions between human governments and displaced cryptid populations.

Opal, head of the Global Creature Conference (GCC), urged restraint during yesterday’s address. “We must strive to keep this a domestic issue” he cautioned. “Portugal remains a haven for refugees, and support programs are operational for nations who’ve closed their borders. Introducing foreign advocates could exacerbate an already tense situation.”

These concerns seem well-founded. The arrival of Creature Advocate Abbad Hamza in France met with a harsh refusal from the Ministry of Immigration. The subsequent Veela protests, though peaceful in nature, resulted in overnight detentions. The incident sparked a series of creature attacks across Paris, leaving officials scrambling to contain the damage and pointing fingers at Abbad Hamza for inciting violence.

Experts are divided on the impact of foreign advocates. Dr. Elena Suarez, a leading cryptid sociologist, believes they can provide a crucial neutral voice: “These advocates offer refugees representation, ensuring their needs are heard. Open communication can help de-escalate tensions.”

However, Professor Alistair Crowley, an advocate for stricter border control, sounds a note of caution: “Interference from outside forces undermines local governments’ efforts to find solutions. We risk creating a global conflict if we can't manage this issue continent by continent.”

With tensions simmering, public opinion remains divided. Some citizens see the advocates as necessary mediators, while others fear they'll exacerbate the chaos. Regardless, Morocco and Egypt's bold move ensures the creature crisis will remain a top priority on the international stage. As the situation unfolds, Beatrice Dubois will continue to provide in-depth analysis for our readers.

Alamar placed the newspaper aside and sighed. This was never going to end well. It seemed as if the tension everywhere was growing. And if Northern Africa is starting to send people to Europe to help out… it seemed as if the whole world was starting to see problems within European Creature culture.

As days turned into weeks, Alamar could tell that Harry had found peace with the situation they were in. Akademiya Velesa wasn’t scary for him anymore, since he had made two very good friends and it seemed as if the different topics they were studying were fun.

When he asked Harry about the courses, he couldn’t help but beam and start talking a hundred miles an hour. “Out of our seven core courses I like Arcane Studies the most, or wait, no maybe History of Myths and Legends…” he scrunched his nose up deep in thoughts, while Alamar laughed softly about it.

Arcane Studies, the fundamental principles into all of magic such as spellcasting theory, potion-brewing basics and magical creature identification, was the most important course for any first year. After that, the course would be replaced by any elective (since this course took place practically every day).

And no wonder Harry liked History of Myths and Legends, since it explored the traditions from both humans and creatures at the same time.

“Sasha likes Care of Magical Creatures the most and Anya prefers Human and Creature Languages. But we’re only learning English, Russian and Arabic at the moment. That’s kind of boring. Also math and physics.”

Alamar laughed softly. “Why on earth are languages boring, love?”

“Well, in Arcane Studies, we learnt that spells work best through Latin, so why don’t we learn that? And In HCL, we learnt that the High Society in Europe speaks French… how about learning that?!”

Alamar chuckled. “Well, love, we’re not in Europe at the moment, you might need Russian for now. Arabic is a very good language to create spells with, since most people – just like you just did – assume that all spells are Latin-based, which they’re not.”

Harry tilted his head. “Oh. Makes sense in a way.”

“What about your other courses?” Alamar asked, laughing softly.

“Herbology and Magical Flora is fun, but we’re just identifying plants for now. We’re not allowed to work in them, that’s second year. Defence against the Dark Arts is interesting, but it’s a lot of theory and reading. But Alamar, I hate Etiquette and Inter-species Communication. Why do we have to learn this?!”

Ruffling Harry’s hair, Alamar smiled down at him. “Well, love, you’re at a school with different species. Your friend Sasha is a werewolf, right? What’s Anya?”

“A… Patuljak? I think she mentioned that.”

Alamar nodded softly. “They’re powerful, intelligent, magic-wielding dwarfs, according to the myths. I don’t think we should anger them by using wrong etiquette, right? Etiquette and Inter-species Communication develops essential communication skills for interacting with different creatures, emphasizing cultural sensitivities and respectful discourse. Something we all have to know when being part of the Creature world, love.”

Harry groaned. “Fine! Fine! I get it. I just don’t… particularly like it.”

“Well, there’s plenty of time to get to like it, you know. The course only lasts for six years.” Alamar laughed when Harry groaned again, but then he beamed up at him.

“Does that mean, I can stay here? I really like the school, and Sasha told me of all the courses his older brothers took when they were at school… it sounds awesome!”

Alamar frowned slightly. “Which courses are you talking about, love?”

“Centaur Archery and Mounted Combat, Forbidden Magic, Self-Defence and Martial Arts and Beast Mastery and Taming.”

“Three of those are reserved for nineth and tenth year only, love” Alamar said, hoping that the day where Harry discovered the tenth-year course ‘Necromancy and the Afterlife’ would never come.

Part of why this school was so highly regarded was that next to the normal curriculum, there were so many other courses specifically for creatures or for people with creatures in their lives. And children from this school would learn fast and quick about all kinds of magic.

Chapter 10: Angelversary

Chapter Text

As it so happened, the school had its first parent-teacher meeting, including the child. It was nearing November and the cold was seeping in on everyone. Not Harry and Sasha though, the two boys had been playing wildly in the snow around.

Ever since Harry’s birthday, Sasha, Anya and Harry had become a trio to be feared. Sasha as a wild, slightly uncontrollable werewolf kept his friends safe from bullying, Anya was the smarts of the group and Harry kept them together by sheer loyalty and strength. Not that Sasha and Anya didn’t get along with each other, but they worked best together when Harry was around.

The werewolf and the Patuljak had realized quickly that they could best pull off pranks when Harry wasn’t around to watch them set it up. The poor boy was just unable to keep it together and subsequentially lie to adults about why he was laughing so hard. However, since Harry had never been subject to a prank, usually all suspicions would fall on him (and his crew). He always had an alibi and would convince the adults that his friends had been with him all day long.

They were true troublemakers.

Alamar found himself captivated by Harry's mischief. He couldn’t help but wish Eric were there to witness their little human, already a natural leader, running a band of merry pranksters.

As it was, he headed into the palace of a school, when he heard a deep, familiar voice beside him. “Well, well, well, if it isn't the prodigal Rogue.”

He snorted and turned to see Nadia, a tall woman with eyes that shimmered like polished obsidian and a smile that could disarm a lesser vampire. Her dark hair was pulled back in a no-nonsense braid, revealing the intricate silver tattoos that snaked up her neck and disappeared beneath her collar. A member of the Academy's council and a close friend to both Alamar and Eric in recent years, she was a constant source of support, even during their darkest days.

“Nadia” Alamar replied, a hint of amusem*nt in his voice. “Always a pleasure.”

Rolling her eyes, Nadia grinned at him. “Not even going to acknowledge my joke? I feel personally attacked right now.”

Alamar laughed softly. “Well you know me, dear. I’ve never liked your jokes.”

“Oh, how your eyes betray you!” Nadia said dramatically and winked at him. “Where’s your better part then? Hiding from me, again?”

Sighing, Alamar shook his head. “Sadly, no. His family found him, they took him back for… a few years I assume.”

“Damn” Nadia seemed genuinely annoyed. “I was betting with Emma that you’d be able to avoid everyone for five centuries.”

“Five?!” Alamar looked at her in shock. “You have too much trust in mine or Eric’s talents.”

Nadia grinned. “You were working as an extraction specialist, Eric’s the Seer of you two, I would have bet all my money on you-“

“Please tell me you didn’t!”

“Don’t worry, you big fluff ball, I only bet ten thousand Rubles. Not so bad.”

Alamar sighed and shook his head. They stood in comfortable silence for a moment, watching the whirlwind of students. “Harry seems to be settling in well” Nadia observed.

Alamar nodded. “He's always excited to go to school. I just wish Eric was here to see it.”

A shadow crossed Nadia’s face. “He'll be back soon, Alamar. And when he is, you can embarrass him with stories of Harry, the legendary monster slayer.”

Alamar chuckled. “Speaking of embarrassing, if he had been here, he'd definitely be having a go at the Sanguis Primus right now.”

Nadia’s smile widened. While she wasn’t a vampire, she was the professor for Etiquette and Inter-species Communication. She knew exactly how all kinds of creature hierarchy worked, such as vampires.

She smirked at him. “You’re not the only one who hates that man, by the way.”

“Even Eric knew more about vampire etiquette than that pompous windbag” Alamar said, shaking his head. He remembered countless nights spent with Eric, poring over ancient texts, learning the intricacies of vampire society. Just for him, it was too adorable.

“Eric and his boundless charm” Nadia said with a fond sigh. “He could disarm a grumpy gargoyle with a well-timed joke. No one would stand a chance.”

They stood there, waiting for the time to pass, watching the children play. It was adorable how they all acted like the innocent children they were. No one seemed to realize that outside of this sanctuary, the world was closing in on creatures. How much longer this school was remaining open without being found was anyone’s guess.

“Speaking of charming” Nadia said, nudging Alamar with her elbow, “isn't that Anya Petrova over there? The Head Healer's daughter?”

Alamar glanced towards a group of students, his eyes landing on a girl with fiery red hair and a mischievous glint in her eyes. A slow smile spread across Nadia’s face. “Looks like Harry might have more than just academics to keep him busy this year.”

“They’re just friends, Nadia. Not everything is about ‘the one true love’.”

“They’re children, they don’t know yet.”

Alamar laughed. “You want to be ten thousand Rubles again?”

Nadia sighed. “It seems as if you’re certain. In that case, I won’t bet with you, but I will keep an eye on them. I’ll seat them together.”

“You can add Sasha as well, then.”

“Oh no, these three together are troublemakers. We all know that.”

Alamar simply laughed at that.

A wave of nausea crashed over Severus, sending a jolt of pain through his already aching body. He’d been feeling like this for a while, a gnawing unease that had settled in his gut years ago. Was it ten years? Five? Time seemed to blur together in a haze of relentless pain.

The one thing that anchored him through the recent fog was the singular purpose that fuelled his every step: finding Harry Potter. He’d crisscrossed Europe, chasing whispers and dead ends, each disappointment chipping away at his resolve. Now, standing before a greasy diner in a nameless Russian town, a sense of hope, fragile as a spider’s web, fluttered in his chest. Potter had to be close.

He pushed the flimsy diner door open, the smell of frying onions and stale coffee hitting him like a physical blow. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest as he stumbled towards a booth, his vision blurring at the edges. A concerned voice sliced through the dull roar in his head.

“Are you alright, sir?”

Severus tried to focus on the kind face hovering above him, a young waitress with kind blue eyes and blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun. He caught sight of the name tag ‘Kira’, before he mumbled something, the words catching in his dry throat. Then, the world tilted precariously, the diner lights morphing into swirling galaxies before dissolving entirely.

His knees buckled, and the floor rushed up to meet him. The last thing he registered before the darkness swallowed him whole was the clatter of silverware and a sharp gasp from the waitress.

When the door bell sounded, Harry jumped up from his book and ran down the stairs. Everything to get away from boring Herbology and Magical Flora! If only he could touch the plants!

“I’ve got it!” he screamed and heard Alamar laugh in the kitchen. “Don’t laugh!” he yelled back and opened the door only to freeze. “Um… hi?”

In front of the door stood a stern but elegant woman with sharp black eyes and an impeccably tailored emerald-green robe. It was like something straight out of a medieval painting, except for the slightly irritated expression on her face.

Her expression soon changed into a soft one, which seemed kind of out of place. “Hello dear, I’m looking for Alamar and Eric.”

“Minerva!” Alamar’s voice came from the hallway. And soon, Harry could see him walking up with a big smile. “Eric’s not here at the moment, but come in, come in.”

Harry tilted his head slightly, but stepped back to let her in. She smiled at him, before she hugged Alamar. Then, she turned to him and Alamar quickly went on to introduce them. “This is my dear friend Minerva McGonagall, she works at a British magical school. And this darling is Harry.”

Frowning slightly, Harry tried to remember if they had learnt anything about how to greet people of respect, but he couldn’t remember, so he just bowed. Miss McGonagall chuckled and shook her head. “Don’t bother, dear, Alamar and Eric are my friends, there’s no bow needed.”

When Harry looked over to Alamar, he saw him trying to hide a grin but failing miserably. He sent him a dark glare, which apparently didn’t help. The three of them walked into the living room and the two adults started talking about a lot of different things, while Harry listened curiously.

He had grabbed his homework for Human and Creature Languages and was working on it half-heartedly. That was until Alamar left to get a book from somewhere and Miss McGonagall leaned over.

“Working on Arabic?” she asked.

“Yeah” Harry nodded and sighed. “The alphabet is so complicated and I just don’t get it.”

The woman chuckled. “It’s like a piece of art, in a way. Look at the way the letters flow together, how they almost dance on the page.”

Harry glanced back at the textbook, a new perspective blooming. He focused not just on the unfamiliar shapes, but on the rhythm of the lines, the way they seemed to connect and create a visual melody. Slowly, the frustration ebbed away, replaced by a spark of interest.

“That's true” he murmured, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Arabic was more than just a jumble of strange symbols; it was indeed like art, waiting to be unravelled. He picked up a pen, his grip less tense than before, and began to tentatively trace the unfamiliar shapes, a newfound determination settling in his chest. Perhaps, with a little more effort, he could unlock the secrets hidden within these elegant lines.

Miss McGonagall chuckled. “My late husband had a love for all languages. His goal was to be a Polyglot.”

Harry stopped drawing and looked at her. “What is that?” he asked curiously.

“A person who speaks or uses multiple different languages. My Elphinstone spoke Gaelic, French, German, Arabic, Swedish and Swahili.”

“Wow!” Harry widened his eyes. He couldn’t imagine being able to speak so many different languages. “Do you think I could be a pol… multiple language speaker too?”

“Polyglot” Mrs McGonagall explained softly. “And you’re on your way to becoming one. Don’t you have Russian and Arabic in school?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah. But it’s very confusing. Why can’t they write normally?!”

Mrs McGonagall laughed, which made Harry grin slightly. “Well, deary, for people here, Russian is the normal alphabet. And for the people in… let’s say Egypt, Arabic is the normal way to write.”

Groaning, Harry placed his head on his book. He heard Alamar laughing from the doorway and looked up to glare at him. “Which languages do you speak then? Are you a Polly… Pol… thing?”

Alamar chuckled, and walked into the room. “Languages” he mused, running a hand through his brown hair. “My favourite topic. They cling to you like cobwebs, some useful, some mere echoes of a life long past.”

He looked at Harry, who was captivated by this start. “My parents, bless their nomadic souls, spoke to me in Hebrew and Spanish, a delightful mix that flavoured my earliest memories.” He gestured vaguely around the room, filled with books and maps in various states of disrepair. “Then came the wanderlust. France, Norway, Germany – each country a new melody, a symphony of sounds that I had to learn to decipher.”

He paused, a flicker of longing crossing his features. “Russia, a harsh beauty reflected in its tongue. China, a land of poetry and proverbs, their characters like intricate puzzles I chipped away at. India, a cacophony of dialects, each one a vibrant tapestry woven into my mind.”

A steely glint entered his eyes. “Trade routes became my arteries, pulsing with the lifeblood of commerce. Persian, Arabic, Hindi, and Turkish – the languages of bargaining, of shrewd deals struck under the desert sun.”

He sighed, the sound heavy with a lifetime of experiences. “For a while, I was captivated by the East. Japanese and Korean, so different yet strangely similar, their characters like brushstrokes painting a new world on the canvas of my mind. But eventually, I drifted back to the familiar, the comforting cadence of European tongues – Portuguese, Italian, Greek, each one a reminder of a place I once called home.”

Alamar looked at Harry, his gaze filled with a quiet intensity. “Languages, Harry, are more than just words. They are portals to different cultures, different ways of seeing the world. They are the whispers of the past and the echoes of the future. And who knows, maybe someday, you'll pick up a few yourself on your own adventures.”

Harry stared at Alamar in shock. No one had ever talked about languages with so many emotions! When he looked over to Mrs McGonagall she rolled her eyes with a malicious grin.

“Alright, thank you braggart!” she said, barely keeping it together.

Harry and Alamar both laughed at that while Mrs McGonagall simply rolled his eyes. Alamar held his hands up. “I haven’t used most of these languages in a while, so I probably forgot half of what I could do before.”

“Still impressive” Mrs McGonagall said with an honest smile.

“Yeah” Harry added and grinned. “Even if it doesn’t sound real. Why would your parent speak to you in Hebrew and Spanish? That doesn’t make sense.”

Alamar winked at him. “They were old fashioned.”

So, the day had arrived again, a lead weight settling in Alamar's gut. Decades had crawled by since that fateful day, each one a struggle to carry the burden of what had been lost. He slumped in his armchair before the fireplace, the flickering flames a cruel mockery of warmth. They danced with a carefree abandon that seemed to sear his soul.

Everything felt heavier on this day, a boulder lodged in his chest that made breathing a chore. The weight of years pressed down on him, each one etched with a memory that brought a fresh sting of pain. He was a creature defying time, but time, in its own insidious way, still took its toll. Some days, like this one, felt like drowning in a sea of regret and longing. The firelight, once a source of comfort, now seemed to cast grotesque shadows that mirrored the turmoil within him.

Why had be been so reckless.

That wasn’t a question, not really. He'd been a fool, naive in his youthful arrogance. Back then, the world seemed his playground, a place to revel in his untamed strength, his immortality a cloak of invincibility. Trust? Openness? Carefree abandon? Those were words that held no meaning for the young Alamar.

And then, a miracle. A tiny fist wrapped around his finger, a grip that held more power than any triumph he'd ever gotten. Those beautiful, impossibly blue eyes, gazing up at him with a trust that pierced his soul. A gummy, gap-toothed smile that illuminated the darkest night, chasing away the shadows that had always clung to him. This tiny human, his son, had become his Achilles' heel, the one vulnerability he never knew he possessed.

He hadn’t seen it at first.

Blinded by the joy, the pride, the sheer wonder of fatherhood, he hadn't noticed the whispers, the envious glances cast his way by other creatures. They saw the chink in his armour, the vulnerability he wore like a badge of honour. But for them, it was a weakness to exploit.

They went for it. The werewolves leading the attack.

However, instead of going after his little boy instantly, they were crueller. They waited five years, waited for him to fall in love with the boy, his little son. They ripped him to shreds.

Then, with the blink of an eye… his little wonder, the light of his life… gone. The memory ripped through him like a fresh wound, the world around him dissolving into a haze of agonizing grief. The firelight blurred, replaced by the image of those impossibly blue eyes, wide with terror as they were snatched away. A strangled sob escaped his lips, a raw, primal sound that echoed in the empty room. He was a creature defying time, but on this day, time seemed to stand still, each agonizing second a brutal reminder of his failure, his powerlessness in the face of true loss.

“Alamar?”

He jerked and looked up to see Harry standing by the doorway, looking at him with a tilted head and a stuffed kangaroo in his arms. Alamar placed a smile on his face. “Hi, love, did you have fun with your friends today?”

Harry nodded hesitantly. “Are you okay? You look sad.”

“Oh, don’t worry, love, it’s just… the past has its hold on me sometimes” Alamar tried to soothe the poor child.

Coming into the room, Harry sat on the chair closest. “Why do you have a cake on the table?” he asked, clearly curious.

Alamar smiled, he desperately missed Eric right now to help him find the correct words to tell the child. Still, he had to try. “Today is the birthday of my son. But he died a few years ago. I like to celebrate this day just for me, to remember him.”

“I’m sorry” Harry said softly. “Was he ill?”

“He… well… you could say that.”

“Then he’s probably doing better right now?” Harry asked, clearly trying to make him feel better.

Alamar's heart ached with a tenderness he hadn't felt in decades. The sight of Harry, his by now pretty much adopted son, staring hesitantly at the slice of chocolate cake was a poignant reminder of the life he himself had stolen. He leaned forward, a gentle kiss, feather-light, landed on Harry's forehead, carrying a silent apology and a surge of fierce protectiveness.

“He surely is” Alamar rasped, his voice thick with emotion. “He was the kindest soul you could ever meet. Now, how about we share this cake?”

A flicker of curiosity chased away the shadow that had momentarily clouded Harry's bright eyes. “But… I don't want to take something that isn't mine” he said, seemingly questioning everything right now.

Alamar chuckled, feeling so much love and pain at the same time, it was impossible to distinguish between both emotions at the moment. “Love” he began, the word heavy with a lifetime of longing, “I wouldn't have offered if I wouldn't have shared. He definitely would have loved you, you see.” Each word was a shard of a memory, a glimpse of a smile, a burst of infectious laughter that echoed only in the dusty halls of Alamar's soul.

“He would have wanted you to have part of the cake” Alamar continued, his voice gaining a semblance of strength. “It's chocolate, your favourite, isn't it?”

Despite the heavy weight of the day, a small smile tugged at the corner of Harry's lips. The innocence of his question, the way he considered the implications of taking something that wasn't his own, it was both endearing and heartbreaking.

“Should we visit your son's grave?” Harry asked, his voice barely a whisper. The thought of offering comfort was a foreign concept for a boy raised by neglectful relatives, yet the empathy shone bright in his eyes. “I know my aunt and uncle sometimes took Dudley to the grave of their parents.”

Alamar's smile turned wistful, laced with a bitter truth. “I don't know where he's buried, Harry” he admitted, his voice cracking. A mass grave for illegal creatures up in Norway, a place chosen more for expediency than reverence.

“Oh” Harry said softly. “Then, maybe we can build something where you can look at and remember him.”

Laughing softly, Alamar pulled the child into a hug. “How can you be seven years old and already as wise as a king?”

They shared the cake and watched the fire dance. After a while, Aurora walked over and made sure she was between the two of them, falling asleep again as soon as she had checked up on both of them. Alamar meanwhile wondered how his life had turned into this.

He hadn’t really liked the mother of his first child, if had been a slip-up, but he had loved his son. And now, he was married to Eric and had possibly another chance at this whole parent thing. He would make sure that Harry was more equipped with everything, should the people come back to hurt him.

And maybe… adoption was an option?

He would have to ask Eric for his opinion, but he was somehow sure that his husband wouldn’t be surprised to find such a question upon his return.

Chapter 11: Ubuntu

Chapter Text

“Emergency!”

Alamar was up in a second and led the men bursting through his door into the already prepared emergency healing room. The vampire they were carrying seemed close to dead, though his shallow breathing informed him that there was a little hope.

“What happened?!” Alamar asked, while he checked for the reason to his blood loss. “Hunter?”

“No” one vampire answered quickly. “He was found in a diner, walked in, couldn’t speak, seemed half dead on his feet already.”

Alamar hummed as he cut the trousers open. “That could still be a Hunter.”

“We found magic surrounding him” another vampire spoke up. “Hunters don’t use magic.”

“Copy that” Alamar answered, before he found a bullet wound. “He was shot?” There were so many scars on his body that he didn’t know which ones were causing the man distress. It could have been one of these or none of them.

He quickly checked for more, since the bullet wound didn’t seem to be the one making him leak blood. “When he fell to the floor, someone shot him” the first vampire explained.

Alamar scoffed. “Idiots. They’re scared of everything.”

“They’re detained” a third vampire spoke up for the first time. “He cracked his head, might have a concussion, we didn’t want him to transport all the way to Sibiria.”

“Makes sense” Alamar stated and finally found the wound on his left side that was leaking blood. “Did anyone catch the blood or is there now a ton of vampire blood around? The Hunters will be overjoyed.”

Several vampires blanched and the second vampire to speak up sent them away to clean up the mess. Alamar snorted and went about sealing the wounds and making sure that the vampire on his desk was going to make it.

“You have to save him” the vampire said, his voice between a desperate plea and a command.

Alamar hummed. The man, whoever he was, needed help. Alamar had witnessed enough death in his lifetime, both human and creature, and tonight he wouldn't add another to the tally. Thankfully, years spent alongside Eric, a fairy obsessed with all things medical, had equipped Alamar with a surprising amount of knowledge. That and the fact that he had studied Creature Healing in school.

A memory flickered – Eric hunched over a dusty tome, muttering about "alternative blood flow pathways" and the intricacies of vampire physiology. Alamar banished a wistful smile. Now wasn't the time for sentimentality.

He rummaged through his satchel, the leather worn smooth from years of travel. A small vial filled with a shimmering, iridescent liquid caught his eye. Nightshade essence. It wouldn't heal the burns, but it could slow the blood loss, a crucial first step.

With practiced movements, honed from countless nights patching up Eric after particularly messy scrapes, Alamar applied pressure to the worst of the wounds. He hummed under his breath, a calming melody passed down through generations of Rogues, meant to ease anxiety and promote healing. It was a small thing, but it was all he could offer for now.

As he worked, a sliver of unease wormed its way into his gut. Where did this stranger come from? He glanced at the unconscious man, a flicker of recognition sparking in his memory. It was faint, a face from a blurry past, but something about him…

Suddenly, the man's eyelids fluttered open, revealing eyes the colour of faded darkness. A gasp escaped his lips, sharp and ragged. “Potter?” he rasped out, his voice weak but filled with something between hate and hope.

Alamar froze, the empty vial of Nightshade essence trembling in his hand. Potter? As in Harry Potter? This impossible stranger knew his human’s name?

He glanced up to look at the other vampire in the room, who frowned at the situation. Alamar leaned over the vampire and fed him another potion, now that he was awake – somewhat.

“Who did this?!” Alamar asked urgently.

The stranger looked at him, before coughing painfully. This was not going to end well. Alamar leaned over and checked his blood. Bleeding out for a vampire meant something even darker than for humans.

It meant that their protection was gone. At least until the blood stopped leaking. So the fact that this man was here, without any vampire blood protection was a bad omen. Mostly for the man, not for them.

Without hesitating, seeing as the Nightshade wasn’t helping, Alamar grabbed a syringe. The stranger, his eyes wide with confusion, finally stopped coughing, though his ragged breath wasn’t helping the situation.

“Easy now” Alamar soothed, his voice rough with a mixture of urgency and something akin to dread. “This will help.”

It was unusual to offer blood to someone outside of one’s family. Hopefully, it still worked.

He gestured towards the other vampire in the room, a towering figure with broad shoulders and obsidian hair braided down his back. There were a few options as to who this man was, so Alamar just took the next best guess.

“Praetor Sanguinis” he said, his voice tight. “Take my blood. Now.”

The man stared at him for a second, before his eyes moved to where the stranger was starting to breath shallowly again. That was all he needed.

“Hold still” he said, grabbing the device and extracting the powerful protected vampire blood from Alamar’s veins. Then, while Alamar patched himself up, he placed the blood in the stranger’s arm.

From the second the first protected vampire blood drop touched the meddled vampire blood, it started fighting with each other. Alamar was back at the table, keeping the stranger safe and locked down on it, while the other vampire helped along.

It took about five minutes of torture for the poor vampire until black liquid came out of his ears, eyes, nose, even mouth. The wound that Alamar had closed earlier leaked some of that as well. The stranger coughed, making sure to let everything out, before he fell back onto the table, exhausted. And promptly fell asleep.

The other vampire looked at Alamar with a raised eyebrow. “How did you know?”

“That my blood would work?” he finished the question while cleaning up everything and making sure there was going to be no vampire blood around. “I’ve read a study about it.”

“But the study hadn’t been tested” the Praetor Sanguinis said, clearly unable to believe this.

“Yes” Alamar answered, before hesitating. “It was also part of my graduating papers, though I’ve only seen it performed within families. I have no clue what this will be doing to him.”

The vampire hummed, looking down at him. “You saved his life.”

Nodding, Alamar cleaned up the rest and then straightened up again. “If I have misnamed you, please allow me to apologize, it was-“

“Praetor Sanguinis is correct. I was called to investigate a vampire being attacked close to Europe. I had feared it would end in a continental disaster.”

“Do you know who he is?”

“Fingerprints and general likeness seem to identify Severus Snape. He was bitten pretty much out of school, remained in Great Britain his whole life.”

Alamar stared at the vampire police man. “He was in Great Britain? How is he not dead, yet?! How had he not been found by now?”

The Praetor Sanguinis shook his head. “The magic surrounding him pretty much implicates another person who knew what he was and used him as a play thing. At least that’s what I assume.”

“Why did you want me to save him?” Alamar finally asked as he cleaned his hands. “As far as I remember Praetor Sanguinis don’t usually take interest in vampire lives.”

“We shouldn’t” the vampire said, darkly. “Doesn’t mean that when I saw the only person I’ve ever turned dying in front of me, I’m not getting desperate.”

Alamar tilted his head. “If you don’t mind me asking… why did you turn him?”

There were usually a few factors to why humans were turned… There were the vampires that attacked every moving thing, simply enjoying the power they held. Though these vampires were usually handed over to the Hunters.

Then, there were the vampires who saved dying people from death by turning them, usually by request. And then there were all the intricate love-things, which Alamar didn’t want to get involved with due to personal reasons.

The vampire sighed. “He had a… liking for the creature advocate in Great Britain. Thought, if he was a creature, he would get closer to him.”

Ah, one of the love-thingies then. Alamar nodded stiffly.

“Dmitry Tarasov” the vampire finally said and held his hand out. “Leader of the Praetor Sanguinis Fraction.”

“That’s quite the title” Alamar said, taking his hand. “Alamar Everard Rogers. Though, if you’ve read my paper on vampire blood, I assume you’ll know me under the name Larsen.”

Dmitry narrowed his eyes. “I do. I also remember your… rebellious years.”

Alamar snorted. “Yeah, I remember those as well. Let’s just say that I took my… existence as a creature rather badly.”

“You’ve come far” Dmitry said with a smile. “Who turned you?”

“Count Dracula” Alamar said darkly and turned away. Dmitry nodded in understanding. He changed the subject quickly, knowing very well, that Count Dracula was a fairytale name.

“I would appreciate it, if Severus could remain in your house until he is back on his feet. A weakened vampire is only food for the Hunters.”

Alamar nodded. “Consider it done. Would you like to be informed of his recovery?”

Dmitry nodded, somewhat reserved. “If you could do it discreetly, it would be appreciated.”

“Of course.”

It took over two months for Severus to recover properly. He had been awake now and then, but mostly fell into a coma, which wasn’t strange for attacked vampires. The lost protected blood needed to be rebuilt.

Only thanks to Alamar’s sacrifice and blood donation did he even make it that far. There had been studies of vampires and blood loss. Nothing good had ever come out of losing too much blood.

However, Alamar was still unsure how his own blood donation would be changing Severus’ status. Blood wasn’t to be shared. The blood protection was like DNA, it only worked for one vampire. That was what everyone believed.

Alamar had done more research in his youth, back when he was actually trying to overtake the world, and he figured out that family could share blood without problems. It was already problematic for friends or cousins to share it, but strangers?! Unheard of.

“We’ll have to observe this” Alamar murmured to himself as he once again checked on a sleeping Severus. He grabbed a tiny vial and took a bit of blood to research how his own and Severus’ blood had mingled so far.

A wave of relief washed over Eric as he ducked through the entrance of the healing tent. Unlike the usual cacophony of groans and pained shouts, a subdued murmur filled the air. He scanned the rows of cots, noting the occupants – a handful of Haltija-fays, their iridescent wings tucked limply at their backs, sporting various bandages and poultices.

“They're getting better at this, I'll give them that” he muttered to himself, a hint of pride lacing his words. Years spent training as a healer – years spent cleaning pus-filled wounds and battling infections – had finally started to pay off.

He stretched, his back protesting the long journey from the front lines. As he did, a voice, gravelly and laced with venom, sliced through the quiet. “That's what you think, little brother!” it spat.

Eric sighed, the sound heavy with weariness. He turned towards the source, a curtained enclosure at the back of the tent. The silks, meant to add a touch of grandeur and majestic to the hospital, were already stained and snagged, the opulence they were supposed to evoke now a gaudy eyesore.

“Hello, Rowan” Eric said, his voice mild despite the annoyance simmering beneath the surface.

A scowl materialized behind the thin curtain, a face contorted in pain and anger. “Who calls me Rowan anymore? It's Stardust now!”

Eric fought down the urge to roll his eyes. Patience. That was what he needed most right now. Dealing with his older brother, even in his injured state, was always a test. All of them, quite frankly, but Rowan more than anyone else.

“How...charming” he drawled, the sarcasm carefully veiled. “What grand feat did you perform to land yourself here, Stardust?”

“Got into a fistfight with the human soldiers” the voice rumbled back. “They used a knife. Not very fair for a fistfight, wouldn't you say?” There was a hint of indignation, a childish petulance that belied Rowan's several hundred years of existence.

Eric fought with himself not to ask his older brother why he hadn’t used any swords or… just anything they had to fight with. Did they all lose brain cells recently?

“And why are you here?” Rowan asked. Eric refused to call him Stardust, at least in his mind. “Did your lack of fighting skills finally take you down a notch. We all know you don’t have the stomach to fight for this war, and for the family.” He emphasized the last word with a bitterness that made Eric wince.

Letting out a long sigh, Eric shook his head, his frustration simmering. “Meeting with the king in a day” he muttered, more to himself than Rowan. “Apparently, they want me looking somewhat decent for it. So, no battlefield glory for me today.”

Rowan’s response was a suspicious narrowing of his eyes. He waited a bit, before asking, “Why are you here?!”

“Kira found me” Eric said darkly. “I wouldn’t have been here if I was given a choice.”

“This is why you’re not respected here.”

“No” Eric shook his head. “This is why you and the whole family don’t respect me. Everyone else does, because they do see that my fighting skills haven’t gone back, they’re still as good as the day I left.”

Finally, a healer arrived and lead Eric… next to Rowan’s bed. Great…

An awkward silence filled the room, both brothers waiting for the healer to finish inspecting him, before they would have a go at each other again. They had been forced to look supporting of family business ever since they had been small.

Eric winced at the sting of disinfectant on his arm as the healer finished wrapping a bandage. At least it was only a small thing and not something big. That was the good news.

Bad news was that the healer forced him to stay in this tent and on this bed until it was time to go tomorrow. When he left, Eric glanced towards the bed, where Rowan lay brooding.

“I do have a son, you know” Eric said finally, the words catching slightly in his throat.

A startled gasp escaped bis brother. “You have a son? That's impossible” Rowan scoffed. “I know you don't exactly light up a room when it comes to… females.”

Eric fought down the urge to retort. Rowan's casual misogyny was as predictable as sunrise. “Thank you for being so respectful of the other gender, brother.” Sarcasm dripped from his voice, a stark contrast to the tension that filled the tent. “Have you ever heard of adoption? That's what we were planning, before Kira found me and broadcasted my delightful location to the entire family.”

Rowan's voice grew incredulous. “You, adopting? That's ridiculous. You're practically still a fledgling yourself!”

“Maybe by our standards” Eric conceded, a wry smile twisting his lips. “But in the human world, and most others for that matter, I'm considered an adult.” He paused, a flicker of sadness crossing his features. “And we were going to adopt a boy.”

Rowan let out a huff that rustled the silk around him. “For our sake, I hope it's a Fae. Otherwise, the elders will have your head.”

“Well, considering they already view me with suspicion bordering on contempt, nothing new there” Eric said with a shrug. “So, their disapproval doesn't exactly keep me awake at night. He's human.”

A stunned silence filled the tent, broken only by the rhythmic hum of the flies buzzing around a spilled vial of ointment. Finally, Rowan's voice cracked through the tension.

“Tell me you didn't leave a human child with your… with your…” He trailed off, struggling for the word.

Eric's smile turned grim. “My vampire 'roommate,' you mean? Alamar won't hurt him, Rowan” he said, his voice tight. “He loves him. You know they have feelings like everyone else.”

A harsh laugh erupted from behind the silk barrier. “Love? A vampire and love? That's a good one, brother.” The amusem*nt in Rowan's voice was laced with a bitter edge.

For the first time, Eric wondered if maybe there was more to Rowan’s words than just pure hatred of everything that wasn’t theirs. Maybe he had been in love with a vampire before and was turned away?

It was frankly the only weak-point to being a vampire. Well, and the fact that vampire hunters still existed.

“Thank you for your valuable insight on interspecies relationships. Perhaps you should write a book” Eric countered sarcastically. Not really able to come to terms with whatever his brother may or may not have gone through. “Have you ever considered the possibility of adoption involving… well, not a Fae?”

Rowan's voice grew heated. “Adoption? We don't adopt, Frederick! We're warriors, not social workers. And besides, what kind of parent leaves a child with a… a…” He trailed off, sputtering for the right word.

Eric sighed, a weary tremor in his voice. “A vampire” he supplied dryly. Something was definitely wrong with Rowan. “They use blood to stay alive, Rowan. Not kidnap children for picnics.”

“They have urges, Frederick! He's a predator! You can't control a creature like that!”

Eric gritted his teeth. “Very tactful, as always, Rowan. Especially comforting to hear right now.”

A frustrated growl echoed from the curtain. “Stardust!”

Eric ignored the outburst, his own frustration rising. “You know, Rowan” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “Other creatures think we're the ones who are crazy. Ten centuries of fighting over this land with the humans and wizards. Don't you ever get tired of it?”

Rowan's voice grew defensive. “It's our land, Eric! Our ancestors fought and died for it. We can't just hand it over to humans.”

Eric let out a humorless chuckle. “Funny you should say that. Because from the humans' perspective, their ancestors fought and died for it too. Who's the real owner here, Rowan? History is just a series of conquerors and the conquered, all claiming the same piece of dirt.” He paused, his gaze hardening. “Maybe it's time we found a way to co-exist, instead of spilling blood over something neither of us truly owns.”

“Are you quite insane?!” Rowan called out, looking as if Eric had just announced that he had destroyed their entire family.

Eric met the challenge head-on. “Maybe I am. And he's our son, whenever I get back to him, that is.” He spat the last part out, a bitter acknowledgment of the uncertainty hanging over his return.

A heavy silence descended upon the tent, broken only by the rasp of Rowan's breath. “These two things don't go together” he finally said, the anger replaced by a weary resignation. “Will you bring him back here?”

Eric shook his head, the movement sharp and decisive. “Expose him to this war? No. I'll keep him safe, far away from this bloodshed and this dysfunctional family.”

Rowan lurched in his makeshift bed, the movement sending tremors through the flimsy curtain separating them from the rest of the injured fae. “Family is very important to us, Frederick!” he bellowed.

Eric's jaw clenched. “I'm aware” he muttered, the words laced with a lifetime of unspoken resentment. Everyone had tried to make him see his lineage, the importance of his appearance.

It had been one of these things that had pulled him towards his nomadic life. Getting away from his family and the responsibility waiting at home.

“If you blood adopt this human” Rowan hissed, his voice dropping to a dangerous sibilant whisper, “he will be next in line.”

A cold dread slithered down Eric's spine. He understood. Blood adoption wasn't just about family ties; it was about inheritance, about power.

“I would rather will everything here to a pack of squirrels” Eric retorted, his voice hardening with resolve. “Before I let him be dragged into this place and this endless conflict. Honestly, I'd rather let Alamar blood adopt him and turn him into a vampire before I let him be a part of this life.”

Rowan sputtered, disbelief evident in his voice. “You… you're insane! That's suicide!”

“Yet you're the one who's been fighting this war for more than four centuries” Eric countered, his voice rising in anger. “Who really is the monster, Rowan? You cling to this land, soaked in the blood of generations, while I try to create a future where my son doesn't have to fight and die for a sliver of dirt.”

Silence descended upon the tent, heavy with unspoken accusations and a simmering tension that threatened to erupt at any moment. The only sound was the rasping of Eric's breath, a reflection of the storm brewing within him.

Rowan remained silent and angry while Eric lay on his bed staring at the tent above him in quite annoyance. He needed to prepare for tomorrow, to meet the king. Maybe he could somehow convince him to go back to his family, now that he ‘theoretically’ had a son.

Next to him, he heard Rowan mumble something about him being an idiot.

Oh, how fun it was, being back with his family…

Chapter 12: Verschlimmbesserung

Chapter Text

Lausanne's Shadow: System's Grip - One-Way Ticket to Nowhere
by Anonymous Writer 23

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Beneath the picturesque facade of cobbled streets and glistening cafes in Lausanne, a terrifying truth lurks. The recent capture of a suspected vampire here has cast a spotlight on a clandestine network known simply as "The System." This shadowy organization operates beyond the reach of human law, serving as a prison for those deemed a threat within the supernatural community.

For creatures like vampires, werewolves, and rogue fae, capture often leads to a one-way ticket to The System. While details remain shrouded in secrecy, whispers and chilling accounts paint a grim picture.

Destination Unknown: A Network of Shadows

Unlike a traditional prison, The System isn't a single location. It's a web of detention facilities scattered across the globe. The criteria for placement are as murky as the network itself. Some reports suggest rogue magic or exceeding one's power are triggers, while others claim The System acts as a supernatural judge, jury, and executioner for crimes unknown to the human world.

Escapee Accounts: A Descent into Horror

The silence surrounding The System is occasionally broken by whispers of escapees. These rare accounts chill the soul. Survivors speak of a systematic dismantling of identity, a relentless effort to erase a creature's very essence. Forced hibernation, mind-numbing rituals, and psychological torment are just some of the horrors rumoured to occur within The System's walls.

The escapees themselves are often broken shells, their stories fragmented and unreliable. Yet, the consistency of the nightmares they describe paints a horrifying picture. They never last long once they’re outside.

A Necessary Evil or a Corrupt Entity?

Some within the supernatural community argue The System, despite its brutal methods, is a necessary evil. They believe it maintains a fragile balance within the unseen world, keeping a lid on creatures with the potential to cause widespread chaos.

However, this argument crumbles in the face of The System's lack of transparency and the horrifying accounts of escapees. The question remains: is The System a safeguard or a corrupt entity inflicting its own brand of terror?

Lausanne's Supernatural Community Reacts

The recent events in Lausanne have rattled the city's hidden supernatural population. Fear and uncertainty hang heavy in the air. Many fear they could be next, snatched from their lives and condemned to an unknown fate.

“This is a stark reminder that we live in two worlds” said a local source who wished to remain anonymous. “The humans above, oblivious to the dangers lurking beneath the surface. And us, constantly looking over our shoulders, wondering if tonight could be the night The System comes for us. We weren’t aware that they had a location in Switzerland.”

Unanswered Questions: A Call for Answers

The events in Lausanne raise a multitude of questions. Who controls The System? What are the true criteria for placement? And perhaps most importantly, can anything be done to hold this shadowy organization accountable?

The Gloaming Gazette, based here in Lausanne, calls for a public discussion on The System's role and accountability. The fate of those trapped within its walls, and the safety of the supernatural community at large, hang in the balance. We urge anyone with information to come forward. Only by shedding light on this clandestine network can we begin to understand its true purpose and fight for a world where both humans and supernatural beings can coexist in peace.

Albus read the newspaper, amusedly. The System was doing him a favour. He hoped that they would come to the UK and start cleaning up here as well. While it was nice to have creatures under his thumb, he didn’t particularly like being around their dirty forms.

He sat by the window overlooking the lake of Hogwarts and thought about how he could become leader of The System itself. Maybe he had to hand in a few people, make a few sacrifices to gain trust.

That could be easily done.

The next time, Severus opened his eyes, he stared at the ceiling of an unknown room. He listened to the sounds around him and realized that nothing sounded familiar. There were voices in the room somewhere close, but he couldn’t figure out who it was. A man and a boy, definitely.

Groaning, Severus sat up and placed his elbows on his legs, to support his head that was hurting quite a bit. He tried to remember what happened, but… there was nothing.

Frowning, he tried to remember what brought him to this place, in general; why was he out of Hogwarts at this time of year… nothing. sh*t. Why couldn’t he remember anything?!

The last thing he had in his mind was… the attack during fifth year…

Severus frowned. He knew he was older than that, he knew years had passed. So where were his memories? Where was his knowledge? What had happened to him that he had no memories of anything anymore?

Sudden movement at the door made him jerk and he looked up to see a man walking in. He didn’t seem surprised that Severus was awake, since he smiled at him. “Hello again” he said, his voice smooth. “Let’s hope you’re going to stay awake longer than the other times.”

“What happened?” Severus asked, even more confused than before. “Where am I?”

“Oh, we still don’t know what happened. A Praetor Sanguinis found you, brought you to us, since I’m a healer. They tried to figure out who hurt you, but… still no clue. Do you know who hurt you?”

Severus stared at the man and slowly shook his head. “I’ve lost all my memories” he whispered, barely audible.

The other man frowned. “You did? All of it?!”

“Well no, everything past fifteen… sixteen” Severus said weakly. “Even if I’ve met you before, I wouldn’t remember. But I know I’m a vampire, so at least there’s that.”

The vampire – Severus assumed, since nothing else would make sense – hummed. “You were probably attacked then.”

“I was, but I don’t think they… did something to me to put this on me.”

“No and it also wouldn’t make sense for you to be attacked by whoever wanted to use your creature. Unless…” the vampire narrowed his eyes and seemed to suddenly turn very angry. “Unless they staged all of this for you to turn. Or to wish to be turned.”

Severus stared at the other man in shock, unsure of where this intensity had come from. “You… you said I was out a lot? Do you know what happened?”

“Only that you lost a lot of blood. You’ve been awake for at most two minutes, so congratulations, you’ve managed five by now.”

“How am I alive, if I’ve lost a lot of blood? Shouldn’t I be dead?”

The man frowned. “And why do you figure?”

Severus frowned, trying to recall where this knowledge had come from, but it wasn’t there. “I don’t… I don’t know.”

“Hmmm” the other vampire grabbed a light and some eye drops. “Let me check something, if you consent.”

“Sure” Severus nodded and lay back down, letting the man drop some eye drops into his eyes. When he came closer with the light, he could feel something fighting inside him. It was as if the vampire was blocked somewhere, locked, and hidden deep within him.

The man was quiet for a bit and did some testing, before he left Severus’ personal bubble again. “Well, whatever happened, someone knew you were a vampire back in the UK and did everything in their power to keep it suppressed.”

Severus stared at him. “But that’s dangerous!”

“It is. And the fact that you remember that, even if you don’t know where it’s coming from, means that your vampire stored the knowledge somewhere away from your active brain, because it seemed to realize that it wasn’t safe for you.”

The man sat down while Severus sat back up again, staring at him in shock. “Will I ever be able to remember?”

“Possibly” the vampire shrugged his shoulders. “So, since you’re most likely awake for a good time now, let me introduce myself – again. I’m Alamar.”

“Uh, Severus. Severus Snape, if I remember correctly.”

Alamar chuckled. “You do, thankfully.”

“How long have I been under your care? What… I guess what year is it?” Severus had wanted to ask what month it was, but he soon realized that he had no clue of the year, or month.

“It’s currently mid-February of 1987. You’ve been under my care for a bit over three months” Alamar said calmly.

Severus stared at him in shock for a bit, before he sighed. “Alright. I hate this. Officially.”

Alamar chuckled. “I would too. Do you feel up to test your walking? Also, eating wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

Unsure of what to do, Severus tested his walking skills first, which were luckily not that bad. He only fell once – at the very beginning – and Alamar caught him immediately, before something bad could have happened.

“I don’t… remember what vampires are supposed to eat…” Severus then admitted. “I don’t think I could stomach any blood” he grimaced at the thought.

Alamar laughed softly and motioned him to follow him out of the room. “We don’t have to eat, we’re mostly immortal. We do eat normally for the most part, but just because we like the taste of food. Blood just keeps us alive. We need a specific amount of it a week to not turn to dust, but other than that, eat what you want.”

“What do you eat?” Severus asked the other vampire.

“Fruit mostly” the vampire explained with a grin. Then he looked at him sternly. “I do have to warn you that my son isn’t a vampire, so do control yourself when you see him.”

Severus nodded, even the idea of having to drink blood made him sick to his stomach right now. It wasn’t a problem to keep himself under control when seeing a human.

What he didn’t expect was to find three children crowded around the living room table, all working on what looked like homework. From the look of it, it was a human, a werewolf and a dwarf. One, a black haired human child, leaning over a book called ‘The intricate History of human Myths on Creatures’. He was scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment, before going back to checking something in the book.

Another, a girl dwarf with red hair sat cross-legged on the chair – which had been elevated by a few books underneath her. A book with an illustration of a snarling wolf opened on the table. Her brow was furrowed and she was drawing the wolf on a parchment, adding descriptions of body parts and seemingly calculating the transformation points.

The last child, a little boy with unruly light brown hair was hunched over a few parchments, muttering over the etiquettes of Merfolk.

Severus frowned, while Alamar was clearly amused by this. “Well, well, aren’t you a studious bunch?” the other vampire asked, obviously enjoying the children looking up in shock.

“Can you give us some brainfood?” the boy muttering about Merfolk asked grinningly.

“Sasha!” the dwarf said, obviously, outraged. “You ask first, not just demand something. Aren’t you studying etiquettes?!”

The second boy snigg*red, once again leaning over the book about myths. “Alamar has a weak spot for Sasha.”

“Now that isn’t true” Alamar argued, but he winked at the boy when he looked up from the book, looking slightly accusatory. “I may have a soft spot for you three.”

The girl perked up. “Even for me, Mr. Rogers?”

Alamar chuckled. “Yes, deary. All three.”

“But more for Harry, right?” Sasha asked, obviously enjoying this banter.

Severus was amused and astonished how easily the children were around the vampire. From what he remembered – which admittedly wasn’t much – he had always been told to fear creatures.

The girl snigg*red and turned back to her group. “Okay, since we’re talking, can I finally tell you what I’ve learnt so far?”

Sasha and Harry looked at each other, pretending to be annoyed, which Severus really loved, and then as one turned to the girl. “Yes, Anya.” – “Tell us all about your new favourite book.”

“I could murder you with it, you know!” Anya threatened, darkly.

“Not in the house!” Alamar called back from the kitchen, which had the children giggling together. Severus was astonished by this behaviour. All of it.

Anya – the girl dwarf – leaned forward and turned the book around so the boys could read as well. “Tell me if this is right, Sasha. Werewolves have three different hierarchies depending on country of origins, right?” she looked over to Sasha who was obviously amused and nodded quickly.

“Do they…” before Harry could even ask his question, Anya continued, which had both boys snigg*r.

“There’s the Counsil of Elders which occurs around Southern Europe and Africa, which means that there is more than one leader, they decide together. The only way to get into the council is if someone from it dies and you’re nominated by the community. With me so far?”

Severus could tell that Sasha – the werewolf boy – had a hard time keeping it together. Harry was doing much better. At least until now.

Harry bowed his head. “Yes, dear Anya. So what’s the next hierarchy?”

“Oh, Alpha-Beta-Omega, the one everyone’s talking about. But it’s really boring.”

“For you” Sasha interrupted her, which earned him another death glare. Much to both boys’ amusem*nt.

“In America there are the natural werewolf packs. They were there before we found them and they have a Mystic-hierarchy.” Now, both boys were interested, Severus as well. “Basically, there’s a Seer and they assign roles to all the pack wolves for a year. Next year, they come together and the Seer does it all over again. It’s really interesting, especially since the transformation-“

“Children, if you want to eat something, you better clear this table” Alamar interrupted the children, much for Anya’s and Severus’ annoyance, but the other boys were happy to get some food.

The two adult vampires sat down at the table once it was freed of books and parchment and enjoyed a bit of food with the children. Severus was interested in listening to the children talk about school. It was very different from what he remembered of Hogwarts, and he wished he had attended there.

Once everyone had eaten enough, Alamar brought Severus back to his room, or at least the room where he had woken up in.

“I would like to keep you here with me for a bit longer” Alamar said and sat down by the table. “I understand if you have other priorities, but-“

“If I had, I wouldn’t remember” Severus interrupted him. “I would love to stay. You all seem nice.”

Alamar smiled at him and nodded. “Good. Maybe it gives me time to find the lost memories.” Then he hesitated. “Also, you should know… when you were low on blood, you almost died. I… I gave you a vial of my blood.”

Severus widened his eyes. “You did what?!”

Why was he so scared and surprised?! What would this mean? Why was his vampire unsure of what was going on?!

Clearing his throat, Alamar sat down on a chair. “I know you don’t remember any of this. Vampire blood carry specific protection. Sharing blood hasn’t been heard of. I didn’t want you to die, so I gave you some of mine.”

“Are there any repercussions of this?”

“Unknown as of now” Alamar admitted and Severus sat down on a chair as well.

“Then why did you do it?” he asked, unsure of how to react. He could feel his vampire deep within him calming down, so at least that was something.

Alamar shrugged his shoulders. “I wanted to save you.”

Severus shook his head. “What if it would have killed me?”

“You were already going to die. You had lost too much blood, there was no protection left. A vampire without protection is the easiest target for Hunters.”

Hunters?

Alamar's voice held a chilling calmness that sent shivers down Severus' spine. “Hunters” the other vampire repeated, his eyes glinting in the light. “They track our kind, Severus. They sense weakness, vulnerability. And you, my friend, were a beacon in the night. You should be happy that you made it to a safe place before the got to you… Or at least before they fully killed you.”

The first indication that something was wrong was when the newspaper in the UK came out with countless of hidden messages in the creature part that were screaming for help. Alamar stared at the hundred messages, calling for help, telling their people to leave the country.

He waited patiently for Minerva’s message, which arrived three days later and had him stop in the middle of the house, reading over the new rulings to creatures. It didn’t only restrict creatures further, but also turned any Animagus into a possible threat.

My days here are numbered. Should you not hear from me again, you know why.

Alamar shook his head and went to the school, to get Harry. Since he had music classes – he desperately wanted to surprise Eric with being able to play the violin – Alamar was bringing him to an ally’s house personally.

If the situation really was getting that desperate, he needed to do something… He should report to his job. Maybe he could help out, if he told the vampire counsel that he didn’t intend on running and that he had a son here.

He would go back to his punishment, once he had gotten enough people out of the UK.

His musings were interrupted, when Harry and Sasha arrived at his car. “Hi Alamar!” both boys said sanctimoniously.

Alamar narrowed his eyes. “What did you do?” he asked, waiting until they had their seatbelts on.

“Nothing!” Harry said, snigg*ring.

“Honestly, Mr. Rogers, we did nothing!” Sasha added, nodding as if that was what would lead Alamar to believe them.

He didn’t get their prank out of them by the time they arrived at Sasha’s place. He bid goodbye and winked at Harry who snigg*red. As they drove off, Harry leaned forward. “We used magic to make the books in the library scream the answers everyone was looking for at them. It was so loud!” he tried to keep it together, but he was laughing so hard by the end of it.

Alamar chuckled and shook his head. “You three are menaces.”

“We know” Harry said proudly.

They arrived at the place where Harry was having violin lessons, where three people stood outside of the house. Alamar watched them closely as he parked. Harry seemed to realize that this wasn’t normal and he hid behind him, as they got out of the car.

“Good afternoon” the vampire in the middle said.

Alamar stood ready for anything. “How can I help you?” he asked, suspiciously.

The vampire in the middle held his hands up. “We’re not here to hurt your treasure.”

Narrowing his eyes, Alamar raised his head. “Then why are you?”

“We need your help.”

“Then why not come to my residence?”

“Too many people know about it.”

“Nobody knows he takes violin lessons” Alamar countered and crossed his arms. “What do you want.”

“To talk. Nothing else” the vampire in the middle held his hands up.

“Identify yourselves then” Alamar demanded.

The vampire in the middle bowed his head. “Onyx Coven. Caspian Mortensen. This is Seraphina Samaras and Edgar Kvaran.”

Alamar raised his eyebrows. “Onyx Coven, huh? To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting a coven that’s only existing in campfire tales?”

Caspian smirked. “As it is supposed to” he confirmed. “We hold the power to any and all fractions and covens.”

“A shadow organisation within the hidden world of vampires? Impressive” he said, slightly sarcastic. “So what does this have to do with me? And can my son go to his lesson unharmed?”

“Do don’t plan on harming anyone today” the woman, Seraphina said.

“Forgive my lack of trust” Alamar stated as he led Harry to the door of the house, always keeping the three vampires in his line of view. Harry gave him an encouraging look when he closed the door again and Alamar walked back to the vampires, feeling much better should they attack.

The leader of the trio grinned at him, once they were close enough again to talk. “I would have questioned if this really was you, had you been less paranoid.”

Alamar frowned. “We know each other?”

Caspian Mortensen nodded darkly. “Let’s not dwell on the past. The Onyx Coven will make your punishment go away, if you’re able to free our informant in the UK and bring as many people out of The System as possible.”

Alamar's carefully constructed facade crumbled. “The System?! That's what this is about?!” Disbelief and anger warred within him. Memories tried to fight for a front-row seat, but Alamar forced them back again. Not right now, not here in the open.

“Have you ever heard of anyone getting out of there?!” he roared, a lone memory of him giving chest compressions to a boy. He survived thankfully.

A low rumble echoed from the shadowed form of Edgar Kvaran. “You” he stated flatly, as if reciting a fact everyone should know. “You got in, and out, and took Roy Adler with you.”

The air grew thick with a different kind of tension now. Alamar's escape, while a legend among some, was a secret he fiercely guarded. These people, this Onyx Coven, knew. How? And how much else did they know about him, about the secrets he buried deep within?

He narrowed his eyes, a flicker of something dangerous swirling within them. “How did you…” he began, his voice a dangerous growl.

Caspian cut him off with a raised hand. “Details for another time” he said smoothly, his gaze unwavering. “We both know the urgency of the situation. The System isn't just holding our informant anymore. They're tightening their grip, rounding up more creatures, getting bolder with each passing day. They need to be stopped.”

“You can’t stop The System, Mortensen! I’m one person! I can’t go against people I’ve never seen!”

“We have never seen them. You did” Seraphina Samaras said, looking triumphant.

Alamar crossed his arms. “I saw the people in Germany.”

His mind was racing. Freeing someone from The System was a near-impossible feat, even for him. But the thought of innocent creatures trapped within those walls, the same despair he once felt, gnawed at him.

“What do you know about The System’s build in the UK?”

“Next to nothing” Edgar answered. Caspian held his hand up to silence the man, but he was too late.

Alamar raised his eyebrows. “And you want me to go in there, when you know nothing?”

“We know more than that” Caspian said, rolling his eyes, a flicker of annoyance crossing his features. “We know the building where the prisoners are held. A heavily guarded, magically warded facility nestled deep in the Scottish Highlands.”

Alamar scoffed, a sharp bark of a laugh escaping his lips. “You know the prison?” Alamar repeated. “Then it’s most likely faked information. The System doesn't keep its prisoners in such… quaint locations. Those are just rumours to scare fledgling vampires." He crossed his arms, his suspicion growing. This whole mission reeked of a trap, a desperate attempt to lure him into a confrontation he couldn't win.

“Our informant was there” Caspian pressed, his voice firm. “He saw it. A former Hunter, captured and turned by our own kind. He managed to slip a message through a hidden network before they… dampened his abilities.”

Alamar's eyes narrowed. A former Hunter turned? That was a story in itself, and a potentially valuable source of information. But the mention of dampening abilities sent a shiver down his spine. The System was notorious for its brutal methods, reducing captured creatures to mere husks of their former selves.

“And how do you propose we get past these wards, assuming your information is accurate?” Alamar challenged, a hint of grudging interest creeping into his voice.

Seraphina leaned forward, her eyes gleaming with an unsettling intensity. “That's where the unconventional methods come in” she said, a sly smile playing on her lips. “We have… resources. Artifacts, rituals, enough to breach the wards for a short window. But we'll need someone… light on their feet, someone who can navigate the chaos and get the prisoners out. Most of them, anyway.”

The weight of their proposition settled heavily on Alamar. A daring raid into the heart of The System, a near-suicidal mission with little guarantee of success. But the thought of those captured creatures, the echo of his own past torment, stoked a fire within him.

“You want me to go on this suicide mission just to get my punishment over with? The risks by far outweigh the benefits. I’ve got people to take care of, I’m not a lone vampire anymore.”

“You’re a Rogue” Edgar started.

“Exactly” Alamar added. “I don’t like to deal with the law. I do what I think is right.”

Caspian sighed heavily. “Our informant is very important. He has family himself. Same age as yours, boy.” He pulled a magical photograph from his pocket, where Alamar saw three people sitting on a chair, smiling into the camera.

The boy, blonde hair, grey eyes, looked happy as he sat between his parents. He looked a little like Roy, when he had been a child.

Looking up at Caspian, Alamar narrowed his eyes. “Who will take care of my son, while I’m gone and in case of my death?”

“We’ll keep a Protector around, one of ours. In case of your death, we’ll contact Frederick Rogers and make sure the boy gets adopted and guarded by the Onyx Coven.”

Alamar narrowed his eyes. “I don’t like empty promises.”

Caspian closed his eyes, before growing fangs. He opened his crimson glowing eyes and bit into his own arm. As a bit of the protective blood ran down his arm, he repeated; “The Onyx Coven will guard your son in case of your death and make sure he will be adopted by Frederick Rogers. During your absence, a Protector will be around him, to make sure nothing happens to him.”

A drop of blood fell from his finger onto a little pocket square that Edgar had caught. Caspian transformed back and cleaned his wound up.

Alamar watched the three vampires, before he hummed. “When do I leave?”

“In two days” Caspian said flatly. The vampiric promise had clearly taken a lot out of him. Or maybe it was this whole conversation. “We can’t give you more time. We don’t know what they have done to our informant by now.”

Nodding, Alamar watched them leave.

He knew.

And it was nothing good.