28 Chapter 10 - The Story of Sirius Black and Hells Hunter (1/2)

”You have to eat something Harry,” Vincent advised as he watched Harry look extremely nervous for the upcoming quidditch match.

”I know, I know,” Harry said as he looked outside at the stormy weather. ”Why aren't you out there setting up?”

”Do you think I can set up in this rain,” Vincent said feeling down. ”I would have asked the teachers for help, but everyone's on alert due to Sirius Black.”

Hermione and Ron silently sat down at their table, not looking happy at all. Arnya took a seat next to Hermione and silently poured some apple juice for herself.

”Crookshanks?” Vincent guessed making Hermione and Ron glare at each other again.

”Her cat keeps coming into our dorm to attack Scabbers!” Ron said angrily. ”Hermione has not kept her eye on it, letting the bloody thing do whatever it wants! Not to mention it always goes after him, why not anything else?! You know Scabbers is sick!”

”It's a cat Ron! Cat's eat mice!” Hermione argued back. ”It could probably smell Scabbers!”

Harry and Vincent both looked at each other with helpless expressions. While they can see Ron's point, being that Hermione should keep her pet under control, they did think that Ron taking all his anger out on Hermione was a little to much.

”Then again, if it wasn't for Crookshanks, I wouldn't have spotted Sirius,” Vincent thought before pausing. ”But it does seem a little coincidental. Why was Crookshanks out there in the first place?”

Vincent felt like he was on the verge of something and folded his arms, ”Let's assume the possibility, no matter how small, that Crookshanks is indeed working with Sirius Black. Crookshanks walking to the front door and leaving could have been a signal of sorts to Sirius to enter or something. But if Crookshanks is working with Sirius Black, why doesn't Crookshanks get what Black wants, it's only been after Scabbers so far.”

”It's time, Harry,” Oliver Wood came over and patted Harry's back. ”We can beat Diggory, I know it!”

”See you guys in a bit,” Harry waved at the group as he left.

”Hope he'll be fine,” Vincent muttered with Arnya nodding beside him.

”The storm is pretty bad isn't it?” said Arnya.

Hermione and Ron didn't even so much as look at each other as they made their way to the stands. Vincent had received plenty of hopeful looks that turned disappointment as they noticed none of his cooking materials were with him.

”A lot of the students were looking forward to it,” Hermione said, finally smiling a little. ”I could have helped you set up something waterproof.”

”It's not the stand I was worried about, but the food,” Vincent explained. ”No one likes eating soggy food.”

Hermione then started talking with Arnya while Vincent and Ron walked silently behind.

”Ron, I know you're mad,” Vincent whispered. ”But don't take it out on Hermione like that.”

Ron sighed in frustration. ”I know, I know ok? But she doesn't keep an eye on her pet and lets it do whatever it wants no matter how many times I tell her. Not to mention that she knows that Scabbers is sick.”

”I know, but at least try.” Vincent left it off with that as they entered the stands, the rain belting at them.

”Isn't there a spell that can keep us dry?” Vincent yelled over the noise. ”A shield charm perhaps?”

”A shield charm on a large scale would interfere with the game, even if its on the stands due to players flying over them!” Ron answered surprising the rest making him turn slightly red. ”What?! I know quidditch too!”

”Impervious!” Hermione called, pointing her wand at Vincent, Arnya, and Ron. Soon, they felt the rain slide off them, as if it was evading them.

”Convenient,” Arnya praised.

”Thanks Hermione,” said Vincent. ”Wouldn't the Harry benefit from this?”

Hermione clapped her hands in realisation. ”Oh! That's right! I'll help him at the next break.”

The game wasn't pleasant to watch, the rain and flashes of lightning made it hard to make what the players were doing. If it wasn't for Lee Jordan's commentary then no one would even know what was going on.

During their break time, Hermione rushed down to help Harry.

”It's not looking good for Gryffindor,” Ron cursed. ”Who knew the Hufflepuffs were this good?!”

”It's not just the Gryffindor team that practiced hard,” Vincent commented. ”Cedric is a great captain so it's no surprise that their good. Although, Wood's not a push over either.”

As they were talking, Arnya felt a chill and looked around the stage. She then spotted in the distance, a flutter of black and narrowed her eyes. She tugged at Vincent's sleeve and brought his head down for him to hear.

”Dementors, at least a hundred are heading here,” Vincent's eyes widened.

He nodded in understanding before dashing off through the crowd with Arnya trailing behind, although slower.

”Just helped Harry—wheres Vincent and Arnya?” Hermione asked as she made her way back.

Vincent ignored all the cries of annoyance and anger against him as he pushed through the crowd. He couldn't see the Dementors, but he trusted in Arnya's claim as he headed towards the teachers booth.

”Against these things, I can't do squat,” Vincent thought as he took out gloves which he slipped on. ”This is taking too long.”

He then jumped on the edge of the stand, with voices of surprise behind him, and threw a pulse potion down and stretched out both his hands. One of them emitted a shield in front of him while the other was concentrated on the potion that started flying back.

”I might be mad after all,” Vincent smiled sourly as he jumped down, using the shield to connect with the potion bottle.

...

Professor Snape has his usual glare as he sat in the teachers stand. His glare was set on a certain boy flying in the rain, looking for the golden snitch, just like someone he knew so long ago.

He absolutely loathed how alike they both were and continued glaring until a large bang from the stands sounded, making all the teachers look curiously to see a figure zooming straight towards them on a transparent shield. Snape felt gobsmacked as the figure zoomed straight towards him.

BANG!

Vincent got up and looked around for Dumbledore who sat there stunned at his entrance among other teachers.

”Vincent, what—?”

”No time Professor,” Vincent interrupted the Headmaster who looked taken aback. ”Dementors, about a hundred, heading here right now!”

Dumbledore turned stern and a hint of fire flashed through his eyes, ”Are you certain?”

”Arnya said it,” Vincent stated.

”...Very well,” Dumbledore nodded, knowing how powerful a vampires sight was. He then coughed. ”While I am thankful for the information, would you be so kind as to get off Professor Snape?”

Vincent looked confused before he turned pale. Without looking down, he carefully made his way off his landing site before a hand grabbed his leg.

Vincent's felt his brow twitch as he looked down to see a scarily calm Snape glaring at him.

”Prof—Professor,” Vincent weakly smiled. ”Fancy meeting you down there.”

”I'll, deal...with...you later,” Snape muttered as he shakily got up and stumbled towards Dumbledore, leaving Vincent to have, despite the weather, cold sweat flow down his back.

”I'm so dead,” Vincent thought.

Dumbledore stood at the front and pointed his wand at his throat and yelled in a voice that boomed around the stadium. ”Silence!”

Everyone in the Quidditch match stopped talking as they turned their attention to Dumbledore.

”Dementors have been spotted making their way here!” chatter rose among the students. ”Keep calm, the teachers of Hogwarts will protect you and make sure none of you are harmed! Please exit in an orderly manner!”

”What's happening up there?!” someone in the crowd yelled, making everyone look up. Some girls screamed as they noticed the commotion high above the stadium.

”Harry!” Vincent noticed it as well, his face going pale as he saw Harry seemingly avoiding something far up in the sky. ”Harry fainted the last time he encountered a Dementor, if he faints now—!”

Just as Vincent feared, Harry's figure seemed to go limp and he fell off his broom which got blown away. As Harry's body picked up speed Dumbledore muttered a spell before pointing at Harry, slowing his body to a degree and softly landed on the ground.

Cedric flew down seconds later to make sure that Harry was alright along the rest of the team. Vincent sighed in relief before looking at Dumbledore who made an expression that Vincent had never seen before.

He was furious.

Dumbledore strode out of the stand just as Arnya entered. ”You warned them?”

”Yeah, thanks for the warning,” Vincent said gratefully.

Arnya looked at him and nodded. Vincent swore he saw a flash of a smile.

He then noticed Dumbledore storm onto the field. He suddenly had a very chilly feeling. ”How many Dementors are here?”

”...A lot,” Arnya said as she looked around. ”But don't worry, even though I never witnessed it personally, Dumbledore should be able to—”

”GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!” They heard Dumbledore bellow as he raised his wand, releasing a faint wisp of light became stronger, forming a pheonix of sorts which flew into the sky. Instantly, Vincent felt the chilly feeling disappear with a warmer feeling entering his body in place of it.

”What kind of spell is that?” Vincent thought as he stared at the mighty image of the conjured phoenix, staring down on them from above.

”His Patronus spell blew away all of the Dementors,” said Arnya. ”No wonder he's regarded as the strongest wizard alive.”

”A patronus spell?” Vincent questioned.

”A defensive charm of the highest grade,” Vincent turned to the side to see Snape looking down at the scene with his usual glare. ”Also known as the only spell to work against Dementors.”

”Really? That's amazing,” Vincent muttered as he stared at the Phoenix beating its wings.

...

”Sorry Harry, this was all that could be recovered,” Hermione said as she showed a bedded Harry his Nimbus, or what remained of his Nimbus.

”What on earth happened?” Vincent said looking at the spread out sheet full of splinters. ”It looks like it got hit by the Whomping Willow.”

Vincent noticed the look on Hermione and Ron's face and felt his eye twitch. ”It hit the Whomping Willow didn't it?”

”It hit the Whomping Willow,” they both confirmed, all signs of aggression from earlier gone.

Harry just sat there, lifeless at what he had just experienced. Adding the state of the broomstick probably did not help his mental state.

”Harry, will you be—?” Hermione asked concerned.

”I'll be fine, just, leave me alone for a bit,” Harry said rather quickly.

Vincent gave a pat on a dejected Hermione's shoulder before turning to Harry, ”Well, get better soon.”

”Yeah, sure,” Harry muttered as they all walked out.

It was only once they were outside did Ron start cursing.

”Hufflepuff won?! Why?! How?!” said Ron angrily. ”They only won by default due to the lead in points! If those Dementor's didn't interrupt, Harry would have caught the snitch!”

”Calm down Ron,” said Vincent. ”the important thing is that Harry didn't go splat on the ground.”

Ron blankly looked at Vincent. ”This is how you comfort people?”

”...I admit I could have phrased that better,” Vincent coughed.

Hermione sighed before looking at Vincent. ”Mind explaining what you did back there?”

Vincent gave a confused look at Hermione when she pointed at the gloves which he was still wearing. ”What exactly did you do?”

”Oh, it's a new rune I got from Ollivander, allows me to pull items towards me,” Vincent explained as he took of the rune from his right hand. ”All I did was use a pulse potion to collide with the shield on my left to launch me towards the teachers stand.”

”...You're—you know what, I shouldn't even surprised anymore,” Hermione sighed.

When they made it back to their common room, Ron glared at Crookshanks that loitered around the boys dorm and pushed it to the side with his leg.

”Move you sick little ginger—something,” Ron growled as he entered the dorm.

Vincent scratched Crookshanks behind the ears and looked at the mangy cat with curiosity. No matter how ridiculous thought it was, he couldn't rule out the fact that Crookshanks is working with Sirius Black.

”Don't know if you understand me, but if you visit Sirius, then take this note to him,” Vincent held a letter that Crookshanks followed with it's eyes. ”This is going to be on my desk, think you can do that?”

Crookshanks meowed as he rubbed his head against Vincent's leg before strolling off.

”Think it understood me?” Vincent asked Blimp which sat in his pocket. Nyx decided to wander off on its own so he had no idea where she had gone.

Blimp just looked up at him making Vincent roll his eyes. ”If you weren't cute, I would have sold you.”

During the weekend, Harry was not allowed to head out throughout that whole time. He did receive a stream of visitors that included Hagrid, McGonagall and his Quidditch team which visited him on a daily basis. Cedric also came by to offer his condolences, which if said by any other person, it would be like bragging to Harry about his victory. But from Cedric, he looked extremely sincere and apologetic about the whole match, making it hard for anyone to hate him.

Harry's return, although joyous, was accompanied by the teasing of Malfoy and his gang that imitated Dementors. Vincent had to physically restrain Ron from throwing a crocodile heart at Malfoy during potions.

”Let me at him, Vince, let go of me,” Ron muttered.

”Are you mad?!” Vincent whispered desperately. ”He's goading you, and Snape's here.”

Ron angrily glared at Malfoy who looked absolutely pleased with himself. Ron took a deep breath. ”I'm calm, let me go now.”

”Great, now let's—” Vincent turned back to his potion making only to hear a loud splat accompanied by a girlish scream.

”Weasley, fifty points from Gryffindor,” Snape's droning voice came as he waved his wand, removing the blood and gored from Malfoy's gagging face.

Vincent turned to Ron who spread his hands. ”Worth it.”

Professor Lupin was back much to the joy of everyone. He did indeed look like he had just recovered from a sickness with the dark bags under his eyes and his clothes looking more than a little roughed up.

He cancelled the essay that Snape had assigned them, leaving only Hermione dismayed.

”I've already finished it,” said Hermione, looking disappointed. Arnya just gave her an encouraging pat on the back.

The lesson was far more enjoyable then their previous one, they were taught about small creatures known as Hinkypunks that Lupin had brung in a small glass box, small one-legged creatures that were made of smoke.

”Lures travelers into bogs,” said Professor Lupin as they took notes. ”You notice the lanterndangling from his hand? Hops ahead—people follow the light—then—”

The Hinkypunk made a horrible squelching noise against the glass.

After the lesson, as they were heading out, Harry was called back by Professor Lupin for a chat.

”Wonder what that's about?” Ron wondered out loud.

”Probably about the Quidditch match,” Hermione said.

”Well, Lupin wasn't there...” Vincent muttered before noticing that Hermione wasn't next to them anymore.

”I guess, hey, there's another Hogsmeade trip right on the last weekend of the term, what should we do then, Hermione?” Ron finally noticed the absence of Hermione and looked around weirdly. ”That's funny, I swear she was right next to us.”

Vincent and Arnya exchanged knowing looks.

During the last few weeks of the term, Hogwarts was filled with the Christmas spirit. Teachers decorated their classrooms and students were all happily discussing their holidays. Like last year, Vincent was heading back to London.

Although Vincent knew that Sister An would continue to help if asked, he also didn't want to shirk away from his responsibilities. Vincent knew that the only reason she did this was to give him the chance to attend school, something he had never done before. She knew that Vincent would continue to feel guilty if he abandoned his self-proclaimed responsibility for something that he wanted to do, so she decided that this was the least she could do for him. Ron and Hermione decided to stay at Hogwarts to keep Harry company, seeing as how he definitely needed it after his recent experience.

The day before the trip to Hogsmeade, Arnya made her way to Professor McGonagall's office with a parchment in her hand.

”Here's my permission slip,” Arnya passed Professor McGonagall who took the parchment with a complicated expression.

”A-Arnya,” Professor McGonagall looked inside and felt her brows twitch when she saw the signature. ”Your circumstances were told to me by Dumbledore, you did not need a permission slip.”

Arnya and Professor McGonagall just stayed silent as they stared at each other. Time ticked by as the atmosphere got more awkward.

”Well, excuse me,” Arnya said before silently wheeling herself out, leaving Professor McGonagall to look at the 'signature'.

”...Some signature,” she thought as she looked at the bloody handprint on the parchment attached with some words:

LET MY DAUGHTER GO...OR ELSE

”Does Dracula know how to do a signature?” Professor McGonagall thought.

On the Saturday of the final week of the term, Vincent and company waved goodbye to Harry as they made their way to Hogsmeade.

”So where to first?” Ron asked as the group.

”I was thinking we could do some Christmas shopping, how about Honeydukes?” Hermione asked. She turned to Arnya. ”There's more of those blood flavoured lollipops there.”

Arnya's eyes sparkled as she immediately followed Hermione while Ron and Vincent just looked at each other.

”Honeydukes it is then.” said Ron.

Vincent found Arnya in front of the unusual taste's section and was eyeing all the candy there.

”So vampires do like blood?” Vincent asked as he walked up.

Arnya nodded, not turning her head. ”For vampires, it's a delicacy. However, ever since the non-aggression pact with the Ministry, it's extremely rare for us to have any.”

”Huh,” Vincent thought. He then picked up a blood flavoured toffee. ”Pick what you want, I'll buy it for you.”

”You sure?” Arnya asked.

”Yeah, why not?”

”Should we get some for Harry too?” Ron asked as he came over

”I think their only for vampires,” said Hermione with a bag of sweets she's planning to buy at her side.

”Then what about these?” Ron picked up a jar of cockroach clusters and held it up to Vincent who shook his head.

”Definitely not,” Vincent said along with a familiar voice behind them.