41 Chapter 23 - Divination of the Dark Lord and the Devil (1/2)

After a short silence, he gave a wry smile. ”Even the scars are completely gone.”

He had some complicated feelings about the fact before shaking his head with a sigh.

”What's done is done I guess,” he thought, throwing a clean white shirt over himself. ”Wonder if Arnya and Nyx are fine.”

It's been a couple of days since the incident before Vincent was allowed to get out of the hospital. Due to the end of exams, most students spent the rest time relaxing in Hogsmeade, leaving most of the castle empty as he walked through the corridors, looking out the windows on the way.

”So...all healed are we?” A familiar drawling voice caught Vincent's attention as he looked forward to Snape with his hands behind his back, eyes narrowing at Vincent.

”Yes, sir, not a single scratch left,” Vincent nodded.

”...Is that so?” Snape glared at Vincent for a good while before walking past. ”I saw Potter and his friends heading to the Gamekeepers hut. Your vampire friend should also be there too.”

Vincent turned and watched as Snape continued walking before turning back.

”Huh, he does care,” Vincent said to himself scratching his head as he headed off to Hagrid's hut, not realising that the teacher in question had heard him, nearly falling over, with his eyes twitching violently as he glared back to see Vincent turning a corner.

...

”Ohhh...Buckbeak! I'm so glad ya' back!” Hagrid sobbed as he rubbed his hairy beard into some very pink feathers happily, not noticing the odd looks from Harry, Ron and Hermione who were currently looking at Vincent for an explanation. Arnya was off to the side watching over the group.

”I swear, I did not do this,” Vincent said quickly.

”But you had something to do with this right?” Hermione said with a raised brow.

Vincent silently opened his mouth before closing it as a bright red coloured feather Hippogriff trotted by. ”...not my intention.”

He looked over the paddock with complicated feelings, watching all of the Hippogriff herd moving about. That would be fine and all...

...if not for the fact that all the Hippogriffs were so well...coloured.

It was like looking at a very messed up rainbow as each Hippogriff moved. One was red, another was green, some had two colours, and others had all of them. Poor Buckbeak now looked like an overgrown flamingo with its brightly pink feathers, beak and talons. The only thing spared from the colouring were its eyes.

”Arnya, what did you do?” Vincent asked frantically, turning the group's attention to her. ”I only told you to use it on Buckbeak!”

”I did, but it didn't work out as well,” Arnya explained. ”So after a bit, I decided to use it on all of them.”

”What did she do?” Harry asked.

”After that night, I asked Arnya and Nyx to make a potion the changes the colour of any living being,” Vincent explained. ”Thought it could disguise Buckbeak from the Ministry should they have decided to check the flock. However, I guess it coloured too well, making Buckbeak stick out like a sore thumb. Leaving Arnya here to...”

”...drug the herd?” Ron finished with a wince. ”'If ones changed, make them all change so no one knows', that sort of idea? Bloody hell man, will that stuff wear off?”

”A little less than a year, I think?” Vincent said thoughtfully, leaving the trio to open their mouths in shock.

”You...think?” Hermione asked incredulously.

Vincent shrugged. ”Well, the beetle I tested on have somewhat faded lately so who knows. But I think it should be fine regardless. Look at Hagrid, I don't think he minds it.”

Everyone looked to Hagrid who was happily patting Buckbeak, seemingly not caring about the change in color. They all silently agreed as they watched the scene.

After having some very chewy toffee and tea with Hagrid, they went back to the castle to find Sirius walking out with Dumbledore and Fudge.

”Harry,” Sirius greeted. ”Vincent, Ron, Hermione. There you were.”

”Sirius, what's happening?” Harry asked with alarm as he looked to Fudge. ”They know that your innocent right?!”

”Calm down Harry my boy,” Fudge coughed, getting their attention. ”While he has been cleared of all crimes related to your parents death twelve years ago...nearly thirteen now I think, he still is charged with the crime of being an unregistered Animagus.”

”Your not taking him to Azkaban are you?!” Hermione asked worriedly.

”Well, punishment for a crime of this level isn't something to laugh at,” Fudge shook his head as the children were about to speak again. ”But, considering he spent all those years in Azkaban falsely accused, Dumbledore and I decided that a fine would be enough to compensate. We would have left sooner, but Sirius here didn't want to make you worry so we looked around for you.”

Vincent felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Dumbledore smiling at him.

”Well now Fudge, I have something to discuss with Vincent here, I hope you don't mind me not seeing you off?” he asked.

”Ah, yes, do be well Dumbledore,” Fudge nodded his head at the old wizard. ”You too Vincent, take care of yourself.”

Vincent nodded his head as he was lead by the Headmaster into the castle with Arnya following behind at a distance.

...

”How are your injuries?” Dumbledore asked Vincent after entering his office. Fawkes sat on it's usual perch, watching them.

”Not a scratch left,” Vincent moved his arm around. ”Probably better than before.”

”That's good to know,” Dumbledore nodded as he waved his wand, summoning a chair. ”Take a seat.”

Vincent sat down and looked behind at the door, knowing that Arnya was just waiting outside. For some reason, she didn't seem to want to come in.

”Vincent,” Dumbledore put his hands together and looked back at Vincent gravely. ”I don't think that I need to tell you that what you did that night was both brave and very dangerous.”

Vincent stayed silent, letting Dumbledore talk. ”However, had you not been there, Sirius would still be a wanted man, and Peter would still be free. So for that, thank you.”

”...For what?” Vincent asked a little taken aback.

”I've made many mistakes, one of them being not truly believing in Sirius,” Dumbledore gave a tired sigh. ”Back then, I was doubtful that Sirius was truly the traitor, but instead of pushing harder for his innocence, I gave up, believing in the evidence given that he was indeed traitor. For that I can't ever forgive myself, and for that, I thank you for setting him free.”

”...I saw someone that needed help and helped him, I didn't do it for anyone else,” said Vincent. ”Well, except, Sister An.”

”Ah, yes,” Dumbledore nodded solemnly.

Vincent looked at his hands for a good while before looking back up again. ”Was it...was it the right thing for her and Peter to meet?”

Dumbledore shook his head. ”A question that should be asked to the person in question, not me. Annie Pettigrew has been scarred from that incident twelve years ago probably more so than anyone including perhaps Harry who has one quite literally. Meeting her supposed dead brother must have been a heart wrenching moment for her, with him being the one responsible for her best friends death and indirectly their mothers as well.”

Dumbledore leaned forward and looked Vincent in the eye. ”But...from my experience, I believe that seeing her brother was, while terrible, beneficial to her. Although she may now feel responsible for her own brother, she has at least found the man responsible, allowed her to take one step closer to closure. So to answer your question, while I'm in no position to do so, I think that you bringing in Peter so that they can meet was a good thing for her.”

Vincent nodded in silence.

Dumbledore glanced at the door behind Vincent. ”How's Miss Tepes? From what I've heard, she's become a good friend of yours during this past year.”

”Yeah, she has,” Vincent smiled as he also glanced at the door behind him. He then frowned slightly before looking to Dumbledore. ”About her father, Dracula, should I be concerned about having his attention on me?”

Dumbledore had a thoughtful expression on his face before shaking his head. ”No, while Dracula is indeed powerful, he has a distaste of harming children. All previous accounts of a King's candidate inform us that he only 'tests' adults. Seventeen by wizard standards. So you'll still have at least four more years at the least to prepare.”

”Prepare...” Vincent muttered to himself.

Dumbledore watched Vincent think for a bit before smiling. ”I think we've had enough of that conversation, how about something more lighthearted? How has your time been at school this year?”

Vincent and Dumbledore spent the rest of the time just talking about his time at Hogwarts and other unimportant stuff. Whether it was about the classes or Vincent's potion mishaps, they both had a smile throughout their whole talk.

”It's nearly time for lunch,” Dumbledore glanced at a clock. ”You best be going now.”

Vincent nodded as he got up. He looked to Fawkes and waved. ”See you Fawkes.”

Fawkes squawked at Vincent who got to the door and stopped just as he had his hand on the handle.

”Something wrong?” Dumbledore asked.

”Well...it's something that has been bugging me since the start of school,” Vincent looked at Dumbledore. ”What was in that letter that Arnya gave you?”

Dumbledore gave a long, sad sigh. ”...A reminder, of what the Wizarding world owes the Vampires.”

Vincent frowned but didn't ask any further. He walked out, closing the door behind him as he found Arnya looking up at him.

”Let's go,” Vincent smiled. ”I owe you some pancakes right?”

Time passed rather quickly and the exam results came out. It was at that point that everybody found something odd. An extraordinary amount of students had passed potions. Students comparing their results were all puzzled and amazed at this fact, seeing that their teacher was Snape himself, being notoriously known for being strict on students other than his own house.

”How on earth did you pass?”

”A third year student, I think, gave me tips as he passed by in the library...”

”Really? Some guy called Vincent helped me fix a potion solution for my homework. Luckily it was in the test.”

”He sounds really familiar...”

”Vincent? Isn't that the name of that Mad Scientist guy?”

”Really?! Could it be the same person?”

”Maybe?”

Vincent, unaware of all of the commotion he caused (and how a certain potion's teacher was grudgingly receiving praise from the other teachers about how well he must have guided the students that passed his subject), was currently wandering the corridors with Luna and Arnya, looking for any of Luna's belongings that went missing due to her classmates.

”Luna...you really need to tell a teacher about this,” Vincent advised as he climbed a statue to a book that he spotted. He jumped back down and handed it to the girl. ”This type of treatment is not right.”

”I'm fine,” Luna said with a smile as she received the book from his hands. ”It's almost like a treasure hunt in a way. If I can't find it, I can always ask a House Elf or ghost for help.”

”Well...If it gets too bad, tell them that the Mad Scientist is looking for a test subject.”

Luna giggled at that as she turned a corner, only for her to fall back with a yelp as she bumped into someone.

”Oh, I'm sorry,” Luna apologised as Vincent helped her up.

Vincent turned to the other person that had fallen over and held out his hand. ”Need some help?”

The first thing that came to Vincent's mind was that the woman before him was very, very thin. She had several chains and beads around her neck and her arms and hands were covered from the shoulder to wrist with bands and rings. What stood out the most to him were her large, thick glasses that magnified her eyes to the size of a tennis ball.

”Oh yes, thank you—” the moment she grasped his hand and stood up, she went silent.

”Uhh, are you ok?” Vincent asked concerned as the woman froze, staring right at him.

What happened next was extremely bizzare to say the least as the woman's eyes rolled back into her head as she rushed up to him, grabbing his collar.

”HEY! What are you—?!” Vincent furrowed his brows as his tried to get her hands off of him. To his shock, her grip was far too tight to pry open as she held onto him with abnormal strength.

She then spoke, in a harsh voice that seemed rather otherworldly.

”THE DARK LORD LIES ALONE AND FRIENDLESS, ABANDONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS. A SERVENT LOYAL TO HIM WILL BREAK FREE FROM HIS CHAINS. THE DARK LORD WILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVANT'S AID, GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE THAN EVER HE WAS...”

”What is—” Luna started only to be cut off.

”...BUT HE WILL NOT BE ALONE. HELL IS COMING TO ALL WIZARDS IN THE FORM OF THE DEVIL. A DEBT IN BLOOD...IS...WHAT HE SEEKS.”

With that, her head fell forward. She would have fallen to the floor is not for Vincent holding her up. Then all of a sudden, her head snapped back up again.

”I'm so sorry, must have drifted off for a bit there,” the woman muttered as she yawned, seemingly not knowing what she had just said.

Vincent looked back at Luna whom seemed rather worried and Arnya, whom had a frown on her face.

...

”Bloody hell, can't get what you said yesterday out of my head,” Ron muttered as the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station the next morning. ”You-Know-Who comes back stronger? Devil, hell, debt in blood? It just freaks me out.”