บท 156: Chapter 156: Bloody Confessions
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29 September 1993, Hogwarts
"Welcome, welcome. As you probably noticed, today will be a practical class. We're going to study a particular dark creature that's been very commonly referenced in the news and riddled with both real and fake information."
With a wave of his wand, an illusion of a creature appeared, and people started to panic, "Ah, some of you recognize them. Today, we'll be talking about vampires."
The response that the professor received was a wave of muttering, a mixture of fear and excitement, which was what anyone would expect from a class made up of Gryffindors and Slytherins.
The werewolf raised his hands and they all stopped talking, "I know that this is a little beyond your purview as third years, but I think with the recent events, knowing about them, even if it's just the basics, could be very beneficial. The first thing you need to know about vampires is that there are different kinds, each having different weaknesses and skills. They are as varied as wizards and witches are, and so is their magic. We generally group vampires because it's easier to explain but that's just us being lazy."
He was right, of course. Harry knew that sales of books regarding vampires had risen considerably during the summer, causing them to become very expensive, and fake books to arise. Since vampires were driven out of the country a century back, information about the bloodsuckers was very sparse with the low demand, something that obviously hurt the citizens of magical Britain.
Opportunists sold fake charms and enchanted garlic to prevent vampire attacks, but they were quickly stopped by the Aurors. If this trend continued, then proper education about vampires would be very helpful in the long run.
The defence professor paused for a moment before continuing, "What you should know about vampires is that blood is their currency. Their hierarchy is built on the strength of their blood, and thus their blood magic. The main weakness they have is that the magic in the blood doesn't regenerate, hence why they feel the need to drink blood from magical beings, with wizards and witches being the most compatible. The more powerful the blood receives, the bigger the power boosts. That means that squibs and muggles aren't attractive targets for vampires. And vampires stay alive as long as the blood inside them has any magic. They will continue to regenerate until they run out. So, the stronger the vampire, the harder it is to kill them."
"Like I said before, the finite nature of their blood magic is their biggest weakness. Any creature with magic, even if they're not performing any magical feats, will exude a small amount of magic, which is quickly regenerated. But since vampires cannot regenerate magic without blood, a very powerful vampire named Drakul created a ritual for all his descendants to not exude any magic and have complete control over it, in exchange their magic would go haywire if they were exposed to sunlight, meaning that they lose their magic very quickly if they go out during the day, hence their most known weaknesses. A few skilled blood mages took their control to another level, learning to manipulate shadows and basic hypnosis. It was evidently the best move since his clan grew and slaughtered all other vampires, their unnatural skill in blood magic giving them a very noticeable advantage. This is the source of the weaknesses we can see in vampires today. So, garlic doesn't burn them, a stake in the heart wouldn't kill them as long as they still had magic in their blood. Of course, decapitating them would kill them, since the magic necessary to regenerate an entire body would exceed whatever magic remained just in the head."
Lily Moon raised her hands, "But then why did those myths start to spread?"
"A very good question. Those methods are in fact useless against most vampires but can work against vampire thralls."
The Slytherin girl raised her hand again, but the professor interrupted, "You were probably going to ask what thralls are, so I'll just explain. Something you need to know about vampires is that they are not born. They cannot reproduce. Every single one of them was a wizard at some point, that drunk vampire blood. We don't know who the first vampire was, but we theorize that it was a blood curse of some sort that mutated. The curse was probably meant to destroy a person's ability to wield magic since no vampire can use our magic, just their blood magic. However, the more magic a wizard had before having been turned, the more efficient his blood magic becomes. But if a muggle, a squib, or a very weak wizard or witch transform, then their blood magic is so weak that it constantly needs to be replaced, causing their bodies and mind to degenerate, and an extreme hunger for blood. These vampires are called thralls and are often created when powerful vampires need servants of some sort. These creatures adopt some feral trademarks making them wary of powerful scents, like garlic, and easily killed since the magic in their blood is minuscule, a wooden stake to the heart would suffice, hence the rumours."
Neville Longbottom spoke up for the first time, "You said that they had social structures…"
"Ah, good catch, Mr. Longbottom. Yes, they have. A normal vampire, if they do not turn into a thrall, can learn to harness and hone their blood magic. After a few centuries, if they show mastery over a form of blood magic, like blood warding or blood rituals, they can attain the title of Lord. A Lord is then allowed to turn other people into vampires and have his own Thralls. With every 'child' they have, they get a small fraction of their power. After a thousand years, if they have enough children to become vampire lords, so much so that they don't even need to feed anymore, getting all the magic they need from their connection to their children, even during daylight, then they become Elder Vampires. They can separate themselves from their coven and start a new one with their children. They're often very powerful, nearly unkillable, and very experienced. If you see one, just run. Apparate if you can, get as far away as possible from them. This will be your only hope to survive an encounter."
The stars in the room flickered as if mirroring the professor's threat. A few students shivered and Harry could hear the wolf howl once more. Huh, was Lupin experienced when it came to vampire hunting?
The werewolf perked up immediately, "Alright, so we're going to have a small exercise. In the forest around you, there is a small horde of vampire thralls, who will start attacking in five minutes. Who could tell me a good way to fend them off?"
Theo Nott raised his hand, "The Lumos charm?"
"Close but no," Lupin answered, "Lumos is artificial light. But you can use the Lumos Solem charm instead. It will not be close to being as effective as real sunlight, but that's a good suggestion. What else?"
Ron Weasley, surprisingly, answered this time, "Well, what about Dung bombs?"
"An innovative solution. With their feral minds and sensitivity to smells, it could deter them. That's a very innovative solution, Mr. Weasley. Take ten points to Gryffindor. Oh, wait, the first one came."
Harry could tell that those were animated constructs, not real vampires, so the risk to the students would be minimal. Harry simply raised a shield focused against physical attacks and observed his classmates. Their improvement was noticeable compared to their first lesson. They were more proactive, even if they weren't fighting smartly. Gryffindors were at each other's backs trying to stop them, with Weasley throwing Dung Bombs that he probably got from his brothers. Neville was a lot better than Harry expected, surprisingly, casting massive beams of sunlight, practically protecting the Gryffindor girls on his own, not that they were idle, simply a lot less active. The Slytherins had used the Gryffindors as a defence of some sort, only picking on any constructs that tried to sneak past. It was weird how well Gryffindors and Slytherins worked together especially considering their rivalry.
He had to admit that Lupin was a good teacher despite how much he unsettled Harry.
They were still losing, probably because they couldn't aim their spells properly to hit the admittedly fast creatures. They took Lupin's word and stuck with it without trying anything else. Sighing in disappointment, Harry simply waved his wand while muttering, "Lumos Solem Maxima!"
An explosion of sunlight in all directions occurred. He probably overpowered it a bit, since it was supposed to be a flash of light. It wasn't a spell that he read in a book, it was a simple combination of the Lumos Solemn charm, and the Lumos Maxima charm, to create a flash of sunlight instead of a beam. The vampire thralls were immediately sent far back by their weakening magic.
It was probably a bit much, but it wasn't like people didn't already know how good he was at magic. Even using such a spell was really underplaying his skills.
Lupin clapped, "Very well done, Mr. Potter. See how he thought outside the box? Now, for our next class, I want each of you to give me five ways to fight attacking vampires while explaining why they would be effective. You're all dismissed, except you, Mr Potter. I want to have a word with you."
Harry froze and slowly walked towards the professor as everyone else left the classroom. To be perfectly honest, he was slightly nervous being alone with the werewolf.
There was always this sixth sense that he had that the man was far more than he appeared, that every action he was taking was just a mask, every motion controlled tightly, lest the beast underneath kills everything in sight like it obviously craved to do.
He readied his mind to cast a magic circle as fast as possible to destroy the man at the slightest aggressive move, yet the man just kept looking at him.
Lupin wasn't using any magic. He just kept staring at him for what felt like hours. Harry refused to start speaking since it was the professor who wanted his conversation. The man seemed to realize this as he cleared his throat and spoke up, "You know when I first saw you, I just couldn't help but stare at you. You look so much like your father, but your eyes, they're exactly like your mother's."
Harry didn't know what the man was getting at and just raised an eyebrow, "That's a very creepy thing to say to a minor."
The professor snorted, "And that's something that James would say. I have to say that if they could both see you now, they would have been proud."
"Alright," the young Slytherin answered with a shrug, "that's all nice and everything but why did you ask me to stay?"
The man stiffened in shock, "You don't care at all? About your parents, what they were like, what they liked, what they disliked. Their hopes, their dreams. Who were their friends and why they couldn't take care of you? I investigated how you were treated by your aunt Petunia, and I have to say, I would have questions if I was in your place."
The last Potter snorted, "The dead don't care, so why should I?"
"And why I never spoke to you before?"
"People are selfish, they have their own lives. I don't care about why you never spoke to me; the truth is that you didn't. You are a stranger to me, and I don't like your obsession with me. The way you keep looking at me if we're in the same room, it's just creepy and I want you to stop."
The defence professor gave Harry a complicated look, "You know, don't you? You know that I'm a werewolf. You hate me because of it."
"Don't kid yourself, Lupin," Harry answered, "I don't know what the fuck you are, but you're not a werewolf. I met werewolves before, and you're definitely not one. So, why don't you stop playing the concerned family friend and tell me what you want or I'm walking out the door right now."
And just like that, a switch flipped. The man's face turned cold, and he suddenly burst into laughter, "You know, I should have expected it. You're her son after all."
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Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.
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