บท 15: To Save or Condemn?
Deep down, the master of the Deathly Hallows was conflicted. If he rescued Norbert or even killed her, it's not like their bloodthirst would stop.
Save the misery of a drake that he had a past with or let innocents be kidnapped and drained in its stead?
For all of his life, Harry never really had a moral dilemma. He'd been strung along by adults and forced to jump into dangerous situations one after another. In the end, he decided to show up there first and make the decision there.
Harry hardly needed directions to the Tepes castle, as when he drew near, it radiated death like a beacon from afar. He found himself unconsciously releasing his death magic from his pores.
He reeled it in and found himself drifting towards one of the towers before he stopped himself. Thoughts of stolen drakes were the last thing on his mind.
It was like spirits of life and death itself spiraled from above and were drawn to the tower. After the discarded souls touched it, they slowly drifted away.
Ever since Harry turned into a devil, he'd never seen souls that were unattached. Only Sacred Gears.
And speaking of Sacred Gears, the souls were all touching one of them. A Sacred Gear that was far more powerful than any he had ever sensed before. One that was... broken? How was it possible that a Sacred Gear could have a damaged soul like Voldemort after creating Horcruxes?
Harry covered himself with his cloak and flew towards the tower. He was able to sense the protections on the castle and saw that the magic circles were branded with the marks of the Tepes family. There was no way he could break through this! And they may even have High or Ultimate-ranked vampires inside!
The devil sighed and started to turn around before he felt himself gain partial visiter permissions over the protections. Who would have let him in the castle?
He looked over towards where the powerful Sacred Gear was and watched the souls that had been converging towards it start to drift away. Directly away from him. Harry pulled his hand up the Ressurection Stone hanging by his neck. It was slightly warm to the touch.
"What are you?"
A voice from the balcony reached Harry's ears and he looked up to the woman standing in the recently opened doorway.
Gleaming red eyes unblinkingly stared directly at Harry's floating form. Inwardly, he cursed the uselessness of the Invisibility Cloak and swore to research every faction in the supernatural world in detail as soon as he could.
Harry pulled the cloak's hood down, deactivating its invisibility. Not like it mattered, the blonde woman still hadn't blinked, "Just a devil. I took a contract that led me here and was going to turn around, but..."
How could he explain what he saw when he came here?
"The voices stopped," she said in a monotoned voice.
"You hear souls talk to you?" Harry couldn't help but blurt out.
She broke out in a smile and a single tear started to roll down her face, "Not right now."
"Well, that's good. I think it has to do with an item of mine. Or maybe my devil power of death."
"Death. Hmm," she nodded, "Please come in before someone sees you."
Harry flapped his devil wings and set foot on the balcony before he entered the room. He'd been trying to be more suspicious in general, but he couldn't stop himself from trusting her. Her soul was as damaged as her Sacred Gear. He could tell though, that she wasn't a full vampire. He felt a sense of death from her, but she wasn't as dead as a vampire should be.
Not to mention her appearance. She looked flawless with her slightly pale skin and blonde hair, but all Harry's attention was drawn to her eyes. The red eyes of Voldemort looked predatory, cold, and deranged, but hers were the furthest thing from it. They were light, almost pink. He was stunned before she interrupted the silence.
"Valerie Tepes," a chalice appeared in her hands. "I'm the possessor of the Sephiroth Graal."
The Holy Grail, one of the thirteen Longinus, the most powerful Sacred Gears in the world. It had the power to contact the concept of life and forced the possessor to have an innate connection with souls, life, and death. It's most famous quality was for performing unbelievable miracles of healing.
"Harry Potter," he removed the heated necklace. "This is the Ressurection Stone."
"The souls are afraid of it, can I?" she held onto it tightly when Harry unhesitantly handed it over.
"Lord Beleth and his late wife made it. Among other things, it can be used to call souls to it. I guess that would make them afraid, but I didn't think it could do that."
Valerie grinned, showing her sharp fangs, "I don't know, but I've been kept here, in pain for so long. I can't thank you enough."
"It's no problem, really," Harry scratched the back of his neck. "I'm glad I could help."
He did, however, recognize her emotions. When she said she was being kept here, she hesitated, just like how he would take when people would ask him about his summers away from Hogwarts.
"Until I turned 11, I slept in a closet," he blurted out.
Maybe it had something to do with his impulsive nature as a devil. Maybe it was the connection he felt. Maybe he was just horny and wanted to kidnap a princess from her tower. Maybe he just wanted to save the day as Hermione told him he did.
When he said that though, Valerie's red eyes looked up from the stone and stared at Harry.
"Even after then, I was always trapped," Harry continued. "I went to a castle, a school, where I was supposed to learn. But when I was there, I couldn't leave. And when I was sent home for the summers, they locked me in a room again. I even had bars put on my windows at one point.
"What I mean is," Harry looked down at his feet before he locked his gaze with hers, "I've had freedom now for a week and it's been the best time of my life. It's worth it."
He wrapped his hands over hers, "I know I'm a stranger breaking into your room."
Harry grinned at her, "But let me help you."
"I'm a Dhampir," Valerie said as she tore her gaze from him and shook as if expecting rejection.
The devil held on to her hands and waited.
"So how can I break you out of this joint?"
She tightened her hold on the Ressurection Stone before she handed it back to Harry, "If I feed on you, I'll be able to use your power over death and trick the protections into thinking I'm a thrall."
Harry thought handing him the stone back was dumb. The thing was useless to him, so he slipped it over her neck before raising his wrist to her mouth.
"Wait!" Harry stopped her. "I also have some of the powers that the Phenex house has and basilisk venom in my blood, that's still okay, right?"
Before he could be frightened by the intense, predatory gleam that flickered in her eyes, Harry felt a weight around his shoulders as Valerie bit into his neck and started slurping.
It wasn't anything horrible, he just felt blood leave him. Honestly, Harry expected some pain or even aphrodisiac-like properties. Having blood drained from him was a surprisingly mundane experience.
When he felt the hot breath and warm tongue caress his ear, intellectual thoughts of blood-sucking were discarded.
"Divine," she purred, sending shivers down his aching body.
Valerie slithered down his body that Harry had just remembered she had been hanging on to before swaying her hips as she opened the door of the balcony.
"Shall we be off?"
Norbert? Whose Norbert? Harry figured Dobby could take care of it later.
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
Inviolable
Inviolable Because of her damaged Sacred Gear and the influence of the Resurrection Stone to keep the voices away, Valerie Tepes will be fairly bi-polar.
She's around 20 and has had the training to lead even though she's been trapped to live with a Patriarchal faction that hates impure vampires.
This results in a complicated mix of knowledgable, slightly crazy, and innocent at times even though she's seen horrors. With her connection to death, I had to find a way to get her in Harry's peerage.
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