Blood Bound: A Vampire Tale
Disclaimer: Everything concerning Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling. I own nothing, nor is this done for any purpose except my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of anyone reading this. There is no attempt to make any profit.
I wish to extend a grateful thank you to my beta readers, Amanda and Prof Roz. Any mistakes left in this story are due to my last minute revisions.
A/N Conversations in italic print are telepathic in nature.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The realization that magic had been used here caused the basement to become a remarkably sinister place. A sense of evil made the space seem to shrink, as if the walls were closing in on them. As the rain began falling, water began finding its way in. The sound of dripping water began to echo through the still, dank air, as thunder boomed dully in the background.
Harry carefully moved in on the iron door, the top of which was slightly above the level of the floor. It was reached by a descending flight of steps that had been cut into the concrete floor. It seemed obvious that it had been added after the original building was completed. Harry stood at the top of the stairs as Hermione approached. She gently took hold of his arm as they stood, staring at the door. As they looked, they became aware of a gentle scratching noise. The sound was coming from an old wardrobe standing next to the door, against the wall. The scratching became more insistent, gradually becoming louder. With a suddenness that made the vampires jump, the door swung open.
Two misshapen figures fell to the floor and quickly began unfolding themselves. The skeletal figures rose to their feet. The skulls had very little flesh about them and from deep within their dried eye sockets something glittered with an uncanny malevolence. The bodies had an almost mummified appearance; leather-like skin hung in folds leaving gaps that exposed the bones underneath. They began moving, stalking toward Hermione with outstretched hands. The lack of flesh on their hands gave them the appearance of claws.
Harry pushed Hermione behind him and drew his wand against the oncoming Inferi. Hermione reacted first by firing a stunner across Harry's shoulder. The red flash had no affect on the monster. Harry remembered Dumbledore's telling him that things that dwelt in the dark feared fire and light. He pointed his wand and cast a non-verbal "Incindio" at the nearest Infirius. Instantly, the thing burst into flame, but it felt no pain and it continued the attack. Hermione pointed her wand at the burning Infirius and commanded, "Reducto". Her spell shattered the thing's pelvis and it collapsed onto the floor. Though it could no longer walk, it tried to crawl towards them.
The second Infirius moved away from the fire, but it still came on. Harry thought, "Lumos." Light blazed from the tip of his wand. The light stopped the second Inferius as it sought to cover its eyes. Hermione smashed the thing with three quick blasting spells that destroyed its mobility, yet it did not die. She stared as it twitched feebly on the floor. Meanwhile, the first Infirius was still trying to crawl toward them. The fire continued to consume it; after about two minutes it stopped crawling, and after a further few minutes burned, completely away leaving only a fine, white powder. Harry burned the second Infirius as well.
They looked at one another and at the numerous wardrobes placed against the walls. How many more Infiri were concealed here? What had triggered these two to attack? Hermione shrugged her shoulders.
Once more, they moved to the edge of the steps. Harry went down first, his talons extended and his wand at the ready. He remembered the cave; grimly he cut the palm of his hand and applied blood to the door. With a loud click and the groaning of rusted hinges, the door swung slowly inward. Hermione followed Harry down the steps. When she reached the bottom, she took his injured hand and closed the wound.
Hand in hand, they entered the dark space behind the iron door. The room beyond was large, and square. There were several benches and an ancient radio sitting beside the door. A few bare light bulbs hung from the ceiling. Turning to the right, the vampires began to explore the room. At the back was a store room, now empty and festooned with spiders' webs. Continuing around the room they found nothing of interest. It was a bare and dismal place. Harry wondered if he could have been wrong about the cup being here.
"What was this place?" he asked Hermione.
"It looks like a bomb shelter, the building is old enough. If the city was under attack the children could have been brought here." She gestured to a faded poster that bore a circle with yellow and black triangles.
"It doesn't make sense for Tom to hide the Horcrux so well that it couldn't be found. For it to work it would have to try to possess someone so he could take their life energy. When he took enough he could have a body once more. At least, that's how the diary worked."
Once again they searched the storage room. This time Harry noticed a gray metal door set into the wall. Its hinges protested as Harry pulled the door open. Several large cockroaches spilled out of the open door. Within the cabinet there were several pipes and valves. Harry knew enough about Muggle plumbing to guess that these pipes controlled the water and gas going into the orphanage above. As he examined the enclosure, he noticed that some of the bricks at the back had no mortar between them. Carefully, he began to remove one of the bricks. As the brick came free, he felt a tingle pass through his undead flesh and the space began to glow. He jerked his hand back as a ghostly flame swept through the enclosure. A few cockroaches that had not fled were burned to ashes. Immediately, Harry remembered Dumbledore's blackened hand, and he wondered if he had found the cause. It seemed his vampire reflexes had saved him.
Harry looked into the space behind the brick and saw a gleam of gold. As he did so, another insect crawled into the space. Once again the flames flashed, destroying the intruder. Hermione gently pushed Harry aside and plunged her hand swiftly into the space, "You will need your hands, Harry. I won't after Tom is dead," she thought. Hermione, because her hands were smaller, was able to hook the cup on her talon and draw it from its hiding place. The flame swept over her hand, causing her to cry out in pain, but the magical fire caused no damage. They both looked at her uninjured hand in wonder. The fire evidently fed on the life force in the flesh. Their undead bodies had no energy to feed the flames.
They were interrupted by a soft hissing sound. Harry thought of snakes, but he realized that the sound made no sense. What ever it was, no animal was making the noise. He looked into the cabinet and noticed that something was stirring the dust. Hermione thought, "Gas!" The magical fire had melted a spot in an incoming gas line and the flammable gas was escaping around the valve. As they turned to run, they saw that the iron door was swinging shut.
The vampires tried the unlocking spell to no avail. Instinctively Hermione tried to Apparate, but she could not disappear, it was now obvious that an anti-apparation jinx was in effect in the cellar. The cleverness of the trap became apparent. An injured wizard would try to blast the door open. If he caused a spark, he would be killed in the explosion. If he waited too long, the gas would suffocate him, and if he did find a way out, the Infiri would tear him to pieces. As if on cue, the sound of scratching began on the iron door. Hermione's taking of the Horcrux had activated the Infiri.
It was obvious that Tom had never considered vampires to be a threat, but his trap might be successful anyway. His magical fire was ineffective against the undead, and he and Hermione did not need to be in a hurry as they no longer needed to breathe. Unfortunately, their undead flesh would not be protected by a Flame Freezing Charm so that a spark could incinerate them all.
Harry's mind was in overdrive as he tried to consider his options. The bomb shelter had no direct ventilation to the outside; the only way was to open the door. Suddenly, the door began to swing slowly open. The door was responding to the Infiri, allowing them entrance. "Hermione, change form and get up on the ceiling," Harry commanded. He could only hope to gain time; his best weapon against the Infiri, fire, was denied him.
Hermione did as Harry ordered using the thumbs on her wings and claws to gain a purchase near one of the light bulb wires. Harry took the cup in his teeth and transformed into a bat as well. He flitted about the ceiling near the store room, hoping to draw the Infiri to himself. He was glad to see that most of the Infiri began to move in his direction, but to his consternation they moved far more swiftly than before and the extra weight of the cup was making flight awkward.
"Go!" he thought to Hermione. She dropped and flew toward the door, dodging two Infiri that tried to grab her. To Harry's surprise, they followed her toward the door, but he quickly lost track of what was happening to her as a score of Infiri closed in on him. He was able to keep close to the ceiling, which was only about eight feet from the floor, but they were leaping to try to catch him. Fortunately, even with the cup, he was able to dodge them. They took no notice of their injuries as they smashed themselves against the walls and ceiling. Often they would grapple each other, tearing and breaking themselves in their frenzy to get the Horcrux. Harry was grateful for the small size of his animagus form; the Infiri were clumsy against small, fast targets. Even vampires would have been overwhelmed if they had to stay in their human forms. Using a similar strategy to the one he used against the Horntail, he drew them into the corner and then flew around the room to the door. In one desperate burst of speed, he skimmed the ceiling, dropped over the head of an Inferius, and flashed through the door.
He climbed vertically upward as soon as he cleared the door. Once in the main basement he had a little more headroom in which to maneuver. He was horrified to see that there were several dozen more Infiri here. Most of them were following Hermione as she flitted around the pipes. Fortunately for her, the structure of the boiler was preventing the Infiri from getting too close. Harry's plan of just heading out of the door evaporated. He would not be responsible for setting all of these monsters loose on the surrounding neighborhood.
To that end, he flew to a corner and dropped into his human shape. Drawing his wand he silently commanded "Colloportus!" shutting the door to the outside. As the Infiri began to track him once more, he began to search for another way out. The stairs provided no answer as the Infiri would just escape that way. Trying to buy time, he used the "Reducto" spell to immobilize the nearer Infiri.
Then he saw it! He fired another "Reducto" at the coal chute, dropping the heavy, wooden door to the floor of the coal bin.
"Hermione," he cried, "out the coal chute." She broke away from the protection of the pipes and arrowed out of the now open chute. He grinned in triumph as he saw her escape. Just then, he felt an Infirius grab his wrist. Savagely, he slashed at the thing with his talons. It had no effect, just like the "Sectumsempra" spell he had tried in the cave. Changing his tactics, he frantically smashed in the top of the monster's skull with his fist, and then he broke the arm off at the thing's elbow. Finally, he placed his booted foot against the Infirius' chest and kicked it into the others. In spite of the damage he had inflicted upon it, the Infirius was not dead. Sidestepping the nearest monsters, he ran down the wall, leaped into the air, and transformed into a bat once again.
Harry dodged the oncoming knots of Infiri and flew up and out of the chute. Hermione was waiting for him outside. As he flew out, he dropped the cup into her hand, and he took his human form again.
Hermione summoned their belongings, "Where to?" she asked.
"You Apperate to Birmingham, I'll join you in a few minutes. I'm going to burn this place down. We can't let the Infiri loose."
Hermione nodded her agreement. Now that they were outside, they could Apparate.
After Hermione left, Harry waited a few more minutes. He pointed his wand down the coal chute and incanted, "Incindio!" As he spoke, he began to turn, vanishing with a loud crack just as a jet of flame shot out of the chute.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
The next morning it was all over the Muggle news. An old, abandoned orphanage had burned during the night. It was thought that lightning had set off a gas leak in the old building, but Voldemort wondered otherwise. He eagerly waited for a report from his spies in the Ministry that some wizards had been killed. He wouldn't admit that he was frightened. There was little to tie him to the place, but there might be a few who knew that he had grown up there.
He had discovered through Snape that Dumbledore had been nosing around, looking for people that remembered him when he was younger. Now, he wasn't so sure that his Horcruxes were safe. He resolved to check on them when he got his report from the Ministry. It seemed too much of a coincidence that he had lost Fenrir in Albania, followed so closely by Bellatrix in Godric's Hollow. He had had that place under routine surveillance, hoping to catch Harry Potter there. Now, it appeared that he should have sent more of his Death Eaters. Bellatrix had disobeyed him once again, and it seemed she had paid a heavy price. He had instructed everyone to get help before trying to take Harry, but she wanted all the credit for herself.
He rubbed his long-fingered hands on his temples as he pondered what Harry had done to Bellatrix. He could not understand how Harry could have become so powerful in such a short time; Snape had been convinced of the boy's mediocrity. Now Snape was dead. He knew that some in the Ministry blamed Harry for his death. No one knew what had happened to Fenrir, but he knew that Arthur Weasley thought Harry had done it. Now Bella was back in Azkaban and she blamed Harry. The prime question now had become "What was Harry doing at Godric's Hollow?"
There was a knock on his door. One of his servants brought him a sheet of paper. Voldemort scanned the paper; it was the report from the Ministry. There were no known deaths among the Ministry personnel or anyone else in the wizarding world, for that matter. The orphanage had been completely destroyed, with the rubble collapsing into the basement. At first thought, he believed that his secret was safe. He would have to rescue the cup from the basement and find a new hiding place. With a sigh of relief he sank back into his chair to take a nap.
As he sank into sleep he came to a sudden realization, jerking awake he grabbed the report again. With trembling hands he read it over again. Now he knew, without a doubt, someone else knew about the Horcruxes. He realized that if the cup had not been discovered, the Infiri would have been in the wardrobes and the Muggles would be screaming about bodies being found in an orphanage, or else there would have been some Ministry activity to cover up that fact. Since they weren't found, it could only mean that they had been active and that meant if no one had died, that someone must have the cup.
Grabbing his wand he Apparated away.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
The following evening, the two vampires looked at the golden treasures that they had captured. Because of the magic within them they appeared to glow softly in the darkness. It seemed a pity that two objects with so much history had to be destroyed just to insure that one madman would finally die as well.
"So how do we destroy them?" Harry asked as he leaned across Hermione's shoulder.
"I did some research on gold, Harry. About the only ways to destroy the objects are to melt them or dissolve them in some kind of acid. If we're going to melt them, we need a temperature of one thousand sixty three degrees Celsius or hotter, and none of the fires I can conjure are that hot. The only acid that will dissolve gold is aqua regia. There are a couple of solutions of Cyanide that will dissolve gold, Sodium Cyanide or Potassium Cyanide, but they're poisonous and the Muggles control those pretty tightly."
Harry's brows knotted together as he struggled to remember, "Snape told us about aqua regia, the alchemists called it that just because it can dissolve gold, can we make it?"
"We could, it is made from three parts Hydrochloric Acid and one part Nitric Acid."
Harry began wondering where he could locate the chemicals and the jars that would hold the Horcruxes while they dissolved them. He also wondered what would happen when the parts of Tom's soul were released. He had no desire to be splashed by powerful acids.
"Why don't we scout out the chemistry labs at the university?" Hermione suggested. "If not there we could go back to Fred and George. We'll have to talk to them sooner or later, won't we?"
Harry nodded as he gathered his cloak and wand. Together they walked out into the night, heading for the university campus. As they made their way through the streets of Birmingham each was also searching for someone to feed from. As they passed through one of the more run down sections of the city, Harry became aware of a familiar sense of fear. Hermione slowed her pace; Harry knew she felt it too.
He stretched out with his vampire senses and turned to the left moving along a trash strewn alley. A quick turn led him to a court yard. There, standing in a silent row were four dementors. They were feeding from the residents of a dingy apartment building.
Harry pointed his wand and began to cut the dementors down, one after another. They died silently, slowly sinking to the ground. They vampires watched as the monsters evaporated. Then Harry did a quick turn around the courtyard, looking for more dementors. There were none.
Side by side they moved toward the passage to the street, when, suddenly a fifth dementor loomed out of the darkness of the passage. Hermione started and leaped backwards as Harry extended his talons. The dementor halted and regarded them silently; Harry could see the energy patterns where its eyes should have been. Slowly, Harry drew his wand again.
"Are you going to destroy me also, silent one?" The voice crackled in the air like a burst of static.
Stunned, Harry replied, "You can talk?"
The dementor bowed its head, "Yes. I am familiar with your mode of communication, but not many others of my kind are. You can perceive me, you also resonate, but you do not sustain. Are there many like you?"
"I don't understand."
"The other silent ones, they neither sustain us nor do they perceive us. They do not resonate. Do you understand now?"
"No."
"You resonate; you are able to influence the flows of power. You created harmonics that destroyed my people."
"He means magic, Harry. I think he wants to know if there are other vampire-wizards, like us," interjected Hermione.
"I'm not going to tell you, dementor. Your "people" destroy innocent humans, sucking out their souls, and leave them worse than dead. To be in your presence brings only misery and pain. I hate you, all of you." Harry fought his rising anger, he did not want his vampire insinuating itself into the situation.
"What is a soul?" the dementor asked. The voice had no inflection, betrayed no emotion. It was almost as if it were produced by an instrument or a machine.
Harry stared in surprise. "You feed on them, suck them out of us. How can you not know what a soul is?"
"A soul is being. I understand your term. We need your being in order to continue our people. It sustains through the time of new growth. We hold it until it changes Frequency and departs. I do not understand your anger; many of your beings change Frequency each rotation of your world."
"Are you talking of death?" Harry's mind was reeling as he tried to come to terms with the idea that the dementors were rational, had agendas, and perspectives that were not human, up until now he had considered them mute animals. He would have bet money on the next question.
"What is death?"
"It is a time of ending. Humans die and they don't interact with us anymore. They don't walk or talk. Their lives are over and we can never be with them anymore."
"Your perception is flawed, silent one. There is no ending; there is always continuation, but at a different Frequency. There may be separation for a time, for not all change to the same Frequency. Nevertheless, the change comes to all beings. I sense that this causes your energy state to change. Why?"
Harry was grieving for his lost friends as the dementor spoke. "We love each other. It causes us pain when someone we love dies and we can't be with them."
"What is love?"
Harry and Hermione looked at one another, how could one explain something as personal as love to a being that seemed incapable of perceiving it? A whirlwind of thoughts and memories flashed through his mind.
He turned back to the dementor, but before he could speak it said, "I perceive your thought. The two of you love each other and many beings around you. Loss of connection changes your energy state. I do not understand why you cling to those who have changed Frequency and ignore the many beings with which you might have connection? Neither do we harm the instrument with which the being interacts with the world. Is that not enough."
Hermione was becoming increasingly intrigued by Harry's dialogue with the dementor. She interjected, "Connection is not always easy in humans." She thought of her relationships with Ron, Harry, and Krum, and projected the stream of her consciousness at the dementor. She also tried to communicate how the empty bodies affected those that loved them.
"Your thought is unusually clear, yet you do not sustain, your energy state is shielded." The dementor regarded them intently. "You are not your own being; I perceive your symbiont. It is slowly conforming itself to your being. In time you will be one."
"Does this mean you can't remove our souls?" asked Hermione.
"No, I cannot, silent one. I have never seen this before. Your symbiont holds you as I would hold another being, yet you do not change Frequency. This is most curious."
"Dementor, can you take a being from any instrument?" asked Harry. He had had a sudden inspiration.
"Until now, I would have said yes, but your beings are imprisoned by creatures that I cannot affect."
"Dementor, if you will attempt to aid me, I will spare your existence," demanded Harry.
"What do you wish of me? I am in your power."
"I wish you to kiss two objects. There are parts of a being within them. I will tell you that they are part of Lord Voldemort's being. Do you have an objection?"
"No, silent one. Voldemort is our sworn enemy. He wished us harm, even though we still wished to serve him. I will do as you ask."
The three of them made a strange procession through the streets of Birmingham. Fear of the dementor cleared the area around them and they saw no one as they journeyed to their lair.
Once there, Harry brought out the cup. The dementor slowly dropped its hood. "There is a being within the object." It brought its shapeless maw close to the cup. The air grew noticeably cooler as the dementor focused its power on the cup. For long moments, the cup glowed more brightly. Then a mist began to form around the cup. As it drew away from the gold, the mist took on the shape of a human being. The soul fragment began to twist and struggle, as if it were aware of its fate. Slowly, inexorably, it was drawn into that terrible black hole. The last thing he saw was the small figure cover its ghostly face with its hands as it was swept away. Hermione had looked away as the mist took form, she couldn't bear to watch as the soul fragment was consumed.
Harry just felt cold as he watched the completion of part of the task Dumbledore had set him. There was no joy in the destruction of his enemy; despite the fact Harry tried to remember the many crimes of which Voldemort was guilty.
Next, Harry brought out the ring.
The dementor looked up at him.
For Harry, the bottom dropped out of the world as the dementor said, "There is no being here, silent one."