Harry Potter and the Echoes of a Lost War
Part I - Debates.

Pillnitz Castle, Dresden, Germany.

“All sit. We will now resume this conference on the matter of the Treaty of the Rhine,” Supreme Mugwump Babajide Akingbade announced. “Ambassador Potter, you have the first voice of the table today.”

Harry Potter nodded and leaned forward, laying his arms down before him. He panned his gaze around the round table as he spoke, “We’ve been over this for nearly two weeks with no resolution in sight. The fact of the matter is that the vampires refused to serve Lord Voldemort, and no amount of reasoning or debate while we’re sitting halfway across the continent from them is going to explain why. I propose that a delegation from among the envoys gathered here today be deployed at the nearest opportunity to speak with the surviving clan lords and find out first-hand what the situation is like in Transylvania before we continue to discuss whether we uphold or repeal the treaty next month.”

Ignoring the minor flinch from a handful of envoys at the casual mention of the late Dark Lord’s name, Akingbade waited a beat before asking, “Is that all, Ambassador Potter?”

“By and large, yes, Supreme Mugwump.” Harry stayed in his position, not at all pleased at the looks he was receiving in return as he assessed his counterparts. We’ve dawdled for long enough, and I have enough of a measure of their worth to at least try this. “I would like to press the motion to an immediate vote.”

“Very well.” Akingbade cleared his throat. “All in favor, voice your assent. Those against, say your own piece. You will have three minutes.” As the only wizard in the room with a wand, he raised his and conjured a simple Tempus charm over the center of the table.

“Obviously I agree,” Harry said at once. “And I volunteer for the delegation.”

“Most noble,” Alexei Drominov uttered from directly across him. The grizzled Russian was tall, at least a head above everyone else even while seated. “If you are so desperate to leave, Ambassador Potter, return to England and your typical duties behind a desk while discussion continues without you. Your Wizengamot can appoint yet another fresh envoy, if they have the time. And for the record, this is a firm no.”

“I must concur with Ambassador Drominov’s sentiment, that we have no need to further divide conversation in this way. If we simply resume our talks over the following month, I have faith that we will reach an agreement to uphold the treaty,” Helios Delphiki said from Drominov’s left. The olive-skinned wizard folded his hands over his lap and turned to his other neighbor.

“I too see nothing to be gained from such a mission,” Ao Shang said, inclining his wrinkled head. “Politely, I must reject Ambassador Potter’s notion.”

Harry leaned back and began to drum his fingers along his still crossed arms. With the obvious resistance out of the way, he thought, as saying such aloud might well alienate one of those still on the fence, let’s see who else actually gives a damn about what the treaty stands for.

It was several long moments before his first outside support came. “I agree with Monsieur Potter,” Fleur Delacour began. Her looks and tone had only matured in the decade since they had last seen one another at the Triwizard Tournament. “How many years has it been since a witch or wizard other than the Dark Lord has deigned to visit them in person?” No one bothered to answer the rhetoric at this point. It had been the late Minister Albus Dumbledore. “We have discussed the available information to no conclusion. I too volunteer for this proposed delegation.”

Three seats down from her on the left, Ireland’s envoy, Harwin Grimm, a shrunken old man with more salt than fire in his curly beard, shrugged. “I’ve naught against the matter, but leave me out of the delegation. Even before they joined Grindelwald, their kind and mine have never seen eye to eye.”

“What kind, goblins?” Elayne Murdoch interjected from Shang’s left. The young American brunette flashed Grimm a grin, to which his expression soured, and she turned toward Delacour beside Harry. “Alright, darlin’, let’s say I agree. Assuming you two are the only two stupid enough to walk into a country of angry, starving vampires, surely you would need more protection than those pretty little eyes?”

Delacour’s soft features took on a degree of sharpness, accentuating her cheekbones, the set of her narrowed gaze, and her now pursed lips. “I am adequately prepared should the worst come to pass, Ambassador Murdoch, even without a wand at my disposal.”

Murdoch held up her hands and adopted a falsely sincere expression. “I’m just sayin’. Remember what the treaty was named after? At least bring along some Aurors for y’alls own safety.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Harry broke in before Delacour could respond. Both women looked at him, Murdoch with her flashy grin again, Delacour with a more guarded expression. “Something to consider after the vote.” He nodded to them both and then looked around at the remaining envoys quietly murmuring to themselves.

Four so far. Not counting Akingbade, that leaves six to convince. He settled on the comfortably rotund Swiss representative next to Grimm. “Ambassador Feist?”

“Ah, yes. Well.” Feist hesitated and looked elsewhere. “I would agree that from the given information, we cannot accurately compare their behavior from the nights of the Red Rhine to now, Ambassador Potter. But I also cannot endorse that those of us gathered here take the risk which you have proposed,” Henrich Feist said firmly. “I am sorry, but it is simply too dangerous, given their history. As Ambassador Murdoch said, they are bound to be ravenous if they have abided by the terms, and my grandfather has shown me his recollection of their war crimes. I know what a starving vampire can do to a man.” He visibly shivered and fell silent.

“It would appear that we are at an indecision,” Drominov stated. He motioned toward the clock, which was rapidly running out. “A shame. Such an impasse means--”

He was cut off by the Australian representative between Feist and Delacour, Savannah Harper, a deeply tanned, tawny-haired woman with all too leonine features. “--I was gonna keep my trap shut until ya opened ya own again, but just for that? I’ll agree with Potter, ya obnoxious cunt. And now time’s up, so stuff it.”

Drominov’s lips pressed together. He might have responded, but Akingbade dispelled his Tempus and then tapped the table with his wand, silencing everyone else.

“That will do for now, Ambassadors, thank you.” He cleared his throat again. “With five votes in favor and four against, and four abstaining, the motion to form a delegation to Transylvania has passed. The matter to uphold or repeal the Treaty of the Rhine is now adjourned until one month from today. Let us take a short break to collect our thoughts, and when we sit again in half an hour, any who would be willing to join Ambassadors’ Potter and Delacour, please voice your support at that time. After that, we shall leave the remaining matters of security and transport up to the appointed.”

Akingbade tapped his wand to the table, ending the silencing spell, and then rose, making his way out into the garden behind them.

That was closer than I would have hoped. Akingbade seems like he would have sided in my favor if pushed to cast a decisive vote, but I’m grateful it did not come down to that, Harry thought.

Those who had kept their votes to themselves, being the Ambassadors’ Champi of Bucharest, Agni of India, Khan of Mongolia, and Pho of Thailand, gave a shake of their heads when Harry glanced over to them. Grimm and Feist had made their decisions clear, and he would sooner trust a reformed Death Eater than offer the invitation to Drominov, Delphiki, and Shang.

That leaves Murdoch and Harper.

But even as he thought that, they both stood. Harper followed after Akingbade out into the garden, while Murdoch stepped away and then turned to bend and rest her arms on the back of her seat so that she was facing Harry. “I’ll give credit where credit is due, darlin’, you’ve got more nerve than most to want to walk into Transylvania. But don’t try an’ sweet talk me into joinin’ this venture. I like my pretty little neck the way it is.” She didn’t bother to wait for his response, but stood with a not wholly unwelcome stretch and walked out to look at the River Elbe.

When he looked back to the table, he found that Delacour was giving him a look of resignation before she also stood and followed after Harper, and one by one the rest of the envoys to turn him down made their own departures, leaving Harry alone at the table but for the three he cared for the least.

“Well, Ambassador Potter, it would appear that you have curried enough favor among our softer counterparts to scrape by on this occasion.” Drominov’s expression lifted. “I can only hope that your bravery does not turn out to be your downfall, to say nothing of the danger you have placed Ambassador Delacour into.”

“Thank you for your concern, Ambassador Drominov, I hadn’t realized you cared.” He pushed his chair back and turned to join Delacour in giving Harper a shot. “I have full faith in myself and Fleur to return safely from Transylvania. After all, not every dark creature has the same moral deficiencies that you do.”

-/-/-/-​

“--but I agreed only to stick it to Drominov, not because I support a walk into that lion’s den,” Harper was saying as Harry walked up. She barely nodded to him. “I’d as soon spend a year mediatin’ between the yowie tribes and the acromantula than join ya, and I’ve known some right mean spiders around Mount Isa. I doubt ya can convince anyone else, nor can I see why ya would bother to try.”

“Minister Dumbledore taught me that everyone deserves a second chance,” Harry said evenly. “That’s the entire reason we’ve been here for two weeks, and why he pushed for the treaty following the end of the war instead of total genocide.” He searched her expression, finding no ground there. “This has been their second chance, Miss Harper. And from everything that we have to go off of, they have lived up to his expectations.”

“Well fuckin’ good for him, Potter, but he’s been dead and gone for years or else he’d be here preaching to me instead, and it wasn’t vampires who did him in at the end.” She held up her right hand to cut him off from going further. “Listen, I’ve been around dangerous predators all my life, and they don’t tend to act against their nature. I can’t explain why the vampires stayed put when they had another chance to run wild under the Dark Lord. They should be starved for human blood, no matter how much livestock and wildlife Albus Dumbledore provided out on that plateau.” She stepped away and looked around at the fountain ahead. “Somethin’ isn’t right about the whole situation, Potter. If ya walk in there, I don’t expect to see ya here again when we continue discussion.”

He had nothing he could say to that, and Harper walked away, ignoring Delacour’s half-hearted attempts to speak from beside him. I hadn’t expected to recruit more than a few, but just the two of us is not the most ideal situation, no matter how much I trusted in Minister Dumbledore, Harry thought.

Delacour exhaled the last of her futile words and placed a hand to her brow.

“Mon dieu, must they all be determined to see the worst in this matter?” she said, more to herself than to him, given the lapse into her native tongue. She brushed a few strands of loose hair behind her ear before she looked up at Harry, frowning. “Mademoiselle Harper is unfortunately right in one way, Monsieur Potter. Our odds of convincing anyone else among our peers has dropped significantly with her refusal.”

-/-/-/-​

“All sit,” Akingbade began when everyone had gathered again. “The matter of the delegation is now resumed. Let those who have decided to join now voice their intention to do so.”

Harry leaned back in his chair, casting one last silent plea that was flatly denied by almost everyone. To his dismay, it was actually Ao Shang who said, “After consulting with my fellow envoys, Supreme Mugwump, I feel that it would be remiss of me to ignore the plight which Ambassadors’ Potter and Delacour have volunteered their services toward.” He bowed his head. “In the interest of cooperation, I shall retract my prior complaint and now submit myself to this delegation.”

What are you playing at, Shang? If the wizened Chinese emissary had had a change of heart, it was no doubt at Drominov’s urging. But on what grounds could Harry actually protest? Anything I could say now would just give Drominov more ammunition when talks pick up again.

“Thank you, Ambassador Shang.” Akingbade gave the table several more moments, and when no one else spoke, he said, “Very well. I would normally insist on a larger group for such an undertaking, but it has become obvious how few are willing to venture into Transylvania, and assigning unwilling members toward any duty will only put everyone involved at risk.” He cleared his throat, “For that very reason, all matters of security will be left up to the delegation’s discretion, including their method of transport. This meeting is now on hold until the delegation returns, or one month’s time has passed.”

Those who would stay behind gradually departed for the personal quarters. Harry drummed his fingers across his arms again as he stared at Shang.

“Thank you for your decision, Monsieur Shang,” Delacour began. Shang smiled a patently false smile that Murdoch could have taken lessons from and bowed a fraction. “As Mademoiselle Murdoch suggested, will you request the services of the Aurors at your disposal?”

“Oh, yes. I believe the two grandchildren who have accompanied me so far will provide all of the support needed.”

“You really trust our judgment enough to bring your family along?” Harry interjected.

Shrunken black eyes closed completely before Shang answered, “Of course, Ambassador Potter. You have reassured my concerns, after all, that we shall be perfectly safe in your presence. You are the Head Auror of your British Ministry, are you not?”

Delacour glanced at him. “Is that so, Monsieur Potter?”

Harry let his breath out in a rush of annoyance. “Yes, Ambassador Delacour, I believe that we will be fine.” He straightened in his seat. I should have known better than to respond to Drominov’s taunt. Even if I could use members of the Order to reduce sabotage, he’s not exactly leaving me room to bring someone else in without weakening my position. “I do not expect that additional assistance for myself will be necessary. And for yourself?”

This time she turned to face him completely, and for a moment, her deep blue eyes searched his muddy green. Whether she found reassurance or not in his gaze, she said after that moment had passed, “I… shall also request two of my aides.”

“Seven all together,” Shang said, smiling all the wider. “And how might we transport such a wonderful, magical number?”

“Carriages,” Delacour suggested as she looked back to Shang. “Drawn by--”

Harry cut across her before she could mention abraxans. “--thestrals. The British Ministry can procure a herd from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by tomorrow morning.”

Shang’s smile tightened. “Is that so, Ambassador Potter? You would carry our lives into Transylvania by way of omens of death?”

“I’ve always lived in the shadow of death, Ambassador Shang, omens do not worry me. Thestrals will not fright back as other steeds would.” Now, will you give in or push the matter?

“So I see.” Shang mulled the matter over, and slowly answered, “Yes, perhaps you are correct. It would not do to have a common beast of burden steer us over a cliff by some terrible chance of fate.”

“I’m glad you approve.” Harry returned his attention to Delacour, “And surely you have no objections, Ambassador Delacour?”

Her expression had settled into a grimace. “No, Monsieur Potter, apparently I do not.” Her voice was perhaps cooler than usual. “If we are through with such matters, we must ascertain our departure time. We will require at least one more day, both for transport and my Aurors to arrive and be brought up to present events.”

“The day after tomorrow, an hour before dawn, is as good a time as any,” Harry said.

“I have no objections.” Shang bowed his head incrementally to each of them. “I shall look forward to our unity, Ambassador Delacour, Ambassador Potter. Until then, farewell.” Shang unfolded his legs and rose, taking his time about exiting the meeting room.

But as soon as he had, Delacour rounded on Harry. “Why did you insist on such vile creatures, Monsieur Potter?”

“Thestrals are more noble than you think.” He pushed back from the table and let his guard down for a few moments around her now that they were alone again. “Just… trust me on this, Fleur, like you did that night in Little Hangleton all those years ago.”

Her stern expression softened once she realized what he meant, but he did not wait for her to respond. He walked toward the personal quarters, to find his temporary room, and to floo the English Ministry of Magic to put in the request for their transportation.



Intermission - Departure.

“Careful, granddaughters. What you cannot see may still hurt you,” Ao Shang was saying as Harry approached the rest of the delegation before the River Elbe on the morning of departure. Thick fog had rolled in, masking the pair of large carriages lead by four thestrals from muggle eyes, and, if Shang would have him believe it, the two young women hovering several feet away.

“But how are they propelled?” Bai Shang asked. Both she and her sister were short, perhaps not even five feet in height, with the same dark black hair and billowy red robes. They could have been twins, as far as Harry could tell. Next to her, Ju Shang leaned forward and raised a hand toward the supposedly-empty harness, and their grandfather stepped forward and caught the young woman’s fingers with none of his usual docile pace.

“As I have said, child, what you cannot see may still hurt you,” Shang repeated as the nearest thestral turned its head to stare at them. He pulled her toward the open door and shooed her up and inside despite her quiet protest. “Come, Bai.” He motioned the other young Auror inside, and then inclined his head toward Harry, standing around and watching the whole scene unfold. “I trust that you will direct our carriage safely, Ambassador Potter. I find myself growing tired from such an expenditure of strength this early.”

I’m sure you do, Harry thought, watching Shang turn about and clamber up into the carriage before clapping the door shut. They were no doubt putting up concealment charms and sealing the interior against eavesdropping already.

He walked up to the same thestral and raised his hand. The gaunt steed inhaled his scent, and then allowed him to run his fingers down its leathery neck. “Southeast Carpathian Mountains,” he said. “Follow the scent of blood.”

It gave a long, shrill shriek at the one ahead of itself, and then they began to trot as if there was no weight attached. Within moments they had gathered to a gallop, and suddenly they rose, great leathery wings flapping. Had they been harnessed after the same fashion as Hogwarts carriages, side by side, it would have never worked, but in single file there was no difficulty.

“Monsieur Potter,” Ambroise Bastion said as he turned toward the remaining transport. Bastion was the older of Delacour’s newly arrived Aurors, closer to the late Alastor Moody’s age. The blue robes he wore were embroidered with the Ministry for Magic Affairs of France emblem in golden thread over his left breast. “You will be joining us, yes?”

“Normally I would prefer to travel alone, but yes, Auror Bastion, on this occasion we will be traveling together. Give me a few moments to instruct the thestrals.”

“As you say.” Bastion turned about and ducked inside of the carriage.

Once Harry had repeated the sniff-test with the nearest skeletal creature and received its approval, he told it the same directions. True to their intelligence, even after shrieking toward the other steed, they waited until he had joined Bastion, Delacour, and her younger sister, Gabrielle, before the carriage began to move.



Part II - Contact.

Transylvanian Alps, Southeast Carpathian Mountains, Romania.

The first sign of trouble began with a series of thestral shrieks as they were approaching the end of their journey. In the chill afternoon air, passed the muggle repellent charms, the high cries of the four thestals came moments apart, and Harry sat upright and looked out of the window to find that Shang’s carriage was diverting away from their own.

Bloody hell. “We’re splitting up,” he said for Delacour and her sister’s sake, as Bastion beside him likewise had a clear view of the other carriage descending further east ahead of them. “Their thestrals must have scented a different kill to track than our own, which explains the bickering out there a few moments ago. Or else Shang has bewitched them.”

“Is that a problem?” Gabrielle Delacour asked. Her eyes were lighter than her sister’s, as was her loose blonde hair, but otherwise she could have been a distant imitation. Even her voice sounded close enough to what Delacour’s own had been all of those years ago that he still gave a moment’s pause before he answered her.

“Given Shang’s own hidden agenda for coming here? We won’t know until after we’ve landed and had a chance to evaluate matters, but yes, Auror Delacour, in either case I am inclined to believe that it will be a problem all too soon.”

“Is there nothing we can do, Monsieur Potter?” Bastion asked. The older man had drawn his stubby wand and was making an attempt to no avail to sight the distant carriage before it vanished completely into the sloping forestry.

“I’m afraid not.”

“Then we will have to address them when we can,” Delacour said evenly. “We may have needed to separate in order to speak with each clan. Do not fear the worst just yet, Monsieur Potter.”

Harry nodded, but inside, he was less optimistic. It galled him to have to admit it, but for now Shang - and by association Drominov -- had managed to win this round.

-/-/-/-​

Their carriage set down in between a gap in the blackwoods only a few minutes later, and in the darkened interior of the forest, a dry, feral snarl went up into the air, met at once by the shrill shrieks of the thestrals.

“Sacre bleu, what is that noise?” Harry glanced to Bastion, still with his wand out and leaning forward on alert. Harry slowly drew his own from the polished horntail leather strapped to his right arm and panned his sight out of the rocking windows ahead and to his right. There came another shriek as the thestrals fought against whatever they had found, rocking the vessel back and forth.

He caught sight of a pale shadow backing away, its stomach - or perhaps mouth, with how it seemed to be bent over -- dripping dark, inky blood. It snarled again and retreated further to the side and away as the carriage turned, the thestrals following.

“I think it would be safe to say that we have interrupted someone’s meal,” Harry uttered. “I doubt that they will be very happy with us for that.” With the creature hanging back, the thestrals quieted, and gradually pulled away, turning toward the recently killed prey that they had smelled. Harry tracked the movements of the creature out there and said, “I’d rather limit the number of targets they have to take any anger out, so please, stay here and let me tackle this one alone for now.”

“You are certain, Monsieur Potter?” Bastion asked.

“I’m certain,” Harry replied, still tracking the shadow’s progress.

“Be careful, Harry.” Delacour said. He blinked and glanced over to her, finding the usual guarded expression up. It was the first time since they had met again in Germany two weeks ago that she had called him by his first name, and it came to him that she had done the same thing when his life was endangered at Little Hangleton.

Of all the times to bring up the good old days. He couldn’t afford to take the time to savor that right now. But it did raise a brief smile to his lips.

He made sure that whatever was out there hadn’t made another move during his distraction. Holly warmed in his hand and then that same heat washed over his ears and mouth as he performed a rough, nonverbal Shinar charm. A Protego was close at hand if he needed to follow up talk with defense. He opened the door the next moment and slid smoothly to the side, allowing him to close the carriage again in one neat transition.

It was damned hard to make out any real physical features with how dark the forest was, but he thought he could detect the movement of the figure’s eyes as their head twitched left and right by centimeters, no doubt smelling him now. Very gradually its posture unfolded, rising upright, still dripping either its prey’s blood, the thestrals’, or its own to the ground with quiet splashes.

“You…” the figure slurred, spilling more of that inky substance from its lips. “You are a wizard.” There was an almost hypnotized slowness to the words, independent of the Shinar’s rough translation, as it spoke with a husky rasp. “Why? Why have you come?”

“The Treaty is close at hand--” Harry began.

“I must finish feeding, wizard,” it continued over him. “Your pulse is so loud…” It wiped at the mess around its face with one hand that gleamed at the fingertips and licked the gore away. With that done, it took a hesitant step forward, but almost at once it jerked back again as if some unseen chain around its neck had drawn taut suddenly, and it turned toward the thestrals with the same sort of jerking motion of its shoulders and neck. The skeletal horses were noisily chewing on whatever had been its choice of meal. “I hear it, master. His. Others. Must I feed on this beast even now…? Aagh!”

The vampire bent double again, lifting its hands to its head and driving the wicked nails there into its own scalp. Fresh, inky darkness poured to the forest floor as Harry watched in no little shock.

Telepathic commands at a distance? He finally thought. He could only stand there as the vampire thrashed, but with each attempt to proceed forward, it jerked back, until at last it sank to its haunches and lifted its head, staring at him with flat, widened eyes rimmed in murky black. “Wizard! Get back!” It turned desperately toward the thestrals. “Get back until I have fed!”

Under other circumstances he might have tried to say something, but it was clear that the vampire was nearing the very limits of its restraint. If the horses stay in its way, they’re going to get hurt. He pulled up that Protego and turned, shaking his head as Bastion motioned from inside of the carriage toward the door, and instead put to use seven years of transfiguration education at Hogwarts to melt the harnesses away.

“I know you’re hungry,” he said urgently to the thestrals, “but I need you to find something else to hunt, and do it now.” The nearest thestral raised its beak-like snout as behind his back the vampire snarled wordlessly, and with the same shrill shriek of communication, the skeletal horse and its mate withdrew, taking flight.

“WIZARD!” the vampire cried in warning, shaking the leaves of the trees around them and allowing dewdrops of afternoon sun to pierce the gloom for an instant. Harry spun back in time to see the vampire rocking on its feet. His instinct kicked in and he flung himself aside, rolling out of the way, and not a beat later the tormented creature lunged across the distance and fell upon the remains of its earlier meal, passing far too close to the place he had just stood for comfort.

Harry settled into a crouch, his wand at the ready to take action again. Things may be worse than we had imagined, he thought as he beheld the scene unfolding in front of him.

The sounds alone which it made as it ate were stomach-turning. Not just the heaving gulps as long incisors bit and pulled the blood out, but the wet squelch of muscles pried off of bone and squeezed of the last droplets of precious life between thick, tapered nails, which in turn pierced down to the marrow itself. With each depravity as it sought and found all of the blood that remained in its prey over the following minutes, the vampire shook where it lay.

Perhaps this was what Feist meant when he protested joining us two days ago. He could suddenly appreciate the matter of the Red Rhine, where muggle soldiers had been massacred by the tens of thousands, in a way that the ICW records had been unable to convey.

When at last the vampire had consumed all that it could, it gave a low, wordless utterance, and finally lifted itself from the broken, gory remains.

“Wizard,” it began slowly. The sedated lull to its tone had lifted, as had the husk, leaving just a hoarse strength there like old piano wire. “Even now the rhythm of your pulse excites me. But… ah… with Master Dragomir’s aid, I am myself again, for now. I will have to feed again, regularly, so long as I am in your presence.”

“Is that right?” Harry said. He gradually stood, and the vampire rose with him, shuddering once. “Just what happened to you?”

“A bloodlust as I had thought forgotten. We have not fed on men for so long…” the vampire shook itself and slowly turned to face Harry. “Forgive me. You spoke of that which has confined us here for so long, and my master is greatly interested to hear more. He would as soon hear it with his own ears than with mine, and I fear we cannot stay here much longer after my reckless screams.”

Harry made his way over to the carriage, his wand ready to rise at a moment’s notice should the vampire have another… lapse of judgment. He opened the door enough to say, “You’ve heard what we’ve said. The thestrals might come back, but I wouldn’t bank on it soon, and if there are others en-route...” he trailed off.

“We are learning more in mere minutes, Harry, than we have in two weeks of debate and studying.” Delacour said. She climbed down from her seat and stepped out beside him, ignoring both of her Aurors’ protests. “You say that you must feed more often, Monsieur?” she directed at the vampire.

It looked at her in a way that might have been curiosity. “Yes, witch. Perhaps sooner still when all of your people have gathered beside me.” Even as it said that, both Bastion and Gabrielle hurriedly joined them, and the vampire gave another small shudder.

“Then lead us to your Master Dragomir. We are but a few of those appointed to review the state of the clans.” Delacour said.

“Which reminds me that we’ve still got to consider what happened to Shang’s carriage,” Harry said, reminded of Drominov’s servant. “If he and his granddaughters wound up in the same kind of situation as we did, this mission may already have jeopardized everything.”

“There are others?” the vampire asked with the first hint of husk returning to its tone.

Delacour answered, “Yes, Monsieur, another Ambassador and the Aurors he brought with him. His carriage veered off somewhere east ahead of our own.”

“This…” the vampire trailed off. “Master, what must I do? What can we do...? Yes… I understand.” It brought its head up to stare at them. “They will have landed in Lord Mircea’s domain, wizard. Master Dragomir is even now instructing all who remain loyal to feed, and to join him for the march.” It shivered. “If there is still time, we can rescue them.”


Part III - Conflict.

“If there is... ?” Delacour repeated and fell silent.

“If they’ve been caught by something, then they’re trapped.” Harry stated, remembering what he had read from Minister Dumbledore’s extensive, if outdated, catalogue on the entire affair over the past several months to prepare for the conference in Dresden. “We can’t Apparate in here. Portkeys don’t go through. That’s only part of the reason no one else has come to speak with the clans besides Minister Dumbledore, ourselves, and Voldemort. As for their thestrals, well, there’s a reason Shang shied back. I picked those I had a hand in raising at Hogwarts.”

When he mentioned Voldemort, the vampire gave Harry the same sort of curious look as it had Delacour only moments ago, but there were more pressing matters to address. “We must hurry. I can guide you, but I too must eat again as we travel.”

“You might be able to see in this gloom but we’re going to need better light,” Gabrielle Delacour said, speaking aloud for the first time since she had stepped out of the carriage. “Spelled light should not be the same as sunlight unless we will it so.” Before the vampire could protest, she brought his wand above her head and said firmly, “Lumos Coronae!” and a curved dome of brilliant white light manifested there, shining upward into the blackwoods and falling outward around her in a wide circle.

At once the vampire shrank back, but as the young woman had predicted, the light did not inflict harm, and for the first time so far, they could actually observe what the creature looked like in good detail. It was just as pale as Harry had thought, vaguely masculine in the contour of its muscle and bone structure around the antiquated garb, yet gaunt almost to the point of frailty despite having just fed in the past few minutes. In many ways, it resembled a inferi.

Delacour finally found her voice again. “Well done, Gabrielle.” To the crouching vampire, she asked, “How much time do we have, Monsieur?”

Gradually lowering its arms from before its face, the vampire retreated another step by simple instinct, saying as it did so, “Lord Mircea’s brood would know better than to feed upon the first humans they have found in all of these years themselves. They would capture and maim them, but leave them well alive for their sire, as they had when they accepted the dark wizard’s agreement.”

“They allied themselves to Voldemort?” Harry asked.

“I... “ the vampire fell silent and when it resumed speaking, the voice had grown deep, solid, and somehow cold. “Mircea betrayed all that we have sacrificed by taking that man’s word as law and feeding from his disciples. He sought to kill we his equals and usurp the loyalty of our clans for himself, to unite all under another madman. Mircea was exiled, along with his servants, to a point where we could observe him within the boundaries established fifty-nine years ago. It is not in our nature to kill one another, and so his life was spared, as Albus Dumbledore would have encouraged. I have come to regret that decision more than once.”

“You’re Dragomir, aren’t you?”

“I would have spoken with you as your position decrees I must, as would all of us who remain, though I know not for what reason you could have come if not to give news of our fate. We were not the ones who rampaged like beasts upon the battlefields long ago, yet we were punished all the same alongside those who did. And now, after all of this time, we will fight, and will we kill, so that your own might live, and in doing so, we might join you again when the blood has stopped flowing.”

“I… thank you,” Harry finally said. What more could he say to that? He should have known that the truth would never be so simple. It was almost too much to handle.

“Thank me when we stand side by side beyond these wretched mountains, man. Now go, while time remains for us all.”

“That answers our initial concerns,” Harry said to Delacour. “As to how we’re going to break this news to the others…”

Delacour turned to face Harry. “We shall address that when we have rescued Monsieur Shang and his family. You say these thestrals are loyal to you?”

“As much as any Hogwarts graduate,” Harry answered.

“Then can you call them to us, Harry?”

He took several steps away, looking up toward the sky. They are supposed to come when they sense the need for travel, but has it really been long enough for them to hunt? He had rarely had a need to fly by thestral while at school, and as such, whether or not the hungry horses he had sent away would come to him now was uncertain.

Yet in the distance, one high shriek could be heard. I suppose it is true. He almost couldn’t believe it. But after several moments, only one thestral touched down before him. “Where’s your partner?” Harry asked. The horse tossed its head and stared passed him at the vampire, but it did not take any further action as it had earlier.

“Monsieur Potter,” Bastion interjected. Harry looked over. “Perhaps this is, as you say, fate? You said before we left that you would join us on ‘this occasion’. I would as soon stay with Mademoiselle Delacour and Delacour.”

“So we split up yet again? I go by air, all of you by ground?”

Truth be told, the idea had its merits. He was by far the most comfortable when airborne, he always had been. He trusted the thestrals with his life, and the loyal steed could get him to Shang’s general location far quicker than running over unknown terrain would.

On the downside, he would be trusting Delacour’s life to herself, her Aurors, and the vampire, and if anything happened to her, it would be because he had pushed to have this delegation in the first place.

But that little voice deep down couldn’t leave it at that. It’s the same with Shang, isn’t it? His life is at risk because of what I proposed.

“You know what you have to do, Harry.” Delacour said. She turned back to the vampire. “Monsieur, how do we reach this Mircea’s domain?”

-/-/-/-​

Find Ao Shang, he had said before the thestral took flight minutes ago. Such a vague suggestion should have only applied to owls, but the skeletal horse only gave a brief shriek and then ascended into the sky, and now they were soaring over the treetops like a dark streak.

The simplest way to resolve the threat of the vampires would be to blow apart the forest and expose them to the afternoon light. But that might endanger Shang or his granddaughters. No, once he found them, for better or for worse, this would come down to spellwork and working together.

The first glimpses of light began to brighten the underside of the forestry as his thestral dipped down, and in no time at all Harry found himself in the midst of a large scale attack. Snarling vampires had separated and surrounded Ao, Ju, and Bai Shang from one another. The two young Aurors were wielding their wands like blazing jian, manifested fire serving to push back any vampire that drove too close. Shang himself wielded his in a more classical firewhip, snapping the burning cord extending from the tip of his wand around the nearest limbs and severing muscle and flesh from bone.

They were clearly holding ground, but for every vampire which they disabled or repelled, more filled the gap.

The first ravenous creature spotted him and leaped. “Down!” he commanded, and the thestral dove beneath its path. As they passed, Harry swung his wand in an arc above him, casting Fulguren, and a bolt of boiling, white lightning crashed into and through the vampire, spreading and reducing it to so much ash on the wind in their wake. It ticked at his conscience to be wielding such magic, but from everything that he had heard about this Mircea, it was not undeserved to end those here now.

Unfortunately, his spell drew the attention of several more. He swung his arm overhead once more, then brought it back down in a wide arc as he repeated his nonverbal incantation, Fulguren! Whether it was from hunger, or something else, the vampires in his line of fire did not attempt to swerve away as the bolt pierced through them.

“Ambassador Potter!” Shang crowed as Harry landed the thestral next to the man with no complaint by the horse. “Is this what you would have us release into the world?”

“Save it for the conference,” Harry said. He swung off of the horse and ran his hand down its neck once more as he brought his wand in yet another arc. It was decisively more effective than the blue cord that Shang still had in hand. “Let’s get your girls and get the hell out of here while we still can.”

“Very well.” Between the two of them, working in tandem, the growing horde thinned enough to cross the distance and meet with Ju Shang. “Granddaughter, onto the horse,” Shang ordered.

She breathed hard and looked at him. “The time for acts is done?” the young Auror asked.

“Do not make me repeat myself, child.”

She approached the thestral following in their wake and it sniffed at her hard for several long moments before it turned its head away. She swung up onto its back as easily as mounting a regular horse.

With the tide turning against them, something of intelligence began to creep back into the remaining vampires. They drew closer to Bai Shang and began to press her away from the closing party. It made little matter in the end, other than to draw out how long they had to fight forward, but in the end she too had climbed upon the thestral’s back.

With that done, Harry at last lowered his wand and wiped the sweat away from his brow. “I’d say you’re welcome, but there’s no point in taunting one another right now,” he said.

“I would agree with that sentiment, Ambassador Potter.” For the first time since they had met, Shang bowed formally. “You have rescued my grandchildren. You do have my thanks.” He rose, saying nothing more about what awaited in Germany. There was no need for that, as both Aurors behind them gasped.

Out of the shadows of the blackwoods, something was darting forward like a blur and shaking the ground underfoot.

“Shang, get on the thestral.” Harry ordered. There was a moment’s hesitation before Shang stepped back and swung up behind his granddaughters. “Home,” Harry added over his shoulder to the horse. The thestral gave a long, horrible shriek as it sensed what was approaching, but it obeyed his command and took to a quick trot, before ascending into the sky and well out of reach.

“WIZARD!” an equally horrific screech flowed across the thinning distance separating Harry from what was inevitably sure to be Mircea.

Harry leveled his wand and released the Shinar. He had no interest in what it had to say.

It’s time to end this.

Yet before he could turn his wand toward opening up the forest around him, there came another noise, and one shadow was met by another of equal stature, and then yet more. In all, four additional vampire lords appeared in answer to Dragomir’s call to arms, and there was nothing which Harry himself had to do but stand back and watch.


Part IV - Resolution.

Pillnitz Castle.

“As expected, such creatures are too dangerous to release into the world again, Supreme Mugwump,” Drominov stated after reviewing the report filed following their return from Romania. “I think it would be obvious that should another such case of bloodlust strike, they would all become the ravenous hordes they were proven to be during the nights of the Red Rhine. I motion to uphold the treaty, and indeed apply additional measures so that we can be reassured none will ever choose to defy our good will again.”

Akingbade drew a slow breath. “Very well, Ambassador Drominov. All in favor, do so now. Those against, say your piece. You will have three minutes.” He once more cast a Tempus charm over the table.

“I disagree,” Harry said. “They demonstrated remarkable self-control once they had fed properly upon the wildlife which they were provided with during the weeks which we spent in their company. With Lord Dragomir as their leading voice, I believe that the surviving clans can demonstrate the same fortitude when granted the chance to walk the wider Romanian region again, and I am willing to implement security measures for the muggle and wizarding population centers who might be at risk.”

“Is that so, Ambassador Potter? You would personally take the responsibility for each and every life endangered by your suggestion?”

“Yes,” Harry said. Drominov only smiled.

“You are a fool then, Harry Potter.”

“I must disagree, Ambassador Drominov,” Ao Shang said. Drominov’s expression immediately soured. “After joining Ambassador Potter at his request, I have found that the vampire clans are not the mindless beasts that we have long believed them to be. They are not greatly dissimilar to werewolves, of which have had freedom despite their own monthly threats, for many years.”

“I too disagree with Monsieur Drominov.” Fleur Delacour said simply. “For reasons adequately explained.”

There was no little unrest around the table, and no complete unity toward for or against, but in the end enough votes had been cast.

“Very well,” Akingbade said. “The Treaty of the Rhine will not be upheld, nor extended further. We shall now move on to addressing the issues surrounding the end of the treaty in relation to greater Romania…”

The End?

 

This is short, sweet, and to the point. While not really innovative or having particularly strong prose (no lines that really made me go, damn this is good), the writing is serviceable and it never allows itself to get bogged down or drag out something too long and you get props from me for that. The pace for me felt just right. It's technical writing is decent.

The politics of it all felt shallow though, and given this felt like a major selling point (I'm not sure if this was indeed the intent, it just came across that way to me), it's a bit of a let down. We don't really delve into the whys of the many personalities involved, and the political antagonists are little more than cardboard cutouts of your stereotypical antiWestern!Russian, Greece being a non-entity, all of these western powers aligning with each other (more to spite Russia than anything else). It feels a bit too similar to real world politics and I feel there was a great opportunity to expand on how different international wizarding nation states could be (such as Assyria being a thing in canon) rather than what we got instead. I recognize I might be harping on too much on a feature that might very well have been just setup you wanted out of the way though and I might be missing the point completely.

Rest of the story was alright. Tightly constructed scene-wise, no real surprises and nothing too stand out in any case. I did like the conversation between Harry and vampire guy. It just feels like this could have been so much more, y'know?

 

I agree with Enembee's summation of your story. I'd go further to say I felt that a lot of this was extraneous detail, and the focus of the story could have been narrowed. I don't like politics in general, so I felt like that whole setup was unnecessary. I feel like if this story was told entirely from one perspective and you have them reacting to the ruling of the ICW then it would have worked a lot more fluidly, otherwise we've got a bunch of dialogue from a group of people that really serves no purpose other than to setup the latter part of your story. You did introduce vampires in an interesting fashion, and I have a feeling I know where some of your influence came from in the formation of their factions. It made them feel like they belong and familiar.

Out of everything submitted, short of number 6, you did a decent job of setting up the believable nature of Vampires in the HP world, where there is an otherwise dearth of material in regards to that. This prompt wasn't easy to write for. Vampire's as a prompt is both super broad and very narrow.

Its also fucking infuriating because I hate vampires with a passion.

Overall, technical execution in terms of writing was sound. Its just the story telling that most people struggle with, and I'm not excluded from that.

 

Ooh, "Ambassador Potter." That's a new one for me. Interesting.

Question though... Why do they feel the need to figure out why the Vampires aren't serving Voldemort? Why aren't they just... happy about it? I'd think that "Why" would be more pertinent to Voldemort, so he could fix it and get them in his corner. But I guess it's to do with this treaty they're talking about, it just seemed strange at a glance.

I think I want a hair more information, honestly. Harry is acting like he's older than 17, and he's an ambassador, which means Voldemort didn't die at the same time as in canon if they're concerned about vampires joining him (or not) but apparently the world hasn't gone to hell either if everyone is worrying over treaties?

Also, I admit I started skimming. Without knowing what the treaty is, and what the stakes are, and much of anything about what's going on or what the plot is... I find it difficult to care about this vote or Harry's thoughts on it. It set the wrong tone for me personally regarding the story.

“As I have said, child, what you cannot see may still hurt you,” Shang repeated as the nearest thestral turned its head to stare at them. ​

I liked that bit. Something about the repetition and the question that asked was a neat bit of dialogue.

Also I do like that you're including the Carpathian Mountains, Transylvania, etc. in terms of locations.

The vampire is interesting, with his warning Harry and calling him "WIZARD" and whatnot. Interesting take on things, in a good way.

I liked the ending, with the resolution regarding the treaty but especially this part:

“Is that so, Ambassador Potter? You would personally take the responsibility for each and every life endangered by your suggestion?”

“Yes,” Harry said. Drominov only smiled.

“You are a fool then, Harry Potter.”

“I must disagree, Ambassador Drominov,” Ao Shang said. Drominov’s expression immediately soured. “After joining Ambassador Potter at his request, I have found that the vampire clans are not the mindless beasts that we have long believed them to be. They are not greatly dissimilar to werewolves, of which have had freedom despite their own monthly threats, for many years.”​

It feels like it meant something... similar to how in canon centuars, werewolves, and house elves 'meant' something with their species and how their place in the world was seen. Vampires weren't really considered as much in canon.

But that said, I had trouble getting into this one. I'm not sure why but I suspect it was the pacing. Concepts and plot and the OC (Ao Shang) were decent enough, but nothing grabbed me. But nothing was horribly wrong either, so... I guess I'd suggest editing with what you got here, posting in WbA, and polishing? Could definitely be a solid story with a bit of work.