"So, what"s with the sword?" Vincent asked Sister An as they walked back to the orphanage, "I never knew you were a ninja."

Sister An had cast a hiding spell to avoid anyone from spotting the two of them. She smiled as she unsheathed her sword. It was a katana no bigger than Vincent"s arm. It looked extremely plain and simple with no engravings on it whatsoever.

"Lumos," Vincent"s eyes widened as the sword started glowing a bright light before going out, "Nox."

"It"s just like Hagrid"s umbrella," Vincent thought remembering Harry mentioning that Hagrid got expelled. He also mentioned that he suspected Hagrid"s wand was remade into the umbrella, "but she"s already got a wand."

"My brothers broken wand is embedded into this blade," she explained before sheathing the sword, "he died trying to stop a killer that was once his best friend, or so I"m told. I requested a wandmaker to implant my brother"s broken wand into this since I studied sword play a long time ago."

"I"m sorry," Vincent said as they walked in silence.

"Enough about me," she said glaring at Vincent, "I"ve heard a lot about you from Dumbledore you know?"

"Um, Sister those were all accidents," Vincent said sweating a little.

"It doesn"t change the fact that you created chaos the moment you stepped into the castle!" Sister An stopped talking, letting the silence drag on as well as Vincent"s nerves. When what seemed like eternity of silence pa.s.sed, Sister An continued talking, "It"s Christmas you know."

"Don"t worry," Vincent said, "I"ll be there at the Orphanage tomorrow."

Sister An smiled as she knocked his head gently, Vincent smiled before frowning, " Has anyone been adopted yet?"

"John and Josh Are gone," Sister An said starting to frown, "Both were adopted last month, that leaves Nim alone again."

Vincent bit his lip as he thought of the small black-haired girl. Nim is the oldest in the orphanage now that all the others in her age group had gone. Throughout the four to five years, no one had adopted her. There were people that were interested, but they shied away after hearing of her family circ.u.mstances.

So, she could only watch as those she made friends with went away, never to return.

"We"re back," Sister An said staring at the orphanage, "you should stay the night Vince."

"Sure," Vincent said nodding.

"Oh, how could I forget," she turned to Vincent, "where is that pixie I heard so much about?"

"She"s back at Hogwarts," Vincent said setting his things down, "I wanted to prepare Nyx"s living conditions while I"m here so she can come and go without being seen by muggles."

"Hm, good thinking," Sister An said throwing Vincent some blankets, "you know where the lounge is, I"m heading off to bed."

"Night Sister An," Vince said earning a wave in reply.

...


"Brother Vince!" Vincent woke up with as soon as something heavy landed on his stomach.

He gasped in pain before seeing Nim standing to the side looking down at him with a cheeky smile.

"That hurt Nim," Vincent groaned as he sat up, "you"re not as small now."

"Heh, heh," Nim smiled as she gave him a hug, "Merry Christmas!"

Vincent couldn"t help but smile and hugged back, "Merry Christmas Nim."

"So how was school?" Nim asked as she sat beside him, "Sister An told me you started going to school, that"s why you were away."

"It"s extremely fun," Vincent said smiling, "I"ve learnt all sorts of things and made new friends."

"That"s good to know," Nim looked a little sad before smiling again, "Hey are you going to be here for dinner?"

"Yeah I"ll stay," Vincent said ruffling Nim"s head before heading to the kitchen, "I"ll make something for breakfast as well, want to help?"

Nim"s eyes lightened up as she followed Vincent into the kitchen.

"Hey, it"s big bro Vince!"

Children came scrambling into the dining room just as Vincent was setting up the table. He smiled but couldn"t help but be slightly sad seeing that the number of children had decreased since the start of the year.

"Seeing children leave never gets easier does it?" Vincent heard Sister An come in through the door, "Morning children, Vincent. Merry Christmas."

"Morning Sister An," all the children called out while Vincent gave a nod "Merry Christmas!"

"Guess what, Nim didn"t burn the bacon this time," Vincent said earning a kick in the shin by Nim.

"Sister An, Vincent"s bullying me," Nim looked at Sister An who glared at Vincent.

"Vincent," Sister An said threateningly making Vincent cower slightly.

Everyone at the table laughed before they started digging in the food.

"So, what was school like?"

"Have you made any friends?"

"Do you have a crush?"

After breakfast, Vincent was bombarded with questions by the children. He looked towards Nim and Sister An to help him, but they turned a blind eye, Nim even stuck out her tongue before helping Sister An clean the table.

The rest of the day, Vincent spent time with the Sister An, Nim and the children. He partic.i.p.ated in a one vs all s...o...b..ll fight with the children to which the loser has to shovel snow out of the pathway for the next three days. To Vincent"s horror, Sister An joined in halfway through the game. With their combined forces, Vincent was utterly defeated.

"Yay, we beat Brother Vince!" they all cheered.

"Cheater"s, your all cheaters!" Vincent felt like crying out, but seeing the children so happy, even he couldn"t help but smile.

They finished the day by making snowmen in the courtyard. Both Vincent and Nim stood side by side as they admired their work.

"Mine"s better," they both said at the same time.

"Hey, unlike yours mine has arms!" Vincent said to which Nim glared at him.

"Well, unlike yours mine has a nose!" Nim said pointing to the carrot on the snowman"s face.

Sister An watched the two of them bicker with a smile. Every year when orphans were adopted, Nim would always be left alone with all her friends gone. However, due to this and Vincent being the one that saved her, they both developed a sort of brother-sister relationship throughout the years which soon spread to the other orphans.

"But there will be a time when Nim will go," she thought sadly, "are you ready for that Vincent?"

"Hey Brother Vince, I want to show you something," Nim said dragging him into the outdoor shed.

She ran in, causing all sorts of noise in the shed before running out with a small package.

"Here you go!" she said as she handed him the package.

Vincent smiled as he unwrapped it before having his eyes widen. He carefully pulled out two wooden rods and looked at them. They were surprisingly well crafted with no visible nicks. They were a little longer then his metal ones and were extremely smooth to touch. Each one felt perfectly weighted in his hands. He turned them over in admiration before seeing engraving on both of them.

"To my Big Brother, from Nim"

"Did you make this?" Vincent asked in amazement.

"Sister An helped a bit, but I did the engravings and carved the shape," Nim said proudly.

"Thank you Nim," Vincent said smiling, "I love them."

"Yay!" she said before stopping as Vincent took out a small package, "what"s this?"

"It"s your present, Merry Christmas Nim," Vincent said as he placed the small package in Nim"s hand.

Nim slowly opened her present with shaky hands before taking the object out. It was an emerald green hair clip. Vincent scratched his head in embarra.s.sment as Nim stared intently on it.

"I had just gotten some money so I thought I should get you something," Vincent explained, "I wasn"t sure what you"d like so I got this. It"s fine if you don"t—!"

Nim hugged Vincent before she started to cry. Vincent was surprised before smiling and patting the small girls head. This was the first time Nim had received a gift from anyone. Receiving her first one from the person who changed her life made her feel thankful to be alive. All those years in her home seemed worth it if she got to have a big brother like this.

"Thank you!" she said through her sniffles.

"I"m your big brother, how can I forget my little sis," Vincent smiled.

...

All the children had returned to bed after dinner. Vincent and Sister An were discussing what had happened during the past few months Vincent was at Hogwarts.

"There"s something I"ve been meaning to talk to you about," Sister An said frowning, "Vampires have been sighted around London recently. The Ministry hasn"t sent anyone as of yet as it"s not their business, but from what I"ve heard, they seem to be looking for someone."

"Vampires?" Vincent said in surprise, "as in those blood sucking monsters that look like people?"

"Those are the ones," Sister An sighed, "That"s why you should probably refrain from your usual nightly routines. I"ll cover for you, but something tells me you"ll still do it anyway."

"You know me best," Vincent smiled wryly while looking at the sky becoming a pitch-black colour.

"I"ll be accompanying you throughout the next two weeks to ensure your safety," Sister An said as she reached into a small pouch at her side. She pulled her katana out along with her wand before gesturing to Vincent, "show me how you"ve improved."

...

"Tonight"s uneventful," Vincent noted as he ran across a rooftop, "glad you"re here Sister An, you"re like a portable heater."

The warmth soon disappeared making Vincent shiver as he looked back at Sister An who smiled mischievously.

"Oh, come on, it"s freezing out here!" Vincent pleaded before going silent, "you hear that?"

They both became silent as they heard a scream followed by a snarl like sound. They rushed over to see a woman being cornered in an alleyway by an extremely pale man. The man had extremely long teeth and looked hungrily at the woman. It jumped back suddenly as an arc of flames flew past it, singing the wall.

"Watch, I"ll show you how to deal with a vampire," Sister An said as she walked towards the vampire.

It lunged at her, face first before being blocked by a round see through wall that came out of her wand. Sister An held her wand in her left hand in a backhanded way, making it more comfortable as a shield.

"One, never let it bite you," she said as she kicked the vampire back, "two, their claws are extremely sharp."

The Vampire tried to swipe at her violently only to have his hands sliced off. The woman screamed as soon as the sliced of hand landed on the ground.

"And third," the Vampire"s hands started regrowing, "Vampires are semi immortal. They can only be killed by a fatal hit to the head or the heart. But if you wish to beat them without killing..."

The Vampire shot forward with an incredible boost of speed. Sister An"s eyes shone before she parried him to the side with her shield spell before smashing her hilt, which sparked slightly, into the back of the head. The Vampire fell to the ground stone cold.

"They can be knocked out just like any normal person," Sister An sheathed both her wand and sword, "although it does require a lot of strength if done physically."

Vincent looked in awe at Sister An"s fighting skills. She had handled the vampire like it was nothing.

"Obliviate" Sister An muttered as she pointed her wand at the woman who"s eyes turned gla.s.sy as she got up and walked away, "also, just a side note. There are different cla.s.ses of Vampires. Peasants, Knight, n.o.ble and King."

"Petrificus Totalus," the vampire stiffened like a board, "the one we faced was a Peasant. Peasants have barely any intelligence whatsoever and follow their master"s bidding regardless of whether they die or not."

"Knights are Peasants who have gained intelligence and are usually in command of the Peasant"s in place of their Master."

"Then there"s the n.o.ble"s, they received the Blessing directly from the King. They don"t only have increased intelligence but increased strength and speed. There"s also another thing you should be wary about, unlike the previous types, n.o.ble"s use weapons instead of their claws and fangs. They only bestow the "Blessing" which is what they call their bite, onto those that they find worthy. They also have the power to order those of Knight"s and below."

"And the King?" Vincent asked walking over to a.n.a.lyse the Vampire.

"The King commands all the Vampires regardless of rank," Sister An said writing a letter, "he"s also the strongest Vampire."

"What happens if the King dies?" Vincent asked.

"Then his heir would become the next King," she said as she finished the letter, "his heir could be a blood relative or someone that the King had personally chosen."

She sent tapped the letter with her wand, transforming it into a b.u.t.terfly of sorts which flew off.

"Keep your subordinate"s under control, or I could have you killed," she said seemingly to no one.

Vincent saw as a young man walked out of the shadow"s. Like all Vampire"s, he had extremely pale skin. His hair was pure white and tied back in a ponytail of sorts. He also wore pure white robes.

"I apologise for the trouble my subordinate has caused," he bowed, "I will personally deal with him."

He seemed to blur as he dashed towards the fallen Vampire and was about to stab forward with his hands before being stopped by a smaller hand. He raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked at Vincent who seemed to be visibly struggling to keep hold of the Vampire"s wrist.

"How is this boy so strong?" the Vampire thought in shock before slowly withdrawing his hand.

In the past year, Vincent had been constantly training with Snape and the Whomping Willow, improving his reaction speed. Through the constant consumption of the Comfort Water and its ability to strengthen the body, he had gained a considerable amount of strength. However, despite that, he still had immense difficulty stopping the blow.

"You don"t need to kill him," Vincent said glaring at the man, "If he"s under your control, then you had some part in the incident tonight."

"Please, he"s just a Peasant, nothing compared to me a Knight," he scoffed.

"So, you were just like him," Vincent concluded earning a glare from the man.

"Shut the h.e.l.l up brat!" he snarled as his hands grew slightly, becoming sharper.

"Sister An," Vincent said drawing his rods, "let me handle this."

Sister An thought before nodding, if she saw any signs of danger, she would interfere.

"You"re a muggle aren"t you boy?" The vampire sneered, "I can smell it on you, a muggle stands no chance against a vampire."

Vincent held his rods up, ready to attack or block at a moment"s notice.

The two of them were silent as they a.n.a.lysed each other. Surprisingly, Vincent made the first move throwing a rod at the Vampire while charging at him.

The vampire moved his head to the side dodging the rod before dashing towards Vincent. He swung his claw towards Vincent"s head intending to finish it in a single blow. He was surprised when Vincent blocked with his rod before feeling a fist land on his face making him stagger.

"You little twerp—?!" He said righting himself before feeling a blow at the back of his head, "What the, the rod came back?!"

He staggered forward this time into Vincent"s range. Vincent"s eyes were extremely focused as he caught the rod with his free hand, he then let out a barrage of attacks, all aimed at the face. No matter how strong an opponent was, getting smashed in the face would hurt like h.e.l.l.

"d.a.m.n it!" The Vampire tried blocking the strikes only for Vincent to smash around it. He tried striking back, but due to constantly being hammered in the head, his movement was sluggish, so they were easily smacked aside by Vincent"s rods. He couldn"t even move away since Vincent was incredibly close, "I"ll just wait for him to tire..."

Ten seconds later, "Any second now..."

Thirty seconds later, "He"s got to slow down eventually..."

One minute later, "I-I"m starting to black out, no he must be close to finish..."

Three minutes later, "DOES THIS KID EVER GET TIRED?!"

Three minutes and one second, "..."

The vampire finally couldn"t take it anymore and slumped to the ground. His once handsome face was beaten black and blue beyond recognition.

"Man, vampires are st.u.r.dy," Vincent thought, "how did I do Sister An?"

"..." Sister An looked pitifully at the beaten vampire as she recalled that three-minute barrage of endless blows all at the face, "you did, good."

She recalled when she saw Vincent training a long time ago. He would often smack a wooden post as fast as he could with his rods at least an hour a day. At the start, he wouldn"t even last a minute before taking a break. But as time went by, one minute became five which then became ten which then became twenty. After two years, he could go for a whole hour without rest continually smashing the post. Sister An still has it in her backyard and boy did Vincent do a number on it.

"So, what now?" Vincent said sheathing his rods.

"Someone will come to collect them soon, "she said as she waved her wand, causing multiple ropes to burst out and tie them together, "in the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans, it"s illegal to kill such creatures unless in self-defence. What they did, attacking a muggle was a breach of the agreement so they"ll be punished by, if not our Ministry, then their own kind."

"Let us be off," Sister An froze before throwing a shield charm in front of Vincent.

A blood red spear collided with the shield before shooting back towards a figure on the roof.

"d.a.m.n it, first a Peasant, then a knight and now a n.o.ble," Sister An muttered before unsheathing her sword, "will we see a King too?"

"Unfortunately, the King will not be involved in such petty matters," the figure jumped from the roof before landing right in front of them without a sound, "I, the Son of Dracula, Axel Tepes would appreciate it if you left these two to me, I would rather leave here without any bloodshed."

Vincent observer the black-haired young man. He didn"t look a day over sixteen with an extraordinarily handsome face and bright red eyes. He was a at least a head and a half taller than Vincent.

"Dracula"s son?!" both Vincent and Sister An turned serious.

"If you truly mean to leave without violence, then what was the meaning of the attack?" Sister An said holding her sword up.

"I just felt like it," Axel said with a childish like grin.

Vincent felt a bit ticked off, "I could have died you know?!"

Axel walked over to stand next to Vincent who felt an arm wrap around his shoulder.

"Kid, killing you would be easy," he said yawning, "but I guess your friend over here would put a stop to that."

He glanced over to see Sister An with a sword at his neck.

"The amount of Wizards and Witches that even carry a sword with them can be counted on your fingers," he smirked as he pushed the sword away with a finger, "add in the fact your skills in the shield charm and that leaves only one. h.e.l.l"s Hunter, Annie Pettigrew."

Vincent"s eyes widened. This was the first time he had heard Sister Ann"s full name.

"So, you"re really determined to take them away?" She asked quietly.

"You have no business with us huma—!" Axel was blown away from Vincent by what seemed like an invisible force.

"Well, that was uncalled for," he muttered as he got up, "well enough with the formalities."

His eyes started glowing red as he brandished his spear.

"Let"s have some fun!"

His speed shocked Vincent. It was far faster than the Knight and felt much smoother.

Sister An merely lifted her wand summoning several transparent swords. She pointed her wand at Axel, firing them one after another.

Axel grinned wildly as he stopped in pace deflecting each and every one of them before jumping sky high. His eyes widened as soon as he noticed Sister An appear in front of him, slashing downwards with her sword.

"Perpello Recido!" She muttered causing her sword to glow a grey silver.

He managed to block with his spear, but the moment it made contact with the sword, a huge shock went through his body, sending him spiralling downwards at an incredible speed. He crashed into the ground causing small cracks around him.

"As expected of h.e.l.l"s Hunter," he thought as he sat up. He raised his head to see Sister An just floating above with a raised wand, "those transparent swords, they must be a deviation of the Shield Charm, not to mention she"s incredibly dangerous in close combat."

Sister An dissipated before reappearing behind Axel who swung his spear in reflex. A solid transparent wall appeared in his path blocking it. During this Sister An created multiple walls, entrapping the spear and leaving Axel wide open for a strike with her sword. Axel gritted his teeth as he grabbed the blade with his bare hand while ripping his spear from the cage, shattering it. He then felt an incredible pain from his stomach and was sent flying backwards. He looked down to see Sister An"s wand glowing a bright red.

"Do you surrender?" she asked as she held her sword at his throat while her wand conjured up various transparent arrows around him.

"...Fine, I"ll give you this victory," Axel chuckled as he stood up, he walked over to pick his spear before dusting himself off, "losing to the famous h.e.l.l"s Hunter isn"t such a dishonourable thing, but..."

His eyes turned dangerously dark as he glared at the silver haired vampire laying at Vincent"s feet, "Losing to a mere muggle is!"

Sister An couldn"t react in time as Axel tossed his spear at an immense speed at the fallen vampire. The two of them watched as the blood red spear closed in on the Knight"s head.

"Don"t screw with me," they both widened their eyes as Vincent took the full brunt of the blow with his body.

Blood sprayed everywhere as the spear went through the middle of Vincent"s body. He didn"t even make a sound as he fell to his knees.

"Vincent!" Sister An screamed as she rushed towards the fallen boy.

"Well he"s dead," Axel grumbled.

...

"Hermione, are you ok?" Ron asked as they were about to enter Moaning Myrtle"s toilet"s. Hermione just stopped too suddenly.

"I"m fine," she said before thinking, "why do I feel like something bad happened."

Luna, who usually reads a magazine called the Quibbler upside down, picked it up before reading it upright. She paused before turning it back upside down, "What"s wrong with me?"

Neville who was shadowboxing stopped before looking out the window.

"Hm?" Dumbledore felt a bad promotion, "whatever is this feeling?"

Nyx, who was sleeping on Hedwig, started crying in her sleep.

...

"Huh," Vincent thought as he stared at the red rod sticking outside his chest, "what"s this thing inside me."

All he recalled was him stupidly standing to protect the Knight laying on the ground behind him. He didn"t even feel any pain or fear whatsoever, all he wanted to do was save the helpless man behind him.

"Why did I do such a thing again?" he thought as he fell to his knees, "Oh right..."

To save someone...

"Am I going to die?" he thought.

"Vincent!" he heard someone scream, but it felt extremely distant.

I want to be...

"Wait, do I want to die?" he thought as his hands moved on their own towards the handle, "Why would I want to die? Not when I haven"t, wait, what was it?"

A memory of a certain young boy and an elderly man in an alleyway came to him and he smiled.

"Oh, that"s right," he thought, "I want to be..."

I want to be a hero...

...

Sister An who was at Vincent"s side, stood in amazement as the boy started pulling the spear out of him. Axel"s eyes just widened as he watched the boy that he presumed dead, still alive and breathing.

"I ain"t done yet," Axel heard him speak, "I ain"t done yet, not yet."

Vincent stood up before staggering slightly. Despite the situation, he smiled. Axel watched as the boy walked slowly towards him, step by step. It seemed like an eternity before he stopped right in front of him, holding Axel"s spear.

"I ain"t done yet," Axel heard, "here"s some payback."

Axel just stood there blankly as Vincent stabbed the spear through Axel"s body. Axel didn"t even bother to move as he was too entranced by the boy"s determination.

"Heh," Vincent chuckled, "I may not be strong enough now, but I will beat you."

Vincent stared up with his golden eye"s catching Axel"s red ones. They stared at each other for a while before Vincent"s legs couldn"t support him any longer. He fell down with a thump.

Axel silently pulled out his spear before looking down at the boy. His stomach healed much faster than the Peasant and Knight.

"You," Sister An held her sword against Axel"s throat, "I should kill you now!"

"Your boy needs medical treatment now," he said, ignoring the existence of Sister An"s sword and walking away, "tell the Ministry that our kind will no longer be a problem."

"Tergeo," she muttered cleaning Vincent"s wound, "And those two?"

"Keep them," Axel muttered, "we found what we"re looking for."

"And may I ask what exactly you people were looking for?" Sister An questioned dangerously.

"Candidate"s that are worthy for the t.i.tle of King," Axel"s eyes bore directly at Vincent before he disappeared, leaving Sister An to stare blankly as the snow fell, covering the street"s white.

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