Cool Vampires

A few days after Gaude had 'learned' the Shielding charm and practiced blocking spells with it until he was sick and tired of the action, Linda decided that it was time for Gaude to learn casting spells during a duel.

"We'll start with the simple stuff, like the Leglock jinx, disarming charm and Jelly-legs curse. You can learn more, but I would greatly appreciate if you didn't cast them on me."

Linda waved her wand and a few stone blocks rose up from the floor. With a flick of her wand, concentric circles appeared on each of them.

"These are your targets. Try to hit them in the center."

Like that, Gaude started the process of learning precision spellcasting. He started with stationary targets while standing still. It turned out to be relatively easy, somewhat like firing a handgun. The difference was, of course, that a wand doesn't have sights on it. As such, the aiming was more akin to shooting by the feel of it, and Gaude had to adjust the angle a few times.

In just an hour, Gaude had mastered hitting a stationary target approximately where he wanted to from the distance of fifty yards. This was made possible by the fact that a wand didn't have any recoil, meaning no adjustments. Besides that, firing spells with a wand benefitted greatly from all the tricks that Gaude knew for increasing handgun accuracy, namely controlled breathing, proper mindset and a steady hand.

"Very good!", Linda chimed in a joyous tone. "Remember what we started with? You'll be dodging my spells again, but now try to hit the targets while you're doing that."

As Gaude had already gotten a good grasp of aiming with his wand, he decided to just forego all pretenses and bring his A game. Due to that, after Gaude had fired off twenty severing charms and caused a few pieces of stone to get blown off near the center of the blocks each time, Linda said with the smile of a proud mother: "You're a natural at this! I think we can move to the next step straight away! Now, try to hit me and avoid the spells I cast."

Gaude felt even more in his element now. This was what he had been doing for years in his past life, after all – avoiding a bullet while feeding his target with so many that they chocked to death on the bullets.

That was what Gaude did once again, in just three minutes, Linda was down on the floor, unable to control her arms or legs and couldn't even dream about picking up her wand. Her expression had turned extremely grim, as if remembering a dark past.

It wasn't only that, however, it was also the fact that suddenly, Gaude's growth had progressed at an unbelievable rate, as if he was possessed by the ghost of a seasoned hitwizard. For a moment, Linda had felt as if she was the student instead.

It wasn't until her limbs had returned to normal and she had been given an Invigoration Draught and a piece of chocolate by Gaude that she said: "I think you're ready for the last step now. In a week, we'll go for some real-life practice, simulated fights can only get you so far.

Just remember what I taught you, make sure that there's nobody that can sneak up behind you before you advance, otherwise, no matter how fast you get warned by the Supersensory Charm you like so much, you won't even know how you died."

"Yes, teacher. I will keep your words in mind.", Gaude said while giving her a small bow. For some reason, Linda had insisted on it. She had claimed that it was tradition, a way to respect her own teacher.

"Now, take a hold of this ball together with me. It'll take us to where we need to go."

Gaude took a hold of Linda's hand that held the ball and she spoke the Portkey's activation words: "There's no place like home."

A spinning and very disorienting ride later, they had landed in the reception area of the Firepit.

Linda took Gaude to the reception desk and spoke: "I would like to use my right to bring someone in to register this boy. He's my apprentice."

Gaude took out a golden coin and threw it in air. At the highest point, he slowed its spinning midair with telekinesis, showcasing both sides of the coin to the man at the reception desk. As soon as the man saw it, he stopped everything, took out a piece of parchment and checked something on it.

Once he was looking at Gaude with interest and blinked slowly three times, Gaude lifted his arm above his head, signaling that the man should cover for him. As Linda's eyes were trained on the receptionist, she had no idea of what Gaude had just done, and even if she did, she would've just thought it a stretching exercise.

Gaude had figured that he would most likely not survive if he took a solo mission in the wizarding world, so a few theatrics were necessary to keep Linda by his side.

Each of the Firepit coins had one similar and one unique aspect about them – each had the image of a campfire on one side, but on the other side, there was the 'true face' of the owner. Gaude's coin just so happened to have the image of Charles Vywin, a face that the wizard at the reception desk knew quite well.

As protocol demanded, the man had immediately checked if Charles Vywin's coin had left the man's hand unwillingly or unwittingly and finding signs of neither, had decided that the boy in front of him had a reason to be in the possession of the coin that granted him near absolute power within the establishment.

While the receptionist wondered why the kid would need access to this establishment in such a way, he had to play along, as it was akin to being under direct orders from the owner himself. While he wasn't aware of how close to the truth he was, he didn't want to get a sudden audience from one of the red robes. They were way too scary. Getting beaten into submission by them once was enough for him, not to mention they had to be very powerful, as they could use magic without a wand and in perfect silence, ranging from offensive spells to becoming completely imperceptible with just a wave of their hand.

"I see, then I'll get someone to provide him with the agreement. I trust that you'll be able to introduce the facilities to him by yourself."

The man then pushed down on something within the counter he was manning, and a 'Ding' sound could be heard. It was a linked bell, when one of them was rung, its counterpart would ring as well. The counterpart of that bell was located in a different building, quite far away.

Soon, one of the red-robed service people appeared next to the counter and took them to a private room where Linda oversaw the process as Gaude signed the agreement. Gaude was then handed a coin that, after a few moments, had his current appearance on the face side of it.

Gaude turned the coin around and there was the image of Irma's face on it. Gaude inspected the edge of the coin. On the edge, small text appeared: 'Irma Smith. Muggle. Newham Way 150. 02.10.79'.

Gaude channeled a strand of magic into the coin and it returned to normal a few moments later.

All that was Gaude personally testing out a hidden function of the coins – each coin that was handed out to the clients had a partner that was kept in one of the hidden rooms of the Firepit. In that room, a Transfiguration specialist lived, with a single task to pass special jobs to a select few individuals when the need arose.

That method of communication was achieved through the use of a Protean charm. The counterpart coins that were stored by the Firepit were the master coins, all except for one. In Gaude's case, the coin with Charles Vywin's face was the master coin, useable for passing instant messages to the establishment.

As to the meaning of the text that had appeared, it was the name and address of the target with the date that they had been last seen in that location, which in Irma's case was the same day. Due to the limitations of the magic used, however, it didn't get any more precise than that.

"I believe we're all done here. Now, let's go get you some new looks, you'll have to look the part on the job.", Linda said as soon as Gaude was done inspecting the coin. She hadn't noticed anything suspicious about it.

Gaude followed Linda, first to the tailor, then to the face sculptor and finally through the Floo.

"I can't have your real face known before you can properly protect yourself.", Linda had explained about Gaude's face-change. She had paid for everything, unaware that Gaude would've been able to use each of the services for free if he so chose.

Linda explained Gaude the first job they'd be taking together: "As your first, I've picked a very simple job. All we need to do is keep an eye on the client while they attend a meeting and make sure nothing happens.

The client's name is Amanda Lestoat, she's a somewhat special person of high standing."

They used the only Floo that was in the departure room connected to the face sculptor's. The address was Rock Creek lane number 15, as unassuming as it could get.

They were greeted by a seemingly young lady that didn't look older than ten. She had a very pale face, yellow eyes and blonde hair. Her face was seemingly in a perpetual pout and her gaze was icy enough that it would probably cause a layer of frost to form the moment any humidity accumulated on the surfaces. Her eyes went over Linda and landed on Gaude's changed face.

"I see you've been thoughtful enough to bring me a most delectable meal. This new organization I've been hearing about is truly considerate of the clients' needs.", the young lady said, her grin baring a pair of abnormally long and sharp-looking canines.

"Are you a va- vampire?", Gaude asked.

"Yes, I am."

"That is so cool!", Gaude shouted, as if he was a child that had seen a new and amazing toy.

"Now, just come here and let me have a snack.", she said with her eyes glowing a faint red.

"No, you come here and let me take a blood sample!", Gaude retorted, Occlumency making sure that any kind of mind control had no chance to take root in his mind.

"He's my apprentice.", Linda clarified.

"What, so young and delicious? Since when is your kind training people from such an early age?"

"It seems that you're not familiar with the intricacies of my trade. There's only one reason that somebody doing this job could be either very young or very old, it's because they're that good. This one here, he's the best seed I've seen with my own eyes."

"Humph! I suppose I'll have him as well, at the very least he can be used as bait if anything goes wrong."

As the young lady was already dressed up in a frilly black gothic dress, they moved out just a moment later, the client that turned out to be a vampire opening the Floo for both of them ahead of time, saying something neither Linda nor Gaude could quite catch as the address.

A moment later, they were in what looked more like a medieval dungeon than a home. There were torches on the walls and the air was musty, chilly and damp. They were greeted by a man in a butler's uniform with black eyes, a bald head and a skin that was grayish white.

A moment later, their client had followed them.

"Ah, Lady Lestoat, Sir Sanguini will be happy to know that you found time to come and visit us. He has been quite anxious to get your answer, he's barely eaten the past month."

As to what the butler was talking about, it was naturally the marriage proposal between their two families. As Sanguini had said, it would give that extra protection to Amanda since the rest of her family had been killed by unidentified individuals.

What Sanguini didn't tell her was the fact that he was well aware who the 'unidentified individuals' were. They were in fact sent by an enemy of the Vywin family, the same people that had driven Gaude's own family to near-extinction, saved only by the fact that the head of House Vywin wasn't quite faithful to his wife.

Meanwhile, the Lestoat family had been on somewhat friendly terms with the Vywin family, going even so far as to provide them blood samples for experimentation in exchange for their particular brand of food. Such a cooperation had rubbed a few groups the wrong way, however, and the Lestoat family had been subjected to a purge right after the Vywins, leaving only a single child to get access to their quota of turned and fief through marriage – the Lestoat, while down on their luck, was one of the twelve old true Vampire families.

That was the reason why Amanda had come to Britain in the first place, she had been proposed to by Bryan Sanguini. Amanda was quite unaware of any ulterior motives his proposal had, instead she was hoping to find protection from those that had hunted down her family.

They were led upstairs from the damp basement, into a large hall with toned windows which blocked out most of the sunlight. The hall had a large table in the middle, but that wasn't where they stopped. Instead, they continued onwards through a few more corridors before coming to a stop in front of a massive wooden door.

The butler knocked and the door opened by itself. Inside, there was a man who didn't look older than seventeen, yet he had an air of authority to him, as if he had been in command of his house for a few decades already.

"Amanda, I'm so glad that you've come to visit. Tell me, have you decided?", he asked in a smooth, disgustingly sweet tone.

"Yes, I will accept your proposal. May our union bring prosperity to your family.", Amanda said solemnly. As unfortunate as it was, in a vampire marriage, it was always the man whose family was married into, meaning that with this marriage, the Lestoat family would become completely extinct, all assets transferred to the Sanguini family, or to be more precise, Bryan's house. What he did with those assets would be up to him.

"Since that is the case, I believe it's best to get the paperwork out of the way.", Byan said, trying to suppress the shivers of excitement that were running up and down his body. He was so close to properly establishing his own power. This would be enough to get him a place in the family council! Just because it was his uncle and not his father that was the family head wouldn't matter at all as long as he handed over a few hundred quotas for turned!

As he said that, the butler turned to Linda and said: "I'll have to trouble you with something, would you be willing to accompany me?"

As there weren't any apparent threats to the client's life and Linda trusted Gaude to be able to take care of someone that didn't look all that combat-savvy, she decided to accompany the butler.

Gaude was left alone to watch as Bryan took out a piece of parchment. It was the marriage contract, the magical kind, as can be bought from Gringotts.

Amanda took out a blood-red quill and bit her thumb, then used the fresh blood to sign the contract, followed by Bryan doing the same.

"Let me serve you something as a way of celebration.", Bryan said and passed through a door between two bookcases that lead to another room. A moment later, Gaude could've sworn that he heard the sniffling of a young woman or a girl that quickly died down and Bryan returned with two golden chalices.

Gaude's sense of smell that was somewhat boosted by his modified bloodline was able to pick up on a metallic scent that shouldn't be there unless the chalices were made of some sort of smelly alloy, or considering the facts, more than likely contained blood.

Gaude came to a realization that he was possibly the first human witness to a proposal between two vampire families. Now he just thanked his luck for not being the source of their celebratory drink.

Something felt off to Gaude about the whole thing. The vampiress had hired a hitwizard to accompany her to an apparently arranged marriage between two vampire noble families. There was no way that she would do it without an escort from her own family, unless the circumstances forced her, which means that she was doing this deal from a very weak position. Yet, the first rule of diplomacy was, never negotiate from a position of weakness, meaning that she was most likely about to be taken advantage of in a big way.

Just in case, Gaude silently cast a Supersensory charm on himself. That was the reason he quickly noticed how, after Bryan had handed Amanda the chalice, he pulled out a dagger behind his back.