Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.
Chapter 122- Allergic To Blood?
Talbot Winger had just walked into the base, and I only knew that because Madam Rakepick called him by his last name when he walked in, and the guy looked very rugged whilst also looking very refined, which was very contradictory but nonetheless true. The guy was dressed elegantly like an old Victorian noble with that feathery shirt and the cravat and everything, and yet his body, face and physique were so at odds with his fashion. He was like the comic version of Sebastian Shaw from the X-Men.
The guy was rugged and built like a brick shit house. He was massive and intimidating. And then, his face was so goddamn fierce I nearly jumped out of fright, thinking the guy was angry and ready to kill. His eyebrows were sharp and pointed, and they came out a little like a caveman's eyebrows, no monobrow, thankfully. His eyes were sharp and dangerous, his pupils exactly like that of a hawk. His hair was long and slicked back, reaching the base of his neck, and he had thick sideburns that ran along his jagged jaw. His mouth was feral, unable to close due to sharp teeth, and his nose was hooked, reminiscent of a hawk's sharp beak.
Yeah, I could tell this guy's Animagus form was a hawk; just look at the guy. He's more hawk-like than Dracula Mihawk, and that guy has hawk in his name. Anyway, Talbot Winger had just entered, and Ivana had told me that he was out there scouting using his hawk animagus form, so I am interested to see what he has found out. It seems everybody else is as well, and they stop what they are doing and they pay attention. The man knows what everybody wants, and he makes a show of it as he enters the room and walks slowly to the table, his smile smug and almost a snarl as he looks around with glee.
"Hmm, it seems like you are all eager to hear what I have to say. I don't know if it is pertinent, but I will tell you all everything I have witnessed, just in case one of you can see something I missed. "And out comes one of the softest and gentlest voices I have ever heard from that feral mouth, and I think to myself that I really misjudged this guy solely off of his appearance. Just because he looked like an animal and so fierce, I read the book by the cover, but once I heard the voice, I remembered that he was apparently a very reserved and kind man with a love for magical creatures. A Hagrid Archetype.
"Good, I trust your judgement, Talbot, and we don't have time to waste, so tell us quickly." Madam Rakepick demands, and if she trusts him, then he must be good at what he does and is reliable. Rakepick may be a bitch, but she is a competent one, of that I am sure, so I can be sure that the decisions she makes are good decisions, at least when she has all the facts. Of course, she has also listened to Dumbledore and faked child murder to gain access to an evil organisation and is now a wanted fugitive, so I trust her within reason, very limited reason.
Talbot takes a seat and then reaches into his coat and fetches out a tiny notebook, which he puts on the table and then taps with his wand, making it enlargen, and then he begins to flip through it. He kept notes; what a meticulous guy. "Begining with the movements of all the magicals in England. Most have gone to ground, locking themselves in their homes and cowering behind their wards. It is clear that these all live under the purview of the vampires, and they are afraid of them. They live by their rules, and something has spooked them into hiding, lending credibility to the information Gilderoy brought us." Hmm, the magicians of Italy have lived under the vampires' rule for centuries; if they are hiding like mice at this point, then the vampires must be getting even more dangerous than they already were.
"As for the vampires themselves, they are mobilising heavily. The lower ranks are at least. I don't know the hierarchy or the members of the vampire clan except for the leader, Lucian D'Arcana, so I can't give any firm information. However, what is clear is that all of the vampires are closing in and tearing through the seaside town of Furore." I perk up at that, the word familiar as I was just pondering on it a moment ago. "Furore? That is in the riddle. Could you tell me about that town? Is there anything special about it?" I latch onto it, interrupting the briefing.
Talbot doesn't respond but looks to Madam Rakepick, who gives a nod, and at that, he starts to answer my query. " Furore is a small village located on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, specifically in the province of Salerno, Campania. It's known for its dramatic coastline and the unique Fiordo di Furore, a fjord created by the Schiato torrent. The village is divided into two parts. The first part is the Borgo with its cluster of fishermen's houses clinging to the cliffs, and the Fiordo situated at the foot of the cliff by the sea." Damn, that read like it was off the internet or something, but it did indeed inform me.
"What is a fjord?" I ask, ignoring the other terminology like Borgo and Schiato torrent because they don't seem important, but the fjord (whatever a fjord is) called Fiordo di Furore seems important; it has Furore in it. "A is a long, narrow, and deep inlet of the sea with steep sides or cliffs, typically formed by glacial erosion. Essentially, it's a valley carved by glaciers that has been flooded by the sea. They are quite majestic, and this particular one is said to be described as magical." Sigrid Foss chimes in, answering my question. The guy is Norwegian, and the word fjord does seem like it's from his corner of the world, definitely Scandinavian, so of course he knows it.
"You are correct, Gilderoy; everything in the riddle does seem to point towards this town. Specifically to the fjord, Fiorde di Furore." He continues, taking over the conversation. That's right, this guy is the folklorist, and he was tasked with figuring out the riddle, and I guess we both came to the same conclusion, though I obviously did so in less time than him. "Furore's throat is mentioned in the river, and the throat is used to breathe and to eat, to stay alive. This fjord is what keeps the people of Furore alive, bringing them fresh water and also bringing in tourists. However, it could also be indicating a cave system, as there is a lot in the fjord." He expands on his thinking, and of course, he is further along in his thinking; I only thought about it for five minutes, and he has been researching for quite a while.
"Conversely, the stone above storm's decree could refer to the fjord having been made by a lighting attack of some kind and the fjord being the storm's decree, in which case the stone above could be a stone bridge over the fjord, and that is the key to the Lunar Heart. The part of the riddle that mentions the bridges broken also makes me think it is about the bridge, and perhaps the bridge is some kind of seal and destroying it will open the path to the Lunar Heart. Again, I can't be fully sure." Well, he definitely has me beat, I can't deny that, but shouldn't he have something solid by now.
"You can't be sure? Well, what can you be sure of? We need to figure this thing out before those vampires running roughshod over Furore manage to happen upon it and dig it up, and then we are all fucked." I let my voice get a little loud, but Sigrid stays calm, though he clearly doesn't appreciate my tone. "This Lunar Heart is an ancient artefact that has been there for centuries. If no one has happened upon it so far, then it is unlikely anyone will anytime soon. Given the riddle, it is clear that there are very specific requirements to unlock and find this artefact, so be sure that they are not getting ahead by ravaging the place." He doesn't stop there.
"Not only that but what we think we have figured out are only small parts of the riddle, small sections of the whole puzzle. We still don't know about the twin moons' rise, as that could be referring to the moon reflected in water, or it could be referring to someone's ass. Seventh, when tides run red, it could be any date or time with the number seven, or perhaps we need to gather seven specific things, and due to the mention of blood, I am quite afraid it could be seven blood sacrifices. Given the vampires and the age of the artefact, that is a very real concern." I... hadn't considered that. This is apparently an ancient artefact tied to the vampires, and Lucian D'Arcana thinks it is his birthright, so the way to get it could, in fact, be pretty gruesome and bloody.
"And then there is the mention of decree, chanting, rehearse and verse. It is quite weird for all four of these to be in a single riddle, and so they must have some meaning; it can't be coincidence. So, there must be a specific phrase that needs to be said or sung to unlock the way. And we do not know what that is. Not to mention that various mentions of other things like fire, silence, shadows and bleeding and other things that add a lot of ambiguity to the riddle. This thing could have multiple meanings, and only one is correct, and we have to find the right interpretation." He sighs, taking off his glasses and rubbing his forehead. Still, my point stands.
"That just makes it more crucial for us to go there. Lucian D'Arcana also has the riddle, and unlike us, he is a native Italian with knowledge of the land. He already found out about Furore before us and has his minions searching the place. It is only a matter of time till he figures it out. Hell, he might already be at the location and is just trying to figure out the way to enter. We won't get anything done just sitting here and waiting; we should go on the attack and disrupt their progress. Maybe even search the place and find the artefact before they can." I think my point is reasonable, and as I look around, I can see some agree with me, such as Cassandra Voleur and Ivana Dragovitch, but they don't speak up. Unfortunately, this is not my rodeo.
"No, we can't do that." Madam Rakepick states, and the rest of the members stay silent in agreement. She is the defacto boss of this operation, and they all are following his lead. "While you do have a point, the fact remains we are woefully undermanned and underpowered to take the fight to them. Remember the plan, Gilderoy. We have to stick to it to have the best chance of winning this thing. wait for Veruca to come through on her side, and then we can take the fight to them." She says, reminding me of Veruca Buckthorn-Snyde, who is out doing her part, though I don't have much information on that.
"Joao, tell me what you have found out about vampires. How do we kill them effectively?" I suppose that conversation is over as she turns to the Brazilian magizoologist and asks him about how to vanquish our enemies. I don't bring the topic back up, as I will also need the answer soon. " Silver is needed to kill them. The smell of garlic is repulsive to them and may disorient them, but it will not kill them. I'm not sure what specifically about garlic it is, but it definitely affects them. To kill them, pure silver is needed, and by that, I mean silver that is not magically conjured or transfigured as that is not fully silver and will not work unless your magic is impeccable and you can perform true transformation and conjuration." Joao explains.
True transfiguration and conjuration is a topic that has been confusing izards for centuries. When you transfigure something or conjure it, you may indeed make something identical to whatever it is you are trying to create, but it is not the same. It is in every way that matters, but there is still a difference. A true transfiguration and conjuration will actually create that material, and creation is not actually possible. Conjuration is just transfiguring the air and things around us that we cannot see. That is why silver that is transfigured or conjured won't work on a vampire or werewolf. I know Voldemort makes a silver hand for Peter Pettigrew the Wormtail, which the rat uses to kill Remus Lupin, the werewolf. How Voldermort did that, I don't know. All I can surmise is that he had actual silver on hand and just molded the shape and enchanted it for Wormtail instead of conjuring it.
"Of course, the best way to kill them is sunlight, and it works. Thanks to Gilderoy, we know that the spell Lumos Solem works on them. A spell typically used on Devil's Snare. I do not know why no one has ever thought to use it on a vampire before. Kudos to you for the ingenuity, Gilderoy. Of course, it is also thanks to Gilderoy that we know that Lucian D'Arcana is resistant to this and probably to the other methods, and due to that, if there are any other higher calibre of vampires similar to him, then these solutions will be less effective. We need to find better methods, but I am afraid that there might not be any beyond bombarding them and overwhelming them with the tools we do have." He explains, and I get it. If one sword isn't gonna kill a guy, then throw a thousand at him, and hopefully, it will work. Most likely, it will.
Even though he says that there are no other effective methods, I do know one that might be viable, though I wouldn't know how to implement it. However, even if I did, I can't bring it up. When Lucian D'Arcana had a lick of the drop of my blood on his finger, he acted like he was choking, and his face swelled, and it got all red, like an allergic reaction or like he was being poisoned. I have a theory, but it might be mostly bullshit, but I'd like to think it makes sense. My theory is that magic is in blood, all blood of every creature, and that is why we have things like blood sacrifices.
Vampires feed on the magic in the blood, which is why they drink blood for sustenance, as it holds the magic. That's probably why Lucian tried to drink my blood, as he said it's better than muggle blood. Muggles only have a tiny bit of magic in their blood, not enough to perform magic, but wizards and witches have more, and that's why vampires would like to go after them, but they are not defenceless like muggles. So, if muggles have a tiny bit of magic in their blood, and magical have more, then the question is, how much magic would be in the blood of a magical creature? A lot, I'm betting, which is why magical creatures are also used in blood sacrifices and rituals.
Now, how much magic do you think there is in a dragon's blood, the strongest of all magical beasts? A fuck ton, I am betting. Probably enough that most rituals involving dragon blood are volatile and risky as fuck. Now, I have dragon blood in me from the time that Digby D Digworth (The D stands for dumbass) poisoned the original Gideroy Lockhart and killed him with it, and I took over his body. Obviously, the dragon blood in my blood (somehow?) is significantly diluted, but even that was enough to make Lucian look like he was gagging on a dick. But I can't bring that up to everyone, as I can't explain how I am alive with dragon blood in me.
However, what I can do is try and procure some dragon blood and do some experimentation. Happy with my new direction and not feeling like I am wasting time, I pull out a parchment and quill and begin to write a letter."What are you up to, Gilderoy?" Madam Rakepick asks as I just tuned out of the conversation they were having and started doing my own business. Get off my back bitch. "Just writing a letter to a fan of mine," I respond, not even looking up and starting to smoothly write out the contents of my letter. Damn, my handwriting is good. I am glad the ponce took the time to learn this before I took over, I would not have done that, but cursive looks good.
"Really?" Cassandra asks, and I snort. "Well, I have nothing better to do, it seems, so yes, really," I respond snarkily, making it clear I am pissed that we are just waiting here. Well, I am not; I am doing something, and hopefully, the recipient of this letter is going to help me with my new plan.
Which direction is Romania in?