Wandless - A Harry Potter Fanfic 20 Chapter 2 - Santa Claus Impostor

It was the next day. Vincent decided to visit Sister An and tell her what had happened.

"It's not like I have a choice," Vincent sighed as he sat on the doorstep, "if I do try to kick her out then she'll just come back. Not to mention she has guns. She even offhandedly said that she could snipe five kilometers with a pistol, a frickin pistol!"

"She probably enhances the performance of the gun with her blood," Sister An said thoughtfully. She then proceeded to glare at Vincent, "but that's not the reason you let her stay, right Vince?"

Vincent started sweating, "I don't kn—"

"Right?"

"...Ok, ok, fine," Vincent groaned, "I felt bad that she didn't have a place to stay, even though she's a vampire and has a gun, I didn't want a crippled girl out on her own. Happy?"

"Anything else?"

"...She's cute," Vincent, embarra.s.sed, put his face in his hands while Sister An struggled not to laugh.

"I wonder how people would react if they found out your, what should we call it? Weakness? Preferences?"

"Shut up..." Vincent groaned.

"Brother Vince!" A small dark-haired girl jumped on his back, "This Sister is so much fun to play with."

"Nim," Vincent said, "what did she do?"

"Vincent..." The three of them turned around to see Arnya carrying a pile of stuffed teddy bears. She could barely see over the top.

"What are you doing?" Arnya, confused, just looked at Nim.

"This girl told me that teddy bears are cuddly to hug, so I thought that if I had two it would be twice as cuddly. Three, three times. Four, four times and so forth," Arnya explained, "so I gathered as much teddy bears as I could find."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...It's getting hard to carry."

Vincent just stared a bit before walking over, "...Let me help you with that."

"Thank you."

Nim and Sister An could only exchange odd glances as they watched the pair try to sort out the bears.

"Still, a crippled vampire?" Sister An thought as she watched Vincent take some of the bears, "cursed perhaps?"

After a few days, Arnya had settled into Vincent's life. Through this time, they learned a lot more about each other. Whenever Vincent went out, Arnya would follow behind. He had soon gotten used to it. Vincent had taken a break from Trespa.s.sing to adjust to this new lifestyle.

She seemed to like spending time at the orphanage with Nim. It was there that Arnya found a particular attachment to board games. Chess, checkers, a game called Go, she would play that with Nin, Vincent or even Nyx, who was surprisingly good at such games.

"So, you've escaped," Sister An muttered as she looked at Sirius Black yelling from the picture. Her eyes looked rather dark for a bit before turning a back to normal. She folded the newspaper and threw it in the trash.

...

"This is a quiet night," Vincent muttered as he strolled across the rooftops. He lept down onto a lower level, "well it's not like there will be a crime all the time."

"Do you want one to happen every night?" Arnya asked rolling her wheelchair beside him.

"Nah, it's a good thing that nothing is—!" Vincent responded naturally before freezing. He turned to the side to see Arnya wheeling beside him.

"Vincent? What's wrong?" she asked.

"H—how did you get up here?" Vincent spluttered.

"How? Just like you, I climbed," she stated.

"But you have a—you know what, forget it," Vincent scratched his head in frustration.

"She's a vampire, of course, she can get up here even if she is a wheelchair," Vincent thought glumly as he continued walking.

"So do you do this every night?" she asks as she followed from behind.

"Yeah, I do," Vincent replied before stopping at a ledge and taking a seat, "I see something bad and I try to stop it. Either call the police or do it myself."

"That sounds a little too casual don't you think?" Arnya asks.

"I guess so," Vincent chuckled as he looked over the whole of London under the night. The two of them were silent for a bit, "hey Arnya, are you able to answer a few questions of mine?"

"Go ahead."

"What kind of person is Dracula?" he asked.

"What type of person is father?" Arnya looked thoughtful for a moment, "I don't know."

"Wait, you don't know your own father?" Vincent turned around and looked incredulously at Arnya who shrugged.

"The number of times I've spoken with him must be around ten or so," Arnya's voice didn't change it's tone, as if she was speaking of something trivial, "I guess he simply didn't think I was worth it."

She then noticed Vincent's sad gaze and waved her hand, "Don't worry about me, I've gotten used to it."

"Doesn't mean it's right," Vincent said, "a father shouldn't neglect their children like that. It's not right."

Arnya merely blinked before looking away, "I only had Axel to keep me company. All the other servants would just do their jobs, they would never talk to me."

Vincent just let out a breath of frustration before getting up. He started walking towards another building with Arnya following behind.

"So I really am one of the first people you've actually talked to?" Vincent asked without turning around. He jumped and caught hold of a ladder which he used to climb to the roof of another building. He then turned to see Arnya casually wheeling herself up the wall. Vincent couldn't help but feel resigned, "I've seen weirder things before," he thought.

"Yes," she nodded as she made it to the roof. There was an awkward silence, at least for Vincent. He didn't know what to say or ask next.

"By the way," Arnya merely tilted her head, "how long are you staying with me?"

"Until you've become Dracula, or Father ordering me to stop, or perhaps you or me dying, who knows?" she answered.

"Since I don't plan on becoming Dracula and no plans for dying, you're most likely going to stay with me for a long time eh?" Arnya nodded, "Well, in that case, call me Vince."

"Vince?" she looked confused. Vincent turned and gave her a wry smile.

"Yeah, all my friends call me that," Vincent explained, "think of it as a nickname of sorts."

"Friends?" Arnya said making Vincent stop in his tracks, "Are we friends?"

Vincent thought for a moment, "You aim a gun at me, played with my character to let you stay at my house and you're the daughter of Dracula, someone who wants me to become king despite my reluctance. You tell me, are we or can we become friends?"

"Judging by what you said, no—" Arnya started a.n.a.lyzing before feeling a soft thump on her head. She looked up to see Vincent's hand on her head.

"The answer is yes," Vincent smiled before he started walking away, "even though you're all those things, you don't seem like a bad person."

"You would become friends with the enemy?" she asked confused.

"I don't wish for anyone to be an enemy," Vincent answered as he looked down at the streets below.

"What a strange boy," Arnya thought. She felt something come from her mouth uncontrollably, a strange noise. She managed to stop herself, "what was that feeling? That noise was also strange."

"You know, this is the first time I've seen you laugh or smile," she turned to see Vincent looking back at her, "although your sense of humor is a bit odd, you look better this way."

Arnya raised her hand to her mouth and felt it twitched upwards. She then looked back at Vincent who was smiling back at her. Her face soon returned back to normal, "So that was smiling and laughing? It felt, nice."

Vincent felt a pang of sadness seeing the girl not knowing what either of those meant, "She really lacks some emotions does she?" he thought.

He watched Arnya play with her mouth trying to smile again and couldn't help but feel that the girl was truly pitiful. She suddenly stopped and looked confused for a moment.

"Is it natural for strange things to happen at night?" Arnya asked.

"Define strange."

"Strange balloon people getting stuck in chimneys, does that happen here a lot?"

"Where on earth did you—" Vincent was cut off by a small scream.

He turned around and nearly fell from the roof in shock. In the distance, an incredibly round woman was screaming from the top of her lungs. She was all bulged out into the shape of a balloon and had somehow gotten stuck in a chimney.

"Before you ask, this is a first for me too," Vincent answered Arnya before rushing off in the balloon lady's direction.

He jumped off the roof and landed on a sign that stretched across the buildings. Once on the other side he jumped and lifted himself up onto a window sill which he used to get on the roof before proceeding to run across. He then vaulted himself across a vent and jumped off the roof onto another, landing in a roll before proceeding to run again. For his own enjoyment, Vincent did a last frontflip over another gap before stopping at the site.

"VERMON, HELP ME VERMON!" the balloon lady yelled in obvious rage and panic.

"What the h.e.l.l happened to her?" Vincent thought as he scratched his head, he then turned around and felt his eyes twitch, "You have got to be kidding me."

Arnya raced across the rooftops on her wheelchair, she wasn't even touching the wheels either meaning she was most likely controlling it. At each gap between the houses, she would make the whole wheelchair jump over them. Soon she took one last jump onto Vincent's roof and skidded to a stop by his side. She noticed Vincent's dead look and tilted her head in confusion.

"Did you see something weird?" she asked. Vincent decided that it was best not to answer.

"People?! Is there anyone there?! Help me!" the woman pleaded with the two of them.

"Ah, sure, just give us a—" Vincent was about to help when Arnya tugged his sleeve, "Arnya?"

"How are you going to help that woman?" she asked.

"I was thinking of pulling her out," Arnya sighed.

"Do you think that woman got here by normal means?"

Vincent raised an eyebrow, "You mean by magic?"

"It would appear so."

"Huh, I thought it was a Santa wannabe," Vincent said thoughtfully not noticing Arnya's eyes start to sparkle at the mention of Santa.

"Oi, you brats, help me already!" Vincent and Arnya exchanged glances.

"She's not very nice is she?" Arnya said.

"Doesn't seem like it," Vincent said before addressing the woman, "how'd you get here ma'am?"

"I don't know, one second I was scolding my nephew, the next I burst into a balloon and started floating away!" she struggled in the chimney, "Can you please help me down?!"

"If I pry her out, she's most likely going to float off again right?" Vincent thought out loud.

Arnya looked thoughtful for a moment before she pulled out her gun. Vincent looked blankly at her, "Arnya, What are you doing?"

"If she's a balloon, then all we need to do is pop her," she said pointing it at the struggling woman.

"Pop me?! Pop me with what?!" The woman yelled frantically.

Vincent started sweating, "Arnya, let's try a method that doesn't involve violence."

"Well what do you suggest then?" She asked as she put away the pistol.

"Listen to the boy, he sounds reason—" the woman started.

"I have a few needles, while it may hurt I think it's better than a gun," Vincent pulled out a couple of needles.

"Wait, SHE HAS A GUN?! HELP, IM GOING TO BE MURDERED!" The woman screamed hysterically.

"...I'm having second thoughts about helping, what about you?" Vincent looked at Arnya who shrugged, "You know, it's weird that no one has heard her. Why is that?"

"I've put a silencing charm around this area," a deep voice sounded behind them. They turned to see a large dark-skinned man in blue robes walk towards them, "Kingsley Shacklebolt at your service."

"A wizard?" Vincent looked at Arnya who tensed up.

"Hmm? A muggle," Kingsley said, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to erase your memory of tonight's event."

"Um, sir, my name is—" Vincent began before Kingsley pointed his wand at Vincent, "c.r.a.p."

"Oblivi—"

"Run!" Vincent raced off with Arnya following from behind.

"Sir, your orders?" Another wizard appeared.

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"I'll deal with this, you handle the woman," Kingsley took a single step before vanishing in a snap.

"He didn't even listen before firing," Vincent complained as he jumped over a roof, "maybe we can still talk? And no, Arnya, no shooting."

Arnya, racing alongside him, placed her pistol back into its hoister looking slightly dejected which Vincent didn't miss.

"Are you that upset over not shooting anyone?" Vincent yelled annoyed before seeing a red bolt fly towards him.

Vincent dived behind a vent hearing the spell smash against the metal, making a clanging sound.

"Let's make this quick shall we?" Kingsley said appearing in front of Vincent.

Just as he pointed his wand though, Vincent aimed a kick at the man's chest. He was sent tumbling away giving Vincent the chance to make a grab for the wand. Before he could grab him, however, Kingsley pointed his wand at Vincent and yelled, "Protego!" making a blue wall appear between them.

Vincent abruptly stopped before jumping back on the vent, using it to jump over the charm. Kingsley narrowed his eyes before dissipating the spell and turning his wand and stabbing backward at where Vincent was going to land.

"Stupify!" he muttered making the tip of the wand spark bright red. Vincent landed just in time to see the wand tip right at his chest and barely managed to dodge to the side. He then grabbed the outstretched arm and used the momentum to send the bigger man tumbling.

"d.a.m.nit," Kingsley thought. Before he could apparate, he felt his wand get taken away from him.

"Ok Mr. Shacklebolt," Vincent got some distance from the man and smiled wryly with his hands up, "we just want to talk."

...

"My apologies Mr. Wong," Kingsley said as they walked into the Leaky Cauldron, "I have heard of your circ.u.mstances and was not aware of your appearance. Hence I acted without confirmation, I do beg your forgiveness."

"It's fine, I probably should have brought it up earlier," Vincent smiled wryly as he and Arnya were led upstairs, "need help Arnya?"

"No, I'm fine," Arnya said as she proceeded to roll up the stairs without any trouble.

"That's a pretty handy wheelchair," Vincent thought, "Mr. Shacklebolt, what did you bring us here for?"

"Ah, the Minister of Magic is here," Kingsley explained, "muggles that have been introduced into the world of magic are usually given a pa.s.s. This pa.s.s is to get recognition from other witches and wizards in case something similar to tonight happens again. Since your case is special, it is more convenient that you meet with the Minister directly."

"That sounds handy," a thought came to Vincent, "but why am I only getting it now?"

"The Ministry has to handle, other matters," Kingsley said sounding uneasy, "a loose criminal."

"Sirius Black?" Kingsley nodded.

"If someone has escaped Azkaban, who's to say that others can't," Kingsley led them to a door, "that's why it is important to discover how this man has done such a task. The Minister is in here, I shall now leave you two here. Have to check how the muggle woman is doing."

"Thank you, sir," Kingsley nodded and took an odd glance at Arnya before walking away.

"You ok?" Vincent asked Arnya who nodded.

"I'm fine, it's just that vampires have an innate dislike of wizards and witches," she explained.

"Hmm," Vincent scratched his cheek before knocking on the door, "if it's fine with you, I want to discuss that a bit more later."

"Sure."

"Come in," a voice in the room sounded.

Vincent opened the door and stood stunned. The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, a portly man in a long, pinstriped cloak, sat next to a fireplace, but that's not what caught his attention. He had just seen a familiar black-haired boy with bright green eyes and gla.s.ses sitting opposite of Fudge. The boy's eyes widened in shock as he recognized them

"Vincent?!" The boy stood up hurriedly.

"Harry?!" Vincent gave a smile as he walked to his friend, "I imagined what our next meeting would look like, but not like this. What are you doing here?"

"I could say the same for you," Harry rubbed the back of his head slightly nervous. He then noticed Arnya, "who's she?"

"You boys can catch up later," Fudge chuckled as he got up. He stretched his hand to Vincent, "Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic."

"Vincent Wong," Vincent shook his hand. After the handshake Fudge looked at his hand.

"Quite a grip you have there boy," Fudge said. He noticed Arnya and frowned slightly before returning his expression turned cheerful, "now, Kingsley sent a message beforehand of the situation. You need a pa.s.s yes?"

"Yes, sir," Harry stood to the side as Vincent talked with the Minister, "am I meant to do anything?"

"Not at all," Fudge took out a ticket of sorts and handed it to Vincent, "all you really need to do is carry it around with you at all times. If a wizard questions you, show it to them."

"Huh, neat," Vincent took the ordinary-looking ticket and turned it around. It had the Minister's signature there.

"I also heard of your scuffle with Kingsley," Fudge said after Vincent pocketed the ticket, "to beat one of the best Aurors under my command is an impressive feat."

"I caught him off guard," Vincent said, slightly embarra.s.sed at the praise, "if he kept his distance, I probably would have a much harder time beating him."

"A harder time?" Fudge raised an eyebrow, "Even with that disadvantage you're confident in being able to win?"

"With all due respect sir there's a lot of factors in a fight," Vincent explained, "our surroundings, att.i.tude, weapons, experience, and even clothes are just a few of many. Given the right conditions, it's possible to take out a small group of wizards."

"Indeed it is," Fudge nodded. He then sighed as he looked at the clock, "good grief, I've kept you, boys, late, I won't keep you any longer."

"Have a good night sir."

"Oh, and Harry,

Only after Vincent, Harry, and Arnya left the room did Fudge lose his cheerful demeanor. He frowned deep in thought. After a while, a knock was heard on the door.

"Come in."

Kingsley walked into the room.

"The muggle woman has been dealt with," Kingsley reported, "we had to wipe her memory of the incident. In short, no harm has been done."

"The way you put it sounds like you've killed her Shacklebolt," Fudge chuckled, "good work nonetheless."

"Thank you, Minister," Kingsley took a seat, "you noticed the vampire girl following Vincent right Minister?"

"Yes I did Shacklebolt, yes I did," Fudge sighed in exhaustion, "it seems that Vincent has been chosen by Dracula. Tighten our watch on them, we don't know when he's going to make a move on the boy."

"With all due respect sir, putting a tighter guard on the vampires will increase the tension between us," Kingsley said seriously, "if it stretches any further there could be a chance that they will revolt against us. Not to mention the fact that we already have our hands full with Sirius Black."

"What's important is that our people are rea.s.sured that all is well and that the Ministry is doing their job," Fudge said calmly, "while Sirius Black is indeed a problem, Dracula has multiple vampires under his control. If he makes a move, we must know about it."

Kingsley sat there silent for a while before nodding. He stood up and was about to leave the room before Fudge called to him.

"So what did you think of Vincent?"

"The boy is incredible at close quarters combat, he made great use of the terrain to defend and attack," Kingsley said giving his a.n.a.lysis.

"If you fought him again, could you beat him?" Fudge asked curiously.

"I can beat him," Fudge gave a chuckle at the expected answer before pausing at Kingsley's next words, "but he could very well do the same."

Fudge narrowed his eyes as Kingsley exited the room. He had never heard of Kingsley giving such a high opinion on anyone in the field of combat. In fact, out of all the Aurors, Kingsley stood as one of the best. For him to be uncertain of who would win proved how skilled Vincent was. A thirteen-year-old boy matching against a well-trained wizard.

"Then again, it seemed like he was used to fighting against wizards," Kingsley thought as he walked out, "I wonder if he's been trained."

Far away, a certain potion master sneezed.

...

"What the heck are you doing here Vince?" Harry asked. The three of them had stopped by Harry's room which he rented at the Leaky Cauldron.

"I was having a pleasant stroll under the moonlight when I came across the most peculiar thing," Vincent narrated dramatically before giving up, "man I really can't talk like that. Anyway, to summarise it all up, we found a fat balloon-like lady trying to be Santa Claus."

"Um, what?" Harry was confused.

"Santa is real?" Arnya interjected turning Harry's attention onto her. Somehow, her face turned into eyes of wonder at the thought of Santa.

"No—" Vincent began before feeling the atmosphere turn dark and depressing. The light in Arnya's eyes burned out as she stared at the floor, she looked like she had just lost her soul. Vincent started to panic, "Santa's real! He's real!"

Arnya's eyes lit up again. Harry watched all of this with a questioning gaze.

"So who is this?" Harry asked.

"Arnya Tepes, daughter of Dracula," Arnya introduced, snapping out of her daze, "pleasure to meet you. I've heard tales of the Boy who Lived, it is an honor to meet with you.

Harry just sat on his bed, silent. After two whole minutes, Vincent decided to talk to him.

"Um, Harry—?"

"Hold on Vince," Harry held up a hand, "I felt like I heard something unbelievable, just give me a moment to get back to reality."

"...Sure."

Five minutes later, Harry finally got up and placed his hands on Vincent's shoulders, "Vince?"

"Yeah—"

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

Arnya, meanwhile, just watched silently as Harry freaked out and Vincent trying to explain.

...

...AUTHORS NOTE...

So in case people ask, I've been struggling with my studies lately. Since Uni's come back up I need to actually concentrate on that for a majority of my time. That means that I probably won't update this as often, not like I did it that fast anyway. I just expect that chapters may take a while to post up. I'll try to keep it to a chapter a week but since I'm a slow writer, it could take 2 to 3 weeks at max. The chapters might also be shorter and the grammar might go unchecked so I apologize if the story gets worse or that happens.

I'm sorry, but I really don't want to fall behind in my studies. Thanks in advance for understanding. Thank you all for reading, I hope to see you guys around.