Third Place - Action/Adventure

Harry kicked back the covers and dove out of bed, wearing a grin before he had even wiped the sleep out of his eyes. Today, he was eleven years old and would finally be getting his very own weapons, instead of using others. His Da had wanted to make sure he could wield them properly before Harry could call them his own and had promised that they would get him some for his birthday if he could hold his own in a fight... and he bloody well could. He didn�t bother to get dressed as he crossed the room in his black silk pyjamas and slipped out into the hall.

"Good morning, little master. Happy birthday." Harry looked up and nodded his greeting to the guard that was stood outside his bedroom. He didn�t bother to stay and exchange pleasantries like he normally would, instead he raced through the corridors until he came to the lounge where both of his fathers were sat having breakfast. He barely spared them a glance as he shot past them and towards the pile of presents that were stacked neatly in the corner and he ignored their soft chuckles as they followed him.

The first one he reached for was long and narrow, and he knew what it was at first sight. He tore the wrapping paper off eagerly and then stared down at the sword in awe, running his hand over the handle. It was the united serpent master sword that he had seen in the magazine he had been looking through a while back. It was one of a kind and simply beautiful. The handle was mostly silver with gold decorations and rubies and the bottom of the handle was shaped like a demon with the face of said demon went down onto the blade.

He continued to stare at it for a minute before he placed it on the floor next to him very carefully and reached for another long, narrow package. This sword was shaped differently in as much as the blade itself was thicker at the top and had intricately detailed scrollwork engraved into it. The handle was once more silver and gold and the collar had another designed pattern, like the demon on the previous one, but this one Harry didn�t understand.

"This is the Elexorien sword of war; it is thought to be but a myth by many. The brother sword, the sword of darkness has been missing for centuries." Ivan explained and Harry looked up his Da in surprise as he ran gentle fingers down the blade.

"This is... beautiful."

"That it is. Come on, open your other presents!" Dante said with a grin and Harry laughed at him before he placed the sword next to his other and reached for more presents. He unwrapped them one by one and laid them out on the floor around him. He had a playstation 2 with lots of games, a laptop, a leather trench coat and lots more, but what caught his attention mostly where the guns.

There was a black and silver STI Hunter 6.0, a silver and grey STI Executive, two of the guns called The Grandmaster which was silver with a beautiful blue handle...A silver desert eagle and finally a WG-65 RIS Custom Elite Sniper with a sniper scope. He stared at the six guns and two swords in amazement and then looked at the ten throwing knives and four daggers.

"Talk about over kill." He muttered with a grin and he launched himself into his father�s arms, hugging them both as he thanked them again and again.

"Now Harry, I want you to wear at least one gun and one dagger with you at all times, even when you start that school of yours. Don�t let us catch you abusing these though my son, you know the correct way to handle them, so see that you do so." Ivan said seriously and Harry rolled his eyes. He had been waiting for that and he knew that it wouldn�t be the last warning he�d get.

"I know Da! I�ve known since I was eight years old, gimmie a fucking break, honestly!" he said and then trailed off as he watched a brown owl fly in through the open window. He quirked an eyebrow when he saw the large envelope it was carrying and watched as the letter was dropped in front of him. Both Dante and Ivan had their guns pointing at the creature but Harry just rolled his eyes and ripped open the envelope.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Harry choked at that and then started giggling before he could even attempt to control himself. Who in their right mind would actually put something like "Supreme Mugwump" on a letter? It certainly didn�t sound like something one would be proud of. Though with a name like Albus Dumbledore, one couldn�t be sure...

Dear Mr Potter-Corvus,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1st September. We await your owl by no later than 31st July.

Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

Harry blinked at that and then looked from the letter to the owl and back again with a scowl on his face. His pa took the paper from his hand without protest as Harry just continued to stare at the creature as it flew out of the window. He arched an eyebrow and then rolled his eyes.

"What the bloody fuck are you supposed to do if you don�t have an �owl�? Something tells me that these people don�t have telephones." He said dryly when Dante passed the note to Ivan for him to read.

"We�ll go and get you one tomorrow, along with everything else including a wand. You know that the wizards have their world just as hidden as ours is, the only thing is that most immortals know where their world is, they just don�t know where ours is. Anyway, they have a whole street full of shops where you can get what�s needed... we�ll have to take Blaise because you need a wizard to get into the place."

"Blaise...? Will he be the one starting with me? I never knew he was eighty one! Ohhh this is gonna be so much fun!" Harry said with a grin, "The Supreme Mugwump will wish he�d never met us."

"Har, do try and remember that he�s your headmaster wont you?" Ivan asked, amused.

"Yes, at least refer to him as Headmaster Mugwump, it would only be polite." Dante interrupted with a smirk and Harry snickered again.

"Come on kid, you�ve got to have breakfast yet and then we�ll all go hunting before the concert tonight." Ivan said with a smile and Harry nodded, jumping to his feet. He paused when he saw his Da�s rather pointed look and then he rolled his eyes before grabbing one of the Grandmaster guns with a dagger, he would get the rest when he was dressed and had his belt on.

"You know Da; I�m going to be going to a school. You can�t seriously think I�ll need protection there, can you?" he asked as he pulled the safety off the Grandmaster and checked to see if it was loaded.

"Harry, the Corvus clan is well known even in the mortal realm. There are wizards who bare grudges to myself personally, and vampires in general. Other kids may not be so accepting, and then there�s the fact that others of our kind may think you an easy target when you are away from us. Remember your lessons my son, always be cautious." Ivan replied seriously and Harry nodded with a smile as he slipped out of the room.

Harry jumped soundlessly from branch to branch as he peered down onto the ground before him. He preferred to travel this way when hunting, not only because it was much easier to stay silent but also because his prey hardly ever looks up until he�s already on top of them. His fathers were both behind him, though he wasn�t allowed to go too far ahead without them; attacks and all that.

He smiled at the sense of freedom he always managed to find when leaping from tree to tree and prided himself in his ability to land soundly without so much as rustling a leaf. This was something his Pa had taught him, though the other vampires preferred to keep two feet on the ground at all times. His Da could send out others of the clan to hunt for them, and sometimes he did, but he liked to teach Harry continuously about independence. He wanted him to be a swift and able hunter, cunning and silent.

Harry didn�t care; he loved to hunt as it was perhaps one of his favourite games. He paused and opened his senses, listening carefully for any sound that would indicate which direction his prey was. He heard a twig snap behind him and looked over his shoulder, through the leaves of the trees. It was probably one of his fathers and yet they were generally as silent as they wanted to be. He briefly toyed with the notion of doubling back on himself and trying to sneak up on them again but he shook his head, he did that too often now and he never once managed to surprise either of his fathers, no matter how silent he was.

He caught scent of it then, a wolf if he was correct. He turned back to the land in front of him and grinned as he followed his nose, leaping silently from tree to tree once more. Normally he would have blocked his scent and played with its trail instead, seeing if he could tell the difference between other marks and to see if he could follow one... but not today, he wanted to get to his Evanescence concert and even his favourite game wouldn�t stop him.

He saw it then, it was prowling through the woods, obviously searching for its own food. Harry smoothly jumped down and landed soundlessly behind it, grinning when it didn�t even turn around. He moved slowly and carefully as he took another step behind it and then he ran his tongue over his fangs and prepared to pounce.

Another twig snapped right behind him.

The wolf turned immediately and those golden eyes met with his. The wolf growled and prepared to attack him but Harry hissed loudly, showing his fangs as his eyes flashed to a coldness that would make even his Da stop and think. As expected, the wolf turned and fled and Harry straightened himself up and closed his eyes, a cold smile twisted at his lips as he felt someone trying unsuccessfully to sneak closer.

His fathers were never so careless.

He just stayed where he was with his eyes closed and held his hand on the hilt of the sword at his belt. Whoever was following him had just jumped from the tree, rather noisily, and was preparing to attack. Harry still didn�t move. Really, these were pure amateurs. He felt a shift in the air and then he sidestepped quickly and drew his sword as he finally turned to face his attacker.

"Did you want something?" He asked mildly, his eyes still as cold as ice as he glared forcefully at the vampire. The man took a hesitant step back when he saw the look on Harry�s face but he obviously found his balls as he sneered and stepped forward again, a puny little sword in his hand.

"Come quietly boy, and you wont get hurt." He hissed and Harry tilted his head to the side as if considering. He had never before set eyes on this particular vampire but judging by his stance and by the way he was holding his weapon, it didn�t look to be a difficult challenge...Though he wouldn�t underestimate him, so perhaps he should set the level to a little above a fourteen year old mortal child.

"You just chased away my prey, bastard. I would think very carefully about what to do here, if I were you." He said calmly and the cold smile twisted his lips again as the fool attacked. He parried the blow with ease and held one hand behind his back as he continued to allow the attacks to come.

"Watch your feet." He offered conversationally as he blocked each and every attack with an ease that was insulting.

"Shift your shoulder up just a little..."

"You�re off balance..."

"Switch hands, it may help..."

He continued to offer pointers as he kept his face completely impassive and his eyes as hard as steel. He crawled out with his senses, looking for his two fathers, and found them a way back... it seemed they were under attack too. No fair, they got more than one. He grew bored after a minute and so he stepped out of defence and into attack as he moved forward, reaching for all the blind spots. It seemed this particular vampire had been trained more in defence though and so he managed to block most of his attacks. Harry feinted to the left and then quickly switched hands and attacked the right, not in the least surprised when his sword sank deep into the vampires side.

The man went down onto his knees, his hand held over the cut as he cried out and Harry quirked an eyebrow. Another thing his father had taught him, never go down unless you are dead... it appeared that this man had forgotten that he wasn�t going to die from that little cut. He moved forward cautiously when the sword clattered to the floor, expecting another attack and he wasn�t far wrong. The vampire brought out his dagger quickly but Harry was ready for him and with one smooth motion, he cut the right hand straight off.

Oops.

"Happy Birthday to me." He said with amusement as he grabbed a fistful of hair and decapitated the fool with one quick move. He watched as the rest of the body fell to the ground and then he released the head before turning, perhaps his fathers could use some help.

He dove back up into the trees and then jumped again, his feet barely touching the next branch before he was off it. It didn�t take long for him to find his fathers and he pouted when he saw that they had had nine attackers, only three of them were still alive. His Da was fighting with one, his Pa with another and the third was creeping up behind his Da. He rolled his eyes and jumped down from the branch, his sword going straight through the vampires back, through his heart and out of his chest.

"Where have you been?" Ivan asked as he turned around and saw him, he looked like he was having the time of his life and Harry grinned before he sat back on a branch and let his fathers have their fun.

"I had a little lesson of my own to teach, any idea who sent these?" He asked as his Pa put his fist through the chest of the last attacker. Ivan brushed some of the blood off him and kicked away the body that lay at his feet.

"Aye, the Leon Carrinias clan... Leon was killed and you know that when the leader dies, the ones who want to take his place have to complete the challenge... which is nearly always attacking me, your Pa or you. The one who gets the closest will take leadership, and if they don�t send a formal apology straight away, I will crush them. It�s a fun game." He said with a shrug and Harry snickered, watching as his Da collected some blood onto his thumb and then wiped it against his neck.

The mark seemed to glow for a minute before it went back to normal and Harry�s eyes were fixed on it. It was a blood red ankh that had a black outline and in the centre of the mark was the letter C. Soon there were other noises around them and then his fathers guards appeared from all directions.

"Clean up that mess; don�t even bother to inform the Carrinias clan of their failure. They�ll find out themselves soon enough." Ivan instructed and then he turned to Harry and held out his hand. "Come, we still haven�t fed and we need to hurry if we don�t want to be late for this... concert." He added, wrinkling his nose in disgust at that last name. Harry smirked and put his hand in his fathers, allowing himself to be pulled away.

"Har, wake up kid" Ivan whispered as he shook his son awake, Harry groaned and peeled his eyes open. He looked at his father and then rolled around to look at the clock; it was barely an hour since he went to sleep. He sat up quickly and grabbed his gun from under his pillow, suddenly wide awake.

"What is it? Are we being attacked?" He asked softly, running his hand over his face and stifling a yawn. It was midnight now and he allowed his father to take his hand and help him out of bed as he opened his senses and peered around the room. His sharp eyes cut through the shadows so that he could see into each corner, there was no one else in here at least.

"No my son... it is time." his Da whispered again and Harry looked at him blankly but then he brightened and tugged his father out of the room. He would be getting his mark now, one that named him heir to the Corvus family. All members of their clan had the same mark but the actual Corvus family had slightly different ones. His Da chuckled softly and allowed himself to be dragged through the corridors and then he took the lead and gently nudged his son into the large meeting room.

All members of the clan were up, awake and sat around to watch as were the rules. Harry saw his Pa waiting for him at the side of a single chair that sat in the centre of the room and he walked over to it and sat down when he was told to. The chair had a little hole in the back of it that kept the head firmly wedged and he sat back and offered his neck to his father. Blaise and another vampire who had also been a wizard before he was turned stood either side of Dante; they would be working to connect the mark to the other members of the clan, just like all marks were.

His head rested back in the hole and some cream was rubbed gently over his neck, mainly his voice box. Normally, a vampire would receive the mark as soon as he became a member of the clan, but it was forbidden to those under the age of eleven because the members would probably be called several times a day merely because a child was playing and had happened to get blood on the mark.

He watched as a small wooden design of the mark was placed on the table next to him, one could say it was the template. His Pa and his Da each let a few drops of their blood fall onto the wood and Harry watched as they blended together, his Da�s blood was a little darker than his Pa�s and so the two colours sort of mixed together and the darker red swirled in the lighter. Blaise and Rowan, the other wizard, started chanting loudly as his Da picked up the wooden ankh, careful not to drop it.

The template was then pressed against his neck, over the voice box and held there. Harry could feel a tingling sensation under it and it felt like the skin of his neck was pulling together but other than that he felt nothing. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as the magic encircled his body; it was almost like a warm caress, loving even. His Da continued to press the wood against his neck and Harry could just about feel the skin under it heating, and he could smell burning flesh but thanks to the cream there was no pain.

He felt a warmth spread through him and then it felt like every pore of his skin was lifting ever so slightly, reaching out in waves. He knew it was his magic, having felt a similar feeling in the tips of his fingers when he did accidental magic, but never had he felt it to such an intensity. It was almost as if it own magic was responding to that of the other vampire wizards. He watched curiously as his Pa�s hand went straight to his mark and then he could see others out of the corner of his eye doing the same.

That wasn�t supposed to happen.

Even his Da�s free hand went to his own mark, and his eyes met with Harry�s questioningly, but all Harry could do was shrug slightly. It seemed his magic was reinforcing the marks, making them that much stronger. Cool. Finally his Da pulled back with the wooden template and a damp cloth was wiped over his neck, clearing the excess blood cream away and then a mirror was handed to him.

The mark was brighter than his fathers, though that was probably because it was newly done. Where the two colours of blood had blended together on the wood, the effect of the darker swirls had also been placed on his own mark. The skin was red raw and more than a few blisters were healing as he watched. He looked up sleepily and grinned at his two fathers�. He had finally received his mark.



The Heir of Corvus I: The Philosopher�s Stone - Chapter 3

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