Chereads / Harry Potter and the Blood of Kings / Chapter 5 - The unbreakable Vow

Chapter 5 - The unbreakable Vow

Dumbledore had just woken up and as he looked at Eleanor he saw her fighting her instincts.

Her teeth were bared and elongated.

Standing up he took his wand out of his robes and walked around the small coffee tabe that was placed between the two sofas. Only then did he hear Minerva calling out to him "Albus, Albus?"

"Minerva take out your wand and stay back, she's losing control. Do you have the blood?" he asked while warning her.

"I do" she stated while taking out her own wand. They saw as Eleanor clawed huge pieces out of the couch. Her eyes suddenly opened and they seemed to have a slight glow to them. Jumping up Hagrid's jaket fell off her as she landed on the table. Baring her teeth she leaped onto the next sofa closer to them she uses it to boat herself towards them.

Dumbledore points his wand at her and a flash of red light erupts from his wand and she gets knocked back into the opposite wall.

Slowly moving closer his wand still razed Dumbledore and said" I think she's knocked out."

Nodding Menerva strolled over and took a small bag out of her robes, opening it she reached in, her whole arm disappeared into it before it came back out. "Hear," she says while handing over a small seethrough bag with blood in it. "How many do you have?" he asked.

"Ten"

"Good, I hope it'll be enough," he stated.

"Do you think she'll need more?" Professor McGonagall asked, surprised.

"She will it's her first time drinking it that I know of.'' Dumbledore answers.

Minerva's eyes widened, taking the blood bag Dumbledore sat down next to the unconscious Eleanor. Opening her mouth he placed the bag in it and just closed it enough that her teeth broke through what he heard the muggles call plastic.

Standing back up and retreating a few feet he waited for the smell to reach her nose. After a minute it did, she bit down on the bag and within seconds it was all gone.

Minerva had already taken out another bag and handed it to him. Bending down he slid the bag along the floor to Eleanor.

She grabbed it immediately and started sucking on that one to this went on till only two bags remained.

Slowly regaining her composure she staggered upright. Seeing this Dumbledore called out to her "Comment allez-vous?(How are you feeling?)"

"A part un peu désorienté, je me sens splendide.(Other than a bit disorientated, I feel splendid.)" she replied.

"Et bien c'est génial. Venez, vous devriez vous asseoir.(Well that's great. Come, you should sit down.)" Dumbledore said gesturing to the one couch that wasn't ripped to shreds.

Tottering over Eleanor slumped down on the sofa he had indicated.

Sitting next to her he looked over to the same portrait he had asked earlier and requested if she could go fetch poppy again.

Nodding the woman in the portrait strode off.

Looking back at Eleanor Dumbledore asked "De quoi tu te rappelles? (What do you remember?)"

She stayed silent for about a minute and then answered "C'est comme de courts flash-back, je me souviens de ce grand désir et ensuite mordre dans quelque chose. (It's like short flashbacks, I remember this great desire and then biting into something.)" she was suddenly in panic "Oh non, monsieur je-je-je veux dire professeur, est-ce que je vous ai mordu? (Oh no, sir I-I-I mean professor di-did I bit you?)"

"Calmez-vous, je vous en prie, vous n'avez mordu personne.(Calm down, please, you didn't bite anybody.)" He said with a smile on his face.

"Oh, merci mon Dieu. (Oh, thank God.)" she sighed in relief.

Smiling Dumbledore said "Même si je connais votre identité, je prendrai toujours le vœu. (Even though I know your identity I will still take the vow.)"

Vigorously shaking her haid Eleanor exclaimed "Non, non, non, vous n'avez pas à faire ça, je vous fais confiance maintenant que j'ai vu vos souvenirs. (No, no, no you don't have to do that, I trust you now that I've seen your memories.)"

"J'insiste, tu ne devrais pas me faire confiance si facilement, même si tu as peut-être vu mes souvenirs, et si je change d'avis? Ou que faire si je suis placé sous veritaserum? Le vœu me tuera avant que je puisse prononcer un seul mot. (I insist, you shouldn't trust me so easily, even though you might have seen my memories, what if I have a change of heart? Or what if I'm put under veritaserum? The vow will kill me before I can utter a single word.)"

"Mais (But)" she started.

"Pas de mais j'ai décidé (No buts I have decided)"he said sternly.

Pointing his wand at his heart Dumbledore was about to start but Professor McGonagall stopped him "Albus what are you doing?" she exclaimed worriedly.

"I'm taking an unbreakable vow," he said plainly.

"What, why would you do that?"

"Because I know her identity and I would prefer not to reveal it by accident," Dumbledore explained.

"But Albus you know how dangerous it is," Minerva said worriedly.

"It doesn't matter now, I will do it and nothing you can say will stop me."

Professor McGonagall suddenly took a step forward and with resolve, she said "Then I will take it to. I will not let you carry this burden by yourself."

Eleanor looked up at the stern Professor, nodded in approval and stood up.

Dumbledore followed suit.

Eleanor turned to face Dumbledore and stretched out her arm. He reached forward and held her by the forearm while she did the same.

"Eleanor Pendragon," Eleanor said looking at Professor McGonagall.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"That's her name Minerva to cast the vow you must know her name," Dumbledore stated.

She gasped and took a step back blinking in a daze she remembered the book the girl had been carrying. It had a dragon on it, of course, how could she miss it. When she put all the pieces together it made sense well except if she stole but that was very unlikely.

Leaning on one of the desks she started speculating what this meant for the Wizarding world.

No not just the Wizarding world but even the muggle world. A Pendragon even for the muggles they were very important. If she remembered correctly King Arthur didn't just rule over Wizards but muggles too, he gathered them all under one banner which he did by making half of his court muggles and half of them witches and wizards.

Composing herself again she concentrated on the task at hand.

Raising her wand she taped the place where Eleanor's and Albus's hands connected.

Translucent strings started to wrap around their arms.

It hurt like wires tearing into flesh but both Eleanor's and Dumbledore's faces stayed impassive.

Then Professor McGonagall spoke, "Will you Albus Dumbledore keep Princess Eleanor Pendragon's name a secret till she releases you from the vow or loosens your restrictions on it?"

"I will," he stated confidently.

The vow was complete so the strings disappeared.

Stepping forward Minerva McGonagall did the same just now Dumbledore performed the magic.

When all was done Eleanor fell back on the couch her arm hurt quite a bit. She rubbed it to alleviate the pain a bit.

Leaning over to his deputy headmistress Dumbledore said "Minerva I know you have a lot of questions but they can wait. She must rest now and get comfortable in this new environment."

"Yes of course" she answered.

"I will personally teach her English and history because I think I understand her best.

And the other teachers don't have the time."

Nodding she spoke up "Princess Eleanor I will be taking my leave"

Looking up from her arm Eleanor gazed at the Professor and said "Ave a nice Evning Professor. I leuk forward to eur next meeting."

Bowing slightly she left.

"Professeur Dumbledore, pourquoi était-elle si formelle avec moi? Je veux dire que je suis de ce que j'ai vu que vous ne vous inclinez plus. (Professor Dumbledore, why was she so formal to me? I mean I'm from what I've seen you don't bow to each other anymore.)" Eleanor asked.

"Eh bien, vous voyez que le professeur McGonagall est très traditionnel et je ne pense pas que ce soit seulement elle qui réagira de cette façon. (Well, you see Professor McGonagall is very traditional and I don't think it's just her that will react that way.)"

Walking over to his desk he sat down. "S'il vous plaît, asseyez vous. (Please take a seat.)" He gestured to the chairs opposite him. Standing up she walked over and sat on the left one.

"So thanks to you absorbing my memories this will be alot easier." reachin pointing his wand at one of the shelves the books came flying out. Moving his wand so it pointed in front of him the books landed there in a neat pile. Putting his wand away Dumbledore picked one of the books up. "Nous commencerons par l'anglais. En parler est beaucoup plus facile que de l'épeler. Maintenant, commençons. (We will start with English. Speaking in it is a lot easier than spelling it. Now let's start.)"

For the next hour and a half, Eleanor tried to get a grasp on the foreign language. Even with so little time she learned a lot, always being a quick learner helped her but so did Dumbledore's memories.

Halfway through the lesson, Madam Pomfrey came to check on Eleanor and luckily she was absolutely fine.

"Well, I think we are done for today," Dumbledore said while standing up nodding, Eleanor stood up to.

Clapping his hands twice he said "Twinky" and with a loud pop a small humanoid creature appeared, it reached to about her shoulder it had long drooping ears, a long nose and two large eyes.

The creature then opened its mouth and in a squeaky voice, it asked.

"What can Twinky do for Master Dumbledore?"

"Well, there are multiple things so listen closely.

First could you inform Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Snape and Sprout that I won't be joining them at the evening feast and the same goes for breakfast tomorrow.

Second I would like you to prepare a bed in here for this young lady to sleep on" he gestured to Eleanor. "And thirdly I will have dinner and breakfast here in my office with her so could you make us something to eat?"

"Of Course Master Dumbledore, what would you two like?" the small creature asked while looking between Eleanor and Dumbledore.

"Well I for one would like a shepherd's pie," Dumbledore said looking over at Eleanor.

Looking back she said "B-but, Edmaster I" she paused for a second then continued "Do not need any food."

"Well done, you are learning quickly, but you should at least try modern cuisine."

Nodding Eleanor looked over at the small creature with her mismatched eyes and said "I vill av ze same."

Bobbing its head it said "Have a nice Evening Master, Miss." before popping away.

"Vat vas zat?" Eleanor asked.

"That was what we call a house-elf, they usually serve rich wizarding households, there pretty much slaves but they don't mind, they actually love to serve which I have never really understood."

Then there were two more loud pops and now there stood two different house-elves they looked quite similar to Twinky but different in some areas. They snapped their boney fingers and a table with two chairs appeared. It had a nice white tablecloth with silver cutlery on it.

Striding over to one of the corners they snapped their fingers again and a bed appeared informant of them, with nice linen bed sheets and two comfortable looking pillows.

The house-elves bowed to them and popped away.

Walking over to the newly placed table Dumbledore pulled out a chair for Eleanor to sit on.

Which she gratefully accepted.

While they were eating dinner which had been brought by a house-elf Dumbledore put down his knife and fork. "We will have to train your metamorphmagus ability to disguise your Vampiric features." he said, looking thoughtful.

When she nodded he continued "We will also have to see how else your body reacts to you becoming a vampire." she nodded again.

Picking up his knife and fork Dumbledore continued eating.

Looking out into the night sky Dumbledore gestured to the bed and said "You should get some sleep. It's been quite the difficult day for you"

Walking over to the sofa Eleanor first picked up her wand and book. Tucking them under her arm she crawled under her covers and snuggled herself into the soft fabric.

"Professor, could you read me a story before I go to sleep?"

"Of Course" he waved his wand and a thin book flew into his outstretched hand.

Sitting down on her bed he opened the book and read.

"This is a story that all wizards know it is written in legend you wouldn't have heard of it because it happened well after you were born.

I will begin.

Three brothers, traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight reached a deep treacherous river where anyone who attempted to swim or wade would drown. Learned in the magical arts, the brothers conjured a bridge with their wands and proceeded to cross.

Halfway through the bridge, a hooded figure stood before them. The figure was the enraged spirit of Death, cheated of his due. Death cunningly pretended to congratulate them and proceeds to award them with gifts of their own choosing.

The eldest brother, a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence. Death granted his wish by fashioning the Elder Wand from a branch of a nearby elder tree standing on the banks of the river. The second brother, an arrogant man, chose to further humiliate death and asked for the power to recall the deceased from the grave. Death granted his wish by crafting the Resurrection Stone from a stone picked from the riverbank. The third and youngest brother, who was the most humble and wise, did not trust Death and asked for something to enable him to go forth without Death being able to follow. A reluctant Death, most unwillingly, handed over a part of his own Invisibility cloak.

The three brothers took their prizes and soon went on their separate ways.

The eldest brother traveled to a village where a wizard whom he had quarreled lived. He sought out a duel and fought the wizard using the wand, instantly killing the latter.

Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the eldest brother walked to an inn not far from the dueling site and spent the night there. Taken by his conscience and lust of the Elder Wand's power, the eldest brother boasted of this wand gifted by Death and his own invincibility.

That very night, a murderous wizard killed the eldest brother. The unknown murderous wizard crept to the inn as the eldest brother slept, drunk from wine. The wizard slit the oldest brother's throat for good measure and stole the wand. That was when Death took the first brother.

The second brother returned to his home where he lived alone. Turning the stone thrice in his hand the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him, much to his delight. Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally, the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, committed suicide by hanging from his house's balcony so as truly to join her. That was when Death took the second brother for his own.

Death searched for the youngest brother as years passed but never succeeded. It was only when the third brother reached a great age, he took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. Greeting Death as an old friend, they departed this life as equals."

"Thank you." Eleanor said in barely a whisper just before she fell asleep.