Chapter 328 - Titian Forest

At the crack of dawn when the sun started to show up at the horizon and illuminated the vast huge forest and the mountains all around it, the black figure standing high up on a mountain cliff came into the view. The figure had her hood on and a scarf tied around her nose and mouth; only the eyes were visible. Two fake black eyes were fixed over the tall tree stretching as far as eyes can see. Beside her, a Thestral stared at her with its pupil-less eyes.

"Titian. Finally," she murmured.

Titian forest in Romania was a complete Vampire territory as far as Wizarding World remembered and they had no good relationship with wizards as far as they were concerned. The wizards completely gloss over the fact that the wizards were the ones who never considered any other beings apart from human wizards worthy of magic. Goblins were greedy and hypocrites, House-elves were meant to be slaves, Centaurs were unpredictable and destructive, Werewolves were untrustworthy and dangerous, and Vampires were dangerous, vicious, stubborn and unmanageable. Most importantly, all of them were bellow the wizards. And with this attitude in mind, the wizards complain about those beings being irrational with them.

But now, the wizarding world needed the vampires' help more than anything. Because the only person, who had the power of stopping the destruction by Malgino, needed their help and that's why she was there.

"You ready, Zil?" She asked the Thestral standing beside her.

Zil, the Thestral continued to stare at her, soundless. 

"I will take that as yes," Chris nodded at Zil and turned around to go down the hill, into the forest. Zil silently followed behind.

"My Queen," a Dementor appeared in front of them.

"Ryan," Chris said calmly.

After some time living alone, she got used to being so alert that these sudden things barely startled her anymore and things like suddenly appeared Dementors out of nowhere were very normal.

"I have bad news, my Queen," Ryan, the Dementor bowed low.

"Bad news?" Chris' heart sank but she didn't let her emotions overwhelm her.

"The Ministry. . . has fallen," Ryan said slowly as if fearing for his life. "The Dark Lord had . . . overthrown the Minister. They are now executing whoever supported the old Headmaster and the old Minister."

Old Headmaster meant Dumbledore. The thought of Dumbledore again reminded Chris of their last conversation. 

"Also. . ." Ryan hesitated.

"Also?" Chris inquired quickly.

"They are also looking for all the wizards and witches who are born from the ordinary humans," Ryan replied. "They are looking for you, my Queen. You are one of the most wanted among them."

"Understood," Chris nodded. Being the most wanted thing didn't bother her that much but the fact that the ministry was now trying to corner every Muggle-born made her feel sick. Automatically her first thought was Colin, Dennis and Hermione but then she thought her friends were trained more than the countless Muggle-born students she had met in Hogwarts. Their parents hardly knew anything about magic and they had just started to learn to defend themselves. Chris sighed heavily. As if sensing her uneasiness Zil rubbed her head on Chris' shoulder comfortingly. Like always Thestrals calm her down. The connection between her and the Thestrals was already stronger when she left Hogwarts but now with Zil, it was strongest. It was almost like they could feel what the other was feeling.

"I am sorry, my Queen," Ryan said.

"No Ryan, you have done a lot," Chris said. "I'm not mad at you. You can go now and keep an eye on the new Minister. What's his name?"

"Pius Thickness," Ryan replied.

"Alright, and please call Fitz to inform me about the situation around Stoatshead Hill."

"Of course. My Queen, do you need someone to be with you when you enter the forest? The stained creatures can harm you."

"No, I am good," Chris glanced at the forest. "I don't want to scare them with Dementors."

"As you wish my Queen," Ryan bowed. "I hope to bring good news next time."

"I hope so too," Chris said as Ryan disappeared. She turned to Zil and patted her head, then walked down the cliff and stepped inside the forest. She carefully waved her wand to reveal the traps or protection around but there was nothing dangerous.

"Show me the south," Chris held her wand on her palm and whispered, the wand spun on her palm, and then stopped pointing at straight ahead. Chris had taken only two steps towards that direction when she felt something moving up on the trees. She stopped and quickly raised her wand in time to see someone jumping down from a tree on her. Chris didn't intend to attack someone at first, so she skitted aside and took a defensive position creating a shield. Zil screeched and attacked the man. The man got up and pulled out a sword.

"Zil, no," Chris ordered as the man tried to stab Zil with his sword.

Zil retreated but still, the man managed to slash open her one leg. Angrily Chris waved her wand and the man went flying backwards and hit a tree trunk painfully.

The next second several things happened. Chris rushed to Zil, the ground under Chris shook violently, six more people came down from the tree draped in same complete black cloaks like the first man and they attacked Chris from all around. The funny thing was no one had a wand. They were attacking her with swords and daggers as the ground under Chris' feet continued to shake. Zil tried to help but she was already injured so Chris ordered her to back.

Even standing on a shaky ground Chris gave them a good fight but when suddenly the air around her seemed to get less and less, she started to have problem breathing and she fell on her knees. 

"Listen. . . I just want to talk . . . I mean no harm," Chris said breathing heavily as those black-cloaked figures encircled her pointing their swords at her.

"Then why are you hiding your identity?" one of the black-cloaked men said.

"I am . . . not here to attack. . . you. . ." Chris struggled to speak, "I swear."

Just as suddenly it started it stopped; the ground went still and the air got normal. Chris gulped a mouthful of air.

"Who are you?" a female voice said. She was one of the black-cloaked figures, she bent down and held her dagger close to Chris. "Answer truthfully. Why is your face shrouded with magic?"

Chris stared at the woman's face. She was young, hardly in her mid-twenties; she had an oval-shaped face, dark brown skin, curly black hair and red eyes. A vampire.

All of Chris' knowledge about vampires were based on what she had read and heard in the last couple of years. Based on that she had never expected this situation but she didn't let her surprise show on her face. Her face was as usual blank. Though the situation was unexpected her mind was clear.

"I need to know what is in the south-east of this forest," Chris said calmly.

The woman looked taken aback at the question and the people around her whispered to each other hastily. Chris' face remained emotionless.

"Why?" asked the woman.

"I have the same question and I'm looking for that place for answers," Chris replied.

The woman looked more confused. 

"But why are you using magical shroud to hide your identity?" she asked again.

"Let's take her to the Palace," ordered a man behind her. "Everything will be revealed there."

"Are there anyone else with you? Tell the truth," another man barked baring his fangs.

"It is just me and my Thestral," Chris said simply. "And I am really not here to fight. I am here for answers. But first, let me heal my Thestral."

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To be continued. . .