Summary: Voldemort has come out of hiding, the War of Scars has returned, and Darren Shan is going back to Hogwarts.

Important note at end of chapter.

I DO NOT own Darren Shan's or J.K. Rowling's works. This is a non-profit doohickey, and it willremain that way.

Enjoy!

A Sliver of Hope

Chapter One:

"Departures"

"Protego!" I shouted, while blocking the stunning spell that was flying towards my face. The shot rebounded off my shield charm and hit its caster instead.

Snape nodded at me and I sat back down on my throne, and watched as the general I just dueled with took up a partner who had also lost their short battle. Around the room, smoke was flying as vampires failed to cast the appropriate spell. As it turned out, most vampires had magical abilities, since we were in fact magical creatures. Some just had more magic than others did.

There had been arguments about whether wand use was long distance weaponry. Since the spell was connected to the wand, Lupin described it as a sort of magical whip. Some still refused to use wands, like Vancha, but for the most part the clan accepted wizardry with an open mind.

Vancha huffed next to me on his throne and said, "I don't think I've seen this many vampires knocked down since Arra challenged every vampire in the mountain to the bars a few councils ago."

I laughed and continued watching the duels. Snape had thought teaching teenagers was difficult, but that was before he began instructing a group of centuries-old men! Vampires werestubborn and proud, which showed greatly when trying to teach these old dogs new tricks. However, their prides lead them to attempt mastering wand lore faster than their friends,which created a system of competition. This caused the clan to excel in wizardry faster than thewizards could have imagined!

I continued watching the duels for a bit, before making my way to the exit. Occasionally, I would have to dip as a poorly aimed spell whooshed past my head. I managed to duck out of the Hall of Princes without any causality.

I headed for my room, which hadn't changed much since I left and sat down on the edge of my hammock. I balanced carefully on the blue material and stared at the trunk that was propped open against the wall. Inside of it laid my wizard's robes, potions ingredients, and the books from my previous year at Hogwarts. I would be returning to the school in about four weeks, and I was nervous about rejoining my friends at the wizard school. My fellow students had seemed acceptant of my true nature, but I had no idea if that had changed after the information had time to sink into their minds. Harry, Hermione, and even Justin had kept contact with me over the holidays, so I knew I still had at least three friends at Hogwarts to rely on.

I had decided to continue studying classes normally, rather than patrolling the halls like most of my fellow vampires would be doing. How Dumbledore had gotten permission to allow one hundred blood-sucking vampires into Hogwarts, I would never know. But he had insisted itwouldn't be a problem. Apparently, compared to the guards they had a few years ago, vampires were practically docile!

My thoughts were interrupted as Harkat entered our shared room.

"Hey Darren," he began, "The professors are… leaving soon if you want to… say goodbye."

"Yeah," I nodded and followed him out of the room.

He led me down the corridor and to one of the exits of the mountain. The princes who were at the mountain were giving their farewells to the teachers, along with the friends thewizards had made over the summer. I jogged up to Lupin and shook his hand.

"It was great having you here," I said while releasing his hand.

He nodded and said, "It's always an interesting experience to interact withdifferent cultures, and this was perhaps the most interesting. We should meet again at some point in the near future, but until then, luck."

"Luck," I replied.

My farewells with the other two professors weren't nearly as dramatic, because I would be seeing them in a short, four weeks' time. Once the professors had disappeared with the trademarked crack of apparation, I returned to my room and stared at my trunk again. I did amental checklist, smirking in memory of my checklist the previous year. With a sigh, I finally closed it.

On my nightstand, there was a bag of powder with a small note attached. I read the note again, though I must have read it at least a dozen times by then.

I think you will find this comes in handy when you need to travel without dragging your trunk in the gravel.

(p.s. I told you I wasn't a witch!)

-Evanna

Of course the half-wolf enchantress would know about my return to Hogwarts, as well as the fact that I had been to the school at all! I had grown curious and sprinkled a bit of the sand-like dust onto a pair of my shoes, and they had shrunk small enough to fit on a mouse! When I added more dust, they returned to their normal size. I knew this dust was rare and that I should use it sparingly. That being said, I sprinkled the smallest pinch possible onto my trunkand watched as it diminished in size. I picked it up and, surprisingly, the trunk was just as heavy as it had been before the shrinking!

I was wary about sticking the miniature trunk in my pocket – the weight could easily bust through and break my foot – so I sought out a hardy looking rope and strung it through my trunk's handle and then hung it around my waist like a belt. It was heavy, but it was better thanlugging around a trunk half my size! I stuffed the bag of powder into my pocket and left my cell.

I rejoined the others in the exit hole the professors had just departed from moments earlier. There was about ten vampires, plus one little person, waiting near the exit with regulartraveling sacks on their backs. When I joined them, the leader of the group raised their eyebrow at me and said, "Are you planning on wearing that same outfit for the next school year?"

"I bet I could and still come out smelling better than you do now," I smirked at Vancha, prince of the vampires and the prince of stink.

"I wouldn't doubt it," he said, while rubbing a generous amount of spit into his green hair.

"I would not either," replied the red-cloaked vampire next to the prince. "It takes centuries of filth to accumulate the stench you have obtained, sire."

"Never stepped inside of a shower, and never will," Vancha said, while winking at me.

I laughed and said, "I 'm just glad I'm not your flitting partner!"

Said flitting partner looked up from the group of generals he was speaking to and said, "It's times like this… when I'm glad… I can't' smell!"

We bantered for a few more minutes, before we decided it was time for us to depart. We would be traveling in pairs (half vampire and full vampire, except for the case of Harkat andVancha) and meeting in designated points each night. We had to take many precautions due to the return of the War of Scars…

*flashback*

The Hall of Princes was empty, except for one prince who was left to guard the hall in the absence of the other princes and the two guards standing near the door. Suddenly the doors swung open and a grim-faced Mika Vera Leth sprung in the room. Following him were four vampires from the medical wing, carrying a badly injured vampire. The wounded vampire was grasping onto a stump on his forearm, which was bleeding profusely.

"Sire Shan," he said, wide-eyed, "My patrol team was ambushed… at the foot of the mountain." He gasped, trying to draw oxygen into punctured lungs. "They were Vampaneze."

"How many?" the prince asked, hoping out of his throne and walking swiftly to the man.

"About… two-dozen" the man gasped, fighting unconsciousness.

"This was no random attack," Mika said, allowing the man to slip into darkness. "It was strategic, not the work of an insane group seeking revenge."

"Are you sure?" the young half-vampire pressed.

"They left this one alive so he could deliver this note to us," he replied, handing the other prince a bloodstained letter.

You can run and hide little bats, but Stevey is going to get you.

The prince frowned at the offending note and crushed the bits where his hand was holding the paper. "Get our men ready," Darren Shan said, "we've got a war to win."

*end flashback*

-I cant figure out how to bold or line break so A/N-

Guess who's back? That's right, I'm not dead! Sorry about any mistakes this was posted from my phone, which is not fun. But I dont have a computer, so this will have to do. Basically, my computer broke and I sent it in and got it back a few months later, wit gone. Including the outline to this story. I've been rewriting and stuff on my phone, and decided to give y'all a sneak peek. This is part of chapter one, so I hope you enjoyed. I have more, but this is the best spot to break it off. Be back soon with the rest!

Blood and guts

~Rebarbative