Harry Potter: The Vampire Prince

"Cho told me you were looking for me."

After the grand Christmas feast, Nolan was stopped in the corridor by a second-year Ravenclaw girl.

The young witch was delicate and pretty, her fair complexion dotted with a couple of freckles on her button nose. She looked incredibly youthful, her large, doe-like eyes shimmering with nervous excitement—an undeniably adorable little thing.

"I was the one looking for you, Nolan," she admitted, her voice filled with determination. "I wanted to talk to you, so I asked everyone for help. My sister is in Gryffindor and is quite close to Cho Chang, so she agreed to pass my message along..."

Clearly, the little witch was very young—because as soon as Nolan asked a single question, she started rambling on and on like an overturned bucket spilling out all its contents.

"I've always admired you, Nolan! You're tall and handsome, and so brave! Everyone says you have the courage of a Gryffindor, the wisdom of a Ravenclaw, and of course, the nobility of a Slytherin!" Her bright eyes sparkled with admiration. "Can we be friends?"

"Friends?" Nolan raised an eyebrow before answering decisively, "No."

"But—but I'll be really good! I promise!"

"Listen, little witch, I don't have time to play these romantic games with you."

After being mercilessly rejected, the girl's eyes shimmered with unshed tears, her expression pitiful enough to tug at anyone's heartstrings.

Nolan frowned and thought for a moment before adding, "Hogwarts is facing a crisis right now. As a witch, you should spend more time learning how to protect yourself. I don't think it's right for wizards to waste an entire day celebrating Valentine's Day when there are far more important matters at hand. Do you understand?"

"I understand! Of course, I understand! As expected of Slytherin's little prince! Before eliminating the danger lurking within the Chamber of Secrets, Nolan doesn't have time for trivial matters—how noble, how admirable... ahh...!" For some reason, the little witch seemed utterly enthralled, her cheeks flushing a deep red as her doe-like eyes grew even more starry.

"Huh? Is that really what I meant?" Nolan tilted his head in confusion.

After that, the girl made several more requests—requests that Nolan considered completely unreasonable.

For instance, she wanted him to sign her collar, take a picture with her, or—"It won't take much of your time, but can I kiss you? Right here?"

Naturally, Nolan refused every single one.

Each time he rejected her, she would look heartbreakingly sad.

And yet, as soon as he casually explained his reasoning, the girl would somehow misinterpret his words in an even more admiring way—her devotion to him only growing stronger.

———What's going on?

———No matter what I say, she keeps twisting my words into something flattering...

By the time the little witch finally left, practically skipping with joy—no doubt off to preach to her dormmates about how amazing Nolan was—the paintings in the corridor erupted into snickers and giggles.

"Shut up, Duke." Annoyed that even a painting dared to mock him, Nolan knocked on the frame with his knuckles, a hint of threat in his voice. "Want me to paint a lit fuse on a stick of dynamite and blow your residence to bits?"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Nolan, you wouldn't! I did nothing wrong—I was merely laughing at you! And yet, you're threatening to destroy my home!" Duke Marcus bellowed, his plump body retreating under a table in the painting.

Nolan poked the canvas with his wand. "No laughing. There's nothing funny about this."

"No, that was absolutely hilarious, Nolan."

This time, the voice didn't come from the painting.

A teasing, melodic voice rang out, and a head of silky black hair appeared around the staircase corner.

Cho Chang.

She was standing there, hands clasped behind her back, grinning from ear to ear.

"Good evening, Cho."

"Good evening, Nolan." She walked up to him and gently took his arm, then turned to Marcus with an amused smile. "Don't worry, Nolan won't actually do that."

"He better not! Merlin's beard, I was personally granted my title by Queen Victoria herself! Even his mother never threatened me like this when she was alive! I'll be lodging a formal complaint—to the current Duke of the Von Draugr family!"

Ignoring the Duke's ongoing complaints, Cho and Nolan strolled down the corridor, chatting about what had just happened.

Cho kept laughing softly. "That was one of your admirers. Of course, your words will be misinterpreted. In the eyes of an admirer, everything you say will be glorified. To them, the great and mighty Nolan Von Draugr is incapable of being wrong. Even when you reject them—even when you insult them—they'll only think—'Wow, Nolan is so cold, he's so cool! He's nothing like those other wizards!'"

"It's really like that?"

As soon as he spoke, Nolan suddenly recalled how other vampires admired and fawned over his sister, Grand Duchess Felicia.

After a moment's thought, he nodded. "Yeah... I suppose that does happen."

Cho laughed for a long while, then finally calmed down, her expression turning more serious. "Honestly, I still don't understand Western views on romance. The girls at Hogwarts keep throwing themselves at you, even though they know you already have a girlfriend—two, in fact. They still believe they can push me aside, push Eve aside, and claim you all for themselves. To them, there's nothing wrong with that."

"What about in the East?"

"Easterners... if they know the person they love already has someone, they usually give up. They'd wish them happiness instead. You see, we Easterners are very reserved in our emotions, and in our society, stealing someone else's lover is considered immoral."

Nolan remembered that Cho had moved to England with her family when she was around seven or eight.

Even after arriving, she mostly watched Hong Kong films, which explained why, in her first year at Hogwarts, she was such an energetic, mischievous tomboy.

"I still can't believe I actually became your second girlfriend," Cho murmured with a sigh. "I wonder what my father would say... what my mother would say..."

Nolan opened his mouth, then closed it again.

To him, having multiple partners was completely normal.

And in truth—it was normal. Neither vampire society nor its moral codes had any issue with it. After all, every vampire lived this way.

But when faced with Cho's perspective as an Easterner, Nolan suddenly found himself unable to argue so confidently.

For the first time, he began considering things from her point of view. How would he convince her parents? Should he reveal his true identity to them right away?

It was an odd thing—this change in him.

Two and a half years ago, he had arrived at Hogwarts, destined to reshape the wizarding world—to bring new winds, new storms.

But at the same time, the world around him was also changing him.

By the time he graduated, what would the wizarding world become? What about the world of vampires?

No one knew.

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