16/01/1990
Tuesday 16th January
Dear diary, Romania is eerie... We spent most of our time as prisoners of none other than Dracula himself! You heard me right, diary, Dracula kidnapped us!
We arrived safely, and our first stop was Bran Castle, known as Dracula's Castle. Its corridors and towers were impressive. Luna told us about the strigoi, vampires said to inhabit the region. The castle had medieval architecture and its history was intriguing, but we decided to delve deeper into a restricted area. Dad said he sensed magical energy but no traps, so I convinced him to investigate.
Bad idea, terrible idea. Dad hadn't sensed anything wrong because it was a magical portal that transported us to another castle, specifically Hunedoara Castle. Of course, I only found out its name much later. We arrived right in the middle of a gathering, with many people—young-looking and very pale-skinned men and women—all watching the front of the grand hall. Right there was a great throne decorated with jewels and what appeared to be human bones.
The person sitting on the throne was peculiar, not quite a man but not a woman either, with black hair slicked back tightly to the skull, like when Draco tried using gel to style his hair that way until I told him it looked bad and he stopped. Their eyes were a mysterious crimson. Julius said they were androgynous in appearance, and it was precisely our whispering that seemed to give us away. Although now that I think about it, it could have also been our heartbeats.
In less than a minute, Dad tried to take us back through the same portal, but it closed quickly, and the bored, drawling voice of the person on the throne surprised us. They said we had special guests and that we should be treated as such. Suddenly, all the red eyes of the hundreds of people—vampires, diary, they were all vampires—turned to look at us.
I still don't quite understand what happened next. One moment we were standing in the corner of the throne room, and the next we were in a cell—a very clean cell with several quite comfortable beds and an attached bathroom, but a cell nonetheless. Everything happened so fast. I had read about the powers and abilities of vampires in books, but seeing them in action is completely different and terrifying.
We spent a few days in the cells, with some very old house-elves bringing us meals, but I don't know exactly how many days passed because there were no windows. Just like in the grand hall, everything was lit by candles, chandeliers, and torches—no sunlight.
Dad told us he had met with a coven before, whose leader was named Alekseev. It was a group of very vengeful and cruel Russian vampires. He also told us that this group hated Dracula, or Lord Vlad Tepes, as he preferred to be called. According to these vampires, we didn't know if this would help or not. We had no way to ask for help, and the place was protected against Apparition or Portkeys. Even our magic felt a bit strange.
Out of all of us, Luna was the calmest. Julius pretended to be calm but couldn't sleep without being in the same bed as Dad. Blaise and Draco, especially my Dragon, were extremely desperate and almost climbing the walls with stress. I tried to keep the peace as I could see that Dad's patience was quickly wearing thin with all their whining and crying.
After some time, a few vampires dressed as guards came to collect us and took us back to the throne room before Lord Tepes. He said we were lucky because they had just returned from hunting when we arrived, so they weren't thirsty yet. He also said they didn't feed on children, so he proposed letting us go if we left Dad behind. I still shiver at the thought of him saying that, and I couldn't help but grip Dad's hand tightly. I know Dad would do something like that to keep us safe, but I wasn't going to let him, not then and not in the future.
Dad understood my message, thankfully, and surprised us all by kneeling and exposing his neck in a submissive position but maintaining eye contact with the vampire the whole time. He said he could propose a deal that would let him go too.
He called him Lord Tepes, and that, along with his posture, seemed to surprise the vampire the most. I even thought I heard a sound like a purr escape him. It was strange, but Lord Tepes smiled slightly and said his attention had been piqued, so he would listen. For a moment, I thought Dad would propose making the potion that protects vampires against the sun, as he did with that other coven for the Dark Lord. But he surprised us all again when he proposed telling him a joke. According to Dad, it was common knowledge that Lord Tepes never laughed, so he proposed to return that little piece of himself.
The Lord smiled more broadly, and for a moment I thought he would laugh right then, but he composed himself easily and said he accepted and would give him three chances to make him laugh. He then looked bored again and told the guards to return us to our cell, saying he would call for Dad when he was ready. I noticed that despite his nonchalant and bored appearance, his tone of voice was slightly amused, so I felt hopeful.
Back in the cell, Dad let out a loud sigh and threw himself face-down on a bed, then let out something like a growl. Remembering it now makes me laugh, but at the time, I worried about him. I approached and asked if he was okay, and he said yes, but I noticed his ears were red. I still don't understand why, but I made him promise to tell me what really happened. Dad said he wouldn't tell me until I was at least 13…
Well, we had more important things to discuss, and I let it go. We spent the following days tossing around ideas for jokes and pranks that might work for someone as old as Lord Tepes, but we weren't very confident about what could make someone like that laugh.
The first attempt came and went. Dad was sure he would succeed, as he said he had managed to get a smile out of him, although Dad returned with a red face again... The second attempt was the same. It wasn't until the third attempt that, for a moment, the entire castle trembled, and when Dad returned, the guards let us out and took us to the throne room.
There we found something I could never have imagined: Lord Tepes was laughing hysterically, lying face-down horizontally on his throne. Even his hair was dishevelled, and a faint pink colour tinged his face. Dad seemed very pleased with himself despite also having a flushed face.
Lord Tepes said he was indeed a vampire of his word and would let us all go, although he said he would like to keep in touch with Dad. It seems Sev got a new pen pal. Of course, he said all this in a broken voice because he was still laughing. He also said we were now under his clan's protection, so we could continue exploring Romania as much as we wanted and even come back. No, thank you.
We still had to stay a bit longer in the country because international Portkeys have fixed dates here, so, still a bit apprehensive, we decided to keep exploring.
First, we went to the Transylvania region, where we found the Hoia Baciu Forest. This forest is famous for being a place of paranormal activity and is said to be home to spirits and ghosts. And yes, we saw some ghosts, but most of them were friendly, luckily. We also managed to see a kind of fairy the locals call ieles, mostly in warm colours with red standing out, which reminded me of the vampires' eyes. So at first, I didn't want to approach them, but Luna convinced me they were harmless. Yes, they were very cheerful creatures and brought us small flowers to put in our hair. They seemed to like Dad's hair the most because they put even more flowers in it.
Then we went to the Danube Delta, an incredibly beautiful place full of wildlife and lush nature. There we encountered the strigoi mort, a type of strigoi that comes back from the dead to torment the living. Fortunately, it didn't harm us, and we could observe them from a distance. The delta's landscape was stunning, with its vast marshes and numerous species of birds and animals.
During our adventure, I found a special souvenir for Anna. In a small souvenir shop in Bucharest, I found a hand-carved wooden statuette representing an iele. I hope he like it!
Finally, tomorrow is the day the international Portkey activates, and we can leave. The sooner, the better!
Oh! Dad still wouldn't tell us what joke finally made the vampire laugh, despite our begging a million times. He said he would never repeat what he did or said, even if he died. I'm going to make it a personal challenge to find out what he did someday. I will know!
See you soon, and I hope our next trip is much, much more peaceful.
Goodbye!