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Vampire
There are a few forms of vampire in the world; the most common are merely regular vampires, but there are also religously affected vampires, half-vampires and many more. These latter groups, however, are in the minority. On this page... (hide) Mortal Perceptions and ViewsMortals often believe vampires to be wild, uncivilised creatures almost like animals, bearing little resemblance to humans with an unquenchable thirst for blood that they will mindlessly pursue. This view is, of course, very incorrect. It is believed by many modern vampires that the English Ministry is unaware that civilised vampires continue to exist; an animalistic 'harvested' vampire was found wild in a muggle town in 1942, and after that a whole coven of them were found. This gave civilised vampires the advantage of being able to blend into human life more easily, but they must still be careful about where, when and how they hunt. Legend, Myth and RumourIn the words of the Spinnwick House coven sire, Demetrius; "Mortals are frightened of what they don't understand; but perhaps they'd be more frightened if they did understand us." There are many different rumours and legends about vampires and the way they live, and the vast majority of them are incorrect. Some are discussed here.
This is untrue; regular vampires can walk in the sun unharmed. Humans often believe that because vampire flesh is dead it will disintigrate in the sunlight, or that the sunlight is a symbol of God and it therefore harms then. Neither is true - vampires' cells are dead and therefore they do not mutate or become damaged in the sun as humans' do. Vampires affected by religion do not enter the sunlight as they believe it is a symbol of God, as previously stated, and therefore find themselves unworthy of its glare. Upon stepping out into the sunlight or being forced to stay in the sunlight, it has been known for them to ingest silver and end their existance only for their bodies to be found by mortals who cannot determine the silver as the cause of death; hence the legend.
This myth stems from vampires' ability to step into a mirror's reflection of a room or manipulate their own reflection in the mirror. It is believed that this belief comes from early Victorian England when several vampires would entertain mortals - or indeed other wizards, who still know little enough about vampires for the creatures not to distinguish them from muggles - by manipulating their reflections in the mirror to dance or do something amusing before leaving the room. These vampires would claim to be mortal magicians 'with the powers of vampires', and from there the legend has developed to leave vampires with no reflections.
Although untrue, this myth is not far from the truth. Vampires are not allergic to garlic. However, they are allergic to valerian, a plant which can be used as a sedative; the reason that they are allergic to valerian is unknown as of yet, but it caused great difficulty for promiscuous vampires in the sixteenth century when it was used as a common perfume ingredient! The legend pertaining to garlic is believed to have arisen from a vampire's attempt to kill a priest hundreds of years ago. The priest, in an attempt to save his life, picked up a clove of garlic from his herb garden and threw it at the vampire's head; the vampire lost footing and fell into a patch of valerian. This story is a source of amusement for vampires due to the clumsiness of the victim, and from it stemmed a vampire-specific phrase - for a vampire to 'trip in the priest's garden' is to accidentally bring about their own demise through clumsiness. It no longer only refers to 'death' - it can also refer to a victim surviving an attack or a failed attempt at wooing someone - "You really tripped in the priest's garden there!" Vampires are also incredibly allergic to silver. Both valerian and silver burn their flesh - both, however, are not fatal unless left on the surface of the skin, ingested or somehow inserted into the bloodstream.
This is half-true; as with any fully humanoid magical creature, vampires are able to study to adopt an animagus form. Most do not put time and effort into studying it but it is completely down to personal preference. The bat myth comes from a large Transylvanian coven who still exist today; all members learn the ability to transform into a bat so that they can easily slip into the nearby town and take victims.
There are two explanations for this. Religously affected vampires are frightened of dirtying the symbol of their God with their hands, considering themselves corrupted, evil creatures - however, it is perfectly possible for a regular vampire to look at, hold and even wear any religious symbol... unless it is made out of silver, which, centuries ago, they often were. Regular VampiresThe most common form of the species, regular vampires are identified, as the others are, by retractable fangs, a thirst for blood and cold, unblushing skin. They can move very fast as they cannot get tired and their limbs are unrestricted by the limits a mortal's body has, are incredibly strong compared to mortals and can bend gravity if need be; though they cannot fly, they merely pull gravity up to a wall, for example, so that they are able to walk up it. Regular vampires feed twice a week on average, though of course many drink more often, and many drink less often. Religiously Affected VampiresReligiously affected vampires are anatomically identical to regular vampires; the different lies in their minds. They are vampires that were sired - against their will - who still possess considerable religious faith. Hating themselves for being an evil creature that needs to drink blood to survive, their lifespans are short - often they do not drink blood at all, or other times they might try it once, unable to help themselves, and hate themselves for it. After starving themselves of blood for a while they quite literally waste away. Half-VampiresQuite the oddest of creatures, and looked down upon by 'real' vampires, these are usually the children of female vampires and male mortals. They have human lifespans but do retain some vampire abilities - they are stronger than the average mortal, though they are not as strong as full vampires, and the same applies to their speed. They do not need to drink blood, though they do often have fangs, which can be retractable or non-retractable. Conception of half-vampires occurs when a female vampire does not keep herself sufficiently 'hydrated' with live blood, thus leaving the baby with just enough dead blood in their veins to make them 'half a vampire'. Half-vampires can be sired into full vampires, but it is an odd, more labourous procedure than that of a full mortal being sired, and many full vampires refuse to do it. 'Harvested' VampiresTwo centures ago it became common practice for more powerful vampires to sire younger, less intelligent mortals and train them merely to be wild and animalistic, often training them so violently that they lost their sanity and humanity. These creatures were much like the Ministry's modern view of how vampires act and think - or rather, don't think - after the 1942 escape of a 'harvested' vampire into the muggle town of Ripley. It is now extremely frowned-up in vampire communities across most of the world, as it threatens their secret, but it continues to be common practice in Slavic countries such as Russia. CovensA coven is a collection or 'family' of vampires, often united by belief or temperament. There is a strict heirarchy in vampire covens; at the head of the coven is the sire, who has sired most of the other members. Just under the sire is their chosen 'highest', who is much like a second-in-command and is generally very highly trusted by the sire; they are often on good, friendly terms. Any vampire sired by the sire in a coven is called a daughter if female, and son if male. Mortals sired by the vampire who is bonded to them become members of their partners' covens, but are instead known as bonds. Mortals sired by vampires who are friends or family members, but not bonded lovers (see below) are titled 'young' and known as wings. Vampire traditionTradition and obedience are both very important to vampires; some of the unspoken, unwritten 'rules' are listed below.
If the sire of a vampire's coven asks them to do something, it is absolutely necessary that they do it, and without question. Their orders overrule those of any other vampire - including anyone the vampire is bonded to.
Similar to the above, vampires may not bad-mouth, disobey, discredit or otherwise disrespect either the vampire that sired them and, if a different vampire, the head of their coven. Similarly, vampires must not lie to their sires.
It would be a very bad thing for a coven of civilised vampires to be discovered; they would be registered and monitored and should they take any human life or blood they would be executed - seeing as the Ministry regards them as creatures and not human enough for Azkaban. After the discovery of the 'harvested' vampires in 1942 it has become easier for vampires to 'hide' but this doesn't mean they can be careless with their hunting.
A more recent addition to the collection, it is now considered taboo to sire any mortal under the age of eighteen. New vampires must therefore wait to sire their children, but in dangerous, diseased times when children are about to die it is sometimes considered appropriate to overlook this rule in order to save the lives of the aforementioned children. Vampires in HistoryUnbeknownst to mortals, some of the most famous figures in history are - or were - vampires. Julius Caesar, for example, an ancient ruler of Rome, is known to have been stabbed to death - but how frequently is it mentioned that the daggers with which he was stabbed were deliberately silver? William Shakespeare continued to write in his grave until the 1800s under several pseudonyms but eventually tired of hiding away and committed suicide in 1867. Jane Austen is believed to have talked a vampire out of killing her, though she herself was mortal. Terminology
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