Even his best friends called him Pyro, muggle or not, they knew he made flames. Whether they were from flash paper, his favorite Zippo lighter, or some other more mysterious way, Virgil Amadaore Baumann was the kid everyone went to for their fiery needs. He attended a regular Muggle high school during the fall and winter, and then for summer went up to his aunt's place in the country for his 'special' classes. Truth be told, he liked those classes a lot, and failed to see why his other friends didn't attend them. He figured if folks could get a magical education, there might be more magic in the world.

Of course, he also figured that if a blond bimbette like Buffy Summers could be a vampire slayer, so could he.

You see, Virgil also never quite grasped the fact that not everything on television was real. He would gossip about soap opera characters the same way his friends (mostly girls) would talk about each other. His friends mostly thought it was quaint, and his wizarding world friends didn't know the difference anyway. They figured it was just more of that Muggle stuff that most of them knew little to nothing about.

Even though the Baumann family had been established for more than a thousand years, they always kept close ties to the Muggle world. It wasn't enough to recognize that something was simply a Muggle 'artifact' - it was important to them to actually learn what it was, how it was used, and more importantly what it was used for. So his family remained at the edge of both socieities, not on the 'fringe' because they involved themselves quite strongly in both. Because they have money, they support both wizard and muggle schools.

Virgil has two sisters, both are older than he and both are far more attuned to 'reality' than he is. But they allow him to keep his goal focused even though where it springs from is a spurious tv show. The fewer vampires in the world, they figure, the better.

In most other magical respects, Virgil is quite attentive and smart. He understands the value of learning history - both muggle and magical - and enjoys even the complicated maths and alchemy he learns from Auntie Bima. Bima is a plump, strong willed but friendly woman who recognized instantly when Virgil was born, that he would be destined for greatness. He has a crescent shaped birthmark on the back of his head, which is normally covered by his thick hair. That birth mark (in blood red) was, she said, a portent of his position in the world. He would cut a swath through the darkness, like the moon opens light from midnight.

He doesn't know any of that. All he's ever been told is that he should try as hard as he can, and see right and wrong when it's presented to him. (And just don't get him started on that Buffy/Angel/Spike thing... true love is one thing but they're vampires! and she knows it!)

Virgil is at the age where he ought to be finding girlfriends and studying for his OWLs, and while the studying comes easy, he oddly enough doesn't have a girlfriend yet. Most of his companions in both muggle high and wizarding village, are girls - which leads certain jealous male associates to think that he's less than straight. But he is, he just values friendship over flings. He'd rather keep all his friends - and if he were to pick one over another, he knows the rest would be jealous or angry about it, and cause strife. Perhaps some day he'll find a girl to settle down with.

He's hoping that she'll have the same kind of interests as he does, and able to see vampires and other creatures of the night as the evil they are!

***

How in the world would he have ever gotten to Isla's genetic program sands? That would be all the fault of Zora Domina and her school's new 'find a companion' day... Folks like him who didn't get the all-important invite to a 'big name school' like Hogwarts or Durmstrang are, in Zora's estimation, a little sheltered. They might be home schooled because they are isolated - wizards alone in a town full of muggles, for instance, or so far distant that they have no way of traveling to get what they need.

So to that end, Zora and her friends put together a big party at the campus. They offered portkeys for free and with the understanding that they worked two ways - no one would be stranded at the school later. Thus, a kind of 'open house' for similar aged kids and their families was arranged.

Mostly, Zora even admitted this, to show off their dragons from the school... possibly get people interested in them. And how could you not be interested in dragons! Especially when they weren't the dangerous, stupid creatures that wandered the back country or the mountains. So when the scattered families around Europe and even some from the States came up to House Domina for the week, they got to exchange contact information, flue addresses, even some kisses and angry words...

And of course, about a dozen kids were selected by the dragons themselves, searched out and eyed for appropriate places to stand for a dragon. Only strong willed ones, only ones which could handle the responsibility... And that was Virgil in a word. So there he goes... Off to Isla, and hopefully to come home with a dragon of his own, to show off his real Pyro skills...

***

When he got to the Genetic Program's area, it turned out there were two clutches of eggs ready to hatch, and that made him more excited than ever. More choices! Well, he was pretty sure that the dragonets would be the ones choosing, that was how it went according to Zora. It was correct, too. The eggs began hatching and colorful creatures gazed around the area at the people standing by. Would it be him? Would it be that girl over there? Who would the first choose? It didn't matter - they were all gorgeous.

Finally, after a more plain green paired off, a perfect male caught Virgil's eyes from across the mound of sand. He paced around, this dragon, and after getting his bearings, made a straight line toward the boy. Virgil stepped out too, confidently knowing that this one - this very one - was his dragon and his alone.

The hatchling looked up at him, his white head only reaching the young man’s knees. So you can play with fire? he asked.

"Yes, that is why they call me Pyro."

Pyro, I think that is a cool name, too, Maknenth nodded.

"Makneth is pretty neat," Virgil laughed. "And I'm glad I heard you say it, it was in the back of my mind all afternoon!"

Thus began a friendship that would last forever - vampires beware!

***

Nothing at all in the world would have prepared Virgil for flight training. He'd been on brooms before, and even on an enchanted carpet belonging to a distant relative. But those weren't like this at all. Maknenth soared with his partner over the Weyrbowl, trying to fly higher than the other weyrlings. And Pyro wasn't afraid. He trusted his dragon intimately, he knew that there was no danger, not unless he did something remarkably stupid like not using the harness or swinging from the dragon's limbs. They were a flight pair. They weren't a stunt team.

It would be good, Virgil thought, to learn how to do those things later. Safely. Once both of them knew the ins and outs of flight, they might have need of some special moves to catch or detain or destroy evil.

***

Special moves aplenty appeared when they headed back to House Domina! Their presence at Virgil's home village would have been quite disturbing, so he knew he could reach them easily by teleportation. But at House Domina?

There, they learned how to play Dragon Quidditch, and all those spectacular moves they'd seen on brooms? They could do them above the pitch - in fact if they didn't it was likely they'd miss out!

Virgil still prefered to fly safely, so he didn't much participate unless he could just be a Keeper for a bit.

Thankfully, though, his 'skills' at rooting out evil and darkness started working in their favor. A troupe of possessed gypsies stuck themselves on a field nearby and tried to get the locals to surrender their valuables - and their souls - at a bizarre carnival. Sure enough, though, Pyro and Maknenth drove out the bad spirits, while others kept the gypsies healed up and protected from being re-possessed!

Student Gender: male
Background: Pure Blooded, long family line, well off
Personality: Wise, Altruist
Cultural Background: Indeterminate origin, (birthmark (hidden)) and is pretty/handsome

Attending: Home Schooled
Favorite Subject: Runes
Worst Subject: Entertainment and Communication
Professional Goal: Vampire Hunter
Year/Age: 5th year, age 15

Wand:
Length: medium length 10 inch
Wood: Eucalyptis (fire)
Core: Mermaid blood (longevity)
Favored Spell: accio - the summoning charm

Familiar: Male Cool White Peacock Maknenth, Adult Length: 32'7" Adult Height to Shoulder: 9'1" Color Size: brown; cool white peacock Alsiuth & light silver Niveuth

Unique: Pyrokinetic - able to control, produce or accidentally light fires (usually starts at puberty and only gets stronger)

Quidditch: would rather watch tv