And why am I mentioning this in the J.K.Rowling forum?
Because there are a startling number of parallels between this series and that of Harry Potter. Mind you, I'm not claiming anyone is ripping off anyone else, but that this is an interesting example of how motifs operate in storytelling.
The central character is young Vlad Dracula, the Count's younger child and only son. We meet him at age twelve, a young man who wants nothing more than be normal and something other than a vampire. Dad, however, had different ideas. Still, since they are smack dab in the center of a modern city, the Count agrees to let both his children attend school. Vlad's bullying sister, Ingrid, is fourteen when we meet her and furious at the preferential treatment her brother gets. She is everything her father would like in a child, but lacks the one thing that is needed to earn his respect/love/attention--a Y chromosome.
Now the boy starting school who is entering the world he likes rather the home where he feels out-of-place is pretty obvious. But let us look closer. Vlad's best friend is soon Robin, one of many children of the Branaugh family (including the youngest, a daughter), and who simply does not fit it--because he is, quite simply, a proto-Goth. He loves vampires, Halloween, etc. to the point of wearing a cape to school! He is more fun-loving, less thoughtful and not-as-good-a-student as Vlad. But Vlad tends to be the leader, with Robin's brilliant (as in child prodigy) sister Chloe making up a third. She is also the one who genuinely worries about hanging around a real, genuine vampire as well as violating the rules.
Beginning to sound familiar?
Robin has a set of twin brothers who always hang out together (!) and often cause trouble. One of the teachers hates Vlad, for the simply reason that he himself (Erik Van Helsing) is from a long line of vampire slayers. He has it "in" for Vlad and family.
The Draculas have a magic mirror. At age sixteen, young vampires look into the Mirror and see their vampiric selves. The reflection emerges and at some point joins with them (which is why vampires have no reflection).
And the castle, being the home of Count Dracula, increasingly begins to show signs of being alive--including creating doors and the like.
Vampires in general show contempt for Muggles...er, Breathers.
Vlad must take a series of tests, proving his knowledge and understanding of his growing vampiric powers.
He also has an animal companion/familiar in the person of Zoltan, a stuffed, talking wolf.
And he also begins to have prophetic dreams that suggest--and is eventually confirmed--that he is The Chosen One, a figure in vampire mythology.
Oh, and Count Dracula looks a lot like Snape. A lot. Really. I mean it.
For that matter, all Vlad needs is a pair of glasses and a lightning-shaped scar!
It would be inaccurate to say that Young Dracula is anything like a carbon copy of HP. Not at all. It is very much its own self, which includes such fun as the hilariously dysfunctional relationship between the Count and his glamorous, adulterous bride Magda (whom he seems to adore precisely because she is soooooooo evil). Plus the way Ingrid falls for a Breather of all things, and what happens when she looks into the Mirror at age sixteen. I won't spoil it, but it is very cool.
The series (which sadly looks like it is over after two seasons) is well worth watching in and of itself, but also deserves a look-see for the parallels I've mentioned. Very interesting indeed!
