NeoRyu777 here. Time to get rid of some of the legalities.
I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR FINAL FANTASY VIII! Otherwise, I'd be quite rich... Anyway, what I DO own are any OCs and original ideas.
Now that that's over with, please keep in mind that this is my first fic. I've done my best to make sure there are no typos or anything. Flamers will be wholly ignored, but constructive criticism is welcome. Thank you, and enjoy Chapter One!
"Normal Speech"
Thoughts
"Parseltongue"
:Projected Thoughts/Legilimency/GF Speaking:
Chapter One: A Whole New World
Harry woke up in a nearly completely white room that had some metal instruments on a nearby tray, and some electronics beeping to his left. Sitting up and looking around, he found someone dressed in white walking towards him. Harry guessed that the man was a doctor.
"Hello, how are you feeling?" the doctor asked kindly.
Harry was on his guard instantly. "OK…" he said slowly. "Why?"
"You just suddenly appeared unconscious here in the Hospital Wing," the doctor explained. "My name is Doctor Kadowaki." He waited for a moment, but when Harry did not respond, he smiled at him. "What's your name?"
Harry thought for a moment. "I don't have one."
"That can't be right," the doctor said with a smile. "Surely your parents gave you one?"
Harry looked down. "I think they did, but they died in a car crash when I was a baby."
An orphan, Kadowaki noted. "I'm sorry to hear that. Do you have any relatives you stay with?"
Harry nodded and quietly said, "Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia."
"Then surely they told you your name," Kadowaki coaxed.
"No, they always called me boy."
Kadowaki was beginning to get worried at this point. Has he been abused? "Could you tell me a bit about your home life?" Harry looked at him confusedly, and Kadowaki elaborated. "I mean, tell me what an average day is like for you."
"Oh. Aunt Petunia wakes me up and lets me out of the cupboard so I can make breakfast for my family. Then I clean the kitchen and dining room. If I don't do it quick, Uncle Vernon punishes me. After that I clean the house while Aunt Petunia tells me what to do. If I accidentally break or spill something I'm sent to my cupboard. Sometimes I make dinner. After dinner, I'm sent to my cupboard anyway."
Kadowaki was beginning to get angry for this young, mistreated boy. He didn't look any older than four years old! He didn't let it show, though. "How old are you?"
"Five."
Add malnutrition to the list… I need to speak to Headmaster Cid. "Do you know how to read?"
Harry nodded slowly. "I learned when I needed to read the recipes for dinner. I taught myself."
"I need to go talk to someone right now," Kadowaki explained. "Would you like to read a book?"
Harry's eyes widened. "You trust me that much?"
Kadowaki nodded. "What would you like?"
Harry lay back and thought for a few seconds. "Could I have something about the world? About stuff that happened before I got here?" Harry asked tentatively, searching for a word that he'd heard before.
"You mean a history book?" Kadowaki asked gently.
Harry's eyes brightened. "That's the word! May I read a history book? I've always wanted to learn about what happens outside of Privet Drive."
Kadowaki blinked. Privet Drive? Haven't heard of a town or street called that… Nevertheless, he went to his bookshelf and pulled out The Full History of Terra, giving it to the eager boy, who opened it quickly and began to read avidly.
While Harry was occupied, Kadowaki discretely cast Scan and read the readout.
Harry James Potter (The Boy-Who-Lived)
Coming from a different dimension, Harry Potter is famous amongst the magical world for having survived the unstoppable Killing Curse and defeating the Dark Lord Voldemort on Halloween at the age of one year, three months, by reflecting it back at the caster. The only mark of this encounter is the lightning scar on his forehead, a magical link between him and Voldemort.
Harry Potter is in possession of his own magical core, which replenishes with food and rest. He does not need a Guardian Force to draw, cast or junction magic.
Special Abilities:
Untrained Metamorphmagus – able to, with training, change his appearances at will
Untrained Parselmouth – at this point, able to speak to snakes in their own tongue; eventually able to speak the snake language fluently
Untrained Animagus – able to, with training, turn into an animal that represents his personality and spirit at will
Threat Level: 2
Kadowaki's eyes widened as he read the incredible description. "I-I'll be right back…" With that, he ran out of the Hospital Wing to the elevator and punched in the third floor.
Headmaster Cid was about to finish a card game when Kadowaki rushed in. He played down the final card, winning and taking the challenger's T-Rexaur Card. "What is it, Doctor?"
"We've a situation. You know that boy who appeared out of nowhere?"
Cid nodded. "Of course. How's his condition?"
"He's alright now. Still showing some effects of malnutrition, but I'll have that fixed up soon," Kadowaki admitted. "From what he's told me, he lives with an abusive family. He's only five years old. He didn't even know his name since they never called him by it."
Cid scowled; he couldn't stand families that abused children under their care. The children were the future of the world! "I see. Is there anything else?"
"I cast Scan on him to find his name," Kadowaki went on, "and I found it. His name is Harry James Potter."
Cid's face turned to one of interest. "What else did Scan tell you?"
Kadowaki shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, sir. You should do it yourself."
Cid raised an eyebrow. "Try me."
Kadowaki took a deep breath. "He's from a different dimension, where as a one-year-old, he defeated a very powerful Dark Lord and became instantly famous. I think a Dark Lord is like a Sorceress. Anyway, he did it by reflecting something called a Killing Curse, and he has his own magical core, allowing him to draw, cast and junction magic without a GF. On top of that, if he's trained, he'll be able to change his appearance at will, turn into an animal at will, and speak the snake language."
Cid's jaw dropped in shock. We have a dimension-traveler? An abused boy? "That's, that's incredible!"
"What should I do, sir?"
Cid leaned back and rubbed his chin pensively. "Well, he traveled to our dimension for a reason. Perhaps it was to get away from his family? Anyway, we have a duty to help him if he wants to return. Let's go find out what he desires."
A few minutes later, Cid and Kadowaki entered the Hospital Wing to see Harry immersed in the history book, reading quickly if his constantly scanning eyes were anything to go by.
"Harry?" Kadowaki asked softly, getting no response from the boy. He moved slowly, not wanting to scare his patient. Then he put his hand on the boy's head, mussing his hair to get the boy's attention. Harry looked up, predictably, and put down the book. "I found your name. It's Harry, Harry James Potter."
"Harry James Potter," Harry said slowly, testing it out. Then he smiled. "Yeah, that sounds right. Thank you!"
Kadowaki smiled genuinely. "Harry, this is Headmaster Cid. He wants to talk to you."
"Hello Mr. Cid," Harry greeted politely.
"Hello Harry," Cid replied. "I have a few questions for you, if you can answer them for me?"
"I'll do my best."
"I'm sure you will. Do you know about magic?"
Harry frowned. "Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia told me there's no such thing as magic. They beat me whenever I even said the word."
Cid shared a look with Kadowaki before turning back to Harry. "That's not true. Magic is as real as you and I." Harry, wise beyond his years, looked at him skeptically. "Watch. Blizzard!"
An icy cold jet of blue-white sprayed from Cid's hands onto the tray with the medical instruments, freezing it. Kadowaki sighed. "Must you do that every time you need to demonstrate magic? Fire!"
A jet of flames erupted from the doctor's hand and enveloped the frozen tray, melting the ice quickly. Cid and Kadowaki turned to Harry, whose eyes were wider than saucers.
"Can you teach me to do that?" Harry asked eagerly.
"Maybe when you're older," Cid responded with an indulgent smile. "As I was saying, magic's real. You came from a different dimension."
"Di-men-sion?" Harry asked slowly, trying to pronounce it correctly. "What's that?"
Cid thought for a moment. "You came from a different world," he said finally. "A place far away from here."
"By magic?" Harry jumped in, making the connection.
Cid laughed. "Yes, by magic. Do you know where you are?" Harry shook his head. "We're in Balamb Garden."
Harry's eyes widened again. "I'm at the Battle School, the Balamb SeeD base?"
Kadowaki blinked, surprised at Harry's knowledge. Looking at the large history book, he noticed that Harry was quite a ways into it. He must really like to learn.
Cid nodded, noting the same thing Kadowaki did. "Now, because you came from a different world, we need to know if you wanted to go back."
Harry jumped from the bed and hugged Cid around the legs. "Don't make me go back! Aunt Petunia doesn't want me to go to school, but I wanna! I wanna go to school!"
"Are you sure?" Cid asked. "It'll be a lot of hard work."
"I don't care!"
"Why do you want to go to school so badly?" Kadowaki asked curiously.
"I wanna make friends and learn everything I can!" Harry said excitedly. "I wanna learn how to defend myself and my friends!"
A solitary tear trailed down from Cid's right eye, having been involuntarily shed due to the heartfelt speech made by this young boy."Then welcome to the SeeD academy."
The next day, Cid walked Harry around the complex, showing him where everything was and arranging for Harry to be given his own quarters. "Over there is the training area," Cid was saying. "Don't go in there until I tell you; the monsters in there are very dangerous."
Harry nodded solemnly, knowing already that Cid was being completely serious. "What about the library?" he asked, pointing at another sign. "Can I go in there?"
"Sure," Cid said with a smile. "See the sign over there?"
Harry squinted through his new glasses; Kadowaki had diagnosed him with a bad case of nearsightedness and prescribed him a pair of glasses, not trusting him yet with contacts. "Yeah… does it say 'Kitchens?'?"
"Yes, it does. Well done!" Cid complimented. "Those glasses work well, don't they?"
Harry nodded profusely. "Everything is so much easier to see!" he murmured in wonder. "Wish I had a pair of these back at the Dursley's…"
Quick to change the subject, Cid smiled at Harry. "You'll start going to school tomorrow. You'll be learning reading and writing, math and science, and history."
"Will there be kids my age?" Harry asked, looking around. "Everyone around here looks like an adult."
Cid was a bit surprised at Harry's observations, but then, he'd probably had to develop them quickly to avoid beatings. "Yes, there'll be children your age, because you're going to school in Balamb, just down the road. After you get back every day, I'll have a tutor for you."
"Really?" Harry asked in amazement. This sounded like a dream come true. "What'll he teach me?"
"The weapon of your choice, how to draw and cast magic, and he'll try to help you with your special abilities."
"Special abilities?" Harry exclaimed. "What can I do?"
"He'll tell you eventually," Cid said mischievously. "I don't want to spoil his fun at seeing your face when he tells you."
"Awww, please?" Harry pulled out the big guns: the dreaded puppy-dog face. Somehow, though, Cid managed to resist.
"Sorry, you have to wait." Jeez, he's going to be a heartbreaker someday.
Harry was a little disappointed that Cid wouldn't tell him, but it didn't hamper his spirits for long. People are actually treating me nicely! And I can visit the library, and I'm going to school! He almost didn't hear Cid's next words.
"Well, I have some paperwork I have to do. Why don't you look around, and remember to go visit the Kitchens for dinner when you get hungry? Beware of the line, though. It's always really long for the hot dogs," Cid advised.
Harry grinned and took off at a speed wholly unexpected from the scrawny, underfed kid. If Cid didn't know any better, he'd have said that Harry had equipped some magic to his legs. Harry had gone into the library and looked around on some shelves before pulling out a copy of the same history book that Kadowaki had lent him the previous day. He sat back in the comfortable chair and began to read.
Harry was so engrossed with his book that he didn't notice the teenagers who entered looking at him funny or the dinner bell. It was only when his stomach growled that Harry reluctantly put the book back and went to the kitchens. There were still several people there, but they were finishing their dinner.
Harry got in the short line and when it was his turn, asked for a hamburger and a salad, which he wolfed down as quick as he could before turning and running off back to the library and returning to the history book. He was entranced by the story of the Sorceresses and how it was SeeD's job to counter them, even above the jobs they took.
The library was where the trainer found Harry still reading. "Ahem," he said, getting Harry's attention. Harry set down the book on the table neatly and looked at the man confusedly.
"Who're you?"
"I'm your tutor," the man said genially. "My name's Shugui."
Harry looked him over. Shugui was fairly short, about five foot six inches by Harry's reckoning, with cropped hair and a few wide scars on his face, including one particularly nasty-looking one across the cheek. He was thickly built, though, with huge muscles and appeared incredibly dangerous if the multitude of weapons around his waist was anything to go by. He had everything from swords to battle-axes to throwing stars. Harry could feel a quiet confidence emanating from Shugui, and he liked it.
"Harry Potter," Harry responded. "Nice to meet you."
"I'm a weapons specialist, as you may have noticed," Shugui said, indicating his waist with amusement. "See anything you like?"
Harry shrugged. "Sometimes things aren't as they look like," he said cautiously, thinking over his words as he said them. "I'd rather keep my thoughts to myself about the weapons until I know more about them."
Smart kid, Shugui thought to himself, discretely looking Harry over. "You're a pretty thin kid. We need to build up those muscles of yours, so the first part of my training's going to be purely physical. Let me set the rules down: my word is law where you're concerned. Only Headmaster Cid can counter them, and I sure as hell know he's not going to do that. You are to do what I tell you, when I tell you. But if you're confused about something, feel free to ask. I'd rather you ask and learn how to do it the right way than develop a bad habit. Understand?" Harry nodded determinedly. "Good. When you're developed to my satisfaction, then you'll choose a weapon you want to learn and we'll go from there. After you've got a weapon down, I'll teach you how to draw, cast and junction magic."
Harry nodded again, glad that someone was actually helping him when he asked. Then he realized a potential problem. "When will I do homework for school?"
"I'll be training you right after school, so you'll have all the time after dinner."
Harry nodded once more. "When do we start?"
Shugui gave a feral grin. "Now. Give me twenty push-ups!"
By the time Shugui was done with Harry that night, he was a very sore, very tired five-year-old. But when Harry woke up the next morning, he felt refreshed, not sore at all, as if he'd healed completely overnight. He suspected that Shugui had used a Cure spell on him.
Harry got up, showered and dressed before going to the kitchens for some breakfast. He had some toast and a banana, and then walked quickly to the front gate, where Shugui was waiting for him. Seeing Harry's surprised face, Shugui laughed. "Did you honestly think that training's only going to be at night? No, Harry, you'll be trained all the time except for while you're doing your homework."
"Did you use a Cure spell on me when I was sleeping?" Harry asked. "Because I felt completely refreshed when I woke up this morning."
Shugui looked surprised. "As a matter of fact, no I didn't. You're probably just a quick healer."
Harry felt that there was something more to it, but let it go. "So, what now?"
"Well, we have a little more than an hour to get to the school," Shugui said, "so we're going to run, work on your cardiovascular system and legs. So get moving! If you slow down, I'll start using Fire spells!"
Harry gulped and began running. His heart pounding hard, Harry could hear Shugui not far behind him. Risking a glance over his shoulder, Harry's eyebrow twitched to see Shugui casually jogging. Aw, Harry thought, I need a lot of work on this.
After a few minutes, Harry was glad that he'd gotten good practice running while avoiding his obese cousin Dudley. Adrenaline was an old friend of Harry's, and he used it to keep going, not wanting a Fire spell aimed at him despite his muscles' increasing reluctance to move.
Shugui was appraising Harry's run as they went, and was mildly surprised to see the boy still running at about the same speed as he started out, despite the sweat he could easily see dripping from Harry's face. Mind over matter, eh?
Finally, though, Harry collapsed, having completely exhausted everything he had and then some. Breathing hard, he saw Shugui walk over to him and offer a canteen of water, which Harry took and drank greedily, wetting his parched throat.
"Pretty good for your first run," Shugui praised. "Looks like you made it about half of a mile. Not bad at all." Harry gave his teacher a weak smile, pleased to have done well. "It's another three miles to Balamb, but we'll walk the rest of the way."
"Um, Shugui?" Harry asked quietly, giving back the canteen. "Won't the teacher not like it if I go in there all sweaty?"
"Good point. Water!" A second later, Harry was completely drenched in water, sputtering while Shugui chuckled. "It's hot enough out here that you'll dry off before we get there."
Harry cursed quietly. All he wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep at that moment, but nevertheless, he got up and began walking, eagerly awaiting a chance to sit down and learn. They finally got to class early, and Shugui introduced Harry to the teacher, who was very kind and understanding in Harry's opinion.
Class was very exciting for Harry, as he got acquainted with his new classmates and learned how to use the computers in their desks. His physical soreness was completely forgotten in the midst of living his dream.
A few months passed quickly as Harry grew stronger both mentally and physically. The teacher held Harry as a prodigy, as the young boy appeared to assimilate information quickly and efficiently. During Harry's free time after finishing his homework, he was often working on the next chapters, going completely ahead of his class.
Shugui was growing increasingly impressed with Harry's resilience and determination. In the last three short months, Harry had completely overcome the effects of malnutrition and had built up some muscle. He didn't look like a child body-builder, but he was slim, lean and fit, and Shugui would tell anyone who would listen how strong Harry was growing. Taking advantage of this, Shugui used some of his funds to buy Harry some clothes enchanted with Gravija to train him in weights.
It was time, Shugui decided, for Harry to learn his first and primary weapon. "So, what're you interested in?" he asked, leading Harry into his weapon stores.
Harry frowned pensively, looking around until a certain weapon caught his eye. Following his gaze, Shugui picked up the weapon. "This is a gunblade, a kind of combination sword and gun. See the trigger here? It causes the end of the blade to explode into flames."
Harry smiled. "Can you teach me how to use that?"
Shugui nodded. "We'll start tomorrow. Remember, though, that we're still going to be doing our normal training on top of this."
"Of course," Harry agreed. "Wouldn't want to get out of shape."
By the following April, Harry was proficient in using the gunblade, and Shugui told him that the only way to get better now was through experience. To Harry's immense frustration, he hadn't grown noticeably taller than when he had arrived on Terra, and as a result he'd had to custom order a gunblade for his size.
His lack of physical size was offset, however, by the fact that Harry was working on third grade level work already, his teacher having been fully cooperative and giving him harder and harder work. His teacher wanted Harry to skip a few grades, but Harry refused. He wanted to stay close to his friends, especially Zell and Squall, each of whom planned on joining SeeD.
Squall was a quiet perfectionist who preferred to fade into the background and followed the rules, but was again and again brought into the forefront in his confrontations with Seifer Almasy, a bully from two grades up. Neither could truly stand each other, though they shared some common interests, one in particular: the gunblade.
Zell, on the other hand, was a hyperactive kid who had almost instantly made friends with Harry. Overly enthusiastic, Zell was not one for homework, and as such, his grades slipped. On the other hand, Zell was the best there was in terms of boxing, as his grandfather was a very strong SeeD who specialized in using nothing but his fists and GFs. Amazingly, Zell was a fast healer, recovering from bruises in a couple of hours.
Harry was essentially the glue between those two, having brought them together into a triad of friends. Under Squall's influence, Zell quieted down enough not to get in trouble so often, and under Zell's influence, Squall opened up a bit and was a bit more expressive with his emotions and concerns.
Harry himself had progressed to an astounding point, having just finished third grade work by the end of the school year. His vocabulary was immense as well, due to all the reading Harry had been doing with the handy dictionary at his side.
When first grade let out for summer, Harry's training was taken to the next level; Shugui had decided to teach him to draw and cast magic. But in order to do so, Harry needed to calm his mind and learn how to sense around him. It took him quite a while – a whole month, in fact – but Harry finally managed it. And, having read up on the potential dangers of using Guardian Forces – namely the danger of losing memories – Harry bounced a few ideas off of Shugui.
"What if I organize my memories and put a big ole' wall around them, so the GFs can't reach them?"
"That's a fine idea, but then where would the GFs go? The memory banks are usually where they reside."
"I'd compress my memories like they do for computers, so I could access them, but there'd still be room."
Shugui looked at Harry proudly. "I don't know why no one ever thought of that before. Go ahead and try it!"
Harry spent another month building up his walls, and was pleased to find that it got easier each time he worked on them. His memory was improving as well. The walls were even up when he wasn't paying attention to them, which was essential if his plan was to work.
Then he started practicing how to sense magic in areas around him while walking. He found a few draw points around Balamb Garden, to his surprise, consisting of Fire, Cure and Esuna. Harry also discovered that no matter when he thought about it, he always knew how many of each spell he had.
It was at this point that Shugui took Harry outside to train against the monsters there off the road. They were a little challenging for young Harry, but Harry had gotten very fast, even with his weighted clothes. He used his gunblade skills to kill all but one of his enemies and then avoided the last one's attacks while he drew as many spells he could from it.
Shugui explained that for some unknown reason, every time someone killed a monster, they gained part of their strength. "Most call it experience, with good reason. Getting large amounts give you a healthy amount of experience to draw from." Harry felt himself getting even stronger.
There was one thing confusing Harry, however. His spells were practically multiplying by themselves. Once, he'd double-checked his Blizzard spells and found that he had enough for twenty uses. A week later, he'd checked it again and saw that he had enough for 27 uses. Where did I get the increase? I've been too busy to draw lately!
He confessed his discovery to Shugui, who appeared stumped. "Don't question a good thing."
Harry, suspicious, used Scan on himself and was astonished at the readout. "Boy-Who-Lived? What the hell? I know I came from a different dimension, but this is just effing ridiculous! Though those special abilities look pretty cool. Hmm. I have my own magic core? Maybe that's multiplying the spells I have."
Shugui appeared a little jealous, but quickly crushed it. The student was always destined to surpass the teacher, he reminded himself. "I suppose I should teach you how to junction your magic now." Harry sat in the Lotus position, paying avid attention. "Most of us use GFs to do it for us, but as you read, you don't need them for it. Since I have no idea how they do it, I'll let you borrow my GF, Quetzalcoatl." He put up a face of concentration, and out of his hand appeared a yellow jewel, probably a topaz. "To junction him, just take the jewel and focus on absorbing it."
Harry nodded, taking the jewel from his teacher and doing as ordered. The jewel flashed and Harry felt his mind suddenly fill up with new presence. Quetzalcoatl?
:Yes, it is I. This is an interesting structure to protect your memories, I admit. Well thought out. Now your memories are safe. :
Thank you. Would you please teach me how to junction my spells?
:Why? You will have another Guardian Force soon enough.:
I Scanned myself a minute ago, and it said I could do it without a GF. I'd like to learn, just in case.
:Very well. I shall junction your Cure spell to your health. Pay close attention. :
Harry kept his focus on Quetzalcoatl, trying to be sure to catch the process. He felt Quetzalcoatl take the portion of his magic that he recognized as his stock of Cures and created a magical tie from them to his heart.
:Each system of your body can have one magic junctioned to it,: Quetzalcoatl explained. :You have your muscular system, your skeletal system, your immune system and your cardiovascular system, which now has Cure attached. You can also equip magic to your spirit to increase your resilience to certain types of magic. For instance, equipping Thunder to your elemental resistance portion of your spirit, you take less damage from lightning-type attacks. By equipping Thunder to your elemental attack portion, you give your attacks a partial thunder element. Your spirit also has status effect portions, resistance and attack. Your muscular system has two subsystems you can equip magic to: your strength and speed.:
I see. Is there anything else?
:Merely remember not to use status magic for your elemental potions of your spirit; it won't do anything. And the reverse applies as well.:
Thank you.
:You are welcome.:
Harry unjunctioned Quetzalcoatl, and handed the topaz back to Shugui, who promptly absorbed it again. "I've got it."
"Good," Shugui said, pleased. "But considering that you're not even in the SeeD years yet, don't junction any of your magic. You'll get better results from your training."
"Understood."
"How many spells do you have currently, by the way?"
Harry thought for a moment, gauging his stock. "I have 80 Cures, 43 Thunders, 92 Fires, 74 Blizzards, 30 Esuna, and 89 Scans."
"Very good. Be sure to draw magic from around you anytime you come across it, especially new ones you don't have yet," Shugui advised. "But if you come across Ultima or Holy, be careful. Those magics can rip your body apart if you're not prepared."
"Understood."
Shugui nodded. "Now, it is time to develop your special abilities."
"Metamorphmagus, Parseltongue, Animagus," Harry listed off. "Metamorphmagus seems to be the most useful at the moment."
"Being able to change your appearances would be a great asset," Shugui agreed. "If you go into SeeD, that ability would almost certainly guarantee you undercover jobs."
"In the meantime, though, I'll settle for looking my age," Harry said with a hint of frustration at his lack of growth. "How do I start?"
"Remember that the Scan told us that it's based on willpower," Shugui reminded him. "So, I'd say that you need to focus really hard on the changes you want. I'd start with something simple first and then work your way up."
"How about changing my eye color?" Harry suggested, trying to think of something small.
"Sounds good. Try it out."
Harry closed his eyes and imagined his eyes as they were: a vivid emerald green. Then he concentrated on the green changing into sky blue. Harry felt his magic reach up to his eyes and touch them, creating a tingling sensation for a few seconds. Keeping hold of that sensation, Harry opened his eyes. "How are they?"
"A light blue," Shugui said, leaning in to inspect them. "Well done. Is it difficult?"
"A little," Harry admitted. "I have to keep my focus on the tendril of magic. I can sense that if I let it go, my eyes will return to normal."
"Then it's good that we're starting small," Shugui said with a smile. "Keep it up as long as you can while we're training. What about the snake-speak?"
Harry shrugged. "According to the Scan, I need to be face-to-face with a snake-like creature."
"And Animagus?"
Harry frowned. "I don't think I should work on that one for a while, until I master my Metamorphmagus abilities. There could be any number of ways to screw up badly. And how am I supposed to know which animal represents me?"
"Fair enough. Now, let's get back to training. You'll spar against me."
Harry knew this would be difficult since he also had to keep up the eye transformation, but obediently went to the wall and pulled out a wooden gunblade. He bent his knees slightly and held his weapon with both hands for greater stability and support, angling the gunblade across his body for defense.
Shugui nodded. "Begin!"
Harry was right; the fight was much more difficult since he couldn't keep his full attention on the fight. As a result, he was a little slower in his blocks and parries, which proved costly against the much more experienced warrior. After a few minutes, Harry had been bruised several times, so Harry jumped backwards and summoned one of his spells. "Cure!"
The wounds quickly closed and Harry felt a rush of energy, which he promptly injected into his rush back against Shugui. He slammed his gunblade against Shugui's, hoping to distract him enough to pull off his next move. Harry then ducked down, pulling the gunblade away from Shugui's, and swept his foot at his opponents' feet, trying to trip him and end it quickly.
Shugui, however, was more experienced and faster, and easily dodged the move by flipping over Harry's head. Before Harry could recover, Shugui had his own wooden practice gunblade against Harry's throat.
Knowing that he'd been beat, Harry yielded. "That was a good match," Shugui complimented him, "considering that your attention was necessarily divided. Are your eyes still the same color?" Harry looked at Shugui, who nodded "Good, you kept it up. That was a nice try with the sweep move; that would have finished many others."
Harry merely nodded, though he was innately pleased. Shugui never sugarcoated things, so Harry knew that he was being completely serious. The dinner bell rang, then, and Harry heard a rush for the kitchen. "See you tomorrow, Instructor Shugui!" he said quickly before running off, hoping to get in line for the hot dogs before it got too long.
As it was, Harry just managed to get one of the hot dogs before they were out. After eating, Harry went back to his quarters and practiced his new skill in front of the mirror. He changed his eye color again to a dull brown, then decided to make things interesting by making one eye light blue again while keeping the other brown. He mostly succeeded, but each eye had speckles of the other color.
Keeping up that transformation was difficult at first, but it slowly got easier. When he felt comfortable with that, he added in a different hair color, changing it from the natural raven color to dirty blond. After several minutes of maintaining that while reading a fictional book, Harry also lengthened his now blonde hair from the stubborn two inches to shoulder length. This had the added benefit of fixing his natural messiness, Harry noted.
No one would recognize me now! Not even Instructor Shugui! Harry thought before giggling, which distracted him enough that he lost hold on the transforming magic, returning to his normal self. "Damn it!" Harry cursed. "Let's try that again."
A minute later, Harry transformed back into the longhaired blond with one blue, one brown eye. Returning to his reading, he was careful to keep at least part of his focus on maintaining his transformation. When he finished the book a few hours later, Harry looked back in the mirror and saw that his hair was very slowly shortening again, and darkening into black. His eyes had green speckles in them as well. With a frown of concentration, Harry reinforced his disguise.
With that, Harry did some stretching exercises and thirty push-ups and sit-ups before hopping into bed. His long hair tickled his back, so Harry let his hair go back to the standard short he was used to. As he went to sleep, he unconsciously relaxed his transformation until his natural form resurfaced.
Harry spent the next month becoming more comfortable and familiar with changing his eyes, hair, face, nails and skin color until he could unconsciously hold the transformation overnight. After that, at Shugui's suggestion, Harry spent another month studying the human anatomy to experiment with the idea of growing taller. With Shugui and Doctor Kadowaki standing by, Harry tried it for the first time, and succeeded, though the height transformation took longer than the others, as Harry needed to focus on several pieces of his innards at once – mostly the length and size of his various organs. Harry spent much of his time before school started becoming proficient in his new technique.
Harry practiced on his own and found that if he focused hard enough, he could also change the clothes he was wearing to accommodate the new size, or even change them to be something else.
Harry celebrated his birthday with Shugui, Headmaster Cid, Squall, Zell, and a girl who he'd gotten to know a bit better in the school library. Quistis was the same age as Harry, with long blond hair she kept in a ponytail and a pair of round glasses.
Harry hadn't completely mastered changing his height in under three seconds, which was his goal, when school started, but even so, Harry created two different bodies, both of which he believed his natural one would progress into when it finally grew older. The first one, Harry had carefully constructed with Doctor Kadowaki's help to look his age and would be working on slowly throughout the year. A couple of inches taller than what he was normally, it looked approximately six years old, keeping mostly the same characteristics of natural Harry.
The second was a mostly adult body, what Harry thought he would look like at age seventeen. After getting used to being so far up from the ground, Harry was able to pass for a SeeD candidate easily, being far more mature than a six-year-old should be. Harry took to training in this body so he could use an adult-sized gunblade.
Having progressed into second grade, Harry very quickly became a tutor for those struggling in second, third and even fourth grade. Harry tried to refuse the money that the parents whose children he helped gave, but Harry quickly found that Shugui had opened an account in his name where the parents deposited the money anyway.
As a result, when second grade finally ended, Harry was quite a rich kid, and had progressed to seventh grade assignments. Third grade work was a far cry from the difficulty of fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh grade assignments, so Harry found himself occasionally asking his teacher for help if he failed to figure it out after a week of puzzling. At the end of the year, he had only just finished sixth grade assignments, as they were much harder. So Harry went to third grade and did his seventh grade work, making good money as a tutor at the same time.
Harry had decided to wait until the summer after third grade to work on his Parseltongue, since he had no idea how it would develop and he didn't want to give away his secret yet. No one of the people who knew Harry's secret had any idea how to become an Animagus, so Harry gave that up as a lost cause.
The discussion that led to the decision that Harry would indeed return to his birth world had been a sore one. "What do you mean, I have to go back?!" Harry screamed. "I'm happy here, damn it!"
"I know," Headmaster Cid acknowledged. "But our Scan spell on you has told us that your lightning scar is a direct link to this Dark Lord Voldemort. I know it said that the Killing Curse was reflected onto him, but the continued presence of the link worries me. We have no idea what kind of magic they have in your world, so for all we know, Voldemort may be able to follow you here, and we certainly don't need another Sorceress-level power being here, especially if Voldemort's as evil as the Scan implies."
Harry stayed silent, hearing the logic but not liking it one bit. Headmaster Cid saw this and gave him a weak smile. "I am sorry, Harry, but think of it this way: when you get back, you'll be able to learn even more about magic, about how your world uses it."
Harry was smarter than the average seven-year-old, and recognized the blatant play on his interests. That didn't stop him from falling victim to it. "I suppose," Harry drawled. "But I have no idea how to get back."
"You don't, but I have an idea," Headmaster Cid said with a smile. "You see, there's a legend stating that Odin, a GF who refuses to be junctioned, but helps out anyone who has earned his respect occasionally, has the power to transcend space and time, giving him the ability to appear literally out of nowhere as he does when he helps."
"What does this have to do with me?" Harry asked. He couldn't see the connection.
"Odin may be able to use his power to transport you back to your home world," Cid explained. "Unfortunately, Odin is one of the strongest Guardian Forces there are. As such, you are nowhere near powerful enough to challenge him. Additionally, his location is unknown."
Harry slapped his hand to his forehead. "So why are you telling me this?"
Cid looked piercingly at Harry. "To find Odin, you will need to travel quite a bit to the various continents. The best way for you to do so is to be SeeD."
"You want me to become SeeD?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. "What a coincidence. That was going to be my career choice."
"That's good," Cid said with a smile. "I do have some more good news. You won't need to leave for several years. It appears time goes slower in your world, which is why your normal body is taking so long to grow; it's keeping pace with your dimension."
Harry brightened. "Great! What's the time ratio?"
"According to Doctor Kadowaki, every two years here is one year there. We think that you should try to get back to your world before your body turns eleven, if possible. We don't know when your world's magical schooling starts, but we're assuming that they take you as you hit puberty. Besides, you told us that the sun was being blocked by the moon when you left your world. Since we've been researching dimensional traveling for generations here, and no one's discovered your presence here, I'd say it's safe to assume that Voldemort's not going to make a dimensional portal in six years, especially as he is, at least, expelled from his body."
"What makes you think that?" Harry asked curiously, wondering how Cid had come up with that.
"Simple. The Killing Curse defeated him, but he's still alive. Consider the fact that three and a half years passed after you defeated him. If he had a body, then he would have killed you by now. So, there're a few options. One: the spell destroyed his powers and he fled. That's unlikely, as he probably could have recovered his powers eventually. Even if he couldn't, that eliminates him as a threat. Two: the spell separated him from his body and he's trying to get a new one. That would take some very powerful Life and Curaga magic from a second party, combined with a recently dead body."
"I see," Harry said slowly. "And since he was evil, he's not likely to have anyone trying to bring him back; why resurrect someone more powerful than you if you want to be the evil overlord?"
"Exactly," Cid confirmed, pleased that Harry had thought of that on his own.
"That sounds pretty reasonable," Harry agreed, doing some mental calculations. "I was five when I got here, six times two is twelve years. I've spent two here already. Ten to go. Plenty of time."
"That's actually perfect, because if you become a SeeD early, which I have no doubt you will, you'll have years to explore the world and grow more powerful as you go," Cid told Harry.
"Sounds like a plan," Harry agreed. "Is there anything else, Headmaster?"
"No. Care for a game of cards?"
After losing a close game with Cid, Harry looked around Garden to find Shugui. Locating him after an hour of searching, Harry convinced him to take him to Dollet to buy a snake. There was only one way to Dollet: by sea. They didn't go directly, however, as Shugui knew that this would be an excellent chance to hone Harry's skills, and draw new magic.
So Harry and Shugui set off to Dollet, taking nothing but the essentials. Shugui let Harry do most of the fighting and backed him up whenever Harry needed healing. That was fairly common at first, as Harry was unused to facing monsters stronger and faster than the ones just outside Balamb, but he quickly improved to the point that Shugui decided to just let Harry fight on his own unless absolutely necessary.
Harry had refused to junction his magic for the time being, wanting to improve without junctions first. That didn't stop him from drawing and casting spells, however. Harry cast his low- and medium-level spells carefully and quickly, but he had a tendency to hesitate with the higher-level spells, like the few Blizzagas he had found.
When Shugui asked about it, Harry shrugged. "I found that my magic core merely multiplies the spells I have. The more powerful ones take longer. Once I have a nice solid fifty or sixty Blizzagas, I'll probably start using them."
Harry didn't voice his other concern aloud, but he was also worried about accidentally harming his body by casting too-powerful spells. Simply stocking the Blizzagas at the moment was a little stressful, though it decreased with each monster Harry killed. Harry was a little afraid of the stress his body would handle if he came across Ultima or Death.
Four days after they left, Harry and Shugui arrived in Dollet and found the Pet Shop. Harry's eye instantly fell upon a truly beautiful snake with scales the color of jade that sparkled in the light. Buying the snake with money from his rather immense account, Harry and Shugui stocked up on some supplies – primarily Potions, Tents, Remedies, and a few Ethers – and stopped by the Weapon Shop, where Harry upgraded his Revolver to a Cutting Trigger.
As they left Dollet, Harry pulled out his new pet. Since he had no idea how to speak Parseltongue, he simply decided to talk to the snake normally. "Hello," he said to the snake, except it came out as a hiss. Shugui looked at him in astonishment, but Harry was too interested in the snake's sudden jerk to respond.
"You speak the noble snake language?"the snake demanded, raising its head up several inches from its coiled body to look Harry in the eye.
"So it would seem. What's your name?"
"I am called Seth. What is your name, human?"
"Harry James Potter. Please call me by my first name, Seth."
"I understand, Master Harry."
Harry frowned. "Why do you call me Master?"
"It is an old law among the serpents. Any human who can fluently speak our language has our loyalty and subservience."
Curious, Harry asked, "What happens if there is more than one speaker?"
Seth looked away, and if Harry had to put an emotion to it, he would have said that Seth looked uneasy. "If they work together, then we serve them all. If they are enemies, then we serve whichever earns the respect of Hydra."
"Is Hydra a Guardian Force?"Seth hissed an affirmative. "Do you know where Hydra resides? I would greatly like to earn his respect in case I find any enemies able to speak this language."
Now Seth looked down, appearing almost ashamed. "No, Master. Hydra has been missing for many years now."
Harry smiled wistfully. "Oh well. Enough of this Master business, just call me Harry. I'm Master of no one."
"I suppose, Ma – Harry. I would like to get some sleep now," Seth pleaded. "The temperature is just right."
Harry chuckled. "Wrap around my left arm here and you can sleep there and use my body for heat."
"Thank you, Harry."Seth coiled himself around Harry's left arm and let out a hiss of satisfaction rather like a purr. "Perfect. Thank you again."
Before Harry could answer, Seth was sleeping. He chuckled again and looked at Shugui, who was watching him analytically. "I suppose I was speaking Parseltongue?"
"Yes, you were," Shugui confirmed. "It sounds really creepy, though."
Harry laughed at him, then ran like hell as Shugui chased him across the plains, promising retribution. He wasn't able to go as quickly as he could though, as the Gravija-enchanted clothes weighed him down. Fortunately, by the time Shugui managed to catch him, he was laughing along with Harry.
The rest of summer passed fairly quickly amidst all the training. Harry finally achieved his goal of being able to change his height in under three seconds, and his Parseltongue ability grew to the point where Harry needed to be addressing a snake, but he didn't need to be face-to-face with one. Harry's personal magical core was growing and had sped up the regeneration of spells. Beginner spells – such as Blizzard, Fire, Thunder, Cure and Esuna – doubled every two weeks. Intermediate spells doubled every four weeks, and his few Advanced spells – the most dangerous currently – doubled every two months. As a result, by the end of summer, he had several hundred of each Beginner spell and about three hundred of each Intermediate spell, enough to never need to worry about running out of them again.
As Harry's spells were stored in his magical core, the core was forced to expand each time a significant increase was made. The Beginner spells were rather small, but several hundred small spells still took up some space. Thankfully, Harry found that his max limit for the stock of any single spell was one thousand. Harry had no doubt that when it came time to leave for his birth world, he would be a very powerful man.
Seth was a handy addition to Harry's monster encounters, as the snake had an intensely powerful venom that almost always succeeded in casting Slow on the monsters, and occasionally Petrify. Harry now had a constant source to draw Slow, Petrify and Cura from, though doing so tired Seth out rather quickly. It was rather unnecessary anyway, as Harry essentially had unlimited of all of those.
Eventually, though, the summer ended and school began once again. Harry once again took up his job as the resident low-pay tutor in between his training and homework. He'd finished all the work for all seven years of standard schooling, so he had enrolled for the SeeD classes. Unlike the standard schooling, there was little opportunity to speed through the years. The first SeeD year was dedicated to learning about the responsibilities of SeeD, in addition to physical training. The second year was then for learning how to draw and cast magic while learning the possible dangers of doing so. The third year was the year in which all the students chose a weapon and trained with it. The fourth year was a year for learning related subjects that SeeD members needed to know, while the fifth, sixth and seventh years were the opportunities to become SeeD. If one failed the third time, that was it. Throughout the years, the students were expected to donate their own time to training.
In other words, the first two years, at least, are a waste of time, Harry mused outside of class. I could train in a second weapon during third, I suppose. Few know that I use a gunblade, and there's no point in revealing that when I could learn another weapon, which could be useful. Fourth year sounds pretty interesting, though. No matter; right now, I've got my own training to do. First, though, let's get a Scan.
Harry focused on the Scan magic and willed it on himself; he no longer needed to say the Beginner spells aloud. Much of the readout was the same, but Harry skipped ahead to the Special Abilities section.
Metamorphmagus: Extremely Proficient. Has strong control over entire body, but as yet cannot transform cross-gender.
Parselmouth: Intermediate. Capable of addressing snakes unseen.
Untrained Animagus – able to, with training, turn into an animal that represents his personality and spirit at will.
Threat Level: 21.
"Hmm," Harry murmured to himself. "Level 21. Not bad at all for someone without a Guardian Force to power him up. Haven't even equipped my junctions…" Harry glanced at his watch; he had a few hours to spare. "Aw, what the hell. To the training area!"
It appeared he was not the only one with that same idea, as he saw six or seven other SeeD candidates also training in there. But before he could greet them, a huge T-Rexaur leapt out of the forest and landed in front of him, screaming a challenge.
Harry allowed himself a smirk as he drew his gunblade. Rushing forward, Harry leapt up in the air and slashed horizontally across the T-Rexaur's hide, but it was resistant even to the upgraded blade. His momentum carried him into the T-Rexaur's chest, and Harry used it to stab the monster deeply, but it missed the vital organs.
The T-Rexaur screamed in pain and used its right claw to grab Harry and throw him to the ground, planning to stomp on him. Harry rolled over, narrowly avoiding the monster's foot. But then the monster kicked Harry hard, and its claw sliced open Harry's clothes and landed three deep cuts in Harry's chest.
Harry was now truly pissed. This T-Rexaur was smarter and stronger than average. He felt his energy surging through his body and let loose a Limit Break, "Sword of Divinity!" Harry ran incredibly fast, ignoring his wounds as he then started to run up the monster, digging his gunblade deeply at the point where the legs met the body and slicing upwards as he ran until he cut straight through the head, whereupon he jumped high in the air and performed an aerial flip so he faced the monster.
The sun lay directly behind Harry as he gathered his raw magic and energy into his Cutting Trigger. "Shining Star!" Harry cried, slicing the air in the shape of a five-pointed star with the gunblade, sending five blood-red waves of jagged energy that sliced into and through the T-Rexaur. When Harry landed, the T-Rexaur fell apart, literally, before fading away as all monsters did for some reason when they died.
Harry felt much weaker now, but he focused on his magic. "Cura!" His deep wounds healed moderately fast, though it stung. Now he looked at what the T-Rexaur had left behind, and discovered two Dragon Fangs, a Dragon Claw, and a T-Rexaur card.
"That was a truly impressive Limit Break," a voice said from behind him, and Harry jumped; he hadn't heard Instructor Shugui approach. Shugui's voice was full of amusement when he spoke next. "It seems that you still have some work to do on sensing around you though."
Harry flushed, embarrassed by his inattentiveness. "Yes, Instructor. Is it just me, or was that T-Rexaur more powerful and smarter than normal?"
Shugui nodded gravely, his playful demeanor evaporating. "I'm afraid that's a side effect of having killed so many monsters. You gain a small portion of each of your kill's strength. As you kill more monsters, the stronger versions of your normal monsters deem you a threat."
Harry frowned but nodded. "I see. Thank you for explaining." Interesting... That means I can still progress at a decent pace while I wait to graduate.
"I should have told you before," Shugui said seriously. "I apologize for that."
"Don't worry about it," Harry said blithely. "I'm still alive, aren't I? And you didn't mean any harm."
Shugui smiled, relieved that his powerful student held no grudges. He knew full well that Harry was growing stronger by the day, and he was still training in Gravija-weighted clothes. Soon he will surpass me... He wished the best of luck towards anyone who had the ill fortune of becoming Harry's enemy; the odds were that there wouldn't be much left of them when Harry was through.
He watched as Harry packed the items he had just gained, and gripped his gunblade firmly, ready for the next fight. Chuckling softly, Shugui left, knowing that Harry could take care of himself and wondering what poor creature would face Harry's frustrations now. He heard an animalistic scream and laughed hard, recognizing the sound as another T-Rexaur.
The years passed slowly, and Harry's friendship with Squall, Zell and Quistis grew. When they were eleven years old, Harry's friends enrolled in the SeeD Academy, having finished the seven years' worth of work a year early with Harry's tutoring.
At that point, Harry had finished his third year of SeeD courses. He had decided to simply continue his gunblade training, as there was no point in hiding his power amongst fellow SeeD members. Anyone decent could perform a Scan on him and find out about it anyway, Harry figured.
That had actually already happened from his official Instructor, Tsuri. Tsuri was a rather attractive brunette, according to the rumors that Harry heard being wildly spread around during lunch. This was her first year of instructing, having only just received her Instructor's license. She was eighteen, and time had been very good to her. Harry was rather sickened to hear some of the fifteen- and sixteen-year-olds share fantasies involving her, and promptly forced himself to forget it using his mind training.
Tsuri had, at the beginning of the third year, used Scan on Harry and all of his classmates to ascertain their names and learn a bit about their backgrounds. Upon using it on Harry, her face had reflected complete and utter shock. "Can we talk after class, Mr. Potter?" she asked in a strangled voice.
The others looked at Harry jealously, especially after he acquiesced. At the end of class, Tsuri confronted him. "OK, why the hell are you in this class? You've got to be at least a SeeD already!"
"Why's that?" Harry had responded, raising an eyebrow.
"Your stats are amazing! You're much stronger than me, and you've got those Special Abilities. How old are you really?"
Harry thought for a moment. "Physically, or years lived?"
"Both."
"Well, in my natural form, I'm actually only seven and a half years old. But that's because my body develops according to my former dimension's time, which is half that of here. I've lived ten years total. I arrived here when I was five."
Tsuri's eyes bugged out. "You're ten?" she hissed. "Just what the hell are you?"
Harry shrugged. "A hard worker, and a genius according to my other teachers. I spend most of my time training or reading, or hanging out with my friends when I can."
"Why not stay in your natural form, then?"
Harry looked at her with a frown. "Didn't you hear me? My natural form's bloody seven years old, woman! No one would respect me in a child's body! There's a reason I've almost mastered my Metamorphmagus abilities!"
Tsuri nodded, calming down and thinking rationally. "You're right, of course. May I see your natural form?"
Harry shrugged and released his thirteen-year-old disguise, feeling himself shrink rapidly, the ground rushing back up to him. He had chosen to look as if he'd been ten when he entered, as that was generally the lower age of those who entered. He looked up at Tsuri through calculating emerald green eyes, but Tsuri had a strange expression on her face.
"Oh, you're so cute!" she squealed. Harry sweat-dropped, and quickly put his disguise back on with a disgruntled look at Tsuri, who giggled softly, self-conscious of her spontaneous outburst. "Come 'ere, you!"
Harry ran off like his life depended on it, Tsuri in close pursuit as they left huge plumes of dust in their wake. "AH! Insane Instructor! Coming through!" he yelled, whipping past a large group of boys who looked at him strangely, as if he was the insane one. That was, until they saw Tsuri with a positively evil-looking grin on her face. Tsuri completely trampled them, and one rather jealous boy muttered, "Lucky dog…"
Harry turned the corner and had an idea: he morphed his body into Squall as fast as he could. He watched Tsuri quietly, raising an eyebrow in perfect imitation of the quiet boy. "Can I help you with something, Instructor?"
"Ah, Squall! Have you seen Harry?" Tsuri asked. "I'm rather in a hurry."
"He took off that way as if Cerberus himself was at his heels," Harry-Squall replied, pointing towards the training area.
"Thanks!" Tsuri said, running off in that direction. "Oh Harreeeeee!" she called. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
Harry-Squall shivered, and began walking to the Kitchens as casually as he could. He suddenly heard Tsuri's scream "HARRY!" Panicking, Harry turned into the next person he could think of – Shugui – and turned around, walking away from the kitchens.
"Instructor Shugui!" Tsuri greeted, pausing from her run. "Have you seen Harry or Squall? I need to talk to them quickly."
"I see. I saw Squall start running to the Kitchens after you screamed Harry's name. May I ask what they did?"
Tsuri was not a SeeD for nothing. She could lie like the best of them. "Harry forgot some of his homework for class, and Squall lied to me about where he was."
"Well, good luck then." Harry-Shugui nodded his head dismissively and resumed walking briskly away, smirking inwardly as Tsuri bolted to the Kitchens. As soon as she was out of sight, Harry transformed back into himself with a sigh of relief. That relief, however, was quickly shattered when he heard Tsuri's "Aha!"
"Aw, shit!" Harry groaned before beginning to run at a pace that allowed him to maintain the same high speed for several minutes. "How did you know that was me?"
"I didn't!" Tsuri responded. "But you got me once using the same trick! Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on me! So I waited a moment and watched from behind a corner!"
"What will it take to get you to stop chasing me?" he demanded, jumping onto one of the hallway walls and bouncing off it to make a tight turn while maintaining his velocity.
"Let me catch you!" Tsuri responded simply, mimicking Harry's feat.
"Not a chance!" Guess now's a good time to see just how fast I can go if I junction magic to my speed! With a few moments' concentration, Harry junctioned his Fira spells to his speed portion of his muscular system. Suddenly, the speed he was going at seemed slow, as if he was simply striding down the halls. With a mischievous grin, Harry said aloud, "Let's see how fast I can go now!"
Tsuri smirked. "Harry, you can't possibly go much faster than…" She shut up when Harry suddenly sped up to about three times his old speed, easily loosing Tsuri. Tsuri slowed to a stop, her jaw dropped in wonder. "OK, maybe you can go faster."
Harry got to his quarters and quickly locked the door before sitting down with a sigh of relief. He unjunctioned his Fira, marveling at the raw speed he held at his disposal. "Wow," he breathed.
Well, that's the end of Chapter One. Long, I know. I actually have the entire story written out, I'm just getting all the typos, errors, and all that. Besides, I want to see what your reactions are to each chapter, so read and review, please! I'll update next week on Sunday!
