Hey guys! Chapter number seven is here!
This is the most chapters I've ever had on a story, so I hope you guys are all happy! This chapter... I hope everyone likes it, I've got conflicted feelings about it, while I like it I also want to delete it off the face of the earth... And no matter how many times I try to rewrite it to my liking, it just... Ugh.
But anyways, a few of you had questions so... Answer time!
ShinobiTwin05: Cookies for you! :D Yep, that was me~ In my Harry Potter fics, I occasionally pop up as a seventh year Hufflepuff, because I am one, haha.
Sblck: Well here's the First Task chapter and I hope you like it! Dumbles is sure going to be shocked! And I'm uncertain about having him have one for good, but maybe just for training.
Kiyosaisei Ichimaru: Aww, thank you! I was trying to stick to something that Hogwarts will be able to provide in the RoR, I've read fics like those and honestly it bugged me that they did that... I don't know about that, he's faced a lot worse, but I guess you'll have to read this chapter and find out! And THANK YOU SO MUCH for pointing that out! I'll go fix it as soon as I can! :)
Zexydemyx66: *shrugs* I thought it would be pretty funny... Haha. Well, when it comes to that crossover... You'll just have to wait and see what happens. ;)
Alec McDowell: I hope this chapter will be to your liking! You'll just have to see what happens!
Kaioo: That's what I thought! For both of them! Haha.
And that's the questions! Thank you everyone for your reviews! They keep me excited and working hard on getting new chapters out to all of you!
Also, for those of you interested, I don't know if it's up yet, but I started the Harry Potter/Final Fantasy X crossover! It's called Three Reborn: Three Stories. I couldn't decide on who to write as Harry... So I did all three! Tidus, Auron and Yuna! When I post chapters for it, I'll post new ones for each, and they'll be labeled like T: Chapter One, A: Chapter One, and Y: Chapter One. And I won't be working on that one as often as I'm working on this one, since I'm focusing on this fanfic and that one will be written like... When I can't figure out what will happen next on this one, or just when I get random bouts of insperation for it... But I hope you'll like it too!
So, I hope everyone likes this story!
~Snow.
WARNING! M/F and hints of M/M.
I do not own Final Fantasy VII or Harry Potter, if I did, I'd be rich!
The morning of the First Task dawned bright and early. Too early, in Zack's honest opinion as he unhappily dragged himself out of bed and made himself breakfast. Both starting to regret his decision to stay out so late training, for the lack of sleep and the tiredness of his muscle, and yet he was pleased with his decision, he hadn't had a good workout like that in ages. Zack decided that later he'd go back to train some more, who knew, maybe Hermione, Fred, George, Luna and Cedric would join him? He had seen some books in there that would interest the others.
Pursing his lips in thought, Zack cleaned away the mess made from him cooking himself his breakfast, as well as his breakfast dishes, and made his way down towards the Entrance Hall, where he, Cedric, Fleur and Viktor would be lead someplace to wait and be told what the task was and what they were supposed to do.
He gave Cedric a reassuring smile and a nod in greeting when he met the pale-faced Hufflepuff and they both followed their Head of House, Professor Sprout who taught Herbology, down the grassy lawns and around the lake a ways until she stopped outside of a large tent and ushered the boys inside with words of good luck.
Inside they both noticed that Fleur and Viktor were already there, and by the looks on their faces, the other two were just as nervous as Zack and Cedric both felt.
Zack opened his mouth to greet the other two when Madame Maxine, Karkaroff, Dumbledore and two other men that Zack didn't know, entered the tent. Zack noticed that the sparkle that was usually in Dumbledore's twinkling eyes were still there and it made the 'Puppy' frown just slightly as he and Cedric moved out of the way for the Headmasters and two men.
"For those of you who do not know, this is Barty Crouch, Head of the Department of Magical Cooperation at the Ministry of Magic, and the man next to him is Head of the Department of Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman." Dumbledore introduced the two other men.
While the shorter, rounder man, who reminded Zack slightly of Richard Shin-Ra, beamed at them all, the other, taller and slightly ill looking man just merely nodded his head in acknowledgement, his lips pressed into a thin line and Zack took notice of well hidden bags under the man's eyes.
"It's a pleasure." Bagman said excitedly, his eyes lighting up as he looked Zack over, reminding Zack briefly of the way that Fleur had looked at him the first time that they had met, making the black-haired man frown slightly, though he stood his ground.
"Now is the moment you all have been waiting for…" Ludo said excitedly, pulling a bag out of his pocket he pulled it open and held it out for Fleur to reach in. "Take only one." He told to young woman, who hissed in pain after a moment of having her hand in the bag, pulling out a tiny, moving replica of one of the dragons that Zack had seen the one night. A number three on a piece of paper tied around its neck. Fleur glanced up at Madame Maxine, who nodded encouragingly at the girl.
Next Viktor stuck his hand in, pulling out another mini dragon replica, a number two tied around its neck, the Bulgarian's gaze hardening in silent resolve as Cedric stuck his hand into the bag, pulling out the last dragon that wasn't the Horntail Zack had seen, a number one around this one's neck.
Zack glanced silently down at the bag and stuck his hand in; suddenly pleased he was wearing his black dragon hide gloves as he pulled out the small Horntail replica, a number four tied around its neck and Zack realized with disappointment that it meant that he would be the last to go.
"You have to get past your dragon, and get the golden egg without damaging the others eggs or killing the dragon." Bagman explained, and Zack couldn't help but feel a bit of disappointment as he stared down at the mini dragon figure in his hand. "By the numbers around your dragon's necks, you will leave one by one to go get past your dragons, leaving when the cannon shot rings out."
With that, the man, along with Crouch, Madame Maxine, Karkaroff and Dumbledore, left through the tent entrance, to go sit at the Judge's Table, no doubt.
'Well, at least it's better than only having to get past the dragon, not killing it or hurting the other eggs will make it a bit more challenging.' He mused, watching the other Champions pale as the first cannon shot rang out.
Cedric nodded weakly to the others as he made his way towards the front of the tent, pausing when Zack placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze, the Hufflepuff gave the 'Puppy' a weak smile that seemed more like a grimace before he continued towards the dragon enclosure, and Viktor resumed his pacing while Fleur was muttering to herself quickly under her breath in French.
Zack suppressed a yawn as he settled himself back onto one of the benches, dulling his senses he blinked sleepily, hardly paying attention as muffled shouts and yells came from the stadium, knowing that whatever was going on, he had trust that Cedric would be alright. Zack lightly dozed for a while, the exhaustion he felt from the workout last night lulling him into the doze, only to be woken by another cannon shot, and he glanced as Viktor made his way to the tent flap, disappearing behind it and Fleur stood up, taking Viktor's place of pacing, and Zack dulled his senses again and dozed once more before grumbling as another canon shot woke him from his sleep.
He watched as Fleur walked to the tent flap and Zack heightened his senses as he listened to the shouts and yells of the crowd and Bagman's magically enhanced voice as Fleur faced her dragon.
Zack waited what seemed like forever before he heard the cannon shot ring out once more and he stood up, taking a deep breath before he moved to the front of the tent, opening the flap and blinked at the sunlight as he walked into the middle of the large stadium, a dragon, his dragon, watching him along with hundreds of students, and without noticing, the sounds quickly became muffled as Zack focused on the dragon.
'Just another mission, just another mission. Get the egg, don't harm the others, and don't harm the dragon.' A grin spread across Zack's face as he focused all his senses on the dragon, stalking forward without drawing his wand, knowing that since his magic was faulty, he wouldn't need it, and besides, he wouldn't normally need it anyways.
Zack was slowly getting closer to the dragon, who was watching him, smoke streaming from her nostrils as without warning she inhaled and a large burst of flame was aimed at him. Zack immediately dodged, rolling to the side, casting a quick Reflect spell as he did, the Reflect protecting him as he landed in a crouch, a large grin nearly splitting Zack's face in half. 'Just dodging one of Genesis' fireballs.' He thought, casting a weak Blizzard at the dragon as he sprinted towards one of the large boulders closer to the dragon, who was started by the sudden ice falling down onto it and lashed it's tail at the large ice hunk, which shattered and Zack dived behind the boulder, and another shot of fire was aimed at him as the dragon huffed angrily, its nostrils flaring as it inhaled again, and Zack dashed behind another boulder before the shot of fire was aimed at him, and, to Zack's sudden surprise, the fire missed him but the dragon's tail was suddenly rocketing towards him.
Not even thinking, Zack jumped onto one of the boulders, using the almost flat surface as a springboard and he flipped cleanly over the dragon's tail, landing in a crouch he aimed a Fira back at the dragon, knowing that it would do little damage, and only that it would distract the large lizard as he rolled around one of its legs. Zack's Mako-blue eyes were focused on the egg, and he had to duck as the tail came swinging at him again, though restricted since he was nearly all the way under the dragon, and he reached out, only to be shot away by a sudden spurt of fire, and Zack barely escaped without a mark. Gritting his teeth, Zack jumped and rolled away from the angered female dragon, pacing just outside its fire's reach. Damn it, there went plan A.
Another sudden idea popped into Zack's mind and the 'Puppy' grinned as he casted a Darkness spell, watching the dragon's eyes for a moment and smirked at seeing the black cloud that enveloped them and, knowing that despite the fact that the dragon didn't have her sight, she still had her other senses, he darted forward, ducking a lick of fire and dodge-rolling around a swiping claw.
Taking advantage of the low crouch he was in, Zack threw himself forward, rolling again out of the way of one of the large dragon's legs, reaching out he grabbed the Golden Egg before rolling again out of the way of one of the dragon's attempts to hit him with her tail.
As Zack rolled out from under the dragon, the tamers that hade stood around rushed forward to subdue the creature while Zack proudly held up the egg, a huge grin on his face as the noise that he had been oblivious to a moment ago rushed into his ears, screams and yells of joy and surprise while Bagman was yelling, using a charm that Zack had read about that made your voice louder.
"FOUR MINUTES! UNBELIEVABLE! IN JUST UNDER FOUR MINUTES OUR FOURTH CHAMPION HAS GOTTEN HIS EGG WITH THE USE OF MAGIC I'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE AND PURE SPEED AND POWER! UNBELIEVABLE! NOT A SCRATCH ON HIM!"
Zack laughed quietly, but joyfully as he lowered the egg and was pulled towards the medical tent by a smiling Poppy as he forced him to sit in one of the seats, checking him over before moving to the room next to him, asking Cedric how he felt.
When he heard the rustle of the tent flap he looked up and was nearly knocked out of his chair by Hermione, who had thrown her arms around him, hugging him tightly while Luna and the Twins followed her inside, a dreamy smile on Luna's face while the Twins were looking at Zack in shock and awe.
"Foolish! You are utterly foolish Zack Fair!" Hermione started to rant, pulling away from the startled black-haired man as the brown-bushy haired teen glared at him. "You didn't use any type of magic that we know of, and your magic isn't reacting well! What if we had another accident like what happened with Professor Flitwick?!"
Zack gaped at the girl for a moment before laughing, not bothering to stop when she smacked him on the head. "I know what I was doing, 'Mione." He grinned at the glaring girl. "I've fought worse and come out with only a few scratches. NibleDragons are ten times worse than that one was. Pumped full of Mako, of course. And that 'magic' wasn't 'magic' it was Materia, a spell focus, I guess you can call it." He shrugged, the frown on Hermione's lips softening. "I'd rather face three NibleDragons over a Touch Me though…" Zack shuddered but before the others could ask what a Touch Me was, Poppy had walked back inside, sniffing slightly.
"You can go see your scores, Mr. Fair." The stern Mediwitch told the Ex-SOLDIER, who stood up and headed towards the flap, the others following behind him.
"It's Zack!" He called back to her before stepping out into the sunlit arena. It only took a moment to locate the Judge's Table and he watched as Dumbledore looked at him with a beam, but to the SOLDIER's surprise the twinkle was gone, replaced with a look of deep thought as the Headmaster raised his wand, giving Zack a Ten, while Madame Maxine and Karkaroff were looking at Zack with something akin to shock, Madame Maxine gave him a Nine and Karkaroff, it was easy to tell the man was hesitant, gave Zack an Eight. Crouch was eyeing him wearily and Bagman was beaming, but Zack got another Nine and a Ten.
"Wow mate-"
"You got a Forty-Six-"
"That's the highest score yet." The Twins were grinning while Luna's smile widened.
The crowd went silent as Bagman spoke, his voice still magically magnified. "Now that all four of our wonderful champions have their eggs, they have until February Twenty-Fourth to figure out the clue that lies inside! That day will be the Second Task! So, until then Hogwarts and friends!" With that, Bagman muttered the counter-spell before turning to Crouch and began to chat excitedly as the crowds in the stands started to disperse while Zack was lead back to the Medical tent by the others, and by the fact that he watched to check in on Cedric.
"That was amazing mate, how did you move that fast?" Cedric grinned at Zack when he and the others, the Twins still chattering excitedly, Hermione talking quietly to Luna, entered.
"Training. Lots of it." Zack pretended to grimace before looking over his friend, frowning when he saw the burns on Cedric's arm. "What happened to you?"
"Dragon." Cedric deadpanned, or at least tried to, the corners of the Hufflepuff's lips were twitching, showing his amusement.
Zack grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah… That was a stupid question." He laughed a bit nervously before Cedric burst out laughing, startling Poppy, who had entered the room and she 'tsked' while applying a healing cream, the same that she had used with Zack, the 'Puppy' noticed, to Cedric's burns.
It was a while before Poppy let Zack and Cedric, the Twins, Hermione and Luna had already left, rather unwillingly, go so they could head back up to the castle for the feast that night, celebrating the four champions getting past the Frist Task.
"You did vell, both of you." A quiet voice said, startling Cedric and Zack when they reached the Entrance Hall, Cedric's arm in bandages, and both their heads whipped around to see Viktor Krum watching them.
"Thanks." Zack said cheerfully while Cedric eyed the other for a moment before nodding his head in agreement with Zack's thank you.
Viktor gave them a slight smile before crossing the hall and entering the Great Hall. Zack and Cedric exchanged surprised looks before chuckling, they entered the Great Hall together, both heading towards the Hufflepuff table and Zack took a spot next to the red-haired female Seventh Year, who gave him a large grin in which eh returned, while Cedric sat next to him on his other side, greeting his friend quietly.
The feast started with the Headmaster giving a speak, but Zack soon dulled out the other noise, his thoughts drifting back to the training room he had found the day before, his curiosity was peaked, especially that afterwards, when he had gone to check out the room early that morning, only to find it gone. He'd have to talk to Hermione and the others later, see if they knew anything about it…
Pulling himself out of his thoughts, the 'Puppy' glanced around the tables, smiling at seeing Luna and Hermione talking to Fleur, while Cedric was talking to one of his year-mates and the Twins were being loud and boisterous as always. While this world, this planet, wasn't the one he considered home, Zack was honestly glad to have made some friends, even though they didn't know his past too well, something he would protect from them, they didn't need to know his horrors, what he'd seen in his young life, friends that he started to treasure and would do anything to protect.
He smiled and his eyes glanced up to the Head Table, where he saw Poppy, McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick in a discussion, the four of them smiling as they talked. Zack's eyes strayed to the Headmaster for a moment, noticing the twinkle, damn that twinkle, in the Headmaster's eyes and Zack's smile disappeared.
Just what was the old man planning..?
And that's the chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed it!
So... Please Read and Review! I love reviews! And maybe Favorite and Follow too~?
~Snow.