Notes: Not much to comment this week. I'm starting my first exam period, so I will definitely be very busy next week. I WILL update, but there's a chance it will be on Sunday rather than Saturday. I will also probably be re-uploading some revised chapters to correct a few mistakes here and there. This will probably happen either next week or the week after, so for those of you who have this story on their lists, don't freak out if you get multiple emails warning about updates.

Thanks to everyone who has been following so far, and oh yeah, Happy (early) Easter, too!

…..

(ARC)

To Fast Frank:

Okay, those are a lot of reviews. Here we go:

-The Grimmauld Place description is my own, though obviously inspired by what the author was trying to portray. I will eventually go back and correct those mistakes, as stated above.

-Thank you, I've tried to make the transitions as smooth as possible.

-The word script is in my vocabulary, though at the time I had a bit of a 'presque vu' situation, so I settled for 'play write'.

Thank you for reviewing.

….

Chapter 12: Wicked Plants and Evil Toads

Double Charms, double Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, and then detention with Umbridge. It was at least better than Monday.

"But on the plus side, no Snape today." Ron said, and Harry agreed wholeheartedly.

The morning was of a depressing gray palette with a cold rain that chilled to the bone. Hagrid was still absent from the staff table and Harry was losing hope. He was greeted by Zidane and Neville, the foreigner having woken up at the same time as everyone else today, much to Neville's relief. He quickly finished breakfast and with Ron and Hermione, they as a group, then headed over to Charms.

Professor Flitwick, the tiny Charms Professor and Ravenclaw Head, began the class by once again reminding them of their OWLs. They spent most of the class revising Summoning Charms which were sure to be on the test. When he noticed Zidane's slightly disappointed face, as he saw the charm in action, Harry just felt compelled to ask. The blonde just shrugged and said he expected something different. Harry did just fine when he summoned a book since he had mastered this spell last year before the first task, so did a lot of others, but when it was Zidane's turn, he ended up accidentally summoning the teacher's heavy oak desk towards them. Fortunately, everyone got out of the way in time so there were no injuries. Unfortunately, Flitwick gave them tons of homework for their already hefty pile.

Transfiguration went similarly as bad. After a long chat from McGonagall about OWLs, hard work, and even reassurances towards Neville, who she claimed, 'only lacked self confidence', they started working of vanishing snails. Hermione of course, managed to do it after three tries and even gained some points as bonus. While Harry and Ron were unable to vanish their snails at all, Ron was sure that his own snail was a few shades paler. When he spotted Zidane, he was surprised to see that the blonde was actually serious about his work if his expression was anything to go by. His third attempt made his snail transparent, though by the sixth attempt he successfully made it disappear completely. It was then that he raised his hand.

"Yes Mr. Tribal." McGonagall asked, though clearly she wasn't expecting any form of participation from the blonde.

"Where do the snails go? Is there a way to specify where they end up?" Zidane asked.

The stern witch pursed her lips before answering. "Vanishing Spells are not a way of transportation like apparating is. Anything targeted by the spells is broken down and becomes part of its surrounding. They form part of nonbeing, which in a sense means they become everything around us. The complexity of the object that will be vanished determines how much skill will be needed in the spell, that's why we are using snails; simple invertebrates. The object however, can always be retrieved with a conjuring spell."

They were told to practice the spell tonight so they could once again try it in tomorrow's class. After realizing just how much work they had and panicking, Harry and Ron spent their lunch hour in the library to search for information regarding moonstones. Hermione did not join them because of what Ron said about her hats, but to their surprise, Zidane did join them briefly for the same thing. After they finally finished the essay for Potions, Harry had a giant headache. The trio of males made their way out of the castle and into the cool, breezy grounds towards Hagrid's hut, since that was where Care of Magical Creatures would take place.

They were greeted by Hermione on the way, and when they got there, they found Professor Grubbly-Plank and a table full of what appeared to be twigs. As they neared, they heard a loud shout of laughter behind them. When they turned towards the sound, they saw Malfoy and his gang approaching. He clearly said something amusing, since Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson were still sniggering. It didn't take Harry long to figure out they were talking about him.

"Everyone here?" Grubbly-Plank asked as all the Gryffindors and Slytherins gathered around. "Good, let's get a crack on then, shall we. Who can tell me what these creatures here are?"

Hermione quickly rose her hand in the air. Malfoy did a bucktooth impersonation of her, while jumping up and down eagerly with his hand up. Pansy gave a shriek of laughter that turned into a shriek of surprise as the 'twigs'flew up into the air and revealed themselves to be small, stick-like fairy creatures, with a two sharp fingers in each 'hand', a flat bark-like face, and brown beady eyes.

"Ooooh." Parvati and Lavender said in awe, which thoroughly annoyed Harry. So what? Hagrid had shown them loads of amazing things too. Maybe the Flobberworms were lame, and maybe the Blast-Ended Skrewts were too much, but the Salamanders and the Hippogriffs were cool.

"Bowtruckles." Hermione said. "They are tree guardians, usually living in wand-worthy trees."

"Five Points for Gryffindor. It is just as Miss Granger said. Does anybody know what they eat?"

"Woodlice." Hermione replied again, earning another ten points.

Professor Grubbly-Plank talked about the creatures, and then warned them about their sharp fingers which they would used to scratch a person's eyes out should said person anger them. They were then told to get in groups of three and sketch one of the creatures while labeling each of their parts.

"Where's Hagrid?" Harry asked the teacher while everyone else was choosing Bowtruckles.

"Never you mind." She answered.

Seeing his disappointed face, Malfoy leaned in from where he picked the largest Bowtruckle and said to him in a low voice. "Maybe the big oaf has gone and got himself injured."

"Maybe you will too if you don't shut up." Harry said out of the side of his mouth.

"Maybe he's been messing with stuff that's too big for him, if you catch my drift." Malfoy said before walking away smugly.

Harry paused. 'What did he mean by that? Malfoy's parents are Death Eaters, maybe they know something. It's just like how he hinted about knowing Sirius is an Animagus. But in that case, Hagrid is on some sort of secret mission for the Order. Does that mean he knows of things the Order doesn't yet? What if Hagrid really did get injured or maybe even captured? Did the Order know?'

Harry just shook his head and went to join Ron and Hermione who were currently trying to get their Bowtruckle to get stay still.

….

Zidane ended up partnering with Neville and Dean. To be perfectly honest, these creatures were creeping the hell out of him. It didn't help that they were TREE-guardians. Plant life didn't seem to like him much, and had he known better he would have thought that these creatures were evil Iifa agents. But the Iifa tree couldn't have possibly recruited these demonic beings, or at least, that's what he was trying to convince himself.

For some reason they just seemed to hate him. After he was told to hold it so the others could sketch it, the thing slashed at his gloved hand before managing to get free and slash at his invisible tail, actually drawing blood in the process. Zidane then decided it was best to wrap his injured appendage around his waist and as far away from these demon sticks as possible. Luckily no one saw that, but still, it amazed him how the creatures just seemed to pick on him. Could it be that they knew he wasn't human?

When the creature flew towards him again in full-attack mode (and aiming for his eyes), Zidane just grabbed the thing from the air with a vice-like grip, pulled out his wand, and muttered a quick sleep spell under his breath along with several other choice swear words. The creature instantly became slack, much to the amazement of his two companions who didn't realize that the wand had been just for show. it. He was actually thinking about incinerating or maybe petrifying the demon twig, but he realized that the teacher wouldn't take too kindly to that, not to mention it would probably scare everyone.

"There!" Zidane said as he set the sleeping Bowtruckle in the middle of the trio, before plopping down and starting on his drawing. "Now we can finally draw in peace."

"Oww!" Harry cried out when he accidentally squeezed the Bowtruckle he was holding too hard. This resulted in two deep cuts on his hand, and blood flowing freely down and staining his sketch.

It was a natural reaction after getting angry at Malfoy. The blonde Slytherin was making fun of Hagrid and claiming that he would be sacked once he got back. He automatically let go of the creature which quickly escaped and disappeared into the Forbidden Forest. Just then the bell rang, signaling the end of class, so Harry just rolled up his blood-stained picture, and headed over to Herbology with his hand wrapped in Hermione's handkerchief. He sighed angrily as he heard Malfoy and his cronies continue laughing.

"If he calls Hagrid a moron one more time…" Harry said through gritted teeth.

"Harry don't go picking a row with Malfoy. He is a prefect now. He could make life more difficult for you." Hermione warned.

"Geez, I wonder what having a difficult life is like." Harry said sarcastically as he continued walking towards the greenhouses for their next class. "I just wish Hagrid would hurry up and get back, that's all."

"Hey guys, look." Ron said, breaking Harry and Hermione out of their conversation. The redhead pointed to a spot on the school grounds. "Bloody hell, what do you reckon happened?"

Harry didn't get it at first. It wasn't until he looked at the secluded area near the Forbidden Forest that he realized what Ron was talking about. It was about the Whomping Willow; the violent tree was covered in slings and bandages. On a closer look he could see that there were several scorch marks on its trunk and also several slash-like lesions here and there.

"I have no idea Ron, but I hope whoever did it, is faring better than that tree." Harry said, and both he and the redhead shivered involuntarily, memories of their past experiences with the Whomping Willow resurfacing.

….

After Zidane handed the still-sleeping-bowtruckle back, and gaining a raised eyebrow from the teacher, he followed an excited Neville to Green House 3. What awaited him inside was like something out of a nightmare. It was clear the genome disliked plants. It was perfectly understandable since his past experiences in the Evil Forest and then the Iifa Tree both nearly killed him violently. The only forms of plant life he ever got close to now were the occasional garden vegetables, small trees of the harmless variety, and flowers to really set the romantic mood. That was pretty much it.

So when he finally entered the green house and had many of the plants there hiss and snarl at him, Zidane just knew he was going to have a problem with this class. Things only seemed to go downhill from there when he was subjected to a shrieking plant, a plant that shot spiky thorns at him and another plant that attacked him and was somehow on fire. That last plant shot torrents of flames at him, which until now seemed like an entirely unfathomable idea. Weirdest part of all was that the plants didn't really do anything to the other students, just him. The plants were actually trying to murder him mercilessly and with extreme prejudice.

'Would it be paranoid of me to think that it was somehow the bastard Iifa's fault?'

"Wow mate, it looks like the plants really do hate you." Dean said.

"Feeling's mutual." Zidane answered.

And so after a grueling class of Herbology, Zidane was more than happy to get the hell out of the green houses. He was tired, hungry, wounded, wet, and smelled of dragon dung. He decided that the first thing he would do was take a shower and hope that the horrible smell of fire-breathing reptilian shit would go away. After that, he could go eat and then head over to the toad's detention.

….

Harry left the greenhouses he wanted nothing more than food, a long shower, and an even longer nap. He still had to admit that his first Herbology class could have gone far worse, judging by what happened to a certain blonde foreigner. As a matter of fact, he even came across some surprising developments, so it almost felt wrong to complain.

Before class started, he was approached by Luna and Ernie Macmillan who came to tell him that they were on his side, and that they believed him. Though he appreciated Luna's support, he knew that because of her…well oddness, most people wouldn't take him seriously. Ernie's approach had taken him by complete surprise. The blonde Hufflepuff had been against him in several occasions. In second year, he accused him of being the heir of Slytherin. Last year he took him for a cheater, whose only purpose was to steal the glory from Cedric Diggory, one of his fellow Hufflepuffs. But now that the somewhat pompous blonde had revealed his support, Harry really felt much happier.

That is, until he headed directly over to dinner and was approached by Angelina. The dark skinned girl came to berate him for getting detention on Friday at the same time the Keeper tryouts would take place. Oliver Wood, had just graduated the year before, meaning that the Gryffindor team was one Keeper short of qualifying for the House Cup. She had made it very clear that he was to ask Umbridge to postpone his detention on that day.

'Yeah, fat chance of THAT happening.'

Dinner came and went quite quickly, but nevertheless, it was a huge blessing for his rumbling stomach. Between the three, they mostly talked about the day and the tons of homework that would be waiting for them. If this was what the first two days were like, he didn't want to even think about how the rest of the year was going to be.

"I just hope she doesn't keep me up till too late. You do realize that we have to do three essays, practice vanishing spells for McGonagall, work out a counter-charm for Flitwick, finish the Bowtruckle drawing, and then start the dream journal for Trelawney." Harry said as he ate his generous serving of pork chops and mashed potatoes.

At five to five, Harry bade farewell to his friends and headed over to Umbridge's office on the third floor. Once there he was surprised to find a refreshed looking Zidane waiting him just outside.

"So, shall we?" Zidane said teasingly.

Harry just sighed and then knocked on the door. After getting a reply from Umbridge they both entered the room.

…..

Zidane thought his eyes were going to go blind from all the pink and bad taste in décor. The whole room was covered in lacy covers and cloth. There were several vases of dried flowers here and there which only added to the old-lady vibe he was getting from this place. On the walls there were several plates, each with moving kittens all wearing a different colored bow around their necks. It was simply disturbing. The whole place was as sugary sweet and fake as Umbridge herself. Quite honestly, he would have much rather walked into Kuja's Desert Palace. Sure the guy was a megalomaniac, but at least he had better taste, even if he went for a more dramatic flair.

"Good evening Mr. Potter, Mr. Tribal." The pink toad said with that annoying sugary tone of hers. But there was something in that tone tonight, something that made the hair on the back of his neck and tail stand on end.

'What is that? Smug satisfaction? Glee? Well as long as she keeps her tacky ringed hands to herself…' Zidane thought and he unconsciously wrapped his tail around his middle more tightly.

They were led to a pair of lace covered desks that each had a piece of parchment just there, waiting for them. The blonde and Harry walked over to the straight backed chairs, but before Umbridge told them what to do, Harry asked the pink toad if she would spare him of coming on Friday because of Quidditch tryouts. The woman just turned him down while smiling and giggling as if it were some extremely hilarious joke.

"Oh, no, no, no. this is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention seeking stories, Mr. Potter, and punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. No, you and Mr. Tribal will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, and the next day, and on Friday too, and you will do your detentions as planned. I think it rather a good thing that you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you." The pink toad said with a twisted smile, and Zidane could feel the hatred emanating from Harry, even though the scarred boy did not retaliate.

"Now you two will be doing some lines for me. No, not with your quills, you two will be using some rather special ones of mine." The toad said, and Zidane narrowed his eyes suspiciously. There was something definitely wrong here.

She handed the boys two identical quills, both long, entirely black, and exceptionally sharp-looking. "Mr. Potter, I want you to write for me 'I must not tell lies'. Mr. Tribal, you will write 'I must not disrespect authority."

"How many times?" They both asked.

"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in." The woman said with that fake tone. Zidane's eyes narrowed further. She had definitely something up her sleeve. "Now, off you go."

"How are we supposed to write with no ink?" The genome objected suspiciously.

The woman's mask seemed to crack for a second, and for that brief moment, Zidane realized that the woman was looking at him with cold disgust and hatred, but quickly the woman recomposed herself and smiled that sickly sweet smile of hers. "Oh, you won't need any ink."

'So then, what will we be writing with?' The thief wondered as he looked at the black quill.

There was something almost sinister about it. Just by feeling it, he could see that it was coated in spells. He had no idea what they did, but they certainly sent shivers down his spine. Still, there was only one way to find out.

'Here goes nothing.'

"I…must …not…disres-" Zidane wrote in red colored ink, but stopped when he heard a gasp coming from Harry. He turned to look at the boy who was looking at his left hand in shock. Upon closer inspection, he saw that there were words there, as if carved on his skin by a thin knife. Soon the words disappeared as if healed, but the redness remained.

'I must not tell lies.' The genome read and his eyes widened in realization. He looked at his own left hand, and noticed that the glove had a blood stain on it, not to mention it was stinging a bit. When he took it off he saw the words he wrote carved there too. The cuts quickly healed too, but his skin was still irritated.

'She's making us write in our own blood! That sick bitch!' Zidane thought in anger. Now that he thought about it, that ink did have a very coppery smell. He did feel a bit of pain, but he just passed it as nothing, since it was really nothing compared to some of the wounds he used to get on a daily basis.

'Zidane: 1 Umbridge: 1.'

"Yes?" The woman asked with a twisted smile on her toad-like face.

"Nothing." Harry said quietly, though with a hint of defiance.

"And you, Mr. Tribal?" The woman asked.

'So that's what you are playing at eh, you sick toad. Well guess what, two can play at this game.'

Zidane gave her a piercing look, but then gave a smirk and an almost predatory smile that, based on the current condition, seemed greatly out of place. Both Umbridge and Harry were taken aback by such a reaction. But while Harry seemed to take it as incentive to continue to stubbornly fight, Zidane could see a hint of fear in the toad's eyes. From his peripheral vision, he saw how she unconsciously reached out for her short wand. He wasn't stupid. He could tell by the way she addressed him in class that she knew he wasn't human, or at least not fully human. His talk with McGonagall had pretty much confirmed that. But now, it was clear to him that her hatred for anything that wasn't fully human stemmed from a deep fear of them.

'My turn.'

Zidane started to quickly write through the parchment, ignoring the stabs of pain in his hand. He had a massive tolerance to pain after all he had been through. This was really nothing. He wrote so fast that he didn't give his skin the chance to heal over. Instead, blood was now dripping unto the desk and even the floor. Umbridge had this look of disgust on her face as his blood marred her lacy coverings, while he was really just hoping it would leave a permanent stain.

Harry was also writing on the piece of parchment, but at a more sedate pace. It was obvious that the teen was in pain, and the only things keeping him from stopping, were his stubborn pride, Zidane's mental support, and his growing hatred for Umbridge.

As soon as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, Zidane thought it was time to take it up a notch since the Toad was now hovering around them both, probably to check on how her torture was going. It was clear that his earlier 'mess' had greatly disturbed the pink-clad woman. She had been greatly annoyed when he stained her table cloths with his 'half-breed' blood, but after (purposely) moving away his bangs with his bloody left hand, and thus leaving part of his face and hair covered in red too, the woman had developed a twitch in her eye. As much as she liked inflicting pain unto others, she still hated any sort of mess. So basically what Zidane did now only served to slowly drive her crazy.

'I could definitely use this to my advantage.' Zidane thought and a plan was quickly hatched in his mind. 'That should be enough. My hand is really starting to annoy me and I think it's time to end this. It doesn't look like she can take any more anyways.'

The blonde let go of his quill and began to stretch his right hand, as if trying to work out the stiffness in his muscles, which was believable since they had been at this for a while. He followed by working out the kinks on his shoulders and neck. And then, that was when he put his plan in action. He stretched his stiff back and then followed by rapidly shaking his hands to work out the tension in his wrists. Normally it would have been fine, but right now his left hand was still bleeding. So when the blonde did this, small droplets of blood speckled everything on his left, from the lacy patterned cloths, to the embroidery on the walls. Even some of the kitten plates were tarnished, its occupants hissing in anger before leaving the plates. Heck, some of it even on Umbridge, making the toad shake in a mix of barely-contained anger and disgust.

"Whoops, sorry about that." Zidane said, faking his concern. But it appeared like the woman didn't hear him. The toad just stood there, shaking like a fully-grown, Alexandrian Bomb about to go off. Her pasty face went from a pale white, to a red, then to a purple color that clashed horribly with all the pink in her room, before going back to normal. She plastered a smile on her face, though her eye still had that horrible twitch, and then turned to them.

"I think we have done enough for today." The woman said through clenched teeth, right before nearly kicking them out of her office.

Both teens only had time to grab their things, before having the door slammed to their faces.

'Zidane: 2 Umbridge: 1.'

….

Harry cradled his injured hand on the way back. That detention had been hell. Umbridge was clearly messed up in the head, and apparently so was Zidane. Writing with your own blood was disturbing, but the way the blonde boy carelessly continued to write, as if he didn't feel any pain, had definitely out-disturbed Umbridge. He had to admit he owed the blonde for getting him out of that detention, even though his method was quite…well, gruesome. He did have to recognize that Umbridge's expression was simply hilarious at the time. It actually reminded him of a female Uncle Vernon.

"How's your hand?" The blonde next to him asked, breaking the silence in the process.

Harry blinked. He had been so distracted by what happened, that he forgot Zidane was still there. The blonde was exceptionally quiet when he wanted to be. He didn't even think he could even hear his footsteps as he walked.

"The bleeding stopped. It still hurts like hell though." Harry said. "But, how is yours? Yours was much worse than mine. Maybe you should go to the Hospital Wing."

"I'm fine, but shouldn't you go too? I mean, imagine the fit Hermione and Ron will have when they hear about this." Zidane said.

"I don't want to go to the Hospital Wing, and I don't think I will tell them either. I just don't want the others to worry about this." Harry said gruffly and looked at his hand. "I especially don't want to give the woman the satisfaction of it either."

'Rather, Ron and Hermione will probably tell me to tell Dumbledore. I'd rather not deal with that right now. Dumbledore has probably better things to do.' Harry thought to himself, remembering how the Hogwarts Headmaster had seemingly gone out of his way to ignore his existence lately.

Zidane nodded in understanding and then silence overtook the pair again. They walked slowly through the empty corridors.

"Hey Harry?" Zidane asked.

"Yeah?"

"You wouldn't happen to know a spell to get rid of all this blood would you?" Zidane asked and then Harry noticed that there was indeed a lot of blood. In fact, one side of Zidane's cheerful face was covered with it. It was probably from when he moved his bangs out of the way earlier. But to any innocent passerby the blonde look very eerie and almost wild, especially with the way his eyes almost seemed to glow in the dim light.

"Erm, let me try this." Harry said and pulled out his wand. "Scourgify!"

The blood over the blonde cleared up, making the blonde smile. Harry soon did the same for himself.

"Thanks, now let me repay the favor." The foreigner said, and took his own wand out. He pointed it at Harry's hand muttering some words under his breath and concentrated. Zidane's hand glowed with a white and green aura, and then his injured hand did too. He felt a pleasantly warm sensation wrap itself around him and soothe him. Before his eyes, he saw the injury from the quill, as well as the scratches he got from the Bowtruckle, heal.

"How did…" Harry asked inspecting his healed hand.

"I used to get injured a lot, so this friend of mine taught me some healing spells in case it happened and she wasn't around." Zidane said holding up his own hand to show that his injury was healed too. "Now Ron and Hermione will never know, unless you decide to tell them, of course."

They went back to the Common Room, and while Harry stayed so he could work on his accumulating pile of homework, Zidane just headed over to the dormitory with the excuse of being tired. He was greeted by Hermione since Ron had long since left. When they asked about his detention, Harry just said he was forced to do lines, which wasn't a complete lie. After that, he started doing his work. It was, without a doubt, a very long and arduous task. In the end, he wasn't even able to practice vanishing spells for McGonagall, finish his drawing, or write up a stupid dream for the Dream Dairy because it was getting so late.

"Well at least it's only lines." Hermione said consolingly. "Anyways, I should head over to bed now, it's getting late."

Harry looked at the nearest clock and saw it was a little past midnight. With a defeated sigh he decided it was about time to join his red-headed friend upstairs. The room was dark, but there was enough light coming from outside the slightly-ajar window to see that everyone was sleeping, or so he assumed since most curtains around the beds were drawn. He quickly dropped his things hazardously onto the floor, and walked over to close the window that was letting a cold chill enter into the room, while trying to be as silent as possible. Finally after much maneuvering in the dark, he got in his pajamas and plopped into bed. His last thoughts before falling asleep were how he could get even with the evil witch that was Dolores Umbridge.

….

Outside of the castle, a cloaked figure was perched on one of Hogwarts' many turrets. Though his face was completely obscured by the hood, two blue beacons glowed eerily from within, reflecting what little light was present that night. The figure leaped with cat-like grace along the many turrets, roofs, and surfaces the castle had to offer, if there were none, it would simply cling to the crevices in the old stone with great ease, even though everything was wet from the rain that was pouring from the sky. After many great leaps, the figure stopped at a window that was slightly ajar and slipped inside the dry castle. With a nearly silent sigh of relief, the figure pulled down the black hood, revealing none other than Zidane Tribal.

Zidane was not usually a vindictive person. He just tended to go with the flow, and in his personal opinion, grudges were far too troublesome to keep. Yet at that moment, his thoughts were mirroring those of a messy-haired, green-eyed boy, in Gryffindor Tower. The only difference was that he already had a plan.

Well, his current plan was not centered much on revenge, not really, it was more of a defensive strategy, or at least that's what he kept telling himself. Maybe later he could try to enact revenge, but not now since he was busy. Vengeance was more like something he would do for fun in his free time.

Looking around he realized he was in a corridor on the fourth floor. So far, there was no one in sight, not even a sleeping portrait. But knowing what awaited further ahead, he decided it would be best to take the necessary precautions. He expertly cast an invisibility spell over himself, vanishing instantly in plain sight, while leaving behind only a puddle of rainwater.

He snuck towards the stairs, his footsteps completely silent like those of any decent thief, turning him into nothing more than a breeze of displaced wind. The corridors were all dark and silent, except for the occasional snoring portrait. Thankfully, the darkness was no problem for his superb night vision, and the occasional castle noise only made it easier for him to mask his presence. After going down a level, he headed over to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Tower, where the classroom, and Umbridge's office, was. On his way he ran into Filch, but the old caretaker, didn't even bat an eyelid as Zidane darted right past him.

Rather than picking the lock of her office like an amateur, he decided to enter through a more unexpected entrance: the window. He found the nearest window from the office, put his hood back on, and jumped back outside into the rain. Maneuvering in the rain was harder because of the slippery surfaces, but Zidane could handle it just fine. He calculated the same distance and decided on entering through the one that was two windows to the right. It was painfully easy from there. With a quick spell, the window opened up and Zidane made sure to sneak in as quietly as physically possible in case the toad was somehow still in the dark room. If he got caught doing this, then he would be in tons of trouble. Thankfully, the room was empty and not even the kittens on the plates stirred. The genome knew the potential those things had as a crude security system. Most people however, would usually pass them off as simple decorations.

His greatest worry at the moment was that the kittens would wake up and somehow warn the toad, because they'd be able to see him through the rainwater that clung to his cloak. Silently, the thief walked over to the drawers in Umbridge's desk, dripping rainwater on everything as he moved. He didn't care though, as long as it couldn't be traced back to him, it would be fine. There was a lock there, which was only expected. He tried using a non-verbal Alohomora spell, but the drawer didn't budge. Zidane realized that the toad must have used protection against such a simple spell.

'But there is more than one way to skin a cat.' The thief thought with a concealed smirk.

He took out his personal 'work tools' and proceeded to quickly and silently pick the lock. The woman obviously didn't expect someone to try the non-magical way of doing things, because in less than a minute the lock opened with a satisfying 'click'. Peering inside, Zidane was a bit disgusted by the woman's obsession with order. Everything in the drawer was neatly categorized, so in the end it made his job much easier. It didn't take him long to find a hidden compartment in the desk, were all sorts of miscellaneous objects were seemingly kept. He could even make out a few painful looking spiked shackles, and something that resembled a small bear-trap. In it, was also a box labeled 'Blood Quills' and it was then that Zidane knew he hit the jackpot.

Just from the fact that the box was hidden from view, the genome t the impression that those quills must be illegal. Those quills, as well as those other object hidden away, felt like many of the trinkets he had come across in Grimmauld Place. They all had this eerie low buzzing, that didn't quite feel right, or rather, they didn't feel 'safe'.

Zidane quietly put the box back where it was. Though he came because of the quills, he was not here to steal them. If Umbridge found out that the quills were missing, she would obviously suspect the only two people in the school who likely knew about them. No, what he came here to do tonight was to make sure she wouldn't be able to use them again. Zidane closed his eyes in concentration, and prepared his spell. A quick dispel later and he could feel the magic coming from the quills dissipate like a thick steam.

'Now I can go back.' Zidane said, but then paused and looked back at the secret compartment, specifically at the nasty-looking instruments whose purposes he didn't really want to know. 'Okay, let's just be on the safe side.'

With that thought in mind, he cast another dispel at the many cruel looking objects, and then felt much relief as he felt the magic fade from them. Now he could rest easy knowing that Umbridge wouldn't chain them up or something during their next detention with her.

Zidane made sure to leave everything exactly the way he found it, before locking the desk and erasing any evidence that he was here. When he was done, he quietly snuck back out the window, and closed it behind him, all without waking up the sleeping cat plates. After that, getting back to the dormitories was a piece of cake, well, except having to open up a new window since someone had apparently locked the one he used to get out.

That night, after finally sneaking into his own bed and changing into his night clothes, the teen then plopped unceremoniously onto the soft mattress. Looking up at the ceiling, Zidane felt his muscles relax as the noise from the rain outside drowned out everything else and then slowly began to lull him into a deep slumber. A lot had happened in these past few days since his days as a student started. In fact, he hadn't really expected school to be really that taxing on his body and mind. Now, as his consciousness slowly began to slip, he wondered if he was really going to last until the end of the school year

To be continued…

A/N: When Zidane speaks of the bombs, he's referring to the FF monsters that grow before exploding.

I apologize if any of you are squeamish at the mention of blood. I'm sorry to say this probably won't be the last time, though I was particularly gruesome this chapter for a good reason. I see Umbridge as the type of person who likes being able to inspire fear and control others, usually by inflicting pain. Of course, keeping every tidy and in perfect order is also important to her, so Zidane really did his best to get on her nerves; first by showing he wasn't in pain (and intimidating her), and second by showing defiance to her sense of control by getting his blood (blood that Umbridge wholeheartedly believes that comes from some dirty creature/non-human) everywhere and ruining her sense of order.

Anyways, I should get back to studying. See you guys next week!