RESUMPTION NEWS!

Okay, a quick update for you all. I said earlier that real life got in the way of Harry Potter and the Cetra Heritage. That's over and done with (I thought it might take longer, but thankfully, not), but a few ideas for two new fanfics got in the way. One is another Harry Potter crossover, this one with F.E.A.R. Lux in Tenebris Lucet has already gotten over 2000 views in less than a week. If you don't mind a darker kind of HP fanfic, albeit one that still has a lot of hope in it, give it a whirl. It's about the odd friendship between Harry Potter and an imprisoned psychic girl called Alma Wade, and how they finally meet in person during the events of The Goblet of Fire.

I also started what seems to be the very first Blake's 7 and Mass Effect crossover on this website. Short Change Heroes won't be continuing any time soon, but I do intend to expand on it later.

Anyway, I'm back to working on Harry Potter and the Cetra Heritage. It'll still be some time before I post Episode 5, as I have only finished the first two chapters of Episode 6. But they're real doozies. They can be summed up in five words. Jenova. Hojo. Scarlet. Proud-Clad. And yes, I am calling it that, not Proud Clod. Who calls their awesome super-mecha a 'clod'? Oh, and Harry uses another Limit Break. So, it'll be good times for all.

I'm amazed that this fanfic has gotten over 16K views. Dayum…

Now, to answer the reviews…

Guest (assuming that this is all from the same guy): I do sort of remember that whole thing with Petunia swinging at him with a frying pan. Not much, though. And thanks for the praise regarding Sephiroth's line in Chapter 10. It sounded like the right sort of thing for him to say. I can just imagine George Newbern saying that.

In many ways, Aerith took the initiative in the game. It was she who came up with the idea of infiltrating Don Corneo's mansion. She also tries to break Barrett (unsuccessfully) out of his mood at the Golden Saucer. She takes the initiative in going to pray for Holy. People forget that she wasn't always demure and pleasant and pure. Becoming a big brother to Harry has probably enhanced her natural authority.

When you say *cackles* about Chapter 18, I wonder if you're talking about Dumbledore nearly choking on a lemon drop, or over Cait Sith winning a catfight with Scarlet?

KiraAkuma: Wow. Not sure I wanna know what memories I inadvertently unearthed with my portrayal of Ultima Weapon.

As for Jenova, yes, she would. There are still Jenova cells within Harry, left behind, and enough to carry her consciousness. Of course, when Ultima Weapon attacked, she knew that it would also try to kill Harry (and Rufus, who is, remember, also infected). Her consciousness would then automatically go to the nearest large concentration of Jenova cells, and that would be Sephiroth, or Sephiroth-controlled Jenova cells. And that would end badly for her.

As for her developing emotions, it's good to give a somewhat more deep personality to villains who are normally quite two-dimensional. A startling revelation about her true nature, as I said, will be revealed in Chapter 21, and I have just written a speech for her in Chapter 27 as she confronts Hojo that reveals the beginning of a more heroic nature. She'll still be somewhat monstrous, but she'll be firmly on the side of angels, even if she isn't one herself.

Anyway, time for another preview to keep you all sated until I finally post Episode 5. The prior preview had a lack of Harry in it, partly because I wanted to do that whole 'keeping you in suspense about his fate' thing you get with cliffhangers, but if you've played the game, then you know him and the others are all right. Which is why this preview is not a 'trailer' type, but rather, a sort of sample scene. This is the opening scene of Chapter 24, where the question of what weapon Harry gets is answered. I'm posting this partly to keep you guys sated, and partly because I know the weapon choice will spark quite a bit of debate.

Enjoy!

"What about this one?" Sirius asked, holding up a massive object by the handle.

"I can't lift that!" Harry complained.

"Sirius, we're not giving Harry a Buster Sword," Aerith said in quiet exasperation. "One, he is too young. Two, he's not going to be able to lift it."

"Three," drawled Reno with a sardonic smirk on his features, "they'd think that you're compensatin' for something."

"Reno!" Aerith gasped, scandalised.

"I'm just sayin'," the Turk said with a shrug.

"Compensating for what?" Harry asked.

"You'll learn that when you're older," Sirius said. A lech he may be, but he didn't want to be one that much in front of Harry. He was his godson after all. Besides, there was such a thing as good taste. Sirius would wait until Harry was older before he let that particular mask drop.

The three of them were currently in the small but cluttered armoury of the Highwind, alongside Reno, who was keeping an eye on them. They were trying to find a suitable weapon for Harry, who had insisted that he wanted to help fight, and they needed something beyond Materia. Sirius also wanted a weapon.

Neither had wands, and wands were virtually absent from arsenals across the Planet. But Sirius was getting the hang of Materia, practising using the crystalline orbs. He found them easier than using wands. But he was also savvy enough to find a back-up weapon. The problem with most wizards and witches is that they considered a wand the be-all and end-all of combat. Few mastered wandless magic, and few bothered to use any weapons that didn't use magic. Of course, he knew that his cousin Bella had a knife as a back-up at times. She may sneer at Muggles, but she was willing to fight like one if necessary.

Sirius grumbled sullenly. "If we were back home, I'd have just taken you to Ollivander's for a wand. Or there's that shop in Knockturn Alley. I could've always Apparated you in and out…"

"Apparated?" Aerith asked.

"Muggles call it teleportation. Instant travel to any part of the world that you have been to and can visualise. There's a few catches: it's bloody uncomfortable, and if you're not careful, you can leave bits of yourself behind. They call it splinching. I remember reading a book by some Muggle by the name of Douglas Adams who said some nasty things about teleporting, and frankly, Apparition is a bit like that. I wonder if he was actually a Squib." Sirius grinned as he saw something. "Ah-ha!"

Harry stared. Sirius was wielding a large crossbow, except it seemed to have a cylindrical magazine full of bolts. "I…I dunno whether I can handle that."

"That's fine, Pup. I was thinking of taking this for myself," Sirius grinned. "I saw something like this in one of the cabinets back home: an autocrossbow. Like a machine gun, only with crossbow bolts. You pull the trigger and hang on." Then, he noticed something else. Fishing around in the small pile of weapons, he plucked something out. "Hey, Reno or whatever your name is, how do you feel about Harry stealing your schtick?" He then showed what he had in his hand: an electro-rod. "Or more to the point, your stick?"

Reno raised an eyebrow, before drawling, "Y'know, I'd feel rather hurt. Hey, that's not a bad model, actually. Looks to be another one like my old one. Even has the Pyramid functionality. C'mon, kid. I'll show you how to fight with it. We have a few minutes before we get to Nibelheim…"