Note: Sorry about the delay, but I had pretty big work-load this week (plus a test yesterday). My keyboard also started failing halfway through the editing which is why I'm keeping this short. Next chapter will be much longer, promise.

….

Chapter 16: The Forbidden Forest

In the darkest depths of the Forbidden Forest, Zidane was having the time of his life. It felt so great unleashing his pent up energy. And without his school cloak and his invisibility, he finally felt free. Bathing under the light of the full moon, with his tail out, and the wind blowing through his hair simply felt incredible. Pulling out his daggers, he then began practicing against an invisibly opponent, slashing at the air while his newly sharpened daggers seemingly whistled in contentment at finally being used.

"ACHOO!" Zidane stopped what he was doingas he sneezed loudly, a chilly breeze making the tree branches sway lazily about. 'Either someone is talking about me, or I really am getting sick.'

Maybe he should be taking his health more seriously, but honestly, considering how frustrating his first week at Hogwarts had been, he knew he needed this even more, even if it meant catching small cold.

Deciding that it was time to practice his stronger skills, Zidane re-sheathed his daggers and turned towards an old rotting trunk, and used 'thievery'. A grand golden explosion engulfed the tree, and made the whole forest tremble violently, startling more than one magical creature, not to mention several dozen owls. 'Thievery' was probably his strongest ability outside of trance. It was an ability that drew its power from his experience as a thief, and since he had been stealing since a very young age… well, you could imagine just how strong it was. Even the surrounding trees were uprooted from the explosion or completely charred with the flames.

Feeling the energy slowly drain from him the teen sighed in relief. It had been some time since the last time he'd felt this kind of frustration. Professional acting aside, he wasn't the type of person that liked to hide who he was. Back in Gaia he didn't care what people thought of him or his tail. Where he was from, people backed their words with their fists, so if anyone ever got a little too vocal with him, violence had always been a valid solution. In hindsight it may have sounded like a ruthless place to call home, but then again, Gaia always did have a bit of a monster infestation, so displaying strength and combat ability was always an important part of Gaian life. However, this world played by a completely different set of rules.

Looking balefully at the single moon above him, as if it was responsible for all his problems, Zidane sighed before approaching a nearby tree and propelling himself up its thicker branches.

Taking a deep breath, he jumped from one tree to another, as quickly accelerating while doing a wide variety of stunts. To any normal person who happened to walk across the clearing at that moment, he was nothing more than a blur of blue and gold illuminated by the light of the full moon that peaked through tall canopy of trees. The only things that gave him away were his bright hair and his eyes that were now glowing strongly with the contrast of light and darkness. After a few more minutes, he dropped back down to the forest floor again, completely exhausted, yet pleased to know that, despite being stuck in this place for so long without any exercise, he was still as nimble as ever.

He was about to turn around and leave for the night, when he heard the sound of a branch snapping, and he reflexively moved out of the way as he heard a 'whiz' and a 'thunk' right where he used to stand a second ago. Turning back, he saw an arrow sticking out from the bark of the tree he had climbed down from earlier.

He quickly unsheathed his daggers and brought his attention back at the individuals attacking him. He heard the sound of taut string snapping into place, before three more arrows whizzed towards him. He blocked them all without fail, and soon there was a sound of rustles and hooves beating on the ground, before his attackers made their appearance.

'What the-' Zidane thought as he saw the creatures.

He had expected horse-mounted units based on the sound of hoofs he heard earlier, what he didn't expect was the creatures standing before him. There were four of them, with bows strung and ready to shoot at him again. They had the appearance of wild men, with their bottom half resembling the body of a horse. The genome didn't know if they were called the same here, but he recognized the creatures from legends he heard in Gaia. There they were called 'centaurs'.

"Hey, what the hell are you shooting at me for?" Zidane said in indignation. They may have been creatures of legend back in Gaia, not unlike horses, and unicorns, but they were still attacking him, and that was far more urgent at the moment. He could ask questions later.

"You have trespassed on our land and unleashed your power to threaten our herd." Said the dark haired one.

"What are you talking about? I was just practicing, I wasn't threatening-" The genome attempted to explain, but his argument was cut short when one of the centaurs shot at him again, forcing him to dodge.

"The unholy fire you summoned, unprecedented by the stars, you monster!" One of them called out and Zidane suddenly realized that they wouldn't likely hear reason.

'Monster? Geez man, have you looked at a mirror lately?' The teen snorted. He didn't think other magical creatures would resort to the same name-calling as the wizards, but clearly he had been wrong.

"I am not a monster and that explosion wasn't an attack meant for your herd. I'm a student over at Hogwarts, you can take it from Dumbledore if you don't believe me." Zidane shot back, his daggers still ready should things turn nasty.

"You can't fool us, demon! You are neither human nor anything we've ever seen. We could not see your arrival in the stars, and besides, no student would ever wander this deep into the forest."

"I'm serious!" The teen cried out, dodging more arrows. "I mean, so what if the stars didn't know I was coming? That doesn't change the fact that I did come! They were probably just wrong or something."

This only seemed to offend the centaurs further. "We centaurs have watched the stars since before humans ruled the earth! How dare you insult our art!"

"Let's get him!" One of the centaurs cried out and the others gave shouts of agreement.

'Oh crap.' Zidane thought and his thief reflexes kicked in. He literally turned tail and ran up to the place where his things were, dodging the incoming projectiles, and snatching his school cloak and bag from the ground, before jumping as hard as he could and landing on the nearby branch from one of the trees that he didn't completely destroy. Behind him, he could hear the furious shouts accompanied by the angry beating of hooves. They were trying to gain on him.

The blonde zigzagged through the trees as fast as he could, hoping that the centaurs would at least stop shooting at him, but unfortunately it was nothing more than wishful thinking. An arrow managed to graze his arm painfully, making him stumble, but thankfully he didn't fall and just continued jumping.

After what seemed like an eternity of running, Zidane slowed down, his muscles, already aching from his training, felt like they were on fire now. Thankfully, he could no longer hear his pursuers and there was a noticeable lack of shit flying towards at him.

'Just what the hell was wrong with those pricks?' The teen thought angrily.

Yeah, sure he could have decimated them on sight, but after actually thinking through it, he realized that running away was a more profitable option. In a fight he could get injured (well worse), which would considerably slow him down and leave him to the mercy of other hungry creatures. Not to mention killing those centaurs might make the rest of the centaur 'herd' get violent and possibly attack the school.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt his tail get caught in something. With a strong pull, his tail was released, and upon closer inspection, he saw silky threads attached to blonde fur at its end.

'Is that a spider's thread?' Zidane thought, but then he noticed just how strong and thick it was. It was then that the implications dawned on him. 'Oh crap.'

Fighting giant spiders was not really much of a problem for Zidane. After all, in his adventures he had defeated several Carve Spiders that were much bigger than the spiders he faced now. The one major difference between those fights and the one he was currently facing was that there were usually only two Carve Spiders fighting him at once, NOT several hundreds.

'Not to mention they are probably poisonous.' The genome thought as one spider bared a pair of giant fangs at him that were dripping a clear liquid. Others were excitedly clicking their pincers as they approached the blonde genome.

Zidane blasted the creatures with a fire spell to see if they would at last fall back at the sight of fire, but when more came to replace the fallen spiders, he decided to change tactics. Thinking that perhaps they were clumsier on land than on the treetops, Zidane descended and attempted to run the hell away, but much to his shock the hoards of spiders followed closely behind him.

'What the hell?! It's like the Evil Forest all over again!' The teen thought, cursing the giant spiders that were quickly closing in on him. 'This forest better not turn into fucking stone.'

His lungs felt like they were on fire now. Every breath he took made him wince, but he continued to run because his life literally depended on it. He didn't even bother to check if he was running in the right direction, all he knew was that if he stopped, he would die.

'But I can't keep running like this.' Zidane thought and realized just how tired he was. He felt like soon the muscles on his legs would just snap. At this point adrenaline was the only thing that was keeping him going. 'Oh great, just what I needed.'

Zidane groaned when he saw two beams of light flash in the distance. He really had no idea what kind of bloodthirsty creature to expect now, all he knew was that, based on the strange roaring sound that came from it, it was headed right for him. The genome quickly dodged out of the way when he saw the two beams of light directly in front of him, before moving right past him and into the hoards of spiders. Being temporarily blinded by the strong lights, Zidane blinked his eyes to try to see what was going on. He had no idea what the thing was, but whatever it was, it managed to daze the spiders temporarily.

When he saw the thing return, Zidane was about to start running again, but was stopped by a loud 'honk' that emanated from the thing. The thing just slowed down before stopping in front of him, it was then that Zidane realized it was a car; a very banged up and scratched, blue car that was moving on its own. The car opened its passenger door, and with another 'honk', Zidane realized that it wanted him to get inside. After weighing his options, and noticing the mass of spiders coming towards him, the blonde quickly jumped inside. The door slammed quickly, almost closing in on his tail, and the car screeched to a start.

"Thanks." Zidane muttered and closed his eyes. He didn't know if the car understood him, but at this point he didn't really care. He was so tired he didn't even take notice of the incredibly bumpy ride. In fact, the teen hardly noticed when his consciousness began to slip.

The next thing Zidane knew, he was being unceremoniously dumped on the cold ground.

"Hey, what the hell was that for?" The genome yelled as he picked himself up from the floor. He only received a honk in reply, before the car took off into another direction and disappeared through the trees. Zidane just gave a tired sigh and picked up the rest of his stuff from the ground. 'Dammit, I think I landed on my tail.'

At least he had some idea where he was right now. He could see some lights in the distance, and he could also smell the scent of freshwater. If the lights belonged to Hogwarts, then the scent had to belong to the lake.

'It's still a long walk back. I don't think I will be able to make it.' Zidane thought. He was really starting to regret his decision of coming to the Forbidden Forest. 'I could set up a tent, but what if some other creature comes-'

Zidane's tired thoughts were interrupted when he heard the snapping of a branch in the distance. He readied his weapons and was already going through multiple, very colorful, curses when a figure emerged from the trees beyond.

"You guys again?! Don't you give it a rest?" Zidane shouted angrily at the centaur that was now approaching him.

"I have not come here bearing any ill intent." The centaur approached, and now with the light of the moon, Zidane could see that this one was a male palomino with silvery blonde hair that would easily be considered 'handsome' by human standards. What interested Zidane more was that this one wasn't wielding a weapon.

"Then why are you here? And where are those other centaurs?" The blonde asked with a hint of distrust as he stood straight with his daggers at a ready. This could just as easily be a trap."They are back with the herd where they won't bother anyone. I came here to apologize for their behavior." The centaur said, keeping a respectful distance from Zidane.

The cyan-eyed teen lowered his daggers a bit. Something told him that he could trust this centaur, but he wasn't completely sure yet. His herd did try to kill him after all. "Why is that?"

"I admit that centaurs are a proud race, many times far too proud. We have spent all our lives watching the stars and isolating ourselves from the world, but I'm afraid that has made my race far too intolerant to anything beyond our small reality." The centaur said.

"I could see that." Zidane deadpanned.

"I apologize for that. The herd has been acting restless since the Wizarding government has slowly been taking parts of our territory. This has put me at odds with my herd since I do not follow the same beliefs as the others. I do not believe working alongside humans is shameful. One could say I am a considered an outcast within the herd."

"Well I think they are wrong." Zidane said putting his daggers away. He could tell the centaur wasn't lying.' Judging from the hoof shaped bruises, he must really not be liked in his herd.'

The centaur looked a bit taken back at the reaction.

"I don't think there is anything wrong with working alongside others. In our group of eight, only two of us were what you'd call a human, and we got along just fine, even though we all came from completely different backgrounds. Sometimes I feel like it was our differences that made us stronger." Zidane admitted.

"I only wish things could be like that." The centaur said. "We could all help each other without problems."

"I don't see why not. I don't believe one needs a reason to help others." Zidane said approaching the centaur, and extending his hand. "My name's Zidane. Nice to meet you."

The centaur looked surprised for a moment, but then he knelt slightly to be at the same level and shook Zidane's hand. "My name is Firenze. And it's a pleasure, likewise."

Zidane tried to grin, but it came out as a rather tired smile.

"You are a student at Hogwarts, correct?" Firenze asked, pointing at the school cloak he was holding. Zidane nodded. "I did not think they would allow non-wizards to attend, but please allow me to take you there as apology. I can now see that they wounded you."

The centaur pointed at his wounded arm. Zidane had completely forgotten about it, but now that he did see it, he could see that it was a lot deeper than he had originally thought. "It's alright. And no need to apologize, you didn't do anything to me and I can sort of understand why your herd is so angry."

Firenze seemed to give an amused chuckle. "Forgiving those that wronged you shows great wisdom Zidane, but I will still be taking you back to the castle. You are far too exhausted."

After a lot of persuasion, Zidane finally gave in, being far too tired to talk back.

"Won't your herd be angry for helping me?" The teen asked from the palomino's back.

"As the saying says; 'what they don't know won't hurt them', or I in this case. Centaurs never let anyone ride them. It is considered shameful to be ridden like a common mule. But as I said, I do not share my herd's beliefs." Firenze said.

After much insistence from Zidane, Firenze dropped the genome off at the forest's limits closest to the castle. The blonde dismounted Firenze, and after bidding the centaur goodnight, the odd pair went their separate ways.

….

Firenze watched the teen limp towards the castle, his tail dragging pathetically behind him. Never in his years had he met such a strange individual. Even now, Firenze didn't know what creature Zidane was, or why the stars did not speak of him. Firenze did know what Zidane wasn't. He wasn't the unholy demon that the others made him out to be.

'No.' Firenze thought. 'I do know what Zidane is. He is a friend.'

Rather than returning to the others, Firenze headed in another direction. He still had one more stop tonight. Whistling into the night, he held his arm out as an owl swooped down from where it had been perched on a high branch and landed on it.

"I need you to please go to Fawkes, the phoenix that lives in that castle, and tell him to get his master ready to greet Zidane, I'm afraid it's been a very long night for him." Firenze asked, and with a 'hoot' in response, the owl was off.

'We don't need reasons to help others, eh?' Firenze said with a small smile. 'What a strange creature indeed.'

….

Dumbledore was before his desk going over some papers. Sleep had eluded him. There were so many worries plaguing his mind. In this covert war, there were three sides and Dumbledore knew, but didn't want to admit, that they were lagging behind. Otherwise, he wouldn't be housing Dolores Umbridge in the school.

Yes, the prophecy was safe so far, which meant that he wouldn't have to worry about Voldemort for the time being. According to Severus, Tom had yet to plan another move on the Ministry, or Ollivander. Being exposed, like he nearly was that night he confronted Zidane, would only hurt him now. As far as he could tell, Voldemort's attention was now completely set on gathering forces, if his actions with the giants were anything to go by.

'Though, there have been some rumors lately. Not to mention that we still don't know the details of what happened to Podmore that night at the Ministry, or the exact nature of what went missing afterwards. Of course Cornelius has been rather tight-lipped regarding the whole matter, more so because it was related to the Department of Mysteries. Few people even know that something went missing.' Dumbledore thought as he stroked his beard. Severus had no intel regarding the subject either.

He would have given it more thought, but on the other hand, he still had to deal with the Ministry of Magic. He knew Cornelius wanted him out of his thinning hair. It would only be a matter of time before he would be forced to leave Hogwarts. It was no longer a matter of 'how', but 'when'.

His other main concern at the moment was Harry. The boy's unfortunate link with Voldemort was a big problem. Though he left the boy alone, hoping it would keep him safe, Dumbledore still feared it would only bring him trouble. He still had no idea just how deep the bond ran, or if Tom was aware of it yet, but at any rate, he wasn't planning on having him listening to their plans through Harry. Still, Dumbledore could see that the effects of his actions were taking heavy toll on Harry. Just today, the boy had been reaching out for him, only to face rejection. It still pained him so much to do it. He wanted Harry to be happy and to avoid having to worry about the mistakes of an older generation. That's why he had Zidane pass as a fifth year and share his classes. Zidane could humor and alleviate Harry's pain. The blonde could do what he, as an adult, could not.

'Which brings us to another point.' Dumbledore thought as he looked over Zidane's school record.

At first Dumbledore didn't know what to think. After seeing the boy the first time, the only things he could think of was some human-animal hybrid, or perhaps a creature made by alchemy, if Nicholas's depictions of alchemical chimeras and Homunculi were anything to go by.

Zidane was not from this world, he wasn't even human. And the way he described his race still unsettled him. He said genomes were 'Terra's empty vessels'. What he was referring to still baffled him. The description just didn't match up. Zidane had mentioned being raised in 'Gaia' which he assumed was the planet's name. But he said Genomes were from 'Terra'. Dumbledore assumed 'Terra' was the name of another planet. Their meanings were too much of a coincidence. 'Gaia' and 'Terra' both meant 'Earth' in Greek and Latin. Did that mean that Zidane was actually born in a different planet than the one he was raised? Could those planets be alternate Earths?

Dumbledore knew he wasn't getting the full story. But, judging by the way Zidane answered his questions, it was clear that his origins was a subject he didn't like to talk about.

His powers were another story altogether. Even Dumbledore had to recognize the boy's raw potential. His spells were something he had never seen before. They were both wand-less and very powerful. He could easily destroy spells surrounding an object. He could even silence or blind people at will, the effect either being permanent or long-lasting. The portrait of Mrs. Black had yet to utter another word, and he suspected that Zidane was also responsible for Lucius's condition.

But now he realized that their encounter was a blessing in disguise. Zidane was a powerful trump card. He could be wild and unpredictable, maybe a bit reckless, and despite some pretty bad habits, but overall he was a good lad.

'He certainly surprised Dolores today.' Dumbledore thought with a chuckle. He knew the blonde was responsible for the trap, he didn't even need to see his message to realize that. 'Anything that aggravates Dolores will be welcome as a morale boost for Hogwarts.'

Dumbledore was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a tap at the window.

"Who could it be at this hour?" Dumbledore asked Fawkes as he opened the window and let the owl enter. The owl carried no letter, instead it flew straight to Fawkes and began hooting. Fawkes trilled in response and the owl left once again.

"What is it Fawkes?" Dumbledore asked as he stroked his familiar's soft feathers. The phoenix flew over to his desk, picked up Zidane's school record, and then flew over to the window and pointed outside in the direction of the Forbidden Forest. It didn't take long for Dumbledore to understand what his familiar was getting at.

"Of course. Will you take me to him then?" Dumbledore asked with a tired smile, and Fawkes trilled in response. The phoenix flew towards Dumbledore and perched on his shoulder, with a flash of fire and feathers, Dumbledore and Fawkes were gone.

When Dumbledore reappeared, he was in a completely different place. He was not in the forest, but instead at one of the many entrances to the castle. Despite it being nighttime, it was not hard to spot the blonde. This was because the moonlight reflected off his mop of blonde hair, making it almost appear like a ghostly halo.

The genome was currently on the floor, out cold, with his tail fully visible and his back leaning on one of the walls. At first Dumbledore thought he may have gotten overexcited with his birthday present, sneaking off at night to visit one of Hogsmeade's pubs and then passing out on his way back, but upon closer inspection, Dumbledore realized that he was asleep. Not to mention he did not smell of alcohol, tobacco or any of the other smells one would associate with a pub. He also realized that his skin was coated in a layer of sweat, while one of his exposed arms was bleeding, and that there were silky threats on the tip of his tail.

"Looks like our friend had a bad run in the forest." Dumbledore told Fawkes, who trilled a melodic tune in response. "I think this calls for a trip to the Hospital Wing, don't you? He can sleep-in tomorrow, as well."

Fawkes gave a small croon in reply and after Dumbledore took the boy's shoulder, the three of them vanished once more. Dumbledore wondered how Poppy would react to this.

The three reappeared a second later, Dumbledore seemed surprised the Zidane hardly stirred. The Hospital Wing was completely empty, mostly because it was hardly the second week of school, and Harry hadn't been endangering himself as of late. Well, as far as he was aware of.

It didn't take long for Poppy to appear from her quarters after hearing the noise. She was clad in a robe that covered the nightgown underneath, while holding her wand, its tip alight with a 'lumos' spell.

"Albus? What in the name of-" she asked, but her words were stopped when she saw the blonde on the ground.

"I'm afraid Mr. Tribal has been through a lot tonight." Dumbledore said.

She immediately ran over to the blonde to check his vitals, but once she caught sight of his tail she let out a gasp and stopped dead in her tracks, her wand clattering on the floor.

"Albus, this boy-!" Madam Pomfrey began, but was quieted down by a reassuring gesture from Dumbledore.

"Yes, I'm afraid Mr. Tribal isn't precisely human, but not to worry. He already told me, and it was his wish it would remain a private matter." Dumbledore assured her.

"Then, what exactly is he?" Madam Pomfrey asked in strange curiosity.

"To be quite honest, I haven't got the faintest clue." Dumbledore admitted and the matron just looked at him in shock.

To be continued…

…

A/N: Carve Spiders are relatively weak monsters you find in FFIX. Needless to say Zidane has terrible luck with forests, or specifically with trees, or any form of plant-life, really. Yes, most centaurs are racist or rather, very close-minded.

Dropped hints in this chapter regarding the plot.

This will birthday that Zidane will always remember as that one birthday where he was nearly mauled by several hundred spiders.

My keyboard is really starting to get on my nerves so I'm leaving this here. I guess I'll see you guys next week. Feedback is highly appreciated!