Notes: Okay so my internet connection was dead most of the night so couldn't post this yesterday. I made this chapter especially long for you guys to make up (longest yet, actually). Also, the next two weeks will be pretty tough on me because of university so updates may be a bit tardy (just a heads up).
Like always, I'd like to thank Crystal, and also thank everyone who has been following so far and sending feedback. I really enjoy hearing from you guys (you know who you are).
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(ARC)
To Guest: Yeah, I love that somewhat nonsensical part of FF minigames. Severus definitely didn't see THAT coming. Thanks for reviewing!
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Chapter 19: Big Trouble in Little Hogsmeade
"D-Dag?" Zidane asked, his cyan eyes wide with realization.
He just couldn't believe it.
The next thing he knew, he was laying on the grass, Dagger's head buried in his chest as she cried. Zidane, still being in shock, just silently held her closer to him, while ignoring the steady dampening of his shirt. When realization dawned on him, he began rubbing small circles on her back, his brain still racing to catch up. He still could not believe it. When he first arrived in this dream world, he was expecting to meet with 'Dagger' like he always did. He was just not expecting this.
At first he thought he was going insane and it was all a result of his delusional mind. But no, he knew this was real. Corny as it may sound, he knew deep inside his heart that this was Dagger and not some cheap dream imitation.
"But, how?" Was all Zidane could say.
Dagger wiped her tears away and sniffed. "I-I don't know. You were just gone that day in the courtyard. We looked for you everywhere but we couldn't find you. Where were you?"
Zidane's cyan eyes met Dagger's reddened chocolate ones and with a sigh, he began recalling his tale. When it was over, his young queen was speechless.
"I'm not in Gaia anymore, not even Terra. The spell took me to a planet called Earth, well, specifically England. I was really lost at first, I mean you wouldn't even believe some of the stuff they have here. The technology here is so advanced…" Zidane said, but after looking at Dagger's expectant face, he just cut to the chase. "But anyways, after landing here I had a run in with these 'wizards' which are this world's versions of mages, only they need special sticks to use magic- I'm serious. Here, magic here is supposed to be some kind of secret. Magical folks live in their own separate societies away from the rest of the world."
"So do you think they know a way to get you back?" Dagger asked after taking in all the information.
"It's…well a bit more complicated than that." Zidane said and ran a hand through his golden locks. "Well, they are kinda in the middle of something now. One of their most evil wizards got revived, and no, I have no idea how, but he did. Anyways, now a huge war could break out any minute."
"But, where does that leave you?" Garnet asked in concern.
"I was getting there." Zidane said with a tired sigh. "Currently there are three sides; the bad guys following this dark wizard, the government who doesn't want to acknowledge the threat, and the final side is this secret group called the Order of the Phoenix. This last group is lead by supposedly the strongest wizard alive, and he is, ultimately, the guy that hired me."
"Your employer? What do you mean by that?" Garnet asked in confusion.
"Long story short, after a small incident I came in contact with the Order. After talking to their leader, Dumbledore -yeah dumb name I know- he agreed to help me find a way back. But…"
"But?" Garnet repeated, her eyes narrowing. "What's the catch?"
"He wants me to watch over this kid called Harry Potter. They say he has a key part in the following war and that the evil wizard is after him. But to watch over Harry I need to go to this magic school for a year. That's where I am right now."
"Zidan-" Garnet called out but was interrupted by the blonde who brushed his hand gently on her cheek and through her soft, chocolate locks.
"Before you say anything…I just have to tell you." Zidane said, his expression serious. "Dagger, these people need me. Even if this evil wizard is not nearly as powerful as Garland, but he's still an evile, twisted bastard that needs to die. People here are even terrified of his name alone. He's killed a lot of people so far, and when I remember our own war and how many lives we could've saved–I, I just can't sit here and do nothing-"
"It's alright." Dagger said with a warm smile as she brought up a finger to Zidane's lips and successfully silenced him. "I understand. "You don't need a reason to help people' right?"
Zidane stopped in his tracks and smiled before embracing her.
"It will be only for this year. Once school ends I'm out of here, I promise." He whispered into her ear, her scent filling him and making him feel at peace
"Just promise me you'll be careful." Dagger said a she too was absorbed in the moment.
"Don't worry, I'll be back safe and sound, I swear it." Zidane said.
Dagger smiled and the next thing Zidane knew, he was once more on his back with the soft grass underneath him, and Garnet on top of him. With a devious smirk and playful swish of his tail, the genome rolled over, pinning Dagger underneath him. The summoner brushed a hand over his golden hair, his long bangs tickling her nose. Zidane just gave a crooked smile in response, taking in the sight of Dagger's lush lips and the scent of her perfume. Cyan met brown and soon their lips were locked, both teens falling into sweet bliss.
…
When Zidane woke up the next morning, he felt fully refreshed and far better than he had felt in months. But then again, who wouldn't? Especially, after what happened last night. Zidane was happy to announce that he could finally feel the weight lift from his shoulders.
'Dagger now knows that I'm okay. That means we can both rest easy for now.' Zidane thought, and seeing as he was not likely to fall asleep again, he lifted the bed sheets off of him and got out of bed. 'Luckily, everyone seems to be doing okay.'
Getting ready to tackle the day ahead, he dressed himself and vanished his tail. Pulling the curtains aside, he realized that besides the snores emanating from the other beds, everything was relatively quiet.
'Did they decide to sleep in? I mean, it IS Saturday.' Zidane thought while taking a look at his new pocket watch. 'Nope, it's still quite early. But it's too late to go back to bed.'
There was also another reason for not returning to bed. He had promised himself that after the Forbidden Forest incident he'd find a new place to train. He had also promised Dagger to try and find out more about their shared dream and just how it worked. And well, seeing is it was Saturday, it was really the perfect time to do it.
Zidane grabbed his things and made his way downstairs as quietly as possible. No one seemed to be awake at this hour, not the guys from other years or even the girls. He gave a sudden stop when he reached the Common Room, his keen ears picking up on a sound. It sounded like someone humming but it was a rather high pitched. Too high pitched to be human. After quickly sneaking in and peaking over a couch, he was greeted by the sight of several dozen woolen hats, all piled over a rather small head.
"Dobby?" Zidane asked curiously. The house elf in front of him gave a squeak in surprise before turning towards him with a positively embarrassed look on his face.
"Oh, Zidane T- I mean Zidane! You caught Dobby by surprise. Dobby is such a bad House Elf!" The little creature admonished himself.
"Woah, hold it there. You didn't do anything wrong!" Zidane insisted.
"You don't understand. Good House Elves work without being seen. For Dobby to be found out… it is embarrassing for Dobby." Dobby said, sniffing slightly.
The genome quickly took his cue, and moved in before the House Elf could do something drastic, that is, if his constant gazes at the particularly sharp fire-poker next to the fireplace were anything to go by. "Hey listen, it's okay. You're a great House Elf! I mean, the only reason you didn't notice me was because I'm an expert at hiding and sneaking around. It's what I do for a living! So cheer up, will ya?"
Dobby looked at him with large eyes while sniffing. "Zidane thinks so?"
"I know so." The blonde said with a smile. "Now tell me, where are the other House Elves? Are you the only one cleaning?"
"Dobby is only one cleaning Gryffindor Tower. Others refuse to clean here. They are feeling insulted by clothes being hidden all over place so Dobby cleans tower alone now."
'Oh…' Zidane paused awkwardly as he thought about how Hermione would react when she found out. "I see. But doesn't it get hard? I mean it is a lot of space."
"Dobby doesn't mind. Dobby is grateful for all the clothes Miss Hermione leaves. It's nice to know someone cares about us House Elves."
"Well then I guess I was right." Zidane said with a grin, and after seeing the confused look on the house elf's face, he clarified. "You really are a good House Elf. Think about it, you are willing to continue doing your job when nobody else will."
The little guy seemed to puff his chest proudly at Zidane's words, his eyes tearing at the praise.
"Zidane is so kind to Dobby. Cleaning is House Elf job and we do it with pride. Which reminds Dobby. Does Zidane know he sleeps with mirror under pillow? Dobby has been wondering whether he should leave it there or put it with Zidane's other things."
"Mirror?" Zidane asked, while he was racking his brain for answers.
"Yes there is old looking mirror under pillow. Dobby started seeing it for some time now." Dobby answered. Suddenly, it hit him. He had shoved Une's mirror under there during the Canary Cream incident, and he had totally forgotten about it.
"Oh yeeeaaaah…hehe, I forgot about it. Don't worry about it Dobby, I'll just take care of it later." Zidane said with a wave of his hand.
"Well Dobby has to go back to the kitchens now, but if there is anything Dobby can do, Zidane can just ask Dobby." Dobby said.
"Wait kitchens? Now that I think about it, where exactly are the kitchens. I've never been there before. Is it okay if I go too?" Zidane asked, curiosity getting the best of him.
"Dobby will be happy to!" The house elf said and after taking hold of the creature's arms, Zidane felt the tell tale pull on his navel and the feeling he was being pushed through a small tube.
When the feeling stopped, Zidane found himself in a room as big as the Great Hall, with four large tables set up too in the same fashion as the house tables. The major difference however was that this place was absolutely filled with house elves and every time one of them put food onto the tables, the food would simply disappear.
"Amazing." Zidane muttered, making an effort to keep his eyes in front of him to avoid tripping or accidentally stepping on one of the many house elves around him. "Where is this place? I mean, it's huge! Where exactly in the castle are we?"
"Oh, this is right under the Great Hall. It's actually very close to the Hufflepuff dormitories. Stories say that Helga Hufflepuff first created kitchen so that wizards wouldn't hurt house elves like Dobby." Dobby said as Zidane watched one house elf set a plate filled with toast on one of the tables, only for it to disappear.
"So when the food is put on those tables it gets transported upwards to where the tables in the Great Hall are. That's why it always appears as if it came from out of nowhere." Zidane deduced and Dobby nodded.
"Does Zidane want something to eat?" Dobby asked, and Zidane debated it.
He was about to say yes (he was going to head to Breakfast anyways), when he noticed something else about the room. Though the most of the house elves were still working, he could sense a thick tension permeating the room. When he looked around at the small creatures, he noticed that they all seemed wary of him, and that the only reason they didn't seem to outright run away from him was because he was with Dobby. When his piercing cyan eyes caught the large tennis ball-shaped eyes of an elf nearby, he instantly recognized the underlying fear in those depths. Suddenly, he remembered his first meeting with Dobby. The house elf knew he was not human from the beginning.
Finally, realization seemed to slap him in the face. These house elves were afraid of him. They probably thought he was going to eat them or something.
"Actually Dobby, I think I will just head to the Great Hall now." Zidane said and the little elf seemed absolutely crestfallen. In reality he didn't want to make the elves more uncomfortable with his presence. Maybe by coming more often they would lose their fear, but for now it was best for him to leave.
"Well then, let Dobby take you to the exit. And if there is anything else Zidane needs…" the house elf said and Zidane chuckled.
"Right, I'll go straight to you." Zidane said as the elf led him to a door that, much like the Fat Lady guarding Gryffindor Tower, it was really a portrait of a bowl of fruit on the other side. He was almost on the other side when an idea suddenly popped into his head. "Hey Dobby, now that I think about it, there is something you can help me out with."
'House elves know every nook and cranny of this castle, so maybe…'
"Yes Zidane? What can Dobby do to help?" The elf suddenly perked up.
"I need to find a place where I can train. It has to be big though to run around in, and nobody can know about it. Do you have any idea where I can find a place like that?" Zidane asked and Dobby's large eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Dobby knows just the place! What Zidane needs is Room of Requirement!"
….
After breakfast the Golden Trio found themselves in the library as per Hermione's request.
'More like demand.' Harry thought angrily as he browsed through a copy of Asiatic Anti-Venoms.
Hermione was, of course, worried that they were falling behind in their work. It being OWL year, she insisted that they couldn't afford to fall behind. That's why she had nearly dragged them to the library to finish their homework, even if it was a beautiful day and most normal students were outside enjoying the sun before winter arrived. But no, Harry just had to find himself inside a library on a Saturday finding potion ingredients for Snape.
"I was wondering." Hermione said suddenly, and Harry turned to listen to what his friend had to say. It was either that or working on his potions essay. "Have you given much thought to what we talked about Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
"Course I have. Can't forget it, can we? Not with that hag teaching us-" Harry said grumpily.
"I mean the idea Ron and I had." Hermione interrupted and Ron sent her a glare in warning. Hermione only frowned in response. "Oh, all right, the idea I had about you teaching us."
Harry didn't answer at once. Instead, he pretended to focus on his book of anti-venoms because, quite honestly, he didn't want to tell his friends what was really on his mind. Harry had actually given the idea a lot of thought. Sometimes it seemed like such a ridiculous idea, just like it seemed the night Hermione proposed it, but then again, sometimes he actually found himself thinking about what spells he could teach in order to fend off Dark creatures or Death Eaters. Subconsciously he had started his own lesson plans.
"Well…" Harry said slowly, when he could no longer pretend to be interested in the book he had been reading. "I have thought about it a bit…"
"And?" Hermione said eagerly.
"I dunno." Harry said and he looked up to his redheaded best friend.
"I thought it was a good idea from the start." Ron said, looking much better now that he knew Harry wouldn't snap at them.
"You did listen to what I said about most of it being luck right?" Harry said and Hermione just nodded.
"Yes Harry, but you have to stop pretending that you're not good at DADA, because you are. You were the only one last year that could completely throw off the Imperius Curse. You can conjure a Patronus. You can do all sort of things a fully-grown wizard can't! Even Victor said-" Hermione said but was interrupted by Ron.
"Yeah, what did Vicky say?" Ron asked and Hermione rolled her eyes, Harry did as well. It was so obvious what was going on between the two. After a small squabble regarding Victor Krum's status as Hermione's pen-pal, the bushy haired girl turned towards him in exasperation.
"Well, will you?" Hermione asked.
"Teach you and Ron DADA? Sure." Harry said, admitting defeat.
"Well, actually…" Hermione said and Harry cringed. He didn't like the bushy haired girl's tone. He knew he wasn't going to like whatever she was going to say next.
…..
Quickly after breakfast, Zidane headed over to the seventh floor, specifically in front of the old tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, where the wizard was seen attempting to teach some trolls ballet. Shaking his head at the silly picture, Zidane got to work. According to what Dobby told him, all he needed to do was pass by it three times while thinking about what he needed. It was all pretty ridiculous, but so was everything else in this place so he decided to give it a shot.
'Thankfully, nobody is here to witness me making a fool of myself.' Zidane thought dryly as he began to pace. 'Alright, what I really need is a place to train with lots of space, maybe an inbuilt obstacle course, but where nobody else can find me. Also, if it had an open bar I would be infinitely grateful.'
A door materialized in front of the tapestry and when Zidane consciously peeked in his eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas day. The room that appeared was as tall as the Great Hall with several tall ledges and perches. On the ground there was an obstacle course set up with varying degrees of difficulty. There were dummies to combat and the floor had a soft padding to avoid injuries. But what caught his eyes was the long stretch of table at the side, sporting all sorts of drinks and snacks. He briefly wondered if the room had somehow transported it all from the kitchens, but when he saw the bottles of fire whiskey, he reasoned it must have come from somewhere else entirely.
'It's perfect.' Zidane thought as he rubbed an imaginary tear from his eye.
…..
October finally came around, and with it so did the first Hogsmeade trip. Harry particularly loved these since they were a distraction from the monotony of school, and because they always seemed to give him a sense of unrestrained freedom. Hogsmeade itself was a rather small village and, as Hermione like to constantly remind him, made up entirely of wizards. Its main attractions to the students were shops like Honeydukes, The Three Broomsticks and Zonko's, the last being Fred and George's favorite. There were also places like the Shrieking Shack., a branch shop of Ollivander's wands, a quill shop, a post office, a teashop, a book shop, a sports wear shop, and many more.
'I just hope Sirius doesn't show up.' Harry thought with a sigh. They had explicitly told the Animagus to stay, but then again, he wouldn't put it past him to try and sneak out of that house.
The Golden Trio began their usual trip through Honeydukes and while Harry and Ron visited Zonkos, Hermione made a quick stop at the book shop. On the way. they met the twins and Lee at the post office, and also Neville, Luna and Zidane, all chatting happily amongst themselves. Harry couldn't help but notice how the blonde looked a lot better than he had the last few days. He even received a mischievous wink when the Boy-Who-Lived was caught staring. The three reunited afterwards and after a short trip to the quill shop, the trio headed to their last destination, and main reason for going to the small village in the first place.
"Are you sure we are allowed here?" Harry asked as they approached the place.
The sign showed a severed boar head, bleeding steadily into the white cloth surrounding the sign with the words 'The Hog's Head'. The overall establishment was small, and extremely run down, smelling strongly of goats and other farm animals that really had no business in a place like this. At first he even thought that the ground was entirely comprised of dirt, but after a bit of prodding he realized it was an extremely thick and compressed layer of dirt over a stone floor. Rather than blinds to let the light out, the Hog's Head had so much grime on the windows that they were not necessary. The room itself was very dark and lit only by small candle stubs, the aforementioned windows not even letting in a small ray of light. The clientele…well there was no other way to describe it other than 'dodgy' or 'Very suspicious-looking'. Most, if not all of them, wore hoods, and those that didn't either wore bandages or some other article that helped conceal their faces. In other words, individuals like Death Eaters, or Marcus would fit right in. Though there was really no way of knowing if the latter was actually already here right now.
Harry remembered this as the place where Hagrid got the dragon egg that hatched into Norbert. Back then, he thought it was very odd for someone to cover their face, but now…well he would have been reconsidering it, were it not for that fact that his mind was too busy wondering what the hell Hermione was thinking when she decided that his place would make a good meeting spot.
"Yes, I checked and everything, this place isn't out of bounds. I even asked Professor Flitwick! He only recommended that I bring my own glass." Hermione said. Looking at the barman wipe a dirty glass with an even dirtier rag, Harry wholeheartedly agreed with the small Professor.
They ordered three Butterbeers from the old barman with the exceeding amounts of gray hair and a long beard. Harry couldn't help but think he was somewhat familiar, but he just couldn't quite place it. The grumpy barman slumped the very-dirty-looking bottles on the counter and after paying six sickles for them, the trio retreated to the furthest table from the bar.
"Why didn't we just go to the Three Broomsticks?" Ron asked.
"It's too crowded and we would have been overheard." Hermione defended. Harry wasn't really convinced, especially after looking at a veiled witch that was sitting near the fireplace. Harry could blame it on his paranoia, but he was almost sure that she was watching them. Catching his eye, Hermione replied. "Umbridge is much shorter than that woman."
"Well what about them?" Harry asked quietly as he discreetly pointed at the many hooded figures sitting at the bar.
"I'm sure Marcus has some better things to be doing than drinking in a place like this in the middle of the day." Hermione hissed quietly in reply. Harry wasn't so convinced.
"So how many people did you say were meeting us?" Harry snapped out of his thoughts and asked the bushy haired girl. After the talk they had, she had finally convinced him to teach a few other select students. He wasn't very happy with the arrangement, but it was too late to turn back now.
"Oh, just a few people." Hermione said and Harry caught the nervous tone. It was the same one that preceded something going wrong. His stomach clenched involuntarily, as if knowing what was coming. "I told them to be here about now, and I'm sure they all know where it is-oh look, this might be them now."
The doors of the pub opened and with it came a thick band of dusty sunlight which was quickly obscured by the incoming rush of people. First came in Neville with Zidane and Luna, and then Dean and Lavender, who were quickly followed by Parvati and Padma with Cho and her band of giggling girlfriends. Harry felt his stomach do a flip when he saw her. Then came Alicia, Katie and Angelina, Colin and Dennis Creevey, Ernie McMillan, Justin Finch-Fletchly, Hannah Abbot, a Hufflepuff girl whose name Harry did not know, three Ravenclaw boys whose names he was pretty sure were Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, and Terry Boot. Then came Ginny, closely followed by a tall skinny blonde Hufflepuff boy whom Harry recognized as a member of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and last but not least, Fred and George appeared, walking along with their best friend and fellow Gryffindor, Lee Jordan.
"A couple of people." Harry hissed at Hermione who shrank back. "A couple of people."
"Well the idea seemed quite popular." Hermione said and before Harry could protest, the girl turned towards Ron. " Ron, do you want to pull up some more chairs?"
Harry could only stare numbly at the hoard before him. Even the barman seemed frozen in shock. He probably never had so many people in his bar at once. The man snapped out of his shock when Fred ordered twenty-six Butterbeers for everyone present, while everyone chipped in for the drinks.
"Man I wish I could get something stronger instead." Zidane whined while conversing with Neville. Hermione quickly turned to glare at the blonde.
"You do realize there are prefects still present in this room." Hermione asked sternly.
"Oh yeah, what was I thinking?" Zidane asked mockingly. "Do you want some too?"
The group roared with laughter while Hermione's cheeks flushed a bright red. It was hard to tell if it was from embarrassment or anger.
"He got you there 'Mione." Ron said and was quickly silenced with a sharp jab on his side from the bookworm.
"Can we just get it over with?" Harry whispered harshly, still not knowing what exactly they were expecting from him. Hermione gave a nervous nod, seeing as everyone's attention was now on Harry.
"Well er, hi." Hermione said in a slightly higher pitch, before coughing and regaining her composure. "Well… erm… we all know why we are here. Erm well, Harry had the idea (Harry then chose to direct a glare at her)- I mean I had the idea- that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts- and I mean really, really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us (Anthony Goldstein and Zidane both cheered, making Hermione look heartened). Because no one can call that Defense Against the Dark Arts. Well, I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands."
She paused, looking at the group before her as they listened with rapt attention. "And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just in theory but doing the real spells-"
"You want to pass your DADA OWL too, though, I bet." Michael Corner said while watching the girl closely.
"Of course I do." Hermione said at once. "But more than that, I want to be properly trained in defense because…because…" Hermione said, taking a deep breath before finishing. "Because Voldemort is back."
The reaction was as instantaneous as it was predictable. There were surprised gasps all over, Cho's friend shrieked, dripping Butterbeer on herself. Terry Boot and several others gave involuntary twitches. Neville gave a small yelp that he managed to turn into a cough half way through. The only ones that seemed to be immune were Luna and Zidane, but it could be because Zidane was a foreigner and Luna was…well, Luna. But regardless of the different reactions, everyone had one thing in common. After that, they all turned to look expectantly at him.
"Well, that was the plan anyways. If you decide to join us we will have to decide how we're going to-" Hermione continued but then stopped when she was interrupted by a Hufflepuff. Apparently everyone was more fixated on Harry at the moment.
"Where's the proof You-Know-Who is back?" The boy asked.
"Well, Dumbledore believes it." Hermione started.
"You mean Dumbledore believes him." The same boy countered.
"Who are you?" Ron said rather rudely at the blonde boy.
"Zacharias Smith." The boy replied. "I think we all have the right to know."
Suddenly it dawned upon him why there were so many people gathered here today. Most, if not all the people here just wanted to hear the story from him first hand. Silently he cursed. Hermione should have seen this coming.
"You want proof Voldemort is back?" Harry said, his temper rising steadily as it had been the past few months. "I saw him. Dumbledore told you all what happened. And if you guys are not willing to believe him, then you won't likely believe me. I'm not wasting the afternoon trying to convince all of you."
"All Dumbledore told us last year was that You-Know-Who killed Cedric Diggory and that you brought his body back to Hogwarts." Zacharias Smith continued as everyone in the room listened intently, even the barman and possibly some of the customers. "He didn't give us any details, or tell us exactly how he died. I think we'd all like to know-"
"If you'd like to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone I can't help you." Harry said, his temper flaring dangerously. He kept his eyes focused on the angered boy before him, not risking a glance at Cho or really any of the people present. "I do not want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right? So if that's why you are here, then I suggest you clear out."
Harry cast an angry glare towards Hermione. It was, in his opinion, her fault this was happening. It was her idea in the beginning, and therefore her fault he was now being displayed like some kind of circus freak. And of course, everyone had decided to come feeling they 'deserved' to know the truth. But none of them seemed to leave either. They all seemed completely rooted to their seats and something had definitely changed in the way they were looking at him.
"So." Hermione said again, her voice quite nervous once more. "So, like I was saying…if we want to learn some defense, we will have to find out how we are going to do it, how often we are going to do it, and where we are going to-"
"Is it true you can create a Patronus?" A girl interrupted. "A corporeal Patronus?"
Harry stopped, the statement seeming particularly familiar to him. As it turned out, that girl, Susan Bones, was the niece of Madame Bones, the woman from the hearing.
"Blimey Harry, I never knew that!" Lee said looking very impressed.
"Mum told Ron not to spread it around. She said you got enough attention as it is." Fred said with a grin.
"And she's right." Harry mumbled and several others laughed. From the corner of his eye he saw the witch under the veil shift slightly and judging by the piercing cyan gaze that also landed on her, Harry guessed Zidane noticed too.
"And did you kill a basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office?" Terry Boot asked. "That's what one of the portraits told me when I went there last year."
"Er… yeah, I did." Harry said and everyone gave cries of awe and surprise.
Neville then mention their first year. Cho jumped in afterwards and mentioned the Tri-wizard Tournament, almost making his stomach do another flip. But before they could go on, he tried as hard as he could to prove that he wasn't the powerful wizard everyone made him out to be. Unfortunately, that didn't turn out so well.
"Sorry man, but the people have spoken." Zidane said with a lazy shrug and a grin.
"So all in favor of taking lessons from Harry?" Hermione asked as if making it official. There were general murmurs of agreement and even Zacharias Smith kept quiet. "Well then, now we have to figure out how often we will do it. I don't think there is much of a point if we meet only once a week."
After a small discussion about fitting the meetings so they don't clash with Quidditch practice, they had a small talk about self-defense being more important than Quidditch, which left Harry quite surprised at how supportive Ernie Mcmillan was of Hermione's idea. The teen obviously had a strong sense of loyalty towards his ideals, which was something Harry could respect.
When Hermione commented on Ernie's own opinion, most of the people were left in shock at the news. Learning that they had gotten a horrible teacher based on the Minister's suspicions that they were trying to create an army to overthrow the government would be shocking too if you were a student. Again, the only ones that didn't look remotely surprised were Zidane and Luna. When asked, Zidane simply stated that he already kinda figured that the Minister was, as he put it, 'a giant paranoid wuss', Luna simply shrugged and said that Fudge already had some form of army made by supposedly none-existent creatures called Heliopaths. Unfortunately, that led to a heated argument between Hermione and Luna regarding the existence of such creatures.
"Hem, hem." Ginny said in such an accurate imitation of Umbridge, that several of the students gathered had looked around frantically, before realizing it was her and bursting into laughter.
After debating where they would practice, the group ended up reaching a stalemate. The library was an unlikely choice, the Shrieking Shack was too small, Harry doubted McGonagall would lend them her classroom like she did last year, the secret passages were too cramped, and there was really no way anyone would dare set foot in the Forbidden Forest. In the end, they decided to think about that in detail later. After that, they would message everyone with the time and place for the first meeting.
Hermione then rummaged through her bag before taking out a piece of parchment and quill. "I-I think everybody should write their names, just so we know who was here. But I also think-" Hermione took a deep breath. "that we ought to agree to keep it a secret. So if you sign, you are agreeing not to tell Umbridge or anybody else what we are up to."
There were now hesitant looks going around the groups. Fred quickly reached out and cheerfully signed his name. Zidane followed quickly and winked at Harry before handing the list over to Neville who signed it with a rather determined look. He saw Cho smile at him before filling in her name, her friend however, didn't seem all that pleased with it, though. Many of the group like Ernie and several others who also happened to be prefects were also quite reluctant to sign, but after being reassured by Hermione, they seemed to give in. A line was formed, and soon the parchment was quickly filled with names. When it was finally over, a heavy silence settled throughout the room. They all felt like a new bond united them. Through better or worse, they were all in it together now.
"Well, we really should get going. There are several matters George, Lee and I must attend to. We can't let that prankster take our spotlight again, can we?" Fred said and the three friends quickly got up.
"I should go as well. There is this book I wanted to check out about rare species of plants from the Amazonian rainforest. There is this amazing species of carnivorous plants that can paralyze its prey before eating it whole." Neville said, before turning towards Zidane. "Want to come?"
"No thanks." Zidane said giving an involuntary shudder. It was no secret that plants in general were out for the blonde. "Besides, there is this thing I wanted to check out myself. I'll see you guys later then."
The blonde got up and left and slowly the group trickled out of the bar. Cho made a huge fuss out of her bag, before her friend gave her a disapproving click of her tongue. With a sigh, the girl gave Harry a small smile and left. In the end only the Golden Trio was left. They gathered up their things and soon left the dingy pub.
"Well that went quite well." Hermione said happily.
"That Zacharias bloke was a wart." Ron said angrily.
"Well he overhead me talking to Ernie and Hannah over at the Hufflepuff table, and he wanted in on it. I don't really like him either, but I guess the more people the better." Hermione said thoughtfully. "I mean Michael Corner and his friends wouldn't have come if he weren't going out with Ginny."
"He's WHAT!?" Ron said, managing to spray Butterbeer all over himself in shock. His ears quickly turned a flaming red in anger. "She's going out with… MY sister is going… What do you mean Micheal Corner!?"
"They met at the Yule Ball and got together at the end of last year." Hermione replied as they stopped in front of a quill shop. "Hmm, I could use a new one."
"But I though she fancied Harry!" Ron sputtered.
"Well she used to fancy Harry. She sort of got over it a few months ago. Not that she doesn't like you of course." Hermione added as she shot him a look before checking a rather dazzling display of pheasant feathers.
"So is that why she talks now?" Harry asked and Hermione nodded as she looked over some prices.
"Exactly. She still hasn't quite gotten over her crush on Zidane, but she seems to deal with it better." Hermione mused.
"SHE LIKES ZIDANE, TOO?!" Ron shouted, his face taking on a bright red shade. Harry had the impression he was going to quickly try and hunt down a certain exchange student.
"Well it's really more like a phase at this point. Just about every girl in Hogwarts has had a crush on him." Hermione said.
"No way." Ron said still in shock.
"Does that include you?" Harry asked cheekily, making the brunette blush."You did say every girl."
"Well yes, I did. But I am more interested in you and Cho." Hermione quickly changed topics. "She couldn't seem to take her eyes off of you today."
This time it was Harry's turn to blush. She had certainly gotten him there.
…..
Zidane sneezed loudly as he walked the chilly streets of Hogsmeade. He certainly hoped he hadn't caught a cold. With the sudden changes in the weather and his occasional midnight outing, it wasn't exactly impossible.
'Just hope it doesn't get too bad.' Zidane mused as he walked over to one of the more deserted alleys and away from prying eyes.
After making sure nobody was in sight and he hadn't been followed, Zidane opened his travel pouch, took out his long black cloak and scarf, and put them on, the combined fabric now covering his features. He walked out of the alley calmly and back-tracked all the way to the grimy pub that was the Hog's Head. He only got a few curious glances from the students prowling about, though the local residents didn't even glance at him. Judging by the crowd he had seen in the pub earlier, hooded strangers were quite the common sight in these parts.
He opened the old door, allowing a beam of sunlight to shoot inside the darkened interior of the pub, before entering and closing it behind him. Sure the place was dirty, but it wasn't really the worst he had seen, and he had seen a lot. He walked up confidently towards the barman, his gait matching those of the people around him. Once there, he met the old barman and pointed at a bottle of spirits on a dusty rack, before depositing some money of the table. He wasn't all that sure what he had just chosen, but he wasn't really a picky guy. The barman raised one bushy brow, his x-ray blue eyes scanning him, before he gave him his order as well as his change. Zidane simply gave a nod and walked off.
He took a seat next to the fireplace, specifically right next to the veiled witch that was currently smoking a pipe. He wiped the glass he was given with the edge of his cloak before pouring himself a drink, and then he reached over and poured some of the stuff on the witches' empty glass. Zidane reached over and took a swig of his drink, enjoying the warmth that spread through his body. It tasted like rum, only stronger and with a peculiar hint of something else. All in all it was quite good. The veiled witch followed quickly in his steps, lifting the veil slightly so she could take a drink.
"You know Dung, I really had no idea you rolled that way." Zidane said in a low and highly amused voice.
"Can it monkey boy, jus' cus that bloke 'ad to go an lose that invisibility cloak and I'm banned from the Hog's Head." Mundungus's voice replied from behind the veil.
"Yeah, how are things doing back there? I haven't exactly been kept in the loop." The hooded teen asked.
"They're jus' as bad, as they seem." Mundungus replied. "It is safe fer now, but tha's not what I'm doin here. Ye know what I mean."
Zidane gave a nod. "Now what do you think about the little meeting earlier?"
"They're just lucky none of these wankers are with the enemy. Jus about everyone could've heard 'em." The man said taking another swig.
"Yeah, you know your plan is in trouble when even a crossdressing con artist knows about it." Zidane joked.
"Bloody monkey." The man growled as he put his glass down.
"So I take it you are going to report this." Zidane said, serious one again, and the veiled 'witch' nodded. "Good."
Zidane wasn't an idiot. When he wrote his name on the parchment he knew it was charmed because he felt a tiny bit of magic latch onto him. The parchment itself had been buzzing with magic, too. If his suspicions were right, and they often tended to be, Hermione charmed the thing just in case. Maybe the spell told Hermione if someone blabbed or maybe something terrible would happen to the person who did it, but Zidane doubted it would be too harmful. It just wasn't like Hermione to do such a thing. but then again, he didn't think it was worth the risk. The last time he let his guard down he ended up looking like Kuja.
The teen shivered at the thought.
Regardless of what it did, Hermione had overlooked one very important loop hole, the very loophole that he was taking advantage of right now. Technically he hadn't told anyone about the secret classes, Mundungus already knew since he had been listening in on them. And while Zidane was likely bound to keep a secret, Dung hadn't written his name down, so he was free to tell the Order what was going on.
"There's something else." Dung said, bringing him out of his thoughts. "They want me to get help if things go' bad today. You 'know wha I'm talkin' about right?"
Zidane gave a nod before taking a swig of his drink.
"Snape told me earlier. Voldy must be real interested in me if he's willing to risk blowing his cover to get me." The genome said in a low voice while his mind remembered what happened that day.
…
Zidane gave a happy sigh as he finished doing his business in the Room of Requirement, and by 'business' he meant four straight hours of exercising and unleashing all that pent up energy, not the…well other thing.
'Still feels great though.' Zidane thought as he stretched in a very cat-like manner, his tail swishing about happily, though still out of sight.
He was happy that they weren't forced to wear robes all the time. He couldn't let his tail out like this when he wore them. His tail always got caught it the fabric, making it quite obvious that it was there. But now he was wearing his Muggle clothes, complete with a sweatshirt and baggy pants, his small item bag strapped to his belt right over where the 'tail-hole' on his pants was, effectively keeping it out of sight.
'Yep, it truly feels great.' Zidane said contently.
He walked down the stairs to get to the Great Hall, he was late for dinner as it was. Even the hallways were empty of students; all of them already there. With a sigh, Zidane reached into his pouch for his school cloak. Unfortunately, they were supposed to wear it during meals at the Great Hall. There was no way he was stripping and putting on his full uniform, but he assumed the cloak was enough, even if it was a bit creased from being stuffed in his magical bag. He coiled his tail around his waist before putting on the black and red cloak. It was then that he noticed someone coming.
'Well he looks pissed.' Zidane thought as he saw a certain Potions Master walking towards him, his robes billowing like a bat out of hell.
"Mr. Tribal, are you aware you have nearly been declared missing?" The man said, his tone harsh and acerbic. "The only reason we didn't send a search party into the Forbidden Forest was because Albus thought you weren't daft enough to try that stunt again. I personally disagree."
"Aww, is that a hint of worry I detect? You're gonna make me blush." Zidane said jokingly.
"Don't. Push. Your. Luck." Snape bit back, his tone dangerous. "Now follow me, before I regret my decision of not jinxing you."
Zidane noticed the hidden urgency to the man's voice and complied. If he was telling him to follow, he assumed it was important. He imagined it was because Snape wouldn't want to associate with him unless it was a life or death situation, hence the urgency.
They walked silently for a few minutes, reaching Hogwarts' lower levels, right where the dungeons were located. It was then that they made a turn and walked inside a room. Snape took out his wand and muttered spells over the door and walls, making a thin layer of magic cover them. The room itself looked dreary and the first thing that caught his gaze was the many racks filled with a wide assortment of things floating inside jars. He then noticed the many cauldrons, flasks, ingredient cabinets, and other tools one would use in potion making. Lastly, he noticed the dark desk on the side, several stacks of papers littering its surface. Zidane easily connected the dots and realized he was in Snape's office.
"So what did you call me here for?" Zidane asked as he sat on a nearby chair backwards and uncoiled his tail, letting it wave behind him lazily
"I want to you to listen and listen well, because I will not repeat myself." The man said as he finished putting the last spell so they would not be spied upon or interrupted. "Your little stunt in Diagon Alley has caught the Dark Lord's attention. Not to mention he was interested with what you did to Lucius. He plans to make a move at the next Hogsmeade trip to try and capture you, even though I told him it would risk his cover. Even you should understand what that means."
"It just means Voldy is going to send Death Eaters and attempt to kidnap me." Zidane said with a shrug.
"Fool!" Snape snapped, though Zidane didn't know if it was because he called Voldemort 'Voldy' or because he didn't seem bothered by the information. "Not only could he go after you, but there's a chance he could go after Potter as well! Not to mention the Order can't interfere. We have already discussed this and sending Order members outside of Hogwarts to intervene would be unwise-"
"Because it would tell Voldemort that there is a spy in his midst, namely you." Zidane finished. "Don't worry, I won't get caught."
"You had better not. We cannot afford any losses at this time." Snape said. "At most we will send a person to watch over Potter while you deal with the Death Eaters."
"Will you be within their ranks?" Zidane asked.
"There is a chance I will, though I have not yet been notified." Snape answered.
"You make sure to tell me first, because I'd rather not kill you, unless I really have to. I truly think that deep down you have come to accept me into your pitch-black heart" Zidane said with a smirk, making the Potion Master's lip curl back in a snarl.
"I said. Don't. Push. It"
"Is that all you wanted from me?" The teen replied, feigning innocence
"No, there is one more thing." Snape said, regaining his composure. "I need you tell me how to cure Lucius' condition. It would be best if you showed me the remedy, in case the Dark Lord becomes suspicious."
"You just gotta ruin my fun, don't you?" The genome whined.
….
Zidane then gave the Potions Master an echo screen, and afterwards he quickly headed to dinner where Neville told him about the meeting the Golden Trio was having about extra DADA classes. And well, the rest was history.
"Don't worry about me though, it'll be fine." Zidane assured the man before him. "I will try to get as far away as I can before that can happen, maybe to the Shrieking Shack or something."
"I'll tell McGonagall, then. Woman will 'ave my hide if I don't." the man said before downing the rest of his drink and getting up. "You're not 'aving the rest of that are ye?"
"Sorry Dung, but this bottle is staying with me." Thhe blonde said as he finished his own glass. The shameless thief just gave a shrug before getting up and leaving the pub. Zidane waited for a few more minutes before leaving, too. It would look too suspicious if they left together, after all. Walking to the empty alley behind the pub, he took off his cloak and stuffed it in his bag alongside his bottle of booze. Afterwards, he made his way to Hogsmeade's main streets.
It was showtime.
Zidane walked past the Three Broomsticks and then stopped when reaching Honeydukes. Though he admitted a lot of the stuff in display looked great, that wasn't why he had stopped here. No, the real reason he had stopped was to check if the Death Eaters had fallen for the bait. The shops' reflective window made it easier to be on the lookout while appearing to be window shopping.
'There they are!' The cyan-eyed teen thought as he looked at a pair of suspicious men, point at him in a not-so-subtle way. Zidane felt a bit disappointed actually. He was expecting so much more.
Walking calmly while humming a merry tune to himself, Zidane walked over to the next shop, a Quidditch supply store, and pretended to look at the new brooms.
'Actually, I think I might buy one. It's really not something you see every day, at least not in Gaia or Terra.' Zidane mused. 'But not now, I have a few more urgent things to worry about at the moment.'
Giving a discreet look at the reflection, he saw that three more men had joined in. He bit back the urge to shout and call them amateurs. But really, could they be more obvious?
'Even Kuja was more subtle.' Zidane said while mentally snorting. 'Guess I should end this.'
Looking over a sign talking about the Shrieking Shack and its status as one of the most haunted places in Britain, Zidane pretended to look curious, before following the signs that led farther away from the lively village and into the empty outskirts where the Shrieking Shack was.
'That's it, now just a smidge closer to where nobody will be able to disturb us. Come on, just a little further' The thief thought as he headed past the front of the area surrounding the dilapidated building. When he finally got far enough, he was stopped when he heard a loud 'crack' behind him. Turning around, he was greeted by a cloaked man not even three feet away, pointing a wand directly at him.
"Takin' a stroll through the woods's dangerous or didn't mum ever tell you that?" The man said as he approached, and though his face was covered by a mask, Zidane could make out the man's yellow teeth and smell his putrid breath on his neck. "The Dark Lord's got a bone to pick with ye."
"Is that so? What would he want with me?" Zidane asked. He already had a pretty good idea what Voldy wanted with him, he had, after all, wiped the floor with his followers earlier with a power unknown to this world. What he really wanted was to stall time so he could analyze his current predicament.
There were at least around six Death Eaters present, though Zidane had the feeling there were more just hidden out of sight. Though he normally wouldn't have any problems when it came to fighting numerous opponents, he knew this was different. In practice against Alexandrian guards, the guards would usually stand and fight valiantly with sword in hand. Death Eaters were different. Like thieves, they would probably go for underhanded tricks like cursing him while his back was turned.
The fact that they were wizards made things much worse. In terms of strength, he could probably defeat them several times over, but their magic complicated things. Magic here was unpredictable and he just didn't know enough about what spells they were likely to use and what each spell did. Sure he had his own brand of magic, but even he admitted that they were probably better magic users than him. He had lots of power, not control. He was still a slow caster, which was something that usually left him open in battle. Most of his protective spells didn't last long or weren't as stable as he wanted them, making a more than a few blow up right in his face. Worst of all, his offensive spells carried as much as a risk to his enemies as they did to himself.
In short, he was more comfortable fighting with his daggers.
'Shit.' Zidane thought, his eyes widening as he felt a familiar presence make itself known. It was dark and cold, so cold in fact that it made him feel as if frost was creeping over his bones. But warmth was not the only thing he was losing. In a similar manner, he felt the very happiness in his soul start to leave him, only to be replaced with anguish and despair.
'Dementors.'
On hindsight he really should have seen it coming.
"So, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." The man said, though Zidane noticed how his voice wavered slightly with the overwhelming presence of the Dementors. "W-what'll it be?"
"How about neither?"The teen said cheekily.
The man looked surprised for a second, but that was more than enough for Zidane to make his move. He quickly swiped the man's wand from his hand with his still-invisible tail, making the man flinch in stupor, before falling back with a grunt as thief followed up with a powerful kick to the stomach. The other Death Eaters drew their wands in surprise and Zidane quickly found himself dodging their attacks as the Dementors slowly advanced towards him.
'Dammit!' Zidane cursed silently as he reached into his bag and drew his twin mage mashers. Maybe confronting these guys alone was a bad idea.
Fighting against the feeling of desolation that washed over him, Zidane did the unthinkable and ran towards the closest Dementor, taking a deep breath as if it would keep him from drowning in the overpowering despair that emanated from them. Holding firmly on his daggers, the teen fought against the ever-growing pressure in his chest and the hollow shouts that began ringing in his ears as he neared his target. Frost ran up the metal and up his arms as he sliced the creature's hooded head off. The teen gasped for breath as soon as the pressure disappeared, the Dementor's assault leaving him feeling sick to his stomach weak. He would have to remember never to do that again.
He would've loved to lie down and ease his queasy stomach, but unfortunately he still had around half a dozen Death Eaters shooting spells at him.
'Guess I have no choice.' Zidane thought with a sigh, before turning back towards the several Death Eaters in front of him. Pointing his finger towards a spot behind them, he cried out. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?"
The reaction was instant. The moment the words left his lips, the many Death Eaters turned to look behind only to see nothing wrong or out of the ordinary. When they turned back, the blonde had already made a 'tactical retreat' into the forest. Zidane, of course, vehemently refused to call it 'running away'.
"Quick, after him!" One of the Death Eaters yelled, as several loud 'cracks' were heard. Zidane rolled his eyes from his perch on one of the tall pines as the villains re-apparated on the forest underbrush.
'Seriously, would it kill them to walk?' Zidane thought as he saw the men frantically look for him. The teen then winced as the nausea threatened to make him puke.
"Where is he? Find Him!" One of the men said and Zidane cursed silently to himself as he tried to concentrate into his spell casting.
"There he is!" One of the men said as he managed to spot him in the canopy above.
"Shit!" Zidane cursed as he dodged a barrage of spells by jumping from branch to branch. 'Come on, just a bit more…'
The genome quickly spun as he felt the atmosphere grow colder, and a tugging feeling began to nag at him from the side. There, floating eerily through the trees towards him were the remaining three Dementors. Desperation quickly began to claw at him, threatening to make him lose his concentration. 'Come on, COME ON! Almost there…and…NOW!'
Once the energy reached its peak, Zidane released the spell, relishing its warmth as it flooded around him and formed and iridescent bubble. The magic that now surrounded him somehow helped against the onslaught of despair. Jumping down from the tree just in time to avoid a swipe from the dark creatures, the thief positioned himself mid-fall, and used his momentum to land on one unlucky Death Eater, who was now nothing more than a convenient meat-shield. A barrage of spells quickly fell upon him, but they ricocheted right off the reflect spell Zidane had just cast over himself and managed to hit at two unfortunate Death Eaters.
Zidane wasn´t really all that confident about his reflect spells. He had just recently learned how to make the barriers, and he hadn´t exactly had the chance to practice, because that would require another person to constantly shoot spells at him while being able to dodge when it backfired, and he didn´t have such a luxury. There were some things even the Room of Requirement couldn´t provide, not that he hadn´t thought about asking others. The students weren´t supposed to know, and the Order members were too busy, not to mention it was still quite dangerous. He had thought about asking Dobby, but he didn´t want the elf getting hurt, especially with all the work he had to do around the tower.
Another spell hit the barrier, and as the teen suspected, it started growing unstable as thin cracks appeared on its bubble-like surface. Though it wasn´t strong, it could at least buy him some time. Apparently, it also helped keep away the Dementors. Why it did, he had no idea, maybe they couldn't quite sense him like this, but either way, he wasn't complaining. With a swift strike, Zidane took out another Death Eater, his wand snapping as the teen's boot crushed it into splinters. He followed up by quickly delivering a clean stab to another man's middle; a fatal wound.
Though he disliked the idea of killing, he had no qualms about putting an end to these men. He knew that if he let them live, many more lives would be forfeit. These men wouldn't think twice about killing innocents, and if stopping them meant blood on his hands, then so be it. The wizards would probably frown upon it, but they hadn't experienced the things he had.
'Being compassionate isn't a weakness, but being naïve is. As much as I would want it, the world isn't made up of rainbows and butterflies.' Zidane said to himself as he thought about these wizards and especially one certain candy-loving headmaster.
Though they might have thought his methods 'barbaric', he begged to differ. He wasn't the one segregating people based on species, or sending dark monsters to suck out the souls of criminals. Now that was barbaric. In Zidane's opinion, no person, criminal or not, deserved such a fate. It was, in many ways, worse than death.
The thief winced as he saw another crack appear on his barrier. He knew it wouldn't be long now. A few more spells and the barrier would shatter. Then again, Zidane was referring to normal spells; he had no idea about how those so called 'unforgivable curses' would affect the barrier.
'Well it's not like they are trying to kill me right?' The blonde though with some relief.
"Evada Kedavra!" The genome heard a Death Eater shout, before narrowly dodging the beam of green light that shot towards him. Though it didn't hit him, it did manage to tear right through his shield as if it were nothing more than fragile paper, which was shocking to say the least. Apparently his whimsy reflect didn't help much against the killing curse.
"The bloody hell do you think you're doin?! We ain't supposed to kill'im!" One of the Death Eaters reprimanded.
"Well he dodged it!" The man defended himself, before resorting to shooting some other nasty looking curses. Zidane snapped out of his stupor before dodging and then countering with another lethal strike. Without the barrier, he could start to feel the biting cold that permeated from the Dementors.
He struck another man with a horizontal slash to the chest. He not only had to dodge every spell (he had no idea what each one would do to him if it came in contact with him), but he also had to constantly move away from the Dementors who were constantly zooming in on him, AND try to take his enemies down while he was at it. Keeping track of his constantly moving enemies was nearly impossible.
'I'm really going to have work on my 'wand' magic after this. That is, if I manage to get out of this alive.' Zidane thought.
It was true that using wands made magic work faster. Though he had a wand, he had rarely put it to use since he had gotten it. In fact, the only times he ever used it was during the practical Charms and Transfiguration lessons. He just didn't see any need for it anywhere else, especially when he could do everything the regular 'none magical' way. Most of the time, he didn't even carry it with him. If he needed some magic done during a fight, he could always just do magic without an aid. It's not like the Toad actually taught them how to use wands to defend themselves. He didn't know a single spell he could cast with it to help, so basically the elaborate piece of wood was mostly useless to him in combat.
Zidane dodged another hit before disabling another Death Eater. His moves were becoming sloppier because of the Dementors influence, but so were the attacks the Death Eaters were dishing out. They probably wanted to finish this just as much as he did. It appeared the Dementors were becoming more desperate in their attacks, as well.
Though it could easily mean he was closer to victory, Zidane didn't feel like he was winning. The strain was almost too much with the Dementors present. Those things were on your happiness faster than a nymph on ores. Zidane knew he wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer. Unlike last time, this time he was too drained to trace. He shouldn't have d rushed at that Dementor head-on like he did. He felt queasy and although he wanted to pass out at first, that was no longer the case. He was beyond that. Sheer will was keeping him conscious, but the Dementors's influence was still strong. Already his senses were being overwhelmed by the sounds of shouts and the smell of fire and blood; the phantom reminders of the things he experienced during the war.
'Come on, you're just imagining those. It's not real, the war is over, just focus on the fight. You have to go back to Dagger.' The teen repeated like a mantra in his head, the thought of her smile giving him a rush of strength.
Truth be told, he was finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish illusion from reality He'd been in their presence for far too long now.
Zidane turned around and watched as the Dementor before him morphed into a Black Waltz. Fear gripped him as he ran his dagger through the creature and then jumped back as far away as he could to get away from the awful feeling that flooded him. On the ground the Black Waltz, no, DEMENTOR, was suddenly enveloped by thorny vines and turned into stone.
'Get it together, you're just seeing things!' Zidane repeated once more, though his heart was racing and his head was throbbing painfully. He thought about casting another barrier but somehow, his mind came up blank.
He could only stay near the creatures for so long. Being close to them not made the hallucinations more vivid, but they gave him this weird feeling. He didn't know how to exactly describe it, but in simple words, it made him feel like he was heading straight to a vortex. The closest thing he could relate it to was that time Garland messed around with his soul in Pandemonium.
'It's not real you're just hallucinating, come on, now only two more Dementors to go.' Zidane thought as he wiped the cold sweat off of his brow, the phantom smell of burning flesh was becoming too much for him to handle, while edges of his vision saw fire and smoke, despite the freezing chill in the air. He turned around, and saw the large form of Deathguise floating before him, though without even thinking about it, the teen sank both his daggers deep into its body.
'Just one more, come on! Do it for her!' Zidane heard a rattling breath, and this time turned around and saw Garland. Feeling a surge of warmth rise from his inner cold pit of despair, the teen let out a loud cry as he jumped up and beheaded the armor-clad man with a swing of his now-frozen daggers.
The throbbing of his head slowly began to ease as his shaking body seemed to recover just slightly from the Dementor's effects. Slowly the fire and smoke began to disappear from his vision and was replaced by the green and brown of the forest that surrounded him. The hallucinations weren't so bad, anymore. 'Come on, focus. Ignore the cold and keep your guard up. There's still a pair of Death Eaters out there, maybe more.'
He could already see black in the borders of his vision. He was positively drained and needed to finish this now.
Zidane was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt the slightest shift in the air behind him; something he wouldn't have been able to notice before with the Dementors present. Rapidly, and almost on reflex, he thrust his dagger into the spot, just as a loud 'crack' resonated through the air and his dagger pierced through the flesh of the recently apparated wizard. A series of shrieks rang out, and he momentarily saw himself stabbing through a Black Mage; a probable after-effect of Dementors. The man gave a dull grunt before bending over and coughing up blood. He was still alive but it was clear that the man's life would be over quite soon. Zidane would have sighed in relief, but in what could be considered a moment of clarity, he realized that something just didn't fit.
'Why throw himself like that, even if he was scared? It just doesn't make sense.' Zidane wondered, as he tried to withdraw his blade, but was surprised when the injured man grabbed his wrist, an insane smile appearing on his face that showed off bloodstained, yellow teeth. The air around him shifted again, and suddenly, Zidane realized what was happening.
'Oh crap.'
The blonde could only kick the man roughly to release his wrist and let go of the dagger still stuck in his gut, before there was another loud 'crack' and the dying Death Eater disappeared once more. So hurried were his actions that Zidane didn't realize that the trap he had just narrowly avoided was nothing more than a distraction. In fact, he had just given the Death Eater behind him the golden opportunity to strike him while his actions had rendered him defenseless. These guys had probably been waiting for him to take out the Dementors before taking him down when he was weak.
"Crucio!" The Death Eater shouted, and Zidane could only watch with wide cyan eyes as the spell shot towards him and hit him directly in the chest.
The next thing Zidane knew was that he was sprawled on the ground crying out as he felt white hot knives tear through him. He could not remember the last time he had felt so much pain. His nerves felt like they were on fire. His muscles felt like they would rip any moment from the strain. His lungs felt like they had somehow inhaled a Flare spell. Compared to the hallucinations before, this felt agonizingly real.
He tried to move but his body didn't respond. At most all he could manage was to have his arms, legs and tail flail madly without coordination or control. The spell ended after a few moments, but to Zidane, it felt like an eternity. When the spell ended, he was left panting on the ground, his throat hoarse and raw, and his muscles twitching involuntarily with painful spasms. Though the spell ended, a ghost of the pain had decided to stay.
"First time ye get hit by one ain't it?" The Death Eater said mockingly in a thick accent as he circled above him. Zidane tried to move his arm to reach his dagger, but how could he hope to strike the evil man if he could hardly focus his blurring gaze on him? No hallucinations bothered him now, it seemed like the spell had forcibly shocked him into reality. Though his vision blurred he could see the forest surrounding them just perfectly, and for once, the clarity of it all scared him."You ain't so tough now are ya? Ye gave us all so much trouble, but I guess I should thank ye. Now I will be the one to get all the credit. I will be the one to get rewarded handsomely by our Lord. The Dark Lord says ye have to be brought back alive, but that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun does it?"
The man gave an insane grin, showing off crooked teeth, before pointing his wand at the blonde and calling out 'crucio' again. The pain returned once more, and Zidane clenched his jaw shut in response. He was at least glad he hadn't bitten his tonguet off by mistake. He clawed at the earth from the pain, but this time he refused to scream, which only seemed to anger his attacker.
'I-I can't let this end. I can't go back on my promise.' Zidane thought to himself. Just the thought of home made the pain feel duller. Perhaps it was due to the fight earlier and all his nerves had simply been fried, but either way, for some reason he felt a strange feeling of detachment from it all. Briefly, he wondered if this was what it felt like dying.
The man stopped again, noticing how the blonde had gone slack. When he noticed that he was still alive, he pointed his wand once more. Zidane was too weak to trance, so instead, he tried doing the next best thing. Stretching out his hand weakly towards the man, he gathered as much energy as he could, the feeling of detachment somehow giving his brain the much need clarity.
The Death Eater looked amused by the teen's attempts at first, but his amusement was soon replaced with shock and then terror as he saw the golden energy that was gathering at the blonde's fingertips. Shouting out a series of curses, the man brought up his wand to stop the blonde, but he was too late. Before the Death Eater could bring the words to fight back, the blonde had already released the energy that flew outwards and exploded loudly in a display of golden flames and earth shaking power.
'Did I do it?' Zidane thought hazily as he tried to open his eyes. His ears were ringing from the explosion and his body felt like he had been trampled by a herd of Behemoths. He was faintly aware that his right arm was stinging painfully. When he finally opened his eyes, the image was blurry. All he could discern were the many small blurs flying off that he recognized as birds, and the large billowing clouds of smoke that were rising into the air. The genome groaned as he attempted to roll over and get back on his feet. He could barely get on his knees before he had to clutch his head with his left hand and hope the world around him would stop spinning. Though he wanted nothing more than to pass out and give in to sweet bliss, a small voice in his head told him that he needed to leave this place.
'I gotta get out of here.' Zidane thought in a daze. He made a move to get up, but before he could gather what little strength he had to do so, he was stopped dead in his tracks as a cold chill swept through his aching body. Looking up slowly from where he knelt, he blurring gaze saw frost creeping over the charred floor. Above that, he was greeted by a floating black cloaked figure and its rattling breath.
To be continued…
….
A/N: The "faster than a nymph on ores" is a reference to the side friendly monster side-quest. The Black Walttzs, Deathguise, and Garland are all bosses in FFIX. I imagine that if you can somehow overcome the urge to pass out from a Dementor's influence you still get the whole despair-induced hallucinations package, and continued exposure to a Dementor basically makes these hallucinations worse, until they eventually drive a person mad. Zidane didn't suffer from this side effect the last time because he tranced. This time you could say that he bit off a lot more than he could chew.
Questions? Comments? Just review or PM me, either is fine.