Notes: Wanted to put this chapter up yesterday, but it just wasn't possible due to some technical difficulties (the beta'd version didn't upload right and the backup was misplaced ). Anyways, I made it a bit longer than usual to celebrate reaching 100 reviews. Congrats to Rikulaw for being the 100th reviewer, by the way. Thanks to everyone that has been following up until now, and special thanks to Crystal for beta-ing as always. You guys are awesome.

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Chapter 24: Shenanigans in the Snow

Zidane trudged through the snow towards the small cabin that had been empty up until now. He knew this was the groundkeeper's since they had mentioned it several times during Care of Magical Creatures when they had classes right in front of it. Now, however, there was smoke rising from its chimney and coupled with the obvious light inside the house, it was clear that 'Hagrid' was back.

'And I still can't figure out where I've heard that name before.' Zidane thought as he wrapped his black cloak more tightly around himself to ward off the cold. He was half tempted to stay in the castle, but he knew that the faster that he got this done, the better, that, and he heard that the weather would only get worse from here. So unless he wanted to become a genome popsicle on his next try, now was really his best choice. 'I think my tail is already frozen. How these people can live with such weather is still a mystery to me, but if I could survive the Ice Caverns, then this shouldn't be so bad, right?'

Wrapping his numb tail around his middle, Zidane let a sigh of relief as he neared the little cottage. He was wearing his uniform under the cloak, which didn't really protect him from the cold as much as he would've hoped so. He was currently invisible, but even then he was very anxious since he knew that his set of footprints in the snow could reveal his location to anyone with a keen eye. He only hoped that the currently falling snow would cover his trail, and that no one would be crazy enough to come out here in such weather.

Zidane knocked politely on the door and immediately heard loud barks and then the sound of large, heavy footsteps. He was very familiar to the sound since he heard it every time Baku was in the vicinity. The creaking floorboards of the Prima Vista didn't make things any better.

The footsteps became louder before stopping, though the barks continued for longer, just on the other side of the door. Zidane heard the sound of a bolt being drawn back and then saw a sliver of light escape from the inside of the cottage. He inwardly debated if he should dispel the invisibility now or when he was already inside, but he didn't get much of a choice when the next thing he knew he was pinned down by something large. Something large that was currently slobbering all over his face.

"Down Fang, down!" A somewhat familiar voice bellowed and soon the weight pushing down on him disappeared.

When he looked up, he was greeted by a rather familiar face. Or what that face would've looked like if it had a fight with a Shell Dragon and lost. Even then, he finally remembered where he had met the man before. Back during the first time he entered Diagon Alley, Hagrid was the one that opened the path back to the Leaky Cauldron for him since he didn't have a wand. Afterwards they both went drinking together. He had mentioned being the gamekeeper of Hogwarts back then too, now that he remembered. He almost couldn't believe he had forgotten about him. Though in his defense, it was a pretty long time ago and he couldn't remember much from that night either because of all the drinking.

"Hagrid?" The genome asked as he got up from the snow. The giant man before him looked at the empty spot before him in confusion, almost as if he understood what was going on but something didn't quite fit.

"Who's there." The man demanded as he held the giant black dog back. "Show yerself!"

"Easy big guy, it's me." Zidane said as he quickly cast dispel over himself and pulled his hood down to reveal his face."

"Marcus s'that you?" The man asked, and then his look turned angry when he saw the red and gold uniform colors under his cloak. With his swollen eye and several cuts in his face, the visage was all the more terrifying. "You said, ye weren't a student! Bloody hell, I wen drinkin with a minor!"

"Listen, I can explain, but we better take it inside." Zidane said as he held up both hands in the universal (or so he hoped) sign of surrender.

The large man gave him a scowl (or so he thought since it was hard to tell at the moment), but let him inside. Immediately, Hagrid went over to the fireplace and started heating a kettle. The large black dog, apparently named Fang, just sniffed him curiously while wagging his tail. Zidane just settled for a rather large chair in front of an even larger table.

"Alright, explain." Hagrid said as he walked over with an oversized mug (or a regular sized bowl with a handle?) filled with tea and gave it to him, before setting one up for himself and returning with what looked like a green steak.

"Well, I guess I should start by saying that I'm really not a student. Well, at least I'm only posing as one. I'm in the Order too, and I'm supposed to be watching over Harry." The teen explained as he watched the man place the steak over his eye. He tried to ignore the green blood that slowly trickled down to the man's large beard.

Hagrid only gave him an incredulous look, though it was hard to tell because one of his eyes was only a swollen slit and covered by a nasty green steak. "Now listen 'ere, Dumbledore would never let no one tha's underage into the Order-"

"I'm seventeen." Zidane deadpanned. Hagrid stopped dead in disbelief. The blonde searched for the piece of parchment McGonagall gave him, and after retrieving it from the folds of his clock, he handed it over to the man. "McGonagall thought it would be hard to believe so she told me to give you this."

Hagrid momentarily settled the steak over the table and proceeded to open up the sealed roll of parchment. Zidane just tapped a gloved finger against the table top as he saw the man's beady black eye, and currently only good eye, scan over the contents of the letter. After what felt like an eternity, Hagrid had finished reading and was now looking at the blonde with an unreadable expression.

"So yer tellin' me that you are from another world." Hagrid asked.

"Yep."

"And you ain't even human, but this thing called a 'Ger'nome'." Hagrid continued.

"That's right."

"And yer the one that attack'd Proudfoot." The giant man said.

"That was self-defense."

"And since ye want to find yer way back, yer made a deal with Dumbledore and join't the Order." Hagrid concluded.

"Correct."

"And yer name ain't even Marcus, but it's Zidane, though I should call ye Marcus when talkin' 'bout the Order." Hagrid said.

"I'm actually sorry about that."

The two looked at each, and after the longest silence Hagrid broke it with a big sigh. Taking the green tinged steak from the table, he put it over his eye again, creating a small 'splat', and then turned towards the blonde.

"Alright, I believe ya." The large man said, before a small curious look appeared on his face (again, it was still rather hard to tell). "Though I thought, the critter Proudfoot mentioned had scary glowin eyes an' tail."

"Well, I guess he was somewhat right, though I wouldn't call my eyes scary., I guess it depends on the lighting, as for the tail..." Zidane said with a chuckle as he unwound the furry appendage from his middle so that the man could see. The man's only good eye widened and a look of excitement crossed his features.

"Amazin'. Would ya- would ya mind if I took a closer look?" Hagrid asked eagerly and Zidane couldn't find it in his heart to deny him. The man was acting like a kid who had just been given a puppy. Zidane extended his tail towards the man and after asking for his permission, the large man held it and seemed to run his large fingers to test the strength of the deceptively lithe tail. It looked like he wasn't disappointed.

"Never seen anything like it. Obviously strong like a monkey's but it looks'n acts more like a cat's." Hagrid said and then proceeded to talk about some other different creatures. Zidane listened with a bit of interest. Mostly he was just glad that things had smoothed out between the two, if they casual talk was anything to go by. Hagrid was particularly interested about the various creatures that roamed Gaia, especially chocobos and dragons.

"Ah, it's good ter be back." Hagrid said as they both finished their tea.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." The teen said as he looked up from where he was petting Fang. "Since you just got back, you probably don't know about Umbridge."

"Who the ruddy hell is Umbridge?" Hagrid asked as he took both their mugs and left them in the sink.

"She's the new High Inquisitor, basically Fudge's spy. She's been assessing all teachers and slowly getting more powerful. She's a real bitch really." Zidane said, scowling as he thought about the woman.

"Can't be that bad." Hagrid said, a bit surprised at hearing such language from the blonde.

"Well you don't know her yet. I just thought I'd tell you to watch out since she seems to have a thing against anything that doesn't appear quite normal. She's convinced I'm a 'half-breed' and she wants me to pay for it. I just thought I'd give you a heads up." The blonde continued. It was clear that Hagrid understood what he meant. Obviously, men as large as Hagrid weren't exactly normal, so it wouldn't be surprising if Umbridge chose him as her next victim.

"Why that rotten-" Hagrid began but was interrupted as Fang suddenly began to bark before rushing at the door. As if on cue, there was a knock at the door.

"Hagrid it's us!" Called a voice which Zidane quickly identified as Harry's.

"Shit." Zidane cursed under his breath as he quickly got up.

"Quickly, hide!" Hagrid muttered in alarm as he got up to open the door.

Zidane looked around frantically for a hiding spot, before slamming a palm to his forehead when he remembered he could just become invisible. Shooing Fang away, who instead decided to bark at the door, the blonde quickly cast the spell over his entire body, almost flinching when he heard Hermione scream. She likely just got a good look at Hagrid's face.

"Merlin's beard, keep it down!" Hagrid urged them and then let them in. The thief had to stifle a laugh when he saw that the three had somehow managed to sneak under a single invisibility cloak. He knew this because he could sneak glances at three pairs of feet shuffling on the ground, completely uncovered by the cloak. Once Hagrid shut the door, the three of them pulled the artifact off. Zidane scooted closer to the back of the small cottage out of worry that one of them would accidentally brush against him. Thankfully, he found a small spot next to Fang's bed where he knew he wouldn't be bothered by the trio. After realizing that he would be there for a while, the teen decided to take a seat.

"What happened to you?" Harry demanded while Fang danced around them and tried to lick their faces. Better them than him.

"Told yeh, nuthin." Hagrid insisted and Zidane rolled his eyes. "Want a cuppa?"

"Come off it." Ron said. "You're in a right state!"

" I'm tellin'yeh I'm fine!" Hagrid said and attempted to change the subject. "Blimey it's great ter see yeh three again, had good summers did yeh?"

"Hagrid you've been attacked!" Ron insisted and when Hagrid denied it again, the redhead continued. "Would you say it was nothing if one of us turned up with a pound of mince meat instead of a face?"

Hagrid continued to deny it, and after Hermione told him to visit the Hospital Wing, the large man just insisted he was treating it alright and grabbed the piece of meat once more. Apparently the green was natural since it was dragon steak.

The trio then proceeded to ask the large man what happened, and Zidane had to admit that he was curious as well. He just hadn't asked because he already knew it probably had to do with the Giant front. Not to mention that since it was the first time 'officially' meeting Hagrid, he didn't think it was nice to ask him if his face had been trampled on by an Adamantoise.

"Did the giants beat you up Hagrid?" Hermione asked quietly, though it was definitely loud enough for everyone to hear since the gameskeeper dropped the steak in shock and he almost choked on his own saliva. As far as he was concerned, the trio should have no idea about the giants. In the end, since the damage was already done, Hagrid had no choice but to admit the truth.

"Come on, Hagrid, tell us what you have been up to!" Ron said. "Tell us how you were attacked by giants and Harry can tell you about being attacked by Dementors-"

"Whadda yeh mean, attacked by Dementors?!" Hagrid bellowed as he nearly spat out the tea he had just sipped.

"Tell us about your summer and I´ll tell you about mine." Harry said cheekily, making Zidane smirk.

"Oh all right." Hagrid finally said in defeat.

The trio eagerly settled around the large table to listen to the story while Zidane seated himself more comfortably as well. Yes, as a member of the Order he was aware that the trio shouldn't learn about what Hagrid was going to reveal, and yes, any other member of the Order would've already jumped out and told Hagrid to keep quiet, but then again, he wasn't just any member of the Order, and plus, he was curious as well. This was his chance to learn a little more as well.

'And it looks like the three have been doing their research, so it would be a shame if they didn't get any rewards for it.' Zidane thought to himself as Hagrid began his long story.

Apparently he and Madam Maxime, the woman McGonagall had mentioned earlier today, had gone off in search of Giants to join the cause. They had to travel without using magic to pass it off as an excursion and so that way, they couldn't be tracked. Zidane even raised a single eyebrow when Hagrid mentioned having to hide out in caves with his lady-friend. Unfortunately, while finding the Giant colony was easy (they were friggin Giants), getting them to cooperate was the hard part. They gave their chief, Karkus, a series of gifts to appease him, but long story short, before they could give him the second gift, there was apparently a coup d'état overnight and the chief was killed and replaced. To make things worse, not only did this new chief attack them, but he was also in league with Voldemort. Hagrid talked about how they stayed hidden for some time, seeking out giants who opposed the new chief, Golgomath, but in the end, none of them wanted anything to do with wizards anymore.

"Hagrid?" Hermione asked once the large man finished his story.

"Mmm?"

"Did you…was there any sign of…did you hear anything about your…your…mother while you were there?" Hermione asked and Zidane furrowed his brow in question. Why would Hagrid's mom be hiding out in a Giant colony in France, unless she…

'Oh.' Zidane thought. 'Well, I guess that explains everything.'

"I'm sorry…I…forget it-" Hermione began before she was interrupted.

"Dead." Hagrid muttered while sending a small glance towards where he knew the genome was hiding. "Died years ago, they told me."

"Oh…I'm…I'm really sorry." Hermione said in a small voice. Hagrid just shrugged.

"No need." The man said. "Can't remember 'er much . Wasn't a great mother."

Zidane nodded silently to himself. It was hard to miss something you never had. He could easily relate since he never really had a mother either. He barely even had a father figure growing up, and that father figure was Baku, whose child raising methods were nothing short of questionable.

"Wait, but that still doesn't explain how you got injured OR why you arrived later than Madam Maxime." Harry figured. "So were you really attacked?"

"For the last time I was not atta-" Hagrid began but froze when the sound of someone knocking. Hermione actually let out a gasp and dropped her mug, making it shatter on the ground.

Zidane rolled his eyes. 'Not another one.'

"It's her!" Ron whispered.

"Quick, get under here!" Harry urged the two. They both rushed under the table and towards a corner, before slipping the invisibility cloak on top. Zidane was just glad that they didn't rush to hide near him, otherwise things could've gotten complicated. Besides, this was really getting ridiculous.

"Hagrid hide our mugs!"

Hagrid seized the mugs and put them in the sink, sending wary glances towards the spot he knew Zidane was occupying and the spot under the table where the trio was hiding, before answering the door. There stood Professor Umbridge wearing a green cloak and matching hat that made her resemblance to a toad almost uncanny. With her lips pursed, she stood back to glance at the large man before her, since the short woman only reached his navel.

"So, you're Hagrid, are you?" She asked. Just hearing her voice made his tail bristle and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on edge. Letting herself in, she inspected the room with her bulging eyes. Zidane remained perfectly still to avoid somehow alerting her of his presence. He hoped the trio had enough sense to do so, too. Fang trotted over to try and lick her face, but the woman only snapped at him and shooed him away with her handbag.

"I don't mean ter sound rude, but who the ruddy hell are you?" Hagrid asked as he closed the door.

"My name is Dolores Umbridge." The woman said as she scanned the room once again, her gaze passing over Zidane twice, yet unable to see him. It was clear she was here looking for something other than Hagrid. The large man on the other hand, had a look of recognition as he gazed at the short woman before him. "I take it you have heard of me."

"Don't yeh work with Fudge?" Hagrid asked. "I heard something 'bout being Inquisitor too."

"Yes, High Inquisitor. I am also taking over as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Umbridge said, emphasizing on the word 'high'.

"That's mighty brave of yeh, they don't seem ter last long, those defense teachers, I mean." Hagrid said conversationally, but Umbridge gave no sign of actually hearing him.

"May I ask what that is?" The woman said as she looked at the broken china on the floor. Zidane cursed silently, it looked like she knew something was up.

"Oh, that was Fang." Hagrid lied and then showed the woman the cup he was currently holding. "Broke the cup, so I had ter go get another one-"

"I heard voices." Umbridge cut him off.

"I was talkin' ter Fang 'ere." Hagrid replied.

"And he was talking back?" The woman asked with a fake sugary tone. Before Hagrid could reply, she continued. "Let me cut to the point. There were four sets of footprints coming from the castle and leading to your doorstep."

Zidane heard a small gasp coming from under the table, but thankfully the sound was concealed amongst Fang's noisy pants and Umbridge did not appear to hear it. He mentally sighed in relief and prayed to the Eidolons that the trio would not blow his cover.

"Well, I just arrived, so maybe someone came to see me but left." Hagrid said with a shrug. The woman just narrowed her eyes and walked through the room, looking under the bed, and inside the pantry, at one point Zidane had to move silently out of the way to avoid the woman touching him. Thankfully his steps were silent and even if he accidentally made the wooden board underneath him groan from the added weight, his steps were still in synchrony with Umbridge so the woman never suspected a thing. Honestly, he'd seen an adult Catoblepas move more gracefully than her.

"Well that would be fine, if it weren't for the fact that there are no footprints leading back to the Castle." The woman said with that sickly sweet tone of hers. "Then there's the matter of your current injuries, and your long absences. I've asked several of your colleagues, including your replacement, but nobody seemed to know where you went. Where exactly were you and how did you receive those injuries?"

"It-It was an accident." Hagrid replied and unfortunately, it wasn't very hard to see through the lie.

Umbridge didn't seem convinced and continued to press on, Zidane wouldn't be either if he were her. It was a very unfortunate that Hagrid just wasn't a very good liar. The large man seemed to look around for help of some kind, but he probably also knew that it would only make things much worse.

"I was away for me health, see?" Hagrid said. "Nothin' that a bit of fresh air can't cure."

"Yes, because fresh air must be so hard to come by, especially in your line of work." Umbridge said sarcastically. "Unless of course, you are talking about some fresh mountain air."

Zidane silently cursed at what Umbridge implied. If he was right, then Umbridge, and by extension, the Minister, knew about Hagrid's trips to the mountains in search of Giants.

"Mountains? Oh no, south of France fer me. Bit o'sun an'…an'sea." Hagrid said with a nervous laugh.

"You don't have much of a tan." Umbridge commented, and Zidane had to fight the urge to slap himself in the forehead.

"Yeah…well…sensitive skin." Hagrid replied amiably and Umbridge just looked at him coldly.

Hoisting her handbag higher on her shoulder the woman turned towards the door and spoke. "Well I shall be informing the Minister about your late arrival. You should also be prepared to be inspected soon. So I wouldn't be getting comfortable just yet, in fact, I wouldn't bother unpacking at all."

The woman closed the door behind her with a snap, though none of the occupants of the room dared to move just yet in case she came back. Hagrid looked out the window and once he saw that the woman was out of sight, only then did the trio leave their hiding spot. Zidane, on the other hand, stayed where he was, though he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. None of the others seemed to notice, thankfully. Hagrid seemed to look around the room for him, to see if he was okay, so Zidane walked over when the trio wasn't paying attention and silently nudged his arm to tell him he was still there.

The large man looked a lot more relieved afterwards, though air in the room was still heavy with tension. In fact, any conversation that took place afterwards was all about how Hagrid should be wary of his inspection. Apparently the gamekeeper had a tendency of introducing them to potentially deadly creatures on a regular day basis. Hermione nearly implored him to teach them about some other boring, albeit safe, creature that nobody cared about and would probably show up in their OWLS. Hagrid just waved the bushy haired girl's worries off and insisted he had something interesting ready for the next class. Of course, his definition of interesting was rather unique.

Zidane didn't really particularly care. He had dealt with Dragons, Trolls, Behemoths, Malboros, and all sorts of killer creatures and vegetation. He could probably deal with anything Hagrid threw at him. He was actually curious how this world's creatures would compare to Gaia's and even Terra's. He actually hoped they put up a challenge since so far all he had really seen were slightly bastardized, weaker versions of things he had already seen. Well, obviously he probably wouldn't be allowed to defeat them, but he wondered if he could get the chance to wrestle around with them for a bit.

"Lis'en it's been a long day an' it's getting late." Hagrid began as the group got up from the table. "You lot had better get up to the castle an' don't forget ter wipe yer footprints behind yeh!"

Zidane didn't miss the small glance that the large man sent his way, and apparently neither did Hermione. Thankfully, she just gave one odd look at the room before following after Ron and Harry who had just said goodbye and left through the door. Hagrid waved at them, door still open, and Zidane used this chance to slip away. Giving the man two small pats on the back and quietly saying goodbye, before slipping through the door.

The door behind him shut, and an icy wind greeted him instead. Wrapping his tail around him and pulling his hood up, Zidane picked another route back to the castle to avoid encountering the trio once more. He had been quite lucky tonight and he knew better than to push his luck any further. Lady Luck didn't take too kindly to that.

…..

"I found it!" Garnet cried out in excitement as she pulled out a book from one of the top shelves.

Around her, several old scholars blinked and then scowled in her direction, bringing their index fingers to their mouths and shushing her. Dagger blushed profusely, but then apologized for her outburst. She probably wouldn't be treated the same way if she was dressed fittingly as the current queen of Alexandria, but when it came to excursions of this sort, she preferred to travel in her well worn 'commoner' clothes, in other words, her well worn orange body suit and white long sleeved shirt. Not only was it something she was comfortably wearing, but it also served to hide her status from others.

Besides, wearing a long dress in Daguerro's famous library was just asking for trouble. With all the lifts, narrow corridors between bookshelves, torches, the flooded floors and water fountains, any dress would end up soiled by the end of the day.

'Though this really is a beautiful place.' Garnet thought to herself as she looked down from one of the baloneys where she could see the entrance decorated by several torches and pillars, and the giant water fountain picturing the Eidolon Leviathan.

The whole place was structured like a giant dome sitting upon a dormant volcano, and consisted of many floors connected by several stairs and lifts that overlooked the large circular, partially-flooded, entrance where the fountain was. The upper floors could only really be reached by going through the entrances to the eastern or western wings of the library since the depiction of Leviathan actually occupied a large section of the northernmost wall, thus making a grand central staircase impossible to build. The library also had some shops as well as an inn, though besides getting food and rest, Garnet hadn't found much use for them since the war.

A very odd thing about this library was that the whole first floor was flooded, and the humidity in the air was so great, that the young queen originally couldn't believe that they would make a library in such conditions, since everyone knew that so much humidity was bad for the texts. She later came to learn that this was actually due to magic.

Taking a lift to the second floor, Dagger walked over to the desk that she had been using for the past several days and quickly opened the book she had picked out. Scanning through the pages she gazed at the content and then transcribed part of the text onto a dairy she had been using to write down the notes to her little research.

'If my hypothesis is right, then I'm a step closer to bringing Zidane back.' Garnet thought as she put her quill down after finishing writing.

She had searched just about everywhere for a text on other worlds. Unfortunately, no one on Gaia had ever stepped foot into one, well except when they went to Terra, but that was different. As a result, there was literally no knowledge on the subject. She really owed it to pure luck and a bit of curiosity that she was able to get a lead.

When she found the book about Eidolons in the Alexandrian library, she was a bit surprised to learn of the stories surrounding the Summoner Tribes. The old tome was rather vague and incomplete, but it was more than enough to get her brain to start thinking. Where did Eidolons come from exactly? Was it from another world entirely, or were they from Gaia herself? She always assumed it was the latter since they had reached the conclusion that, oddly enough, Terra didn't have any Eidolons. And how were Eidolons related to Gaia's crystal? If the crystal grew with the memories of every soul that returned to it, then were eidolons somehow a result of that? Was that why some looked like creatures straight out of legends, or were they the legends themselves? Even if that was the case, did they all carry the knowledge linked to the planet's crystal?

'If they do carry that knowledge then surely they must know something.' Garnet concluded.

The book she had just found about several old legends of Gaia supported the idea as well. If the crystal contained literally all the memories since the beginning of time, and memories were knowledge, then the crystal was the biggest source of knowledge on the planet. In a way, it was the planet. And if Eidolons were somehow linked to the crystal then they would know something as well.

'I can't communicate with my Eidolons all that well. The only one I remember ever having a conversation with was Ramuh, and that was when he posed as an old man and then joined us. But Eiko…Eiko still has her Summoner's horn. She can talk with all her Eidolons just fine.' Garnet thought and then nodded to herself. 'I guess I know where my next destination is.'

Putting away her things and returning the books she borrowed, Garnet made her way past the item shop and down a lift to the entrance. Once she exited the large inactive volcano where the library was located, she quickly made her way towards where the Red Rose had landed.

Lindblum awaited.

….

On Sunday morning all the students were greeted by the sight of a white blanket of snow covering the grounds. The heavy snow fall last night had left them with at least two and a half feet of the pure white wonder. As such, many students rushed through breakfast and quickly left the hall to enjoy the winter wonderland just waiting outside.

Of course, not everyone had the chance to join. Both Harry and Ron were too caught up in their mountain of homework to be able to join their peers outside. Even Hermione had left to give Hagrid some advice for his classes, and though she wasn't exactly joining in the fun, she at least had the chance to go outside and enjoy the smell of freshly fallen snow.

Harry also knew that the girl would be making a small stop at the library. There had been something bothering her, and only after making it back to the Common Room did she reveal to them what was wrong.

...

"What's eating you, 'Mione?" Harry asked in curiosity as the girl seemed to look around the room. "I mean, I know you're worried about Hagrid, but I don't think he'll bring anything too ghastly for class."

Ron snorted, and kindly reminded Harry about the Blast-Ended Skrewts they had to work with last year. Harry countered saying that at least he didn't have to fend off the adults like he did during the third task, or fight a dragon for that matter.

"It's not that." Hermione said, snapping both teens.

"Then what is it?" Ron asked.

The girl gave a sigh, lowering her head to look at the ground before speaking. "Today at Hagrid's, I-I don't think we were the only ones there."

"Well yeah, Umbridge sure was a bloody surprise." Ron said.

"Not just her!" Hermione said. "I think there was also someone else in the room with us, and Hagrid knew about it."

"What makes you think that?" Ron asked.

"He kept looking at the side of the room occasionally. And there were all sorts of small signs as well, like the fact that he already had hot water for tea." Hermione said.

"He could have just made some for himself." Ron countered.

"Before even unpacking? And don't forget that there was already a used cup in the sink." Hermione pointed out. "And Umbridge was suspicious, too. I didn't really notice it at first, but she did, and it made me think about it. She said there were four sets of footprints leading from the castle, but none made it back. It would mean that the fourth person was still there with us. And before leaving, I could have sworn I saw these odd shadows in the side of the room. With the fireplace at that angle, there shouldn't have been any shadows there."

Harry felt a shiver go down his spine as he thought about it, and realized that Hermione was right. What unnerved him the most right now was the implications of such a thing. What if the mystery person was watching them right now?

"I think whoever was there must've been with the Order."Hermione said still rather nervously. "Otherwise, Hagrid wouldn't have acted that way."

"Wait, but didn't Sirius say that they had lost their Invisibility Cloak? That's why Dung was dressed up as a witch, wasn't it?" Ron said as some akin to fear showed in his voice.

"Not necessarily." Harry said thoughtfully with a hint of unease. "When I first came to the Order, I mentioned it, didn't I? We flew over in brooms, but we didn't use a Disillusionment Charm. Marcus; he cast this spell over me, wandlessly too, and it made me invisible."

Ron gulped, suddenly looking very pale. "You don't think it's that hooded bloke do you?"

"If what Harry's saying is correct, then that's the most plausible answer." Hermione said and shook her head. "I'll need to research this in the library, and if he really is following us, we'll have to find a way to counter it."

Harry nodded numbly. He still remembered the strange Order member, and in fact, he had yet to get over the uneasy feeling that such thoughts brought him. He hadn't forgotten the eerie blue flashes amongst the black masking his face, or the way he expertly held that knife after dodging that cauldron during dinner, and most important of all, Harry could never forget the horrifying Boggart he saw that night.

...

Harry felt shivers travel down his spine as he remembered the conversation. Needless to say, he had trouble sleeping last night, though he was more than just sure that Ron did too. Whoever Marcus was, he had not failed to instill fear in the redhead either.

"Hey, cut it out!" Ron shouted as an enchanted snowball struck the window of the tower. When Ron got up to shout out the window, he only managed to get a face full of snow for his troubles.

"It's the twins and Zidane." Ron said, and seeing Harry's questioning gaze he continued. "They're teaching him how to charm the snowballs. Bloody gits."

There was the sound of the portrait swinging open and both teens were greeted by Hermion, the teen wearing a rather self-satisfied expression on her face.

"So did Hagrid tell you anything?" Ron asked and the girl frowned.

"No, he wouldn't say anything." The girl said in defeat, but then smiled at them. "But I did find a spell that will help. I mean, I thought about how Dumbledore always seemed to know where Harry was despite being under the cloak, and I figured it was some kind of spell. Turns out it is, and it's also exactly what we need."

"So we'll know if we are being watched , you mean?" Harry asked and Hermione nodded enthusiastically.

"It reveals if there are any people nearby." The girl said and then pulled out her wand. "Homenum Revelio!"

Suddenly, Harry felt as if a swooping presence appeared above him, and seeing Ron's reaction beside him, apparently the redhead felt the same. The presence seemed to extend and then turn back towards Hermione, who put her wand down and smiled.

"It only detects two other people in the room besides myself, so we're alone for now." The girl said.

"Brilliant." Harry said with a smile.

"So, are you two done with your essays?" The bushy haired girl said. After only receiving their pleading looks for help, she gave a sigh and sat down next to them.

…..

"Zidane!" An angry Angelina cried out as she wiped the snow off her face. next to her, Katie seemed to snicker, while Alicia was laughing so hard that she was having problems breathing.

Two more snowballs to the face made the laughing girls shut up and quickly come after the mischievous, though charming foreign blonde. Unfortunately, the trio did not notice the Weasley twins hiding behind a pile of snow and were promptly ambushed.

"You three are so dead!" Angelina shrieked as the three males high-fived each other and high-tailed it out of there (one of them doing so literally).

"Do you think they're upset?" George asked jokingly as they fled.

Zidane snorted but then laughed. "Why don't you stop and ask them?"

"Oh, is that a challenge I hear?" Fred said smirk growing wider.

If was then that a jet of light rushed right past them, just barely missing Fred. Zidane quickly dashed with the twins to the side just in time to dodge another two. Pressing their backs against the stone wall currently protecting them, they quickly looked at each other.

"Perhaps picking other DA members as victims wasn't really the wisest choice, dear brother." Fred said with a laugh.

"At least it's good to see that the lessons are paying off, they almost got me with the last one." George said with a wicked grin.

"So gentlemen, what's our next plan of attack?" Zidane said with a smirk. "Split up?"

"Split up." The two twins replied in unison.

"All right, I'll take right and try to draw them. You two take left and cover me from the high ground. We divide and we'll conquer." The blonde muttered quickly with a smirk as he heard approaching footsteps crunching on the fresh snow. Next to him the two twins nodded with identical grins and readied themselves as well. "Now!"

"There he is!" Three shouts rang out as Zidane suddenly dashed to the right, leaving the three girls like deers caught in the headlights. The twins used this opportunity to get away by slipping through the left.

The girls soon regained their senses and the chase was one once more. Running through the grounds, Zidane received several cries of indignation as he weaved through crowds of students. Magically propelled snowballs flew after him, hitting innocent bystanders who yelped in response of being used as a meat shield.

"You bloody Gryffindors!" A particularly angry Slytherin cried out as he received a face-full of snow. The two Slytherins next to him seemed to find it hilarious though.

"Sorry!" Zidane called behind him, as he leaped through one of the windows leading to an inner courtyard. A Ravenclaw on the other side yelped in shock as a stray snowball hit him in the back of the head just as he was reading the book on his lap.

"You won't get away!" Angelina shouted, and Zidane decided that it would be wise to pick up his speed.

"Oh yeah? Watch me!" The mischievous thief called out.

Just then a barrage of charmed snowballs flew right past him, striking the angry girls, and giving him a chance to slip away under the confusion. Jumping over the side of a wall, he gave a mock salute to the two fiery redheads whose heads poked over the stone, and dashed away to another area to find a better hiding spot. When he spotted a tall snow-covered evergreen, he quickly climbed up the trunk and stood on a tall branch. Thankfully, nobody was around to see that.

"Did you see where he went?" Katie asked only a few feet away from the tree.

"Maybe he went this way, come on." Alicia said and Zidane gave a sigh of relief when he heard the footsteps slowly fade into the distance.

Leaning his head back, Zidane took a long deep, visible breath to even out his still-racing heart. All in all, he thought that it was quite the enjoyable run. At least it helped him keep in shape now that he didn't have the liberty of using the Room of Requirement whenever he pleased. The only downside was that it was freezing cold out here, and he wasn't exactly used to the weather. Not to mention that his tail was now more like a frozen popsicle attached to his lower spine than an actual tail. The fact that the snow clung to his fur and made evil little clumps of snow that stuck to it like ticks wasn't helping his case at all.

'Oh snow, you treacherous, two-bladed asshole.' Zidane thought as he sat down and began pulling off the annoying little clumps off his invisible tail. They certainly weren't helping with keeping his tail warm, and to make matter worse, they pulled painfully at his fur every time he tried to remove them. He couldn't just fold his tail back under his shirt either since the snow would freeze his stomach and then melt to make a mess.

He was suddenly brought out of his musings when he heard a pair of footsteps approach. He wrapped his now snow-free appendage around the branch to avoid falling off, and then leaned precariously over the edge in curiosity. It was then that he saw Neville on his way back from what he assumed was the greenhouses. Only HE would go there on a weekend. Neville definitely had a liking for plants that he sure as hell didn't share.

Giving a wicked grin, Zidane waited for the boy to approach and once he was directly below he jumped down from the tree with a loud 'BOO'. The round face boy let out a rather unmanly cry, before nearly falling backwards into snow. Luckily Zidane had the decency to catch him before that happened.

"What was that for?!" Neville shouted while Zidane held his hands up in defense.

"Sorry I just couldn't resist." The blonde replied with a chuckle.

Neville looked at him like he wanted to continue his rant, but then a look of curiosity crossed his features. "Wait, what were you doing up in that tree anyways?"

"There he is! LET'S GET HIM!" A shout rang from behind, and Zidane nearly jumped back into the tree, his invisible tail bristled high in the air behind him like a shocked cat.

"Oh shit." The genome muttered. Seeing the girls approach with snowballs at a ready, he quickly grabbed a confused-looking Neville and ran the hell away.

Running towards another throng of students exiting the castle, Zidane and Neville dodged the incoming hits, while the three girls were one again hit by a surprise attack from the twins. Fred threw a snowball that just so happened to miss and hit Michael Corner. Said boy was walking with Ginny, and when the redhead saw this, she quickly took up the offensive. Her snowball unfortunately missed, and instead hit Lee Jordan. Seeing what was now happening, the dark toned boy joined the twins with a grin and accidentally ended up hitting a group of Hufflepuffs, particularly a very indignant-looking Ernie Macmillan. Ernie was also accompanied by Justin Fletchly, Zacharias Smith and Hannah Abbot, who did what any loyal Hufflepuff would do and joined the fightin retaliation for her friend. Unfortunately, some of the snowballs found their way to a group of Ravenclaws including Cho and her friend Marietta who soon joined the fight as well. Cho ended up hitting Seamus, who accidentally hit Padma Patil, who hit Dean, who was also hit by Luna who somehow found her way into the snowball fight as well.

Before anyone knew it, snowballs were flying through the air, turning Hogwarts snowy grounds into a giant battlefield. Alliances were made and soon magic was also used to track down and follow other fighters. Even some Slytherins joined in the fun, but since they weren't nearly as numerous as the other houses, they joined in with the Ravenclaws against Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, particularly against Gryffindor though. Strangely enough, by the time the fight ended it was already time for lunch, most of the students having no idea just who started it.

"My legs feel numb." Zidane heard Susan Bones whine to her friend as the mostly tired, hungry and sodden teenagers made their way back into the hall for lunch. The thief just barely held back from retorting that at least her butt wasn't half frozen like his tail was at the moment.

"Zidane are you alright? You're walking funny." Neville asked.

"I'm fine, I just tripped back there." The cyan-eyed thief lied. The reason he was walking funny was that because, just like that time when he first flew on that broom, his tail was now hanging limply and nearly frozen. It didn't help that some rather hefty second year stepped on it while they were making their way back to the castle.

'Gods, I hope it's not broken.' Zidane said as he discreetly held his tail in his hand.

To be continued…

….

A/N: Shell Dragon, Adamantoise, and Catoblepas (and others) are all enemies in FFIX, and yes, in this fic FFIX monsters are stronger and meaner than Magical Creatures due to Gaia being a younger planet that is richer in magic, and also due to the influence of mist (which makes living creatures behave violently).

Because of the wording of the Homenum Revelio spell, my guess is that it only works for humans.

Also, I wanted Zidane to be able to enjoy some typical school shenanigans, hence the scene at the end. He may be on a mission, and he's been through enough crap to make his mindset a lot more mature than he lets on, but he should still get to make the most of this experience.