Author Note
I just want to explain that the information I got for Red Mages came from what I found on the Internet and I used what I found to give the MC some Red Mage spells as well as a few skills such as being able to use certain weapons.
The CYOA doesn't give much information on the classes you can pick based on the Final Fantasy classes and I never played much of the series so I just did my best to create a character sheet from what I could find online. There's a lot to keep track of in this story so I may have made a mistake or two.
Reviews
Alan
Almost done. I just want to finish the school year with a Quidditch Match.
kent-jensen
I hope you keep enjoying the story.
Morkail
Yes, the MC will be bolder now that Dumbledore has met his fate.
sandmanwake
That ritual destroys the physical object that was turned into the Horcrux. Since Harry is the container he would destroy himself as the bit of soul is already in him and not in an object he can perform the ritual upon.
Also, it is important to remember that Harry isn't a proper Horcrux so by himself he might not be enough to anchor Voldemort's spirit if the Dark Lord has no corporal form. I've wondered that if the scar is Horcrux could it be removed surgically and then the flesh that is removed be destroyed?
Crossworlds - Harry Potter
Part 45
The Quidditch Pitch. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
This might be the last game I ever played while at this school. Arrangements for next year were leaning towards having a team made up of players from all the houses play a game against each of the visiting schools and the visitors playing one with each other, There were many talented Chasers as well as skilful Seekers here at Hogwarts. As such, I might not get picked for those matches.
By the next year, I figured that if I wasn't Team Captain that I would likely quit the team to focus more on my NEWT exams and preparing to travel the world, or maybe not as there was something about playing these matches that made me feel good. I didn't know if it was the anticipation that was rich in the air, the thrill of winning, or the cheering crowd, and it didn't really matter. I just wanted to win, to see our Team Captain holding up the trophy.
At least part of it had to do with the fact that I respected Flitwick as a teacher, even if he was too trusting of his students and not vigilant enough against bullies, and he'd become something of a mentor to me. I wanted to make him proud. While I'd ensured that at least one of the duelling trophies would be gracing his office for the next year it would be nice if that little cup had a bigger friend sitting next to it.
It didn't hurt that nearly all the single witches in this country always fancy a professional quidditch player or two and they are respected by the guys as well. I wasn't very sociable with the other students and if not for my skills on the pitch I felt sure that I would be having problems with my so-called peers.
"I've got some news," said Davis as he entered the tent the team waited in when the matches were about to start "Apparently Oliver Wood had something of a nervous breakdown during the exams and he's a wreak now because someone told him that there's a scout from his favourite team here to watch the match. Someone who might be looking for new talent".
Most likely one of the Slytherin students had made sure that Wood heard such talk. They would rather see us take the cup than let the lions have it. I doubted Davis would use such underhanded methods, he lacked the imagination to come up with such a brilliant tactic.
"I have more good news," said our Team Captain "Fred and George Weasly got caught trying to pull off some prank last night, they are in detention every evening and weekend from now until the end of term".
This was different than in the canon timeline, but that was to be expected, there were no dementors around or an escaped murderer to worry about, so everyone had been more relaxed and the twins must have gotten bolder.
"That means that the lions don't have their unbeatable beaters" Davis was now saying "Wood has brought in some younger students to take their place and they look nervous. If Chang can keep Potter distracted we might have a chance of winning the cup".
Lacking his Beaters had no doubt added to Wood's stress. The twins were decent enough on a broom and had good teamwork.
"So I want your Chasers to keep the pressure on Wood while the Beaters disrupt the Gryffindor Chasers" we were ordered "Chang stick to Potter, keep him distracted. We can't let him catch the Snitch too soon like he's done before".
Harry Potter catching the Snitch early against their match with Hufflepuff hadn't done them as much good as you might think because Potter never gave the Chasers on his team the chance to score a decent amount of goals. I'd been scoring a lot of goals this season and while the Gryffindor Chasers were very good we might come out ahead on points if their Keeper was off his game.
Lee Jordon, an annoying Gryffindor student served as the announcer as well as doing the commentary and made little effort to hide the fact that he favoured his own house. He would never call out his own house when they were bending or breaking the rules. I'd long since learned to mostly ignore the wizard and I only heard him when he called out my name. He screamed out Potter so loud that even I couldn't miss it.
The two Team Captains, Roger Davis for Ravenclaw and Oliver Wood for Gryffindor, shook hands and once the whistle was blown by Madam Hooch we were up into the air. The balls had already been set free and the game started fast.
Misses Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet were the enemy Chasers and they were good. None of them had my range when it came to scoring goals, nor could they match my broom, but they were working well as a team, keeping the quaffle moving between them.
If not for the bludgers spending most of their time getting batted at the Chasers they'd have kept possession of the quaffle often enough to stay ahead in terms of goals. Alas for them the ball kept changing hands and when it was passed to me. I had Cortana shouting at me when it was best to throw and she placed markers to help guide me where to go. Plus I had a really fast broom that I had gotten very comfortable using.
I lost track of time as I played the last game of the year. Chasers were never still, we were always going after the quaffle when we weren't the one holding it, unlike the Seekers and Keepers who got to see some of the matches from their vantage points. I just kept going, hunting the ball, passing it, scoring goal after goal as quickly as possible while the other Chasers did the same.
The final score was 220 - 210 a win for Gryffindor. Yet it was the people in the Ravenclaw stand who were cheering and our team that got the cup.
"Why are you so happy you lost the game," said Hermione as I landed on the pitch and headed for the team's tent.
While she liked watching the matches and I knew she had a thing for Quidditch players, she'd not bothered to check out the overall situation.
"We lost the battle, but we won the war" I explained.
I'd scored that last goal and gotten us the cup by sheer luck more than skill. It could have been a draw if I hadn't been so quick. I didn't even know what happened if the cup was a draw I couldn't recall ever reading or hearing about it.
"A proper Quidditch match is always played as part of a series of matches. Unless you're playing an informal game with your friends every Quidditch match is part of a season, and accumulated points are what counts toward the ultimate victory you need so that you can obtain that cup" I explained "The Quidditch Cup here at Hogwarts goes to the team with the most total points, not the team who has won the most matches. Gryffindor needed more points to win, it would have been a draw if I hadn't scored that last-second goal while everyone was distracted by the Seekers".
I'd missed the Seekers go after Snitch because I'd been busy.
"So you won the series by just ten points," said Hermione "That was very lucky".
We would have lost if Potter hadn't been so quick to get the Snitch during his last match. Funny how these things work out. He was a little too talented at being the Seeker.
"You were very good out there" commented Luna "I think that you've improved since you played Hufflepuff earlier in the season".
I had been taking the training more seriously this term as I'd been devoting a lot more time to being John Hiddleston than normal. Outside of class, I was very focused on my duelling, the exams and Quidditch. If only so that there was nothing to draw Dumbledore's attention to me now that I was so close to being rid of him.
"Can I have your jersey?" requested Luna.
I went into the changing room put a different top on and then cast some cleaning charms on the jersey so that it didn't reek of sweaty teenage boy. As Luna had her prise, I was sure that the old jersey had been getting a little tattered by now, we were drawn into a crowd that wanted to go celebrate.
It was a good thing that we would soon all be going home as I didn't think I'd be up to taking classes tomorrow. Thankfully we just had to get through the end-of-year feast and find out if Dumbledore gave his favoured house a hundred points for some reason so as to gift the House Cup. I doubted that anyone would care given how all of Ravenclaw knew that the House point system was a joke.
(Line Break)
Hiddleston Residence. Godric's Hollow.
I felt like a coward for doing it this way, I'd wanted to tell Hermione everything about myself, or almost everything, back when we were on the train. Still, I stopped myself with the reasoning that she had enough to be getting on with this summer since she'd be leaving her life behind in the muggle world and separating from her parents, who she did have feelings for her even if they didn't return them.
When I returned to my humble home to pack a few things and prepare to head to America, I'd found that Loki had already made the travel arrangements and that I wasn't going to be leaving the country straight away. Since I'd had nothing else to do I'd decided to write to Hermione to tell her a few truths and to send the letter by owl once I was heading out of the country.
I wouldn't ever be telling her about the people I'd killed, although she might figure out how involved I was by herself, I chose not to tell her partly because I didn't want her to hate me, and also because she was only fourteen. She might be mature compared to most of her peers, but she wasn't an adult and wouldn't understand my reasoning.
Perhaps this was cowardly of me, however, I am a Ravenclaw in more than in mere name. I am no fool, I do not recklessly rush into action and talk without thought. I considered my actions and chose what I feel is the wisest course of action. Or maybe this was just another excuse not to confess everything and have Hermione turn against me. If I was still worried about Dumbledore I would have dared to tell her so much as she might have gone to him, but he wouldn't matter for much longer, his allies thought him to be senile and he was getting close to dying.
When it came to other matters I'd written about I'd spoken more freely. I'd confessed to having once been a much older person who had de-aged himself so that he could attend Hogwarts as a student as to hide. I'd written about the world seed and the powers I'd gained by becoming an agent of the Norse god known as Loki.
After that, I'd mentioned Cortana and knowing Hermione as I did she'd be mad to discover that my AI was helping me with my studies. She might demand an AI of her own, and that wasn't impossible even if it would be a bit risky to travel to the Mall at the Crossworlds.
I'd then gone on to write about some of my actions and how I'd worked to make this world a better place. I had even mentioned that I messed with the timeline and why I'd done it. Although I didn't mention how much I feared and hated Dumbledore just that I'd worked to make sure that some innocent lives were spared.
Once I got back into the country I could pop by her home, hopefully, she'd have had time to process everything and say goodbye to her parents. If she didn't want to live with me that wouldn't be a major problem as I'd just rent her a flat somewhere in London and let her make her own way in the world.
At least it wouldn't matter if she told anyone. I'd charmed the letter already so that it should read as gibberish to anyone other than the intended recipient. Besides, it wasn't as if anyone would believe her. She was not part of the Golden Trio in this timeline and didn't have Dumbledore's ear and he wouldn't be around much longer anyway.
When the letter was done I headed out of my room and my AI altered me to the fact that something was wrong.
"Since when did you have an attic?" Cortana asked.
I felt fairly certain that I'd never had an attic in this house and now I could see the hatch that would lead up to it. When I attempted to get up there a step ladder unrolled out of the ceiling. A feature of this house of which I'd been completely unaware of until now.
Before going up I used a bit of magic to try to detect any human presence around and I found none. I also performed a few charms that would detect defensive enchantments and again nothing registered.
"Is this one of Loki's tricks?" Cortana wondered "You haven't run that errand for him so this might be part of a prank he is playing on you".
Once I started looking around I began to doubt that. The setup here reminded me of what I'd built down in the basement only there were a lot of papers lying around. Upon inspecting one I saw that it was a letter from Gellert Grindelwald to Albus Dumbledore dated around the time that the dark lord had been here visiting his Great-Aunt who was my History of Magic professor.
There were a lot of letters, some cut-out magazine articles and a lot of books about magical history. Dumbledore had left behind stacks of notes on a variety of subjects from alchemy to the hunt for the Deathly Hallows.
"Why are we just finding this now?" my AI wondered "Did someone cast a spell to hide this room? Why did it suddenly fail?".
It didn't take me long to figure out a possible answer. Cortana was correct, a spell or spells to hide the attic had failed and they'd done so when Dumbledore died.
"The Bright Lord is dead," I said "He used to live here and this was his study. He must have hidden it when he moved out after his sister died. He might have meant to come back and clear it out, and then forgotten about it".
Foolish of him.
"He just left all of this here?" questioned Cortana.
Which wasn't at all silly given that the letters that also must have been preserved through magic, were about a hundred years old.
"He was upset when his sister died, his lover ran off leaving him with a big mess and he fell out with his brother" I reminded the AI "I don't think he would have wanted to step foot in this house ever again once he had somewhere else to stay".
I looked over more of the letters, there were far more here than what Bagshot had exposed in her book. Many of the letters had writing on both sides, so I got to read a lot about the plans of the two wizards who planned to become dark lords and rule this world for the Greater Good.
"You should send a few to Hermione this proves what you've been saying about Dumbledore for years" advised Cortana "And to Bagshot in case she wants to write a sequel".
Assuming that my fellow Ravenclaw wanted anything to do with me I'd happily show her the whole room. We could turn it into our own research space while I kept the stuff I didn't want her to see down in the basement. That was something to discuss with her later if she bothered to talk to me.
With Dumbledore gone then there was something I needed to handle sooner rather than later given that Voldemort was still out there. If he were to find out about his rival's death and that would embolden him. I needed to make sure that his position remained weakened.
It was time to deal a major blow to the Death Eaters and do that I needed access to Azkaban. I couldn't just teleport myself into the prison and slaughter all the inmates as tempting as that was. I needed information on the defences and the precise locations of the prisoners. This had to be handled very carefully.
For now, I was going to go through some of these well-written notes on the subject of transfiguration they looked interesting and I hadn't forgotten about the exams I planned to take later in the summer.
(Line Break)
Azkaban. Somewhere in the North Sea.
The fortress called Azkaban was built back in the 15th century and it had been in use as a detention facility since about 1718 if the records were correct. By using certain powerful Charms, Azkaban was hidden away from the Muggle world and was made Unplottable so that it couldn't appear on any maps.
Its first known resident, the Dark Lord Ekrizdis, practised the worst kinds of magic here and constructed a fortress on the island, luring Muggle sailors here so that he could torture and murder them. I'd spoken to his spirit a couple of times using the 2nd Hallow, even dead he was not a pleasant person to be around.
Those poor tortured people became the first dementors, this was something I'd learned from the departed spirit of the Dark Lord Ekrizdis and they were tied to the island, they were more like ghosts than anything else. If the fortress were ever to be destroyed the Dementors would go along with it.
That was the only known way to get rid of them, but I was willing to bet that even if the eyes of a basilisk couldn't kill a dementor, which they might do even if they weren't alive since magic doesn't always make sense, I knew that ghosts could be petrified and if the dementors were frozen in place would anyone ever bother to undo the damage? Mandrakes weren't cheap after all. Although what the foolish Ministry would use for guards later in order to save some money I didn't know.
Perhaps I could set up a private security company and have them take care of Azkaban. It was something to think about later and maybe I should have arranged things earlier but I hadn't known that Dumbledore would die so soon and I didn't know what Voldemort was up to so it seemed best to take action now.
Wands were not allowed in Azkaban, given the nature of the criminals kept here that made sense must be no possibility a prisoner could take a wand and use it to escape. There's only a single spell from a wand that can affect Dementors anyway and not many people can even cast it. Anyway trying to use magic against the Dementors in a panic was more likely to harm themselves or their allies than the soul-sucking demons.
Broomsticks or any other flying devices were also forbidden. Entry into the prison had to take place at the security entrance.
Those and other rules I completely ignored as I successfully flamed inside the fortress as a phoenix and then when I had my target I flamed out so that I could explore the human security guards' memories of this place. Which would not take very long due to how practised I was with the mind arts.
I considered simply laying waste to the island, which shared its name with the fortress, but I knew of no magic strong enough to do that. While it might be possible for Cortana and me to make an explosive device powerful enough to do the job, a lot could wrong given my lack of experience with things, and not everyone in the prison deserved to die.
The Ministry had holding cells for temporary incarceration but all long-term imprisonment took place at Azkaban. Meaning that the prison held serial killers as well as people who couldn't afford to bribe their way out of trouble for much more minor offences. I didn't wish to blow up people who happened to be poor and to have done something stupid.
I flamed back onto the island with the human guard who was now having trouble remembering recent events and then travelled via fire to the correct floor. I then turned from a magical bird into the king of serpents and moved from cell to cell, killing all of the most deadly prisoners and freezing the dementors in their tracks before they began to fall apart leaving only bits of cloth where they used to be.
No one would understand what had happened here as nothing normally affects Dementors aside from a Patronus and that spell only drives them away. Yet here I was in the form of a giant snake killing Dementors, they were dying despite not having eyes as far as I could tell. They came gliding down the stone corridor. I could only guess that the magic animating these abominations was somehow being undone.
Lucky for me, the horrid creatures don't affect animals, or humans in the forms of animals, as they do humans so while it was very cold here I mostly felt fine. I was a little confused about how Dementors made eye contact with me when they had no eyes, but not everything was affected by the stare of the Basilisk. In the books, the camera used by Colin Creevy is heavily damaged and it was just a device.
Maybe they did have eyes, they seemed to be covered with some sort of robes, and they do have mouths, so maybe they had eyes that just couldn't be seen?
The Death Eaters did make eye contact and they certainly had eyes. Only a few of them ever even got the chance to scream before I was down with the prisoners on the max security level and by the time the alarm when off as I used the form I'd copied from Fawks to escape the island.
By the time I'd returned to my home in Godric's Hollow, I felt sure that I'd levelled up as a Red Mage twice, although it was hard to tell, and that I had access to new spells. Bind that would encase people in magical ice, and some others that might come in handy somewhere down the road.
I would consider it more later as right now I badly needed to get some sleep. I'd worn myself out by using so much magic so quickly. I wouldn't lose a moment of sleep worrying about the Dementors and Death Eaters that I had killed.
(Line Break)
The Ministry of Magic. London.
It was important to keep Fudge under my control even if I was only leaving the country for a few weeks at most. The man was too dangerous to be allowed to do his own thinking and the country was in a state of turmoil.
"You can't leave now" insisted the Minister "I can't find Dumbledore and just last night every Death Eater and a few other dark wizards in the most secure level of Azkaban was killed. Many of the Dementors were destroyed as well".
It was a most fortunate thing for me that the wand-wavers keep only the most insane and evil of their own kind on the uppermost levels of Azkaban. It had made things so much easier for me to have them all in one place.
"I just spoke to one of the human guards," said Amelia Bones as she entered the Minister's office, not bothering to say hello or even to knock on the partly open door "He claims to remember travelling by fire and a bird. Maybe a phoenix?".
While I had erased much of the man's memory of our encounter I'd not taken it all as I wanted him to know enough to hopefully avoid getting punished beyond a sacking and to help point the blame at the Bright Lord.
"Only Dumbledore has a phoenix," said the Minister "Was he involved?".
This conversation was going in the direction I desire it to.
"Dumbledore died this morning" reported another new arrival, someone I didn't know "He was found in his office at the school by the Deputy Head".
This was my chance.
"Dumbledore must have attacked the prison" I stated "He has a phoenix as a pet, and if anyone could destroy Dementors it would be him".
If they knew anything about phoenixes then they'd know that the magical birds were quite independent and capable of acting on their own. It also helped that everyone believed that the old wizard could do things that other magical people would never be capable of doing.
"Why would Dumbledore attack Azkaban?" asked Bones.
Well, he wouldn't, but I wanted people to think that he had.
"He's been going senile for years," I said "Think about all he went through in his long life, he lost most of his family before he turned twenty. He fought Grindlewald, had a full-time teaching job, and a career in politics. Then he had to help deal with You-Know-Who, which was a lot of pressure. It must have started catching up with him recently. The decline of standards at Hogwarts was a warning sign that was sadly ignored or missed by so many".
Fudge ate that up. Realising that the blame for all of his current problems could be blamed on a man who wasn't around to defend himself.
"Not to mention those horrid robes," said the leader of the magical government, a man who liked to wear a green bowler hat.
Despite all of that Dumbledore was still beloved by many, and the Minister's face soon turned sour in expression as he realised that blaming the now former Headmaster wasn't going to do down well. I'd expect this and knew what to say to make sure he kept going in the direction I wished.
"No one must know that Dumbledore went a little mad at the end, they just need to think that the stress got to him in the end and he died in his sleep at his desk after working himself too hard" I was now saying "I don't know why he attacked Azkaban, although if it was him I'm sure he felt he had a valid reason at least in his own mind. There's no evidence and spoiling the man's reputation won't do us any good. Instead, let's say that there was a sudden outbreak of Dragon Pox or some similar disease. Azkaban is a horrible place and I can picture an illness sweeping through the prisoners".
Fudge looked at Bones, wanting her opinion.
"We don't actually have a cause of death," she told us "Cleary it was some sort of spellwork as the Death Eaters have looks of shock on their faces, meaning they saw it coming, but it wasn't the Killing Curse. Since there's no trace of spells or any physical injuries we might be able to get away with saying that it was an illness. I'll need to keep looking into this in case it wasn't Dumbledore".
Azkaban was wet, cold and dark even without the Dementors, thinking about it I felt surprised that the Death Eaters hadn't died sooner from disease.
"Many of the Death Eaters have important families," said the Minister "We'll need to be seen to be doing something".
That was practically Fudge's answer for everything. Lucky for him I had a plan for this part as well.
"Tell everyone it was an illness" I started by saying "Then declare that Azkaban is going to be modernised. Improve the place for the remaining prisoners, update some of the equipment that sort of thing. Make a show of it, then let some reporters in to see the stuff you've made better. You can claim to be fixing another problem you inherited from your predecessor Bagnold and Barty Crouch Senior".
The Minister seemed pleased by the idea.
"Just like that mess with Sirius Black and the Crouches," he said "Something needs to be done about our security".
I just knew that soon one of my vaults would be emptier.
"With a big enough donation, I can boost the DMLE's budget and that will help people to feel safer" Fudge stated, "The cost of securing and updating Azkaban is also something I can help with".
I had plenty of ways of making money if I really needed it. As for Madam Bones, she wasn't going to rock the boat if it led to her department getting more funding and she'd lost most of her family to the Death Eaters, as such she wouldn't care much that so many of them had died.
"Sounds good to me," I said as I stood up "I'll supply the funds when I get back. You can use this time to prepare a nice speech and plan out some improvements for me to fund for both Azkaban and the DMLE".
I headed out of the room.
"Now if you'll excuse me I have a ship to catch" I declared.
I was due to leave in a few hours and I couldn't be late. On my way out of the Ministry, I noticed some wanted posters that had bounties for people dead or alive. I took copies of them all and while I would be busy for the next year my last year at Hogwarts should be quite peaceful. I might do some bounty hunting as Tom Hiddleston to further test my skills and to make myself some sweet XP. But that would be in the future, for now, I had plenty of other things to deal with.
(Line Break)
Character Sheet
Name: Kol the Red Mage.
Level: Level 12
Class: Red Mage
Weapons: Wand, Scepter, Goblin-Silver Dagger, Rapier, Celtic sword.
Armour: Thestral Coat, Chainmail, Dragonhide Boots and Goblin silver Bracers.
Angelic Powers: Shapeshifting, Illusions, Burning Hands.
FF Spells: Dia, Cure, Stone, Poison, Barstone, Barsleep, Parazlyse, Protect, Blind, Barwater, Barpoison, Barparalyze, Aquaveil and Bind.
FF Skills: Chainspell, Sword Fighting, Dagger Fighting.
FF Traits: Resist Petrify
Wizard Magic: Wand Magic, Wandless Magic, Mind Arts, Potion Making, Duelling, Apparition, Apportation.
Special Items: The Resurrection Stone.
Companions: An AI called Cortana.
