Chapter One: Balamb Garden
After four days on the ferry from the tip of South Africa, Harry Potter finally stepped off the boat and onto the docks at Balamb harbor. He looked around him silently. Balamb was much smaller than London, even smaller than Little Whinging. Harry didn't mind overly much, he just hoped Ragast had been right and the wizarding world wouldn't find him here. Walking off the docks, he asked an older man for directions to a hotel. Upon reaching the hotel, he reserved a room and went off to explore.
While he was walking on the main streets of the town, he overheard a woman talking about something called Garden. Curious, he decided to ask. He walked up to the woman and asked, "Excuse me mam. I couldn't help but overhear you talking about something called Garden. Would you mind explaining it to me?" The lady smiled, "Of course not dearie. You're so polite. Garden is an academy that is right outside of Balamb. It trains young people like you in combat and magic usage. Its a very good oppurtunity." Harry smiled, "Thank you ma'am, that was very helpful." "Pish posh, it was nothing. And do call me Ma Dincht, everyone else does." Harry nodded and made his way back to the hotel with his purchases. He had decided to at least buy clothes that actually fit him instead of hanging off his body. And if he was going to see about enrolling in that Garden, he didn't want to look like a begger. After calling the school, he was told to come to garden the next day and ask for Cid Kramer. It would be decided the next day whether or not he could enroll.
The next day, Harry woke up bright and early so he could get ready for his trip to Balamb Garden. At 9 that morning, he called the number that had been left on the stand next to his bed, so that he could hire a taxi to take him the Garden. At 9:30 he was on his way, and he made it to the school before 10. Silently he looked up at the building he hoped he would be able to enroll in. It looked nothing like the ancient castle of Hogwarts, and at the moment, he was glad. He didn't want to remember the school that he had believed to be his home before the accusations the headmaster had made.
He moved his gaze from the building to the doors. He took a deep breath, then walked inside. He looked around, it looked to be pretty much straight forward, so it would be easy to find his way. Wondering were he was supposed to go, he finally stopped a girl with long dark hair, "Excuse me. I don't suppose you could tell me where I'm supposed to meet Headmaster Kramer, could you?" The girl smiled at him, "Sure. Just get in the elevator and go up to the first floor. Let the secretary know you're here, then when the Headmaster is free, he'll call you in." "Thank you," Harry said gratefully. "Not a problem," she replyed before walking off. Following the girl's directions, he made it to the third floor. After telling the secretary who he was and what he was there for, he was told to sit in the chair across from her desk, and wait.
After about 20 minutes, a man finally opened the door to the office, and Cid Kramer stepped out. He was about 5 foot 7, and he was slightly heavy. He had brown hair and brown eyes covered by a pair of wire rim glasses. He gave off an air that told those around him that while he could be kindly, he would not hesitate to turn nasty.
Headmaster Kramer smiled at the boy, "Harry Potter, I presume?" Harry stood up, "Yes Sir." The Headmaster gestured to his office, "Why don't you come in so we can chat a bit." After they were seated, the Headmaster offered him some tea. After Harry turned him down, Headmaster Kramer got down to business. "I am curious as to why you applied to Garden. Do your parents approve? On the phone you didn't mention them, and they are not here with you now." Harry bit his lip nervously, he had not counted on the Headmaster to be curious about his parents. Slowly he replied, "Well, my parents approve all of my choices regarding my education." Headmaster Kramer raised an eyebrow, "I'm sure. Now the truth if you don't mind." Harry looked at him surprised. Cid laughed, "When you're around children as much as I am, you get a sixth sense as to when the children are lying. Now, the truth?" Harry sighed, "Its a long story." "We've got time," was the reply. Harry sighed again, "Well, when I was a little over than one years old, my parents were killed by an evil wizard calling himself Lord Voldemort. He was trying to eliminate a lot of people he didn't like. Well, after my parents were killed, I was sent to live with my aunt and uncle who disliked anything to do with magic. As a result, they didn't like me. When I was 11 years old, I recieved an invitation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In my fourth year, the school was hosting a tri-school event, and I was entered. Well, during the last task, a boy from Hogwarts was killed. Now the minister and my headmaster believe I did it, so I had to leave England."
The Headmaster sat silently for a moment. The story was rather fantastic, but Cid had a feeling he wasn't lying. If there was one thing he had learned from his wife, sometimes the most outrageous stories were true. He looked at Harry and smiled, "Well, I guess I should welcome you to Balamb Garden. Unforturnately, we don't have a room ready at the moment. But if you will come back tomorrow with your belongings, we will have one ready for you." Harry looked at him stunned, "Even after everything I told you? You're still going to allow me in your school?" Cid smiled, "I believe you are telling the truth, and I will offer you sanctuary at Balamb as long as you need." Harry smiled slightly, "Thank you."
After leaving Garden, Harry headed back to his hotel so that he coiuld gather his stuff up so he would be ready for his big day. Laying in bed that night, Harry thought about Hogwarts. He would miss it, that was for sure. He would miss his friends, even Ron. Well, he would miss the Ron he had known when he was younger. He didn't really want to be associated with the person Ron Weasley had become. He also thought about Voldemort. Balamb Garden was an excellent oppurtunity to train so that he could finally defeat the monster that had killed his parents and so many other people. Voldemort would fall, and he would fall at Harry's hands.
The next day, Harry took a cab to Balamb once more, this time so he could take up residence in the military academy. As with the day before, he went to the Headmaster's office. As promised, when he arrived, Cid had all of the things ready for him. First, Cid handed him a key to his dorm. "This is the dorm you will be in until you reach SeeD status. After which, you will be given a single dorm. Your current room mate is Seifer Almassy. He should be here in about ten minutes to show you around Garden. Also, this is your uniform. It must be worn at all times in the classroom. The only time you don't have to wear it is when you have free time, and when you are out on a instructor spotted training mission. Do you have any questions?" Harry shook his head, "No, sir." Cid smiled, "Excellent." Someone knocked on the door to the office, and a tall blonde boy with bright green eyes, almost identical to Harry's walked in. He looked to be about a year older than Harry." Cid beamed at the boy, and said, "Right on time Seifer. This is your new room-mate, Hadrian Potter. Harry, this is Seifer Almassy." Harry held out his hand for Seifer to shaked, "Its nice to meet you." After observing Harry silently for a moment, Seifer took the hand, "You too." Cid smiled at them both, "Excellent. Seifer, why don't you take Harry to pick out a weapon, and then show him around Garden." Seifer nodded.
Noticing the blonde was still staring at him, Harry stated dryly, "If you don't watch were you're going you'll run into that pole." Seifer looked infront of him, and barely avoided collision with the pole. Seifer laughed, "Thanks for the tip. That would have been embarssing. Leonhart wouldn't have ever let me live it down if he had heard about it. So where are you from? That accent doesn't come from anywhere around here." Harry shook his head, "I don't doubt it. I'm from Surrey, England." Seifer raised an eyebrow, "Wow, what are you doing here?" Harry shrugged, "I guess I just needed to get away for a while." Seifer looked at him for a minuete before nodding, "Yeah, that happens sometimes. First lets get your weapon. Did the Headmaster explain about that?" Harry nodded, "Yes, every student trains with a specific weapon." Seifer laughed, "Lets go the Weapon Room. There you can pick which weapon you want to specialize in." He pulled a sword that looked like a cross of a gun and broadsword from his waist. "This is Hyperion," he said, "Its called a gunblade. Its my weapon of choice. At the moment, only me and one other student here specialize in it. You can choose from guns, whips, staffs, swords, or just regular hand to hand fighting." While Seifer had been talking, they had ended up in the weapons room. Harry looked around the room slowly, trying to figure out what he wanted to learn how to use. Finally, a sword that looked remarkadly like the sword of Gryffindor caught his eye. He walked over and picked the broadsword up, on the blade was written, EXCALIBER. He turned to Seifer, "I think I'll take this one." Seifer raised an eyebrow, "Excaliber?" Harry laughed, "Yeah, reminds me of home."
His weapon chosen, Seifer led Harry to the dorms. After putting up his stuff, Seifer began his tour. "Well, this is the dorms section of Garden. I'm sure that the Headmaster told you that as soon as you reach the rank of SeeD, you no longer are required to share a dorm." They walked out the door, and were getting ready to begin touring the school, a brunette with ice blue eyes walked by. "Hey Leonhart," Seifer called out. The boy now dubbed Leonhart turned around, and waited for Seifer to speak. "This is Harry. He just arrived. Harry, this is Squall Leonhart. He's the other gunblade specialist in Garden." Squall nodded to Harry in greeting, when Harry said, "Its nice to meet you." Formalities done, Squall walked off to his destination. Once Squall was out of earshot, Seifer said, "Squall doesn't talk alot, so don't be offended if all he says to you is 'whatever'." Harry laughed, "I'll remember that."
The next destination was the Library. "This is the best place to go if you want any info. Infact, I recommend asking Hotaru or Serenity. They're in here enough that they probably know the Library inside and out." Seifer directed him to two girls sitting at a back table. One of the two had long silver blonde hair (that could be compared to Malfoy's) that was braided into twin pigtails that hung down to her ankles. Her eyes were a interesting silver blue color. Her companion had black hair that looked to be streaked with purple, and purple eyes. Noticing their approach, the blonde jumped up, "Hey Seifer!" Seifer grinned, "Hey Serry, whats up?" Serenity smiled, "Nothing. Me 'n Hotaru were just studing for our next test. Who's your friend?" "This is Harry. Harry, the blonde is Serenity Tsukino and the girl with black hair is Hotaru Tomoe." Hotaru smiled, "Its a pleasure to meet you Harry." Harry smiled, "You as well." Serenity giggled, "oooh! I like your accent. Where are you from?" Harry smiled at her enthusiasm, "I'm from England." "Thats a long ways away." Hotaru observed. Harry nodded, "Yes, it is." Seifer cut in, "Well, I've got a tour to complete. Next, is the Cafeteria." Serenity jumped up, "We'll come with you. Zelly is there."
Seifer perked up and smirked, "Chicken Wuss?" Serenity giggled while Hotaru scowled, "Don't call Zell that Seifer. I don't know what he did to you to make you tease him like that but I do wish you'd stop." Harry raised an eyebrow, "Chicken Wuss?" Serenity rolled her eyes, "Seifer and Zell have this thing going on. They like to argue, but they are friends. You just can't tell by looking at them." Harry smiled sadly, "Thats reminds me of two of my friends." He paused, "Well, one of them hates me now, so I guess you can't really call us friends anymore."
Serenity bit her lip, "Oh. I'm sorry." She perked up, "Well, I'm sure you'll love Zelly. He's lots of fun." harry laughed, "I'm sure I will." Harry turned to Seifer and Hotaru who were still arguing, "Maybe we should stop them?" Serenity tilted her head to the side, "Yeah, I suppose we probably should." Serenity hopped over to the arguing two, and yelled, "HEY GUYS! LETS GO SEE ZELLY!" Hotaru and Seifer jumped at the sound of her voice. Her volume had gotten louder. Seifer smirked at the blonde, "You're extremely loud, did you know that?" Serenity smiled, "Thats what Quisty says all the time."
The argument ended, Harry and Seifer, joined by Serenity and Hotaru, made their way to the cafeteria. Upon entering the cafeteria, they made their way to a boy with spiked up blonde hair who had a black tatoo running down one side of his face. When they arrived at the table he had been sitting at, they all sat down. The boy didn't even look up, and continued stuffing his face with hotdogs, oblivious to their presence. Tired of being ignored, Seifer decided to speak up, "Hey chicken-wuss, can't you see we need to talk to you?" At the word 'chicken wuss', Zell looked up and glared at Seifer. "Don't call me that." He noticed the others sitting with him, and then he noticed Harry. "Hey, whose he?" Seifer rolled his eyes, and Hotaru smacked Seifer lightly on the arm, preventing any response from him, "This is Harry Potter. He just arrived. Harry, this is Zell Dincht. His specialty is martial arts, so if you ever want a few pointers on hand to hand fighting, he's the one to go to." Serenity tilted her head, "Hey, we never told him our specialties." "I already know Seifer's is the gunblade, and Zell's is martial arts. By the way, Zell, does your mother live in Balamb?"
Zell nodded, "Yup, I take it you met her?" Harry nodded, "When I arrived, I heard her talking about Garden, and she explained it to me. So, Serenity, Hotaru, what weapons do you two specialize in?" Hotaru smiled, "I use a glaive, but I can use a staff as well." Serenity then piped up, "And mines a katana. Its like a thinner broadsword." Harry nodded, "I see. I chose the broadsword, do you think maybe you could give me a few pointers?" Serenity nodded enthusiastically, "Sure. It could be fun!"
Seifer stood up, "Well, we've still got two places to go before the tour is complete so, we'd better get going Harry." Harry also stood up, "Alright. It was nice meeting you guys." Serenity giggled, "I love that accent." Hotaru rolled her eyes, "Down girl. Anyways, it was nice meeting you as well Harry. We'll see you around Garden sometime." Zell just waved and continued eating his hotdogs.
Seifer explained their next destination as they walked down the corriders of Garden. "Next, we're going to the Training Center. We can't go in, you need to be either 17 or a qualified SeeD to enter without an instructor. But, I'll show you were it is, just so you know." They stopped at a set of double doors guarded by two figures with masks on. "This is the Training Center. You'll probably practice in here a lot when you start your practical classes. And I do recommend going to Serenity for help with your sword. She's really good with that katana of hers." His praise of Serenity was ruined when Harry heard Seifer mumble under his breath, "Despite the fact that she certificably insane." Harry held in a snicker, she did seem rather crazy.
Seifer then led them to an elevator, and explained, "All of the classrooms are on the second floor. Your classes start tomorrow and you'll probably be assigned to a beginner class. Not only are you new to Garden, but to Balamb as well, so they'll probably explain some things that you don't know." A tall blonde girl with blue eyes, who looked similar to Serenity, stopped them. "Seifer, what are you doing?" Seifer smiled charmingly, "Why Trepe, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were suspicious of me." A raised eyebrow was his only response. Seifer mock pouted, "I'm hurt, truly I am." The eyebrow went up further. Seifer finally explained, "I'm showing Harry around." Quistis looked over to Harry startled, she hadn't even noticed him, "I apologize. I didn't see you. I'm Quistis Trepe." Harry smiled, "Harry Potter." Quistis smiled at Harry, "Its nice to meet you." She turned to Seifer frowning, "Behave Seifer." With that, she walked off leaving Harry trying to hold in his laughter at Seifer who was grumbling about how he didn't always get into trouble.
Seifer led them back to the dorms, "You'd better get to sleep, its been a long day, and you begin classes tomorrow." Agreeing, Harry turned out his light, and fell asleep quickly, his sleep restfull and unplagued by visions of Voldemort for once.
The next day, Seifer woke Harry up at 630 AM, so he could get ready for his first class. After getting in his uniform, Harry walked quickly to his class. He really didn't want to be late. Walking into the class, an Asian looking woman with black hair was standing at the front of the room, she was obviously the teacher. Harry sat down, and a few minutes later, the bell rang. When her class had settled down, the instructor began, "My name is Instruter Xu, and for the duration of this course, we will be covering 5 items. We will begin with a basic history, both of the sorceresses, and the start of Balamb Garden. After that, we will cover Junctioning, then jump into Guardian Forces. After Guardian Forces, we will finish up with Spells and Status Affects. This class will be theory, there will be no practical. The practical is covered in a different class, that takes up the second half of your day. Lets begin.
The first sorceress is thought to be Hyne. The Great Hyne was a powerful sorceress. Legend has it that she created humans. Humans are not ordinarily gifted with the power of magic. That power has to be passed on from one sorceress from another through the process of manifestion. Only a select few humans have the capacity to accept this power. Esteemed sorceresses were called the Descendents of Hyne as a form of respect. In recent years, however, the memory of the once venerated sorceresses have faded from the memory of most. Since the departure of the Sorceress Adel, sorceresses were reviled. Adel was the tyrannical ruler of the country of Esthar, who was over thrown by resistance forces. On a side note, today, President Laguna Loire is the President of Esthar. As I was saying, after Adel was overthrown, many sorceresses hid their powers away because of their fear of being hated. Magic, however, has not been forgotten.
While Adel was still in power, she gave permission to a Dr. Odine to investigate the possiblities of magic usage by ordinary humans. His ground breaking research led to the development of para-magic. This method unlocked the once thought ability of magic casting. Para-magic was taken to a further level by Balamb Garden, which made use of Guardian Forces to enhance magical abilities." Instructor Xu stopped there, "Any questions so far." As of yet, nobody raised their hand. Harry was fascinated, he had never thought that ordinary muggles could ever be able to use any magic. Although, the magic they were talking about probably didn't include Switching Spells, or transfiguring anything. Well, it was still magic, and muggles could use it.
Xu continued her lecture, "We will talk about Guardian Forces, or GFs tomorrow, but we'll finish up today with a very brief history of Balamb Garden. Now, Balamb Garden was founded about 9 years ago by Cid kramer, the current Headmaster of Balamb Garden. Garden established itself as a military institution that specialized in training young people with potential in various aspects of combat, and magic usage. After Balmab was founded, Gardens were set up in Galbadia and Trabia. Within Gaden, there are elite mercenary forces known simply as SeeDs. SeeD forces are known for their unsurpassed abilities in para-magic, used in conjunction with Guardian Forces. Although the SeeDs from Balamb are the only SeeDs known to use GFs. The members are frequently dispatched to participate around the world. Mission usually involve undercover work, and battle support. Most Garden students aspire to become a member of SeeD, and to do so, tests must be taken, beginning from age 16 to qualify to become a member. These exams also determine a SeeD's rank. Higher ranked SeeDs are paid more than lower ranked ones. As a side note to the age issue, it has happened before, recently infact, that a 15 year old believed themselves to be ready for the test. Eligiability to take the SeeD test will then be determined by the instructor."
"Any questions?" When nobody raised their hand, Xu dismissed them. That afternoon, Harry had his first practical class. When Harry walked into the dorms, grinning wildly, Seifer raised an eyebrow, "Enjoy your classes?" Harry's grin grew wider, "It was bloody brilliant."
The next 3 years passed relatively quickly, and thanks to the tutoring he recieved from Serenity, Hotaru, and Quistis, he made it to the same class as Seifer, Squall, Zell, Serenity, and Hotaru, just in time for the SeeD test.
Harry sat in the class, waiting on Instructor Trepe. He began to drift off when Seifer hit him on the side of the head with a piece of paper. Harry scowled at Seifer before looked at the note, "Excited?" Harry turned to Seifer and smirked, then wrote down, "You know it." At that time, Quistis walked into the room, but before she could begin speaking, Serenity tore into the room, with a new girl. "Sorry we're late Instructor. Selphie just arrived, and the Headmaster caught me just as I was on my way to class to take her. " Quistis raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment, "Take your seat then." She began explaining what would be required of the Cadets for the SeeD test. Harry tuned her out, excited he would finally, hopefully, be graduating. He had been working hard for this the past three years, and when he became a SeeD, he was going to request SeeDs assist him with the war in England. He would pay, of course. And he knew exactly which SeeDs he wanted to come with.
His friends knew, and were eager to help him take down the monster that had killed so many people. Harry suspected Seifer also wanted to meet the Headmaster Harry had told him about, years with Cid Kramer as a Headmaster had shown him the difference between a Headmaster that truly cared for this pupils; and one who was just manipulating his pawns on the chessboard of life.
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