Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Ah ah ah! Tortoise! ........... His name is Tim in case you wondered.

Authors note: sorry about the wait, I've started university (electronic engineering) so free time for writing is sparse to say the least. That said I'm not quitting because I've always thought this story should be told but anyone who wants to send in thoughts/ideas/point out errors in my writing, it may well speed the next chapter. Without further ado, Chapter 4.

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Darkness, pain.... whirling colours and distorted voices. Screaming in the distance, too far away to focus on, too warped to recognise the words in it, to distant to recognise anything but terror and anguish and hate. But he knows it is an attack, he knows something is trying to bend him, to break him, it slipped in his weakness and now it seeks to bind him.

He roars, he summons power to tear his enemy asunder, lashing out in all directions. Blade and fire and lightning but it doesn't work. The enemy, the VOICE it's in his head, blood on his hands, burning heat on his skin. Smoke and ashes fill the air, drifting and choking. It's not right, it's not RIGHT! Blood and smoke, fire and ashes, hate and fear and above it all the crushing pressure of the voice! In the madness and the fire and smoke he sees a face, a recognisable face! Grabbing hold of it for all he is worth he fights to focus, to understand.

The Puppy, Friend, Brother, Zack! It's Zack, surrounded by devastation, a village of flames and corpses and rubble. Something isn't right, where is the enemy, who did this!?

He wants to know, wants to fight, to crush the enemy who did this to his people, but he can't think, can't think underneath the noise, the pressure, the voice...... get out of my head!

He loses focus, the maelstrom rushes in. He fights it but can't keep it at bay.

Something is wrong, terrifyingly, horribly wrong.

He wakes, startled green eyes snapping open. The darkened bedroom of privet drive is bathed in soft mako light. He pushes back with one hand on the bed, raising his upper body upright. And for the first time in years, Sephiroth felt a cold shiver of fear slide up his spine.

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Swinging his legs off the bed he stood and strode to the window. It was dark still, not even close to dawn yet he knew he would get no more sleep that night. Instead he knelt, breathing deeply and rhythmically he calmed himself and ran the dream through in his mind. He studied the disturbing vision from all angles, trying to let no detail go unnoticed though it seemed to slip through his mental fingers like smoke and evaded his attempts to resolve it. Eventually he gave up, the vision or dream had been too confused. If it were a memory he had probably been heavily drugged or injured though it was more likely just a disturbing dream, Gaia knew all soldiers had their fair share.

Still his disquiet lingered so he attempted to think of a way to occupy himself till morning and the beginning of his journey to Hogwarts. Sephiroth padded over to his new trunk and spent a few minutes checking that all necessary belongings were packed and ready to go to occupy himself while he thought.

He lingered for a moment over his new text books but dismissed the thought of reading them because he may wake his family which would be somewhat im...polite....hmmm.

He straightened and gazed with narrowed mako eyes in the direction of Dudley's room, while my student has been doing well in his training perhaps this would be a good time for one final little test he thought and the corner of his mouth curved into a devilish smirk.

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In the calm darkness of Dudley's bedroom the lad lay face down on his bed, deep in dreams of battle, glory and chocolate cake. A peaceful smile was firmly imprinted on his face and the boy was utterly content in his slumber.

So deep was he in the arms of Morpheus that he was utterly unaware of the shadow that prowled in his room as it moved like a ghost to the windows and opened them wide. He was also blissfully unaware as the shadowed figure approached and leant over him.

As the figure grabbed the boy from the bed, Dudley found himself jerked awake, only to feel a crushingly powerful arm around his neck and a hand across his mouth, then his stomach almost left him as he felt a surge of massive acceleration and the hands release him before he felt nothing but wind rushing over his body and a curious feeling of weightlessness. At this point Dudley managed to open his eyes, blink blearily and look around only to find himself shocked into complete and total wakefulness by the jet of pure fear that flooded him as he found himself 20 feet up above the streets of his hometown and steadily accelerating towards the ground.

He didn't think, he didn't have time to panic, he simply acted as long hours of training had engrained into him, the boy's life force exploded through his body practically of its own accord, blasting strength into his limbs before he simply tucked forward into a somersault then straightened out just in time to land neatly on his feet before his momentum hurled him forward into a controlled rolling fall.

He came up fast as he had been taught by his cousin before freezing as his mind caught up with his body and surprise that he was still alive flooded him. His distraction cost him as a booted foot caught him about the face, snapping his head to his left before a fist arced up into his midriff, blasting the air from his lungs before he dropped to the ground.

Instinct caught the kick heading towards his face as he lay on the floor, a slightly more focused mind caught the one aimed at his stomach and he fully intended it when he wrenched the caught limb into a viscous twist that should have planted his attacker face first into the concrete. Instead his opponent jumped with his supporting leg, twisted about the leg as he turned it and lashed out with his uncaptured leg to Dudley's face.

Dudley staggered back, eyes watering and black spots streaking across his vision in time with the spike of pain, not deterred he raised his blurry, tear filled and unfocused eyes at the uncertain shape that was his opponent, before roaring and hurling himself towards them. He didn't know who this was, why they had attacked him or how they got into his room, but he was awake and livid now and he was going to make this bastard pay! His outstretched hands reached for his attacker but he found them both caught in a powerful grip, he improvised and smashed his forehead forwards into his opponents face, eliciting a muffled grunt and one of his hands came free.

He drove his fist at the guys head and was unsurprised when it was batted aside but went with the motion turning into the body of his opponent before looping his free hand around his foe's waist he twisted into a hip throw, driving him towards the ground but found himself being pulled forwards as the attacker twisted impossibly in mid air pulling Dudley underneath him as he fell. Dudley hit hard, his breath being driven out of him as his opponent landed on his chest.

Gasping he reached for his opponents face but froze in shock as glowing green eyes burned into him

"Harry!" he cried in shock as best he could with his cousin's weight on his chest before "Harry!!! What the hell was all that for!?" he cried again although in anger this time. Harry just laughed softly with real amusement in his eyes then stood and pulled Dudley to his feet in one smooth and graceful motion.

"It was a test Dudley, one you passed if you are wondering" he stated while his face smoothed into its normal expression. "I wished to see if you had absorbed what I have taught you or whether I had wasted my time these last few years trying to make a SOLDIER out of you" he continued "I wanted to see whether you had the spirit of a warrior, to see if you could react as you had been trained under real emotional stress, to be thrown out of your comfort zone, be beaten savagely with no idea what was going on and for you to get up, shake it off and fight me. In short I wanted to see if you were ready Dudley" he stopped and looked him over from head to toe, noting the bruises, torn clothes and scraped arms from his fall but the boy stood tall and strong gazing into his eyes with no fear or sign of weakness. Sephiroth smiled in satisfaction and nodded once sharply. "Welcome to SOLDIER cousin."

He then turned and strode back towards the house leaving a dumbfounded Dudley in his wake. The boy stood still for thirty seconds longer before a large grin blossomed slowly across his face as a powerful awed pride began to burn in his chest, his cousin had been telling him stories about the strength and honour of the SOLDIER all his life. They had become a symbol of all he wanted to be and now he'd been handed his wildest dream out of the blue.

Dudley slowly walked back to the house bruised, battered yet unbowed... every inch a SOLDIER. And as he sprang back into his open window and climbed back into his bed a new goal occurred to him, he had achieved the impossible once, what was to stop him doing it again I will be a first class SOLDIER one day he promised himself, a smirk on his lips and one day, I'll be legend!

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Sephiroth made his way back to his room surprised and very pleased at the results of his little test, the boy had proven far stronger than he imagined, the boy had been holding back whether consciously or not in training. He was strong, at the level of the weakest of third classes which was stunningly impressive without the mako enhancements of the original SOLDIER program, with them he would most likely be at lower 2nd class level nowhere near his own current low 1st class level but better than most SOLDIERs 6 years his senior and certainly worthy.

He would just have to make sure to remind the boy to not hold back in future sparring and not to slack off while he was away, he had rather enjoyed that fight.