Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or FF7, they are the property of Square Enix and J.K Rowling. The only thing I own is my OC for this story

Chapter 8: Monster Hunt

Reincarnation Confusion

It had been several weeks since the Weasley twins and their father had taken up residence in Shinra Manor, the headquarters for the reincarnates. They had learned many things in that time, as a consequence of having their world shaken up a second time much of what they learned was quite shocking. For the Weasley Patriarch it was a bitter pill to swallow but swallow it and his pride he did.

The reincarnates truly seemed to excel at such things.

Weeks ago

Arthur and his two oldest and the youngest of the Weasley boys had just arrived at the manor, when none other than Lucius Malfoy came around the corner. Arthur had drawn his wand quickly followed by the two eldest Weasley children in preparation to attack the Malfoy Lord, recognizing him as an enemy. Then Ron came up beside him and put his hand on his father's arm. The look in his eyes stopped the Weasley patriarch from casting whatever spells he had been about to.

Lucius, watching the exchange as he noticed their presence, looked as calm and unruffled as always.

"Mr. Weasley, I see you have returned, and you brought guests. Shall I inform my son of the new additions to the manor?"

Ron nodded.

"You probably should. It's his manor after all."

While his father gaped at the fact that Draco apparently owned the manor they now found themselves in, the Malfoy Lord elegantly turned on his heels and strode back the way he came. He left a rather bewildered audience behind at the non-hostile interaction.

Present

What had followed was another somewhat lengthy explanation of what was going on that the older Weasleys had no choice but to believe, thanks to Lucius Malfoy of all people. The way he acted towards them, while still haughty, had little to none of the hostility from years prior. That had all but shattered his conceptions about the Dark Faction of the magical world, fed to them for years by Dumbledoor. It left them reeling for the next several days as they settled into their new and hopefully temporary home.

It had also lost the Headmaster what little faith and trust in the old man the Weasley patriarch still had in him despite the things he had recently found out about the old man.

It was hard to break the effects decades of propaganda had on a person after.

If someone would have told Arthur Weasley a few weeks ago he would be having a relatively amicable conversation with Lucius Malfoy, whom the entire Wizarding World knew he hated with a passion, he would have personally checked them into St. Mungo's for a mental evaluation.

As it was, he still had trouble being civil at times towards those who had been his enemies for years, but he was making progress and for that he was proud of himself.

It helped that he was actually beginning to like some of them, as they shared his interest in non-magical technology and how it could be combined with magic.

Each of those he had met so far were all amazing in their own ways, and he wondered, looking back on it now, how he had not noticed how exceptional these people were before.

Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black still made him freeze up though whenever they encountered each other, even though she wasn't anywhere near as insane as all the reports said she was. She was just sadistic, and had some rather bizarre tastes in things that she enjoyed doing. Arthur could say with absolute certainty that he did not enjoy those things, so he tried to avoid her as much as possible.

He did not want to catch her attention and end up as one of her playthings or treated like some sort of bizarre pet. He had seen her go so far as to ruffle someone's hair in a manner reminiscent of a master stroking their beloved pet, when said pet did something they were especially proud of.

Her sister, Narcissa Malfoy, had given him a full medical evaluation at Harry's behest, the very day they had arrived at the manor. Narcissa was someone Arthur found he could get along with very well.

She was a no nonsense and practical person who was also feminine and maternal and enjoyed those things that most females enjoyed without being a parasite about it except when a ball was not that far away and then she became slightly crazy.

She mothered others in a way that was practically the opposite of his ex-wife, and made him wonder just how much the love potion screwed with his mental faculties. There was no way he could call what Molly dished out to their offspring proper mothering. He was just sad that Dumbledore had given custody of their remaining underaged children to that manipulative woman.

Thankfully, he still retained visiting rights.

Ron was fine, but Arthur worried for Ginny. At least she had Ron even if he was busy with other things most of the time now.

Narcissa had been very sympathetic to his plight with his ex-wife, letting him talk while she flushed his system of the love potion.

According to her diagnosis, it was the only thing he had been dosed with, which gave him the security of knowing his mind and will were completely his own once more.

Narcissa had been very displeased with his physical health when the magical scans she had taken came back. She had prescribed a rigid potions and exercise regimen for him, which he had followed to the letter.

He might not be recognized as such by most because his House was so low on the food chain as to be almost non-existent in the eyes of other purebloods, but Arthur was a pureblood himself by birth, and was well aware of the Black family's legendary temper. He had no desire to awaken that sleeping dragon any time soon thank you very much.

All in all, while life might be very different than it was before, Arthur was content. He was still able to live a good life despite his worry for his daughter and the wizarding world in general.

He was slowly getting over what had been done to him thanks to the support of his sons and their friends, and all the new acquaintances (not quite yet friends) he was making amongst the Dark. Best of all, he was finally learning all he wanted to know about muggle technology and how to safely integrate it with magic.

Life was good, perhaps even better than it had been before in some ways, and that was never a bad thing.

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Aurora knew they had forgotten to mention something to their allies, and now she was on her way to inform Lord Slytherin of this latest twist all the while resisting the urge to face palm but doing so mentally.

She really had hoped they had managed to cover everything in the double meeting they had about a month ago. It was a good thing she had planned to take some Death Eaters on a field trip to retrieve a Materia that she had sensed in London soon.

She hadn't had the time to retrieve it herself at the time, and she had been wanting to show their allies a natural mako spring ever since she had mentioned its existence. She knew more than a few of the Dark were eager to study such a rare and magical place and its surroundings.

She soon arrived at the Slytherin Lord's study door and knocked, waiting for the Lord whom she sensed was inside to give her permission to enter.

"Enter." was heard and she opened and shut the door silently as she entered her boots making no noise of the carpeted floor of the lord's study.

He looked up as soon as he sensed her approach. Upon seeing her and the look on her face, he sighed. A rare occurrence for the seemingly ever composed lord.

"Why do I get the feeling you have more potentially unpleasant and/or world shattering news for me?"

"That would be because I unfortunately do."

He simply raised an eyebrow and waited for her to elaborate.

"When we told you our story, I'm not sure if we mentioned the monsters that once roamed Midgar?"

The lord frowned a bit thinking back on all that had been explained about a month ago. He could not recall them having said anything about these Monsters that she had mentioned just now.

He gave her a shake of the head to indicate that neither she nor the Shinra Lord had said anything about the matter.

"I was afraid of that."

She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose before pinching it in an effort to stave off a migraine, much to the inner amusement of the Slytherin Lord.

"Well, back in the times of Midgar, creatures we called monsters roamed the land. They were actually very similar to modern day magical creatures, but were a general nuisance for people to deal with. Unlike the magical creatures of today which stick to their habitats and usually don't go near people except for the domesticated magical animals. There were varying types of monsters, as much as there are varying types of magical creatures.

Hunting them made good money if you were willing to risk your life, some of the monsters could be quite dangerous even for the most seasoned monster hunters to deal with. They had either immense strength and size on their side, or oftentimes nasty unique abilities occasionally both."

"Anyway, the thing we forgot to mention was that our awakening to our past lives seems to have brought the monsters back as well. The ones that continue to appear seem to be getting stronger. Eventually, we believe even the strongest of the monsters that we had to deal with in the past will make a re-appearance, so we will likely start training you and our allies in how to deal with them should you come across any."

"We also need to make contingency plans for if and when the monster's appearance will draw the attention of the mundane. While the situation is manageable right now it will not remain that way forever and sooner or later a mundane or group of them will be involved."

"Well start with the Malboro that just appeared recently. I was thinking of bringing those I was going to take to a mako spring, and make it a training trip as well."

Voldemort resisted the urge to gape dumbly at her and simply nodded. Though it was unexpected, it was a unique experience and his men should be alright since she would be going with them.

Really, it seemed every time she came to see him in his office, she brought yet another earth shattering revelation with her. They should just make her the official doomsman or in this case doomswoman of the reincarnates.

What he didn't know was just how tricky Marlboro could be. If he had, he would have warned his men and possibly not even allowed them to go on this training trip. As it was, his men would be reminded far too much of a Nandu and their notoriously lethal toxic breath. They would be utterly terrified when Aurora informed them that a Marlboro was only a mid-tier monster at worst and a low class mid-tier at that, and then it was only because they never hunted alone.

They would also fervently wish to never meet a high-tier monster. If mid-tier monsters were akin to one the most dangerous of magical beasts known to the Wizarding World. Monsters was a fitting name for them.

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The next evening after her conversation with Lord Slytherin saw Aurora leading a small contingent of Death Eaters to where she sensed the materia, while keeping her senses open for the monster. Monsters were often drawn to mako springs, especially if they had materia in them. The Marlboro would more than likely be drawn by the materia's song just as she being a Centra was.

She could sense that those she had with her were nervous. She had given them a brief description of a Marlboro and their capabilities, and they had been understandably wary of going up against it.

She made sure each of them had a bezoar, an antidote, an echo screen, a phoenix down and an eye drops in the event the bubble head charms wore off at an inopportune moment, and they or one of their comrades accidentally inhaled the Marlboro's toxic breath. Ending up with status problems such as confusion, sleep, blindness or poisoning because they weren't prepared would not be fun.

The materia's song became a crescendo that would have deafened her spiritual senses, if she had been any less skilled than she was with the abilities that made her a Centra. She had to withhold a chuckle at the irony of its location, since it appeared to be somewhere inside the Tower of London.

To think, a place well known for death and suffering was home to a source of pure life. She settled for shaking her head some and moving on to pin-pointing the materia's exact location.

After they spent a good half hour searching the building, whatever ghosts were haunting the place avoiding them as they did so, they found the spring half hidden and nearly dried up. It was coming out of a wall close to the entrance of the prison's basement. Sitting inside the small crevice created by the mako spring, and surrounded by crystalized mako, was a brilliant perfectly round red sphere.

Aurora whistled slightly in surprise and appreciation. Summoning Materia were incredibly rare, and ones as powerful as this one felt even more so. She gently reached in and plucked the summoning materia from the spring. She had to gasp, her eyes widening slightly at the information she was getting from the Materia as she held it in her hand.

She nearly choked on her own spit when she realized who exactly this particular materia summoned, confirming a theory she had had about materia but had never had any proof of until now.

In the past, Aurora had theorized that the beings that were summoned by the materia were actually people, most likely those favored by the Planet who had been given the option to return to the physical world in the form of a powerful spirit rather than rejoin the lifestream with the possibility of reincarnation later on.

Choosing to become powerful spirits that could be summoned by others meant that those who chose to do so could continue in this way to help the world long after their physical deaths.

The materia she held in her hands was proof of her theory, because it summoned one of the most famous kings in the world.

King Arthur of Camelot, the capital of Britannia in his time and his knights of the round table..

She was going to give this materia to Harry as a late birthday present, since he was a direct descendant of Arthur Pendragon through Godric Gryffhindor, who was in turn a direct descendant of Mordred of all people.

It was also discovered that the Sword of Gryffindor was actually Excalibur.

No one had known it until Harry had the sword examined by the Goblins out of curiosity, after he had summoned it to him. Excalibur had been made by the Fae for King Arthur. The Fae were even more skilled than either Goblins or Dwarves when it came to metalsmithing. After all the Fae rarely ever made either weapons or armor for any outside their own.

The sword was much like his own Masamune in that way. Though he had to work hard in order to properly wield the blade since he did not have the right build for the traditional English broadsword that Excalibur was.

The only thing that allowed him to wield it at all was the extra strength granted to him by the Mako flowing through his veins.

That had been the summer after their third year, when they had gotten their memories back and Harry and Harmione had gotten an inheritance test done at Gringotts.

Harmione had a theory of her own since second year that most muggleborns were just the descendants of squibs tossed out into the muggle world, the magical blood finally clean enough to manifest in them. She had been right. Of course some of them were true muggle borns as it must be to keep magic healthy.

Aurora brought her focus back on those who were with her and nearly snorted in laughter. Lord Dolohov was having a field day with this outing, looking like a kid in a candy store as he examined the mako spring both visually and with magic. Waving his wand in complex patterns that almost made her whistle because she knew how much skill it took to cast such spells.

While the others were naturally curious as well, none of them were as excited as him and merely examined the mako spring with interest.

A few hours later after Dolohov had finished his examinations of the spring, he and Severus had taken some samples to examine/ experiment with further. They had promised that they would treat the precious substance with the respect it deserved.

Suddenly, they all felt a disturbance. Aurora turned quickly, casting a libra spell in the direction of the source and simultaneously casting a bubble head charm, the others following her lead.

She cursed. The monster had appeared just when they were ready to depart, and it was not just the two or three or even four monsters. It was a whole pack of monsters that they now faced, including several Marlboro.

She hoped the Death Eaters learned fast. At least with her here there, they had a very slim chance of anyone dying or being incapacitated for more than a day or two at most.

She sent up a prayer to the Goddess, and re-focused on the battle taking place before her.

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Severus resisted the urge to apparate away at the sight of the oncoming horde. It was composed of some of the most grotesque creatures he had ever had the displeasure of seeing, including those he used in his potions. The only thing that stayed his hand was the fact that he and the other Death Eaters were horribly experienced in fighting these creatures. They needed this experience no matter how terrified it made him.

He took a second to conjure some cover to duck behind, some of his comrades helping him in this endeavor as most of them did not want to get up close and personal with these creatures in their first encounter with them.

As soon as he was sure their barricade was as sturdy as they could make it in the limited time they had, they all ducked behind it and began firing spells into the horde.

Since they were all grouped together rather tightly it was hard to target just a single creature. It would be more efficient to destroy as many as they could at a time, though with a group this large it wasn't really an issue.

Some monsters were instantly turned to ash as they were hit with powerful blasts of fire, or lay twitching on the ground from bolts of lightning. Aurora had hurriedly told them that those two elements would work best against the monsters that made up this horde.

Others screeched in rage dodging the majority of the magic directed at them. They were the ones to worry about the most. They possessed a great deal of speed which made them tricky to hit.

Aurora herself dodged in and out of the fray, sometimes slicing monsters to pieces with Silver Wing, throwing blasts of magic at the monsters or healing spells at allies.

She continued to update her entourage with enemy patterns and advice, all the while keeping most of the attention on her rather than them.

This was supposed to be a learning experience, and they couldn't learn if they were dead or incapacitated for days at a time due to injuries or having their brains scrambled by Marlboro breath. Snape had even more respect for the reincarnations if this is what they had to deal with on a frequent basis in the past.

Watching his goddaughter fight was like watching an intricate yet deadly dance. He would have been in awe if he hadn't been busy trying to survive the onslaught. Despite her best efforts they still had to do a fair bit of fighting, but at least it was semi-manageable.

One thing was for certain, he would never complain about the grueling training sessions the reincarnates put them through ever again. He had a feeling the only reason he was surviving this fight was because of the hellish training the inner circle and their Lord had been put through by the reincarnates.

A few hours later, Aurora, sensing the Death Eaters tiring, called a retreat. All the Death Eaters gathered in one place so she could erect a powerful shield around them. Once she did, they got their first glimpse of what a summoning Materia could do.

As Aurora held up the red Materia that they had heard about but never seen in action, the brilliant red crystal began to glow brightly and the air began to feel supercharged with magic. It made it hard for them to breathe, especially those who were sensitive to magic.

It made quite an impression, and more than a few Death Eaters would later be seen working hard to control regular Materia, just so they could get a chance to learn how to use the red variation. It also saw all of the Death Eaters growing a healthy fear of summons and wishing to never be on the receiving end of one unless it was healing oriented.

Aurora opened her mouth as the magic in the air became a crescendo and his hair stood on end and enchanted a summoning Aria, causing the magic to surge sharply in response:

Oh, ancient ruler of Thunder, Father of Wisdom, heed my call! Descend unto this battle and aid me in my fight. I summon thee, Ramuh!

The power that had been building exploded into the world as a bolt of lightning more powerful than any that they had ever been sensed before arced from the heavens above, impacting the ground with a resounding BOOM and a blinding flash of light. When the light dimmed, the bolt of lightning had transformed into an ancient looking figure dressed in flowing robes and carrying an intricate staff.

The figure proceeded to slaughter the remaining monsters effortlessly, bombarding them from above with lightning bolts of such strength and intensity that they did not stand a chance.

When no monsters remained, the summons (Ramuh as Aurora had called him) turned to his summoner and gave a respectful bow to her, before disappearing in another burst of lightning. His task completed.

Severus felt faint and would have gaped, whether in awe or terror he didn't know. As it was he just repeated a phrase mentally that seemed to have become a mantra where the reincarnates were concerned, anyone they deemed an enemy didn't stand a chance against them.

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She couldn't help but wince as she took in the battered states of the Death Eaters around her, although they had handled themselves well against the unexpected horde. She was thankful that she and the other reincarnates had been so harsh in their training since the alliance had been formed. Some of them likely wouldn't have survived the monster onslaught this night otherwise.

It was most concerning that a horde had appeared when it had never happened before, giving credence to their supposition that even the higher tiered monsters would eventually return.

While she wanted to speed things up so they could focus on their eventual reintegration with the mundane part of British society, (since it would no doubt happen in part because of the monsters). They couldn't rush the take over and modernization of the British magical society. As the saying goes, if you can't do something right, don't do it at all.

They would simply have to be more vigilant from now on.

One thing was for certain, she was not looking forward to reporting tonight's activities. Their outing had not been as smooth as she had alluded to it being. Neither the Dark Lord or Draco would be pleased at the number of injuries sustained during the confrontation and that was not even counting what Narcissa would do when she found out.

Aurora shivered in foreboding.

When Narcissa was in mama bear mode, it was no fun to be around her at all. She was best avoided if at all possible, and the Centra got the distinct feeling that she would be unable to avoid Draco's mother this time around.

End Chapter

A/N: Sorry for the long delay. I have been so busy lately I just haven't had time to write much. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Next Chapter: The Malfoy summer ball is close at hand and one of the reincarnates pulls out all the stops to make it the most interesting Malfoy ball that has been held in some time.