XENOPHOBIA

CHAPTER 2:

THE ORDER AND THE ADVENTURERS

As 12 Grimmauld Place was under the Fidelius Charm, it was decided that most of the Order of the Phoenix would meet the adventurers that Harry had encountered on Gaia in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Fawkes was summoned, and asked to ferry them across, with Dobby explaining it. Zidane's comrades were given notice enough to come over.

The adventurers were ferried to the Entrance Hall, while the Order remained in the Great Hall, Harry and Mikoto with them. Eventually, Zidane, who had gone to bring them up to speed, emerged. "Okay, they're ready. Come on in, guys!"

Hermione watched as a most extraordinary group of people came, a sextet that she had seen, with one notable exception, in the photos Harry sent back. The first was a girl just older than Hermione, about sixteen or seventeen, with a proud, regal bearing, but a gentle, decent demeanour too. Her black hair, cut a little short, framed a beautiful face, her dark eyes looking around the room in restrained wonder. Hermione recognised her as Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVII, now, presumably, Queen Garnet. She was dressed rather casually for royalty, in a rather figure-hugging set of orange coveralls, along with a white shirt.

Garnet was flanked by a pair of knights, presumably her bodyguards. She recognised the stocky form of Adelbert Steiner, Captain of the Pluto Knights, but not the young woman with the light brown hair and some sort of eyepatch over one eye, whose demeanour was a little aloof and professional. This woman was introduced by Garnet as General Beatrix.

Nearby were two children. One was apparently a boy, wearing a blue coat, green striped trousers, and a pointy hat. Nothing of his face could be seen in the darkness between hat and coat, save for two glowing eyes. Strangely, the effect was endearing rather than sinister. A girl, perhaps slightly younger, stood next to him, with blue hair, and a small horn jutting from her forehead. Vivi Ornitier, and Eiko Carol respectively, Hermione knew.

The last one present was a tall, elegant woman in red livery, hefting a spear. Said woman looked nothing less than a bipedal rat, and yet, despite that, she looked graceful and elegant, adjectives one would not normally assign to rats. White hair framed her face. Hermione remembered this one as Lady Freya Crescent, a Dragoon of Burmecia.

"Greetings. I am Professor Albus Dumbledore," Dumbledore said. "Am I to assume that I am addressing Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVII?"

"Indeed. You'll forgive me for not standing on ceremony, Professor. I enjoy learning, and I respect men of learning, but we are here on business. You may dispense with protocol for the most part anyway. You may, if you wish, call me Garnet, or even Dagger, which is the alias Zidane chose for me when we were going incognito."

A number of introductions were made, and a table was Transfigured into a larger, round one. Garnet and Dumbledore sat at opposite sides, and the others sat down. Garnet found herself sitting between Mikoto, who had Harry next to her, and Freya.

"Professor Dumbledore, Zidane told us that you would like our assistance with an issue. Given what Harry spoke about his life here, can I assume that it is related to Voldemort and his underlings?"

Consternation swept the table as she used Voldemort's name, and Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "Indeed."

"Why are these people so afraid of the name?" Beatrix asked. "There are many infamous people back home, responsible for crimes worse than this Voldemort, and yet we do not cringe like that when we hear their names."

"True, but your home may not have a Taboo spell," McGonagall pointed out. "During the last war against V-Voldemort, he sent his minions to murder anyone who spoke out against him, especially if they used his name. Most of his minions called him merely the Dark Lord. In the closing months of that conflict, he became bold enough to use a Taboo spell. When anyone spoke his name, he would be able to send his followers instantly to that location to capture or kill them."

"Speak of the devil, and he's at your shoulder?" Freya asked. "A fearsome spell indeed. That makes some of the fear of speaking the name understandable. Are there no counters?"

"No, save for the strongest of wards," Dumbledore said. "But back onto the topic at hand. Voldemort is indeed the reason why I asked you to come here. Harry's adventures on Gaia and Terra are extraordinary, and of a scale that makes our own problem look small by comparison. Nonetheless, we need all the help we can get. That is why we asked for your help."

"I would be honoured to help the friends of Harry," Steiner said. "But I have my duties in guarding the Princess."

"That is something that is a factor," Garnet said. "I am soon to be crowned Queen of Alexandria, a responsibility I have deferred for far too long, and I cannot tarry much longer. What help I can personally give you will be limited, but I will do what I can."

"Well, perhaps one thing you could do to help is if you know of any skilled teachers in combat magic," Dumbledore said.

"Why?"

"Harry may not have told you, but we have an annual need for a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Dumbledore explained. "Although Professor Snape desires the position, I can't find a substitute for him to teach Potions, unless I can winkle Professor Slughorn out of wherever he's hidden himself. And in truth, the position itself is cursed. At the moment, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, has been hinting to me that he will send his Senior Undersecretary, an odious woman by the name of Dolores Umbridge, to fill the role. Umbridge and one of Voldemort's financial backers, Lucius Malfoy, have been dripping poison in Fudge's ear, claiming that I desire his position. Fudge is suspicious of me, though it has thankfully not escalated yet. I therefore need someone to fill the position to stymie them."

"Is the curse lethal?" Freya asked.

"Not necessarily," Lupin said. "I was one of those affected by the curse. I was forced to resign when my status as a werewolf was exposed." He shot a dirty look at Snape, who merely smirked back. "In Harry's time here, two of the teachers died, but they were both supporters of Voldemort. Gilderoy Lockhart, my immediate predecessor, was a charlatan who ended up wiping his memory by accident while trying to wipe Harry and Ron's."

"I have tried to excise the curse," Dumbledore said, "but it has proven utterly intractable. I believe it is tied to Voldemort's life-force. It will only die with him."

"And given what Harry has told us so far, Voldemort is somewhat tenacious, unable and unwilling to die normally," Garnet said with considerable understatement. "If I may, Professor, while he may not have any ability to use magic, my tutor Doctor Tot may be of use in other regards. He is well-read in esoteric matters, including magic. It is possible that he knows something about how Voldemort remains in the land of the living."

"I suspect the truth, so the matter is not the means by which Voldemort remains alive, but rather, locating and removing those means. Thank you for your kind offer, Garnet, but your tutor's knowledge may not be necessary. That being said, I would appreciate any help in narrowing down possible avenues of inquiry, but it needs to be discreet. Voldemort, I believe, used the foulest forms of magic to anchor himself to the realm of the living. There are few I trust with specifics in this matter." A thought then occurred to Dumbledore, and he looked over at Zidane. "Mr Tribal, you are a thief of considerable skill, are you not?"

"Yeah. You want me to nick something?"

"With all due precautions, yes," Dumbledore said. "I may need to retain your services. Indeed, anyone you can spare, Garnet, I would appreciate, those who understand discretion. I also wanted to ask whether you know of anyone skilled in magic, particularly in the Dark Arts and defending against them."

If Vivi had visible lips, he would have pursed them. "Umm, I know quite a bit."

Dumbledore smiled indulgently. "I'm sure you do, Mr Ornitier. But a child teaching a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson would only cause ridicule, even if you are competent."

"I don't know for certain, but there's a couple of people I could consider," Garnet said. "My honorary aunt, Lady Hilda Garde, is a possibility. While it is true that she has responsibilities as the wife of the Regent of Lindblum, both she and Cid would probably not mind. Another possible candidate, albeit a somewhat riskier one, may be a mercenary we encountered known as Lani."

"Lani?" Zidane echoed incredulously. "She tried to kill us!"

"On my mother's orders. She is a mercenary of considerable skill with Black Magic, with combat skills beyond her age," Garnet said. "And if I recall correctly, we learned she had taken up residence in Madain Sari after a failed attempt to get back to Alexandria, and is living peacefully with the Moogles."

"I'll interview her myself if a meeting can be arranged," Dumbledore said. "Even a mercenary may yet be preferable to Umbridge. That being said, even bringing in a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher may not be able to stymie Fudge. He's certainly intending to send Umbridge anyway, as a High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. In theory, meant to check that everything is up to standards, in reality, Umbridge will be here to exert Ministerial control over this school, and attempt to find a way to oust me, or at least erode my powerbase. That in itself can't be stopped, but preventing her from filling the Defence Against the Dark Arts post can be done, I hope."

Garnet nodded. "I understand. I will contact the people I have mentioned forthwith, Professor." She looked at Zidane. "You have no issue working with Dumbledore, Zidane?"

"Hey, anything to help Harry," Zidane said.

The meeting went on for a little longer, before it ended. Hermione eventually went over to Garnet, who was talking to Zidane about something, before they noticed her approaching. "This is Hermione, Dagger," Zidane said. "She's the brainy friend of Harry's."

"Well met," Garnet said with a smile and a nod, while Zidane went off to talk to Eiko and Vivi.

"It's good to meet you, Your Highness," Hermione said, curtseying, only to be waved off by Garnet.

"Please, you don't have to be so formal," Garnet said. "I got used to being addressed with familiarity during my travels with Zidane. And to tell the truth, I am not one for protocol anyway. I hated etiquette lessons. Even during my travels in Zidane's company, I found it hard to shake the habit ingrained into me, though Steiner found it harder still. Harry spoke highly of you and Ronald."

Hermione smiled in her turn. "I'm glad. Harry…he was my first friend, I have to say. And he saved my life from a troll. He has a bit of a saving people thing. He said that he saved your world, and many others, when he stopped Kuja."

"Indeed. It may make your own problems with this Voldemort seem small by comparison, but I would be remiss if I did not offer what aid I could, especially given what Harry did to help us," Garnet said. "Our journey may not have succeeded without his help, or indeed many of our comrades from disparate lands and people. Freya could very well have refused to help me, given what my mother did to her homeland of Burmecia, and to the Burmecian colony of Cleyra, but she did so. Vivi was created as a golem for an army, and both Zidane and Mikoto were created to wipe out life on Gaia for Terra's plans. Amarant, whom you have not met, was a mercenary hired by my mother, though he defected for his own reasons. While your world's concerns are technically not mine, I am more than willing to help where I can, even if my aid is limited. Both because it is the right thing to do, and because Harry had helped us."

"Thanks, Garnet," Hermione said.

"You're welcome. Actually, if you wish, I can obtain texts on Gaian history and magic quite readily," Garnet said. "There's even an entire island on our world taken up by a library called Daguerro."

Hermione's eyes widened. An entire island taken up by a library? She NEEDED to go there one day. Hermione had an itching to head to Gaia one day, especially having heard that bit of news…

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

Bit of a slow chapter. Hopefully, it'll get better as the story gets moving.

So, who should be DADA teacher? Hilda? Lani? Or even Stiltzkin, who I suggested in Xenophilia? Make your opinion known in the reviews.

No numbered annotations this time.