A/N: Sorry about starting another story, but I need a change. I promise that BoH will be finished. Anyway, this is an infusion of Final Fantasy elements into the HP universe with the actual canon twisted to suit my needs. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Luna (whose a year older) will each have the abilities of a Final Fantasy character, and Voldemort will eventually become Chaos. Chapter title is Squall's unofficial theme song. When the Void speaks, imagine Mike Patton as the Darkness from the game The Darkness. If you haven't played it, look it up.
Disclaimer (for the whole story): Almost everything belongs to J.K. Rowling and Square Enix. Everything outside of their copyright is mine, so ask before using it. Lawyers who visit my home will be fed to my pet Sand Worm.
Thoughts
"Espers/GFs/Eidolons/Summons speaking"
"the Void speaking"
Harry Potter and the Power of the Void
Fantasy I: Maybe I'm a Lion
The man once known as Tom Marvolo Riddle glared down at the child he'd come to kill. This baby was the one person who could kill him? Preposterous. Mop of unruly black hair, emerald green eyes reminiscent of his mother, and a small pendant shaped like a lion's head with a bladed cross descending from it clutched in his tiny hand. Voldemort laughed long and hard before turning his wand on the child and muttering, "Avada Kedavra."
What happened was the last thing Voldemort expected, the emerald that formed the lion pendant's eye absorbed the sickly green light and glowed angrily for a second before blasting Voldemort with his own curse. The last thing he heard as nothingness claimed him were the cries of baby Harry and part of the Potters' home collapsing.
It felt like forever that he drifted in darkness before a voice spoke to him, it was very strange, varying between every imaginible timbre, tone, pitch, and volume. At times it sounded harsh and violent and others soft and seductive. "Welcome to the Void, Tom Riddle. I must thank you for awakening me."
"Awakening you? How?" Voldemort asked, completely confused.
"The ritual you performed to bolster your strength a few months ago. It was created to draw strength from the Void, and you drew enough to make me aware. Now I plan to grant your wish for power on the condition that you return that world to me."
"Return it?"
"Everything is created from nothingness, and to nothingness it must return. I was thwarted the last time I attempted to take that world. You will sleep here until you are strong enough to go back. You will be Chaos incarnate, and all shall know that the Void WILL NOT BE DENIED!"
---
Sirius Black had concluded about 10 minutes ago that this was the worst day of his life. Two of his best friends, practically his brother and sister, had been betrayed by one of his other friends and murdered by a Dark Lord. Now, he was clutching a crying baby Harry to his chest and weeping along with his godson. He heard the crack that signified apparition, and didn't need to turn to recognize his other brother.
"No...please, God, no..." Remus Lupin mumbled, barely able to comprehend that James and Lily Potter were really gone. "Sirius, is Harry okay?"
"Yeah, the cub's fine, completely untouched. Won't let go of James's necklace, though," Sirius replied, giving Harry to his "Uncle Remus". Remus held the little bundle like it would vanish should he loosen his grip, staring into eyes so like Lily's and feeling more tears coming. Another two cracks behind them signaled the arrival of Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape. Snape had once been a hated foe of all the Marauders, but once Lily had forcefully pulled his head out of his ass, he'd come around, and, while he still wasn't sunshine and rainbows, he was a trusted friend.
"Fucking snake-faced asshole," Severus growled, his sorrow, as usual, manifesting through extreme anger.
"At least it's not all your fault, buddy. If I had just gone through with becoming Secret Keeper like we'd all agreed, and not tried to be all sneaky, they'd still be alive," Sirius said bitterly.
"Don't beat yourself up, that attitude does their memories disservice," Dumbledore said, placing a comforting hand on Sirius's shoulder and trying hard to hold back tears of his own. He was going to have to be the calm one. "Now, do you have a place to take Harry?"
"Yeah, James let me have some property up in Scotland, there's a nice two-story house there," Sirius replied, happy to have something other than untimely demise of his friends to think about.
"We will put it under Fidelius. I would rather we take him to Petunia and erect a few Blood Wards, but..." Dumbledore trailed off.
"She's a complete and total bitch," Severus finished for him, even after all these years he was still in disbelief as to how that horse-faced bigot was Lily's sister.
"Agreed," Remus said, still holding Harry. The pendant in his hand caught Remus's eye, though. Its eye was glowing. "Dumbledore, what do you make of this?"
"James's pendant?" Dumbledore asked himself, he'd examined it before and it never seemed magical. "It seems that this is no mere emerald. If it absorbed a Killing Curse, it has to be...a shard of the Wind Crystal."
"What?!" Snape asked, he'd heard the Legend of the Crystals, and couldn't believe James had even a shard of one all this time.
"Yes, with its coloration and ability to absorb Forbidden magic that is the only explanation. Even magicite cannot absorb a Killing Curse."
"To think, James had something this rare and powerful all this time. I know he said the pendant was special, but wow," Remus said, staring in awe at the pendant.
"Wait, speaking of James's special items..." Sirius trailed off before diving back into the rubble. He came back carrying a case with that same lion/cross design, James had dubbed it the Griever, on its front.
"Ah, yes, I have a feeling that young Harry will need that in the future. I fear that Voldemort has only been momentarily defeated, and James's Revolver will give him an advantage. Can you teach him?" Dumbledore asked Sirius.
"No, but Snape here is almost as good as James was."
"Better," Snape said.
"Save the petty squabbling. Now Sirius, if you would be so kind as to make a Portkey for us," Dumbledore ordered, already annoyed at yet another Sirius vs. Snape argument. Sirius did as he was told and Harry was whisked away to his new home.
10 Years Later - July 31st, 1991
Harry, clad in a simple pair of black pants and a white T-shirt with his pendant dangling from his neck, faced down his platinum blonde-haired opponent. Draco had been his friend since he was little. His mother had been forced to marry Lucius as a means of strengthening ties between the Black and Malfoy families, but that had changed when Sirius's mother had died and he became the head of the Black family. He knew that Lucius was an abusive, bigoted asshole, and had immediately annulled the marriage and retrieved his cousin and her son after beating the ever-loving shit out of ol' Lucy. Remus and Snape had helped and, by their reports, the Malfoy line was forever dead until magical cloning was invented. His next two actions had been accepting his cousin Andromeda back into the family and then going to London and burning No. 12 Grimmauld Place to the ground and pissing on the ashes in dog form. That was how Harry came to be on a hill just a little ways away from Sirius's home, facing down Draco Black while Nymphadora Tonks watched, she'd always loved spectating their sparring sessions while she wasn't at Hogwarts. Harry was holding his father's gunblade, a sword with a firearm for a hilt, a weapon he and Harry's Uncle Severus had invented because they preferred close-quarters combat to standing back and slinging spells. The gun part, Uncle Sev had told him, was just to cause more damage and provide added momentum for swings. The only disagreement they'd had was what gun to graft in. James had preferred the revolver while Severus liked a semi-automatic. They'd finally just split and each built one of their own, the Revolver which Harry held, and Draco's Hyperion.
"You're not going to win, Harry. I've been training a lot since our last fight," Draco taunted, lazily spinning his sword in one hand.
"Whatever, Draco, I'm gonna wipe the floor with you, as usual," Harry replied. These little taunting sessions were the norm before every fight and annoyed their cousin to no end. In fact, their normal cue to start the fight was when Tonks started to yell at them for taking too long. When she did, Harry took the initiative, leaping towards Draco and pulling the trigger of his gunblade, the momentum causing him to spin and adding near lethal force to his heel drop. Draco sidestepped and brought his blade down towards Harry's neck. Harry parried and they continued exchanging blows for a moment, until Harry swept his blade from near his leg toward Draco's shoulder, pulling the trigger at the last second and sending Draco flying backwards as his blade blocked the hit. Harry quickly reloaded with a speed loader (six revolver shells attached to a plastic disc for easy reload) from his belt and barely had time to dodge a Fire spell from Draco. His next one, though, hit Harry right in the face and sent him to the ground. Harry was trying to blink ash and smoke from his eyes as Draco closed in on him, swinging his sword across Harry's face, blood splattering across the grass. Harry looked up at Draco, revealing a large cut that started over his right eye and continued across the bridge of his nose. With a growl, Harry charged at Draco, swinging his gunblade relentlessly before jumping back and gathering his magic into his blade. With that finished Harry charged forward, holding his blade down at his side, when he reached Draco he released all the energy into an upward swing that swept Draco's block out of the way and gave Draco a cut similar to Harry's but going from his nose to over his left eye.
"STOP! Christ, stop right now!" Tonks screamed, running up and physically separating the two boys. "Damn, are you trying to kill each other? We need to get you guys to Aunt Cissy."
"Really? We can't just heal on our own and avoid my mom killing the both of us?" Draco asked, knowing that his mother, his godfather, and Sirius would all be very annoyed with them, as would Remus when he got back from Hogwarts. He'd been running an errand for Dumbledore.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Harry agreed, not wanting Uncle Sev to know he'd released his Renzokuken technique on his godson.
"House...NOW!" Tonks growled, grabbing both boys by the ear and dragging them down the hill.
As predicted, they both got angry lectures from three sides, with a fourth promised upon Remus's return. In the end, despite threatening to bandage their heads and put them in bed 'til they healed, Narcissa waved her wand and cleaned up the blood and sealed the wounds. "I'm making sure they'll scar so you'll never forget to not be a couple of idiots. Never take your sparring that far again, okay?" It was worded as a question, but carried the strong undertone of an order.
"Yes, ma'am," they said simultaneously.
"Now, Harry, we're going up to Hogwarts for your birthday later today. We could do it here, but I want you and Draco to get a chance to see the school before September," Sirius said.
"You mean you couldn't resist a chance to decorate the entire Great Hall," Severus teased, a grin on his face.
"That, too," Sirius admitted.
"Cool, can't wait," Harry replied, walking over and hugging his godfather for taking over Hogwarts for him.
---
Later that night, after being confined to their rooms for the intervening time, Harry and Draco were staring wide-eyed at the large castle. "This is a school?" Harry asked.
"Yep, impressive, isn't it?" Remus asked, having exhausted his anger for Harry and Draco earlier.
"Very, Tonks has described it to us before, but to actually see it..." Harry replied, Draco nodding in agreement.
"Why thank you, my boy. I've always loved the castle myself, and am delighted to hear your admiration," Dumbledore spoke from beside Harry, having walked up while he and Draco were staring. "Might I inquire as to what happened to your faces?"
"The idiots got way too into their training," Tonks replied, glaring at the two younger boys.
"Shut up, Nymphadora," Draco shot back.
"Why you little..." she snarled, looking ready to strangle Draco.
"Stop, now," Dumbledore said forcefully, these two were almost as bad as Sirius and Severus. "Shall we adjourn to the Great Hall? Sirius and Remus have done quite a good job on the decorations."
Turned out that "good job" was an understatement. The Great Hall's stone walls had been transfigured into Gryffindor colors, with banners proclaiming "Happy Birthday, Harry!" hanging where the house banners usually would with banners emblazoned with the Griever symbol interspersed here and there. Balloons covered the ceiling and confetti was falling like snow. The one long table that had been set out was covered in Harry's favorite foods and another small, round table held a pile of presents. "Wow! Thanks guys," Harry said, wrapping Sirius and Remus in a bear hug.
"No problem, cub," Sirius replied for the both of them.
After a very satisfying meal, Harry began to open his presents. Sirius, Remus, and Severus had collaborated to outfit him for combat with three belts. The first had an amazing-looking lion's head belt buckle that was, in fact, what was known as a battlefield Portkey. It could be keyed in on the fly, allowing for short range teleportation that would leave his foes scratching their heads until he appeared behind them and sent said heads flying. Of course, such a remarkable item needed quite the recharge time, so any jumps would have to be reserved for the perfect opportunity. The second belt had a magical pouch attached that was weightless and had a massive size expansion charm on the inside. It would basically mean he could arrive to any battlefield prepared for any eventuality. The last had a sheath large enough for his gunblade that could be rendered invisible and would magically secure his blade so that it could be removed by no other means than him drawing it. Next was Narcissa and Draco's turn, and they presented Harry with a beautiful snowy owl (they hid her behind the other gifts), who he named Hedwig. She took an instant liking to the young wizard, settling on his shoulder and nipping his ear affectionately. Andromeda came next, giving Harry a black, dragon hide jacket with a white, fur collar. Because of the material, he would be amply protected while wearing it. It seemed as if everyone was giving him things to protect or help him. Ted, Andromeda's husband, and his daughter presented Harry with quite a few books on some very interesting, i.e. dangerous, magic. Tonks had even gone out of her way to procure a second copy of the Auror training manual that she'd been given when she signed up for the corps. The other presents on the pile were gag gifts that all exploded when he opened one and covered him in paint, which caused Remus, Sirius, and Severus to burst out laughing while Harry quietly set their robes and hair on fire. After much screaming and cursing they managed to douse themselves.
"Harry, I have acquired something very rare that I believe will help you in both your training and magic in general," Dumbledore said before presenting Harry with a large crystal. It was a deep sky blue and seemed to radiate power.
"What is it?" Harry asked, feeling some sort of presence contained within.
"A Junctioning Stone. Contained within is a powerful spirit know as a Guardian Force. Junctioning such a creature will allow you to draw ambient magic and use it to augment your own abilities."
"Where on Earth did you find that?" Severus asked.
"Morocco. It took some doing, but I managed to track one to a marketplace there," Dumbledore replied with a grin. "Just focus your magic and try to contact the GF."
"Right," Harry said, focusing on the stone and reaching out with his mind. Hello, anyone home?
"Hello, young Lion. I am Bahamut, the Dragon King." a deep, masculine voice spoke directly into Harry's mind. It carried an air of confidence and authority, but not so much as to seem arrogant.
Nice to meet you. Umm...how exactly does this Junction process work?
"I will take care of it." Bahamut assured Harry, and suddenly he felt a rush of power as the crystal vanished into his hand. The image of a dragon, his wings extended and his mouth open in a roar then appeared on the back of his hand as confirmation that boy and GF had Junctioned properly. "There. We are now one, young Lion. Do you wish me to explain how to draw magic from the area around you?"
Sure.
"Focus on places where the magical flow seems particularly strong. I can sense one in the corner of the room you are in. It should appear to you as a small vortex of light."
I see it.
"Approach it and focus on pulling the magic towards you."
Right, Harry did as he was told and, ignoring the confused looks on everyone's faces, walked over to the spot and held his hand out towards the spinning light. He grabbed onto the magic and pulled it towards him, it flowed up his arm and into his core before bolstering it and strengthening him. "That's awesome."
"What's going on Harry?" Sirius asked.
"Bahamut was teaching me how to draw magic. Turns out there was a point right in here," Harry replied. Thanks.
"Not a problem, next time you train I'll teach you how to focus that magic into different parts of your body."
Wicked. Can't wait to see Draco's face when I show him that.
"Oh, God, he's got that evil look on his face again," Draco said, groaning because that look never meant good things for him.
"Evil? Me? Never," Harry said innocently as Draco glared at him.
"Enough of that. Harry there is something very important we need to tell you," Dumbledore said, his face broadcasting the seriousness of what he was about to say. "It concerns why Voldemort targeted you and your parents..."
---
A/N: Dun. Dun. Dun. Sorry, but I thought that was a good place to end it, I was going long anyway. Next thing I write will probably be the next chapter of Bird of Hermes, so you'll have to wait a bit for the Prophecy reveal and Hermione's intro. Until then, see if you can guess which Final Fantasy character she will be?
-Sypher Kyaeon