Harry Potter and the Power of the Void

Obscurum_Venator

Rating: R
Genres: Romance, Action & Adventure
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 24/01/2010
Last Updated: 24/03/2010
Status: in_progress

An ancient evil has been roused from its slumber, and plans to visit Chaos upon the world. Only the Lion, the Esperkin, the Ace, and the Summoner can stand against it. AU PotterversexFinal Fantasy crossover HHr RLL

Chapters

1. Fantasy I: Maybe I'm a Lion

2. Fantasy II: Liberi Fatali

3. Fantasy III: Diamond Dust

1. Fantasy I: Maybe I'm a Lion

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

2. Fantasy II: Liberi Fatali

A/N: A few notes: 1. Final Fantasy magic exists in my world as a separate entity from normal wizarding magic. Basically a wizard takes the raw, nonspecific magic from their core and channels it through their body, molding it into a spell from one of the different branches (Black, White, Forbidden, etc...), rather than through a wand with specific movements and incantations. The core can be exhausted until recharged, like MP in the games. Not all wizards are capable of it, but those that are generally prefer it. Rods and Staves are often used to enhance magical ability as well. a 2. There are monsters in this world, from Bombs to Behemoths, and they are their own class of creature, as opposed to being lumped together with magical creatures. Most Magical Ministries have a bureau specifically contracted to cull monster populations, but that doesn't stop large pockets from building up every now and then. Hogwarts has a special Study of Monsters class, as well, required for all years, which is why a large number of students carry weapons. Those that can't afford their own are given school ones. 3. Besides the GFs, the Espers exist as well. Most, however, have suffered the same fate as their counterparts from Final Fantasy VI, reduced to Magicite (Dumbledore mentioned it, remember?) and scattered to the four corners of the world because of sick, human experimentation. 4. As for the Eidolons, I'm using the FFIX iteration. As such, the tribe of Summoners did exist and was wiped out (just not by FFIX's version of Garland). As a result, Eidolons have not been seen in centuries. The difference between the Summons? Mostly their appearance. 5. While the heroes themselves will not appear, the villains from FF are so good, I'm using them. As of right now, the villain lineup is Ultimecia, Kuja, Seymour (not Jecht, though his name will be used to refer to an ace Blitzer), and Kefka, all working in concert. Ultimecia's inclusion kinda put a damper on anyone who held out hopes for Draco staying good the entire story, eh? He is Harry's Seifer, after all, and will retain Seifer's dream of being a Sorceress's Knight. For anyone who's read but hasn't noticed, I changed Warrior and SOLDIER to Ace, because I think Tidus fits better with Ron than Cloud or the WoL. Title is the opening theme of FFVIII, roughly meaning “Fated Children” in Latin.

Airship: Fahrenheit, the model used for the airship to Hogwarts finalfantasy(dot)wikia(dot)com(slash)wiki(slash)File:FFX-airship(dot)jpg

Weapons: Brotherhood (Ron's blade): finalfantasy(dot)wikia(dot)com(slash)wiki(slash)Brotherhood

Terra's/Hermione's sword: finalfantasy(dot)wikia(dot)com(slash)wiki(slash)File:Dissidia(underscore)Terra(dot)png

Garnet's/Luna's Rod: finalfantasy(dot)wikia(dot)com(slash)wiki(slash)File:Rod(dot)png

Harry Potter and the Power of the Void

Fantasy II: Liberi Fatali

“What?” Harry asked.

“There is a reason Voldemort targeted you. A prophecy foretelling his defeat,” Dumbledore replied.

“A prophecy? How did he even get ahold of it?” Harry asked.

“Wormtail,” Sirius growled, seeing red at the mere mention of that traitorous rat.

“We discussed the prophecy as a group, Lily, James, Remus, Sirius, Peter, Severus, and myself, and the implications for the Potters,” Dumbledore said, as Remus placed a comforting hand on Sirius's shoulder. “It reads like this: A Snake shall rise, only to be cut down by the the Son of the Lion. Thus the cycle shall begin anew, the Crystals shall dim, and the Void will rise. Our only hope rests with the Lion, the Esperkin, the Ace, and the Summoner. Bearing fragments of the Goddess's power, they shall face the Witch, the Jester, the Unsent, and the Reaper, with Chaos waiting in the wings.”

“Wow, what the hell does all that mean? I can understand the first part well enough, my Dad was, after all, called the Lion by the Death Eaters from what Sirius, Remus, and Uncle Sev have told me, but what's all this about Crystals and cycles and Goddesses?”

“Let's go part by part, shall we?” Andromeda, always very logical, suggested.

“Good idea. 'Thus the cycle shall begin anew, the Crystals shall dim, and the Void will rise.' The 'cycle' this refers to is part of the Legend of the Crystals. The Legend states that, long ago, the four Elemental Crystals, without which our world would cease to exist, were drained of their power by four fiends, who had been created by an entity known simply as 'the Void'. It is, in short, nothingness personified, wanting all that exists to return to nothingness. Four Warriors of Light were said to have defeated the Void's agent, a being known as Chaos. I can only take this verse to mean that the Void has awakened once more, and is plotting something, something that I think involves Voldemort. He is one of the beings referred to specifically, so I doubt he'll stay dead,” Dumbledore explained. Should I tell them just how intimately I'm connected with that tale? No. Cosmos, I hope I'm making the right decision.

“'Our only hope rests with the Lion, the Esperkin, the Ace, and the Summoner.' Me and three others, seems simple enough,” Harry said.

“The only problem is that Espers have been nearly extinct for awhile now, reduced to crystals known as Magicite by magical experimentation. Barbaric assholes. The Summoner tribe was wiped out long ago, as well. Finding someone with even a little Summoner blood is rare,” Severus explained, his ire rising at the fate of some of the most unique and powerful beings on the planet. “As for the Ace, there hasn't been a Blitzball player worthy of the title since Jecht's death thirty years ago, though I hear Arthur's son is quite the prodigy.”

“'Bearing fragments of the Goddess's power they shall face the Witch, the Jester, the Unsent, and the Reaper, with Chaos waiting in the wings.' Harry already fulfills the first part of this line. My boy, that is no mere emerald that forms the eye of your pendant, it is a shard of the Wind Crystal,” Dumbledore said, leaving Harry to stare in awe at his necklace. “The Crystals themselves are living embodiments of the power of the Goddess of Harmony, Cosmos. As for the four referred to, I'm guessing that they're your evil counterparts. I have no guesses as to who they might be, but they say that the Void spans all dimensions, they could be from an entirely different world. Chaos, as I said, is an agent of the Void,” Dumbledore informed them. “Any questions?”

“Holy hell, and here I was thinking I'd have a normal life,” Harry said, shaking his head.

“Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get at least a few more years before cosmic forces start trying to murder you gruesomely,” Draco said, clapping his cousin on the back and grinning.

“Yeah, and it's not like we're all going to stop training you, so you'll be plenty prepared by the time any of these people come after you,” Tonks reassured, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Soon the entire family had surrounded Harry and were tossing reassuring grins and hugs around. Harry looked up at all the people who were there for him and smiled, I'm not fighting...all alone.

---

Harry stood in front of his mirror and sighed, after more discussion and more promises that they wouldn't let him die that easily, he, Draco, Sirius, and Narcissa had returned to Sirius's house. They'd wished him a happy birthday once more before he'd gone up to bed, staring at his pendant and trying to banish thoughts on his destiny. That day was a month gone now, and, during that month, Harry had trained harder than ever, going up against Draco and Tonks at the same time nearly every day, along with trying to learn all that Bahamut could teach him. Now it was time for him to go to Hogwarts and he was glad that Dumbledore had agreed to find him a room to continue in. He looked at his appearance in the mirror, his black hair a mass of spikes that swept to either side of his face with a few strands hanging over his eyes (my best description of Squall's hair), scar that stood prominently on his forehead, and, according to the adult's in the house, his mother's bright, green eyes. He checked to make sure each of his belts was fastened correctly and glanced at his pendant before pulling the bomber jacket his Aunt Andi had given him for his birthday on over his white T-shirt. Hearing Sirius shout to hurry up, he quickly stuffed his gloves in his jacket pocket before pulling on a pair of black boots and grabbing his gunblade case, which had multiple expanded compartments and which he preferred to a trunk.

“Where is it?” he heard Draco muttering to himself from his room across the hall. He was already dressed in his normal clothes and long, gray trench coat; his own gunblade case, adorned with a blood red Cross of Saint James that also appeared on the shoulder of his coat, was open on the floor and Harry could see all his required luggage sitting within. What's he looking for? Harry thought, glancing around Draco's room. He spied a well-worn, old book, small enough to fit in a pocket, sitting half-buried in clothes on the floor and scoffed, Still refuses to go anywhere without that stupid book.

“Ah, there you are!” Draco said, having heard Harry's scoff and followed his line of sight. He put the small tome in his coat's inside pocket before closing his gunblade case and picking it up.

“Why do you insist on keeping that book on you at all times?” Harry asked as they walked downstairs.

“It's my good luck charm,” Draco said simply.

“You mean you still haven't given up on your dream of becoming a Sorceress's Knight. You do realize there hasn't been a Sorceress in over fifty years, right?”

“So? You babble on incessantly about owning your own airship and cruising the skies all the time. Everyone has their own dreams.”

“True,” Harry replied as they reached the ground floor and Sirius told them to grab onto the portkey.

---

When they reappeared, they were just inside the barrier at King's Cross, in a massive anteroom before the staircase that led to the platform suspended over the train station. Families were apparating, portkeying, flooing, and walking through the wall separating their world from that of the non-magical all over the place and they ignored most of them until they found the Tonks family and they walked up the massive staircase. Harry was in awe as they reached the top; resting on a magically hidden landing platform was a large airship, its hull a deep red and bearing the Hogwarts crest instead of a name on its nose.

“Yo, Harry. Harry,” Draco said, waving his hand in front of Harry's face and snapping. Harry shook his head and thanked Draco, he knew he'd have stood there all day just staring at the magnificent blend of magic and machinery he saw before him. Harry, Draco, and Tonks bid their respective parents/guardians goodbye and filed up the boarding ramp, heading for the passenger cabins, which were large rooms set up to accommodate up to ten people per. They occupied the middle level of the ship, with the engines a level below, and the lounge and observation decks above. The cabins were quite nice, small rooms with a few couches and chairs as well as an intercom to call a guard if anything went wrong or the lounge for service. They found a cabin that was only occupied by one person, a girl Harry and Draco's age, with her head buried in a book.

“Mind if we join you?” Harry asked.

“Not at all, the cabin would fill up eventually and you, at least, were nice enough to ask,” the girl replied, moving the book away from her face and giving them a good look. She was already dressed in standard Hogwarts robes and her face had all the earmarks of a girl who would one day be a beautiful woman. It was her hair that drew most of their attention, however, it was bushy and mostly brown, with the color fading to a bright cyan at the last inch or so. Her golden brown eyes locked with Harry's and, for a moment, they just stared, before both realized they were staring and looked away, blushing a bit. Harry was just glad Tonks hadn't seen, she was merciless when it came to teasing. “So...I'm Hermione Granger, who are you guys?”

“Nymphadora Tonks, but just call me Tonks. That's not a suggestion, it's your way of avoiding death by my hands,” she replied, her deadly serious glare backing up the threat as she and the boys sat down, Harry joining Hermione on her couch and Tonks and Draco sitting opposite on another.

“Draco Black.”

“Harry Potter.”

Hermione's eyes widened, “The Harry Potter?”

“Yes, the Harry Potter, but I'd rather be just Harry. People gawk at me everywhere I go 'cause they know the Griever,” Harry indicated his pendant, “and it gets really annoying.”

“Sorry,” Hermione replied.

“It's alright,” Harry assured her as the door opened again. In the doorway was a tall redhead dressed in a pair of black shorts and a white T-shirt decorated with the symbol of some Blitz team Harry couldn't remember. Trailing behind him was a blonde girl wearing a baseball cap, T-shirt and a skirt. She had bright blue eyes with a slightly dreamy look in them.

“Mind sharing?” the boy asked, shifting his trunk to get a better grip.

“Nah, 'course not. We were just getting to know each other,” Draco said, as they set their luggage off to the side and sat down on a couple of chairs near the other four.

“Name's Ron Weasley,” the boy said.

“I'm Luna Lovegood.”

The conversation shifted as the engines fired up and the airship took off, which was apparently Harry's signal to rattle off every single piece of airship knowledge in his scarred head. Hermione, it turned out, loved learning anything new and soaked up all Harry's technical facts like a sponge. The rest found their instant chemistry a little funny, and were glad they had a good distraction as all the information passed straight over their heads. After that, Ron asked about sports and hobbies, turns out he was obsessed with both of the two major wizarding sports, Quidditch and Blitzball, and was actually quite good at the latter. The boys plus Tonks launched into a discussion of the various official and Hogwarts teams. Turns out Hogwarts's Quidditch pitch was designed to shift into a Blitzball stadium. Hermione and Luna rolled their eyes and began discussing other aspects of the magical school, which both had learned from repeated readings of Hogwarts, A History. All talking stopped, though, as the ship suddenly rocked and a loud roar resounded through the halls.

“What the hell was that?” Hermione asked.

“Sounded like...no, couldn't be. That sounded like a Behemoth,” Harry replied, bad memories of a botched encounter with one that Uncle Sev had had to bail Draco and Harry out of coming to the forefront of his mind.

“All students, remain in your cabins and stay calm, the guards are handling a minor monster attack,” a voice sounded from the intercom, obviously one of the bridge crew.

“'Minor' he says,” Harry growled as he pulled on his gloves, walked over to his gunblade case, and retrieved his Revolver. Draco was right behind him, pulling out and loading Hyperion as Tonks retrieved her katana. The foreign sword suited her agility better than any European broadsword or even Harry and Draco's gunblades.

“What are you guys planning to do?” Hermione asked.

“We've faced Behemoths before, they're not to be trifled with. These guards, not very highly trained and most likely unable to perform Elemental Magic, probably won't be able to take it down. Furthermore, Behemoths can't fly so the only way it's even up here is that it was flown by other monsters. Little distractions like that cut the guards' chances of survival even further. Anyone else besides myself, Draco, and Tonks have experience with a weapon or the ability to use Elemental magic?” Harry asked, his persona shifting from personable, friendly Harry to cold, serious, battle-ready Harry.

“I've got training with a blade,” Ron said, pulling a large sword from his trunk. It seemed to be made of glass and filled with water. “A gift from my older brother.”

“I've got a little experience with a sword, but Elemental magic is more my forte,” Hermione said, pulling out a thin, curved blade, similar in shape to a Persian shamshir.

“White magic is my specialty,” Luna said simply, grabbing her rod.

“Good, let's go.”

---

The six charged out onto the forward deck, seeing a large purple-furred beast with large, black horns and a red mane rampaging, tearing guards to pieces and just generally causing chaos. Flying around it were large, ferocious looking blue birds.

“Shit, Cockatrices. Here, take these,” Harry said, reaching into his pouch and giving each of them a ring that was made up of three bands and a large, purple gem (the Jem Ring from VII). “They'll keep you from ending up like that.” He indicated a few guards who'd been turned to stone by the Cockatrices' gaze. He handed a few golden needles to Tonks and Draco, “Take care of those that have been petrified and try and keep the birds off us, please.”

“Sure thing,” Draco said as he and Tonks ran off towards the circling avians.

“Guess that leaves us the big guy,” Ron said.

“Yep, you guys ready?” Harry replied. He got an affirmative from the other three and they charged forward, Harry getting the beast's attention with a well aimed Thunder that struck it in the face. “Hey, ugly, pick on someone your own size.”

With a roar, the Behemoth charged for Harry on all fours, its horns lowered and ready to gore the boy. At the last moment, Harry threw himself to the side and sliced the monster across the face, pulling the trigger to increase the damage. It roared and swiped at him with its massive claws, Harry ducked and Ron charged in, leaping over its arm and landing on its back. He slashed repeatedly across its back as he ran over it, leaping off near its haunches. Its tail whipped around, hitting Ron in the chest and sending him flying. Luna had healed him before he even hit the ground, the green sparkles of a Cure spell drifting over the gash in his chest. Hermione stepped up next, her hands glowing with power as she unleashed a furious rain of spells. The very air seemed charged with the sheer magical power that poured out of her. She finished up by charging her blade with a powerful Blizzard spell and stabbing the beast in the chest, it roaring as the spell spread and began to freeze its organs. Hermione didn't overstay her welcome, though, she dodged backwards as it tried to sweep her aside, but a claw still caught her in the leg. Luna healed her before casting a Protect spell over Harry and Ron as they barreled into the monster from both sides, slashing at it furiously. Split between two targets the Behemoth roared, letting loose a rain of thunderbolts. Harry and Ron were blasted backwards and Hermione started casting again before the thing got any ideas about finishing them off.

“Okay, this thing's starting to piss me off,” Harry growled. He gathered his magic into his right hand and the image of Bahamut began to glow. “Mega Flare.” The clouds parted as a scaly, blue missile shot from the sky. Fifty or so feet from the deck, the Dragon King unfolded his wings and roared. He dive bombed the Behemoth and knocked it into the air. As it was falling, Bahamut gathered energy in his mouth, and, when fully charged, released a blazing beam that reduced the bloody, battered monster to dust. Thanks.

“Anytime, young Lion.”

“What the hell was that?” Ron asked, leaning on his sword as Luna healed his burns.

“A Guardian Force. His name's Bahamut,” Harry replied, wincing as the healing magic fixed his damaged skin.

“Wow, why didn't you do that in the first place?”

“Needed to weaken it first, Bahamut's strength is dependent upon my own. If I were a little stronger, he'd have been able to vaporize the thing while we were still relaxing in the cabin.”

“HARRY!” they heard Draco shout. “THE PILOT'S DEAD AND THE AUTO-PILOT'S FAILING!”

“Fuck,” Harry cursed, tearing off towards the cockpit.

“Can you fly this thing?” Hermione asked, watching as Harry switched off the auto-pilot and began to get the ship back under control. They hadn't noticed the drift during the fight, but it was pretty bad.

“No problem,” Harry replied, checking the map on the console and making sure they stayed on course. “You guys go make sure all the students are okay, I got this.”

“You sure?” she asked, worry showing on her face. Harry nodded and she, Ron, Luna, Draco, and Tonks went to check on the passengers. A few were panicking but the prefects had done a reasonable job of restoring order. The older students were surprised that a few first years had saved them all, but most knew not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

---

A few hours later they touched down in Hogsmeade, Harry having called ahead and informed Dumbledore what had happened. The prefects and Harry's friends had gathered up all the bodies and they lay on the deck, sheets covering them. Harry sighed as he disengaged the engines, “This was not how I expected my first trip to Hogwarts to turn out.”

“What were you expecting?” Hermione asked from behind him, having joined him after body detail had been completed and watching him carefully guide them towards their school. He'd even been explaining a little about piloting to her.

“No monsters, no trouble, meet a pretty girl or two. Two out of three ain't bad,” Harry replied, grinning at her. She blushed and shoved him playfully.

“Ah, Harry, I thought I'd find you up here,” Dumbledore said as he walked into the cockpit. He'd already seen to the body removal as well as instructing the team sent to retrieve the wounded. “I see you're becoming acquainted with Ms. Granger.”

“Hello, Headmaster,” Hermione said, embarrassed that the Headmaster had walked in as Harry had been flirting with her.

“Hello, my dear, sorry your introduction to our fine school has been less than perfect. Harry, I'm glad you were here, any other year and all the students might have been killed,” Dumbledore said. “These monsters are getting stronger and bolder lately. A few Bombs and Goblins were trying to get into Hogsmeade last week, I think it may be related to that which we discussed at your birthday party.”

“Really? It's starting already?” Harry asked, hoping against hope that the Void wasn't trying to kill him this soon.

“I believe so. I also believe that you may have found the other three. Bring them to my office after the Welcoming Feast. See you around, Harry, Ms. Granger,” Dumbledore said, bowing as he left.

“What'd he mean by that?” Hermione asked, staring at the door and turning all of her not unimpressive smarts towards this new mystery.

“Things just got a lot more complicated, but I guess this means we'll be spending plenty of time together, so I don't really mind,” Harry replied, grinning as Hermione blushed again.

“Insufferable git,” Hermione said, shoving him again, but smiling at her new found friend.

---

A/N: Not the best ending, but it felt like a natural stopping point. If you're wondering about the airship, I had originally planned it with the Hogwarts Express, but I just said “Fuck it.” and went all out, over-the-top Final Fantasy. Hope you enjoyed, drop a review, por favor.

-Sypher Kyaeon

3. Fantasy III: Diamond Dust

A/N: I'm building up to another timeskip. After that, it'll be time for the villains to appear and for our heroes to begin their quest to relight the Crystals. I have a question: who should be possessed by Ultimecia to become Draco's Sorceress? I was thinking Ginny, but maybe one of you has a better idea. Anyone who wants an idea as to my next project, after this and BoH, should look at my opening A/N of ch. 5 of BoH, but those of you with no interest in Resident Evil probably won't care. The Houses really don't matter in this, I just threw them all in Gryffindor so they'd all be in the same place, except Draco, I need to sow a little conflict between him and Harry.

NOTE: I changed a sentence in the last chapter to comply with an idea I had. To spare you having to go back, Hermione's hair no longer has green streaks, but rather the last inch or so is cyan in color. This is because I realized something, Hermione may be half-Esper to reflect Terra, but that doesn't mean Maduin has to be her father. Any FF veteran in the audience will immediately be able to guess who her mother (I changed which parent is the Esper is) is.

Harry Potter and the Power of the Void

Fantasy III: Diamond Dust

After the Welcoming Feast, during which they had all been sorted into Gryffindor except Draco, whose cunning and ambition had landed him in Slytherin, the four who'd ended up fighting the Behemoth went up to Dumbledore's office, only to find Professor McGonagall in his place, taking care of some paperwork in her capacity as Deputy Headmistress. “Uh, Professor, the Headmaster told me to bring my friends up here so we could talk with him.”

“Sorry, Mr. Potter, but the Headmaster has been called away on business. I'm sure he'll tell you all about it and converse with you once he returns, but, until then...” she trailed off, her annoyance at the paperwork her boss had saddled her with sapping all of her normal courtesy when faced with confused students. The four took this as their cue to leave and did so.

“Strange...the Headmaster being called away on the first night of school, he probably left right after telling the Prefects to take us up to our Common Rooms,” Hermione said, resting her chin in her hand as she thought on the matter.

“I'm sure it wasn't anything good if it was that urgent. Monsters the Ministry can't handle, maybe?” Ron suggested.

“I very much doubt that, Ronald,” Luna replied.

“It's certainly weird, but I guess we'll just have to ask when he gets back,” Harry said, shrugging.

---

Early the next morning, Hermione woke with a start, shivering violently and able to see her breath. Why am I so c-cold? She thought, cocooning herself in her blankets to try and ward off the chill to no avail, it seemed to be radiating from inside her. She grabbed another blanket and made a beeline for the fireplace in the common room. She plopped down in front of it and, barely registering what she was doing, cast the strongest fire spell she knew to get it roaring. It warmed her a little, but she still felt like there was an iceberg in her chest.

“Hermione?” she heard Harry's voice ask from the base of the boys' stairs. “You okay?”

“F-freezing,” was all she could get out through her shivering. Harry didn't say anything, he merely walked over and sat down behind her before pulling her into his lap and wrapping his arms around her.

“Better?” he asked. She nodded a bit, leaning back into his chest and attempting to leech as much of his body heat as she could. “Any idea why you're so cold? It must've dropped at least five degrees as I got closer to you.”

She shook her head, “N-no i-idea.”

They stayed like that for at least thirty minutes before the cold just suddenly vanished. There was no gradual heat up, it was just one second freezing, the next hot as hell because of the fire. Harry tossed a quick 'Water' at it and looked down at Hermione, “Soooo...that was odd.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Well, how 'bout you tell me about you? Breakfast isn't for hours, and I'm certainly not going to get back to sleep. Had an...interesting dream,” Harry said, barely able to remember said dream, it had been disjointed and hard to understand.

“Well, alright, what would you like to know?” Hermione asked, picking up on the fact that Harry didn't want to discuss his reason for not being able to sleep.

“Starting at the beginning's usually your best bet.”

“Not much to tell there. I don't remember my parents, but at least I have something to remember them by,” she told him, holding up her left wrist and showing him a wristband fastened there that looked like a thin layer of ice had frosted over her forearm except for the bright, red gem set in it. “I was in a non-magical orphanage until I was seven. It wasn't a great place to grow up, all the kids hated me.”

“Why?”

“Not sure, maybe it was my intelligence, my bossiness, or maybe even my hair. I just know that I wasn't liked, so I hid in books until I did my first accidental magic. A group of kids decided to gang up on me, and I ended up freezing them solid. The Ministry took me to a magical orphanage after that, but it was no better. The only difference was that the kids had another reason to not like me, especially the older kids. They couldn't do magic outside of Hogwarts and resented that I could use Elemental magic, which the Ministry can't track. Sure the people running the place were supposed to stop me, but how likely are you to piss off a seven-year-old girl who can set you on fire?”

Harry chuckled at that, “About as likely as Voldemort jumping in through the window naked riding a chocobo. Wait...why does that sound familiar? Oh, right, Sirius, my godfather, did that when he got drunk one night.”

“In through the window...naked...riding a chocobo?”

“With a party hat on,” at that Hermione let out first a snort, then a chuckle, and then burst into raucous laughter and would've fallen and rolled around if Harry didn't still have his arms around her. “We've never let him live it down. We also don't allow tequila in the house anymore.”

Hermione finally calmed herself down and let out a wistful sigh, “It must have been nice, growing up with such an...interesting family. Who else lives with you?”

“My Aunt Cissi, Draco's mother, and Sirius's best friend Remus whose kinda like an Uncle. Aunt Cissi is our voice of reason, and the one who fixes us up after we do something stupid, while Remus is usually helping us. Uncle Sev, the Potions professor, is over quite a bit, too. He knew my mother when they were kids and eventually became good friends with my father and Sirius as well. He's the one that taught me and Draco how to use our gunblades, he and my dad invented them. The Tonks family visits quite a bit, too. Aunt Andi is Draco's mother's sister. She didn't associate much with the family until Sirius took over as head of the Black family, though, their mother had disowned her cause she married a muggleborn, our Uncle Ted. Tonks is their daughter, she's a Metamorphmagus and is probably going to be one of the best damn Aurors around when she gets through training,” Harry explained, a nostalgic grin on his face.

“Sounds nice.”

“How 'bout you come stay with us?” Harry blurted, his mind not processing that thought before it exited his mouth. “Uh, er, I mean, it'd be better than the orphanage, at least.”

“I'd like that.”

---

Later that morning, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Luna were walking across the grounds towards the Forbidden Forest for their first class in monster study. The met up with Draco near Hagrid's cabin and Harry walked over and threw an arm around his shoulder, “How was your first night in the snake pit, buddy?”

“It was alright, there are a few insufferable bastards in there, but I set them straight when they got outta line. Everyone mostly left me alone after that,” Draco replied, smirking.

“ATTENTION, BOYS AND GIRLS!” a loud voice called out from the forest. Harry and Draco both recognized it and groaned, it was Sirius. Guess this is what he meant when he said he had a surprise for us once school started.

“What's up with the volume, Sirius, you trying to wake the dead?” Draco asked.

“Maybe, Zombies would make a good first lesson. If that's the case, let's hope none of the stronger ones show up,” Sirius replied, a grin on his face as he watched a few faces look at him like 'He's not serious, is he?' “Relax, just joking. Well then, class, welcome to your first Study of Monsters class. These nasty beasties are an occupational hazard of being a wizard, because most of them are attracted to our magical cores. That's not to say they leave the muggles alone, but if they have to chose between one of you and one of them, you're the one its going after. For our first lesson, I've brought in one of the worst kinds of monster, to show you just how important it is that you to pay attention. Hagrid!”

Hagrid wheeled in a massive cage, protected by two layers of paling (magical forcefield), inside was an enormous, putrid, green, creature, its main body was spherical in shape, covered in thick tendrils and eyestalks surrounding a gaping, fang-filled maw, all of which was supported by a group of large, root-like tentacles. “Sirius, please tell me you're gonna get rid of this thing soon, it stinks something awful.” (sorry, can't do Hagrid's accent) Hagrid almost had a pleading tone to his voice and the class couldn't argue, even a maggot would cry foul if this stink was within fifty feet of it.

“Okay, Hagrid, I'll dispose of it after I've gone through this class with every year. Now, can anyone tell me what this rancid thing is?”

“That would be a Malboro. It's a type of carnivorous plant-type monster that uses an attack commonly called Bad Breath to subdue its prey and consume them,” Hermione replied, shuddering a bit at the thought of this monster consuming someone whole.

“Correct, 20 points to Gryffindor. As ridiculous as it looks and bad as it smells, this thing is not be trifled with. Even the strongest warriors can be felled easily by one of these if they let their guard down (I dare anyone to contradict that). In addition to their 'Bad Breath', they also use their tentacles and regurgitated gastric juices to attack. It's highly recommended that you wait until you've got a few friends to try and kill one, and, for the love of God, don't stand next to each other! In terms of elemental weaknesses, they're plants, so they're weak against...Ms. Lovegood?”

“I'd have to guess fire, Professor.”

“You'd be correct, another 20 for Gryffindor. Other than that, a good freeze will make them wilt, as well. The last thing you'll want to watch out for is the second type, known as a Great Malboro, distinguished from this kind by its pigmentation. Mistaking one of these for one of those will get you killed, period, end of story. To recap: avoid its breath, keep your guard up, and don't ever mix up the Great Malboros with the regular variety. Any questions? No? Good. Now, we'll never have much homework in this class. We will, however, have a standing assignment that will last your entire Hogwarts career that will be checked at the end of every term. You will use the knowledge you gain in class to compile a Bestiary of the monsters I show you and I WILL be keeping track. My suggestion: start taking notes and pictures,” Sirius lectured, finishing with a grin as several students started scrambling to copy down what their neighbors had written.

The likelihood of what happened during that commotion was such that it was either the result of a freak accident or deliberate sabotage. The Malboro was getting annoyed with these puny humans and inhaled, preparing to release a round of Bad Breath. If the palings had been working correctly, the noxious fumes would've just stayed in the cage and given the Malboro a taste of its own medicine, but, as it was, the crystal that projected them from the top of the cage had been chipped, disrupting the flow of magic around the cage and creating an opening big enough for the gas to slip out and blanket the entire class.

“SHIT! HAGRID, GET MADAM POMFREY AND A LOT OF REMEDIES!” Sirius was able to call before it swept over him. The fumes knocked everyone to the ground, poisoning, blinding, and silencing all of them, confusing some, and sending other into a blind Berserker rage.

---

Hermione watched all this in abject horror until the cloud hit her, sending her reeling as it poisoned, blinded, and silenced her. She watched the Malboro rip its cage to shreds and begin to advance on the students closest to it, one of whom was Harry, having gotten closer so he could get a picture for them. HARRY! she shouted in her mind, and things only got worse as the cold from earlier this morning came back with a vengeance. Hermione felt that iceberg settle into her chest again, only this time it felt like it was nearing absolute zero. Ahh! What the hell? So c-cold... all thought faded away as her vision began to darken, Harry...need to help Harry.

---

Harry watched, mystified, through blurry eyes as Hermione wrapped her arms tightly around herself, just like she'd done this morning with that weird cold. Not now, she needs to get out of here. RUN! Wait, what the...? Harry's train of thought was interrupted as ice began to gather into a large crystal around her. After a moment it shattered, leaving a much changed Hermione in its wake. Her skin was now a pale, icy blue. Her finger and toenails were now claws, her hair deep blue and knee-length, braided with a large, gold ring hanging from it, and her eyes had become a blue so pale it was almost white. A thin layer of opaque ice had formed in place of her clothes, starting in the middle of her back, wrapping around her front in an X pattern, and coming together behind her neck, with a similar garment forming around her waist. In addition to those, her wristband had grown to her elbow, with the gem glowing a bright red.

The Malboro, picking up on the massive increase in her magic and accurately perceiving her as an immediate threat, tried to dose her with Bad Breath once again. She merely scoffed and, with a simple swipe of her hand, a sphere of ice formed around her, deflecting the gas to either side. It dissipated fairly quickly and Hermione raced forward, stopping just short of the creature and forming a large chunk of ice floating just off her palm, which she used to strike the thing multiple times in the 'face' before creating another two and using them in tandem to send it reeling backwards. It let out a strange noise that must've been its equivalent of a growl and lashed out with a sharp tentacle, trying to skewer the young woman. She sidestepped, grabbed it, then conducted some of her magic into it, freezing the tendril solid before wrenching it to the side and shattering it. Energy began to gather at her hand, bright, pulsating blue, and after a few seconds, she swept her arm towards the Malboro and a small circle of ice formed around it. With a swipe of her hand, the small ice spots became a massive ice crystal that encased the monstrous plant. A feral grin split her face as she held up her hand, and, after loud *snap* of her fingers, the ice shattered, shredding the Malboro to bits. “You okay, Harry?” she asked, turning towards him, concern in her transformed eyes. He nodded, not able to do much else. She smiled, “Good to hear.” That was followed shortly by her passing out, her new form fading back to her normal one before she'd even hit the ground.

HERMIONE! Harry thought furiously, before darkness claimed him as well.

---

Sometime later, Hermione let out a groan as she awoke, seeing the bright, white, sterile walls and ceiling of the Hospital Wing. “How'd I get here?” she asked aloud, sitting up slightly and holding her head in a hand, trying to shake off the grogginess.

“Lay back down, Ms. Granger, you've suffered multiple debilitating conditions at once shortly followed by a massive exhaustion of your magical core,” the Wing's matron explained as she walked over and forced Hermione to lay back down.

“What? Harry...Is he okay?”

“Mr. Potter is fine, as are the rest of the students in the class, all thanks to you some of them report. Said you turned into some sort of other form and destroyed that foul creature before you passed out.”

“I did?”

“So they tell me, and I'm inclined to believe them.”

“Any particular reason?”

“Well, I imagine you've never had bloodwork done, right?”

“Nope.”

“I had to do some tests to make sure the poison had been expunged, and I found something rather strange. It seems that you're...not fully human. I can't figure out what the other half is, but I can say with a reasonable degree of accuracy that you are a half-breed.”

Hermione just stared at her in stunned shock for a second; it explained so much, her ability with magic, her hair, and whatever had happened out on the grounds. “Have you told anyone else?”

“Don't worry, Hermione, not a single one of us cares if you're human or Martian. We're your friends, and that's that,” Harry's voice announced from the doorway, prompting Madame Pomfrey to take her leave. “I'm sure Draco, Ron, and Luna will agree with me once they wake up. There's no way Tonks will give half a flying fuck, either, once she's attached, you're not escaping her.”

“Thanks for that. So...what happened out there, I'm sure you managed to stay awake.”

“It was...amazing. You just smirked at the thing after defending against its Bad Breath and then tore it apart, I'll ask Professor McGonagall to see about a getting a pensieve memory outta my head for you. I think that cold and the transformation are somehow connected, too, you shivered and held yourself just like this morning right before you took on that other form.”

“I felt it, too, but it was ten times worse.”

“Hmm...guess that's another question for Dumbledore when he gets back. Until then, I'll try and help you figure this out, okay?” He leaned over and gave her a reassuring hug.

“Thanks, Harry,” she replied, gratefully. She caught a glimpse of her wristband and a thought came unbidden to her mind, What's going on, Mum?

---

A/N: Shorter than the previous two, but it served my purposes. I know some of you are gonna say that an 11-year-old girl, half-Esper Tranced or not, couldn't beat one of the massive FFX Malboros, but: A: It had been without food for awhile, so it wasn't as strong as it could've been, B: The fight won't matter much in the long run outside of introducing Hermione's Trance form, and C: The monsters are gonna get a lot stronger after the timeskip. I will eventually explain Dumbledore's absence, as well as Harry's dream, but all in due time, so don't get your knickers in a twist. The last line was mainly for the moment, rather than indicating Hermione remembers Shiva (if you didn't know by now, why are you reading this story, because you obviously don't know Final Fantasy). Hope you guys like Hermione's Trance form, the next chapter will focus on Ron and Luna, and please leave me some feedback.

-Sypher Kyaeon