Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and Final Fantasy.

"I still don't understand what we're supposed to do about some crazy sorceress that want to rule the world." If Rinoa doesn't shut up soon I'm seriously going to consider following the stereotype and lighting her on fire with the insane laugh added in for good measure. "Timber is a much easier thing to start with while the Gardens work on her."

I sighed and pinched my nose while pushing down the homicidal thoughts. "These other individuals are members of those Gardens and they are now required to do their best to help eliminate the threat Sorceress Edea now represents. You, however, are completely free to return to Timber and continue to operate out of an abandoned train car to your heart's content. We can drop you off at the next train depot and the other train should take you directly to Timber."

Rinoa huffed and crossed her arms. "I'm not going anywhere until the SeeD's that I paid for complete the mission I have the contract for." She held up the confusingly written contract and I really couldn't help myself. It burst into flames and she shrieked as she dropped it and watched as it turned to ash. "I have other copies and the Garden has one too."

I will fully admit to the sigh of relief that escaped me when Seifer guided her to another compartment. The magic was bad enough, but the personality was more than enough to set me off. "So, anyone have a valid plan?"

Squall stretched and ran a hand through his hair. "Balamb Garden is where most of us are from and it was the first one established. Cid has some excellent records on Sorceress activity and the Garden is one of the furthest from Edea's influence right now. We can regroup there and plan our next move."

(C)

Cid was humming to himself as he gathered his daily paperwork and started to prepare for the arrival of his children. He knew that they would head his way to regroup and he would be ready. It was a complete fluke that his office was locked when several bodies rammed into it a moment before the alarms geared to go off when the being in the basement woke up began to blare, unfortunately too late to do anything but initiate a lock down.

(C)

"So, what can you tell me about growing up and training to be Sorceress hunters?" I was trying to take my mind off of the irritation and the puppy dog eyes that Seifer shot my way every time I showed any sign of having a headache.

Zell swayed side to side for a moment before he punched his seat and smiled in an absent kind of way. "I don't remember a lot of my childhood, it's a side effect of using guardian forces since they occupy the space taken up by childhood memories, but the actual training part was pretty awesome. The first set of classes that you take are mostly normal with math and reading along with physical training classes to find out what kind of fighting style suits you for later years. I excelled at hand to hand, but I didn't have the patience to learn weapons styles and I flunked subterfuge and politics, they just aren't my thing."

"No surprise there." Seifer smirked and leaned against the window. "Once they figure out what kind of fighting you are geared toward you're either paired with an instructor or given an extra period to self-train. Each member that graduates isn't just part of SeeD, but also considered one of the most educated people on the planet. Some people go through the education but never become SeeD, leaving and starting a career instead."

"That also gives the Garden some alumni outside of SeeD that can help to financially support the schools as well as giving them a reputation as an educational institution, rather than just a training ground. It is an ingenious strategy." I couldn't help but admire the mind that put this together, even if it reminded me of the way that Dumbledore ran Hogwarts. Even if the graduates did not follow him blindly they still venerated the old man, unless they were Slytherins, then they held some fear of him. "It reminds me quite a bit of another school that I myself went to. That Headmaster took things too far, hopefully none of yours do."

"What happened to the one that you knew?" Selphie rocked in place and bounced a little when I looked her way.

"For generations it worked, until one of his students that he didn't favor slipped the usual leash of fear and took a stand. That man killed my parents, some of the Headmaster's closest and strongest supporters and started his own army filled with the others that the Headmaster wasn't fond of. He tried to kill me multiple times before I finally ended him." I could still remember the look in Tom's eyes when he realized that he was going to lose, it was almost a peaceful look. "The Headmaster had lost almost all of his power by that point and I can only hope that the rest of it crumbled after I left, and that people there actually learned to think for themselves. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that any of the people that I knew would be independent enough to not just attach themselves to the next manipulator that pops up to continue the cycle of servitude and bad decisions."

"You don't have a lot of faith in people, do you?" Quintus looked more than a little put off by my attitude, that's her problem.

"I have learned that having unearned faith in people does nothing but lead to disappointment. If someone wants me to have faith in them, then they will have to prove that it is worth my time and energy and that they won't betray it the first chance that they get. A childish belief in your superiors to always know the right thing to do is not only dangerous for you but also everyone around you. If your Headmaster told you that Squall was going to join forces with me and take over the world, what would you do?"