Chapter Text
*Chapter 1*: Chapter 1
A/N: I originally wanted to do a Harry Potter and Marvel Movies crossover. Not just the Iron Man and Avengers, but also the original X-Men and Fantastic Four. Most of this story is about that, but I include a lot of stuff from the comics.
Timelines are blurred. No dates are really given, just periods of time having passed.
Pairings are available on my profile page to avoid spoilers.
One thing that I HAVE to warn you about. The first chapter contains one of the more unbelievable things I've done in a story. The sort of thing that could break immersion. That said, if you can get past where I put Malfoy Manor... you'll probably have no issues with the rest of the story.
There are 33 chapters, so it will all be up within 15 to 33 days barring real life issues.
Harry honestly couldn't understand why Slughorn refused to give him the real memory. The man obviously knew how bad Voldemort was. He clearly didn't want the Dark Lord to win but he simply refused to give it to him, even going so far as to slam doors in his face.
Now time was growing short. There were only a few more weeks till the end of the school year and Harry would miss his chance.
In his hand Harry held the possible solution to his current problem.
Felix Felicis.
It looked like liquid gold. It was probably just as valuable. Harry hoped this sacrifice was worth it. He only needed a small amount, a few hours to confront the Professor and get the memory.
He slowly raised the vial to his lips and began to sip.
Now, Harry had always had trouble believing he was lucky. Granted, whenever he told someone about the adventures in his first five years at Hogwarts, he claimed he 'got lucky'.
But then you had to consider if it was truly 'lucky' if he found himself in those situations in the first place. Not to mention his disastrous first eleven years of life of losing his parents and living with the Dursleys.
Harry's unusual relationship with 'luck' came to a head as he took his first sip.
The door to the dormitory slammed open with a bang and Neville charged in. "Harry! Harry! You have to help us; I think Ginny might try and kill Ron!"
The absolute shock and surprise of the door being slammed open and being shouted at caused Harry to swallow hard.
"NNNNNNGGGGG! NNNNNGGGGGG!" Harry began waving frantically at Neville.
"Harry? This is serious, stop playing around!"
"NNNNNNNNGGGG!" Harry began to turn blue with the vial jammed in his throat. He grabbed Neville by the shoulders and forced him to look at the situation in his mouth.
"Merlin Harry! Why did you swallow that?"
Harry had never wanted to hurt anyone as badly as he wanted to hurt Neville at that moment in time.
He began gesturing wildly to try and get Neville to help him get it out.
"Come on Harry, you can play your weird muggle games later, we need to save Ron from Ginny." Neville ordered as he dragged the dying Harry Potter out of the room.
Harry couldn't tell what was happening downstairs, his vision was blurry from a lack of oxygen. He couldn't tell if Hermione was there; she would understand and save his life.
He had one last chance – wandless and non-verbal magic. He hadn't had time to grab his wand from upstairs but he knew it could be done; Dumbledore did enough of it. They had been working on non-verbal spells in DADA.
He raised his hand in front of his mouth and put all his thoughts and feelings into one spell:
'Accio vial!'
There was a horrible wrenching sensation as the vial flew from his throat and across the room at high speed.
"OW! Who the hell threw this?"
There was a horrible retching sound as Harry vomited all three meals of the day.
All over the nearest table.
Which happened to seat Lavender and Parvati.
"EWWWWWW!"
Harry collapsed on the floor, panting heavily and in pain.
"DAMN YOU POTTER!" Came the three angry voices of both girls and the victim of his flying vial, Cormac McLaggen.
"It… was… *gasp*… an acccssssiident." Harry wheezed.
"I'm going to kill you Potter!" Lavender seethed as she drew her wand.
Harry barely managed to move as he dodged the stinging hex. "Accident!" He gasped, his throat still raw.
Neither the girls nor Cormac were in a forgiving mood as they began hurling curses at him. Harry instinctively threw up his hand and began concentrating on the shield charm.
The rest of the common room occupants gasped as he succeeded. The three attackers were too enraged to care and Harry's shield, weak from his current near death experience and his lack of wandless experience, collapsed.
Harry bolted for the exit as spells kept flying.
"Get back here Potter! We aren't finished with you yet!" Cormac screamed.
Most of the occupants of the common room snickered at the girlish sound the tall handsome boy made in his rage.
As the four individuals exited the room in an explosion of spell fire the residents began to gossip about the whole ordeal. Seamus began to take bets as to whether Harry would survive his encounter.
Ron came off the best as Ginny forgot all about hexing him because he was sticking his nose into her love life with Dean.
Harry was running up the stairs as fast as he could. Spells were flying past him as his three enraged housemates chased after him.
But he was tired. Drained from the lack of oxygen and the terror of nearly suffocating to death.
His poor vision, stamina and coordination caused him to lose his footing and he went hurtling into a suit of armour sending pieces crashing everywhere.
There was a loud bang as the shield landed on his head.
Harry was beginning to question the brewing skills of Professor Slughorn… this was his unluckiest day to date.
"We've got you now Potter!" Cormac snarled as they stalked up to him.
"You got puke all over my bag!" Lavender snapped.
Harry frowned as he noticed something. "I think there is some in your hair." He said distractedly.
Lavender's eyes widened in horror: "GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT!" She screamed frantically as Pavarti tried to do just that. Lavender, forgetting she was a witch ran for her dorm room and the shower with Pavarti hot on her heels.
This left Cormac and Harry alone; with Harry only having the shield to hide behind.
"You think you're so high and mighty Potter. You deny me my place on the team just so your friend can have it, you take Granger away from me and now you think you can just throw things at me? Well it's time to teach you your place." Cormac grinned maliciously. "Bombarda!"
Harry ducked down behind the shield.
There was a loud crash and gust of wind.
Harry looked down and saw he was still in one piece, and he hadn't been moved.
He chanced a peak over the shield and saw that Cormac was now lying several feet away in a rather bloody mess. Judging by the groans he was still alive though.
"What the bloody hell happened?" Harry croaked through his raw throat.
"Stupid modern wizards." Came a metallic echoing voice.
Harry looked around and was shocked when the suit of armour pulled itself together and retrieved his shield from Harry.
"They keep us around as decorations and seem to forget that there was a reason armour was once used." The armour said in disgust as it climbed back up on its pedestal. "Are you going to call for a house elf or let the fool bleed out?"
"Erm… Dobby?" He asked hesitantly, his eyes never leaving the now inert armour.
*POP*
"Harry Potter called for Dobby!" The excitable elf cried happily.
"Hi Dobby, could you see to Cormac?" He pointed at the crumpled body. "He had a bit of a spell accident."
"Of course, Harry Potter!" Dobby clicked his fingers and he popped away along with Cormac.
Harry frowned as he stood up. He had survived a vicious spell because he had a shield. A metal shield from a suit of armour. He turned to the suit of armour.
"Excuse me, Mister Armour, Sir, are you still in there?" He asked, feeling slightly foolish.
"Not like I'm going anywhere else anytime soon." The suit grumped yet remained immobile.
"You actually fought in battles? With wizards?"
"Absolutely. I'm actually a younger model, but on the seventh floor you can find older models that fought for Arthur." The suit said proudly.
"Are you the ghost of the person who wore the suit?"
"No, I'm just a magical construct. I would aid the wearer by telling them simple things, like when he was about to be stabbed in the back." The armour chuckled.
"Do you have any other enchantments?"
"Like what?" The suit asked curiously.
"Erm… comfort, heat, fireproof, water proof, unbreakable-"
"No lad, I was just charmed with basic intelligence charms and magical focuses."
"Magical focuses?"
The suit of armour finally moved and showed Harry the palms of its hands. "See, these gloves let the user cast magic through the palms."
Harry looked closer and saw what appeared to be some sort of crystal with some string like substance embedded in it.
"What is that?"
"Dragon heartstrings in amber resin." The armour said proudly. "Of course the gloves could be switched out for a better match to the wizard but dragon heartstrings are better for battle."
"What's the difference between you and the older models then?"
"Older models have a bit more experience, of course after centuries of disuse they might not be completely functional. Newer models like me have these." The armour held out its right forearm and pointed to a small opening that led into a channel from elbow to wrist on the inside of the forearm. "Let's a wizard put his wand in there and they can use the wand whilst it is in place."
"Your shield, you could use it to block a killing curse, couldn't you?" Harry asked as he recalled the battle at the Ministry the year before where Dumbledore had conjured and summoned objects to block the unblock-able curse.
"No idea. That curse wasn't around back when I was in service." The armour shrugged.
Harry scrunched up his nose in thought for a few moments. "I don't suppose you would be willing to go back into service? I have this Dark Lord and his minions that need dealing with and I could use an advantage."
The armour gave bark of laughter. "Lad, I was built for battle. Standing on this pedestal for the past six hundred plus years has been absolutely sickening, all those kids hiding behind me from teachers or kissing and whatnot. I swear I've had thirty generations conceived just behind me. If you want to give me a chance to fight again then you are my hero!"
"Great! Let's go to the Room of Requirement, we can work there."
The interesting duo made an unusual and noisy journey to the seventh floor. Harry made a mental note to put silencing charms on the armour; it was currently useless for sneaking around.
Luckily, they managed to reach the room without running into anyone. But Harry still needed to get into the room. He stood there thinking about what to ask for.
'I really just need a place to work. Some tools and books would be useful. But what should I ask for?'
Whilst he was wondering a door appeared which surprised Harry. He figured the room had read his subconscious needs and provided the right stuff. He stepped forward and entered the room. He was confused as it was the junk room, the place where he had stashed his potions book.
They moved forward, glancing around at the various mounds of junk. Harry wondered who had put the stuff in here. If students had done so it wouldn't be a secret. He supposed the elves could have but it didn't seem tidy enough for an elf. Of course if the elves had been able to get in here they would have fainted in shock and pleasure at the sight of so much work.
"CRUCIO!"
Harry instinctively dived behind the armour as the yellow bolt of light whizzed past his last position.
"I don't have my wand!"
"Take this, lad. I'll deal with the upstart." The armour said as it shoved its shield at Harry.
"Try and take him alive, we need to ask him questions."
"Interrogation it is then." The armour nodded.
"Diffindo! Bombarda! Get away from me! Sectumsempra!"
Harry recognised that voice and nearly did a small dance of joy as he realised he had finally caught Malfoy. He could find out what the ponce was up to.
"Lad? I have the brat and his wand." The armour called out.
Harry stood up and picked up the shield.
He immediately added a mental note to his list to add feather weight charms to the shield and armour as his arm was nearly wrenched out of his socket.
He rounded a corner of stacked broken chairs to see the armour holding Malfoy two feet off the ground by his collar, in the armour's left hand was Malfoy's wand.
Harry realised he had the perfect opportunity here. He could squeeze Draco for all the information he had, provided he did it the right way, which as always meant tweaking his ego.
Harry adopted a sincere expression of sympathy. "Oh Malfoy. Are things really that bad in Slytherin for you that you have to hide in a junk room? Are they teasing you that much?"
"I own Slytherin Potter, and when my father hears about this the Dark Lord will let me kill you myself."
Harry walked up and took the wand from the armour and sliced Draco's left sleeve revealing the Dark Mark. "Did they force you to take this like they did your father? Did they use the imperious?" He asked with sincere compassion… well, faked sincere compassion.
"I took my master's mark with pride Potter!" Draco snapped. "The Dark Lord was impressed with the way I tortured and killed that muggle girl."
Harry hid his scowl; Draco Malfoy wouldn't last the night if he had anything to say about it. "You've seen Voldemort? Is he still living in a rundown shack? Last time I saw him he was camping out in a graveyard, before that he was hiding in some old ruins."
"Malfoy Manor is no 'shack'! The Dark Lord lives in luxury as is befitting a Pureblood."
Harry took a moment to wonder if maybe the luck potion was finally working, or Draco was really that stupid. It was a tough call.
He saw the tools and the half-dismantled cupboard nearby.
"But all he has you doing is hiding and playing with a cupboard. Has he relegated you to fixing his furniture?" He asked with a knowing frown of understanding.
"The Dark Lord has tasked me with his most important mission!" Draco declared as he puffed up. It was quite comical considering he was still dangling from the armour's hand. "That's a Vanishing Cabinet and now that I have finished it the Dark Lord will lead his loyal followers here and we will cleanse the school of the muggle filth!"
"So that leads to Malfoy Manor?" Harry asked as he looked carefully at the cabinet before picking up one of the many books scattered around the cabinet. It was a book on basic runes.
"Of course not, it leads to Borgin's. There the Dark Lord's most powerful and skilled fighters await him." Draco scoffed.
Harry thought for a few moments. "Stupefy." Draco slumped still dangling from the armour's hand.
"We could have gotten a lot more information out of him!" The armour objected.
"I couldn't think of how to ask him questions that would make him voluntarily give up the info. We can always wake him up later. For now, we know all the important bits like where Voldemort is and what this cabinet does. With these books on runes I can add more features to you and make you much safer to head into battle with, even against dragons!"
"I never got the chance to fight a dragon." The armour mused as it rubbed its helmet's chin with its free hand. "Let's get started then!"
"First up, strengthening and light-weight charms. This shield is bloody heavy, and I don't think I will be able to lift and move in the armour."
"You don't need to worry about that. That's one of the more basic features I have. That and the waste disposal charms."
"Waste disposal?"
"Knights would have to spend days in the armour, and quite frankly, everybody shits." The armour declared with authority.
Harry looked a little green at the thought of putting on armour that others had… shat in. "Good to know." He said weakly.
Harry spent the next hour with a piece of parchment and a quill going through the various books on runes that Draco had with him to fix the vanishing cabinet. Every time he found a feature, he would check with the armour to see if he already had it.
He soon had an extensive list that included making the armour unbreakable, a feature not available when the armour was in service, flight, which Harry was exceptionally excited about and planned on reading that book extensively later and a sealing mechanism that would prevent anyone except him removing the armour.
Harry had questioned the armour about how he would fit his short frame inside a six-foot suit of armour. The knight had assured him that there were many short knights and that he was built with special charms that would make his body grow to the right size whilst he was in the armour.
Harry began to get to work using the special tools that Draco was using. He had to dismantle the armour, but the helmet still chatted with him, telling him about various battles he had engaged in. Harry found that he enjoyed reading about runes and was looking forward to experimenting with them. He considered asking McGonagall if he could take the runes OWL if he joined a third-year class. They seemed to have so many applications and some of them could be used by non-magicals.
After two hours Harry was finished. He was surprised to find out that it was one in the morning, but he needed to do all he could whilst dosed up on luck potion, so he began to put the armour on.
This actually required a lot of instruction by the armour as apparently it was a task for three or four people.
Eventually they came to an impasse. Harry had successfully put the helmet on. That was it.
"Why don't you call that elf, Dobby wasn't it? They used to be fairly useful at this sort of thing." The armour suggested.
Harry nodded and removed the helmet so he didn't scare his little friend. "Dobby?"
With a small pop the elf appeared. "Harry Potter calls for Dobby twice in one night! Is Harry Potter wanting Dobby as his elf?" He asked with large hopeful eyes.
"Oh, you're that elf with no master. You aren't the drunk one, are you?" The armour asked.
"I am not!" Dobby said heatedly. "Dobby is a free elf, but Dobby wouldn't say no to working for Harry Potter."
"Better do it lad, elves get a little nutty without a master, no one knows why but they can't survive without someone to serve."
Harry had flashbacks to Dobby's 'help' during his second year. "Sure Dobby, you can be my house elf."
Harry grunted as Dobby slammed into him hugging him tightly. "Harry Potter is the best wizard ever!"
"Glad someone thinks so." Harry chuckled as he thought of his previous year in which everyone seemed to hate him. What really annoyed him was that Hermione seemed to have it in for him because of that book and because he did better than her in potions. He really didn't seem to be able to win at times.
"Dobby, can you help me get into this armour?"
The elf nodded and hopped back from Harry. "Master Harry will need to stand up."
Harry quickly stood up and waited.
Dobby snapped his fingers and Harry started to rise into the air, this startled Harry who began to flail about frantically.
"Master Harry must be still!" Dobby admonished.
Harry looked very bashful as he tried to relax under the stern gaze of his new house elf.
Dobby began levitating the various pieces of armour on to Harry, strapping the leather and snapping the catches in place where needed. The whole process took less than two minutes before Harry was lowered to the ground where, thanks to his silencing runes, he made nary a sound.
"This is great Dobby!" Harry declared as he began twisting and bending, jogging on the spot and stretching his limbs. There were apparently a lot of charms for letting the armour move naturally with the user, unlike a muggle suit of armour that turned the user into a lumbering Frankenstein.
Harry easily picked up the shield and began swinging it into defensive poses and even practising smashing things with it. Then he remembered the gloves and looked around for something to aim at.
He moved over to the large stack of chairs and pulled one from the top, placing it on the floor. He then took a few steps back and raised his palm at the chair.
"Reducto!"
The chair exploded into tiny shards of wood.
"Excellent!" Harry cried as Dobby hid behind his tall metal legs. "All I need now is a sword and my wand."
"Dobby will get them!" The elf cried as he popped out. He was only gone for a second as he returned with his wand and a very familiar sword.
"You took the Sword of Gryffindor?" Harry asked slightly amused as he took his wand and placed it in the slot on his right forearm.
"It belongs to Master Harry. Dobby knows that the talky hat gave it to Master Harry. Headmaster Dumbles warned all elves not to touch it as it had a poisoned blade."
"And yet you still touched it."
"Dobby not touch blade! Dobby touch handle!" The elf said indignantly.
"I'm just teasing, Dobby." Harry took the sword carefully whilst looking for something to put it in. That was when he realised he didn't have a scabbard.
Dobby seemed to realise this and popped out again, this time returning with a suitable scabbard which he helped Harry attach around his waist.
"Dobby took this from another suit of armour. He was holding his sword so he didn't need it." Dobby reasoned.
"You're a life saver Dobby." Harry assured him. "Ok, I'm all set. I have armour and weapons. I know where Voldemort is- Dobby it's just a name. I'll call him Riddle if you like, that's his real name." He offered the elf as it flinched at the forbidden name.
"Say, Dobby, do you know how to get to Malfoy Manor?"
"Dobby knows. Dobby sneaks in to see Dobby's children."
Harry just stood there in shock. He'd never thought about where house elves came from. He'd never considered Dobby's age or family beyond the Malfoys.
"Dobby, are your children bound to the Malfoy family?" Harry asked worriedly.
Dobby just nodded sadly.
"Then we will just have to free them." He said decisively. "Dobby, I'm going to go in this cupboard. I will appear in Borgin and Burkes. When I get to the other side I will call when it's clear. Can you then take that cupboard to the Shrieking Shack?"
"Dobby can do that!" He said as hope began to fill his eyes.
"Good, once you've done that you will need to take me to Malfoy Manor where I will kill Riddle and rescue your children." Harry declared confidently.
"Lad, are you sure you want to rush into this now?" The armour's voice appeared to sound in his head. "I'm always up for a fight but some planning and backup would be useful."
"Yes, but I accidentally swallowed twelve hours of luck potion. Plus if word gets out that I know where Riddle is I might lose my shot."
"How can you accidentally swallow luck potion?" The armour asked.
"I refuse to think about it as my head might explode. By the way, do you have a name?"
"Call me Arnie."
"Arnie the armour?" Harry asked in disbelief.
Arnie just chuckled.
"Who is Master talking to?" Dobby asked worriedly.
"The armour? You can't hear him?"
Dobby shook his head.
"You wouldn't want the enemy to be able to hear me give you battlefield knowledge would you?" Arnie pointed out.
"True. Are you ready then Dobby?"
"Yes sir!" Dobby said.
"I'll call for you on the other side if it's clear." Harry said as he stepped into the cabinet and closed the door.
A nifty little feature that Harry found in the books was an invisibility rune. It was very complex, far more complex than the flight runes but it was supposed to work just as well as any invisibility cloak and much better than the Disillusionment Charm. So when he arrived in the other cabinet and opened the door, the Death Eaters couldn't see him. But they did all point their wands at the cabinet when the door opened.
"Did it work? Did the brat succeed?" Came a high-pitched voice that Harry loathed. Bellatrix Lestrange was in the shop.
"There's nothing in there." Came a male voice he didn't recognise.
Harry grinned as he raised his hand and sent out a Bombarda at the floor that sent the Death Eaters flying. It was a small shop and like most other magical properties, the windows where charmed unbreakable. It simply made sense to charm them instead of replacing them or fixing them. This meant that many of the Death Eaters did an impression of a bug on a muggle windshield.
Harry quickly moved through them stunning them, petrifying, binding them and silencing them. He then put the lot of them in a pile in the corner on top of each other. He'd decide what to do with them when he had done Riddle in.
"Dobby!"
*pop*
"Master Harry is very powerful!"
"No, Master Harry is just doped up on a lot of liquid luck." Harry said dryly as Arnie chuckled inside his head.
"Can you get the cabinet to the Shrieking Shack and then come back and move the bodies there too?"
"Does Master want Dobby to take him to bad old master's home first?"
"Better get this done first." Harry considered.
Without another word Dobby started popping backwards and forwards taking the cabinet first and then taking the Death Eaters one by one.
In fairly short order the shop was empty and repaired as Harry had not been idle whilst Dobby was busy. There was no evidence of the exceptionally short and one-sided battle that had occurred.
"Master Harry is ready to go?"
"I am, but once we get there, grab your children and go to the shack. I need you to strip the Death Eaters and make sure they don't have wands or Portkeys or anything else on them. I can't believe I didn't think of that."
"Dobby already does that, Master." Dobby said proudly.
"Wow… nice work Dobby! Let's go finish this then."
Malfoy Manor shocked Harry to his core. Situated in London in one of the most impressive places the city contained.
The grounds of Buckingham Palace.
Harry was utterly disgusted, it was clear that the Malfoys had built the Manor in the past years or had stolen it from the Royals as there was no way a commoner foreign family would be granted such a prestigious location to live. Harry himself could see the manor so he knew it wasn't hidden by a Fidelius, he assumed it had muggle repelling wards like the Leaky Cauldron and Hogwarts.
"Ok Dobs, I'm going in. Wait till you hear fighting before you grab your kids, I don't want to tip off Riddle."
"Yes sir, Master Harry sir!"
Harry nodded his armoured head and activated his invisibility. It was now time to field test his flight abilities.
Harry learnt a very important rule about equipment. Always test it before taking it into battle.
He shot into the air at a speed that far outstripped his Firebolt, screaming in shock as he went.
"Master Harry must be taking the long route." Dobby muttered as he listened to the sound of Harry's vertically departing scream.
Harry eventually stopped screaming and resorted to silent panicking. The runes he had used for flight were the basic ones used on broomsticks, carpets, Ford Anglias and Triumph Motorcycles, just as the invisibility runes were used on Arthur Weasley's car. What Harry didn't realise (because he was so excited he skipped the safety section) was that a second set of runes were needed to minimise the maximum speed. It had always been impossible to test the maximum speed of flying runes as when the rider reached the sound barrier they were usually killed by wind shear and falling from the broom.
Of course, no one had ever thought to apply the runes to a suit of armour.
Flight runes, like many others, were powered by the magic of the user, so it all came down to how much magic Harry had put into the runes. Harry stopped applying magic when he breached the sparse cloud cover over head and had a perfect view of the stars.
That view soon vanished as he began to plummet back to Earth. Harry desperately tried to find a happy medium of power that wouldn't put him in orbit or see him decorating His Majesty's lawn with his entrails. He was far too tense to control his magic and kept falling several hundred feet before he would activate the flight runes and shoot up one hundred.
This happened for about a minute before he came plummeting down into the roof of Malfoy Manor, through the attic, the master bedroom, a guest room and finally three feet into the floor of the banquet hall.
"Arnie… remind me to test the flight runes properly next time." Harry groaned from his inverted position.
Yes, Harry had landed headfirst and was currently stuck that way.
"Stop griping and pull yourself together lad! You are in enemy territory. Pull your head out and start kicking arse!"
Which Harry did as he managed to plant his feet on the ground and lever his head out of it. More precisely he managed to pull a huge chunk of the floor up which remained lodged around his helmet. Harry quickly smashed his head with his gauntleted hand sending a spray of dust into the air.
"EWWW!" Harry squealed as he realised he had a finger and an ear lodged in said gauntlet.
"Enemy right behind you!" Arnie warned.
Harry quickly spun as he raised his shield and he saw Lucius Malfoy raise his wand.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
The bolt of green light sped forward but as with the spell from Cormac it bounced straight back at the caster.
Lucius dropped dead on the spot.
"YOU KILLED LUCIUS! YOU BASTARD!" Harry spun back around and saw the blonde haired Narcissa Malfoy brandishing her own wand.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
What happened next should be obvious.
The world was now down to just the one Malfoy.
"Anymore?" Harry asked Arnie quietly. He was a little disconcerted that Narcissa had been so stupid in repeating her husband's own mistake.
"Look at the floor Harry." Arnie advised.
Harry tilted his helmet down and saw black robes all over the floor, blood pooled everywhere.
Harry felt very sick as he realised he had killed them all when he landed.
"Don't you dare puke in me boy!" The Arnie warned.
"I won't, promise." Harry said queasily.
"On your left!"
Once again Harry turned as a barrage of curses flew his way from the seven Death Eaters that had just entered.
Two killing curses and a Bombarda were reflected back. No one would know for sure what killed them.
"End of the room Harry, someone's alive over there." Arnie warned.
Harry raised his shield and peaked over the top. A wheezing cough could be heard as a dark shape struggled from under some ceiling beams that Harry had brought down with his entrance.
"Voldemort." Harry scowled.
"Who are you that you dare attack me?" The pale skinned, snake-faced creature demanded.
"Just Harry." He replied with a small smirk… not that Voldemort could see it. "Surrender Riddle or I will take you down. It's going to happen, it's been prophesised." Harry bluffed.
"Potter?" Voldemort scoffed in disbelief. "You are not Potter. Potter is a weakling. Severus tells me the brat is a weakling who couldn't out duel a first year. I've fought Potter, he was right."
"I beat you in the graveyard, didn't I?"
"Is that what Potter told you? Ha!"
"Why doesn't he believe it's me?" Harry muttered.
"Probably because your voice is muffled through my helmet." Arnie offered.
"Oh, right." Harry flipped up the visor. "See, me!" He grinned.
"Potter!" Voldemort roared.
"Didn't we just cover this? Are you going to surrender?"
"I will make you suffer for years boy! I will bring your friends before you and make you watch as-"
"Stupefy!" Harry was bored already and he was not going to listen to Voldemort rant.
"Really? You led with a stupefy?" Arnie asked disapprovingly.
"He'll shield anything I throw at him. If he sends anything at me I can deflect it." Harry explained quietly as he dropped his visor again.
"Here's hoping he doesn't have a spell that can do some damage." Arnie was clearly displeased with this plan.
Voldemort led with the Death Eater special: The Killing Curse. This bounced back but Voldemort quickly dodged his own curse. This happened three times before he decided to switch to the blasting curse, Bombarda. He quickly came to the conclusion this was a bad idea when he found himself pasted against the back wall and groaning in pain.
"I WILL KILL YOU POTTER!"
"Promises, promises!" Harry taunted happily.
"He's too quick, lad. You need to go on the offensive before he decides to run." Arnie chastised.
Harry quickly began sending stunners and Reductos at Voldemort.
"Are you insane boy?! GUT THE BASTARD! SLICE HIS HEAD OFF! STOP THIS PANSY ARSED SHITE YOU BLOODY PACIFIST!" Arnie roared in his head.
Harry winced at the volume and language but dropped the stunners and brought up every nasty curse he knew. Voldemort could do nothing but dodge.
The self proclaimed Dark Lord knew he was outclassed. Not only could he not hit the boy, but the boy himself had him pinned under a barrage of spells. It was only his superior physique from his artificial body that allowed him to dodge and deflect many of the spells whilst Potter simply stood there firing at him. He needed to get beyond the wards so he could apparate out or at the very least fly.
He took aim at the wall behind him and fired his strongest blasting hex.
Harry did not like what he saw. If Voldemort escaped he might never get this chance again. He did the one thing he really didn't want to do again that night.
He activated his flight runes.
Voldemort spun around as he heard an approaching scream. He didn't turn very far as Harry slammed through him.
Yes, through him. Harry's armour sliced through Voldemort taking most of his stomach with him and leaving Voldemort's chest and legs to flop to the floor.
Harry ploughed into the ground a few feet away… and a few meters down.
"Nice work lad! Now that's how you take out the enemy!" Arnie cheered.
Harry really wanted to be sick as he gingerly picked a piece of entrails from his visor.
There was a horrible wailing sound and Harry spun to the bisected body to see a familiar black wraith rising up from the remains.
"I will have my revenge Potter!" Came the hoarse and distorted voice.
"I'll be waiting." Harry said calmly. "Just remember, you always have to start from scratch, I've been getting more and more experienced since I beat you as a baby."
The wraith gave an inarticulate roar and flew away from Harry.
"Better than the last time. He flew through me the first time I saw him like that." Harry muttered.
"Probably didn't want to risk the enchantments on me." Arnie explained.
"FREEZE! PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES!"
Harry immediately spun around as his shield came up.
Unfortunately the Royal Infantrymen of the King's Guard were not messing around and immediately opened fire with their weapons.
There was the sound of several bullets and then screams of pain.
Harry looked over his shield and saw all of the soldiers lying on the floor with various gunshot wounds.
"Oh bloody hell!" Harry exclaimed. He really didn't want to hurt anyone except Death Eaters and Voldemort, and he really would have preferred to have left that to someone else as well.
He quickly rushed over and was relieved that none of them were dead, two were pretty close though.
He found the one most coherent. "Where's your infirmary?" He asked quickly.
In response the soldier stared at him fearfully and pulled out his radio. "Man down! Man down! Need back up! Hostile on site in sector 3!"
"Roger that, backup is on route." Came the reply.
Harry just groaned. "Look you idiot, I came in peace! You shot at me!"
He stood up and took a step back.
"Dobby?"
Dobby arrived and looked at the scene with a raised eyebrow. "Master Harry is attacking soldier muggles?"
"No, they attacked me. Can you watch these guys invisibly and make sure they don't die? I'm going to try and find their infirmary."
"Dobby could take them to Miss Poppy? Or Dobby could get Miss Poppy."
Harry looked at the soldiers. At least one was on the brink of death.
"Do it, then help her any way she needs."
Dobby returned with a highly agitated Madam Pomphrey dressed in a nightgown and robe.
"Mr. Potter! What is- Mr. Potter?" She froze as she saw Harry's face in the large suit of armour.
"Hi, Madam Pomphrey, these soldiers shot at me and they got hit by their own bullets. Can you help them?" Harry waved meekly.
Poppy Pomphrey was a veteran of the first wizarding war. She saw the bleeding men and she instantly got to work.
"Lad, that soldier called for reinforcements. We should prepare to receive them." Arnie warned.
"Any idea which direction they will come from? And how we can get them to be peaceful?"
"Base, this is sector 3, hostile may be peaceful. They are helping our wounded."
Harry looked at the soldier who had previously called for backup and just now asked them to be peaceful.
The soldier just shrugged. "You are trespassing, but we did fire at you."
"Thanks, I really can't control the bullets and spells when they deflect from my shield. Which is strange considering the shape." Harry frowned as he looked at the front of the shield. The bullets should have gone off at varying angles but they had been delivered straight back at the shooter.
"Part of the basic enchantments lad. Can't have an enemy's spell hitting a friend now, can we?" Arnie explained. "Uh oh, here they come, from the east." Arnie warned.
"Which way is east?" Harry asked.
"Your left boy!"
"Right, right. Sorry."
"Help me up, if I talk to them I might be able to diffuse the situation." The soldier instructed.
"You're shot, you need to wait for Madam Pomphrey to heal you."
"This is nothing, kid. Just get me up." The soldier said. In truth it was a shot to the leg, his lower leg and the soldier could feel it had hit the bone. But he knew that if his fellow soldiers, who were approaching, opened fire, they would be worse off than him and the kid wouldn't be able to do a damned thing about it.
Harry reached down and lifted the soldier up easily, he then proceeded to practically carry the soldier like a parent helping a child walk, under the armpits.
"This is freaking embarrassing." The soldier grumbled. "Shot by my own weapon and now carried like a baby."
"Do you want me to pick you up properly?" Harry offered helpfully.
"Shit no! There are cameras all over the place. I'd be an even worse laughing stock." He exclaimed. "Now keep quiet unless you are asked a question and let me do the talking."
"Ok, but make it quick. There might be more Death Eaters back there. I didn't get a chance to look before you turned up."
"Death Eaters?"
"Erm… terrorists."
"On the palace grounds?! God Almighty, let's speed this up." The soldier snapped as he hopped faster.
Harry responded by taking the soldier's full weight and holding him a foot off the ground as he started jogging.
A minute later they came into view.
"Stay here kid." The soldier ordered.
Gingerly he began to hobble forward.
"Captain! Hold up sir, I have intel." The soldier called out as they got closer. Unfortunately the flashlights they were using snapped up and the beams caught both the soldier and Harry's armour causing them to fall into a firing formation as their weapons snapped up.
"EASY!" The soldier shouted. "He's peaceful!"
"Maintain your position, men. He makes any sudden moves fire." The Captain ordered as he took a step forward. "Soldier, report!"
"Sir, we were investigating a disturbance in our sector when we encountered the suit of armour back there. He's just a kid sir. He didn't attack but we startled him and we may have overreacted and opened fire. His shield seems to reflect bullets back at the shooter, which is why we are all shot. His only offensive weapon is that sword on his hip but I haven't seen him draw it yet."
"You been drinking Private?" The Captain scowled.
"Sir! No Sir!" The Private barked respectfully. "Sir you fire and all your people will be taken down by their own bullets. That's my bullet in my leg sir."
"You're saying your entire unit is down?"
"Yes sir. The kid has a nurse or doctor there right now healing them up and stabilising them."
"There are more hostiles?!" The Captain demanded.
"Peaceful intruders sir. None of them have made an aggressive move. The kid and I were even chatting as we approached you."
"Why did you leave your unit Private?"
"Judgement call, Sir. Needed to make sure you didn't open fire like we did and kill yourselves. Sir, the kid says that he was here taking out terrorists and that there might be more back there."
"You expect me to take the word of some punk kid in a medieval suit of armour."
"Sir, that red stuff on his helmet is blood. And it isn't ours."
"SIR? I NEED TO GET BACK TO MADAM POMPHREY!" Harry called over.
"Madam Pomphrey?" The Captain asked.
"The medic he called in. He's worried she's at risk from the terrorists."
"Why do you trust this kid, Private?" The Captain asked seriously.
"He's trying to save my unit sir, despite the fact we tried to kill him."
"O'Donnohue, Matthews, get over here and help Private Jeffries. We'll need him with us as a pre-established contact."
The two soldiers quickly darted forward to support the weight of Jeffries.
"Sir, he's losing a lot of blood. He might have hit a vein or nicked an artery." Matthews reported.
"The wounds low enough sir, a tourniquet will hold me for now." Jeffries said dismissively.
"Make it quick."
"Harry Potter! What in Merlin's name have you been up to? These men are muggles!" Poppy raged.
"Do you see that building back there?" Harry asked as he gestured to the partially destroyed Malfoy Manor. "That is Malfoy Manor. Do you see that building over there? That's Buckingham Palace. Malfoy was squatting in the King's backyard."
"That is no excuse for you-"
"Voldemort was hiding in Malfoy Manor. I just killed him. These soldiers turned up and fired on me but their bullets bounced back at them." Harry interrupted testily. "Now I have had a long and eventful night so unless you have something helpful to say, shut it!" Harry practically yelled the last part.
Poppy was taken aback. "V-v-v You-Know-Who was there?"
"Yes, and now he is over there and there and some of him is on here." Harry grimaced as he tapped his blood and gore covered helmet. "Also, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy are both dead inside the building along with a lot of other Death Eaters. I also have a lot of Death Eaters tied up somewhere."
"But the muggles! What are you going to do about them?"
"Tell them the truth. I don't know if you realise this but Voldemort and his buddies have been attacking muggles as well as magicals. They deserve to know the threat has gone."
Poppy sighed. Harry had just told her he had saved the wizarding world… again. It was a lot to take in. "We should call Albus, he should know about this."
"If you want, but can you fix up that other soldier first? He got shot in the leg."
"What? Why would you take him away!?"
"He wanted to make sure his backup wasn't going to shoot you." Harry said glibly.
"Oh… well, go and get him then. And be gentle with him!"
"Sir the knight is coming back." One of the soldiers called out as they walked back to Jeffries unit.
"Jeffries, front and centre." The Captain barked.
The five legged creature which comprised of O'Donnahue, Matthews and Jeffries hobbled forward. They only had a few minutes until they needed to loosen the tourniquet or Jeffries risked losing the leg.
"Is he alright? Madam Pomphrey told me to bring him back to her so she could fix him up." Harry explained.
The Captain was very uneasy about letting someone take one of his man away.
"Sir, if he carries me we could make it faster than trying to keep up at our current speed. It could take ten minutes to get there at this rate." Jeffries offered weakly.
"Sir his pulse is getting really weak." Matthews reported.
The Captain made his decision. "Take him, quickly!"
Harry stepped forward and gingerly lifted the Private into his arms with his shield slung across his back as per Arnie's instructions. He then took off at a light jog.
"Whoa… he can really move." O'Donnahue gasped as Harry quickly vanished into the night.
"Stow that tongue soldier and try and keep up!"
*Chapter 2*: Chapter 2
A/N: Something I forgot to mention in the first chapter notes: I've altered some of the characters to take on traits of the comics. Notably, Nick Fury. Whilst I still wrote him with Samuel L. Jackson in mind, I altered his character's history to match the comics. So he served in World War II and knew Captain Rogers.
Just little things like that.
"Madam Pomphrey, he's getting worse!" Harry called out as he arrived thirty seconds later.
"Sweet Merlin, this is why I loathe working with servicemen. They always think they are invulnerable."
"You were an army nurse?" Harry asked.
"I was, Mister Potter. I was one of the first allied nurses on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day." She said with a hint of pride. "Fortunately none of these young men had injuries as horrific, although Private Jeffries here was ten seconds from death."
"Private Jeffries? How do you know his name?"
Poppy looked up at him with a disappointed look. "That is his name." She indicated the label on his chest.
"What about the Private bit?"
She pointed at the symbols on his upper arm. "This means he is a private."
"Oh, Ok." Harry shrugged.
"Those other soldiers are approaching." Arnie warned.
"Is he fixed? The others are arriving." Harry relayed the warning.
"He's fine, just a little weak as I don't have any blood replenishing potion for him." Poppy confirmed as she transfigured a hospital bed from a nearby blade of grass.
"You really served in World War II?" Jeffries asked.
"I'm a witch lad, I was born in 1919." She smirked.
"Wow, you look good."
"Thank you dear." She smiled proudly.
"Kid, get me up. No point risking a repeat of earlier." Jeffries gestured to Harry.
"Now I must protest-"
"Ma'am, no offence, but there is no way that the Captain is going to take your word that you served in World War II. If I don't go out there then you are going to have more patients." He said firmly as Harry helped him up.
"Fine, but Harry, you take all his weight." She ordered.
"Yes Madam Pomphrey." Harry responded dutifully.
"Medics, they're all the same." Jeffries snorted as he and Harry moved towards the approaching soldiers. Harry could only nod in agreement.
"I heard that!"
"Walk faster, kid." Jeffries muttered nervously.
"Private, report!" The Captain barked, Pomphrey had not just healed him, she had cleaned and repaired his uniform as well. The only evidence that he had been less than healthy was his current pale complexion and weakness.
"The medic, Poppy Pomphrey has healed my unit and myself. Other than some rest and food-"
"Perhaps we should leave the medical instructions to the medics?" Poppy scowled as she approached. Once again the guns came up and Harry tensed.
"Easy!" Jeffries said hastily. "This is Poppy Pomphrey, the woman who just fixed my unit."
"Identify yourself." The Captain ordered.
"Lieutenant Poppy Pomphrey, Royal Army Medical Corp, retired." She said primly.
"Just what are you doing out here trespassing on royal property?"
"My student, here, decided to do some late night covert operations which unfortunately seem to have brought him here. When your men were injured attacking him, he had me brought in to fix them up."
"Does your 'student' have a habit of performing late night covert ops?" He asked snidely.
"Unfortunately he does." She said as she glared at Harry. "Quite frankly, aside from his fourth year at school, he does at least one a year. I would point out that they are not sanctioned operations but he does do immaculate work."
"You think this is a joking matter?" The Captain demanded angrily.
"No, Captain, I do not." She said sternly. "Now, I would be most grateful if you would radio your superiors and give them the code word: Excalibur."
The Captain raised an eyebrow but gestured to one of his men for a radio.
There was a brief conversation that resulted in the Captain and his men standing down. There was then ten minutes of uncomfortable silent waiting until an army jeep pulled up and a Colonel stepped out.
"Who issued the Excalibur order?" He demanded.
The Captain snapped off a salute. "Sir, Lieutenant Poppy Pomphrey, RAMC, retired. She provided the codeword and I called it in. She seems to have healed an entire unit suffering from gun shot wounds. Private Jeffries here has been acting as a liaison."
"Before we continue, Colonel, these men need to be sent back to the infirmary for blood transfusions or fluids and rest. I've done what I can but I don't have my usual tools with me." Poppy said pointedly.
The Colonel raised an eyebrow at being given orders, but he was used to it considering the woman claimed to be RAMC. The downed soldiers where arrayed in conjured hospital beds.
"Captain, call in medical evac."
"Sir, I haven't had a chance to search the house back there. There might be more terrorists in there." Harry spoke up hesitantly. He really didn't do well around authority figures.
"What house?"
"There is a house that has been hidden from muggles, Colonel. If what Mr. Potter here, has told me is correct, then he has just taken out the Dark Lord Voldemort and quite a few of his Death Eaters." Pomphrey explained.
"Death Eaters? On the palace grounds?!" The Colonel asked in horror.
"I think I got most of them, but like I said, I didn't get a chance to check." Harry said.
"Master Harry sir, Dobby's children say no one else is there." Dobby spoke up as he appeared to the non-magicals.
Unfortunately several guns were aimed his way in shock.
"STAND DOWN!" The Colonel shouted. He really wished he had a unit of soldiers experienced with this type of thing.
"Great Dobby, are your kids safe?" Harry asked.
Dobby nodded happily. "Would Master Harry bond with them? Dobby only trusts Master Harry." Dobby begged.
"If that's what you want Dobby, then that's what we'll do. It'll be nice to have some more friends around."
"Lieutenant Pomphrey, consider yourself reactivated." The Colonel told the school nurse.
"Very well, but be aware that I have medical oaths that might supersede any orders regarding Harry Potter here or my other student patients."
"I am aware. Can you bring down the wards on this building? We need to secure it."
"Not myself I can't. I would recommend contacting Albus Dumbledore. He would be able to bring them down or arrange for them to be brought down."
"The Chief Warlock?"
"That is correct."
"You have permission to bring him in. But he must go through security first and announce himself properly."
"Harry, could you have Dobby take me back to Hogwarts? I will bring Albus back and send Dobby back to you."
"Yes Madam Pomphrey, you don't want me to come with you?"
"Harry, you are the only wizard around so you are the only one who can see the building and deal with any wizards that might turn up." She said sadly. She couldn't believe that she was leaving a fifteen-year-old to do an adult's job.
"I just want to go back to Hogwarts and sleep." Harry sighed. "Ok, Dobby, can you take Madam Pomphrey back to Hogwarts, then go and bring the prisoners from the Shrieking Shack here."
"Yes sir, Harry Potter Sir!" Dobby saluted as he mimicked the soldiers and vanished with Poppy.
A few of the soldiers chuckled at the little guy's antics.
"What's this about prisoners?" The Colonel asked.
Harry glanced at the man's name tag: David. He briefly wondered if that was the man's first or last name.
"On my way here to deal with Voldemort I had to deal with a group of Death Eaters who were about to invade my school and kill lots of people."
"You actually took them alive?" The Colonel asked clearly impressed.
"It wasn't hard, they couldn't see me. I had them all trussed up in under ten seconds." Harry shrugged.
At that moment Dobby popped back in with two Death Eaters.
"Only two? No wonder it didn't take long." One of the soldiers snorted in derision.
The Colonel really wanted to slap the man. He'd read the Potter Reports. He'd heard the rumours about the boy who, on a yearly basis, managed to thwart the most feared terrorist of the century.
"That's the first batch." Harry explained, ignoring the manner in which he was spoken to. "Dobby can't take more than two at a time."
"Just how many Death Eaters are there?" Colonel David asked.
"I didn't actually count."
"Thirty two." Arnie supplied.
"Oh, Arnie says there are thirty two."
"Arnie?"
"He's the- erm… voice in my armour?"
The Colonel decided to ignore it for now and leave it to those of a higher pay grade. His job was to contain the situation and limit the exposure of witches and wizards.
"Captain, call in a prisoner transport for thirty two." He called back.
"Is there a reason they are naked?"
Harry blushed. "I may have asked Dobby to strip the bodies of portkeys and wands… he seems to have been extra thorough."
The Colonel sighed. "Of course he was."
Whilst he waited Dobby kept bringing more bodies and the trucks for moving the injured soldiers arrived. Harry was very unnerved by the stares he knew he was getting but realised it couldn't be helped considering he was currently a six foot plus metallic monster.
Dobby was only half way done when the prisoner transports arrived, they brought Madam Pomphrey and Albus Dumbledore with them.
"Oh Harry, what have you done?" Dumbledore asked disappointedly.
"Don't you take that tone with him, Albus! He's done what no one else would do." Poppy admonished the aging Headmaster. "He's eliminated the threat of Voldemort. I will be most displeased if he is treated as anything less than a hero."
"I'm not saying he hasn't done a brave thing, but there were reasons that I hadn't acted yet."
"Why didn't you tell me the reasons then?" Harry asked, he was slightly annoyed, very tired and therefore quite cranky.
"I was telling you the reasons, my boy-"
"You were giving me pointless history lessons on Voldemort's childhood! I didn't see anything useful in those memories."
"If you had gotten the memory from Horace then I would have explained it."
"If it was that important why didn't you get it yourself?" Poppy demanded. "Horace Slughorn is-"
"Gentlemen, Lieutenant, could we please focus on the here and now." The Colonel interrupted. "My understanding is that Mister Potter has saved Britain and its King from a terrorist and his people and has uncovered a hidden base here on the palace grounds.
"Now, I am fairly familiar with His Majesty's stance on Voldemort, and I know he is quite livid with the way the Ministry of Magic is handling things.
"What I need you to do right now is remove the wards from the building we can't see."
"I'm afraid I don't have the authority." Albus replied.
"I am giving you the authority Mister Dumbledore. You can either comply with the order or find yourself a guest of the Tower of London." Colonel David warned.
"I would need permission from the Ministry of Magic to bring down the wards on Malfoy Manor."
The Colonel was shocked by that statement. "Are you telling me that the Ministry knew that there were squatters on royal grounds?"
"Of course they knew. Many a function was held at the Malfoy's."
David turned to Poppy with a thunderous look.
"I knew nothing about it. I didn't even know where we were until Harry explained it." She shrugged.
"This is outrageous! Captain! Contact the palace, tell them to lockdown the palace and get the royal family into hiding. I want the entire palace guard out of bed and on the grounds. They see anything suspicious they take it down with extreme prejudice. Also, get me MI5 and the Prime Minister's office."
The Colonel then gestured to some of the men that came with him. "Divest Mister Dumbledore of his wand and any portkeys and enchanted items. We are holding him on the charge of treason."
"Why?" Harry asked worriedly. He might not be too pleased with the man but this was quickly spiralling out of control.
Whilst the men were dealing with a highly cooperative Dumbledore, Poppy explained it to Harry.
"Any crime committed against the King is treason. It's one of the few crimes in non-magical Britain that can receive the death sentence. The Malfoys committed a crime by essentially stealing land from the King and then holding terrorist meetings on that land. It was downright insulting!" She scowled.
"But why are they arresting Dumbledore?"
"Because he as much as admitted that the Ministry of Magic not only knew of the Malfoy's crime but they also benefited from it. They willingly attended entertainment functions knowing that they were committing crimes."
"Lieutenant Pomphrey, I need you and Mister Potter here to lead my men into the building we can't see. We will establish a line of sight communication system and then we will need to take you in for debriefing." Colonel David informed them as he approached.
"You realise that you won't be able to see into the building until the wards come down?" Poppy asked. "Radios don't work inside the wards either."
"When did you serve, Lieutenant?"
"World War II, Colonel."
"Ah, we've had quite a few advancements since then. Whilst magic does play havoc with certain radio waves and electrical signals, we have made great strides with lasers, a form of light." He smiled proudly.
"Like signalling Morse code between ships?"
"In its most basic form yes, but we actually have the ability to transmit sound over light now."
"Amazing!" Poppy breathed.
"Quite. Now, if you could lead us in-"
"Master Harry can take down the wards." Dobby offered as he unloaded the last of the bodies.
"I can?" Harry asked.
Dobby nodded his head vigorously, his ears flapping hard enough for take-off. "Dobby knows where the ward stone be. Dobby can take Harry Potter and Harry Potter can destroy it with his goblin gryffie sword."
"Ok, we'll be back in a bit." Harry shrugged.
"Hold on there Mister Potter." Colonel David said sternly. "I don't care what you thought you could get away with doing before you presented yourself to me, but as of this moment you are under my guardianship. You are a minor and the Royal Army does not send minors off on dangerous missions. Especially without backup."
The Colonel called over the unit that had accompanied the Captain. "Men, this is Harry Potter, a civilian minor. With him is his adult supervisor, Lieutenant Pomphrey. You are to follow her orders to the letter. If you fail to follow her orders I will personally see you court marshalled… provided you make it out alive. What you are about to see and do is highly classified.
"Lieutenant, you are to take this unit and escort Mister Potter as he enters the invisible house and destroys the ward stone. You will report back immediately by which time I will have a trained unit here to secure the house."
"Understood Colonel." Poppy saluted. She then began transfiguring her nightgown and dressing gown into a military uniform. It was World War II era, but it still counted.
"Harry, get your shield out and take the lead. Follow Dobby's instructions but do not enter a room fully until I say so. You may step inside the doorway by two feet whilst the soldiers ensure it is clear."
"Yes, Madam Pomphrey." Harry sighed. He really wanted to get out of the armour and go to bed.
Poppy had each soldier use their left hand to grip the shoulder of the soldier in front of them, the lead soldier gripped her shoulder. Then they followed Harry into the Manor.
"Whoa!"
"Cut the chatter." Poppy snapped. "You are in enemy territory and the enemy has laid traps and mastered invisibility. Keep your eyes open for any visual distortions."
"Madam Pomphrey, I'm going to go invisible myself, that way you can see through me and anyone inside won't know I'm standing between you and them."
"Very well Mister Potter."
Very slowly they made their way through the rooms. Dobby kept insisting that there was no one else there but not even Harry wanted to risk it.
"Trust but verify, little buddy." One of the soldiers whispered to the elf. "It's not that we don't believe you, but we need to verify it for ourselves, just in case something managed to slip by you."
"But Dobby knows there is no one else here." He insisted.
"You ever eaten an apple?"
"No, but Dobby has seen wizards eat apples."
The soldier raised an eyebrow at the word 'wizards' but brushed it off considering what he was talking to. "Imagine you find a nice looking ripe apple sitting on a table. Everything you see and smell tells you that that apple is delicious and will be good for you.
"So you pick up the apple and start biting. You get half way through the apple when you realise you've just bitten through a worm. That's an instance of when you should verify the apple is good despite everyone and everything saying it is."
"Thanks for that disgusting image." Another soldier groaned. "Ever heard the expression 'Better safe than sorry'?"
Dobby nodded.
"This is what we are doing now. In the very unlikely chance that something slipped by then we are making sure that we aren't sorry we didn't make it safe."
"Dobby understands. Dobby promises to check Master Harry's apples for worms." He said solemnly.
"Gentlemen, thank you for explaining that for Dobby, but let's keep the chatter down." Poppy said with a wry smile.
They eventually made their way down to the dungeons with only one incident involving an itchy trigger finger and magical painting.
But the dungeon disgusted them all.
"My god." One of the soldiers muttered. "Is this all human?"
The floor, walls and even the ceiling was covered in blood splatter.
"Probably." Poppy snarled in anger. "Certain wizards are worse than Nazis, they believe that certain types of people should be killed simply because they aren't magical. They are absolutely despicable in their methods. Whoever was killed here was tortured horribly."
"Dobby, the ward stone." Harry croaked weakly. This was worse than the blood and guts he had spilt when he crashed through the roof. His actions had been accidental, the deaths would have been instantaneous, he knew that the Death Eaters would have spent days torturing whoever was held here. He began to feel a little less guilt over all the killing he had participated in today.
"This stone Master Harry, stab it with your Gryffie Sword." Dobby said as he pointed to a single stone in the wall that was fairly non-descript. Harry had no idea how Dobby could tell the difference but he wasn't going to argue.
Harry drew his sword and without pause plunged it towards the stone. He was surprised when the sword sank deeply into the centre of the stone and then flashed with a bright red light before crumbling to dust.
"The wards are broken Master Harry." Dobby smiled happily.
"Thanks Dobby. Why don't you go back to your kids for now. I'll call if I need you."
"Yes Sir, Master Harry, Sir!" Dobby saluted.
"Are all of his kind like that?" One of soldiers asked as the all chuckled at the spot where Dobby had vanished.
"No, but Dobby was abused for most of his life. As a result, he is a little more eccentric than most." Poppy explained. "Let's head up to the entrance and report to Colonel David."
"Did you want to see the dead bodies?" Harry asked.
"Oh yes, very well, lead on Mister Potter."
The trip back upstairs to the main room went without incident, despite one of the soldiers nearly taking a shot at another painting. When they reached the room two of the soldiers immediately turned and vomited.
"God kid! What did you do to them?" One of the puking soldiers asked as he wiped his mouth.
"I accidentally landed on them." Harry grimaced.
"'Landed on them'? You would have had to have been hundreds of feet up-"
"Marty." One of the other soldiers interrupted.
'Marty' followed the man's gaze to the ceiling and the large hole leading outside.
"You can fly?"
"Sort of… I can't control it properly yet so… I can really only fall from a great height."
"And you survived that fall… is that invincible armour or something?"
"It better be, I put enough runes on it and making it unbreakable was just one of them."
"There isn't anything we can do here." Poppy declared as she examined the bodies. "Jameson, Patrick, head outside to the Colonel, inform him the building is secure but there are crime scenes." She ordered Marty Jameson and the other man who had thrown up, Andrew Patrick.
Both men snapped a salute and jogged off.
"Harry, let's get that helmet off, I know it can't be too comfortable in there." Poppy said kindly.
"It's not too bad, just a little… cramped." Harry shrugged as he put his hands on his helmet and lifted.
And tugged.
And grunted with exertion.
"Harry?"
"I think it's stuck." Harry sighed.
"Gentlemen, if you would lend Mister Potter a hand."
"Kneel down Harry." One of the men instructed.
The average soldier in the unit was six foot, but Harry still towered over them.
Both soldiers tugged as hard as they could.
"Lieutenant, this helmet isn't budging. Any chance it is held on by your magic?"
Poppy raised a concerned eyebrow. "Harry, just what runes did you use and where did you apply them?"
"There were a lot of runes. I wrote them down in a book." Harry said worriedly. He really wanted to get out of the armour and pee.
"Can you have Dobby get the book?"
"Dobby?"
"Yes Master Harry?"
"Can you get the books I was using at Hogwarts to work on the armour? Also can you bring Draco here?"
"Dobby can get the books but Dobby can't be taking pupils out of Hogwarts. Castle is not letting people take children."
"Erm… what if you stick him in the vanishing cabinet and then collect him from the Shrieking Shack?"
Dobby nodded vigorously before he popped out.
"Why would you want Mister Malfoy here?" Poppy asked worriedly. "I assume you two are still engaged in that childish feud." She added with exasperation.
Harry was getting annoyed with this. "Let me get this straight, you have just willingly acknowledged that I not only tracked down, killed and/or captured numerous Death Eaters, but killed Voldemort himself… for about the fourth time running, but you still have the nerve to question me about Draco Malfoy?
"I assume you don't care about the fact that he has the Dark Mark on his arm, or that he willingly told me what he did to get it, or that I caught him minutes away from letting Death Eaters into the Castle to kill anyone not a Pure blood." He snarled.
"I-I-I… " Poppy sagged slightly shamed. "You're right Harry, I was completely disrespectful. We will hand him over to Colonel David and his men."
Dobby arrived with Draco and the books. Poppy ordered two of the men to restrain Draco whilst Harry found the notebook he had been working in.
"Here, this is the list of runes I used and where." He said as he held out the book to a specific page.
Poppy examined the page which she could only assume was a result of Miss Granger's work habits rubbing off on Harry as the information was meticulously outlined complete with diagrams of the armour and where the runes were to be placed.
"Harry, these are runes for flight and invisibility, I thought you used unbreakable rune schemes as well."
"Keep turning the pages." Harry instructed.
Poppy turned to the next page which outlined a bubble head charm that activated when the helmet visor was closed. It was fairly ingenious in that the runes where not complete until the helmet closed and it was powered by the user, this meant when Harry lifted the visor he could eat or drink quite happily.
"Harry-"
"Keep going." He said knowingly.
Poppy went through five pages of rune sets before she reached the unbreakable ones, she kept turning though for a further six pages as her eyes just widened in shock at what Harry had done.
"You must have been working on this for months!"
"Months? No, I did it all in about an hour or two ago." Harry frowned.
"Do you even take Ancient Runes?"
"No, I just saw that Draco was using the books to fix the cabinet so I thought I could improve the armour. It wasn't that hard."
"Harry, this is beyond the level that a Rune Master would work at."
"Oh… are you sure? It seemed really easy to me."
"I studied Ancient Runes for my NEWTS! This is genius level work, prodigy even." She said excitedly.
"Ok… in that case, why can't I get the armour off?" Harry asked slowly.
Poppy grimaced. "As I said, this is beyond Master level. We will need to consult with a Rune Master to answer that question."
"I don't suppose Professor Babbling is one?" The hope was evident, even if it was heavily tinged with doubt.
"She is not, but she is the closest we have." Poppy admitted. "For now, you are stuck in there until we can at least get back to Hogwarts."
"Lieutenant Pomphrey, report!" Colonel David ordered as he approached with a new squad of men.
"The building is secure, but I advise your men to not shoot the moving portraits. Also, the building is cleared of all living combatants but we don't have the abilities here to check for magical traps.
"This-" She indicated the bound and still unconscious Draco "- is Draco Malfoy, a sixteen year old student of my school. Harry Potter confirmed he was a marked Death Eater who confessed to at least one act of murder and torture. He managed to bind and capture him whilst he was attempting to let more Death Eaters into the school to massacre non-Pure bloods.
"Finally, Harry appears to be trapped in his armour for the foreseeable future until we can consult a Rune Master."
Colonel David nodded with a frown. "Excellent work, Lieutenant." He turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter, I have just spoken with His Majesty, he is aware of your actions here and the initial reason for your fame. For your act of heroism, that resulted in protecting both King and Country, he has declared himself your temporary guardian. This means that you are to be well taken care of until you reach the age of adulthood."
Harry looked at Poppy with a worried expression. "It's for the best, Harry. I don't think you should return to the school just yet, I will contact Professor McGonagall and ask her to send Professor Babbling out to see you."
"Lieutenant Pomphrey, this is Lieutenant Robert Flint. He's a low-magical." The Colonel gestured for an officer to step forward. "A 'squib' as you call them." He said with disgust at the term. "He will accompany you back to Hogwarts immediately so you can inform the heads of the school as to the location of Mister Potter, Mister Dumbledore and yourself."
Poppy did not look pleased at that idea. "Sir, the Lieutenant will be at great risk in a school full of Pure bloods."
"He will be armed and authorised to shoot any assailants." The Colonel assured her.
"Are you any relation to Marcus Flint?" Harry asked.
"My little brother." The Lieutenant said with a look of distaste. "I assume you had a few run-ins with him?"
"Mainly in Quidditch."
"Did you beat him?"
"Every time." Harry smiled proudly.
"Good man." The soldier replied with a happy grin.
"Here, it's a little heavy, but take this." Harry said as he handed his shield over. "It will deflect any spells back at the caster, which means if they fire a killing curse then they will kill themselves." He explained with an apologetic look.
"I am not fond of the idea of attacking children, but if they start throwing the old AK around then they get what they give." Lieutenant Flint sighed.
"Harry, would you mind if we borrowed Dobby again? I can side-along apparate one person, but not with that huge thing." Poppy asked.
"Dobby?" Harry asked, turning to his little friend.
"Dobby can take Looteety Flint." Dobby saluted.
This caused a bunch of chuckles from the soldiers.
"Whilst you're there, could you keep an eye on Lieutenant Flint and make sure he doesn't get attacked? Like you did for me with Lucius Malfoy?"
"Dobby can do, what will Master Harry do without Dobby?" He asked worriedly
"I'm sure I'll survive for a few hours." Harry assured him.
Dobby scowled, he didn't like the sound of that. He vanished on the spot.
"How unusual." Poppy exclaimed. "I've never seen an elf disobey an order before."
"I don't think he is. He just hasn't carried out the orders yet." Harry explained. "Ever since I've met Dobby he's always been a bit… creative with how he does what he's told."
Dobby popped back with another elf in short order. "This is Dobby's oldest son, Nobby will take care of Master Harry whilst Dobby takes care of Looteety Flint and Madam Pompey." He said with authority.
Dobby didn't wait for a response as he vanished with Pomphrey and Flint.
"Hi Nobby." Harry said carefully. "I hear you want to be my elf?"
Nobby nodded with a sad look. "Nobby wants to, but Nobby can't until bad masters give Nobby clothes."
"Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy are dead though." He told him.
"Not little bad master." Nobby pointed at the nearby trussed up Draco.
"Oh." Harry really didn't want to be stuck with Nobby whilst he was bound to Draco. "Wait here."
Harry walked over to the Colonel and cast a muffliato around them, it was unusual to do so without a wand but the gloves seemed to respond well enough.
"Sir, Nobby is a risk whilst he is bound to Draco."
Colonel David looked at the elf warily. "In what way, I need details."
"He will follow whatever orders Draco gives, regardless of how he feels about them. In order to free him we need to force Draco to give Nobby an item of clothing. I freed Dobby by tricking Lucius Malfoy into giving him one of my socks."
"A sock?"
"Yes sir."
"One of yours?"
"Yes sir."
"Whilst you were wearing it?"
"Oh, no. I had removed it and slapped it on a book, it was very dirty at the time. Lucius tore it off and threw it away where Dobby caught it."
"That… really doesn't make much more sense." The Colonel sighed. "Are you saying that if we threw our dirty socks at Draco and he throws them off, all Nobby has to do is catch one and he is free?"
"We could… we could also try scaring him into doing it." Harry jogged out through the large hole Voldemort had made in the wall and over to the mess that was Voldemort's dead torso and he gingerly picked it up and brought it back. "This is Draco's master. If we show him this and promise something similar for him, he might actually do it. He really is a coward."
"I'm not really comfortable doing that to a minor."
"He tortured and murdered a young girl who he didn't even know just to please this monster." Harry scowled as he brandished the torso. "He also told me he enjoyed it."
"He confessed this freely?" He asked dubiously.
"It helps that he has a huge ego and I am currently hopped up on luck potion. Which means there is a greater chance of this working if we do it now. By about seven or eight am the potion will have run out and my luck has never been good before."
The Colonel frowned. He was unaware of the nature of luck potion but at the same time it sounded fairly obvious. If the potion did as he suspected then he needed to consult with his superiors as the boy was currently a very potent asset.
"I can't authorise you to do anything." Colonel David said carefully. "I need to set my men to defend the area so I will leave Mister Malfoy in your hands whilst I consult with my superiors." Colonel David started to walk away before turning back to Harry. "Incidentally, what sort of clothing is required to free the elves?"
Harry was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to free Dobby's children but he couldn't hold it against the Colonel. He still needed his help so he answered honestly. "I've seen an elf freed with a handkerchief."
The Colonel nodded thoughtfully as he moved away.
"Wake that boy up lad. He needs to be awake to dismiss the elves from his service. Also, call in the other elves." Arnie instructed.
"But the Colonel said we couldn't do it." Harry argued.
"No, he said he couldn't authorise it. You need to learn to read between the lines. He has left you in charge of Malfoy with no supervision, he has also made sure he is otherwise occupied."
"Are you sure?" Harry asked doubtfully.
Arnie didn't get a chance to answer as one of the Colonel's men jogged up. "Colonel David said you could use these, also he said good luck with Malfoy." The soldier handed Harry a bunch of cloth like items and jogged back to his unit.
"See, he even had his men give you clothes to use." Arnie audibly smirked.
Harry decided to ignore Arnie, the smug bastard. "Nobby, can you bring the rest of the Malfoy elves here, Draco Malfoy needs to speak to you?"
"Yes sir, Harry Potter sir!" Nobby said before popping out.
Harry shifted the cloth items to one hand and picked up the torso of Voldemort and carried them over to Draco. He lowered his visor to muffle his voice and then cast an enervate at the bound and naked boy. It seemed Dobby had also stripped his former master.
"Who are you?!" Draco asked fearfully.
"I am the one who just killed your mother, your father and your master. We know you murdered a girl. You will suffer for your crime. How much you suffer depends on how much you cooperate."
"You lie! No one can defeat the Dark Lord!" Draco hissed.
Harry just lifted the bloody torso for Draco to see.
Draco paled severely before vomiting.
"Would you like to see the bodies of your parents?" Harry asked tauntingly.
Draco shook his head vigorously.
"Take these items of clothing and use them to free your house elves. Do this and I will tell the muggles to treat you fairly. Don't and I will deal with you myself."
"Muggles don't have-"
"I am a muggle, fool!" Harry said angrily. He really didn't want Draco to know who he was, it was fairly likely that if he knew it was Harry he would get belligerent, it felt like the thing to do so he assumed the luck potion was nudging him. "I did this to your master and I killed your parents, I should cut you down for the insult you have committed against our King! Now do as you are told or I will take my time dealing with you."
Draco quickly began tossing the various garments to the elves, each one popped away happily as they caught the item.
Harry quickly stunned Malfoy and re-bound him. He had no wish to deal with more snivelling, ranting or pleading. As far as Harry was concerned he was now the muggles problem and as long as they didn't hand him over to the Ministry of Magic or release him they could do what they wanted.
Having handed over Draco to the soldiers and bonded with Dobby's family, Harry and Nobby were now escorted into the palace.
Harry had never seen anything quite like it. The fanciest building he had ever seen was the Ministry of Magic, but that paled in comparison to the grandeur and beauty of Buckingham Palace. There were no flying paper aeroplanes or funny looking wizards, but the decorations and colour schemes screamed wealth and power in a way that wizards couldn't hope to achieve.
But it wasn't the wealth and power characteristics that impressed Harry; it was the sheer elegance. Everything wizards did seemed crude and old fashioned. There was detail, true. But there was very little beauty in it.
They eventually came to a room with an entire squad of army men standing guard outside. A man in a suit was also there.
"You are expected. Follow me."
Without a further word the man opened the double doors and Harry nearly stumbled. Even with his sheltered life, he knew the King when he saw him.
Harry watched as the man entered ahead of him and bowed, which Harry quickly copied.
"Your Majesty, I present Mister Harry James Potter." He then rose and stepped back outside.
"So you are the one who has revealed the treachery of the wizards?" Came the strong voice.
Harry was wishing he had his visor down so he could hide behind it.
"We owe you a great debt, Mister Potter." The King admitted as he stepped forward. The room was a simple sitting room with a conference table nearby.
"I didn't know they were here, erm… Your Majesty." Harry said nervously. "A friend showed me them when I was searching for Vo- erm… He-Who-Must-Not-B-"
"Please, Mister Potter. We hold no fear of the pretender. Feel free to use any name you wish to refer to him." The King assured him. "Your friend, we have not heard of them. How did they know about the house?"
"He was a slave at one point. I freed him. But I don't think he understood the crime that his old masters were committing against you, your Majesty." Harry added hastily.
"We would like to meet this friend. Like you, they are responsible for revealing this act of treason."
"He's at Hogwarts, protecting one of the soldiers that was sent there. The soldier was a squib and I was worried he might get attacked."
"We regret to inform you that he was attacked." The King said sadly. "But thanks to the loan of your shield, he is unharmed, the attackers however are dead."
Harry swallowed. This night was full of death and most of it by him. "Your Majesty, if you send anymore of your soldiers to Hogwarts or any ministry building, you should have them wear the armour from Hogwarts. Spells can't hurt them."
"Master Harry, Master Harry." Harry was startled as he forgot that Nobby had accompanied him.
"Oh, your Majesty, this is Nobby. He was another slave of the Malfoys, but I just helped free him. His dad was the one who showed me the house."
"We are pleased to meet you Mister Nobby." The King smiled.
"Great King is most kind to call Nobby a 'Mister'!" Nobby bowed low.
"You had something to say to Mister Potter?"
"Yes, yes!" Nobby nodded vigorously. "Master Harry's elves can bring all suits of armour to him for Great King's soldier men."
"That would be most helpful, Nobby. We intend to deal with the magical world tonight."
Nobby looked up at Harry expectantly. "Go ahead Nobby. Put the armour in the old Malfoy house for now."
Nobby grabbed his ears anxiously. "Nobby doesn't want to leave Master. Nobby must protect Master."
"I'll be fine Nobby. Nobody can hurt me in this armour. I can't hurt me in this armour." Harry sighed.
"Mister Nobby, We give you our word that We will see to Mister Potter's safety personally. Our personal guard will remain outside until you return." The King offered.
"Go on, Nobby." Harry encouraged.
Nobby pulled his ears one last time before he vanished.
"A most loyal friend you have there, Mister Potter."
"I freed his father from an abusive family and I just did the same for him and the rest of his family. They have chosen me as their master. I have no idea how I am going to look after them. I can't take them to my Aunt's home as they barely tolerate me."
"Yes, We have been informed of your living arrangements and have instructed Scotland Yard to investigate. For now, you are Our personal ward and We will take care of your living arrangements."
"Oh." Harry muttered. He hadn't had the best of experiences with 'guardians' but he hoped the King of England would do a good job. Speaking of guardians…
"Your Majesty, what is going to happen to Professor Dumbledore?"
"He is guilty of conspiracy to commit treason. He will be tried and sentenced. For now he is being interrogated by Our soldiers."
"He said something about there being a reason he didn't go after Voldemort. I was hoping he would tell me." He sighed.
"I am sure we will find out soon enough."
Of all the things Harry had thought he might do in his life, his current job was not on the list. The King had asked if he would lead a team of likewise armoured soldiers into the Ministry of Magic to take control. Harry had been reluctant, not that he had any love for the Ministry but more that he felt like he was being torn between two authorities. But the King explained that the Ministry was supposed to answer to him.
So here he was, leading a team of twenty soldiers in suits of armour. Ten around him as he led the way and ten behind watching their backs. In the middle were an additional fifty soldiers in regular gear but with shields from the King's armoury. Some were antiques but His Majesty had decreed that the lives of His men and women were more important.
The men in the middle were the only ones with guns as it was impossible to use a gun with the armoured gauntlets on. Harry's shield had been returned to him after Lieutenant Flint reported he had instituted a school wide search and captured the Death Eater students. Dobby and Madam Pomphrey were now staying as his guard.
The street where the phone box was had been closed off by the police there wasn't a soul in sight.
"This might be a problem." Harry said as he turned to the nearby by Officer, one Colonel O'Malley. He was one of the un-armoured soldiers.
"What is?"
"That is the entrance to the Ministry of Magic. It's an elevator and I don't think it will take more than one Knight at a time." Harry said using the codename 'Knight' that had been assigned to the armoured soldiers.
"Not to worry, we have the Ministry mapped out." He called for several soldiers to approach with trolleys. "We are going to make our own entrance."
The soldiers began laying shaped explosive charges that would cut deep into the ground and through to the Ministry atrium. The work took twenty minutes and Harry was getting antsy. He only had a few hours left on the luck potion and he wanted to use them to get this suit off.
"It's a nasty sense of irony that the Ministry of Magic is located under Regents Street." The Colonel grinned. "If the rumours I heard about the government being open to bribes are accurate. It's true, you can buy anything here."
A Private soon delivered the dismantled phone from the booth. "I thought Mister Potter might like a souvenir sir, if the techs have no need for it."
"Very considerate of you Private. I'll see if I can clear it." The Colonel smiled as he took the large device and handed it off to another Private to store safely.
"I can't help but wonder sir, what did they do before telephones." Captain David mused.
Both men looked to Harry.
Harry shrugged, an unusual sight in his armour. "Not a clue. We can always grab someone and ask them when we get in."
Twenty minutes later and there was a huge explosion.
Fortunately the debris was contained.
Harry was the first in the hole for reconnaissance. He was invisible and practically untouchable by witches and wizards.
There was one guard on duty at the wand weighing station who looked like he was about to pass out in a panic. Harry helped him complete his goal with a stunner.
He then pointed his hand up the large hole and fired green sparks. The signal that it was clear for them to come down.
The other soldiers in armour couldn't just jump down like Harry. They didn't have his rune enhancements on their armour. As a result a platform attached to a crane was used to lower them down as a group. They quickly set up a perimeter, defending the area with their shields out front.
In order to get the rest of the un-armoured men down the hole quickly they utilised rappelling equipment.
The entire breach and entry took less than five minutes.
Then the floos flared to life and the wizards started pouring out, in total there were just over fifty.
"I thought you said it was clear?" The Colonel hissed at the invisible Harry he knew was next to him.
"It was clear. Now it isn't." Harry hissed back.
"Watch my back." The Colonel muttered as he tapped one of the armoured soldiers and they allowed him to step through, Harry quickly followed and then took out his shield and stood in front of the Colonel.
"Wizards and Witches, by order of His Majesty, the King of England, you are ordered to surrender yourselves for trial and judgement for acts of treason against the Crown."
There was a second of silence before one older gentlemen spoke up.
"There's bloody muggles in the Ministry! Quick, kill 'em!"
The man threw a thin red spell at Colonel O'Malley and the crowd gasped as it bounced off an invisible shield straight back at the caster leaving a deep bleeding gash across his chest.
"As you can see, we don't have to cast a single spell or do anything more than stand here." The Colonel said, he was trying not to show his nerves as he hadn't realised Harry was in front of him when the spell was fired. He couldn't move though in case it hit someone unprotected behind him. For a moment he had honestly thought he was dead.
"Throw down your wands and sit calmly on the floor whilst my men take you into custody. You have seen how effective our defences are, you do not want to witness us use our weapons."
"Everyone fire stunners together!" A man in Auror robes ordered.
Of the fifty odd magicals only twenty fired.
Harry thought it was pretty helpful of the wizards to knock themselves out.
"Anyone else?" The Colonel asked exasperatedly.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The idiot who cast the killing curse slumped to the floor.
"By Merlin! He's dead!" A nearby witch confirmed.
There was a clatter of wands as the rest of the standing magicals threw them at the feet of the armoured soldiers.
"Unit three, Secure the prisoners." The Captain ordered.
The armoured soldiers moved aside to allow a team of ten men to get to the magicals and bind them.
The capture of the Ministry of Magic was nearly bloodless. There were of course the two idiots at the beginning, one who injured himself and one who killed himself, but shortly after that a team of Aurors led by Alastor Moody himself stormed the lobby.
Alastor had taken one look at the armoured soldiers and ordered blasting curses at the floor and ceiling. He had clearly researched or engaged armoured soldiers before.
What he hadn't considered was Harry jumping in front of Alastor's curse with his shield and sending it back at them all.
Alastors wooden leg was destroyed and his good leg might need to be replaced as well. The other Aurors were lying on the ground unconscious or moaning.
Based on the last two encounters, Colonel O'Malley ordered all the floos in the atrium destroyed. They began checking every room they came across and having Harry blast any floo to pieces. They didn't want anyone sneaking in without their permission.
They slowly cleared the building leaving the Department of Mysteries for now on Harry's advice. There was too much in there that was difficult to predict.
Harry looked at the clock and sighed. He was out of luck potion. He would need to find some more if he wanted an easy way out of this armour.
%
Harry was kneeling on the stone floor of the palace barracks, he was tossing a coin in the air and catching it repeatedly.
"Harry? What are you doing?"
He looked up to see Madam Pomphrey, Colonel O'Malley and the King.
Poppy looked concerned.
"It- my luck." He said, his voice thick with emotion. "It's run out."
"Harry, son, what do you mean?" The King asked as he knelt next to the large armoured figure.
"My luck potion, it ran out. I can't use it to get my armour off."
Poppy gasped. "Merlin! Harry, how much did you take?"
"I accidentally swallowed enough for twelve hours."
"How the devil can you 'accidentally' swallow Felix Felicis?" She demanded.
"Accidentally. We would presume." Came the dry response of the King. He gave Poppy a warning look. "Harry, why do you need the luck potion to get out of your armour?"
"I used Ancient Runes to modify it. But I don't study Ancient Runes. I only understood them because of the potion."
"Harry, that's not how the potion works." Poppy assured him gently. "The most the potion could do is guide you to the Ancient Runes because you are gifted with understanding them."
"Could Harry not simply take another dose of the potion?" Colonel O'Malley queried.
"No." Poppy said firmly. "A dose of twelve hours… it should have killed Harry. It could be years before he is able to safely take another dose."
"Perhaps another expert on these Runes then?" He suggested. "Give them a normal dose of the potion."
"The more of the potion you drink at once, the more potent the effect." Poppy said sadly. "They would have to drink the same potentially lethal amount Harry did. Depending on what Harry's intentions were whilst he was under the effects of the potion, then that person would need to take more than what Harry imbibed."
"My intentions?" Harry asked. He was kneeling there, his sword at his hip and his shield on his back, his visor up.
"Your purpose for doing things. For instance, you added runes that stop others removing the armour. Was it your intent to create runes to prevent others from removing it or were you simply wanting to make sure it wouldn't fall off?"
"Oh. I don't remember."
"It does not matter." The King said firmly. "We will scour the globe to try and find experts on these runes and those who might be able to breach them."
*Chapter 3*: Chapter 3
It was some days later and the King was in his office at the palace. The grounds were littered with army personnel, the RAF had intelligence planes and patrols criss-crossing the country.
The Royal Navy had a bloody frigate moored off the Palace of Westminster.
The less said about the influx of sailors on the HMS Belfast the better. There would be no tours on the museum ship for the foreseeable future.
He had spent the better part of the day being briefed on the results of the interrogations of the various prisoners and trying to determine their next course of action.
Magical Britain was now firmly under the thumb of The Crown. All magical areas were occupied by Royal Army units in suits of armour.
'Occupied'. The King thought the word with disgust. There was no other word for it really, even if it was Britain's troops on British land.
The King's advisors were split on how to proceed. Half wanted to simply confine the magicals to their own areas and the other half wanted to expose them.
Neither side was malicious in their preferences. Those that wanted confinement simply didn't want magicals accidentally exposing magic. Those that wanted to expose them felt it was in the interests of the global community to ensure that other countries couldn't be subverted as Britain had nearly been.
"Sir, there is a Colonel Fury here." His aide nudged him from his musing. "He somehow managed to bypass security, but the palace guards currently have their weapons trained on him. He said you would know him?"
"Tall, wiry, bald, black man with an eyepatch?" The King asked dryly.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Dismiss the guards and send him in. Make sure the guards know that they saw and heard nothing." He said firmly.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Less than a minute later Colonel Fury strode in.
"Nicholas, it's been a while." The King said with tired amusement.
Fury just smirked. "I would have invited you over for a drink, but I don't think your subjects would be appreciative."
The King snorted and stepped around his desk and clasped the man's forearm in his in greeting. "It is good to see you again." He said as he indicated for them to sit on the armchairs nearby. "Of course, you certainly look better than me." He said pointedly.
"It's the eyepatch." Fury stated calmly. "Chicks dig it."
"And how do they 'dig' the fact that you are over seventy?"
Nicholas Fury looked at most, in his early forties.
Fury just shrugged. "Never comes up."
"That's what sh-"
"Don't!" Fury interrupted the smirking monarch. "You couldn't pull off slang back in the day and I really doubt that fact has changed."
"Well, down to business then." The King declared somewhat grouchily. "I take it you are here because of the recent magic issues?"
"Just hoping to be the voice of reason."
"Nick, you are rarely the voice of reason. Screamed commands littered with phrases not suitable for polite company? Yes."
"I know you are planning on revealing magic to the world." Fury got to the heart of the matter.
"You are misinformed." The King countered. "That option is one of many."
"It's one you need to take off the table. If you release this knowledge, under these circumstances, the world will fall straight back to witch hunts.
"I've got people breathing down my neck and demanding I step in."
"Which would be an act of war. Especially as your organisation did nothing to aid Britain."
Fury winced at that. "I don't like to act if I don't have to. There was no immediate threat-"
"NO IMMEDIATE THREAT?!" The King shot to his feet angrily. "The bastards were killing my people! Using them for pleasure! They've been playing with our memories! They were living on my bloody back lawn!"
Nick stood up and raised his palms placatingly. "If we had known about that then we would have dealt with it. That one caught all of us with our pants down."
The King stood there, breathing heavily. But he knew Nicholas was being honest.
"Look, if you release the truth about the magical world, we will see a huge rise in inhumane crimes." Nicholas said as he retook his seat. "Witches and wizards will be kidnapped for experimentation and… pretty much slave labour. Magical animals like unicorns will be hunted to extinction for parts.
"South Africa just abolished Apartheid, you and I both lived through the Holocaust and Segregation. This time it will be a near global institution of racism."
"And so the rest of the world has to sit there and accept that their minds can be altered on a whim?" The King argued. "That there are people who are blatantly stealing and abusing them and they might not even remember it?"
"Hell no." Fury scoffed. "If you and other governments want to smack them down for committing crimes then be my guest! I'll even supply some man-power.
"You just can't tell the Average Joe that these threats are out there."
The two men sat there in contemplative and companionable silence for a while.
"You realise it is inevitable?"
Fury growled softly in tired frustration at the situation. "Yeah. My job is to make sure that when it does happen, we are the ones in control."
"Like passing around a large glass jar of nitro-glycerine." The King said in disgust.
"Look, we can't just go on television and radio and just say: 'Hey, there's this stuff called magic. It is used to hurt us. But we've known for a while. Sorry we didn't tell you.'" Fury reasoned with a bit of sarcasm. "But we can try and ease them into the knowledge that the world is bigger than they thought."
The King looked at him with narrowed and suspicious eyes. "I'm listening."
"The kid, Potter. He revealed the Malfoys squatting in your front yard. He took them all out including the top guy.
"But he used that armour. If people saw that armour in use but never got to examine it, they'd eventually start to question it. People see it fly without rockets, turn invisible, deflect bullets… It'll be just like with Captain America all over again."
"Steve Rogers was a product of science." The King countered.
"But back then, people treated science like religion. They didn't understand it, they just put their faith in it.
"We put a few people in those suits of armour and have them out there saving the day and- what?"
The King had a look of dark amusement. "You want the suit of armour that young Harry was wearing?"
"Is that a problem? I assume Hogwarts has a ton. You've got soldiers wearing them now."
He laughed. Nicholas flinched at the sound, it was not a happy laugh. It was the laugh a man gives when the realisation he is beaten finally hits.
"That armour was modified heavily by Harry. He did it whilst under the influence of an overdose of luck potion. The problem now is that the potion has worn off and Harry is unable to remove the armour.
"Over the course of the past night and day, I have had everyone from Royal Corp of Engineers to the Ancient Runes Professor at Hogwarts trying to get it off.
"Their conclusion? Harry is trapped for life in his armour. It would take the power of a god to break the boy's enchantments."
Nicholas sat back in shock. "Damn."
"An understatement, Nicholas." The King retorted.
"I'll have my experts look into it and see if some of my more… 'esoteric' contacts would be willing to help." Nick said firmly. "Hell! At least Steve could take the uniform off at the end of the day!"
"Quite."
Fury stood up and straightened his long black coat. "I want to talk to the kid. Get a feel for him. If his history in handling trouble is right, then I might be able to offer him some hope."
"I- I would appreciate that, Nick." The King said as he stood and clasped his comrade's arm. "That boy… Harry, after all he has been forced to do for this country… he deserves better than this."
%
It had been only a few days since Harry's little adventure at Buckingham Palace.
He was still being kept on the grounds, but not in the palace itself. He was kept with the King's Guard. Most had taken him on as a type of mascot for the regiment, a few were wary of the hulking knight, who couldn't see past his armour to the child trapped inside.
Others outright avoided him. They were 'encouraged' to do so when they started to show levels of dislike that bordered on hate.
During those few days, Harry had been examined by nearly a hundred people. All of them said the same thing: It would take a god to break his armour.
Which sucked as the last recorded sighting of a god was thousands of years ago in Greece.
The King had been down to the barracks to check on Harry nearly every day, he had refused to let Harry give up hope.
Today was different. Today the King had brought a friend.
"Harry, meet Colonel Nicholas Fury. Nick, meet Harry Potter."
Harry moved to offer his hand but then stopped as he remembered he was still trying not to break hands.
The Colonel was looking at him with narrowed eyes. "You really did all this yourself?"
Harry was officially fed up. "You really think you're the first person to ask me that in the past week?"
Whilst the King tried to maintain a neutral expression, Fury simply raised an eyebrow.
"When you've been around as long as I have, you learn to get the answers straight from the source."
"I'll remember that next time I need answers from you."
"Alright, that's enough." The King stepped in, the amusement finally winning that battle with his face. "Nicholas, get to your point."
Fury grunted but stepped forward and looked Harry in the eyes intently. "Everyone who's met you says you are stuck in there. All my contacts say it's probably true.
"I work for a special organisation. We deal with unique situations, usually unique people.
"Have you heard of Captain America?"
Harry shook his head.
Fury's brow raised in shock.
"I lived in a cupboard for ten years." Harry rolled his eyes.
"Right." Fury realised the kid was nearly a blank slate for this. "He was a soldier that was part of an experiment. He was given superior strength, speed and endurance. He fought during World War Two.
"He is the sort of person that would fall under my authority."
Harry's whole posture tensed. "If I'm working for anyone it will be His Majesty. Preferably as part of the Army."
Behind him the soldiers he had been billeted with became decidedly more alert.
"That is not a topic that is up for discussion at all, Harry." The King said firmly. "You are barely sixteen. You will complete your education and then… then you can decide your own path."
"I'm not looking to recruit you for missions, kid." Fury shook his head. "Even if I was, they wouldn't be military missions like you're thinking.
"The past week has threatened the secrecy of the magical world. It was the closest to being broken since the Statute of Secrecy was invoked.
"But it made one thing very clear: The magical world will become public knowledge.
"What you represent is a head start on making sure that, when the secret is revealed, magicals won't instantly be feared. I've read the reports on how you kept the soldiers safe when infiltrating the Ministry of Magic, your armour is based off very simple magical concepts and if we let the world see it at work… they'd see magicals as friends and allies."
"What work?" Harry asked cautiously.
"Search and rescue, environmental disaster intervention, anything that won't involve having weapons pointed at you."
"I can't take the armour off and give it to someone else. I'm trapped."
Fury nodded slowly. "I've got some contacts that might be able to help. But the main point is that you created this." He gestured to the armour. "You must be able to make more so that people can see them at work or use them instead of you."
"You want me to make weapons."
"No." Fury said firmly. "At least, not weapons for armies. I won't lie to you kid, a seasoned operative in your armour could save the world three times before breakfast.
"His Majesty knows who I am and all about my organisation, hopefully he can convince you that, when the time is right, we could use your armour for our agents.
"For now, what we need from you is… safety gear." Fury shrugged casually. "Your armour can deflect bullets, if you could make helmets, chest plates, pants… forget the military application, rapid response teams could enter hurricane and tornado zones to evacuate those who might get left behind.
"Can you make them fireproof? Burning buildings would be no obstacle.
"You get what I'm saying, kid?"
Harry nodded slowly. "Except I don't know where to start. My armour had runes already on it. Someone must have done what I have before. You don't need me."
"No kid, people have created your armour. They tried to build on armour, but you are the first person to successfully achieve a working model.
"When you look at the notes you made, do you understand them?"
"Sure. But I can't see how to break the ones trapping me."
Fury nodded sympathetically at the frustration in Harry's face and voice. "Do what you do, Harry. Make variations on your armour. Play with the runes and see what you can do, you might eventually stumble across the solution.
"Until then, I'll talk to my contacts."
"Let's leave it there, Nicholas." The King said firmly as he stepped forward. "For now Harry has to look towards the rest of his education and trying to make the most of his life.
"Harry, you will be moving out of the barracks today. You aren't a soldier and we've finally managed to set up a place where you can move about freely."
"I don't want to be any trouble, Sir." Harry assured him quickly.
The King smiled softly. "You'd be more trouble here, son."
%
There was one place that the palace never used. A place on the grounds that had ample room for Harry and nobody would care if he accidentally broke something.
And so, Harry found himself standing on the palace grounds, near Lancaster House, staring at what he considered the greatest insult the wizarding world could inflict on muggles.
The former Malfoy Manor.
"You want me to live here?" He tried to hide his distaste.
"It will be some time before we can find magicals trustworthy enough to remove any and all magic on the building." His Majesty explained. "Until then, it needs a custodian and I believe your friend Dobby and his family are familiar enough with the building to maintain it for your use."
The King also hoped it would keep the elves out of the palace. It was getting very difficult to cover up all the unexplained cleaning that the staff prepped for only to discover that the only thing they could do was make a mess.
"Sir… when… when can I see my friends? Will I being going back to Hogwarts?" Harry asked tentatively.
"Let's go inside and talk." The King suggested as he gave a nod to his entourage.
Ten minutes later and the king was seated in an armchair and Harry was perched uncomfortably on a settee. They were in a lush and opulently appointed reading room, complete with a library, table and fireplace.
The King found himself holding a cup of tea in a fine china cup whilst Harry was holding a metal beaker with a straw. It was the only way he could drink without pouring half of it inside his armour.
Harry gave the King an apologetic look for the magically appearing tea. "Sorry about that. I haven't been able to see Dobby and make sure he is okay."
The King shook his head with a chuckle. "Then your new home will give you some privacy." He sipped his tea. "Harry, have you given any thought to your personal future?"
Harry was a mite unsure about where this was going. "My professor suggested being an auror. I'm not sure how that would work now.
"Some of the soldiers were suggesting I ask to join the army. They said the training might help me learn how to move in my armour."
The King nodded. "Yes, career options." He mused. "But what about personally. Have you ever thought of travelling? Do you have a hobby you would like to pursue? You mentioned Dobby and your friends earlier, did you have any plans with them?"
Now Harry frowned. "I… I guess it never came up. I know Hermione goes to France. Ron visits his brothers in Egypt and Romania.
"I've never been off Great Britain." He shrugged.
"And no hobbies? Personal interests? I'm a bit of an ornithologist myself. I also enjoy a bit of archaeology."
Harry was slightly unnerved, the King was now becoming less formal. It wasn't bad, just different.
"I like flying? But, I don't think I could get on a broom in this."
The King chuckled. "Considering the reports I read, you might do better in the RAF."
He put down his tea and leaned forward. "Harry, I might have overlooked something when I said you should live here. Your friends.
"Unfortunately if you want your friends to visit you here then they will need to submit to mandatory security searches. I hope you will not consider that a deterrent to inviting your friends, but you will need to bear it in mind.
"That being said, it is Our intention that you maintain the freedoms of any of Our citizens." The formality crept back in. "If you wish to visit Diagon Alley or your friends' houses then you should feel free to. We only ask that you inform someone so that we can be prepared for reports of a medieval knight wandering the country."
Harry smiled nervously at the King's playful jab.
The King sat back and picked up his tea again. "Talking with you now, I have come to realise that your situation will need further consideration. I regret that you may soon find yourself encumbered with an entourage such as mine.
"I don't want you confined to the magical world, Harry. I want you to feel free to wander Pall Mall or anywhere. Regardless of what you look like."
"My armour can make me invisible, Your Majesty." Harry offered.
"I don't want you to hide, Harry. I told you before; I am aware of your childhood. I want you to be able to travel the world, on your own, with friends… or even in the service of The Crown.
"I want you to be proud of yourself. You have accomplished much in life. Your only real mistake has seen you trapped in that armour."
%
Harry wandered aimlessly through the halls and rooms of the former Malfoy Manor. The King had left an hour ago and assured him he would return the following day.
There were so many rooms. He had no idea why half of them were there. There was a specific room he was looking for but couldn't find.
"Dobby?" He called out, listening carefully for the response.
"Master Harry bes calling?"
Harry jumped at the sudden appearance. "Dobby… I've got to get used to that. People don't normally appear out of thin air in the muggle world."
"Master Harry is a wizard." The elf frowned. "Master Harry can be popping too."
"Maybe. I was too young for the classes this year." Harry shrugged. "Anyway, I was trying to find you. I was wondering where your rooms are."
Dobby frowned in consternation. "Elveses are not having rooms. Elveses are sleeping in roof or dungeon."
"What? Even the kids?" Harry was aghast.
"Oh no. Little elves be staying in old trunk. They-"
"I want to see them. Now." Harry said firmly.
A very nervous Dobby led Harry down to a small room next to the dungeons. It was clearly where the Malfoys kept their instruments of torture, but it had been cleared out by the muggle personnel who had secured the building.
Still, the five elves huddled around the large trunk clearly hadn't dared to encroach on the newly vacant space.
"Off." Harry growled as he reached for the lid.
The elves quickly moved to the other side of the four-by-four foot room. "Please don't be hurtings them!" One of the elves cried.
Harry lifted the lid and immediately felt ill. Four. Four little child elves. One was clearly too young to walk.
"Bring them." Harry ordered sharply. He then turned and stomped out of the room.
Harry didn't bother to check they were following, he simply marched up to the top floor. He was heading for the one room he could understand less than where he found the elves.
He swung open the ornate double doors to the Master Bedroom, he grabbed each of the plush armchairs and placed them on the sides of the bed, transfiguring them into small steps.
He then took the stool from the dresser and placed it at the end of the bed, transfiguring it into a shiny metal slide.
"Everyone on the bed. Now!" Harry addressed the cowering elves.
They quickly scrambled to the edge of the bed and the older elves began lifting the younger ones up. Once assembled they were clearly unsure whether they should sit or stand.
"This room is now the family nursery." Harry informed them sternly, his hands clasped behind his back as he paced before them.
"The children will sleep here until they are old enough for their own room.
"Dobby, your room is Draco Malfoy's old room. The rest of you will get your own rooms as well. This house is huge! I do not want to feel as if I am living here on my own. We will have dinner together and preferably breakfast.
"We can set up a special play area for the kids downstairs where we can look after them.
"Any questions? No? Good." And with that he marched out of the room.
It took a few seconds before Dobby was able to break out of his stupor and hurry after the armoured teen.
"Master Harry! Master Harry! Elveses cannot be sleeping in Master's bedrooms! It's not right!" Dobby said breathlessly.
Harry came to a sudden stop. He turned and bent down so he was nearly nose to nose with the elf. "Dobby… are you trying to tell me what I can and can not do with my things?"
Dobby was horrified. "Dobby would never do that! Dobby is a good elf. Good elves do as Masters say."
"Then you didn't just tell me I can't let the baby elves in my family use one of my rooms?" There was a short pause before he sprang back to standing tall and walked off. "Glad to hear it."
He marched off leaving a very confused Dobby standing there and trying to work out how this new world actually worked.
%
Harry had marched himself into the Kitchen, it was nearly time for dinner so he figured he should get started.
And yet again his new prison showed itself.
He couldn't open the cupboard doors with his large, metal encased fingers. He spent a good few minutes trying before he managed to ease it open and then jam his foot in before it slammed shut.
Unfortunately he broke the bottom of the cupboard with his foot. And several boxes of cereal.
He stood there dejectedly as he watched streams of Rice Krispies and Muesli pour onto the floor.
At least the Weetabix looked ok.
"Harry, the only thing you should be upset about is that you forgot you were a wizard." Arnie rumbled in his head. "You could have opened the door with a spell."
"Couldn't you have said that earlier?" Harry sighed as he tiredly leant against the counter and sank to the floor.
"I'm just a simple bit of magic, lad. I'm here to watch your back and maintain the armour. Any learning I have is a result of my experiences.
"Consider the fact that I spent several centuries on a pedestal and then think about how much the world has changed. About the only thing I recognise in this room is the windows."
"It's a kitchen, Arnie. I doubt stoves have changed that much."
"Harry, I'm a suit of armour. At what point would I have been in a kitchen?" The armour chuckled.
"Master Harry! What happened?" A female elf asked as she appeared in the kitchen and surveyed the mess.
"I was hungry." Harry sighed, trying not to cry as the frustration built with the pain and pressure in his head.
"Master Harry's elves will be taking care of food." She patted his armoured knee. "Master Harry needs to be learning how to be metal man. Metal man can't be making food.
"Elves will make food to feed boy in metal man." She looked at him sadly.
"Thanks." Harry said quietly. Something about the way she looked him in the eyes, past the helmet. It was something he saw even the King had trouble with. They would look at and talk to the armour.
The armour was not another form of protective clothing, it was his cage. He was confined in a cage with only a small slit in the door to see through.
"What's your name?"
"I be Ally." She smiled as she turned and magic'd the spilt food away.
"What's your relation to Dobby?" Harry asked curiously.
"Dobby is Ally's kit." She said proudly. "Dobby is brave like Master Harry."
"Y-You're Dobby's mum?" Harry asked wide-eyed.
Harry hadn't met many elves, but Ally didn't appear any older than Dobby or Winky.
"Oh yes." She smiled proudly. She started summoning cutlery from the cupboards.
"How long have you been a Malfoy elf?"
"Hmm… Ally doesn't know dates. But Ally was nanny to Bad Master Lucius' grandfather."
"House elves are nearly immortal, Harry." Arnie told him quietly. "It was long before my time, but the stories I heard say that a wizard was jealous of their immortality so he cursed and bound them.
"Apparently they used to be considered the most beautiful beings alive."
"Come eat, Master Harry." Ally said as she pulled out a chair at the large table in the middle of the kitchen.
Harry levered himself off the floor and cautiously sat in the chair. He was surprised when it grew slightly to accommodate his bigger size.
He tried to pick up the spoon but… his massive gauntlets couldn't manage it.
"Master Harry is a special wizard." Ally said sternly. "But Master Harry needs to learn to think more." She waved her hand at the spoon and the handle became much larger, larger than a ladle would be. But the rest of the spoon stayed the same size.
"That's… That's so stupidly simple." Harry was gobsmacked. "Thank you so much Ally."
Ally smiled at him. "Master Harry is not allowed to touch anything with his metal hands for a whole week. He is only allowed to use magic."
Harry smiled back, he understood she was essentially training him.
"Master Harry!" Harry jumped as Nobby popped into the room. "Mister King Sir is here with a large fairy."
That was a sentence he never expected to hear in his entire life.
And that was coming from someone trapped in a suit of armour being served by a small elf.
Still, he wasn't going to keep the King waiting.
%
Harry wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to be doing. The King had introduced him to the large fairy. Said 'Large Fairy' turned out to be a fourteen-year-old girl.
However, she had a pair of large rainbow coloured butterfly wings that looked like they were made of glass.
Oh… and pink hair… but, probably not as big a deal as the wings.
"Megan was found by my soldiers in the Department of Mysteries. When you lead the recon party a few days ago." The King said gravely as he sat in an armchair.
Megan was on the couch whilst Harry was sat in the other armchair.
Harry remembered that very well. He was focused on the soldiers not getting caught by compulsion charms and staying as far away from the brains and the veil as he could.
"She is a muggleborn witch who was born with wings. I would like her to stay here with you and your elves."
"Elves? Like me?" The girl asked with hope. She had a strong welsh accent.
"My experts tell me you are more likely descended from Fairies." The King smiled at her. "I would like you to act as an escort for each other if you decide to wander around London.
"Of course, you do still need to inform us when you intend to leave and, as you are both minors, you will be back before curfew, ten pm."
"Sir, I can pass my armour off as a weird costume, but… those wings clearly aren't fake." Harry grimaced.
The wings would twitch now and again.
"I wish I never had them." Megan pouted.
"They are absolutely beautiful, my dear." The King said sternly. "You should take pride in them."
"What do we tell people if they ask?" Harry queried.
"Have either of you heard the term 'mutant'?"
Harry shook his head.
"The bad men… they said I was part mutant. They never said what that meant though."
"Mutants are a new type of people that are emerging. They are humans, but like magicals, they are different. They do not always look human and sometimes they have special abilities that seem like magic.
"They are not secret like magicals because they do not have a separate society.
"If anyone asks, just tell them you are a mutant. That is what the doctors have determined you are." He told the girl kindly.
"What if people try to kidnap me again?" She asked in a small voice.
"Then I shall move Heaven and Earth to bring you home."
%
Harry had thoroughly enjoyed the look of horror on Megan's face when she was introduced to Ally. She was clearly terrified that she might look like that one day.
But, Harry did assure her that she wouldn't. Even if he was simply trusting the King's word.
Ally was clearly thrilled to have a female child to fuss over. According to the mother elf, there hadn't been a female born Malfoy since Lucius' Great Aunt.
Harry was back in the large room where he had killed all the Death Eaters. He was trying very hard to maintain a constant hover above the ground.
"Wow!"
There was a horrible crash as Harry lost control and hurtled into the ceiling.
He could hear the giggling as he fought to pry himself out of it.
He soon landed on the ground with a crash, flat on his back.
"Nice landing."
Harry glared at the welsh girl as she stood over him smirking. It would have been more effective if his visor was up.
"How about I make one of these for you?" He asked snidely. "Then we'll see how well you can fly."
"I can fly perfectly." She said primly as her wings fluttered and she hovered over him.
Harry grumbled under his breath as he tried to get up.
"I want to go out."
Harry froze for a moment. He then looked at the girl who was hovering at his eye height. "In public?"
"Anywhere!" Megan grumbled. "I wanna see shops. Animals. I wanna see magic!"
Harry relaxed. "Ah, you want to see Diagon Alley."
"No!" She stomped her foot mid-air. "I want to see the palace from the outside. Oxford Street, Regent Street… London Zoo!"
Harry sighed. "Alright. I'll ask about getting out."
"The King said we just had to tell the soldiers." Megan sniffed imperiously. "I'm going to see them now and then I am going-"
"Fine! Fine. I'll come." Harry groaned.
%
Apparently the Met Police had been informed about Harry and Megan and the ones in charge of security and escorts had been instructed to provide a discreet escort when they asked to leave the grounds.
The two teens were getting quite a few stares as they walked down Pall Mall. It was the summer holidays so there were a lot of sightseers, both locals and foreigners.
Discreetly trailing the duo were several plain-clothes officers.
"The sun is so hot!" Megan grinned as she raised her hands above her head and stretched. "I can't even remember it."
"How long were you in the Department of Mysteries?" Harry asked as he tried to ignore the stares.
Megan shrugged. "Dunno. Since I first made it to Kings Cross for my first year at Hogwarts. I never made it to the train. I don't remember what happened."
"So about four years." Harry nodded. "Where's your wand?"
She made a noise that sounded like 'I don't know'… except without consonants.
"Well, we should probably go and see Ollivander. He can get you one."
"I don't have any money." She dismissed the issue without a care.
"I can handle it." Harry stopped and looked between himself and Megan. "Have you been on a bus with your wings? I'm not sure I can make it on."
"Why don't we fly?" Megan asked as she fluttered up to his eye height.
"Ok, gonna stop you right there." One of the men trailing them stepped up. "His Majesty wants you to be able to come and go, but he also wants you escorted.
"Just let us know before hand and in the future we can arrange transport."
"Are you an angel?"
The group turned to see several small children staring up at Harry and the floating Megan. They all looked to be around six-years-old.
"Don't be silly! She's a fairy." A little girl corrected her friend.
"Looks like a giant butterfly." A boy groused. He turned to Harry. "Why are you wearing that?" He asked.
Harry shrugged. "Better question: Why haven't I taken it off?"
"Because you're her knight in shining armour." Another boy said with certainty.
"Did you kill a dragon?" One of the girls asked with shining eyes of awe.
"Did you kiss her?" Another asked.
"Ewww." Came the collective response from the boys.
Harry looked down at the little midgets. "I am what happens when you don't listen to your parents. I played around with this armour when my parents told me not to. Now I am stuck in here and this pixie has to help me."
"It looks so cool!"
Harry knelt down in front of the boy. "I can't play in water. I can't change my clothes. I can't sleep in a soft bed. I can't play with toys.
"This isn't a play thing… it's a cage. All I can do is stay near the palace and protect the King."
"But Miss Pixie will look after you, right?" One of the girls asked with hope.
"'Course I will. I still need to teach him to fly properly." The pink haired girl grinned as she alighted on Harry's metal shoulder.
Harry stood up quickly causing Megan to squeak as she wrapped her arms around his helmet to keep steady. "Well, we need to get back to the palace.
"Remember: Obey your parents, eat your vegetables and clean behind your ears!" Harry wagged his finger at the children making them giggle.
As Harry turned and walked away with Megan on his shoulder they were treated to the sounds of farewells to 'Mister Knight' and 'Miss Pixie'.
%
Harry and Megan arrived back at the palace gates and were escorted into the palace itself. There, Harry was surprised to see Ron and Hermione waiting nervously.
"H- Harry?" Hermione asked cautiously.
He flicked his visor up. "Yeah… it's me."
"What happened?"
"I angered the goddess of luck." Harry shrugged as he sat on the two seater sofa. Megan perched on the arm, the other two teens sat on the edges of two high-backed chairs. "This is Megan. Megan, meet Ron and Hermione."
"Are you some sort of giant fairy?" Ron asked, staring gormlessly at the girl.
"I'm a human." Megan glared at him. She was joined by Hermione.
"Humans don't have wings!"
"Are you a… a mutant?" Hermione asked carefully.
"Apparently." Megan shrugged. "They found me locked in the Department of Mysteries."
"Oh… so you're a magical creature." Ron said knowingly.
"I'm a human, arsehole." Megan growled.
"Sure… like a giant or veela."
"Ron. She's human. Accept it and drop it." Harry glared.
"Where are your parents?" Hermione asked.
Harry's glare turned to her.
"Swansea." Came the apathetic response.
"Are they coming to pick you up?"
"I'm going back to the mansion." Megan said as she stood and marched off.
Harry didn't stop her and he didn't stop glaring at Hermione until he heard the door close. "The Unspeakables wiped her parents' memories of her. They don't know Megan and they now have a serious hate for the unusual and especially the magical." Harry said tersely.
"Maybe you should think more before the pair of you open your bloody mouths!"
Ron appeared more annoyed than anything, but Hermione was clearly appalled by her own slip.
"Now, tell me what happened at Hogwarts. I've read the official reports but tell me what you know."
"Bloody muggles came barging in. Used some sort of shield and killed a few Death Eater kids." Ron shrugged. "After that, they arrested Snape and sent us home.
"Not like I'm gonna say no to more holidays."
Harry rolled his eyes and turned to Hermione… who he also caught rolling her eyes.
"Lieutenant Flint was attacked by a seventh-year Slytherin with the Killing Curse. His enchanted shield… wait, isn't that the shield?" She frowned as she saw the thing slung over Harry's back.
"Yes. Go on."
"But why do you have it? Why are you even in that armour?"
"Hermione, if you want me to answer your questions… answer mine first." Harry retorted.
Hermione wanted to argue… but she was never one to have bad manners. Well, usually.
"We don't really know much else. We were sent to our dorms until more soldiers with shields came and escorted us to the Hogwarts Express.
"Now answer my questions."
"Really?" Harry asked her in disbelief. "That was all you had to tell me but you couldn't manage that before demanding answers from me?"
Hermione just glared at him.
"I am stuck in this armour because of runes and an overdose of luck potion."
"How can you overdose on luck potion?" Ron muttered.
"Because Neville The Arsehole Longbottom surprised me and then didn't help me when he saw me choking on the vial that he caused me to swallow." Harry growled. "First thing I'm doing after I get out of this thing is punching him on the nose."
"But how did that lead to you being trapped in medieval armour?" Hermione pressed.
"Because the luck potion pushed me to the runes and armour. I made it so secure that only I could take it on and off… from the outside.
"By the time everything had settled the potion had worn off and I was stuck."
"You had enough for twelve hours! Surely there must have been some time to try." Hermione argued.
They all jumped as a new voice sounded behind them.
"In those twelve hours, Mister Potter captured one terrorist in your school. He created the most advanced rune enchanted armour ever seen. He stopped an invasion of terrorists on your school. He confronted and defeated the head terrorist and his subordinates and then he helped secure the Ministry of Magic."
Hermione was on her feet with her head bowed as the King of England stood there with an aide and guard. Harry followed suit.
Ron was just confused as he lounged in the chair. "Terrorists?"
The King regarded him with an unimpressed look. Neither the guard nor his aide looked happy.
"I believe you have visited enough for today." The King said impassively. "Harry, come along, I want to talk to you and Megan."
Ron opened his mouth to object but merely squawked in pain as Hermione jammed her foot on his.
%
Harry apologised profusely to the King for his friends' disrespect, but the King refused.
"People should apologise for their own mistakes, Harry. If we do it for them then all they will see is others making it ok for them to make those mistakes.
"Eventually they will believe that they aren't making mistakes and will think they are entitled to their behaviour."
The King hadn't wanted to talk to Harry and Megan, he had been listening in and decided to rescue Harry from his rather rude friends.
He had arranged for the pair to go to Diagon Alley the following day and suggested that they might meet some friends there.
%
"Hi Mister Ollivander!" Megan chirped as she bounced into the wand shop, Harry behind her.
The old man jumped, his hand on his heart. "Good grief." He gasped. "This is why I prefer dealing with children for one week only." He muttered.
"I need a new wand. My last one was stolen."
Ollivander looked at the winged girl and frowned. "I'm sorry, where did you purchase it from?"
"You, dummy!" She said exasperatedly.
"My Dear, I remember every wand I've ever sold. I do not remember yours."
"But you did!"
"Meg… what if they erased everyone's memories of you?" Harry asked quietly from the front of the shop.
Megan looked horrified.
"I beg your pardon?" Ollivander was likewise. "Someone has been erasing everyone's memories?"
"The Department of Mysteries kidnapped Megan Gwynn as she tried to board the Hogwarts Express. Aside from holding her captive and experimenting on her, they also erased the memories of her parents and anyone who met her." Harry explained.
"That's barbaric! I assume it is because of your wings, Miss Gwynn?"
The girl nodded sadly.
"Then the recent change in government has been for the better. Especially after last year's treatment of you, Mister Potter." He said darkly.
"The King has taken guardianship of myself and Meg."
"Good." Ollivander rubbed his forehead before shaking himself slightly. "Let us focus on happier events." He smiled. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Gwynn. You remind me so much of the pixies in the countryside.
"Can you tell me what your first wand was made of?"
"Dogwood and unicorn hair, Sir."
"Hmm… dogwood is what I would expect of someone with traits of a pixie." Ollivander smiled wryly. He then huffed. "No, a great disservice was done to you, Miss Gwynn. We will test my wands against you, but I will contact my peers and see if we can't find a perfect match."
In the end they left with another dogwood and unicorn hair wand, but the wand maker was insistent that he would owl them as soon as he had news.
"Was there anywhere else you wanted to visit in the alley?" Harry asked as they exited the shop.
Megan gave a disappointed sigh. "No. I just remembered it being so much brighter and happier."
"That's because you were eleven and it was all new." They turned to see Hermione walking up. "It was also filled with other children buying supplies for school.
"Right now the place is empty.
"I'm sorry about yesterday, Megan." Hermione said sincerely.
"I's fine." Megan mumbled.
"You got your wand?" Hermione asked.
Megan smiled at the magical focus she was still holding. "Yeah… now I have to learn to use it."
"Harry is an excellent teacher. He can get you started on the basics before Hogwarts restarts."
"But you're only fifteen." Megan frowned she frowned at the wizard in armour.
"Sixteen… Harry… did no one remember your birthday?" Hermione scowled. "I couldn't send you anything because I didn't know where to send it, but surely someone wished you a happy birthday."
"It was only last week, Hermione. I've been busy trying to learn more runes. Megan didn't know it was my birthday and neither did Dobby."
Hermione growled. "Come. The least we can do is have an ice cream."
Hermione sent them to sit at one of the outdoor tables whilst she ordered. The shop was as empty as the street.
"Right bossy-boots, that one." Megan groaned as she sat on the edge of the chair.
"Give her a chance to settle and she isn't all that bad." Harry shrugged. "Not going to try out your wand?"
"I don't know any spells."
"Hold it and say 'lumos'."
"Lumos. Whoa! Totally cool!" Megan grinned.
"Put that away!"
Megan jumped at Hermione's scolding voice.
"It's illegal to use magic out of Hogwarts for children."
"No… that's changing." Harry said calmly. "It is only illegal to use it outside in view of people who don't know about magic.
"You can do all the magic you want for your parents. Maybe I should send them an owl so they know their daughter can do all the household chores for them." He smirked.
"Don't make me tip that ice cream down your visor, Harry." Hermione glared at him.
There was a clang as the visor seemed to shut on its own.
"She does and I'll have her over my knee and spank her." Arnie grumbled in the helmet.
Harry chuckled.
"I assume you aren't coming back to Hogwarts, then?" Hermione asked.
"It's not like I can use a wand properly. Most of the spells I can do are point spells or wide gestures.
"I'm thinking of joining the army."
"What on earth for? Would they even let you join like that?"
"Some of the soldiers said it might help me learn to live in my armour. I asked His Majesty, but he hasn't said anything.
"I know he wants me to build a new sort of armour though."
"He's making you make weapons?" Hermione asked sceptically.
"No, armour. Stuff that will let people enter burning buildings and the like."
"Oh… can your armour actually do that?" She asked curiously.
"My shield can take multiple bullets at once and it sends them right back. Found that out the hard way." Harry scoffed. "I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about the details though."
"I suppose the details would be covered by the Official Secrets Act." Hermione nodded. She turned to Megan. "So what about you? No Hogwarts?"
"With these wings?" Megan waved a dismissive hand.
"You'd be surprised. Our grounds keeper is a half-giant."
"And the potions professor is a bat in disguise." Harry smirked.
"Harry!" Hermione chided. She turned back to Megan. "Professor Snape is not a nice person, but he isn't going to be at Hogwarts, I think. He was arrested at the school with others."
"Ah, vindication." Harry breathed happily.
"I assume you had them arrest Draco Malfoy?" Hermione sighed.
"Well, he did confess to the torture and murder of a young girl and serving a known terrorist and having the Dark Mark and-"
"Yes, yes, I get the point." Hermione frowned.
"No, you don't." Harry said. "I also caught him in the very act of allowing a group of Death Eaters into the school to kill all muggleborn.
"Like you."
"I've been stuck in a cage for four years…" Megan tapped her chin thoughtfully. "But I think the thing to say is 'thank you'."
Hermione gritted her teeth. "Thank you, Harry."
"So what are you doing with the rest of your holiday?" Harry asked.
"Relaxing, reading, studying. You?"
"Trying to get out of my armour."
"Yes, I can see that would be your focus. Maybe you can send me a copy of your notes so I can research."
"Can't." Harry sighed. "The King asked me to keep them classified. You have to have special permission to see anything I make."
"But… " Hermione frowned as she looked at his armour carefully. "Wait, I can't see any runes."
"They are on the inside."
Hermione's brow went up. "You managed to inscribe runes in such a small space? How?"
"I bent the inscribing tool."
"But still, you wouldn't be able to see what you were doing!"
Harry shrugged. "Didn't seem to matter."
Hermione rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Harry, has anyone tried putting a mirror or endoscope in your helmet?"
"No, why?"
"Because they might be able to see what you did and… maybe, see if you scratched or over-wrote some runes." Harry clearly didn't understand. "Just have someone try what I said."
*Chapter 4*: Chapter 4
*crunch*
"M- Mister Potter… that endoscope cost over a thousand pounds." The scientist in the white lab coat stuttered as the end of the medical device was spat out of the helmet.
"I didn't know that was going to happen!" Harry defended himself.
"Lucky it wasn't your fingers." The older blonde teenager chuckled as she sat on a nearby stool. "Come on, Dad. You knew what was likely to happen."
"Elizabeth, it is still a rather shocking event… and disheartening to see valuable equipment destroyed."
"Doctor Braddock-"
"Relax Mister Potter." The black-haired Sir James Braddock assured him. "I am not blaming you, I simply regret the loss of my tools."
Elizabeth 'Betsy' Braddock hopped off her stool. "Alright, this is really bugging me. Why can't I read your mind?"
"Elizabeth!" Doctor Braddock hissed.
"You… don't know me well enough?" Harry offered.
"I'm a telepath, smartass." Betsy had blonde hair and was wearing leather jacket over a t-shirt with jeans. She was very beautiful.
"I don't like people playing with my mind." Harry said firmly as he dropped the visor. "I put runes in to prevent it. Glad it's working."
"Relax." Betsy waved her hand. "I couldn't read you with your visor up, that's why I asked."
"You don't need eye contact?"
"No… and I don't really just go around reading people's minds. I could, but it isn't fun." She shuddered. "But I can constantly sense peoples' minds. I have a permanent connection to my brother's mind. We're twins."
"I just wish you'd be a little more like him and go to University." Doctor Braddock muttered.
"Hey! I'm the reason you got to London." Betsy objected. "I am your pilot."
"You can fly?" Harry asked as Doctor Braddock led him to sit back down and began peering into his visor.
"Yep, I can't fly a fighter jet or a 747, but I can manage the small planes… plus I'm learning to fly helicopters."
"The only things I fly are broomsticks and this armour. Oh, and a hippogriff."
"Yeah, Dad told me about some of the adventures listed in your file." Betsy said as she stood and moved to stand behind her father so she and Harry could see each other. "I bet it would be a nightmare to get you through Heathrow security and onto a plane with that armour."
"That may very well be a theory you will get to test, Miss Elizabeth."
Harry and Betsy immediately turned and bowed to the King.
"Dammit, Harry!" Doctor Braddock snapped. He was cradling his fingers.
"Harry, whilst I greatly appreciate the respect, try not to let it injure others." The King sighed as he indicated for his aid to tend to the doctor.
"Sorry… I can heal that." Harry said as he offered his hand to the doctor.
"It's fine, Harry." Doctor Braddock showed him his hand. "It will take a lot more than that to damage me properly. It just hurt."
"Oh… but the last time someone tried to stick their fingers in my visor Madam Pomphrey had to magic them back on. She taught me the spell."
"As I was saying." The King stepped up. "I believe there is reason for Harry to travel to America with you, James. You are attending that hearing regarding the 'Mutant Registration Act'. If Miss Gwynn is agreeable I would like her to accompany you.
"Also, Colonel Fury has asked for Harry to attend as part of revealing the unknown to the world and as he has a few experiments he would like him to help with."
"Experiments?" Doctor Braddock frowned.
The King smiled. "Yes, he wants Harry to experiment with runes and adamantium. I am eager to hear the results myself."
%
Harry and Megan were now a common sight around the city, especially the palace and main shopping streets. They had even been shown on the news but had yet to give an interview.
A statement from the palace said they were wards of the King, what their names were and that Harry was trapped in the armour due to an accident and Megan's wings were natural.
Hermione had been by the palace to visit Harry and Megan a few more times before she headed back to school, she had yelled at Ron when he tried to go with her, especially as he seemed to have no intention of respecting the King, Ron considered him a rich muggle and nothing more. Arthur and Molly were not pleased with him.
Harry and Megan were now heading to Washington D.C. in the USA. They were accompanied by Doctor Braddock, his daughter Betsy and Dobby and Ally.
Dobby insisted on accompanying Harry for protection and Ally insisted that she still needed to care for Megan and teach Harry how to be a wizard.
He still forgot to open things with magic, but his repair and cleaning spells were top notch.
"Where's Betsy?" Megan asked as they sat in the spacious lounge on the Royal plane.
"She's up front. This is one of the few times she will be able to see a plane of this size in operation without actually having to attend pilot training." Doctor Braddock explained.
"Now, I want to talk to you about this hearing we will be attending." Doctor Braddock sat forward. "It will be… difficult. Especially for you, Megan.
"There are some very closed minded people who want to force mutants to register."
"But don't all people do that?" Harry asked. "The palace gave me my National Insurance Card a few weeks ago. Doesn't that mean I'm registered?"
"Yes, it means that the government knows you exist. It is a means of establishing how many citizens there are and therefore… how much in taxes they expect to receive. There is more to it, but it is different to what the Americans are talking about.
"They are talking about making people like Megan register and declare their abilities. To say if they can read minds, fly… etcetera.
"They also want to make their names and addresses public, force them to attend check-ins and report their daily activities.
"There is also talk about making them wear collars for tracking and restricting their right to have children."
"Dad, they barely know how regular people are supposed to live. They need a little background." Betsy warned as she joined them.
She sat down next to her father and crossed her long jean-clad legs. "Back in the thirties there was this man. He was an utter jerk. He went into politics and eventually became-"
"Listen, Betsy, I may have lived in a cage for the past four years, but I know who Hitler is." Megan glared at the older teen.
Betsy looked to Harry who gave her a sheepish smile through his open visor.
"I believe Betsy was trying to convey that the current situation with the Americans and mutants is beginning to mirror the travesty of what befell the Jews at Hitler's hands and even the black people at the hands of the Americans before they finally ended segregation." Doctor Braddock explained.
"Right." Betsy nodded.
Doctor Braddock patted her knee and addressed them all. "When it comes down to it, just remember that everything the Americans want to do to mutants, they want to do to Megan and Betsy."
%
Getting through flight security in London had been relatively painless.
Trying the same at Washington D.C. had been a mix of the Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello.
The American Security personnel had insisted on searching everyone and everything. They kept demanding that Harry take his armour off. They had even attempted to try and restrain Megan and remove her wings, claiming they needed to examine them for contraband.
That had been when Harry had had enough and the security personnel found themselves with numerous broken bones from Harry's armoured fists.
"Ah… I see I was not on time." Harry turned to see a man in a suit with dark hair and a receding hairline. "Apologies, I'm Agent Philip Coulson, Colonel Fury sent me to make sure you got through security alright."
"You are indeed, twenty minutes too late." Doctor Braddock glared at him.
%
Coulson was somehow able to get them to his waiting SUV whilst bypassing most of security. Unfortunately they weren't able to check in at the embassy as they were already running late to get to the hearing.
Coulson ushered them to their seats, quite near the front.
A young red-headed woman was addressing the panel of senators. She was talking about evolution, the rise of mankind.
The chairman of the panel, Senator Kelly, interrupted her. "You're avoiding the question I posed to you at the beginning of the hearing, Ms. Grey. Three words: Are mutants dangerous?"
"Well that's a bloody stupid question." Betsy muttered.
"Well, what do you expect from a bloody stupid man?" Doctor Braddock smirked back.
Unfortunately they were not quiet.
"I will have quiet from the gallery or you will be thrown out." Kelly glared at them. But he paused and his eyes widened. "Is that a mutant? Two of them? Alert security!"
"Senator, I am Doctor James Braddock, here at the request of the King of England and at the invitation of the President of the United States.
"All three of these individuals are with me and have been cleared by security. I suggest you focus on this farce of a hearing before you make more of a fool of yourself than you already have."
Harry was surprised. He had expected everyone to be polite and diplomatic, granted with barbed comments, but nothing so blunt.
"Enough of this, foolishness." Braddock snarled as he moved out of the row of chairs and approached Ms. Grey. He then gently moved her out of the way and took the podium.
"Are mutants dangerous? They are as dangerous as you Senator. Like any human they have the ability to place their foot on your neck and crush your windpipe.
"The difference between mutants and you is that they are not filled with hatred and bigotry."
Kelly was livid and he angrily held up a photograph. "See this? A mutant did this a few days ago when a minor altercation occurred.
"And you think you can stand there and compare me to these monsters?"
"Yes. Because there are no bodies in that photo or the police reports." Braddock smirked. "That's the thing. The fool of a man who melted that car deserves his punishment. But he also deserves his right to a trial. He is an American citizen, born and raised in this country by people who were also born and raised here.
"And again, I will say that anyone in this room could do that to a car. All it takes is a match and some petrol."
"And what about when melting cars is not enough? What about when he starts melting humans?" Kelly sneered.
"Again, you are focusing on this man having a genetic advantage over you-"
"Advantage?" Kelly scoffed. "There is no way a mutant is better than me, a true red-blooded American."
Braddock turned to his party. "Megan, would you be so kind as to join me?" He asked with a kind smile.
Betsy whispered in her ear. Megan was livid at what she had heard so far. She stood up, people gasped as her wings fluttered and she slowly hovered over the other people to land next to Doctor Braddock.
"Miss Gwynn is a mutant. Her wings are part of that. She is, as you just saw, capable of flight.
"Are you seriously trying to say you've never dreamt of being able to fly anywhere, anytime?
"Or are you afraid of heights?" Braddock smirked.
"And there is the crux of the issue." Kelly sneered. "The creature-"
"I'll remind you that Miss Gwynn is a ward of the King, himself." Braddock looked at the man stonily.
"It can fly into restricted areas, bypass check-ins. It is a risk to National Security."
"So is a man or woman with a hang-glider." Braddock scoffed. "For decades we have been dropping men behind enemy lines.
"The same thing that stops regular humans from entering restricted areas is the same thing that stops Miss Gwynn.
"The law."
"A law that they can choose to ignore." Kelly countered.
"As can any human. I wonder how many humans have snuck into this hearing. Have smuggled illicit materials.
"It is all about free will. Something that every human has regardless of ability.
"The fact of the matter is that you are far more dangerous to American National Security simply because of your wealth. You have the resources to pay mercenaries, buy weapons, information.
"You hold a position of high authority in this country. You are using it to persecute others unjustly."
"I am using it to protect the American people!"
"Fine." Braddock said sharply. "You want to register all mutants. How do you intend to find them all? Most have no defining features like Miss Gwynn."
"Genetic testing is easy. Before your interruptions, Ms. Grey was telling us all about this 'x-gene'." Kelly said with disgust.
"And you intend to test every American citizen." Braddock smirked. "I hope you remember that you are an American citizen.
"You see, not everyone knows they are a mutant. They don't know they have the gene. In some it hasn't activated." Braddock turned to the gathered press. "Any one of you could have the x-gene. Remember that when they look further into this despicable Act.
"Soon enough you'll find yourselves being forced to wear a yellow star… and history has told us what happens next."
%
Braddock had practically manhandled Ms. Grey out of the building. He insisted on seeing her to her vehicle.
Harry was very tense. His visor was down, despite the limited vision. He was also holding his shield and had Megan squashed between himself and Betsy.
They had to force their way through reporters and protestors.
And that was when it happened.
Eyes trained to spot a glimmer of gold locked onto the incoming object and Harry raised his shield and stepped in front of Ms. Grey.
There was a metallic clang and then silence.
Everyone turned to see a man in a baseball cap lying insensate on the floor. A full can of beer leaking next to him.
"Agent Coulson…"
The Agent was well ahead of Doctor Braddock. He was calling for reinforcements.
His SUV soon sped around the corner and he piled the group in.
"Whilst I appreciate the protection, I was attending the hearing with colleagues." Ms. Grey said a little testily.
"And unless one of them was Doctor Henry McCoy, I doubt they will have the same issues we just did." Braddock waved his hand dismissively. "Betsy, Harry, Megan, this is Doctor Jean Grey. Doctor Grey, this is my daughter and the King's two wards."
Everyone nodded to each other.
"Megan, are you doing alright?" Doctor Braddock asked kindly. "I do apologise for putting you on the spot like that."
"I'm fine. Might want ta gag me next time. Came mighty close to saying things I shouldn't." She scowled.
"I doubt the King would object, I certainly don't."
"So… you're a telekinetic and a telepath." Betsy smirked at the red head. Jean Grey had a very worried look.
"Elizabeth!" Doctor Braddock said sternly.
"Relax, I didn't read her mind. I can just see her struggling with Harry. She can't sense him and it is unsettling for her."
"I am a telepath." Jean admitted carefully. "It is sometimes difficult to live with."
"So you are reading our minds?" Megan demanded.
"No… well, I am not attempting to." Jean amended. "I can control how deep I look. I can't control hearing your surface thoughts.
"When you talk to me I usually just hear them like an echo of your words. When you are deep in thought… it is like you are… stage whispering to me."
"Practice the mental techniques you've been learning, Megan." Braddock suggested.
"Forgive me for being rude, but, are you actually human?" Jean asked Harry. "Or are you an advanced form of android?"
"Human." Harry said tersely.
"Harry is simply trapped in this armour. It is exceptionally advanced, created entirely by Harry himself. Unfortunately, circumstance and misfortune has seen him stuck inside for the foreseeable future."
"Are we going to the British Embassy?" Jean asked. "I am in contact with my companions and need to tell them where to meet me." She tapped her temple.
"Yes. Mister Xavier and Miss Monroe?" Braddock asked.
Jean frowned. "Yes."
Braddock smiled. "Doctor, always assume that others know your secrets. Being a powerful telepath like yourself or Mister Xavier does not make you infallible.
"Do try to remember that, not twenty minutes ago, you were giving a lecture on how adaptable humans are."
"You're spying on us?" Jean asked.
"The British? No. But we do have contact with the elite of the security world. It is extremely foolish to think you can hide a massive military plane in a mansion pool."
Jean looked at Coulson.
"I'm not at liberty to comment, Doctor." The agent shrugged. "But attempting to read my mind would be considered an attack."
"Pix, I need your drawing pad." Harry asked the girl on his left.
Megan scowled at the shortened version of the nickname Harry had started to use on her. He had shrugged and said it made sense. Several people had called her a pixie.
Harry took the graphite pencil and enlarged it so it would fit in his metal encased hand. He started drawing.
Doctor Grey gasped. "You are a mutant."
"You think everyone with an ability is a mutant?" Betsy scoffed. "That's the type of thinking that will drop this country into a civil war with that Registration Act."
"Then what is he?" Jean argued.
"Classified." Coulson said tersely.
There was a tearing sound and they looked to see Harry tearing the A4 page into strips. He took one and wrapped it around the front of Megan's head.
"Betsy, can you try and read her mind?" He asked as he held it in place.
"I can't… whatever you did hid her just like you." Betsy was clearly impressed.
Harry reached over to Doctor Braddock and did the same whilst asking for Betsy to try again.
Megan was scratching at the paper stuck to her forehead.
Harry then turned to Coulson. "Agent, this will protect your mind from intrusion."
"Go ahead, sir." Coulson nodded.
"As far as my telepathy is concerned, the only people in this room are me and Grey." Betsy frowned. She shivered uncomfortably before reaching across the aisle to grab her father's hand. He patted it caringly.
"Elizabeth doesn't use her telepathy to read other people's minds without permission, but she does use it as a form of SONAR." Doctor Braddock explained. "She can walk around with her eyes closed because she can sense others."
"What if she walks into a lamppost?" Megan asked.
Betsy laughed. "I can get a sense of what others see. It's not a direct link to their eyes, but I could sense that beer can heading for us before I could see it."
"What did you do?" Jean Grey demanded. "I can't… what did you do?" She glared at Harry.
"I protected them from mind readers." Harry shrugged.
"How?"
"Classified." Agent Coulson butted in. He didn't look anywhere near professional with a white piece of paper wrapped around his forehead.
"Harry… how do I get this thing off?" Megan glared at him.
"I'll show you later. It won't get stuck." Megan's glare intensified. "I promise!"
They soon pulled into the embassy and disembarked.
"Sir James, I'll be in contact to arrange the meeting with Colonel Fury." Coulson told the older man respectfully. "Mister Potter… how do I remove this?" He pointed to the paper on his forehead.
Harry glanced at Jean. "Come see me later? Or I can remove it now?"
"Take it off, Harry. I can warn him if anyone decides to go peeking." Betsy smirked at the red head.
Coulson gave Harry a nod and the metal encased wizard peeled the paper off. He quickly entered his SUV and the driver took them away.
"It is that level of distrust that will cause an immense divide between humans and mutants."
They turned to see a bald headed man being pushed in a wheelchair by a black woman with bright white hair.
"Harry has been abused by mind readers. His caution should be understandable." Doctor Braddock glared at the man. "However, Harry is far more altruistic in his actions. He knows that individuals like the agent and myself are privy to very sensitive information. Doctor Grey admitted she can't help but hear our active thoughts."
"Hmm… Harry, could you invert your little protectors?" Betsy turned to the armoured wizard.
"Huh?" Was the eloquent response that made Doctor Braddock scowl.
"Can you make it so it blocks my telepathy for me?"
Harry frowned and looked down at the paper he had taken from Coulson. "Meg-" A pad of paper was shoved in his face.
Megan smirked at him.
"Over there, if you would, Harry." Braddock indicated he should move away from the group to hide his actions.
Harry, Betsy and Megan moved to the doors to the embassy.
"Now, Mister Xavier, I would like to visit your school. A brief and informal discussion with some of your pupils and staff would also be appreciated." Doctor Braddock said.
Xavier frowned. "For what purpose?"
"Learning. Miss Gwynn is a mutant as is my daughter and eldest son. There are many more in Britain and we want to be able to provide for them as well as all the other children."
"You can't just treat them like equals?" Miss Monroe asked with a snide smile.
"Miss Monroe, I would have thought you were more observant." Braddock chastised. "Did you not realise that Miss Gwynn's clothes are custom made to accommodate her beautiful wings?"
The smile slipped to a scowl.
"There are many others with physical disparity that means they cannot be treated 'as equals'. To do so would be a disservice to them.
"Imagine if all women's public bathrooms were replaced with urinals. Do you intend to force all men to wear brassieres?"
"Just how many people do you intend to bring to my school?" Xavier asked.
"Just myself, my daughter, Harry and Megan. Perhaps it will be beneficial for Megan to meet other mutants."
"But not Harry?" Monroe asked, that slight sneer reappearing.
"Harry is not a mutant. But as to the underlying question, there are few more open and accepting than Harry James Potter."
"Careful Dad, you're gonna make Harry's head bust out of his helmet." Betsy laughed as they walked up. "Here, put this on." She handed a simple white hairband to Jean.
Jean took it cautiously.
"It isn't booby trapped and it comes off easily." Betsy assured her.
Jean slowly put it on… she froze.
"Jean!" Xavier exclaimed.
Monroe moved quickly between Xavier and Braddock, her eyes turning pure white as dark clouds began rolling across the blue sky.
"What have you done to her?" Xavier demanded.
"That hairband will block her telepathy." Betsy smiled, unconcerned with the hostility. "Imagine being able to sleep at night in peace and quiet." She wiggled her eyebrows at the red head.
"It… it's so… weird." Jean winced as her voice seemed so loud to her without the background noise of everyone's thoughts. "I'd forgotten what the silence was like."
She took it off and stumbled as the voices flooded back in. She looked at Harry with fear and hope. "Can you make these for others?"
"He can make them for telepaths." Doctor Braddock stepped up. He looked to Monroe. "Perhaps you should allow nature to govern herself for now?" He said pointedly.
Monroe looked to Xavier who nodded. Her eyes returned to the natural brown and the skies cleared.
"God, could you save the day on a trip to Brighton." Betsy sighed.
"Why just telepaths?" Jean asked. "There are other mutants out there who need help. Their mutations are hurting them."
"It is simply the nature of what Harry has created." Braddock explained. "It is not a device to supress the x-gene. It is a device to prevent telepathy.
"Elizabeth, did you try it?"
"I was the guinea pig." She nodded. "I felt like I was blind. I couldn't sense anyone."
"She is a telepath?" Xavier frowned.
"Indeed." Braddock smirked. "Well, I believe my wards could do with a good meal and a rest. I will send word to your school regarding our visit." He turned, placing a hand on Betsy and Megan's back.
"Wait! How do I recharge this?" Jean called out.
"Recharge?" Harry frowned.
Betsy snorted. "Don't break it and it will always work."
%
The following day Harry and Doctor Braddock were taken to a secure installation to meet with Colonel Fury. They were escorted by Agent Coulson.
"Harry, you created those mind protectors on paper and in less than ten minutes?" Fury asked earnestly.
"It's the same runes I used on my armour so people like Snape and Voldemort can't read my mind." Harry nodded.
Fury laughed in amazement as he sat at the conference table. "This is what I wanted you to create. Tools to help people. If you could put those runes on something inconspicuous like a pair of glasses, you could protect the minds of people like the President, or the King.
"Even me.
"There are things I know that should go to the grave with me. Things I know that could save lives."
"I believe Agent Coulson had already departed, but Harry also created a similar device that prevented a telepath from using their telepathy.
"Doctor Grey is continuously bombarded by others' stray thoughts. Harry inscribed runes on a hairband and now she can sleep peacefully at night." Braddock explained.
Fury didn't look too happy. "You didn't make her sign an NDA? We'll need to draw up the patent documents quick. Coulson, contact Hill, tell her to get on it."
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"We are just trying to make sure that your intellectual work is protected. So no one can steal it or claim they made it." Braddock answered.
"Ok, but I conjured two parts of the hairband and inscribed on the inside. It is stuck together with magic. They won't be able to see the runes."
"Smart, Harry. Very smart." Braddock praised as Fury relaxed.
"Alright, let's get down to why you are here." Fury placed a small twenty by ten by five centimetre block of metal on the table and slid it across to Harry. "That is adamantium. The most indestructible substance on the planet.
"In order to mould it you have to keep it in two separate parts and then pour them simultaneously at immense temperatures. Once it's cooled, there is no changing it."
Harry waved his hand over the strange metal, turning it into a mouse.
"And that is its major flaw." Fury said. "It is still vulnerable to magic. But what if you could change that?"
"I guess." Harry shrugged. "Some of the last runes layered on my armour prevent magic attacks."
"Like we just said, we need to protect your work. What I want from you, is for you to figure out how to make this metal magic proof."
Harry cancelled the spell on the mouse and cast another spell on the block of metal. He looked up at Fury and Braddock. "I'll need Megan's help. She'll need to test it for me with her wand."
"We have magicals on s-"
"An excellent idea, Harry." Braddock interrupted Fury.
Fury clearly didn't agree, but didn't push. "Alright, let's talk about your plans to visit Xavier's school.
"You've been briefed on their operation, Sir James, how much have you told Harry and the girls?"
"Everything I know."
"I'd recommend you wear more of those 'mind protectors'. Xavier is extremely loose with his telepathy. We have vague rumours that they have a machine that enables him to hear anyone's thoughts anywhere on the planet."
"Good Lord. That's… that's abominable!"
"Hopefully it is just a scientific project." Fury said. Braddock gave him a very dry look. "I said hopefully. If you can find out for sure, I'd appreciate it."
"Is it safe to take Miss Gwynn and Elizabeth along? I had hoped to give Miss Gwynn more exposure to others like her."
Fury sighed. "Your call. We don't have any reports of danger from the students, but like I said, they've got a machine for mind reading… and a military jet under the basketball court."
%
Harry was thoroughly engrossed in his work. He spent several days carving runes on wood. His goal was to carve with magic, then empower them. If he could get it to work he could carve them on Adamantium instead of trying to create a mould.
He was a bit disappointed when Doctor Braddock dragged him away from the laboratory.
They were soon back on the plane and headed for upstate New York and then standing in front of the gates of the Xavier School for Gifted Children.
They were greeted by a beaming Jean Grey. "It is great you could make it. I wanted to thank you for the hairband. I have never slept so well." She told them as she led them up the path to the mansion.
"I can always make you another if that one gets lost." Harry shrugged.
A bell rang throughout the mansion and Jean grimaced. "Unfortunately you've arrived as classes are finishing. Be prepared for the stampede."
And that was when doors opened everywhere and students started pouring into the corridor. None of them seemed to spare more than a glance for the armoured man or the girl with wings.
But quite a few boys sent an admiring glance at Betsy.
Jean turned to Betsy. "You can't hear their thoughts?"
Betsy chuckled. "I don't need to read minds to know what they were thinking. Besides, I've been approached about modelling. I'm used to that sort of attention."
"I certainly don't envy you." Jean sighed.
"Why don'tcha just wear the hairband?" Megan asked.
"Because it is like walking around with my eyes closed." Jean shrugged. "Miss Braddock explained how her abilities give her a secondary view of the world. I found that I had the same thing when I tried to wear the headband during the day.
"I literally walked into ten people… and a table." She blushed.
"Jean, are these our guests?"
Jean smiled at the tall, brown haired man wearing thick red glasses that hid his eyes. "Scott, meet Doctor James Braddock, Miss Elizabeth Braddock, Mister Harry Potter and Miss Megan Gwynn.
"Everybody, this Scott Summers, one of the professors and a former student."
"A pleasure to meet you, Mister Summers." Doctor Braddock shook the man's hand. "If you would like a better life without those glasses, I'd recommend sitting down and explaining your issues with Mister Potter. He might be able to help you."
There was a rattle of metal as Harry's head snapped to Doctor Braddock. They were skirting very close to revealing magic.
"You know all of our abilities?" Scott asked with a frown.
"I know a lot." Doctor Braddock corrected. "Yours are easy to learn about considering what they are and how… dramatic they can be."
Scott smirked. "Dramatic, huh? I'll have to remember that one."
Doctor Braddock smiled. "Well, if you have any students who are suffering with their x-gene, perhaps they could sit down with Harry and myself. Maybe we can help."
"You honestly think you can do more than we already have?" Scott raised a doubtful eyebrow.
"Perhaps you should direct that question to Doctor Grey." This time Braddock smirked.
"Yes. Yes they can, Scott." The telepath said firmly.
"Ah, Doctor Braddock." Xavier greeted them as he arrived in an electric wheelchair. "Welcome to my school."
"A lovely place you have here, Mister Xavier." Braddock complimented the man. "And I can see a lot of happy children. Elizabeth?"
"Well… as happy as angsty teens can be." The blonde smirked. "But they aren't scared about being here."
"I trust you aren't reading my students' minds, Miss Braddock." Xavier frowned.
"Just the general psychic atmosphere." She shrugged.
"That said, he looks a little old to be a student and he definitely doesn't want to be here." She nodded to a man in sleep pants and a white vest who had just exited a door.
"Shit." Scott swore as he turned and approached the man.
"Scott, wait-" Xavier's warning was cut off by the man with heavy side-burns popping out three six inch knife blades from his knuckles on each hand. He growled at Scott.
"Betsy?" Doctor Braddock asked his daughter tersely.
"He wants answers, but he'd rather not engage." Betsy frowned as she tucked Megan behind her.
Jean was looking around in confusion. Harry had vanished.
"Sir, I am James Braddock. Are you alright?" Doctor Braddock asked calmly as he approached from behind Scott.
"Where am I? Where's the girl?" The man demanded, he never looked away from Scott.
"You are at the Xavier School for Gifted Children in Westchester, New York." Doctor Braddock turned to the others. "Mister Xavier, do you know of the girl he refers to?"
"She is safe and is likely preparing for dinner." Xavier replied. "Neither you nor she are in danger here. We brought you here to tend to your injuries after you were attacked."
The man scoffed. "You expect me to believe you picked us up from four thousand miles away and flew us here to treat a few cuts and burns? And you crossed the border?"
"Good grief." Braddock laughed. "Even I want to hear the answer to that one."
Xavier scowled. "I received word that a mutant was about to attempt to abduct you. I am familiar with this individual and knew it would be best if he was stopped.
"You were attacked by several mutants before my people arrived to rescue you."
"And who is this suspected kidnapper?" Braddock asked.
"His name is Eric Lensherr. An old friend of mine. We have different views on how mutant-kind will survive the coming strife."
"And what part does the girl play?"
"She's a runaway. She stowed away in my camper, I was gonna drop her off at the border." The man stated.
Braddock growled in frustration. "Doctor Grey, please find the girl in question. We need to make sure she was not the target.
"I will contact Agent Coulson and-"
"It would be prudent not to involve the authorities at this time." Xavier spoke up.
"Yes, it would." Braddock glared. "Kidnapping is a crime."
"There is more going on here than you know. Involving the authorities would put my school and the children at risk." Xavier said angrily.
"I don't know what you are so afraid of, Mister Xavier, but I will not allow that fear to threaten innocent children."
"No cops." The clawed man scowled.
"The agency I am calling are far more than mere police officers." Braddock said as he pulled out a mobile phone.
"I said NO COPS!" The man lunged at Doctor Braddock with his hands only to hit thin air with a metallic clang.
He was suddenly hanging by his wrists as Harry materialised, holding him. "Do not make me hurt you." Harry warned darkly.
"The hell are you?" The man asked with wide eyes.
"His bodyguard." Harry retorted.
"Agent Coulson? I need everything you have on one Eric Lensherr. A known associate of Charles Xavier. He might be involved in the kidnapping of a young girl."
"…"
"The girl is fine, she is here at Xavier's mansion."
"…"
"Thank you, Agent. We will expect you shortly."
"I hope you realise the peril you have brought down upon my children." Xavier said gravely.
"None more than you when you brought this man and the girl here." Braddock scoffed.
"Yeah, that's the dumbest argument you could have made." Betsy scoffed. "You had better hope this 'Eric' doesn't know it was your people who rescued them."
"Professor, Doctor Braddock, this is Rogue." Jean introduced the teenage girl she was escorting.
"Logan! You're ok!" She exclaimed. "What's going on?" She asked as she took in the scene of the armoured knight holding Logan off the ground.
"You can release him now, Harry." Braddock instructed.
Logan grunted as he hit the floor.
Rogue moved to quickly check on him with her gloved hands.
"Doctor, a man will be arriving shortly to deliver information regarding the people who attacked these two. Please see him to us?" Braddock asked Jean.
"In the meantime, Mister Summers, perhaps you could introduce my daughter and Miss Gwynn to some of your students?"
Both looked to Xavier who reluctantly nodded.
%
Harry was standing just outside a set of French doors that looked out on mansion grounds. Not far away, Betsy and Megan were chatting with a set of three identical triplets.
It was good to see Megan happy.
"You are metal man?"
Harry turned at the sound of the heavy Russian accent to see an older teenage male towering over him curiously.
"Erm… I'm wearing armour." Harry offered.
"Da. I see. You cannot take it off?"
"No, I'm trapped in here."
The boy nodded. "I understand. I was scared too at first." He said as his body began to ripple and become made of metal. "Still worry. Worry that one day I will not be able to change back." He then reverted to flesh.
"This isn't an x-gene thing. It's just a bad accident." Harry shrugged.
"Professor Xavier always say, accidents can be fixed." The boy said sagely.
"Not always. Sometimes accidents can be… fatal."
"Da. But you can still… erm… try to make right." The boy frowned at his inability to communicate properly.
"I'm Harry." The wizard held out his hand in an effort to save the fellow teen from his concern.
"Piotr." The boy smiled as he shook the hand.
%
It was after curfew by the time Coulson arrived. The students were all in bed. Even Megan had been given a room.
"Eric Lensherr, aka 'Magneto'." Coulson said as he showed them images of the man, projected onto the wall from his laptop. "A survivor of Nazi concentration camps, he believes mutants are the future of mankind. That they are superior."
"He's not entirely wrong." Jean offered. "Mutants are the next stage of human evolution."
"No, Doctor." Braddock corrected softly. "They are a possible stage of human evolution."
"Lensherr is a terrorist who has attacked various non-mutants in an attempt to further his agenda… that agenda is not entirely clear." Coulson continued.
"He believes that mutants should be allowed to live separately and govern themselves." Xavier offered.
"At the cost of non-mutants." Coulson added. "And his actions against anyone not a mutant are what make him a terrorist.
"Harry, Lensherr's ability is to manipulate metal. He claims to have control over magnetism, we've seen evidence it is more than that. You are vulnerable in that armour."
"Maybe." Harry said thoughtfully.
"It concerns me how much you know about us." Xavier frowned.
"Charles, they are humans. They are obviously spying on us." The white haired Ororo Monroe scoffed.
"Actually, we spy on you because we are an intelligence agency." Coulson smiled. "Being human has nothing to do with it."
"Last week you made a giant storm appear in New York on a hot summer day." Betsy looked at her like she was idiot. "You don't need spies. You just need eyes and an IQ above sixty."
There was a scream from upstairs. Coulson's hand went to his gun as the others moved. Harry was already moving.
They raced upstairs to find Harry holding a distraught Rogue by the shoulder with one hand and his shield with another. Logan was unconscious in his bed.
"What happened?" Jean asked as she moved to check on Logan.
"Harry, bring her over here." Betsy instructed as she moved to the windows. She sat down on the window bench and indicated for Rogue to do the same. Harry stood between them and the door as Scott and Ororo were trying to get the rest of the students back to bed.
"What happened, Rogue?" She asked as she gently smoothed out the girl's night dress. There were three evenly spaced holes.
"L- Logan… " She struggled to speak with fear. "He was having a nightmare. I tried to wake him. He stabbed me. I- I had to drain him. I was dying."
"Jean, how is he?" Betsy called passed Harry.
"He's fine." Jean called back.
"Alright. Seems like a whole bunch of accidents to me." She assured the girl as she patted her knee. "At least you aren't hurt anymore."
It was disconcerting to see the girl flinch whenever someone tried to touch her. Her ability to drain a person by touch had caused her to run from home.
"Harry, why don't you take Marie for a walk. Find out about her ability and see if you can't think of a way to help?"
Harry frowned but Betsy glared at him.
As he guided Rogue out of the room they were stopped by Coulson. "Miss D'Ancanto, are you alright?"
"How do you know my name?" She asked fearfully.
"I am part of an agency, when you were found with Mister Logan we did a search on you. Don't worry, you'll be quite safe here." He promised.
"Betsy said to take her for a walk and see if I can help her." Harry explained.
Coulson nodded. "Some fresh air and ears. Just keep your eyes peeled, Harry."
%
"Can you really help me?" Rogue asked as she sat on bench opposite the French doors. Rogue, or Marie, was a rather beautiful young girl with dark hair and eyes. She had a thick southern accent.
Harry sighed as he stood opposite her. "I really don't know. I guess the really big problem is I can't touch you to see what it feels like."
"Ah could touch your face." She offered hesitantly.
"If you put your fingers in my visor… they will get chopped off. It's part of the security I installed."
"You made this armour?"
"I… I modified it." Harry said, choosing his words carefully. "Look, tell me how your ability works."
"Rogue?"
They jumped as a blond-haired male their age approached.
"Shouldn't you be inside?" Harry asked.
"Shouldn't you?" The boy countered.
"It's ok Harry. This is Bobby."
"What happened? They say you used your powers on another mutant." Bobby said as he sat on the bench.
"Logan… he was having a bad dream and stabbed me. Ah had to use his healing-"
"You never use your power on another mutant. That's really bad." Bobby said earnestly. "Xavier is gonna be furious."
"Why?" Harry asked. "He seemed fine when I saw him."
Bobby sneered at him. "You aren't a mutant. You wouldn't understand."
"I live with someone with an x-gene." Harry countered. "Besides, Marie was brought here because she was attacked by other x-gene users."
"Right, and you think Xavier will let her stay here anymore than them?" Bobby argued.
"Yes. And even if he didn't, Doctor Braddock and Agent Coulson would take care of her."
Bobby turned back to Rogue. "Look, you should really leave. Forget what the professors will do, when the other kids hear you used your powers on another mutant-"
"Hopefully they'll ask 'why'." Harry really didn't like this guy. "Stop trying to make her leave. You can be sure I'll be talking to Jean about you.
"If she can't keep you away from Marie then I'll ask Agent Coulson to make sure she is cared for."
"Humans?" Bobby scoffed. "You'll just lock her away and study her."
"Harry, take Rogue and leave."
Bobby jumped to his feet as Betsy walked up.
Harry pulled his shield from his back and gently pulled Rogue to her feet. "What's wrong?"
"This is no student." Betsy glared at the boy. "Not even a boy."
Harry pushed Rogue behind him and pulled out his sword.
"Damned telepaths." Bobby spat as he grew taller and became a blue she with red hair.
"Oh, it is much worse than you think." Betsy smiled darkly. "There are three powerful telepaths in this school. Each one is now rifling through your brain and we'll soon figure out what you want with young Marie."
The blue woman leapt at Betsy but the telepath simply leaned to the side and pushed her past her to go sprawling on the lawn.
The woman was quickly on her feet and running for the walls of the mansion grounds.
"You want me to catch her?" Harry asked, Rogue still cowering behind him.
"Nah… we want her to run. She'll lead us to Lensherr."
%
They quickly reconvened in the mansion where Logan and Xavier assured Rogue she was not in any trouble.
"Do we know why they want Miss D'Ancanto?" Coulson asked.
"Not exactly." Xavier answered. "It would seem that Eric has kept her out of the loop just for this exact failure on Mystique's part."
"Mystique? What's the bitch's real name?" Betsy asked.
"Raven Darkholm." Coulson answered as he consulted his computer. "A very skilled shapeshifter."
"Perhaps it would be best if Miss D'Ancanto came with us, Agent Coulson. At least until we can capture this Eric Lensherr." Doctor Braddock suggested.
"You ain't locking the kid up." Logan glared, his arm around Rogue protectively.
"It is called protection, moron." Betsy sneered. "We can take her to a safe place where she can have a somewhat more relaxing life."
"It would give me a chance to work with her on her ability." Harry offered.
"How, exactly?" Scott asked, his concern clear.
"Classified." Agent Coulson interrupted.
"Oh, right. Harry, Meg asked if you could make three more headbands." Betsy piped up. "Three of the girls she met today are telepaths and she told them about what you made for Jean when they asked why they couldn't read her."
"I'll do it in a minute then."
"Ah, the Cuckoos." Jean smirked. "They have it even worse than me."
"I'm afraid I must recommend against the Cuckoos using those devices." Xavier said firmly. "There is more to them than simple telepathy."
"Then Harry and I can talk to them and see if they can be helped." Betsy shrugged.
"If we could focus on Lensherr and Darkholm?" Coulson asked. "Miss D'Ancanto needs to be removed from the school until they are caught. Whilst she is here the children are at risk."
"Not from you, my dear." Doctor Braddock assured her. "But if these terrorists make another attempt to kidnap you then the other students will be at risk as a result."
"This school was designed to protect children like Rogue." Ororo argued. "We are trained to deal with people who want to hurt them."
"Enough." Doctor Braddock said firmly. "Miss D'Ancanto will be coming with us."
"And how will this stop Eric from coming here to find her?" Xavier challenged.
"Agent Coulson will call in a visible escort." Braddock said. "We will make it very obvious that we are removing her from this place."
%
It was a complete three-ring-circus. There were cop cars with lights on. Police helicopters with spotlights. But most importantly, there were news cameras broadcasting that someone had broken into the private school and attacked a member of staff and a student.
Logan was wheeled out of the mansion on a stretcher and into a waiting ambulance, Rogue tearfully clutching his hand.
They then drove off with an invisible escort as Harry followed from the sky.
They made it all the way to an unused warehouse without trouble where they were met by Agent Coulson's colleagues. Then Coulson broke the bad news he had just received.
"Lensherr just swept in and kidnapped Miss Braddock and Miss Gwynn. He held the professors at bay by threatening the police and reporters outside.
"He claims he wants Miss D'Ancanto in exchange for the girls."
"How far do Portkeys work?" Harry asked.
"Indefinite." Doctor Braddock answered quickly.
"I need one to and from London."
"You have a plan?" Coulson asked.
"I have two plans… which are pretty similar."
Coulson turned to his agents. "Get me a Portkey to London, now!"
%
"See, child? They have no care for our kind." The old man in the dark red cape and helmet sneered at Agent Coulson as he stood in a park with Rogue. "They will trade us like sweets."
Behind him Betsy and Megan were being loomed over by a large hairy man named Sabretooth.
"Shut up you fucking Nazi." Betsy snarled. "Just get this over with."
Magneto back handed her viciously. "We will meet again, Miss Braddock, and by then the humans will have taught you the true meaning of suffering. You will beg for my protection."
"Leave her alone, asshole!" Megan shouted as she stood over the older girl, her wings flickering wildly. "You're the one who kidnapped us!"
The tall muscled and hairy man growled and raised his hand to strike her.
"Sabertooth!" Magneto snapped.
"This is sooo cute."
They looked at Betsy who was bleeding from a gash to her forehead but had an expression of pure joy.
"Hmmph. Looks like you smacked her senseless, Eric." Mystique snorted.
"So much prey!"
They turned to look at Sabretooth who was looking everywhere with a bloodthirsty grin.
Magneto and Mystique both adopted a similar expression of joy and happiness.
Coulson backed up Rogue and spoke into his sleeve quietly.
Harry descended from the sky silently, sending stunners at the three terrorists.
"Meg, you ok?" Harry asked as he knelt down next to the terrified girl and their friend.
"Betsy's hurt! I think they damaged her brain."
"I think you've developed a secondary mutation." Coulson's voice sounded out of the radio hanging around Harry's neck. They looked around and saw Coulson quickly backing away still. "You are emitting something from your wings, Megan, and I think it is affecting them."
"But Harry isn't loopy."
"My armour will filter out anything but natural air. It's a potion rune system for brewing." Harry explained.
"I've called in a HAZMAT crew to retrieve Miss Braddock. I recommend you try and keep Miss Gwynn calm."
%
Megan was not happy as she sat in a plastic containment tent in a hospital smock. On the other side of a transparent wall was everyone else.
"I hate cages." She glowered.
"It is just temporary until we can be sure you aren't going to send us into flights of fancy, Megan." Doctor Braddock assured her.
"I can come in if you want." Harry offered.
"Don't you dare!" She glared at him. "Not until they get me my clothes." She shuffled uncomfortably as she felt the breeze down her butt. The rear opening smock was not designed for people with wings… and they couldn't find her a belt.
"I'll be your guinea pig, Pixie." Betsy grinned. "Harry can always drag me out if you do dose me. It wasn't a bad experience."
"Can't I have my wand?" She pleaded. "That way I can transfigure some clothes."
"Why don't you let Harry do it?" They turned to the other pink haired female.
"Tonks, I don't know what to conjure. Why don't you do it?"
Tonks turned to Coulson. "Is it ok to stick my hand in?"
"Only if you are willing to go through decontamination again." Coulson smirked.
Tonks shuddered. "Pass. Sorry kid. You're stuck for now. I've got no idea how I'm gonna explain to Remus I just had a shower with two other girls."
Harry's plans had been simple. Either get Tonks to imitate Rogue or use Polyjuice potion. Either way, whatever Magneto wanted Rogue for, it wouldn't work and they could track Tonks via a tracking charm.
Tonks had not been pleased to find an armoured knight pounding on her door first thing in the morning.
"Miss Tonks, I am required to remind you that today's operation is highly classified. You cannot give details to anyone." Coulson warned. "You are a law enforcement officer so you should be able to tell your husband that you were on a classified mission."
"Husband!"
Tonks smirked at Harry. "Yeah, Wolfie finally made an honest woman out of me."
"Nobody told me." Harry muttered quietly.
"It wasn't a big deal. We did it all muggle and secretly. Even with all the recent changes, werewolves get a bad rap."
"Werewolves?"
They turned to Rogue who was wide-eyed.
"Kid, there are more than mutants and humans in the world." Logan told her. "You keep your head on a swivel and watch your back and you'll see them."
"Miss D'Ancanto, magic and all related aspects are secret." Doctor Braddock warned.
"Don't worry, Dad. Pixie and I can explain it to her." Betsy promised.
"Are you always gonna call me that?" Megan grumbled.
"You look like a giant pixie. You fly like one. You have 'pixie dust'. You are Pixie." Harry smirked.
"You wait. I'm gonna come up with a nickname for you!" She wagged a finger at him. She then quickly wrapped her arms around her stomach as she felt the cold pick up behind her.
*Chapter 5*: Chapter 5
Portkeys.
Harry regretted ever bringing them up. They had returned to London soon after they had ensured the terrorists were safely under lock and key.
Fury had given Harry a list of projects he wanted him to work on.
But he had also been begged to return to New York and work on Rogue's condition. Megan was also demanding he go… so she could join him.
Charles Xavier had offered Megan a place in the school, but she had declined, claiming that she needed to look after Harry.
"I can't believe those bigots." Hermione snarled as she paced in the sitting room of the former Malfoy Manor. "It's times like this I wish His Majesty would ignore the warnings of others and reveal magic to the world."
"Oh? And why is that, Miss Granger."
The girl squeaked and bowed as the aforementioned monarch entered the room with a smile.
"Please, feel free to sit or continue pacing." He said as he sat in one of the armchairs by the fire. "But I would like to know your reasoning." He said sincerely.
"Well… magicals are a bit like mutants." She said carefully as she stood. "We have abilities and have been looked down on by non-magicals. But now we have our own governments… or had. If the bigots suddenly discovered we existed they couldn't treat us like mutants because mutants don't have an independent government. It would be like declaring war."
"I believe I understand your point of view. But, you underestimate the extents that these radicals will go to. They will form groups that will attack and kill magicals and mutants alike.
"Differences, even miniscule ones, are what start wars. Usually that difference is based on greed. One party wants something the other has."
"I suppose that when magic does become public it will mean more hatred aimed at us." Hermione sighed as she slumped on the sofa next to Megan.
"At least you can hide being a witch." Megan sighed. "There's no hiding these." She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder at her wings.
"You are a member of my household, Megan. I will not allow you to be persecuted like that." The King said firmly. "Now, Harry, how are your experiments going?"
"I made an air filtration system like Colonel Fury asked, but I can't test it."
"That is something the Colonel can arrange."
"Well, I've also made fire and heat resistant bodysuits, but Pix could only test them at oven temperatures."
The King frowned. "Please tell Ally and Dobby that they are to bring you straight to the infirmary if you are injured. They are not allowed to let secrecy laws to prevent them from keeping you safe."
"Mister King, Sir?" Dobby asked as he popped in. "Is Dobby allowed to protect family from bad humans and wizards? Ally was very upset when Miss Pixie was stolen."
The King stifled a smirk at the scowl from the pink haired mutant. Everyone had taken to calling her 'Pixie'. "Absolutely. This applies to both human and elf members of your family. If any tries to hurt your kits, you protect them. Understood?"
Dobby bowed low. "Thank you Mister King, Sir." He then popped out.
"Erm… You Majesty?"
"Yes Miss Granger?"
"Is it ok for Dobby to call you that? I know Missus Weasley won't allow Ron to visit because she doesn't trust him to be respectful." She grimaced as she remembered the vitriol filled letter from Ron and the follow up explanation from Mrs Weasley.
"It is all about respect." The King smiled. "Dobby might not use the appropriate terms, but there is no doubting the respect he shows."
Hermione nodded.
"Now, how are your studies going? Is everything running smoothly at Hogwarts?" He asked.
"It is… difficult. The muggleborn are relaxed, they are happier with more muggleborn and muggle adults around. But there is still a lot of hate from the Purebloods.
"We can even see the professors don't like it."
"Well, it has only been six weeks. Do you know if many of your classmates took advantage of the half term break?"
"Mostly the muggleborn, Your Majesty. I think the Purebloods thought it was a trap."
"Hmm… perhaps you could use your friendship with certain Purebloods to convince them, help them set an example?"
"I can try. Missus Weasley might listen to me, so will Luna and Neville."
"There is no pressure, Miss Granger. Hopefully they will simply believe by seeing you returning home for the week."
%
Harry split his time between London and New York.
In London he practiced his magic and was taught basic GCSEs by tutors with Megan.
In New York he was working with Rogue on her mutation. Magic was still a secret and she had been given a hairband of her own to protect her mind.
At the suggestion of Scott Summers he often made things to help the other students with their mutations. This would often give him a new avenue to use with Rogue.
Many of the professors assumed that Harry had some form of a mutation.
Harry spent a quiet Christmas with Megan, the King, Doctor Braddock, Betsy and her brother Brian.
By February, everyone at Xavier's school was sporting something made by Harry. Xavier himself was a little put out when Jean told him that many of the students had asked for mind protection.
He was displeased that he seemed so untrustworthy. But he was not going to put something on his head to prevent his telepathy and appease others.
Forget the fact that his telepathy, like Jean and Betsy, was a sixth sense that allowed him better navigation.
He was not putting something on his bald head. It would stand out like an ugly zit.
Everyone was curious as to how Harry made these devices, but only Rogue had a clue and she was not saying and wore her own headband as a precaution.
With the help of Megan they had managed some simple experiments with Rogue. She couldn't absorb magic and she couldn't mimic physical mutations.
She could only absorb from organics, but not flora, only fauna.
Megan had asked if her friends from the school could come to visit, but it was not something that could be done easily. Most of the students were runaways and it was difficult to get passports.
There was also the issue of security as they could not let everyone on the palace grounds. Even Hermione had to go through various security checks.
%
It was June and Harry and Megan were at the school. Harry had another set of runes to test on Rogue. A good few of the students were willing to help with the tests so that Megan wasn't always drained and exhausted.
Half an hour after they arrived everyone was struggling to get into the television room. The news was playing and showing a black and grey behemoth of a monster tearing through the city.
"Shouldn't we help them?" Megan asked worriedly.
"Any acts of aggression from mutants will be used to bring more laws against us." Ororo shook her head. "We don't help unless the humans ask for help."
"Which way is Harlem?" Harry asked as he drew his sword and shield.
"Harry, we can't get involved." Ororo said firmly.
"I'm not a mutant." Harry retorted as he dropped his visor.
Three identical blond sisters stood up and pointed south. "Go that way, Harry." They said as one.
Harry nodded to them and turned to Ororo. "As a human, I'm asking for help. You don't need to fight, but you could at least help innocent people get clear."
Harry turned and began running out of the mansion.
The sound of metal slats falling into place filled the room. "Piotr, what are you doing?" Ororo demanded.
"Helping my friend. Defending the innocent." The older teen retorted. He headed for the mansion's exit, several others following.
"He's not wrong, Ororo." Charles said quietly. "I know how much you dislike humans, but you can't paint them all with the same brush. Would you have humans treat us all the same because of Magneto?"
Ororo growled before stomping off.
Charles allowed himself a small smile. "Students, I will be in Cerebro helping to guide Colossus and your friends. Do not feel pressured into helping. And consider whether you would be a help or hinderance in Harlem. It may be best if some of you, like Rogue and the Cuckoos, stayed back."
%
"Lad, you realise that this could be your last battle?" Arnie asked quietly as they flew towards the glow of fire in the night sky.
"If I'm going to be stuck in here, I might as well make the most of it." Harry said stonily.
"You have a plan?"
"Try some magic to knock it out. If that fails… we'll see how potent basilisk venom is."
They came to hover over the carnage of the borough of Harlem. Shops were on fire, cars where everywhere except where they were supposed to be.
People were screaming, cowering, fleeing.
He saw a helicopter suddenly get hit with a car thrown by the behemoth and begin to spiral towards the ground. Harry was instantly after it.
He managed to get under the helicopter, to his surprise he was able to hold it off the ground mere metres from death.
He nearly dropped it when he saw a massive green face with a curious expression, just a meter from his own. It wasn't the one he had seen on the news.
"Erm… Hi? Could you give me a hand?" Harry tried.
The massive green monster grunted and then helped Harry lower the military chopper to the ground.
Harry managed to rip the side door off as the green giant pulled the back door off.
"On your rear, Lad!" Arnie called out.
Harry turned and saw a massive black hand reaching for him. The next thing he knew he was flying through the air. He landed with far less force than he expected.
"You are very light for so much armour, Harry."
Harry looked up into the grinning metallic face of Colossus. "I designed it that way. Thanks for the catch."
"No problem." Colossus assured him as he put the knight on his feet. "You are going back?" He asked grimly.
"Yeah… but I think there is someone else trying to stop the monster."
"I will help protect civilians." Colossus assured him.
Rain began to pour from the skies. Harry looked up and Ororo hovering in the air in a black bodysuit with a cape. Her eyes were glowing.
A blast of ice hit a nearby flaming car and Bobby and his fire controlling friend, John, stepped up, quelling the fires.
"Thanks." Harry said before shooting back into the air.
%
Harry could see the two giants pounding on each other, they were wrestling at times like he saw some of the students do.
The helicopter was on the edge of the building and teetering. He needed it clear or they might get killed. That's when he saw a fuel leak suddenly ignite. The woman in the helicopter screamed at the green monster.
The monster turned, it growled angrily and then slapped its hands together and caused a blast of air that snuffed the flame but caused the helicopter to totter. Harry swept down and cast a cleaning charm to get rid of the fuel. He then moved to the helicopter and cast sticking charms between it and the building.
Then he turned back to the two giants. He was sure the green one was even bigger than the last time he saw it.
Harry stepped up next to the green monster. It looked down at the metal clad teen.
"I can kill it with this." He said as he held up his sword.
The green giant raised a doubtful eyebrow.
Their attention was drawn by the clear mocking laughter of the black monster.
The green giant became enraged and leapt at the black monster.
Harry stayed back, their strength and speed were incredible. An errant limb could send him flying… again. He needed to wait for his opening.
He saw the green giant become even larger and eventually managed to wrap a chain around the black monster.
Harry saw his moment and engaged his invisibility.
The green giant felt the black monster go limp. He jumped slightly as he saw the metal knight appear from thin air, its sword embedded in the chest of the abomination he had been fighting.
Harry pulled his sword out and raised the cross-guard in front of his face in a salute to the massive hulk in front of him. He then lowered it.
"Freeze!"
"Dad, no!"
Harry turned as the green giant threw the corpse away. One of the soldiers was holding an assault rifle pointed at them. The woman was being held back by another soldier, but it was clear it was only to protect her.
"Put that weapon down." Harry ordered as he raised his shield and positioned himself between the giant and the soldier.
"The Hulk is coming with me." The soldier barked.
"This guy just beat that monster to a pulp. Do you really think your gun is going to affect him?"
"Stay out of this. We're not going to let him get away again."
"You fire that gun and your bullet will only hit you." Harry warned.
"Hulk! Run!" The woman pleaded.
The Hulk growled angrily and then roared in rage before leaping away. Harry swung his shield, knocking the weapon from the soldier's hand.
Harry shot into the air, leaving the people to care for themselves. He needed to talk to the Hulk.
%
"Lad, why are we chasing after this creature?" Arnie asked as they flew. "Some of my previous wearers chased down creatures, but the creatures brought their fate upon themselves-"
"I don't want to fight him, Arnie. I want him to help me."
The Hulk had left New York City in minutes by simply jumping. He could cover miles in a simple leap. But Harry's armour was fast and his eyes were used to finding tiny golden snitches in torrential downpours.
Even in the early hours of the morning darkness he could track the Hulk.
Eventually the massive green giant stopped in a forest, breathing heavily, not from exertion, but from rage.
It looked to the star speckled sky and roared one final time before slumping to the ground and just sitting there.
It leapt back to its feet as Harry landed with a small thud.
"Wait!" Harry called out. He drew his sword slowly and laid it on the floor, doing the same with his shield.
He then lifted his visor and fell to his knees. "Please! Help me. I'm trapped in this armour. Please try and pull it off me. Please help me be free."
The Hulk looked at him, distrustfully. Then it grunted and turned away.
"Please!" Harry begged.
The Hulk sighed before grabbing Harry's helmeted head in one hand and lifting him up like a toy before grabbing his legs and pulling.
The Hulk frowned. He pulled harder.
He dropped the knight on the ground.
"It's magic. People say that only a god could break the enchantments. Please, keep trying." Harry pleaded.
Harry held out his arms and the Hulk grabbed them, slowly it pulled. For a full ten seconds nothing happened. But then Harry saw frustration on the Hulk's face and it began to growl.
Five seconds later and the Hulk snarled angrily and Harry saw its muscles ripple and expand. He could feel the armour finally straining.
The Hulk, never loosening his grip or letting up, lifted his head to the dawn tinged sky and roared as his muscles and skeleton expanded to beyond what they had been when fighting the abomination in Harlem.
Then there was a loud crack, a scream and the arms came away from the torso.
The knight fell to its knees as the breastplate fell to the floor and the greaves crumbled. Only the helmet remained.
He couldn't lift his arms, his wrists and forearms were crushed.
The Hulk knelt down in front of the puny human and carefully pulled the helmet off with his finger and thumb.
Harry Potter looked up at the incredible being in front of him with tears pouring from his eyes in joy.
He was finally free.
"Thank you." He managed before he collapsed, completely out cold.
%
Harry had no idea where he was. He thought he might be in a bed, it was soft.
Soft… he opened his eyes.
He could see everything. There was no helmet to partially obscure his vision. There was no permanent shadow.
He was free.
He sat upright in a fluid motion.
There was a man wearing a loose t-shirt and a pair of tracksuit bottoms sitting in a chair in the corner of the room Harry was in. The room was his bedroom in England.
The man jumped as Harry sat up, startled by the movement. "Harry! You're awake. Lemme get that nurse."
The door swung open and Madam Pomphrey marched in. "Not to worry Doctor Banner, Ally has been keeping a strict eye on Mister Potter."
She wasted no time drawing her wand and waving it over Harry. "Good, your shoulders and forearms seem fine. Can you move your fingers for me?"
Harry wiggled them somewhat stiffly.
"Hmm, we'll have to set you some exercises." She frowned. "Are you hungry?"
"Yes, Madam." Harry said hoarsely.
"Alright Ally, you can bring Mister Potter some breakfast."
The little elf walked in, levitating a tray of assorted food and drink.
"Eat as much as you can Harry. I will go and inform Miss Gwynn and His Majesty that you are awake."
"Wait… What happened?"
"I can answer those, Harry." Doctor Banner promised.
"Who are you?" Harry asked as Madam Pomphrey and Ally left.
"I'm the big green guy you helped defeat the Abomination with. In Harlem, New York?" He smiled.
"Did you get shrunk in the wash?" Harry asked doubtfully.
Doctor Banner laughed and pulled his chair up to the bed. "The Other Guy is a manifestation of my rage. It is a result of some bad experiments that went wrong combined with a dark childhood… a bit like your own."
"You know about me?" Harry frowned as he poked at the Weetabix.
"The King, Megan, Doctor Braddock… they've all told me about you." Doctor Banner nodded.
"But what happened? I remember chasing you into a forest. I wanted you to-" Harry looked down at his unarmoured hand. "I wanted you to free me." He whispered.
"The Other Guy did." Banner nodded. "He must like you. The only other person he ever acknowledged was Betty Ross, my ex-girlfriend.
"The Hulk, which is what people have named the Other Guy, got frustrated when he couldn't easily take your armour apart. He kept trying. He succeeded but managed to mangle your arms in the process.
"The proof that he likes you is that he picked you up and took you back to Harlem. That's when he let me out and your friends who were doing damage control recognised you and called in Madam Pomphrey.
"They brought me back with you. Well, I begged them to." He admitted.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Harry, you are the only person I think the Hulk will respect. I wanted to make sure you knew me in case he ever got out again."
"But why? Isn't the Hulk a good guy? He was fighting that monster and protecting the other people."
"The Hulk is not good or bad. He just is. He doesn't want to be bothered. But because of my poor anger control, he can get loose, and the anger I felt becomes his.
"Usually it is the US Army that angers us. They want to capture us and experiment on us to turn us into a weapon."
"Is that why that soldier pointed the gun at you?"
Banner scowled. "General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross."
"Thunderbolt?" Harry said doubtfully.
"Something to do with his military service. Probably because he's so loud." Banner said dismissively. "But yes, he's the one who has been chasing me."
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Banner called.
The door opened to admit Doctor Braddock, Betsy, Megan and Hermione.
"Really, Harry? Dragons and basilisks weren't enough? You had to fight that abomination?" Hermione sighed as she stepped up to the bed and hugged him.
"Somebody had to and the Hulk didn't turn up until I did."
"Next time take me with you." Megan glared at him as she slapped his shoulder.
"They would have squashed you like a bug." He retorted as he flicked her wings.
"Then make me some armour!"
"Pixie, back off on that for a bit." Betsy said as she pushed the girl to the side gently and hugged Harry. "How are you feeling?"
"A bit weak. Or… it feels weird not carrying that armour around. Weak is the wrong word. Everything else feels weak. Like I'm floating."
"You are likely going to need some physiotherapy, Harry." Doctor Braddock warned as he stepped up and took Harry's hands, moving it through various motions. "According to Madam Pomphrey, you have maintained your height that the armour gave you. You are over five foot eleven."
"At least I can feel soft sheets again." Harry shrugged with a smile. "Did you manage to collect my armour, shield and weapons?"
"No, the Hulk didn't bring them with you." Doctor Braddock explained.
"I need to go and get them. I need to find Arnie and I can't leave the Sword of Gryffindor out there, a single nick could kill."
"Very well, I will talk to His Majesty."
"Already here, Sir James." The man in question said as he strode into the room. He moved straight for the bed and grasped Harry on either side of the head, staring at him intently. "You are well?"
"I think so, Sir." Harry said softly.
"I will contact Nicholas. You will have a fully armed escort when you go back." He said before turning and leaving.
"He was very worried about you, Harry." Megan said softly. "He came here every day to check on you."
"I- I had to do something." Harry reasoned somewhat desperately. "People were dying."
"Bah! His Majesty was extremely proud when he heard you had gone to lend aid to the people of New York." Doctor Braddock said. "But he cares for you. And Megan. It doesn't matter how proud and confident he might be about either of you, he will always worry for you."
%
Agent Coulson was decked out in a black jump suit with tactical gear as opposed to his usual suit. He had a team of other agents with him as well.
Betsy, Megan and Doctor Banner had also accompanied them.
"It was about here." Banner declared. "Yes, see, here's a piece of the armour."
Several agents gulped as they saw the piece of armour poking out the opposite side of the tree it had entered.
"Excellent." Coulson said. "This should give us a direct path to follow."
He wasn't wrong. But it was a long path. That shard had travelled over five hundred meters through multiple trees.
Lying where they had been left were his sword, shield and helmet. Harry quickly gathered the sword and shield, putting them next to the helmet that he picked up.
"Arnie? Can you hear me?"
"Harry! You made it!" The voice declared happily. "I was worried you wouldn't get help soon enough."
"The Hulk got me back to New York quickly."
"The Hulk?"
"The green giant who freed me."
"Ah, a noble beast, if a bit single-minded."
"Says the being created for battle." Harry retorted.
"I suppose my body is a loss?" Arnie said sadly.
"Not if I can help it. I need to find all your pieces for safety, but then I can try and put you back together." Harry promised.
"You'd really put me on again, Lad?" Arnie asked softly. "Those were dark days for you, son."
Harry lowered his head. "I don't know if I can put you on, but I can try and make you whole again."
"We were a good team, weren't we?"
Harry could hear the smile. "Such a shame you weren't there with me for the dragon and basilisk."
"We've been together for the better part of a year. I am certain you'll give me more opportunities." He scoffed.
Harry managed to summon the entirety of the shattered armour once he had found the gauntlet holding his wand.
%
The door to the Xavier Mansion opened to a trio of blondes who grabbed Megan in a hug.
"How is he?"
"Did he wake up?"
"Is he as super hot as we thought?"
Megan looked at them in amusement before she turned to those behind her. "He's passing fair." She shrugged.
The girls looked and saw the young man and Betsy.
"That's Harry?" One of them asked.
Harry went as stiff as a board as they suddenly pounced on him hugging and slapping him in turn. "Don't you dare do that again!"
"How could you hide those gorgeous eyes from us?"
"How about we-"
"Celeste Cuckoo!"
The blonde Celeste pouted as Jean Grey walked up. "You're not supposed to read our minds."
"I don't need to read your minds to know where yours was going. Now give Harry some breathing room. He only just escaped his cage."
"Come on Pixie, let's go plan a party!" The triplets led the girl off.
Jean looked at Harry, still tense. She smiled. "Don't worry, I can see you won't appreciate physical contact yet, and I don't need to read your mind either."
Betsy laughed as Harry sagged in relief.
"Come on in. Everyone will be pleased to see you."
Harry was suddenly a huge celebrity. It wasn't because he had gone up against the Abomination. It was because they finally saw his face in full.
"So this is what the Knight looks like?" Ororo smirked as everyone looked at him.
"Likewise." Harry shrugged. "From my point of view, everyone was surrounded by a shadow. I'm lucky my glasses never got dirty." He said as he tapped the black rimmed frames. "I love taking them off at last."
"Those were glasses?! I thought you had a cool tattoo!" The excitable Jubilee exclaimed with disappointment.
Harry shook his head before addressing Ororo. "Thanks… for coming and helping."
Ororo raised an eyebrow. "You are the only person to thank us."
Harry shrugged. "Nobody thanked me and the Hulk. If you do this for the thanks… you're doing it for the wrong reason."
Ororo scowled and poked him on the chest. "I do not appreciate wisdom from children." Then she smirked. "You're lucky Scott and Charles told me the same thing."
"H-Harry? Can we try?" Rogue asked nervously from behind Ororo.
"No!" Betsy said firmly, pulling Harry back. "Not until he has recovered properly. He is supposed to be in bed still but we needed to recover his armour and weapons."
Rogue looked utterly depressed.
Betsy moved forward and hugged her carefully. "It's just for a few days. I'm sure Harry will be back up and getting in trouble soon enough."
%
There was an issue that needed to be addressed quickly and it involved a meeting with the King, Doctor Braddock and Colonel Fury.
Harry was taken to a secure room in the palace where Doctor Braddock explained the situation.
"Your scar, Harry. We have interrogated Albus Dumbledore and from what we can tell, it might be cursed. He believes that a shard of Tom Riddle's soul may have lodged in there."
Harry shuddered as he resisted the urge to touch the now offensive part of him.
"As it is in the scar we think we can excise the scar and remove it. But we need to be thorough and that means we want to remove that section of your skull as well and replace it with a metal plate."
"Son, this is a dangerous operation." The King said with clear concern for Harry. "It will involve our best physicians and magical healers. But there is still tremendous risk."
"Is this why Riddle keeps attacking me? Is this part of the prophecy?" Harry asked calmly.
"Prophecy is a crutch for the weak, Harry. Prophecy didn't need to tell us to keep fighting during the war. It didn't tell the French that they were not alone as the Resistance worked with us.
"You didn't need prophecy to tell you to aid the people of New York." The King said firmly.
"Prophecy is the reason Riddle keeps coming at you like the Coyote only to fall victim to his own traps as you skate on by like the Road Runner." Fury smirked. "He believes the prophecy. Next time you see him, ask him why he's so eager to be a servant of fate."
%
The surgery was due to be performed in September, mere months away. Most of this was because Harry wanted to work on the plate.
Yes, he was going to put runes on the metal plate.
But first he wanted a way to break runes. He wanted to learn how to control the runes so that if he was ever trapped again, he could escape. He no longer wore armour all the time, but he carried his shield at all times. Nobody questioned it and assumed it was like a safety blanket.
In the meantime he worked with Doctor Bruce Banner and Rogue.
Bruce was happy for Harry to work on something to help him with the Hulk, but it wasn't something he wanted to rely on. Bruce worked on meditation to control his rage. To control the change.
Rogue, on the other hand, grew very familiar with Harry. She was constantly in physical contact with him as they tested new runes and arrays.
During one of those visits to the school there was a nasty encounter.
It was late in the evening and Harry and Megan were getting ready to head back home when the glass to the conservatory smashed inwards and smoking canisters hit the wooden floor.
Harry was familiar with gas canisters and other such ordinance due to his work with the army. He immediately cast a bubble head charm on himself and Rogue.
Screams of fear rang through the mansion as black clad men in masks began crashing through windows and doors.
Of the twenty that entered, eight went flying straight back out.
Two from Scott's eye blasts, three as Piotr threw them, two from Harry's wand and one as Logan tackled them outside.
Then the gunfire started.
Colossus stood boldly in front of the others as bullets smashed into his metal body.
Then Harry came sliding in from the hall with his shield. The bullets impacted the shield and the four men went down from their own rounds.
Around the rest of the mansion the intruders went stiff and then collapsed as Charles Xavier took their control away. He was livid and had to fight not to simply lobotomise them.
Ororo and Jean were instantly checking the wounded. Six children had bullet wounds and two had broken bones. One seemed to be reacting badly to the smoke canisters.
Harry grabbed a cushion from one of the chairs. "Dobby."
"Master Harry, Miss Pixie was attacked as well. Ally protected her and killed the men."
"I'll go right to her." Harry promised. "This is a Portkey. Can you take it to Madam Pomphrey and bring her back? The children are injured."
"Dobby will." The elf grabbed the cushion and vanished.
Harry cast stunners at every intruder he found as he headed for Meg. He also cast bubblehead charms on the staff and students. He found Megan nursing a bullet wound to her leg whilst the Cuckoos tried to bandage it.
"Here, I can fix it." Harry said as he quickly cast bubblehead charms on them. He then numbed the leg, summoned the bullet and healed the wound.
"I don't know whether to compliment your healing skills or yell at you for dragging me into another mess." Pomphrey said irritably as she appeared.
"Could you settle for making sure none of the children die from the attack?" Harry glared at her.
"Master Harry, Dobby is making sure little ones is being well. Master Harry's other elves are here too." Harry looked at the elf with a raised eyebrow. "Mister King Sir says there is being no secrets when his children are hurt." Dobby said defiantly.
"Keep up the good work." Harry smirked.
"Everyone take cover in the sub-basement. There are more men coming." Xavier's voice sounded through the school speakers.
Harry looked at the back of his shield. He started breathing heavily as he closed his eyes and pushed magic into the shield.
Metal flowed up his shield arm, swiftly covering his body, in seconds he was once again the armoured knight.
"Harry… no." Poppy said mournfully.
Harry looked at her, his face hidden by the visor. "Somebody has to." He then vanished in front of them.
This was the third variation of the armour. The second had been a simple test for Harry. A test to see if he could mentally handle being back in the armour.
The only thing that remained the same was the helmet. And that was because Harry refused to don the armour without Arnie.
But things were now very different. There were all manner of commands that could sap the power of the armour and thus the runes. Arnie could now free him.
He had managed to make the visor invisible to himself. The whole helmet did not exist to him. He could even put his hand through it. But only he could.
Beyond that, nothing else had changed.
He was still able to be silent and invisible, and he still carried the Sword of Gryffindor.
These men had attacked innocent young children. They had fired lethal weapons at them. Harry was going to stop them before they got any further. He was tempted to kill them with his sword.
Instead, he let them kill themselves.
He appeared directly in front of them and stood there as they fired. They fell to the floor from multiple bullets. Unlike the King's Guard, these men were using fully automatic weapons. Each of them fired more than a single bullet and that cost them their lives.
Harry moved on towards the black Humvees, one of which had crashed the gate.
More bullets came his way. More men died.
Then a helicopter appeared overhead, a bright spotlight shining down on him. Harry shot into the sky and straight through the bottom of the craft, it exploded in his wake, lighting up the night sky.
Harry didn't stop, he flew higher until he could see the mansion like a small dollhouse. Then he aimed himself at the collection of Humvees and flew fast and unwavering.
"This is not the time to test your limits!" Arnie nearly screamed.
Harry smashed into one car causing it to explode with the force of impact. The other vehicles were sent flying. Harry stood up and surveyed his work. He sheathed his sword and cast a spell to detect any living beings. He found four and headed towards them.
"Ross." Harry growled as he drew his sword.
The Army General was bleeding from a slice to his upper arm, and his left leg appeared to be broken. The other three men were trying to pull him to safety.
Two of them aimed their weapons and fired.
They held their triggers down and were torn to shreds.
Harry looked down at the last man and the General. "Please. Fire your weapons." He said darkly.
"S- Sir?"
"Stand down, Harry." The man sagged in relief as new men in tactical gear approached.
"You know what they did, Coulson." Harry said, never looking away from Ross. "They attacked children. Shot them. They shot Meg."
"Harry, prisons aren't to save criminals from death. They are to make an example." Coulson said as he holstered his weapon. "Come on, you are a hero, not a murderer. Don't stoop to their level. Let's go and check on Megan."
%
Pomphrey and the elves were able to heal all the children. There would be some tough nights ahead as they dealt with the trauma, but they were healthy.
"Coulson." Logan nodded to the agent as he and Harry entered the mansion.
"Logan. Can you give me an overview?"
"These asshats decided to attack a school filled with children as they were headed for bed. I don't care what genes you've got… we take offense to that."
"So I see." Coulson said as he surveyed the dead bodies. "The students and staff?"
"Safe, healed. The kid's healer came and set everyone to rights. But there were a lot of bullets in a lot of very young flesh.
"Who did this?"
"General Ross."
"The guy after Banner?"
"He must have discovered Harry's connection here and thought he was a way to get at the Hulk." Coulson theorised. "The fool is lucky Banner wasn't here. Everything we have says that, despite the rage, the Hulk doesn't like innocents being hurt.
"Are the students secure?"
"In the sub-levels."
"Harry, come on. I want you out of that armour." Coulson ordered.
%
As soon as the students saw the knight being led into the metal walled sub-levels they gasped. They all knew how relieved Harry was to be free of the armour.
"Jesus, Harry, why would you put this thing on again?" Jean asked with concern.
"Different armour." Harry said as he pulsed his magic into his shield causing the armour and sword to flow into it. "This one actually comes off." He smiled weakly.
"Harry, are you aware that you don't wear one of the devices you made to prevent mind-reading?" Xavier asked as he rolled forward. "All the telepaths here refrain from reading others, but we can still sense emotions. Yours spike with fear whenever your armour is mentioned.
"We know what putting that cage back on has cost you."
"Let's focus on the bigger situation." Scott stepped in. The telepathic link he willingly shared with Jean let her know he wanted to take the pressure off Harry. "Why were we attacked?"
"We believe General Ross thought he could get at the Hulk if he captured Harry." Coulson answered. "Considering he had his men fire on you, he knew you were all mutants and that you could defend yourselves."
"And the fact that they were children means nothing to you?" Ororo demanded.
"Me? It means plenty. Ross? You know how hard he's gone after the Hulk."
Ororo backed down at the glare from Harry.
"We've got Ross in custody." Coulson told them. "He's not going to go through the usual courts, he'll pay though."
"What do you mean?" Scott asked.
"If we let the police handle this it will put a major spotlight on this school and mutants. Not to mention Harry and the Hulk.
"Very quickly this will turn from a case of attempted mass murder and kidnapping into a means to persecute people who defended themselves."
%
Coulson had repairs underway on the mansion before dawn. They would be finished before lunch. It would be paid for by the Army… unless they wanted to explain why they were operating on US soil against US citizens… US children.
Ross was already being investigated for the events in Harlem. He was an embarrassment to the US Army.
The residents of the school were now fully aware of magic. They had seen Harry, Megan and Poppy cast spells. Dobby and his family had been none too subtle.
So now the younger children were pestering Harry and Megan to show them magic. It wasn't a hardship, but it did become a little tiresome.
Harry was finally getting somewhere with Rogue. He had changed tactics. Instead of focusing on trying to prevent her absorbing he was now studying what she could absorb.
She couldn't absorb magic. She could absorb life, energy and memories. After their experiments with her absorbing from Harry, she knew the spell incantations and runes, but she couldn't use them.
The question became, could she bypass magic. Harry had begun researching how to create a magical aura. The type that powerful magicals like Dumbledore could.
The answer was no. She could touch Harry, but she couldn't absorb anything whilst his skin was permeated with magic. The magic seemed to disrupt it.
Megan wasn't able to produce the same effect but Madam Pomphrey was willing to help. Another success and an avenue for Harry to go down.
Harry needed a break from trying to help Rogue. A change of pace. So he went to see if he could help another member of the school who had trouble with their mutation.
"I don't ever remember the world being so… colourful." Scott said in awe as he blinked.
"We're in a sterile metal room… this is not colourful." Harry pointed out as he stood in the infirmary in the sub-levels of the mansion with Jean.
"I see everything in red. This is colourful for me, Harry." Scott assured him.
"Well they are just magically reinforced glasses with some perception altering runes. You are still seeing everything in red, magic is just translating it for your brain."
"You look like Harry's older brother." Jean smirked.
"Considering the attention he gets, I'll take that as a compliment." Scott grinned.
"You think being the target of every nut job is a good thing?" Harry asked dubiously.
Scott patted him on the back and changed the subject. "Hank." He said, looking at Jean.
Jean nodded slowly. "I suppose Harry doesn't need medical details for now." She activated a computer monitor and pulled up an image of another male with dark hair and spectacles. "Harry this is a good friend of ours. Henry 'Hank' McCoy."
She pulled up another image. "This is what his mutation has made him look like."
The glasses were the only thing the same. This new picture showed a tall, muscular, blue-furred, fanged creature. Almost cat like.
"Huh… he looks familiar." Harry mused.
"You've met him?" Scott asked.
"Oh, no. Just, he reminds me of someone." Harry moved closer to the screen. "These are all physical mutations? Like Pixie's wings?"
"Yes." Jean confirmed.
"I don't think I can help him like I have the others." He turned to Jean and Scott. "Everything I've done so far is to… inhibit your abilities. Your hairband prevents your telepathy. Your glasses prevent your beams escaping.
"But all your abilities are still there. Take off the glasses and hairband and you can use them.
"What you want here is to rewrite his physical structure. It isn't something I think I can do with runes without causing a lot of pain and discomfort.
"We can try some stuff, experiment, the usual, but it is going to be a lot more invasive and uncomfortable."
"How invasive?" Scott asked.
"Human transfiguration." Harry said as he held out his wand and pointed it at Jean questioningly. She nodded and he transfigured her into a cat.
Scott looked on, his eyes, for once, visibly wide.
Harry cancelled the spell.
"That was… weird." Jean breathed heavily.
"And not what I recommend letting me experiment with. I work with runes and might be able to create something, but you really need a transfiguration expert.
"I'll also need volunteers to try out another method."
%
Jean and Scott said they would contact Hank and get him to meet Harry.
Harry had finished most of the modifications to the metal plate they were going to put in his skull. He was back to tinkering on a solution for Rogue.
Really it was a distraction from the surgery.
But the day came and Megan, Betsy and Hermione had accompanied him. He was very nervous, despite what the doctors told him.
The anaesthetist told him to count backwards from ten… but he never remembered that.