Cobrah here. This is a tie-in to two of my other stories, The Tale of The Three Sisters and Tonks Junior. I heavily recommend that you check out them both because they're awesome. Tonks Junior is the direct precursor to this one, so please check that out to understand Teddy Lupin's motivation. OMG, I'm so excited to finally be able to reference all of this classic Marvel lore! Thanks for reading, and be sure to review/favorite this one as well.
Songs of The Day:
Arrival to Earth by Steve Jablonsky
And there came a day unlike any other, when earth's mightiest heroes were united against a common threat! On that day The Order of The Phoenix was born! - To fight the foes no single Witch or Wizard could withstand!
In a world paralyzed by uncertainty due to attacks against Muggles and anyone else deemed undesirable by the vicious Pure-Blood supremacy group known as The Death Eaters. it seemed as though the magical community at large was held hostage. No matter how many of these masked mercenaries seemed to be taken down by The Ministry of Magic'sAurors, three more seemed to take their place like the monstrous Hydra of myth. And holding this Hydra's leash was a terrifying trifecta known led by the self-proclaimed Dark Lord and his fearsome Deadly Alliance!
The undisputed leader of The Deadly Alliance was Lord Voldemort, a mysterious and terrifying cloaked figure who prided himself on his unmatched skills in The Dark Arts and mastery of the art of Legilimency, allowing himself the ability to utterly destroy a person not only through their body but also their mind. Methodical and seemingly invincible, his reputation grew so fearsome that Witches and Wizards across the world didn't dare speak the devil's name, lest the devil himself appear!
Although a mere teenager when first joining The Dark Lord's ranks, Lucius Malfoy soon proved his colors and then some, quickly advancing through the ranks through a combination of blackmail and assassinations in order to earn the right speak into the ears of Voldemort himself. Lucius' mission was to serve as The Dark Lord's left hand; his chief strategist and second-in-command should something happen to him. Although loyal to "the old ways," Voldemort sensed deception within this snake's mind before Lucius learned to block him out, and therefore set a contingency plan in place. Should Lucius lose his way, the operative known as "The Boggart" was to take it upon herself to insure that he choke own ambition.
Last but certainly not least was the mistress of murder herself, Bellatrix Lestrange. The very first female Death Eater to enter The Dark Lord's inner circle, Bellatrix soon proved herself just as if not even more sadistic and depraved counterparts, taking particular pleasure in playing with her food before she ate it. Bellatrix led her master's armies into battle time and time again; entrenching herself further and further into the nightmares of children everywhere. Although his right hand proved most useful, The Dark Lord feared that her passion for violence would be her undoing, and therefore bestowed the privilege of her agency to "The Basilisk," who possessed a certain subtlety Bellatrix sorely lacked.
As more and more of their enemies fell, the more and more the ranks of The Death Eaters swelled, featuring the talents of the most hated Witches and Wizards of all time, which included but were not limited to;
Narcissa "The Matriarch" Malfoy, Lucius' wife, who while never made an official Death Eater by Lucius' request in order to protect her, was still blessed with The Dark Mark, held meetings at The Malfoy Manor, and often served as Lucius' second opinion. Despite being a big target for his enemies and considered weak as far as the inner circle went, she was still capable of holding her own.
Rodolphus "Le Homme Sombre" and Rabastan "Frère Diabolique" Lestrange, French brothers whose main claims to fame were being the husband of The Boggart and the brother to the husband of The Boggart respectively.
Alecto "Double" and Amycus "Trouble" Carrow, twins who made up one of the more ruthless units in Voldemort's employ. Often accused of incestous relations. Rumors have not been denied.
Fenrir "The Predator" Greyback, while not made an official Death Eater this werewolf was often contracted for targets that Voldemort felt deserved to die a little more messily than
Corban "The Bureaucrat" Yaxley, an agent from within the Ministry itself that was sympathetic to Voldemort's cause who often tipped the The Death Eaters off when something big was about to go down in exchange for a massive pile of gold.
Antonin "Dollmaker" Dolohov, a particularly nasty Russian bounty hunter brought in by The Pirate who prided himself on his notorious duelling skills, and inventor of "адское пламя," a variety of purple flame that immediately stopped one's heart upon coming into contact with flesh.
Igor "The Pirate" Karkaroff, a nobleman who brought many Eastern European lackeys into the fold and who was tasked with the education of Voldemort's Dark Acolytes. Also captained The Death Eater's fleet via Voldemort's flagship; Slytherin's Dagger.
Walden "The Executioner" MacNair, another bounty hunter who was tasked with the assassination of anyone Voldemort wished dead. Anyone who wished to leave The Dark Lord's employ soon found their head removed by MacNair's axe.
Augustus "The Politician" Rookwood, Voldemort's number one agent inside of The Ministry, head of The Department of Mysteries and in charge of Voldemort's vast network of spies.
And finally, a trio of Dark Acolytes known as Severus "The Bat" Snape, Barty "The Snake" Crouch Junior, and Regulus "The Dog" Black, who were talented young Wizards trained by The Basilisk, The Politician, and The Boggart respectively who were thrust into Voldemort's inner circle in order to compensate for the high mortality rate of his followers. The Bat defected, The Snake was arrested, and The Dog is presumed deceased via The Executioner's blade, although no body was found.
Aided by these criminals and dark creatures such as Giants, Werewolves, and Inferi, it seemed as though all hope was lost, until the promotion of then-head of The Auror Office Barty Crouch Senior into the Head of The Department of Magical Law Enforcement that began to produce results. Eugenia Jenkins may have been Minister at the time, but everyone knew who really held all the power. However, while his "fight fire with fire" approach helped to even the odds, the controversial alliance with The Dementors, hiring of The Dark Force Defence League to be a private militia, approval of The Unforgivable Curses, and increased use of torture proved to do as much harm as it did good. It earned Crouch many detractors.
One such dissenter was Albus Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of The Wizengamot and Transfiguration Teacher of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the time, was disgusted and saddened by the state of The United Kingdom and beyond, which was even more exacerbated by the growing cloud of fog The Dementors kicked up. His own students calling for blood on both sides, more and more names being called over the radio... and most disheartening of all, not having any faith in his own government anymore. What was the point of showing up to The Ministry anymore if no one wanted to listen to him anymore?
Albus recognized that hungry look in Crouch's eyes from his youth, and it filled him with the utmost of dread. Crouch was a valuable ally, but also a dangerous one. Despite his devotion to wiping out the dark arts, he epitomized all of the negative qualities associated with them. Power-hungry. Mercilessness. Lack of empathy. Albus knew his methods were effective, but at what cost? And would Crouch even be interested in giving up his increased power once the war was over?
In order to distract himself, Albus decided to do what always made him the happiest whenever he felt down; look through his desk and decide whether his students had earned the privilege of their possessions back. Most were joke items such as invisible tacks that were placed under his desk, exploding dungbombs, acid pops, and other such paraphernalia. However, there was one item that caught Albus' eyes that day; a comic book a Muggle-Born student of his had been attempting to read during his lecture the previous week.
The cover indicated it was the very first issue, and featured five costumed superheroes facing off a green-and-yellow garbed supervillain. The one with golden locks fairer than any maiden swinging a hammer proclaimed "Loki! Prepare for battle!" only for the horned antagonist to sneer and proclaim "The Avengers… Bah! I'll destroy you all!"
Albus was not an avid reader of comic books, he had only occasionally come across an issue or two of "Martin Miggs, The Mad Muggle" every now and then. However, this little funny book seemed amusing enough, and Albus soon found himself perusing through the yellowing pages absentmindedly at his desk amid grading papers on Animagi. And then he was hooked.
The action was non-stop, the characters were all unique and memorable, the dialogue snappy, the villain was great… just a classic story where the good guys win and delivered on the cover's braggadocio. Soon after finishing the story, Albus found himself reading it again and again. After such a miserable year, it was nice to forget his problems for a little bit and get lost in Stan Lee's pontifications. He smiled a little sadly at the final page, which depicted The Avengers deciding on their own to come together after defeating Loki as a team. With the exception of maybe The Hulk, they were all so genuine in their desire to do good, so eager to help without the slightest hint of an ulterior motive or cynicism. If only life were that simple. If only the REAL Ant-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and Wasp were around to lift everyone's spirits...
Suddenly, a wonderful idea hit Albus in that moment, and he gave a raptious cry of mirth that caused the bird on his desk to let out a concerned shriek. Why hadn't he thought of it earlier?! He would never understand why his peers insisted on being so dismissive of the ingenious creations of Muggles…
Summoning a roll of parchment, Albus hurriedly dipped his quill, spilling ink all over his beard in the process, and excitedly jotted down a massive list of names and a letter he duplicated dozens of times over and over again. Once he had reached around seventy copies, he rolled up the names of the list, levitated the letters into a blue bag, and summoned Fawkes to his side.
"You know what to do." Albus whispered, stroking the underneath of his Phoenix's beak affectionately. Nodding his assent, Fawkes spread his wings, took the bag and the list of names and took off. "Good luck, old friend." Albus thought to himself. "Perhaps our hope is not gone quite yet."
...
June 25th, 1970
Albus didn't know how many to expect. Would they all laugh him off? Not show up due to old divides? He eyed the familiar sign of "The Hog's Head" anxiously and continued the path, muttering to himself all the way. He was greeted by his brother, Aberforth, who looked very disgruntled indeed.
"ALBUS, HOW MANY PEOPLE DID YOU INVITE AGAIN?!" He sputtered.
Albus' heart soared. Forty Witches and Wizards were all crowded inside, stuck elbow-to-elbow, some of them even pushed back into the goat stable, waiting to hear him speak. Not only ones from The United Kingdom, but everywhere from Africa to The United States, all waiting to hear what he had to say.
"Yes, I think this will do quite nicely." Albus chuckled to himself. "Sorry, Aberforth, I suppose I should have told you how many I had invited. But on the bright side, look at all the customers you have now!"
Aberforth grumbled like a grubby goat as Albus attempted to call for attention.
"Excuse me, please - may I -"
But the rabble of the crowd socializing with one another was too much. Albus felt a tap on his shoulder to see his good friend and the current head of The Auror office, Alastor Moody. Albus would have presumed he would be for Crouch's changes in policy, but then again Alastor had always had a certain conscience that seemed to show up in the strangest of places, and he HAD been alive when Grindelwald was at his strongest, so perhaps it wasn't as big of a surprise that Alastor was on his side in this case.
"Sonorous," Alastor growled, pointing his wand at Albus' throat. Albus nodded his head in gratitude.
"SILENCE!" Albus boomed. "WILL EVERYONE PLEASE, NOT PANIC!"
Everyone shut up immediately after that.
"We all know why we're here!" Alastor barked. "Lately, The Ministry's decisions have been as stupid as Doge's hat!"
"Hey!" Elphias Doge, who was wearing a cowboy hat with a feather stuck in it and was currently squished on Dumbledore's right side, protested wheezily.
"QUIETUS - ah, that's better." Dumbledore said, returning his wand to his pocket. "But, I believe we are missing an essential guest, the one who brought us all here. Fawkes?"
Immediately, the substitute to The Teen Brigade flew in through a dusty window, soared over the dazzled crowd with a soothing coo, and landed neatly on Albus' outstretched arm.
"As Stan "The Man" Lee is often known to have said," Albus began in order to break the ice, "EXCELSIOR!"
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