A/N: Like many others, I caught the Hogwarts AU bug and had to figure out some way to exorcise it. I'm not sure whether I'll continue this or not, but I wanted to put something up, so here we are. I hope everyone enjoys! (And yes, the similarities to Rowling's first chapter are intentional. Assuming I continue this, it'll be explained later.)

The Fosters were proud to say that they were perfectly rational, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything magical, because they just didn't hold with that.

Both of them had doctorates; the husband in astrophysics and the wife in medicine. Jake Foster, a lanky blond man, was a highly esteemed professional director of very important research at the University of Greenwich. Anne Foster, a rounder brunette, had been a doctor before deciding to take care of their baby daughter full-time. The little girl was named Jane, and in their opinion there was no girl who was more brilliant.

It seemed like they had everything they wanted, but they also had a very important secret… and Anne's greatest fear was that the world would discover that secret before it was ready.

When Dr. Jake Foster left their flat for Greenwich the Saturday night our story starts, there was nothing about the starry sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening. The father hummed as he shrugged on his brown leather jacket and gloves while the mother sang lullabies to Jane.

None of them noticed a large, black raven flutter past their window.

At half past eight, Dr. Foster picked up his briefcase, pecked the other Dr. Foster on the check, and placed a kiss on the now-sleeping Jane's forehead. He chuckled as he closed their door behind him on the way out.

It was as he was turning the corner of the street in his car that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar—a raven looking at him point blank. He blinked, thinking he was imagining things, and looked at the cat again. It continued to stare him down. As he turned the corner of the next street, he glanced at his rearview mirror and yep—it was still there.

He shook his head and continued to the observatory, his mind now on a far more important subject.

"What's happening?" He asked his colleague as he entered the lab.

"Nothing," Dr. Erik Selvig replied. "That's the strange part."

"Hmm…" Dr. Foster took a look at the equipment and the readings.

"It's all in order, Jake," Dr. Selvig said. "I've checked everything."

"This shouldn't be taking so long." Jake mused. He sat down and put his hand to his chin. "The last seventeen occurrences have been predictable to the minute… I don't understand."

"Once every month for seventeen months." Erik sighed. "Could it have stopped? After all, the last one was weaker than normal."

They both sat and thought for a moment.

"Maybe—" Dr. Foster began.

"My answer is still no, Jake," Dr. Selvig cut in.

The man in question shook his head. "Erik, for all we know these phenomena could be happening around the world! I'm aware of the risks, but to be able to pool our resources—"

"We can't tell anyone about this yet," the other physicist argued. "If word of this gets out, our research could get confiscated before we've even begun to figure out what's going on!"

"And with all this raw power suddenly coming and going…" Erik's expression was grim. "Who knows what someone would do with it without understanding what it is?"

As they talked, they had no idea that the same raven which had been staring at Dr. Foster earlier was now carefully observing them from right outside their window.

When Dr. Foster returned home, he found his wife up waiting for him.

"Did it happen again tonight?" she asked.

Jake shook his head. Anne's eyes grew a little wider.

"What? Why do you think it stopped?"

"I have no idea," he answered. "And Erik still won't allow me to share any of our data!" The physicist sighed.

"You know he's right," Anne chided him. "He's seen others go through exactly what he's been warning you about."

Jake ran a hand through his hair. "It's just… we can't keep this from the world forever," he said.

"Someday the world will be ready for it," she replied, "but not now. Maybe not even within our lifetimes…"

The woman looked towards the room where her daughter was sleeping.

Hours later, across the sea, the raven Huginn perched on the arm of a very powerful witch.

It was Frigga, the Queen of Asgard, clad in sky-blue robes and the other trappings of royalty. She possessed long and fair golden hair that fell down to her waist.

Huginn was not hers, however. No, the raven of Thought belonged to her husband who had just entered their chambers.

"Fancy seeing you here," she said teasingly. As the raven flew off, Frigga turned from the balcony to face her husband. He was cloaked in shadow. The witch could see his form, but not much else.

"I heard that you have been here all day," her husband said. "You could have been feasting! I must have passed a dozen of them on my way here."

"Ah yes," Frigga said, "everyone has been celebrating. You would think they would be more careful, especially since the Muggles have begun to notice something is happening."

"What?" the wizard asked tersely.

The queen recounted to him what Huginn had seen in London: a pair of Muggle scientists had detected the new weapons they had been using during the war, even though they had no idea what they were looking at.

"But…" she finished, "they seem to be of a responsible sort, surprisingly. They plan to keep their findings a secret until they understand what is going on—but they may never figure it out."

"They will never figure it out," her husband said. "The thoughts of Muggles can be as limited as the span of their lives..."

"At least for some of them," he added at a look from Frigga. He knew of his wife's partiality to them.

The witch hummed in amusement. "Now then, why do you stay in the shadows like that? Come into the light and let me see you."

"There is something I must tell you first," he said solemnly.

Frigga suddenly had a terrible feeling. "The war is over," she said back. "What more trouble could there be?"

The wizard was silent.

"Does this have to do with the rumors that I heard my servants whispering today?" she asked. "About how the Frost Giants were finally stopped?"

The queen was only answered with more silence.

"What I have heard," she continued, "is that last night they tried to launch a final assault—not just on us, but on the entire world—that would have devastated everyone. There was a great fight, but they were finally stopped by that brave young wizard from America. Their weapon crashed in the ocean, with him on it, and it may never be found…"

Her husband bowed his head. Frigga sighed.

"Those poor children," she said. "All of the sacrifices they have made…"

"It is the nature of war," he responded.

"That is true," Frigga said after a bit. "…Is that all?"

"No," her husband answered. Odin, the King of Asgard, clad in golden armor and possessing red hair with streaks of grey, emerged from the darkness. In one hand he held his spear Gungnir, one of the most powerful weapons the world had ever seen. In his other arm rested a mysterious bundle.

"What is that?" she asked.

He unwrapped the bundle to reveal a tiny, tiny baby with pale skin and green eyes.

"An infant?" Something was off about them, however, and Frigga's eyes widened when she realized what it was. "A Frost Giant."

"Yes." Odin let the glamour around the infant fall to show their blue, ridged skin and unearthly red eyes.

"How—"

"He was to be sacrificed," the king explained. "But when the Frost Giants retreated, they left him out on the altar to let the elements do with him what they would."

"You would adopt him, then." Frigga said matter-of-fact. She knew her husband well.

"…Yes," Odin said with uncharacteristic hesitation.

"You cannot," she replied. "A Jotunn, growing up in the halls of Asgard? Think of what will happen when he finds out who he really is—"

"It will not happen until the time is right."

Frigga took a deep breath. "Do you know his birth parents?"

"Yes."

She looked at his expression and realized—"The son of Laufey."

"Indeed."

The queen sat down. "You believe he can be the one to bring a lasting peace between our nations."

"I do." Odin sat down beside her and put the glamour back on the child in a way that would last for a long time.

Green eyes. "He looks like Baldur," Frigga said with a sob she could not hold back.

"It was not my choice," Odin said. "The spell gives one what appearance it will."

They sat in silence for a bit. "We must do this."

"Yes," Frigga replied, "I suppose we must. I will not cast a child into a den of wolves." She stroked his forehead and suddenly smiled.

"He has much magic in him," the witch observed.

"I suspect you will have an excellent pupil on your hands in a few years." Odin chuckled. "But for now…" The infant had fallen asleep.

"What would you like to name him?" he asked.

Frigga thought for a while. "Loki," she decided.