Another chapter another denial of ownership on either HP characters which belong to JKR or the Comic Book ones which are Marvel property.

America: 2 Years After Leaving

Harry Potter groaned as he rolled to one side, barely avoiding a blast of mystic energy. Baron Mordo was attacking the Sanctum once again, making this the third attack on the building this month. Three wands fired off a handful of spells towards the man who countered with his shield. He, Wong, Sirius, Remus, and Hermione were all doing their best to hold the Dark Sorcerer back while Dr. Strange dealt with Dormammu. Hermione had started spending all of her school breaks in New York City to be around him and to personally deliver all of her various Hogwarts notes to Harry. She also acted as his tutor in Ancient Runes, COMC, and Arithmancy. It had gotten to the point where Wong had just set aside a room for the girl near Harry's room. It helped that she was also able to spend time with her parents while on her visits as well. Ron usually came for a few weeks in the summer, but his stays were much shorter than Hermione's, who always managed to stay until the last minute. The stays were also somewhat strained as the Weasley boy was often trying to convince his friend to contact Dumbledore again so that they could try and work something out. The boys often ended up spending their time arguing and making up over their disagreements when it came to Dumbledore. Harry after spending time under Strange now knew what it meant to have a real protector and mentor, while Ron was still enthralled by the legend that was Dumbledore.

Harry had decided to hold off on having anything serious to do with the wizarding world until after his training was complete. He would let the people in charge deal with the threat of Voldemort, it was what so many of the members of the Order of the Phoenix had wanted anyways. Why should he argue with that particular request of theirs? Besides, with all of the training that he was receiving he was much too busy to just start up a lot of discussions with the headmaster on a war he was doing his best to stay out of. If they had wanted his help so badly then perhaps they should have made it more clear when he was around instead of just having him hidden away doing house chores. Molly Weasley also had her problems since her Howlers were casually dealt with by Dr. Strange who destroyed them with a wave of his hand. None of the righteous anger that woman felt was ever heard by the various people that lived in Salem.

The Ministry had tried a few times here and there, to convince or force Harry to return to England and Hogwarts. Since they refused to admit they were wrong about the whole Sirius incident though, they had very little to convince Harry with. The one time that they had tried an outright assault against their home had ended with several wounded Hit-wizards and Aurors. The attacks had stopped though when it became apparent that they had more important things to worry about such as trying to keep the war out of their country. Between Fudge and Scrimgeour, it was amazing that they didn't run the country into the ground with their policies. It was all Dumbledore and the Ministry could do just to hold Voldemort and his forces back at times. The so called 'Light' controlled Scotland, while England itself was under the control of the 'Dark'. Surprisingly, no Death Eaters ever learned of the location of where Harry and the others lived despite the Ministry building and its records having fallen into the hands of Voldemort. It seemed that the records had either been destroyed or hidden away before the Dark managed to finally take the Ministry.

With Hermione staying so long, it hadn't taken her long before she had become aware just who and what Dr. Strange really was. Hermione had a small knack for some of the sorcerer spells, though her skill resided mainly in the art of the wand with some skill in elemental magic, unlike Harry who with training could mold both Wizard and Sorcerer magic near effortlessly once he understood the spells.

"Back off!" Harry shouted as he thrust both hands at the Baron sending bolts of energy to join the attacks of the others.

Mordo merely chuckled as all the attacks bounced off his shield. "Even with the help of your friends, boy, you're still no match for me." The man made a shooing gesture and a telekinetic blast knocked Remus and Sirius into a wall. The younger pair ran in a circle around the man throwing various magical attacks at him. Mordo shook his head in disgust at the two teens. A whip made of lighting appeared in his hands and he knocked the wand out of Hermione's hand. The girl fell to the ground twitching. He then sent several bits of metal to hold Harry's hands. Mordo sneered as he floated down in front of the downed teens.

"You're going to have to try a better look of disgust; we've been sneered and scowled at by the master." Harry said with a defiant grin.

"Brave till the last moment boy?" Mordo questioned as he lifted him up by the front of his shirt and slapped him hard enough to split his lip.

A boom echoed throughout the building and the doors opened to reveal Dr. Strange standing tall, his eyes glowing with mystic energy. "Mordo, release my apprentice!" The man demanded as he stalked into the room.

"Come any closer and the boy gets it Strange." The other sorcerer returned as he held up a glowing hand towards the boy. "You are taking them young these days aren't you?" He questioned with mild curiosity.

"He has much potential." Dr. Strange returned. They were interrupted from their usual banter as Padfoot leaped forward and snapped his jaws around the glowing arm of Mordo. Dr. Strange reacted to the distraction and fired a blast into the figure trying to hold his student.

Mordo looked at the group of fighters climbing back to their feet to renew their fight with him. "Another time Strange." Mordo promised, before he disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

"You did well for your first battle against Mordo." Dr. Strange complimented his student.

"What do you mean? He beat us" Harry grumbled, as he stared at the cloud of smoke the other sorcerer had left. "We had him with four to one odds and he beat us."

"You are still young and have much to learn though my apprentice." Dr. Strange informed his student. "As for your companions they use wands which while powerful are nowhere near the power that a Sorcerer wields." He reminded the annoyed teen. "Do not be in such a hurry though. The time will come when you are able to do battle with people like Mordo on your own. But now is not the time."

Harry nodded his head in reluctant acceptance of what his mentor told him.

"Also, think of how well you held your own against one of my most dangerous of foes," Strange added. "Baron Mordo is not someone that you dismiss without any thought. The fact that you managed to last as long as you did is a true testament to the power that you wield, and how strong that you and your friend are becoming."

Hogwarts: 5 Years After Leaving

The years passed and the stalemate between the Light and Dark sides of the magical wizarding world continued, causing a magical civil war that spanned across the entire United Kingdom. England and Wales were deeply rooted into Voldemort's service, while Scotland and Ireland were hosts to Dumbledore and the Ministry. Trade with the rest of the wizarding magical world tapered off as the two forces continued to fight each other each vying for complete control of the United Kingdom. Voldemort and his followers had quickly crushed the resistance of those in England and had begun spreading his control farther out to take more control

Dumbledore stood at the top most turret of his castle and viewed the grounds of Hogwarts. With many fleeing the lands of their fore fathers, Hogwarts and Hogsmeade had been forced to become somewhat self-sufficient. Many of the stores that had been housed for generations within Diagon Alley had been relocated to the small wizard town. His sources and spies said that Diagon Alley had been overrun by the inhabitants of Knockturn Alley, as the darkness had spread through the United Kingdom so had it spread through the stores.

In response to the larger population of magical beings, a part of the Hogwarts grounds had been redone by some industrious muggle-born and now produced a variety of food stuffs that were tended by House-Elves and volunteers; with Professor Sprout doing checks once a week. Another area had been converted for sheep and goats to wander and graze with Hagrid overseeing them.

Dumbledore sighed a bit as he looked around at everything. Despite the grandness of all that he surveyed, he had long ago realized that it was a cage. One with gilded bars for sure, but it was a cage all the same. In an ironic twist of fate, he now understood Sirius and Harry somewhat better with their feelings in regard to Black Manor and number 4 Privet Drive. Before the war had started he could spend days and weeks within the walls of his school, but now that he was forced to stay here he wanted nothing more than to try and get out and away from this place. He yearned for the freedom to come and go where he wanted as he pleased. He missed the sights and sounds of the outside world even more than he had ever thought possible. If only Fudge hadn't expelled Harry and the boy hadn't decided he would rather take the Marauders and leave. He'd had many plans that had gone and crashed and burned thanks to that moment of teenaged rebellion. He had planned on sacrificing himself, Sirius, Severus, a handful of others, and of course Harry for the greater good of the world. All of his many plans and schemes for how this war would go were now ashes in the wind though. The easy and quick victory that he had originally planned had been turned to dust without Harry to learn about the subtler methods of life and other things. Dumbledore was now needed for the people, and he couldn't rely on the plans he had made.

He had hoped that the war would be rather quick; instead it had dragged on for several years until they had come to this, a stalemate. He had been forced into a game of wait and see by Tom and could do nothing. He knew he had to stay here at his castle since it was only a matter of time before Riddle tried another assault on the school. It was the center of wizarding magic in Europe, having lasted a thousand years.

He knew that there were several people that had begun drifting across the line and were almost as eager to kill Death Eaters and followers as the dark witches and wizards were ready to kill them. He did his best to keep them on the path to the light. His influence amongst some of the more radical ones was starting to wane though. Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley were both prime examples of that. Alastor Moody had taken Ronald Weasley, Susan Bones, Padma Patil, and Blaise Zabini under his tutelage and created a fine team of Aurors. They were known as the Founder Aurors, a team with a member from each house more than capable of doing their duties during these dark times. They were somewhat bloodthirsty in his personal opinion, but some people had trouble dealing with their darker natures at times.

Hermione Granger was another kettle of fish altogether though; she was not an active participant in the war either on the fighting side or on the political lines like he had always thought she would be. Instead the dear girl was often traveling from one country to another learning all that she could in her magical studies. She also acted as guide and guard for those that wished to leave the country and get away from the war. A task that he was not very happy that she was doing and had refused to put Order resources toward. Once the war was finally over, they would need the people that she was helping to escape to rebuild their society. She was in her own way helping destroy their chances of survival even more. On her trips, if she was confronted she dealt harshly with those that tried to either kill her or force her into working for the Ministry. Many was the time that the Order had arrived 'too late' only to find the remains of her attackers. He was sure that if Harry had been around that this would never have happened to the pair.

Of course if Harry had been around, his plans would probably already have been enacted and Voldemort would now be dead and their society nearly finished with their recovery. The people needed something to believe in and he had tried to be that person. His days of being a hero for the people were long over though. He had tried to bring Neville Longbottom out of his shell, convincing himself that he could still be the child of prophecy or at the very least a good substitute until the real one returned to do his duty. The boy had unfortunately died alongside of his Gran while trying to subdue Lestrange, giving his pregnant wife Hannah time to escape.

Dumbledore retreated back into the castle; he would need to rest to regain his strength. He had to keep the school ready for the final battle. Harry would come back one day, and when he did he wanted to be the one to greet him. Besides he had to be around to explain his destiny to the boy, no one else knew about it. Once they were united, they would cleanse the world of the darkness that was sweeping the land and return it to the way it had been before. With Harry and Voldemort gone he would be the last power and die of victorious old age as he would watch three powerhouses fall in his life.

America: 6 Years After Leaving

Harry sighed as he held his shield up while the others prepared themselves. He couldn't believe that they were actually fighting Mephisto of all beings. The guy was practically the devil himself, and was not someone that you wanted to be on the bad side of. In fact, he was the guy that you turned and walked away from as fast as possible and hoped he didn't think that you could be corrupted. Unfortunately, the guy had a lot of enemies, enemies that happened to be the friends and allies of Dr. Strange. There was also the added problem that the guy wanted to turn the Earth into some sort of hell dimension starting with New York City. He really hoped the others plan worked, because holding hellfire back was nowhere near as easy as the Sorcerer Supreme made it look.

"Not to rush you lot or anything, but if you have a plan to stop this guy I would really love it if you went ahead and did it before he barbeques me," the apprentice pleaded to the group of heroes. "We'll hold these guys for as long as possible.

Dr. Strange nodded as he rose to his feet. "Be careful my student, the followers of Mephisto are varied in their abilities and power."

"Just stop the dimensional rift before it becomes too much for me to shield against." Harry said as he watched several creatures appear. The young sorcerer waited until the others were gone before he held his staff up and slammed it down. The ritualistic staff allowed him to summon the animal spirits to help him in his fights. Ghostlike creatures responded to his call as the spirit creatures snarled at the demons. Harry's body glowed as he summoned strength, speed, and agility. Moving through the demons he countered their enhanced strength with his own while his spirit guardians ripped into the creatures. It they had souls the damage would have been more extensive, still the creatures were acting as a good distraction. Using his magic he formed several weapons and sent them shooting forward, impaling the creatures.

"This is getting ridiculous," he grumbled as he saw that the demons, while staggering back, weren't falling.

"That it is, little wizard hero" mocked a red skinned figure in a cloak. "Then again, what does one really expects from a soldier that doesn't know his place or war?"

"You really think I'm worth playing these games with?" Harry questioned nervously, as he backed away from the powerful demon. "We both know that most of my spells bounce off you whether they're from my hand or wand. So, why are you wasting your time making me question things?"

"Because this game is already over, you managed to save the real players enough time with your distractions and shields. Had you not stayed behind and caused the distractions that you did the game might have been mine," Mephisto explained to the young man. "Before you were merely a hanger-on and follower of Strange, but by doing this, you have made yourself known, and I shall be ready for you next time boy. I shall also pay you back someday for this trouble that you caused me today as well," he promised the young sorcerer, before disappearing in a burst of flame.

Waving his hands and muttering Harry sent more beams of magical power at the creatures. "I summon the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak!" he shouted, as red bands flew from his hands and wrapped around the beings, holding them in place. He then drew a wand from his pocket. The wand was oak, and had as its core a Pegasus of Asgard tail hair. It was a good wand to replace his own destroyed one with. He waved the wand and several blasting curses, disabling the creatures further before transfiguring the area around them into quicksand, then letting the ground solidify. He breathed a sigh of relief and sank to his knees as the amount of power he used to make the bonds tight enough, was more than he normally used on anything. He was relieved when he saw the world returning to normal. It seemed that they would all live to regret this mess after all.