The Justice Academy of America
Author's Note: Whoo...this has been a long summer. Unfortunately it's going to be an even busier semester, and updates will not be as forthcoming as I'd like, though I will try my hardest to get something new to you at least once a month.
Disclaimer: I do not claim any ownership of either the characters or plot from Harry Potter or any from the DC Universe.
Down the Road
"Hey kids!" Artie glanced up from the sleek black limo he was washing. "Hey Ron…think you could give me a hand finishing up?"
Ron groaned loudly, but pulled up the sleeves of his shirt and stepped forward to take the shammy his father held out to him.
"I can help too, Mr. Weasley—"
"Artie is still fine," he said with a chuckle, "and I'd be grateful for the help." He popped the trunk and dug around for a moment, pulling out a half-used can of wax. Showing Harry what to do, he stepped back and took a long look at the vehicle.
"This is, like, child labor or something, dad," called Ron over his shoulder.
"I ought to get something out of raising the seven of you," he said, although Harry caught the note of good humor that ran between the two of them. "Your brothers didn't want to come down today?"
Ron shook his head. "Percy is going to talk to Dr. Choy about an assistant position in the labs this year, remember? And I don't know what the twins are doing."
"Probably don't want to," said Mr. Weasley, half to himself. He took up a second rag and helped Harry in finishing the job of cleaning the car. When it finally sat there, gleaming under the afternoon sun, Arthur drove in into the Academy's large and well stocked garage. Though Harry only caught a glimpse of what was inside, it was enough to be impressed. Several large automobiles, motorcycles and at least two things that looked as if they could take flight were housed inside.
"Which one do we get to take home, dad?" said Ron.
"We're not taking one of the school's vehicles," he said, pushing a button on a small remote and closing the door before either of them got a better look. He saw the look of disappointment on Ron's face and nudged him jovially. "I got a side job doing some work on the Batmobile. Thought I might take that instead."
"What?" Ron perked up immediately, and even Harry couldn't help but feel a small excited thump in his chest. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah. There's a few things I can do that somebody without my gifts couldn't." He pulled a second control out of his pocket. He pressed a series of buttons and a sleek, fast looking car appeared out of nowhere. With a faint hiss the doors slid upward. Artie took his place behind the driver's seat. "The two of you are going to have to squeeze into the passenger seat."
Ron slid in first, staring in awe at all the buttons and panels that filled the inside of the car. Harry managed to find some space beside him and the doors slid closed again. It did not take them long at all to reach the Weasley's house, which sat on a small expanse of land near to the other edge of town.
"Does he…I mean Batman…does he really call it the Batmobile?" asked Harry.
"No. And neither do you, if you ever meet him."
Artie drove the car right into his own garage, which Harry saw was filled with all manner of broken down gadgets and gizmos. They trundled out and Artie ushered them immediately to the door, which led directly into the kitchen of the main house. A plump woman stood at the kitchen sink washing dishes. She stiffened when Harry entered, and without turning said,
"And who is this young man? I don't believe we've met." She turned. Harry blushed a little, seeing that more than just her attention was focused on him—Harry remembered Ron saying that she could sense certain things about a person that others couldn't.
"My name is Harry Potter, ma'am," he said.
"Why yes…it's an honor to meet you." She commenced with her washing, though Harry felt she was still watching him.
"Ron!" Harry jumped. He hadn't seen the young girl come flying into the room, and when she appeared right next to him he jumped right into the air.
"Mind your manners!" said Mrs. Weasley in exasperation. "No running in the house."
"I won't hurt anything," said the girl, rolling her eyes dramatically.
"This is my little sister," explained Ron. "Ginny. She's basically a pain in the butt, but she's okay."
She stuck her tongue out at Ron, and when he winced in pain a second later Harry got the feeling she'd done something to him even though he hadn't seen it. She glanced over at Harry then. "Who are you?"
"This is my roommate," he said.
"What's he do?" she asked.
"I do magic stuff," said Harry. He focused his attention on something new that he had been trying since his meeting with Zatanna, and between the taxing physical exercises he'd been through the past few days. "Enots," he said, touching one of the freshly picked daises that sat in a jar on the kitchen table. It calcified immediately to pure white rock, looking as if it were made of plaster. Ginny gasped excitedly.
"Cool!" she said, picking it up. "Mom, can I put it in my room?"
"Go ahead. And don't…oh, lord," she said, as Ginny disappeared in a flash. Mrs. Weasley sighed, shaking her head. "My children will be the death of me," she said as she tossed her rag into the sink and wiped her hands dry. "Ron dear, why don't you show Harry your room? Lunch will be ready in about an hour."
Following Ron up the steep stairwell that led to his attic bedroom, Harry took notice of the patched up walls and burn marks, scrapes and dents that marred the walls. He supposed that this was the result of having a house full of people with superpowers. A poster for the Kansas City Chiefs marked the door to Ron's room.
Harry stepped in behind him, taking in at once the sheer volume of stuff that had been crammed into the small room. Most notable was the large aquarium that took up most of the back wall. As Ron moved close to it most of the fish in the tank jostled for position to be nearer to him. "Just a minute guys," he said in agitation. He glanced over with an apologetic look on his face. "Listen, I'm going to hop in for a minute. You can poke around a bit if you want."
"Sure," Harry said. Ron pulled off his shirt and his jeans—he was wearing a pair of tight swimming shorts underneath. Climbing up on a table, he pulled himself up over the edge of the tank and slid in. Harry watched for a few minutes as Ron floated around in the tank. It seemed to have been made so that he had just enough room to stretch out to his full length and to turn around without too much difficulty.
Harry turned his attention away finally, and instead found the pile of comic books that had been thrown into a giant box at the foot of Ron's bed. Having never been allowed to read them in the Dursley's house, Harry didn't know many of the titles. He picked up one with a flashy cartoon style drawing of Wonder Woman on the cover—it was a fair likeness, he was surprised to find. He flipped through it.
"Hey," he called out to Ron. "This is a true story isn't it? I remember when they talked about this on the evening news."
There was a small splash as Ron's head popped out of the tank. "What? Oh, yeah," he said. "There's a shop in Smallville that sells those. There are a few made up stories too—mostly about pirates. Kind of lame."
Harry picked up another. "Hey, it's Superman!" he said, flipping it open. "This is pretty cool."
"Haven't you ever read those before?" Ron said. When Harry explained about his uncle, he shook his head. "Keep it then. Mum's been threatening to throw them away anyway. Just grab whichever ones you like, I won't miss them."
He sunk back into the water and, taking him at his word, Harry picked out a handful of comics to take back to the school with him. Sitting cross legged in the center of the bed, he started reading the one that looked the most interesting. The picture on the front was of a man with grim looking eyes, a red stone clutched in his hand, standing behind Superman as he faced a dark figure.
When Mrs. Weasley called upstairs that lunch was ready, he stuck the comic back with the others he had grabbed, stuffing them into his bag. Ron jumped out of the tank, splashing Harry as he did so, and quickly toweled off before pulling his clothes back on.
"You don't mind me bringing the tank up, do you?" said Ron sheepishly. "I think they miss me."
Harry glanced at the fish, and shrugged. "They look pretty cool. I don't care."
Together they made their way back downstairs, where Artie and Ginny were already seated at the large table. There was another tall man there with long, red hair. He was wearing a leather jacket that was notably singed.
"Bill!" said Ron excitedly, jumping the last few steps.
The man grinned. "Hey, little bro. The Academy kick you out already?"
Ginny giggled, then quickly evaded Ron's elbow as he tried to nudge her. "Children," said Mrs. Weasley with a sigh, although it was obvious their good humor was rubbing off on her—she couldn't help but grin herself.
"We're shipping him back as soon as he's fed," said Artie, taking a big bite of his burger…and to Harry's amusement, tinkering with a small metallic object at the same time.
"This is Bill, my oldest son," said Mrs. Weasley. "Bill, this is Harry Potter. He's Ron's new roommate."
"Potter?" Bill perked up. "That'd make you a magic user then?" he said.
Harry nodded. He grinned. "Pleased to meet you. I'm a firestarter."
"So…nobody has the same powers?" Harry asked. "I mean…you're a family…"
"Well, powers are tricky," said Mrs. Weasley, speaking as she ushered him into a seat. "My powers are more…introspective. Percy is more like me. Fred and George too…they play with people's perceptions of time."
"And me and Charlie both talk to animals…" Ron said. "Ginny and Bill are the only ones to have physical abilities…"
"We come from a long line of superheroes. One of the oldest that isn't of magical lineage," said Artie after swallowing a mouthful of his sandwich.
Lunch continued in much the same vein—Harry said little, preferring to listen to the Weasleys tell their stories about past superheroes in their family. When they had finally wrapped up and Artie told them that it was time to head back to the Academy, Ron and Harry went out to the garage. They were just coming through the door when Artie put his hand up—he was holding a small black cell-phone sized item.
"Mr. Weasley, there has been an incident." A voice crackled over the communicator. "Is my vehicle ready?"
"It is," Artie replied. "Do you need me to put it on autopilot?"
"Affirmative."
Artie sighed. "Sorry to do this to you guys, but we just lost our ride." The garage door slid open under his touch. He barely laid his hand on top of the Batmobile and it blazed to life, lights flashing. With a loud squeal it sped backward, disappearing as the cloaking device engaged.
"Guess Bats had something to take care of," said Ron with a shrug. "Hey dad, if it's cool we'll just walk back to the school."
Artie raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I can rig up the old Chevy…"
Ron looked reluctantly at a pile of turquoise metal sitting close by. "It's okay. Harry and I can handle it, right?"
"Yeah, sure," he said.
"All right, but give me a call once you get there."
Ron replied that he would, and together the boys started out onto the long dirt road that led to the Academy. "Sorry about that," said Ron, "but I don't want to be caught dead tooling around in that hunk of junk."
"It's all right, I like walking," said Harry.
They started walking, talking very little as they trudged along under the summer sun. The school was just barely visible on the horizon, and it was the only thing visible for miles around besides the Weasley home behind them and fields as far as they could see.
"So you really grew up here?" asked Harry after a few moments of watching a crow circle overhead.
Ron shook his head. "The Academy was based entirely in the satellite at first," he said, "and it wasn't until a few years ago that they built the base here in Smallville."
"Why here?" he said. "It seems like the last place in the world a bunch of superheroes would live."
Ron shrugged. "Who knows?"
They were halfway back to the school when they heard the rattle of an ancient motor coming up a side road. Ron grabbed Harry by the arm and pulled him to the shoulder of the road just as a rusty old truck came barreling toward them.
"Whoa there!" A man leaned out the window, slowing to a stop. "You kids need a ride somewhere?"
It was on the tip of Harry's tongue to say no, thanks, but Ron beat him to the punch. "Sure, thanks Mr. Kent!" he said. Catching the look that Harry gave him, he mouthed that it was safe.
"The cab only has one seat, but you can hop up in the back if you'd like!" he said with a cheerful grin.
"No problem!" Ron pulled himself up and swung into the back of the trunk, Harry following suit. After a brief moment, the window that separated the inside of the truck from the back swung open.
"So, what are you doing out of Metropolis Mr. Kent?" asked Ron. "Taking a break from the paper?"
"Just here for a few days helping Ma and Pa at the farm. I just got back from delivering a load of hay to the McKinnons. Hey, you're enrolled at that school now, aren't you? That makes almost every generation of Weasleys. You must be a gifted lot."
Ron smiled. "You could say that," he said. "This is my roommate, Harry. Harry, this is Clark Kent. He's a real Smallville hero. His parents practically run the town."
"Now, if Ma and Pa heard you say that they'd be after getting those kinds of ideas out of your head," said Clark with a laugh. Harry couldn't see much but the back of his head, but in the rearview mirror he caught a glance of blue eyes twinkling behind glasses. For just a moment, he felt there was something strangely familiar about them.
"So, Henry, where are you from?"
"Texas," he said. "Around Dallas. And it's Harry, Harry Potter."
"Potter?" said Clark suddenly, almost incredulously. "Seems I've been hearing that name a lot lately. I was just assigned a piece looking into the mysterious vanishing of the heir to Potter Chemicals, Inc. Heard anything about it?"
Harry shook his head furiously. "No, sir. I don't really follow the news."
Clark hummed thoughtfully, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. "At any rate, it's an interesting case," he said. He pulled up the long drive that led into the school. "Guess I'll let you guys off. You watch out for yourselves, all right? Smallville can be more dangerous than you think.
Ron and Harry hopped out onto the ground, and waved back at Clark as he bid them farewell. Ron pressed the button on the speaker and waited for the person on the other end to speak.
"No outside communication currently permitted. Please wait for further assistance," the terse voice commanded.
"What the…" Ron sputtered. After a moment he pressed the button again.
When the voice crackled once again over the speaker, Harry noted a certain tension. "Outside communication not permitted. Please wait for assistance."
Ron began spouting some colorful language that no doubt Mrs. Weasley would not be happy about. It took him a few moments, and by the time he ran out of choice words Harry noted a figure hurriedly making its way from the front door.
"Zatanna!" Harry breathed in relief. Then his heart fell. She was dressed in her costume, a dark cloak wrapped around her shoulders. Her eyes were dark when they fell on Ron and Harry. She slid the gate open just enough to slip through and then it crashed back behind her.
Ron began to speak but she put out her hand. "Ecnelis," she ordered. Harry felt his throat tighten. He was very certain that he was no longer able to speak. "Wosh em ruoy eurt ytitnedi." A faint light enveloped both he and Ron, lingering over their skin for several long moments before fading. When it did so, nothing about either of them had changed.
Zatanna sighed, and the fierce look in her eyes faded. "Kaeps," she said.
"What was that about?" Ron sputtered.
"There was an attempted break in approximately one and a half hours ago," she said, taking each boy by the shoulder and steering them inside the gate, which opened once again just enough to let them in. "The school is on its highest alert and nobody is to exit or enter. The exception being the two of you. Tim Drake and one other man have been patrolling Smallville to find you."
"We must have left my house just before the break in," said Ron.
"We're lucky Mr. Kent happened to be coming our way," said Harry. "Do you know who tried to break in?"
"I'm certain that there are many people working to figure that out right now. The two of you better get up to your room. We're on lockdown for the rest of the night so if there's anything you need I'd suggest you get it now."
It wasn't until early the next morning, when they were released from their confinement and all shuffled down for breakfast, that they had any clue about what had happened. There was a large written notice on the doors of the Great Hall, and several printouts were stacked on the tables. Hermione had already read through the entire notice before Harry and Ron had begun to read theirs. They heard a gasp and looked at her.
"I can't believe it!" she said. "Somebody actually managed to get onto the Satellite!"
