Review Replies to Chapter 5:

Replying to stars90: That's high praise especially coming from a great writer I like you, thanks! It wasn't easy to design the battle at all; I had the city 3d mapped out on Google Earth to choreograph all of the scenes. Every location I used was completely real, and I put everything I had into making the fight scenes some of my best work. I'm beyond happy to hear that all of it payed off! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

Replying to Radiant Arabian Nights: Two words and two words only: Deja vu

Replying to Guest: Thank you for reviewing and you're quite welcome! I know I am such an ameteur writer but I don't mind as long as people are enjoying themselves. The Harry, Sirius and Teddy combination is precious to me, having that family keeps him from being a dark and brooding person all the time. I will always try my best when it comes to this story, and abandoning this story is not an option. Like Steve said, "I can do this all day." I hope you enjoy this chapter, despite all the exposition it is pretty heavy on Sirius and as much as is realistic on Teddy.

Thank you for all the reviews guys, they really keep me going. There weren't that many for the last chapter so next chapter I will still be replying to reviews for chapter 5 and 6 because chapter 5 was a chapter I really, really want feedback on. With that, I present to you:


Chapter 6: The Start of an Age

The first thing I heard was the muffled sound of a reporter on TV. I was relieved to find all the soreness from the day before gone, likely because of magical potions. Then the rest of the events hit me like a wrecking ball.

I slowly sat up looking about; my magical wrist-watch said it was the afternoon of the next day, which meant I had slept for almost a full day. I was dressed in a clean pair of shorts and shirts, and the damaged suit was draped over a crate nearby. I was on a cot in the secret room inside one of our trunks, which was mostly bare these days. I climbed up the ladder and eased open the lid.

"-Captain America saved my life. Wherever he is, and wherever any of them are, I would just- I would wanna say thank you." As much as I wanted to be happy at that statement all I could see were those I'd failed, and everything I'd done wrong. I climbed out and stumbled, turning to Sirius who'd noticed me. He turned off the television.

"I'm glad your back, Harry," he said quietly. My expression crumpled and tears streamed down my face. Sirius held me for a while patting my back.

"Shh, Harry you're alright… you won." Sirius and I sat down on a couch him still holding me. "I'm sorry," I said. Sirius made a low growl.

"I hate it when you say that. You can tell me, what is bothering you. Stop holding it in- it's okay kiddo."

The dam broke and all my boarded up concerns and worries flooded out of me, we must have talked for hours… and Sirius just listened, and when he spoke it was always exactly what I needed to hear. I had first reconciled with the war before leaving for America, but apparently Sirius needed to beat that back into me a second time. When we were finished I felt lighter than I had in a very long time; I don't know what I would do without my godfather.

After I calmed down we moved on to more current topics.

"Sirius… something happened to me during the battle. My magic-"

"I know, Harry," he said looking grim. "I did diagnostics and all the rest of the usual. To be honest what I found was fascinating but not the best news." Sirius pulled out his wand, "ostende core" and gave it a complicated little twirl then created a 3d sphere with his wand.

My magical core brightened into a translucent image in front of me. Unlike the last time I had seen it a year and a half ago there were two glowing rings. The inner one was but a few fragments swirling about with dazzling brightness, while the enormous outer ring was dull. It was orange, and completely encircled the smaller one. The dullness I knew meant it wasn't being used, and even along the outside of that I could see the telltale signs of magic not yet accessible at my age. Inside all of this in the dead center was the time black dot that was the bridge from which magic was accessed.

"What… what happened to me?" I asked faintly. Sirius shrugged, and then realized that that was probably not the most reassuring gesture. He gave an apologetic smile.

"I think that that inner part is your old core, and the outer part is the replacement. You remember the hurricane show we watched in Spain?" I nodded, and Sirius pressed on. "I think it's like an eyewall replacement cycle. As to why the only person who could know that is probably Albus."

"All the more reason to go see him. I need a new suit." Sirius nodded, then said, "Which reminds me… a representative from the ICW wants to see us. I haven't replied to him cause, well, with the promise and all that only you can allow him to interact with us."

I considered for a moment, and then Teddy started wailing in the other room and Sirius hurried out to check on him.

. "Sure, it sounds okay. Just after I want to go see Albus. Where exactly are we Sirius?" I asked when he returned from changing Teddy's nappies.

"Middletown, New Jersey," he answered. "Just a place I quickly rented while we figure out our next move. I got some cheeseburgers from a nearby restaurant. I'm sure you're pretty hungry right now." In response to the word cheeseburger my stomach growled loudly. "Yep, very," I replied earnestly. Sirius laughed and we sat down to eat at the table, along with Teddy who was quite energetic at flinging food at me.

I had almost finished a second burger when the doorbell rang. Sirius got up to get it and brought back in someone neither of us expected to see: Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Minister?" I asked incredulously. Kingsley smiled.

"We've known each other far too long for you to address me like that," he said warmly shaking my hand. "It is good to see you Harry."

"Ditto," I replied. For a moment we sat in uncomfortable silence, unsure what to say to each other and then Kingsley cleared his throat.

"I have been sent by the ICW to confirm that you are free to use magic as you like, according to the, ah, message relayed by one Nick Fury." I inclined my head. "The magical community will continue to keep its distance though we request that only your comrades know the secret." I knew it wasn't so much a request as an order but nodded gratefully all the same. We talked with Kingsley for a little while longer catching up on the recovery effort and then he left. After all, there was only so long that the Minister of Magical Britain could spend time with friends.

"By the way Harry, you're gonna want to take a shower," Sirius said wrinkling his nose. "You smell terrible." I laughed and headed over to the bathroom. After a good shower and some disguises(since we would be taking the Wizarding TransAtlantic Rail we wore normal wizarding robes)we departed for The Last Stronghold. I made sure along the way to store all of my pensieve ideas and memories from the fights for Albus, and showed Sirius the battle too. We had quite a lengthy discussion about what spells are best against muggles and what is obsolete for my new profession.


"Come in," said Albus' voice. I didn't bother even pretending to knock; he always knew when someone was there and no doubt sensed my magical presence.

"My dear boy!" he said in an admonishing voice betraying by his twinkling eyes as I came in, "It is quite rude to arrive unannounced." Saying this my dearest mentor hugged the two of us and, instead of keeping the desk between us as custom invited us onto a very plush purple couch with him. We were, of course, in the top of the Galliphius tower at Nurmengard. Nothing seemed to have changed since the last time I had been here; only a few new devices that I was not going to let Albus rant about.

"It-it's amazing to see you again sir," I said honestly. "So much has changed since the war, I don't even know where to start… but I guess you already know a little bit Albus between Grindelwald's visions and your seeing stones," I added smirking. Albus inclined his head.

"Only enough to leave me with more questions than answers my former pupil… oh how the tables have turned in that regard," Albus replied.

"I myself find the beginning a wonderful location to begin," I said quoting Albus in a passable imitation of his voice. He chuckled fondly patting my knee.

"Indeed, indeed." And so I pulled out my pensieve and narrated the story over some key memories, along with sporadic quips and comments from Sirius that annoyed me almost as much as they amused Albus. Grindelwald was down in the dungeons working on something that Albus refused to tell me, but I felt fine with that. My feelings about Grindelwald… complicated would be a primitive way of framing them.

Finally we got the answers I had fretted about for awhile. Albus agreed with Sirius about what was happening to my core, but at least had a reason why.

Despite the prodigious amount of power I possessed the war had taken its toll on me. At that time my core was suddenly released, and not long after I was doing constant feats of magic and strength unlike almost anything ever seen. So powered by love I was in a unique way that when those I cared about, by the end of the war almost everyone who died near me their magic infused mine and degraded my core. Throughout all of this my magical core is still not even close to adulthood, but even this was not the reason things had changed so drastically. If not for my snap in New York it would have been a peaceful replacement and the changes and increases in magic seen as normal teenage wizard growth. But I had blown apart an already weakened core and so I was left with very little magic.

The good news was that eventually I would heal and become slightly stronger once the transition was complete, though my magic would be… different. When I worriedly asked Albus what would change he reassured me that my fundamental magic wouldn't change, just that it would adapt. Evolve. I was still anxious as magic had become like breathing to me but I let the matter drop.

The bad news was this transition would take an unknown amount of time, likely more than a few months. Hey, at least I still can use internal, natural magic, I thought ruefully.

Then we moved on to my ideas. I gave him a boatload of things I wanted changed and what I needed with a new suit. When I was done Albus reached his hand to stroke his beard, then remembered it had been cut off. I chuckled and Albus smiled indulgently at me.

Leaving the broken suit and memories with Albus Sirius and I left having a great deal to ponder.


"Are you sure this is the right house?" Sirius asked doubtfully. We were standing in front of the gates to Tony's Malibu house. "It's pretty fancy."

I smirked. "Sirius, Tony Stark is probably richer than you are. And his jokes aren't as cringy." Sirius scoffed re-adjusting his grip on Teddy, who had been worn out by the trip. It took more than a few glamours to hide his ever changing hair color. Fortunately the last full moon had been a little over a week ago(March 30th) so he didn't have the urge to change into the most adorable puppy the world has ever seen either.

I was wearing my usual casual outfit; black T-shirt and athletic pants, my magical soundless loafers and a light brown vest with pockets for various magical stuffs. I also wore a black band over each of the chain scars on my wrists; I wasn't ashamed of them like I used to be, but it was best to avoid uncomfortable questions. Besides, the bands were excellent wandless amplifiers in their own right. This was pretty much the only casual outfit I wore since a quick cleaning charm could wash it instantly, and plus it was my favorite style. My mini- knapsack was still on as always, with one strap over my right shoulder and under the vest with the small pouch at my left hip. The thing was made of basilisk hide and was almost indestructible.

"I make only the best jokes Prongslet!" he said indignantly, then Tony's voice echoed across the area making both of us jump.

"Don't tell Pepper you said that." The gates silently opened themselves. "Oh and welcome to Stark Mansion Merlin!"

I sighed and the three of us(including Teddy) trudged through the grounds and opened the door. The style of the place was quite modern; huge glass windows and a structure with graceful curves made of concrete. A man who introduced himself as Stark's bodyguard, Happy Hogan, led us inside. Personally I could not fathom why in freak he needed a bodyguard but compared to everything else that was trivial.

The rest of the Avengers, along with a man bearing a resemblance to Kingsley were already gathered in the living room. There was a curved couch facing away from the windows and a table stacked with Domino's pizza. Obviously Tony appreciated the benefits of informal eating. The view from the glass wall overlooking the sunset off the cliff and ocean was breathtaking.

"I am honoured by your presence, oh wise one," Tony said mock bowing as we strode in. I rolled my eyes and he reached out for a fist bump which I tentatively accepted. I shook hands with Bruce and Clint, and a man known as Rhodey(the War Machine I had heard about)and a brief hug from Natasha. Finally I clasped arms with Steve.

"You doing well?" he asked studying my face. My distress the last time we met obviously hadn't escaped the veteran's notice.

"Better than I have in a while, actually," I answered. "At least mentally." Steve nodded, satisfied and I introduced Sirius and Teddy. Hedwig was off somewhere, probably fooling around with Fawkes. All of the Avengers were dressed casually. Steve was rocking a dark brown leather jacket, but other than that the others didn't seem to particularly care about what they wore.

Rhodey left recently thereafter for some military meeting and once he left I breathed out.

"Is there somewhere more private we can go here?" I asked. "I- I gotta tell you guys a HUGE secret that I cannot let anyone else know about." Toy raised an annoyed eyebrow about my doubts of his security making me blush but he had Pepper lead us into the basement claiming he needed to grab something.

The basement was a cross between a command center and a workshop from my perspective, with tons of control panels and even a mini war table screen tucked away in a corner, and the exoskeletons of prototypes on the walls. Pepper excused herself realizing how private this was and everyone sat at the table waiting for Tony except for me as I was pacing nervously. Everyone except Steve was watching Sirius and Teddy curiously not sure why they would be allowed in on a secret Avengers meeting but no one complained, yet.

"WE HAVE MERCH! MER-" a voice boomed and I whirled about a small fireball racing from my fingers in the direction of the noise. Tony yelped and ducked dropping a cluttered box and a megaphone he had been holding. I gasped clutching a searing stitch in my side at using that external magic. My reaction before the war when I was at Grimmauld with Sirius would have been much less violent as I was used to Sirius' rude awakening pranks but the war had changed that. Hell, the war had changed everything.

"Don't- just not-" I stumbled over my speech.

"Just not what?" Tony asked grinning from the floor.

"Don't do that!" I told him.

Sirius eased me back into a chair and cooed softly to Teddy whose hair had turned a shocking white in fright. At least it hadn't scared him into a puppy again like Sirius did once. Tony popped right back up hardly seeming annoyed at me, and indeed a bit sheepish.

"Remind me not to do that again when you're around," he said put out and that changed to concern at my heavy breathing, but before he could say anything Natasha spoke up.

"I guess you brought us down here to tell us you're not the only magical?" she said dryly looking pointedly at Teddy's hair which had reverted to its normal golden. I nodded mutely at her astonishingly fast understanding of the situation and clutched my hands nervously.

"Erm, yeah I was before Tony decided to sneak up on me… anyways we have a lot to talk about. Yes, I'm not the only magical- easily the most powerful," I hastened to add at the apprehension on Bruce's face, "but yeah… this is a secret, okay? You will NEVER tell anyone about it ok guys?" They all nodded and I tried to remember how I was even going to go about explaining it.

"You see, there's… argh!" I growled running my hands through my hair in frustration. Explaining things was so hard! Sirius patted me on the shoulder.

"Let me take it from here kiddo," he said kindly and I looked at him gratefully. I eased back in the chair holding the now sleeping Teddy while Sirius explained. He did a great job of it, going over the history of it and why I was so important. He did a basic summary of our history warning them that telling them any more details are up to me, and also touched on the fact that I would be doing very little magic for some time. At my behest a couple memories of the magical world I showed to them just to get the feel. I was extremely careful and guarded with what I chose because not only were there things I wasn't ready to talk about but when extracting memories things that you were really concerned about or pondering tended to get caught up in it.

Everyone believed us of course; it was truly a miracle how most of us didn't know each other all mere days ago and now would trust our lives with another without a second thought. Destiny, I knew, had brought us together to do great things; magic told me so.

Explanations finished Sirius left for the other side of the room to play with Teddy who was starting to get rather loud. He conjured several floating balls of light that changed color every time the baby touched them and whirled around Teddy. Soon the child was happily distracted, and it took a great deal of effort to tear my eyes from my precious, adorable godson.

During this time the Avengers continued to talk, especially about our future. The first question, unsurprisingly, came from Tony, but the question I received was the very last question from the very last person I expected.

"How did you cope?" he asked, and shook his head. "That's the most impossible thing of all." I looked at him in shock and answered.

"Sometimes I didn't. Ultimately my love got me through everything, but I'm very afraid that I will never be completely okay with what I experienced." That sort of killed the mood in the room. "Any other questions guys?"

Bruce cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Harry, you told me on the helicarrier that you could help with the Other Guy. Did you…"

"Oh!" I said. "Sorry, with everything happening I forgot. Sirius told you about potions, one of them is the Calming Draught. I have tons." I took a one of the bottles with its indigo liquid out of my Knapsack and slid it across the table to Bruce. He looked at it with reverence.

"So… anger management in a bottle?" Tony stated. Everyone chuckled at that.

"If that's what you wanna call it," I said rolling my eyes. The atmosphere around the table was lighter after that and discussion continued.

Tony had plans for Stark Tower. It would now be Avengers Tower, and was well into the process of setting all of our personal areas up. He had all of us invited to stay there, an offer I gratefully accepted. He also would allow Teddy and Sirius to stay there, and Sirius could run tests with him on combining magic with technology. Tony also stated that his superpowers like mine were compromised since it would be at least several weeks before he had an Iron Man suit to use.

Steve was going to be working with SHIELD, and had purchased a flat in Washington DC to that end. Natasha was the same, but Hawkeye in an astonishing move had left SHIELD. He wouldn't tell us where he would be only giving us multiple ways of contacting him, and would check in every couple weeks. I suspected some outside attachments but I was terrible at reading people so I didn't ask.

Bruce would be staying at Avengers Tower with me, and was happier than I'd ever seen him before. He too was going to try to combine science and technology, and I was excited to see what the three of them would come up with.

Our earpieces we would keep on us at all times; all of them were inscribed already to keep my magic from affecting them, and they would buzz in our pockets if called so we didn't need them in our ears 24/7.

Tony showed us his 'merch' and if I could use my wand I would have made him regret it. Already I was running through a list of pranks and the Maraudering ways Sirius had taught me in to get revenge once I had my magic back. The action figures weren't so bad, but the speedo was truly horrifying. Sirius had picked it out of the box as Teddy had tired himself out and was sleeping on a LoveSac that he had conjured.

"If you wanted to get shagged so bad Harry you could have just asked me!" he said literally choking he was laughing so hard. Hanging off the end of his wand was a black speedo with a badly cartooned image of me with my wand in the front. On the back it read 'Wands Out'.

Tony was grinning evilly, Natasha and Clint were wheezing, Bruce was holding onto the table failing to keep a straight face and Steve, probably because he was from the early 1900s, looked scandalized though the corners of his mouth were twitching. I was beet red and called out for Hedwig who faithfully appeared. I wanted her to burn it but even she looked amused and refused to, pruning on the center of the table.

"I think that we are going to get along just fine," Sirius told Tony grandly.

Finally, we moved on to the 'bonding time' Tony said he had planned. Clint and Natasha had already declined being busy with SHIELD(Clint had a couple more missions assigned before he left) but Bruce was pressured into coming along.

"I don't mean any offence Tony, but do you think any vacation is enough to occupy us?" I asked dubiously. Tony poured himself another glass of some alcoholic beverage and lifted it in my direction.

"I've gotten a lot of great deals as a thank-you for saving the world lately," he said taking a sip. He sat down and crossed his legs on the table relaxed and eyes twinkling. "Anyone ever heard of Jurassic World?"


A/N: Bet you didn't see that coming! All that boring exposition… so much that I was sorely tempted to rename this chapter Harry Avenger: We Are Expositionists! At least (I really hope) this leaves you with something to look forward too! Also, I'm keeping that poll up since not too many people have noticed its existence yet. This is also, btw, the shortest chapter of the story. Sure, I could have made it longer instead of summarizing parts of conversations but let's be real here that probably would have lessened the story. Quality over quantity I say!

'Freak' is the equivalent of a cuss-word for Harry for obvious reasons. Just a little tidbit if that confused you guys.

I really hope you guys aren't upset about this new inside story crossover. I mean who doesn't want to see Captain America, the best of humanity, beat the shit about of fucking dinosaurs?! MMM MMM that's some good stuff right there! And also a good lesson on survival for Tony since he doesn't have a suit available!

On my profile page I have the link to an amazing tribute video(this one Captain America). I will be changing it every week, let me know what you think of that!

Should I leave the author's notes the same after every chapter like I have? Or should I go back and update them every once in a while?

I hope you guys realized the meaning behind Tony asking how Harry coped. Remember, the events of Avengers left Tony with quite severe PTSD that plagued him in Iron Man 3.

I had Hawkeye leave SHIELD because he is part of the Avengers now, and really wants to spend time with and look after his secret family. He and Harry can and will relate to that later.

Thanks for reading this chapter, the next one is titled: Chapter 7(JW Part I): Insecurity