A NEW LIFE
Chapter 10
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners.
-ANLANLANLANL-
Charles Francis Xavier had witnessed many things in his quite exciting life if he did say so himself. And that was not even mentioning what sort of things he had witnessed in some people's scarily creative minds. He had witnessed things which induced fear, things which could bring happiness, excitement, and almost any human emotion one can think of. Those had become second nature to him. As one of, if not the most powerful telepath on the planet though he was pretty sure Jean will be in that position after today, Xavier had witnessed and was forced to confront such emotions on more than one occasion.
But this particular day would be one of the most memorable of his life. He could feel as if all human emotions were emanating from the pit down below just waiting to spring on him, while at the same time beckoning him to get to them. The tension in the air could almost be tasted on one's tongue as the magic built with in the pit. He unconsciously tightened his grip on the arm chair as Harry started releasing the magic. A breeze sweeping through the room despite the absence of windows.
The rune right in front of Harry started glowing a bright emerald, the same color as the orbs that Harry was sporting for eyes. And then slowly, very slowly, the runes on either side of the first one also started glowing with the same intensity as the first one. The breeze became stronger and Charles tried to wheel his chair back only for the control panel to let out a puff of smoke. He looked at his fellow audience in confusion but no one was even paying attention.
Natasha and Logan were leaning forward and Charles wondered how they hadn't fallen into the pit already. Rogue and Ororo weren't any different, Ororo's eyes sparkling in excitement while Rogue's were wide in wonder. None of them even noticed that their hair was being tossed around in the powerful breeze.
Xavier turned back to the ritual that was going on. Out of the thirteen runes, two were charging and he could feel the pressure rising. Harry was quiet, his brow frowned in concertation while Jean who had passed out at some point laid there with a serene smile on her face as if having the most beautiful dream. When the two runes finished charging making seven, there was a spike of energy and the breeze became a wind whipping with in the pit making Harry's hair whip in different directions but he never stirred.
For about a minute, everything stayed like that and Charles started wondering whether something had happened to Harry to prevent him from completing the ritual. He shared a glance with Natasha who shrugged and went back to watching Harry. He was about to open his mouth to say something when the energy spiked and the runes started charging at twice the pace from before. Sweat could be seen on Harry's brow showing just how much effort he was putting in.
Jean started twitching as the runes were covered by Harry's magic. By the time only two were remaining, she was thrashing around though the serene smile on her face didn't weaver. It was confusing and creepy at the same time.
Charles found himself leaning forward slowly as the last two runes started charging. The pressure in the room was too high he was having a hard time breathing but that was far from even registering in his brain as the tension seemed to reach a crescendo as the thirteenth rune charged and then everything went quiet. Charles blinked in confusion and exchanged a confused glance with the others even as Harry let out gasps as he gulped down oxygen.
"Uh…is that it?" Natasha asked Harry but he didn't answer right away. He stood up on his feet and staggered a little. Rogue made a movement to go to him but Logan's hand grabbed her.
"Whatever happens, do not come in here." Harry pinned them with his currently normal eyes.
For that reason, he did not see the fiery the bird which rose from Jean's chest. It looked exactly as Nym only this was made of fire and was about ten times the size of the beautiful pure white phoenix. Natasha and Rogue shouted at Harry to look out but it was already too late and the fiery bird let out a shriek of anger and flew right at Harry and met him just as he finished his turn.
Charles with his powers on high alert (even if it hadn't been on his conscious effort but the gathering of magic inside the ritual chamber) saw Harry's spirit being knocked out of his body before he disappeared and the phoenix settled inside the wizard's body. It opened its eyes and Charles gasped along with the others upon seeing them. While they were still the brilliant emerald they were supposed to be, the formerly white part of the eye was now blood red.
Charles felt dread settle in his stomach like a huge rock even as the others took fighting stances. He knew they were facing sure death; the phoenix alone was powerful enough to kill them within minutes. Now with of Harry's magic, it wouldn't take more than a blink of an eye. He closed his eyes and centered himself. He may be going to die but he was sure as hell going to make sure the entity worked for it.
However, whatever preparations happening were interrupted with murmuring coming from the other end of the chamber. Chares opened his eyes to see small creatures similar to the one Harry had introduced as Triki gathered together and seemed to be chanting in a soft musical voice they had no right to be capable of producing given their appearance. Whatever they were doing however seemed to be working. The phoenix was no longer advancing on them, it had stopped in tracks and a look of fear was plastered on Harry's face.
Harry's body seemed to be vibrating and the intensity seemed to be getting bigger as the chanting of the little creatures continued. The body's vibrations seemed to increase to the extent that it had become nearly a blur before the Phoenix was flung out of Harry's body similar to the way Harry had been with an explosion of magic which sent everyone flying. Charles himself was hurled through the door heading for the wall opposite but he was stopped mere inches from impact which would have otherwise broken a good number of bones.
He thanked the creature which he was sure had been responsible of saving him before he wheeled himself, the old-fashioned way back to the chamber. There was no sign of the Phoenix and Harry's was lying next to Jean's sleeping form. There was a transparent dome shaped shield around the two and streaks of lightning flashed across it every now and then.
"Is the bald old man okay?" a slightly high pitched voice asked and Xavier turned to see Triki standing next to him.
"I am fine. But what just happened."
"Dark Phoenix dared to takeover master's body." Triki growled in his little voice. "Triki and the others used the bond as well as master's bond with Nym to expel her."
"Oh… uhm so what happened to her?" Charles asked surprised at the devotion the little being seemed to exude when talking about Harry.
"Oh… she is where master was sent when she expelled him from his body." Triki answered with a grin which had Charles shivering slightly. The creatures funny looking face making the grin even more sinister. "I am sure master will be quite…excited for the reunion."
It took a few seconds for Charles to work out where Triki was talking about before his eyes widened.
"The Astral Plane!"
-ANLANLANLANL-
THE ASTRAL PLANE
Harry looked around wide eyed. The moment he had been somehow expelled from his body, he had caught a small glimpse at the worried looks on the other people's faces before he felt a jerk like a port-key and then he was hurled through space until he found himself in this kind of world. It was bright but not blindingly so but almost everything he was seeing seemed to have some kind of sparkle. Humanoid shapes seemed to phase in and out of existence as they floated past him.
Strangely, the place had a feeling of home? Harry had no idea what that could be about. Maybe he was dead, and this was where his soul would be recycled like Luna said, but did it have to be bright…
"Harry?"
Harry jerked around at the familiar voice.
"Stephen… what are you doing here?"
The sorcerer supreme sighed and Harry could see that just like him, the Sorcerer Supreme was slightly transparent. Evidently more solid looking than a ghost as the colors of their clothes were very clear.
"I could ask the same about you as seeing from your expression you have no idea where you are." Stephen answered. "So what did you do this time?"
"Where is here anyway?"
"I think I am the one asking the questions here." Stephen said.
"Oh really, I could have sworn that I just did ask a question." Harry quipped. "And what did you mean by this time?"
"I don't know; does Limbo or Belasco ring any bells…" Stephen answered with mock inquisitiveness.
"I had nothing to do with that." Harry said heatedly. And it was the truth since Luna was the one who dumped them there. "Need I remind you that we were at your home."
"Nothing happens by itself in the mystic arts Harry, and I most definitely wasn't responsible for that." Stephen argued. "And why exactly did it happen only when you visited?"
"I don't think I am the right person to ask." Harry answered his lips twitching. "We could ask the portal…. oh wait it has no mouth."
Stephen gave him a blank look.
"If that was supposed to be funny, I pity the people you live with." He said dryly. "Now how did you end up in the Astral plane?"
"That's what it's called?"
"Yes, I would expect someone like you would know about it given your mastery in the myst… Magic."
"I have heard it being mentioned before." Harry frowned trying to remember. "But it was believed that it cannot be accessed consciously or without a potion to put one in a trance."
"Clearly that isn't the case seeing as I am here now." Stephen said.
"I can see that but thank you for pointing out." Harry answered dryly and Stephen rolled his eyes.
"The Astral Dimension, much like the Mirror Dimension, coexists alongside the Material Plane. However, to access it, one must successfully be separated from their physical form, existing in a state of pure energy." Stephen lectured. "The Masters of the Mystic Arts are very much able to peer into the Astral Dimension without leaving their bodies, or leave their bodies and occupy the Astral plane for longer periods of time compared to the normal dimension. As you can see, I was reading a book before I thought I saw someone being pulled to the higher parts of the dimension where souls are believed to go after one dies, at least that is what the people of Wakanda believe."
Harry had been listening intently as the sorcerer supreme explained. He had no idea what the Mirror Dimension meant but he at least had a very good idea where he was. Then a realization hit him.
"I need to get back to my body." He said grabbing Stephen's hand. "A Dark phoenix is now occupying and it was the one that knocked me out of my body."
Stephen's eyes widened. He of course knew about the dark phoenix and he could only imagine what it could do with Harry's power. He had witnessed just how much Harry was capable of and he shuddered to think of facing an amalgamation of Harry and the Dark phoenix. However, before he could say anything, there was a shift in the Astral plane, even Harry who wasn't as adept as Strange felt it. He opened his mouth to ask what was going on only to be interrupted as something humanoid appeared a few meters in front of him.
"I think we found our body thief." Stephen helpfully pointed out as the two turned to look at the humanoid fiery entity before them. "Just what have you been doing Harry."
"YOU DARE STAND IN MY WAY MORTAL" the phoenix growled, its guttural voice resonating around them with power and anyone would have wet their pants. None of the two sorcerers even flinched.
"You made a very big mistake trying to hijack my body." Harry said narrowing his eyes as his wand appeared in his hand and his suit started flowing onto his body.
The entity pointed its hands at them and a stream of fire erupted and rushed at the two sorcerers and snapped in place blocking the ridiculously hot flame. Harry who was trying to see through the flames in front of the shield looked at his left as Stephen's cloak whisked him away but before he could react the Phoenix flashed in front of him and grabbed him by the neck. He could feel his ethereal neck blistering at the contact but with his mind already in battle mode, he instinctively slapped his palms that were charged with raw magic onto the entity's chest and it was blasted away from him.
Right into about five spears of mystic energy that had been conjured Strange. It let out a bone shaking howl of anger and sent a hail of fireballs. Strange moved his hands in an intricate pattern and the slightly more solid looking eye of Agamotto glowed green. The fireballs seemed to freeze in motion before they started flying backwards at twice the speed. When they connected with the fiery entity, it let out another cry though this was a mixture of anger and pain as it was burned by its own fireball.
The Eye of Agamotto still glowing, Strange right before it, his hands glowing the same green as the Eye and encased the howling entity in a cocoon of sorts. The energy from the Eye reversing time in that particular cocoon and everything in it which meant de-aging the Phoenix and thus reducing its power since the older the entity, the more powerful it was.
Despite the draining going on, the Phoenix was still a very powerful entity and gathering its power, it collected a ball of condensed magic strong enough to break through the cocoon on detonating which sent Strange flying with a gaping hole in his torso. The entity made to capitalize on its momentary victory before Strange's ethereal form could repair itself but Harry who had recovered from the burning of his neck appeared in its path and literary placed a white ball of magic in its torso.
Harry had realized that normal spells seemed not to work in this dimension and the only way he could fight was with either pure magic or soul based magic. He knew of very few soul based spells… runes and pure magic however, that was an entirely different story. The ball of magic made the Dark Entity shout in pain and Harry smiled at the irony of the being made of fire being burned. And when the burning reached a crescendo, the ball exploded blowing a good chunk of the entity's fiery body.
Harry had teleported away when he felt the magic nearing the explosion and watched in grim satisfaction when the fiery body didn't repair itself right away. The fact that it was the souls of Harry and Stephen's souls which were here was an advantage to the two magic users unlike the Phoenix whose body was here. While their souls if completely destroyed would lead to their deaths, there was always a chance to heal even from a single cell.
Unfortunately for the Phoenix, it was here physically or as physical as an entity can be without a host. Any damage it received would be near fatal as even with its regenerative abilities, if the damage was too much for its abilities to catch up it would be destroyed. With Strange having de-aged some of its power, the two Sorcerers had a way of destroying it. If it doesn't flee that is.
"Hey you're ok?" Harry asked the now healed Sorcerer Supreme.
"Yeah I'm good. You seem to have done some great damage." He commented even as he prepared himself for the fight. "If I can reduce more of its power, you can use whatever you did to destroy him."
Harry looked at the glowing Eye warily. Whatever power was within that thing was slightly familiar though he couldn't remember where he had felt it. However, he wasn't planning to be on the receiving end of it anytime soon.
"What do you want me to do?"
"If you can keep it from using its powers, I can encase it in a time cocoon and it wouldn't be able to break through." The Phoenix seemed to have gotten over its loss of part of its torso and was approaching the two.
"I have an idea." Harry started. "But you need to keep the fellow busy for some time."
"How much time are we talking?"
"A minute? Maybe two…. I am not entirely sure." Harry called out as he flew away from the angry phoenix.
"And how do you suggest I do that?" Strange asked sending chains made of mystical energy at the entity's legs.
"I don't know… maybe call for a 'time out'"
Harry flew away from the fight and winced slightly as the Phoenix yanked on the chains while ignoring its melting hands and grabbed Stephen by the neck with one hand while tearing off his right hand with the other. He ignored the cries of pain and concentrated on the runic prison designed specifically to imprison spirits. It wouldn't hold something as powerful as the Phoenix for very long but hopefully, it would be enough time for Stephen to do his thing with his necklace.
There was an explosion of light where the fight was going on and Stephen's form went flying towards him. He grabbed him by the leg as he flew past where he was floating, ending his flight.
"Please take your time." The Sorcerer Supreme snapped as he flew back towards the entity, his hand having recovered up to near the elbow. Harry didn't answer as he started pumping magic into the completed prison. With how large his core had become after his transfer to this dimension and his use of the Elder wand, Harry had never even considered the thought of magical exhaustion but he knew that after this fight, he was sure he will be feeling it when he got back to his body.
"I really don't think this is the time for fantasizing." Stephen's panicked voice shouted in his mind snapping Harry out of his musings to see that his makeshift prison was fully charged. He then flew off towards the fight to find the Phoenix holding Strange's head in its burning hands and Strange's mouth was open in a silent scream.
"AVADA KEDAVRA"Harry intoned the soul-destroying curse and the green curse hit the Entity's shoulder blowing off its arm. It released Stephen and turned to Harry with furious eyes. "AVADA KEDVRA…AVADA KEDAVRA…AVADA KEDAVRA…AVADA KE_ugh."
The Phoenix had been coming towards Harry, completely ignoring the chunks of its body that were blown off by Harry's killing curses as it flew towards him. Harry had been trying to fly away but since he was going back towards the soul prison while at the same time trying to hit the powerful entity, the Phoenix easily caught up with him and grabbed the very hand holding the Elder wand and tore it off as Harry was flung away from it. Harry was thrown towards the Souls Prison and barely saved himself from being caught. Just the fact that he had created the prison didn't mean he couldn't be caught by it since he was also a soul at this point. Harry flew around the prison and stood in front of the Phoenix with the prison in-between them as his remaining hand glowed white with pure magic. Fortunately, the prison was invisible except to the one who created it, until it had an occupant.
The Phoenix sent a volley of fireballs at Harry who dodged them as much as possible but was caught by a good number of them and his spiritual body developed holes wherever he was hit. He ignored the pain as he kept dodging even as the Entity flew at ridiculously high speeds towards him. By this point both of his legs were missing, his chest had a gaping hole and lower part of the left side of his face was missing as well. Even his regeneration was taking longer but he persisted. He could feel himself getting weaker as more of the balls of fire hit his spirit.
And then they abruptly cut off.
"Stephen, NOW" He never even realized that he had projected his voice telepathically. A number of telepaths on earth heard the shout in his mind, many wondering what was going on, while a few sharp ones figured out where it was coming from. Among these were Charles Xavier back in Wales and Selene Gallio also known as the Black Queen by the Hellfire Club in New York. While not as powerful as Charles, it was the amount of power behind those two words that would bring all kinds of attention to him, but that wasn't here.
Stephen who had not been doing very well either after the Entity had nearly killed him forced himself into action as the entity struggled against the magic holding it. His head missing almost three thirds, Stephen tapped into the powers of the Eye of Agamotto and directed it into Harry's Soul prison. The Dark Phoenix struggled and thrashed as it millenniums of its life were negated within seconds, its fiery body reducing in intensity as more of its years were cut off, its body reducing in size the more it lost its power.
Harry could see Strange as he strained to direct that much amount of power from the stone while making sure that it did not go out of control and realized just how dangerous the necklace could be if it fell in the wrong hands or someone not strong enough to control the amount of power it was capable of producing. Knowing his part was coming, Harry pulled himself together knowing the next spell he was going to use would need a good deal of magic and just as much will to control and direct it. When the Phoenix was the size of a ten-year old kid, it reverted back to its bird shaped form and Stephen stopped tapping into the Eye.
"IGNIS DIABOLUS" Harry clearly intoned the incantation for Fienfyre and the cursed flame made from dark magic spewed from Harry's wand towards the fiery phoenix. The fire was too powerful that it was capable of burning a soul. Harry maintained the connection of the fire to his wand which allowed greater control on the cursed flame. The flame took the form identical to the phoenix it was going to burn and encased it. The Phoenix though wasn't about to go off without a fight as it flared its remaining power which was still much and exploded out of the cursed flame's grip.
Harry increased the power and will in the flame which collected itself and reformed into a lion while at the same time becoming hotter if that was even possible. The huge lion pounced on the phoenix and started tearing off chunks of its fiery body. Within a half a minute, the Lion had consumed the powerful entity and there was nothing left of it. Harry had to increase the amount of will he was putting on the flame to be able to dispel it. He panted from exhaustion and turned to look at Stephen who was still panting from his own destruction and tapping into the Eye's power.
"It isn't a good idea to lose consciousness in the astral plane as you could just die." Stephen cautioned. "Better you get back to your body and let your soul heal with time."
And with that, the weary Sorcerer Supreme hurtled towards his body even as his soul started healing. Harry looked at the holes in his astral body and wondered what one would be capable of with his soul as damaged as his looked. However, he knew that he would never be able to find out as the moment he got back to his body, he was sure he would be out of it for some time due to magical exhaustion.
Thinking of going back to his body, Harry felt his soul being hurtled back to where he had come from. He saw buildings appear before him and he passed through them until he reached Potter's Cove. He reached in time to see the audience he had left behind picking themselves from the ground and Triki grinning at Charles.
Harry floated between Charles and Logan who were watching the unconscious bodies down in the pit but couldn't reach them due to the barrier. He could see that his was slightly paler than normal. He waited when everyone had gathered themselves and were now watching waiting for something to happen. He decided to try something and wished that his Astral form could be seen in the physical world and then spoke.
"It is pretty humbling, isn't it?" The reaction was even better than he expected. Triki jumped almost a meter high while Rogue gave one glance ant his Soul and fainted. Natasha had two guns pointing at him in a blink of an eye while Xavier jerked in his wheelchair as if he had been electrocuted. Logan for his part cut right through him with his knives since he was nearest but the knives obviously just passed through his astral form. Al this time Harry managed to suppress his laughter, something he had learned when he didn't want to be caught for his prank but his green eyes were twinkling.
"Looking at your corpse like that somehow makes death look like a joke." He continued as if nothing had happened though he was wondering how Xavier, had not felt him given how powerful a telepath he is.
"Harry, what are you playing at…" Natasha growled at him being the first to relax. She had spent a good amount of time around him and in the library whenever his beating…uhm training was finished not many things about him surprised her anymore.
"Well, it's not every day that you see ghosts." Harry answered with a shrug. "I haven't seen one in this universe and Potter Cove is like a beacon which should pull any that exist on this planet."
"How come I didn't feel your Astral form?" Charles asked after he had calmed down his heart.
"I'm not sure." Harry answered truthfully. While he suspected it was his bond with the Invisibility cloak, he wasn't about to tell him that. Not even Natasha knew about that yet she was the one who knew the most about him in this Universe.
"Anyway, the big bad phoenix has been dealt with." Harry said as he went down into the pit.
"What happened to you?" Ororo asked looking at his missing right hand and half of his legs as well as the holes in his body.
"Oh this, no need to worry yourselves." Harry said dismissively. "Anyway, Jean should be completely free when she wakes up though I expect there to be some side effects from the possession."
"Like?" Logan prompted.
"I can't be sure… she may retain some of the phoenix's powers." Harry answered uncertainly. "And there is a very small possibility of getting a magical core or at least be capable of using the mystic arts."
"You mean like you?" Charles asked making sure to hide the astonishment he felt at the news.
"Yeah, but like I said, it is a very small possibility. Anyway, the house elves will take you back to the mansion as well as Jean." Harry said. "I will be by to check on her as well as check on Illyana when I wake up."
"How long do you think you will be… asleep?" Natasha asked having read about magical exhaustion.
"A week, three days…. I can't be sure but I'll be sure to pay you a visit."
"Ok, I'll be seeing you around then." Natasha answered and after sparing a worried glance at his Soul that was standing next to his unconscious body, she turned and left. Harry had turned her communication mirror into a reusable port-key with two destinations. The bridge of the Helicarrier, living room of her apartment in New York and here.
The house elves then directed the others to the teleporting room as well as the two unconscious teenagers. Where Rogue had fallen, there was a silver locket and Harry assumed it was her possession that she had brought for him to enchant. Unfortunately, he would not be doing any enchanting any time soon so she had to wait. He then told Triki to 'pop' his body to his bedroom and covered. After setting the temperature of the room to the most comfortable using the temperature regulation runes on one of the walls, Triki left his master to his devices.
Harry spared one more glance at his Soul, looking at the damage he had taken from the Dark Phoenix. Hadn't it been the help of Doctor Strange, Harry was pretty sure that the battle would have been a hell lot different. While he would have been brought back to life, the ten innocent souls that would be taken in his place would have been on his shoulders. The fact that some parents would be forced to lose their children, to not know the joy of watching their son/daughter grow…
He had been through that and he wouldn't wish someone else to go through the same. He briefly wondered how it would have been like if things had gone differently. How life would have been with him and Daphne raising the twins. He was damn sure he would have spoilt them. Everything he had wished for as a child would have been present for them. But life had been as cruel as it was wont to be most of the time.
Harry shook his head. Living in what ifs was useless. Sirius was probably rolling in his grave, if given the chance, his adoptive father_ if he could be called father_ would have pranked him to the moon and back if he caught him thinking in terms of what if. Concentrating slightly, Harry's left hand became more solid and grabbed the locket around his body's neck. A hissed command had it opening showing the two photos on either side. Daphne glaring at the person holding the camera who also happened to be her sister, Astoria.
Closing the locket and panting slightly from the effort of keeping his Astral form solid, Harry stepped back and willed his soul back into his body. The experience was…jarring for lack of a better word. When he felt that he had gained back control, Harry felt like he was under a pile of rocks as he couldn't even move a finger. He decided to forget about that and sank into the comforting world of Morpheus.
-ANLANLANLANL-
When Harry opened his eyes, he was standing in his study back at Peverell Manor. His heart leapt as he knew that he was going to meet his kids and sure enough, a mop of black hair peered into the room.
"Will you get in already; you know very well we only appear in the same dream when he is here." Mia's voice complained from behind her twin brother and Harry chucked.
"Hey guys..." Harry greeted as the two ran and gave him a bone crushing group hug. "My, look how you two have grown."
Indeed, they had grown in the last year if the magical calendar in the study was right. Mia was now taller than Hadrian by a few inches and almost all of the baby fat had disappeared from her face. She was quite athletic, probably from quiditch and was growing out to be very beautiful just like her mother, not to mention her chest was way much more developed than any twelve-year old had any right to be. Hadrian on the other hand had no traces of baby fat at all, he looked even more athletic than his sister and he seemed to be developing some muscles.
"It has been so long Dad." Mia's voice was slightly accusatory and Hadrian nodded in agreement.
"Sorry guys but you know I don't control it though I have an idea." Harry apologized and then messed their hair. "But to me it has been barely two months anyway."
"No fair." Hadrian pouted and his sister whacked him on the head.
"Act your station you moron." She admonished looking down on him.
Harry chuckled as they started arguing. A few seconds later he interrupted them.
"So, how have you guys been?"
"We are fine Dad." Mia answered with a smile. "And I was top in the year last year."
"You mean we were the top." Hadrian pipped in with a grin.
"You were simply taking half of the answers from my head." Mia argued.
"Yeah, well you took the other half from me."
"I didn't take half. They were only three questions."
"Just how long do you guys take without arguing." Harry asked with a laugh and the two blushed.
"So, why are you at home…I expected us to meet near the lake at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.
"The school was closed when there was an attempted attack on the headmistress two weeks ago on Halloween." Hadrian answered and Harry looked at them over in concern and the two smiled.
"Don't worry dad, no student was injured." Mia assured him. "The attackers however…"
The two shuddered slightly in remembrance and Harry frowned again. What could have happened to make them react like this but he didn't ask, he figured they would tell him if they wanted.
"What about Hermione, is she ok?"
"Oh she was brilliant." Hadrian exclaimed. "I never thought she could be that scary."
"Not even a single spell hit her or the students." Mia continued.
"In fact, not even the teachers got time to raise draw wands."
"The moment the five blew the doors to the great hall…."
"Aunt Hermione leaped to her feet and within seconds…"
"Four of them were dead and one was bound…."
"He was wrapped from head to toe like those mummies of Egypt."
"In fact we only saw what exactly happened in a pensieve." Mia concluded.
Harry blinked at his kids blankly and they blushed furiously. It would seem that they hadn't even realized that they had been speaking in sync. Shaking his head, he had them tell him as much detail as possible but they seemed to believe that everything was fine as they were even going back to school the next. Harry however had a bad feeling about what he had been told. Something at the back of his mind told him that he was going to do something very stupid in the near future.
Harry shook such thoughts from his mind and decided to enjoy the time he was having with his kids. They laughed as they talked about pranks they somehow managed to perform together despite being in different houses, they talked about their friends and Mia teased Hadrian about the Zabini twins. Apparently Blaise and Hermione had a pair of twin girls that were in the year below them.
Hadrian surprisingly didn't argue that he had a crush on the twins. Both of them. Harry had laughed when Hadrian blushed so hard he would make a ripe tomato look green. Hadrian had then teased Mia about her fan club which incidentally had both boys and girls, mostly girls and were all having crushes on her. The conversation had moved from school to Quiditch, to home until they reached training.
"Dad, we want you teach us how to fight." Mia had stated seriously.
"Sure. Can we begin now…" Harry simply stated putting Mia down who had somehow ended up in his lap. The two blinked at him apparently thrown for a loop. "What?"
"Aren't you going to tell us how young we are and how not safe it is?" Hadrian asked in confusion.
"Of course not." Harry looked insulted at the idea. "That is for your mother, she is the responsible one, now get moving."
Harry barked and fired a stinging hex at Hadrian who was still looking at him. The boy showed his seeker reflexes as he dodged the hex just mere seconds before it reached his face.
"Always remember that the best defense in a fight is not to get hit. And I am not going to teach you how to duel, I am going to teach you how to fight." Harry said as he looked at two pairs of Emerald eyes looking back at him in determination. "There are so many spells and hexes that you would be hard pressed to know all. While a shield is good, there some spells designed specifically to pass through magical shields. So it's better to just avoid getting hit."
"Are you ready?" He got nods in reply. "Then let's begin."
Harry started firing off very mild stinging hexes at the two twelve-year olds while increasing the pace as time passed. Somehow, he knew that whatever they did here would be transferred to their physical forms when they woke. He had them dodge until they couldn't and them discussed with them the basic offensive spells like stunning, knock-back, Jelly legs, full body-binding, the bat-bogey hex and the rope conjuring hex. He made sure that they were capable of performing these spells both with incantations and silently.
The two were very powerful, even more powerful than he had been when he was their age, not to mention very bright given that they almost shared their brains. Therefore, in Harry's completely unbiased opinion, each one of the two used brain power enough for two twelve-year olds combined.
By the time they were finished with training, they were both very tired and snuggled on either side of Harry on a couch he had conjured and soon enough they were asleep. Harry regarded the two with a soft smile on his lips. It wasn't every day that he got the chance to unwind and laugh freely like everything was alright in the world. Harry treasured these moments he spent with the twins, and wished he could learn to control it so he could easily visit them.
That was when he was hit with an idea. Given his detour in the Astral plane, Harry been hit with many ideas concerning that dimension. If he was capable of visiting other dimensions, would it be out of the realm of possibility to be able to visit a different universe? After living around magic, the line between what was possible and what was not possible became blurry to the extent of almost disappearing. Therefore, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility and Harry swore to himself that he would find a way of travelling from one universe to another by all means necessary.
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Harry woke up feeling much better. He checked on his magic to see that about half of his core had been refilled. But that was probably because he hadn't been eating. A quick Tempus showed him that it was just past noon. He looked at the enchanted calendar on his bedside table and wasn't surprised that it had been two weeks since he had gone to sleep. His magic had been near depleted and had only remained enough to keep him alive. He also theorized that most of it had gone to healing his soul and it was only now that it felt Harry's body was fit to function as usual.
After a shower and all that went with it, Harry sat down on the dining table and consumed a meal fit for three and as much treacle tart afterwards. He then went to the training room which had reverted back to its basic shape and flexed his magic a little. After, he went and did a few laps around his property despite the cold weather as the temperature in Wales had started dropping but he didn't enter the forest.
Harry knew that the forest currently surrounding his property had all sorts of animals both magical and non-magical. His property was like a beacon that seemed to compel anything with the slightest magic that was not human to come to it. He had therefore put another layer of wards around his home just to keep out the dangerous ones though they were still within the main wards. He often visited the forest to pick potion ingredients that were not grown in his greenhouse and didn't want to risk running into something that would rip him apart.
After he was satisfied, he went back to the house and called Natasha and informed her that he was awake. She promised to drop by sometime tomorrow after she had made sure that he was alright and hadn't been affected by his soul being ripped apart. How she was going about that, he had no idea. He had asked her how much she had told Fury but she just told him it wasn't her story to tell which earned her n appreciative smile. Harry could have sworn he saw a slight dust of pink on her pale cheeks but then again it could have been a figment of his imagination.
Harry ten went back and started enchanting Rogue's necklace. He hadn't bothered opening to see what was inside as he believed it was private and no sane man would wish to see what a teenage girl considers private. He put as many enchantments as the silver locket could take without collapsing on itself. He made sure that it fed on her powers to function though it wouldn't have any effect on them in the long run.
No one other than Rogue could remove it and if anyone touched it with the intention to remove it, they would be knocked. In case it is a mutant, their powers would be absorbed like they would have if touched by Rogue herself and the person wouldn't be able to use their powers for the next twenty-four hours. Harry enchanted it so it could protect Rogue from any mind attacks in any form and was also a port key to Potter's Cove.
Harry could think of so many other enchantments he could have put on the locket if it had been a more magic receptive metal. Like allowing her to control the power she used and the capability to turn it off and on with a thought but he decided to wait until he got something better.
When he presented the enchanted locket to the girl and told her what it was capable of, he got the life squeezed out of him and the girl barely stopped herself from kissing him. When she asked him why he had gone to all the trouble for someone he hardly knew, Harry honestly answered her.
"When I was young, I was belittled and abused for something I had no control over. I was called many names and Freak was the least offensive but it was all because of what I was and had no control over. I contemplated suicide and tried it more than once but my magic just wouldn't let me. I will not say that I know exactly what you go through but I have a very good idea as I went through something similar. And what is to say that I couldn't have been in your place."
"But the fact is, you had no choice in deciding who you would be born as. Not to mention that I have the capability to help one as beautiful as yourself and so I did. That beautiful smile, I want to see it every day and not for it to be covered by the fear that you could easily kill an innocent or loved by a single touch."
By the time he left, Rogue had developed a crush on him. But that didn't even register in his mind as Nym swooped down on his shoulder and they disappeared in a flash of lightning. When the lightning cleared, he was back at Potter Cove and he was staring an unexpected sight.
"Illyana?"
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AN: Well, there goes chapter ten. And just to be clear, I am not very familiar with the Astral plane so I built on the little I knew to get what I wanted. If something I wrote was wrong, please feel free to drop your advice so I can do better in the future.
Anyway, next chapter we shall hopefully get on with the Avengers so keep reading and revieving.