Disclaimer – Anything you see and recognise does not belong to me. Harry Potter is JK Rowling's; The Avengers and other related characters belong to Marvel. I'm simply playing in their sandboxes.
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Heroes Assemble!
Chapter 37 – "Yeah, Right, Like I'm An Alien!"
Minerva tapped the large iron gates that guarded Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to find seven individuals standing in a loose semicircle before her. The fact that four of them wore hoods or masks that covered either their entire faces or only part of it simply made her sigh.
"These are your friends, Mister Potter?" she asked the man in the blue-grey cloak that she recognised.
"Yes, Professor," Potter's unmistakable voice replied.
Once again, she raked her eyes over the group. The fact that one of the unmasked men clearly carried weapons, judging by the sheath of arrows on his back and another simply carried a large metal muggle case, while a third carried one of the largest hammers that she'd ever seen worried her slightly. But then, the others were masked, and one, the only female, clearly had a tail of all things.
"They are muggles?" she asked.
"Yes, Ma'am, well, most of them, that's why I asked for the pendants," Harry replied.
"Hmm. Very well," she finally conceded. "You may enter, but be warned, Mister Potter, I will not tolerate any tomfoolery any more than I did when you were a student."
"Yes, Ma'am," Harry replied.
"Tomfoolery?" the man in the muggle suit asked, amusement clear in his voice. "You been holding out on us, Gandalf? I want the stories."
"Later, Tony," Harry sighed and Minerva smiled a small smile.
Yes, there were many stories that one could tell about Harry Potter, although not as many amusing ones as there were for his father and his friends.
"Is there a reason that so many of you are concealing your faces?" she asked as they began the trek towards the castle.
"The good that we can do in the … non-magical world would be greatly reduced if people knew who we were," the one in the dark red suit replied. "And I understand that you have a large number of students with ties to the non-magical world who attend here."
"Not to mention that when we're wearing these suits, we're rather recognisable and famous," the one in the red and blue body suit replied.
"Gotta love those fangirls," the one called 'Tony' remarked wistfully.
"Aren't you practically engaged?" the girl asked.
"I am not," Tony replied vehemently, then, after a beat, added, "and Pepper doesn't mind me looking, just so long as I don't touch."
"You just keep telling yourself that, Stark," the archer chuckled. "Maybe one day she won't smack you around the back of the head for 'looking'."
"Is that where you went to school?" the red and blue one gasped as they rounded the bend and Hogwarts came into sight.
"Yep," a proud-sounding Harry replied and Minerva preened at the awed looks the ancient castle was eliciting.
"Damn sight better than Midtown," the red and blue one stated.
"Sure is," the girl agreed.
As they continued their walk, Harry pointed out various features of the castle and grounds to his friends – Gryffindor Tower, the Astronomy Tower, Hagrid's Hut, the Black Lake, the Quidditch Pitch. Questions and comments washed over and around the Headmistress and she listened as a new group of people – these ones decidedly not first years – saw the castle for the first time.
The group had barely entered through the great oaken doors when a young missile with electric blue hair gave an excited shout before leaping down the last half dozen steps of the Grand Staircase and practically flew at Harry.
"Heya, Teddy," Harry laughed, catching the boy and giving him a massive hug.
Teddy broke off the hug rather quickly as he noted the group standing around, smiling at the two. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. Finally, he found his voice.
"Is that … is that the Avengers?" he asked.
The fact that Mister Lupin's voice was filled with awe and disbelief confirmed to Minerva that these people were special. It wasn't until every other muggle-born or muggle-raised student froze where they were, staring, before rushing towards the group that she finally had an inkling as to what this group might mean to the muggle world.
"Yep!" Harry said proudly. "What sort of godfather would I be if I didn't bring them here and introduce them to you as soon as they were in the country?"
Somehow, Teddy tore his eyes from the group to stare up at Harry, a grin wide enough to nearly split his face in half and his eyes shining excitedly. After lunging at Harry and giving him the strongest, briefest hug possible, Teddy stepped forward, hand out to the muggle carrying the case.
"Hi! I'm Teddy Lupin. I know who you are: Iron Man," Teddy said.
"Nice to meet you, kid; call me Tony," Tony replied, shaking the boy's hand.
"And you're Thor," Teddy said, moving on to the large man with the hammer.
Minerva blanched and wondered if her hearing was going. Thor? As in the Norse God of Thunder? Surely, she was mistaken.
"Young Seidhr, it is an honour to make your acquaintance," Thor said. "Tales of your godfather are sung in the very halls of Asgard."
"Wow!" Teddy said, staring back at Harry for a second before moving on.
"You can call me, Clint," the archer said.
"Sure thing, Mister Hawkeye, Sir," Teddy said, making Minerva groan at the boy's mischievous streak making an appearance.
Clint, though, didn't seem to mind, simply reaching out and messing up Teddy's hair with a laugh.
Teddy turned to the last three uncertainly before glancing back at Harry.
"This is Daredevil," Harry said, introducing the man in the dark red suit who merely nodded at the boy.
"That's Spider-man," Harry continued, his arm draped over Teddy's shoulder, as he gestured towards the last male of the group.
"Hey, Teddy. Nice to finally meet you. Heard a lot of stories," Spider-man said.
"You have?" a wide-eyed Teddy asked.
"Sure. Can't stop old Mage here from talking about you. Gotta say, some of those pranks he's told us about," Spider-man thumbed his chest twice. "Respect, man."
"And I'm Squirrel Girl," the only girl said, bouncing forward to give Teddy a brief hug.
Minerva was sure that she whispered something in Teddy's ear, at least judging by the way he gave a quick nod.
"Nice to meet you, Squirrel Girl," Teddy laughed when she pulled back.
"I hear you're coming to the Big Apple next summer," Tony said.
"As long as Grandmother says I can," Teddy replied.
"She has," Harry replied, eliciting another huge smile from the boy.
"Great. Well, you get bored hanging out with him," Tony continued, cocking a thumb at Harry, "you can bunk with the cool people in the Tower."
"Really?" Teddy asked, sounding disbelieving.
Any response to the question was cut off as a silvery ferret ghosted into the Entrance Hall to stop in front of Minerva.
"Headmistress," the patronus began and Harry burst out laughing.
"Malfoy's patronus is a ferret!" he exclaimed, before instantly cutting off and sobering as the patronus continued.
"Thirty-two of your students and two of your professors are currently being held at our … pleasure. They will remain safe for the time being. Their safe return is dependent on a simple exchange. One student for a person of our choosing currently being held at the Ministry's … pleasure. The names of the first six persons that we wish in exchange will be sent to you in one hour."
With that, the patronus, faded from view.
A concussive blast was needed from Minerva's wand to restore order to the panicking students that had heard the demand. A quick sonorous was applied to the Headmistress' voice.
"All students report to their common rooms immediately. Heads of Houses please do a head count and report to me any missing students."
"I take it you know that voice?" Clint asked Harry.
"Draco Malfoy," Harry spat. "We went to school at the same time. For most of the war, he worked for the other side but switched just before the final battle. I thought that he'd reformed after his family's property and vaults were seized. He's been working as an Auror, a magical policeman, for the last eight or nine years, trying to change his image. Guess he was just biding his time."
"It is fair to say that this Draco Malfoy and his accomplices are the ones controlling the Dark Elves," Thor guessed.
"Could they have gone far?" Daredevil asked. "Moving that many children would not be an easy task."
"With magic, it is," Harry replied, "but the wards around Hogwarts would mean that they would have had to walk out. If I had to guess, I'd say that they're holed up in the Forbidden Forest."
"Now that doesn't sound creepy at all, does it?" Spider-man stated sarcastically.
Harry gave him a pointed look. "It's named that for a reason. There're a lot of creatures in there that are incredibly dangerous. Not that that ever stopped me from going in there."
"No, it didn't," Minerva replied as she turned away from four silvery animals. "It is confirmed that thirty-two students are missing. It sounds like the second year Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Herbology class and the third year Care of Magical Creatures class."
"Neville!" Harry gasped.
"I'm sorry, Mister Potter, but yes, Professor Longbottom is one of the two professors missing; the other being Duncan O'Grady, our OWL COMC professor," Minerva confirmed.
Harry instantly got a very determined look on his face.
"I'll be back as soon as I find them," he said, taking a couple of steps towards the doors.
"Hey!" Clint said, grabbing Harry's shoulder. "Reconnaissance only. We're here as a team, remember?"
"That was all I had in mind," Harry assured him before running at the door, his body shrinking and changing as he went until, with a mighty flap of his wings, he soared through the doors and away.
"What?" Spider-man exclaimed. "I've never seen him do that before!"
"Was that?" Tony asked, spinning towards the Headmistress. "Please. Please, tell me that was what I thought it was."
"Mister Potter's Animagus form," Minerva said with a smile. "An impressive piece of magic that he's not long mastered."
"Yes, yes," Tony waved off. "But the type of bird!"
"Oh. Yes. He's a sparrowhawk," Minerva confirmed.
"YES!" Tony exulted, pumping both fists in the air. "I knew it! He is so never going to live this down."
Tony looked like all his Christmases and birthdays had come at once – it was no wonder that Harry had been appalled at his form. Minerva grinned like she hadn't in years: it was about time one of the Marauders was paid back for all the mischief that they'd caused.
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Ged – and that being his Animagus name, Harry knew, was going to take a whole lot of time to get used to – sat high in the branches of an ancient oak, surveying the hollow below him.
Really, it hadn't been all that difficult to find where Malfoy, his cronies, their controlled Dark Elves and the hostages were – there wasn't exactly that many places within the Forbidden Forest with a clearing large enough to hold them all. Not to mention far enough away from the centaurs who wouldn't take kindly to intruders, especially intruders with ill-intent towards the young.
With that thought in mind, Ged had flown swiftly through the trees, dipping and swaying between branches, much as Harry once had when flying to avoid bludgers or other players when playing quidditch. And then, on a whim, he'd detoured towards Aragog's old lair. What had become of the acromantulas, Harry didn't know, but he suspected that they'd been exterminated by either the Ministry or the centaurs after their numbers had been reduced in the Battle of Hogwarts.
It'd been the soft murmur of voices that had first caught his attention. On silent wings, he'd landed close enough to observe without being spotted.
The hostages had been placed in four groups – about ten students trussed up together in three groups and the two professors roped back to back a little away from them all. Each group was guarded by four of the Dark Elves, the remaining one staying at Malfoy's back at all times. Ged's sharp eyes counted the twenty-one wizards before he leapt from the branch and flew back to the castle as fast as he could.
Returning to the hollow once more had taken time, especially when there'd been a plan of attack to be made, not to mention the small amount of charm work that Harry'd needed to perform.
Almost surprisingly, there had been little change in the group in the hollow, apart from a few positionings.
Twisting his head about, Ged could see the other six Avengers moving into position equidistant apart around the hollow. Unfortunately, the one drawback of being in his Animagus form was that he couldn't communicate with the others. The small earbud that Tony had for each them was simply incompatible with an animals' physiology, meaning that he was reduced to simply waiting for the signal.
Noting that everyone seemed to be tensing up, Ged focussed in on Hawkeye. The archer, he saw, had plucked three arrows from his quiver, one notched on the string, the other two held loosely between his fingers.
The instant that Hawkeye spun out from the tree that he'd been hiding behind, Ged dropped from his branch, flaring his wings out to slow his fall.
At four metres from the ground, he began his transformation, completing it just before he hit the ground. Instantly, he whipped a piece of rope from his pocket and dropped it in Neville's lap. A flash of multi-colour and the two professors were gone.
Whipping his head to the side, Mage caught sight of Hawkeye's last arrow exploding into a net just before reaching the last group of students. The net slammed into the kids, knocking the first couple backwards before the pull of the portkey transported them all to safety.
The Dark Elves that had been guarding the kids barely had time to react before a branch, twice as thick as Mage's arm and just as long, spun out from the forest, collecting two in the head, knocking them senseless. A high-pitched war cry preceded Squirrel Girl leaping from the trees, landing on a third Elf before spring boarding off and flattening the fourth.
Across the clearing, three wizards were gummed up in webbing, their wands dangling high above them out of reach. The blood-red form of Daredevil had another two Dark elves laid out at his feet as he twisted and turned, kicking and punching two others, his billy-clubs a blur in his hands.
"Avad…!"
The cry spun Mage around, his wand spitting jets of red and blue. A tall, lanky wizard, caught an exploding hex in the back, spilling blood and bone everywhere before he toppled to the ground flat on his face.
Mage's severing hex caught the wizard beside him on the outstretched arm, slicing through the wrist, dropping both the hand and the wand that it still held to the ground with a wet splat and for a cry of pain and fury to erupt from the maimed wizard.
The flash of a dozen small reds lights lit up the hollow as they raced from one side to the other before their targets dropped to the ground, gaping wounds in their bodies. Mjolnir sped past, flung out by Thor before smashing into the last of the Dark Elves' head, dropping him, before reversing to fly back to its wielder.
And then, as Mage spun about once more, searching for targets, all he found were bodies on the ground, some ominously still, others groaning and desperately trying to hold parts of their bodies together.
"Well, that was kinda anticlimactic," Tony stated, flipping his visor up as he came in to land.
Noticing the platinum blonde head of Malfoy rolling on the ground, Mage strode across, grabbed his collar and flung him over onto his back. Malfoy let out a deep, pitiful moan, his left hand clutching the stump of his right even as blood pooled all over his robes.
"Tony, Thor, can one of you seal this wound?" Mage asked. "He's the ringleader; we don't want him bleeding out before he goes to trial."
"But my hand … it can be reattached," Malfoy panted.
Tony paused, looking between the two magicals.
"It can?" he asked.
Mage shrugged. "Yeah. But I don't see a Healer around here, do you?"
With that, Tony nodded and activated a mini blowtorch in his wrist gauntlet.
"Hold still, this might sting a bit," he said.
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"Master Harry, there is a floo call for you," Kreacher said after popping into the kitchen where the Avengers were having breakfast.
"Thank you, Kreacher," Harry replied before pushing back from the table and striding from the room.
The head that was in the fire when Harry arrived was completely unexpected, a fact that was mirrored in his greeting.
"Lavender?"
The woman in question gave Harry a small, tight smile.
"Hi, Harry. Do you mind if I come through?" she asked.
"Be my guest," Harry replied with a welcoming gesture.
Lavender's head quickly withdrew before, a couple of seconds later, she stepped from the fireplace, the flames instantly dying from green back to a soft yellow.
As was the case the last time that Harry had seen her, her clothes looked slightly the worse for wear, something that still amazed Harry when he compared the fashionista from Hogwarts all those years ago to the woman that she was now. Her brown hair lay loose and mostly covered her face, including the scars that marred her. In her hand, Harry noted, she clutched a newspaper.
"Would you like to join us for breakfast?" Harry asked.
Lavender shook her head, instead perching on the very edge of the chair closest to her.
"Have you seen today's Daily Prophet?" she asked.
Harry blinked at the non-sequitur.
"I haven't read that paper in years," he admitted. "And even when I did, it was never worth it."
"I remember what it was like for you when we were in Hogwarts," Lavender nodded.
"I'm guessing that I've made the front page again?" Harry sighed.
"You and your team," she replied.
Harry closed his eyes and counted to ten. When that didn't help, he simply held out his hand.
"Let's see it."
Last of Ancient Pureblood House Maimed for Life, the headline screamed.
Quickly, Harry scanned the article. For the most part, it was entirely truthful; it was simply the emphasis that it spun.
Yes, there'd been an attack and students had been kidnapped. Yes, they'd been rescued, by a bunch of muggles, no less. But, in the process of the students being rescued, Draco Malfoy, the last of the Ancient House of Malfoy, had lost his hand and, instead of proper, magical, medical treatment being sought and the hand being reattached, the wound had been cauterised so that that was impossible. It was simply an outrage that this was allowed to happen with no penalties being given to those responsible. And especially to The-Man-Who-Conquered, considering that he was there and should have known better.
The accompanying photograph didn't help matters either, showing a moaning Malfoy lying on the grass in front of Hogwarts, his wrist clutched in his remaining left hand while a group of the Avengers stood around him, staring down at his body.
Harry threw the paper to the coffee table in disgust.
"No more than I expected," he grunted.
"But it's not right, Harry, you and your friends got all those kids and Neville and Professor O'Grady out safely," Lavender protested.
Harry simply shrugged. "When has the Prophet ever printed something good about me? Even after the Battle of Hogwarts, every article proclaiming how great I was was tinged with comments about the 'disgraceful loss of pureblood life'."
"I know, Harry, that's why … that's why I talked to Professor McGonagall and Neville and a few of the students and the wrote this," Lavender said, hesitantly.
From the pocket of her robe, she pulled out a folded piece of parchment. Curiously, Harry took it, unfolded it and, after a last glance at her, read it.
It was a masterfully written article, emphasising the role that Harry and the Avengers played in saving lives, including the life of Malfoy, for he would have easily bled to death if his wrist hadn't been dealt with as quickly as it was. Included were a number of quotes from the students and even an auror. Harry read it once and then a second time, his smile growing each time.
"This is truly brilliant, Lavender!" he praised. "But would the Prophet even print it?"
"I've still got a couple of contacts that owe me a favour or two," she said shyly. "They'll print it."
"Thanks, Lav, I really owe you," Harry beamed. "I never would have thought to rebut that article like this."
"I know," Lavender said simply.
"Hey," Harry said, snapping his fingers. "You want a job? With the stuff we do, a good press secretary who knows how to write good, positive, articles like this would be brilliant."
"Really? You'd want me to do that for you?" an amazed Lavender asked.
"Sure. The only thing is, you'd need to move to New York," Harry said.
Lavender looked deep in thought for a moment and it was easy to see the conflict on her face.
"Tell you what," Harry said, grabbing a blank piece of parchment and a pen. "Think about it. And if you decide you want to, let me know; I'll even pay for you to fly out there and find you a place to live. Here's my number. Give me a ring, any time."
"Thanks, Harry," Lavender said. "I'll definitely think about it."
ooo00ooo
"Come on, Sparrowhawk, you know you wanna," Tony practically begged. "Change. Become your true self again."
Harry resolutely stared forward. He was so very tempted to retaliate, but he was hoping that if he ignored Tony, then the man would give up his incessant teasing.
"Change," Tony continued, this time adding a poke to Harry's arm. "Become the Sparrowhawk. Be one with your inner self. Be the bird that I always knew you were."
"You know he's not going to stop, don't you?" an amused Clint commented.
"He's right," Tony agreed. "I won't stop until you do it. Again and again and again. And then you'll need to show Bruce, too. The science involved." The man gave a happy shudder. "Where does all your mass go? What causes the change? Is it purely a physiological change? How can your human mind fit inside a brain the size of a bird's? What …"
Harry, though, had finally had enough. A quick flick of his wrist ejected his wand and a flourish had Tony's question finishing in a squawk as, instead of a billionaire, playboy, philanthropist standing beside him, there was now a small, yellow duck.
"What?" Harry asked innocently at the stares that Clint and Thor were giving him. "He was starting to annoy me. Now he can answer his questions for himself."
Thor's great booming laugh drowned out Cliint's chuckles.
"You and my brother would have got on famously," Thor said, before almost instantly sobering at the remembrance of the slain Loki.
The roar of mighty engines overhead tipped the three men's and one duck's heads up. A massive black plane was descending vertically towards them.
An absent wave of Harry's wand turned duck back into man, a man who instantly began patting himself down to check that he was all there.
"You are certain that you need us here for this?" Thor asked. "I am uncertain exactly how much help we can be; if I understand the magic that you wish to perform on the maiden is correct, that is."
"I don't need you for that," Harry replied. "Something else. It's time that you were told one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets; it's just a shame that Steve, Nat and Bruce aren't here."
Finally, the great plane landed, just a short distance from the Avenger's own quinjet. Almost before the engines even began cycling down, the rear ramp began lowering, two vehicles – one a standard black S.H.I.E.L.D. van, the other a shiny red corvette – visible on it. And walking out from between the two cars were two people – Skye and …
"Agent?" a disbelieving Tony yelped.
"Son of Coul, you still live!" Thor laughingly boomed.
Clint, though, was the only one to move, stalking forward, his fists clenched at his sides. That was until he was in striking distance of Couson. Then he struck out, landing a solid, meaty punch to the man's face.
Coulson's head whipped to the side and he slowly looked forward again, one hand now holding his jaw.
"I think I deserved that," he said.
"You were dead! There was a funeral and everything! We mourned for you! We fought for you, avenging you! It tore each of us apart. Do you know how long it took Lau … it took to put ourselves back together again, to try move on? I've been dying every day since that day!" Clint ranted. "I was responsible! I was the one who came up with the plan! I led the boarding party onto the helicarrier to release Loki!"
"I watched my brother stab you through the heart with his sceptre," Thor stated. "There was no way an Asgardian, let alone a Midgardian, could survive such a wound."
"What can I say? I did die," Coulson replied "My heart stopped beating for nearly a minute. And then they brought me back."
"Why weren't we told?" Tony demanded. "There's not even a reference to your survival in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s databanks. I know. I checked."
"Fury," Coulson said simply. "He thought that you needed the push. And it worked. You've grown, become something that none of us imagined. You're now truly Earth's Mightiest Heroes."
"We should have been told," Clint snapped.
"Not my call," Coulson stated simply.
"So, where've you been?" Tony asked.
"Tahiti. You really should go. It's a magical place. And once I was … better, Fury gave me this Bus and a team of my own, to fight the good fight," Coulson replied.
"How long have you known?" Clint asked Harry roughly.
"Less than a week. I found out after the Greenwich thing," Harry replied. "Fury actually asked me not to tell you, but I made a different choice."
"Good call," Tony replied, before, unexpectedly stepping forward and giving Coulson a brief hug. "Glad you're not dead, Agent. Now, I assume this thing's got some liquor on board so that we can toast you properly?"
"We have our own bar," Coulson smiled. "Skye, you'll be alright here with Mage?"
"Oh, yeah, sure," she replied. "At least, I assume that it's not going to be anything dangerous?"
Harry smiled at her. "No, nothing dangerous. Just a few simple tests that shouldn't affect you in the slightest."
"You've thought that before," she retorted.
As Coulson led Tony, Clint and Thor into the plane, Harry jerked his head indicating for Skye to follow him. She quickstepped until she was walking beside him, glancing at him every other step.
"So … what's with the hood and hiding your face thing?" she asked. "The others don't. Well, the original Avengers, that is. The new ones do, for some unknown reason. You all ugly and scarred or something under there?"
Harry laughed. "I've been told that I'm quite fanciable, not that I believe them. Although, I do have a scar."
"Come on, it's just us, you can show me," she wheedled. "I'm not going to tell anyone. Besides, it's only fair. You're going to perform magic on me, I'd like to see the person that I have to trust."
"You don't trust an Avenger?" Harry asked, amused.
"Well, yeah, obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be out here alone with you, would I?" she replied. "But still …"
Harry was silent for nearly a minute, considering her points. And she did have good ones.
"I wear these concealing charms because I'm quite famous in my own world and I've had quite enough of that for one lifetime," he explained slowly. "I'll cancel them, if you promise not to put any images of my face anywhere for others to see."
"Hey, you're magic. You can probably turn me into a toad or something if you felt like it. Why would I do something that could piss you off?" she asked.
After one long look to gauge her sincerely, Harry cancelled the obscuris charm. Skye stared intently at him, her brown eyes searching every part of his face.
"Yeah, I can see what those others meant; and that scar is hardly noticeable, certainly not something to comment upon," she stated.
"Okay, if you've done staring, stand over there," Harry said, shifting uncomfortably under her scrutiny, before pointing a short distance away.
As soon as she was in place, Harry began the same wand movements as the last time, sweeping across the entire area to levitate every piece of wood and stone there, before, like a conductor, he began 'directing' the objects exactly where he wanted them to go. As he did so, he watched Skye. But she simply remained standing in the one place, even when he separated out the different material into two piles to either side of her.
With a frown, Harry rubbed his chin. There was something different this time. There had to be, otherwise Skye would have been affected by the magic the same way as before. Hermione, of course, would say that he had to conduct his tests exactly the same way twice, to see if the same reaction occurred every single time.
With that in mind, Harry magicked the sticks and stones back to their previous positions. Then, after letting them settle, he began his test again, this time doing his best to ensure that he did everything exactly the same.
Once the sticks and stones were levitated and swirling about in the air, Harry ordered them to separate, everything of Earth to pile to his left, everything not of Earth to pile to his right. As expected, all of the sticks and stones immediately jerked to the left before settling into a pile.
"Whoa!" Skye exclaimed.
And Harry could see why. Two tracks now lined the ground, indicating from where she'd started to where she'd been dragged to the right.
"What just happened?" Skye asked.
Harry stared at the girl.
"I just recreated what I did back in Greenwich," Harry replied slowly. "Everything of Earth was to go over there; everything not of Earth was to go that way."
"Everything not of Earth?" Skye repeated. "Are you saying …?" She shook her head, then. "Yeah, right, like I'm an alien!"
"I don't think that you are," Harry replied, his eyes narrowed. "At least, not entirely. If you were, my magic would have moved you properly instead of simply sliding you that way just a bit. At the very least, there's something … extra in you or about you that reacts to that particular magical order, or at least to my magic in a very strange way."
At that, Skye shook her head, her long brown hair flying about her face.
"Nope. Whatever it is, it's not me; just your magic going wacky," she stated emphatically.
"You may be right," Harry conceded. "There's a bunch of books on magical theory and people that I'd like to consult to try to work out what's going on. Would it be alright with you if we kept in contact while I try to work this out?"
"You got a phone?" Skye simply asked, holding out her hand.
In response, Harry simply pulled out the one that Tony had given him and handed it over.
"I've put my number in there," she said after her fingers had finished flying over it. "Call me anytime, even if it's not about … whatever this is."
"I will," Harry promised with a smile.
ooo00ooo
Harry stood beside Hermione, the two of them staring up into the lowered ramp of the Avengers quinjet. Already, the rest of team were aboard, having said their farewells shortly beforehand.
"You're sure that you won't come?" Harry asked. "There's plenty of room."
Hermione gave a sad smile and patted Harry on the shoulder.
"That life … your life … isn't for me," she said. "I've got my parents here, a job I love and I'm making a difference in the world."
"Really?" Harry asked, unable to hide the scepticism.
"Really, Harry," Hermione replied. "And after what you and your friends just did, my job just got a whole lot easier. You basically single-handedly gutted the pureblood movement. Again. The momentum will be with Kingsley and me for quite some time now; we'll be able to push through the laws that we've wanted to for a while. And once they take hold, the magical world will change."
"You thought that before, Hermione, after the War," Harry reminded her.
"True and even then, we made a world of difference. If we can build on that now, there's no telling where it'll end. I've told you before, Harry, I aim to finish what I started," she said. "And, really, if the other side gets a bit of a toe-hold again, well, I know exactly who to call to bash sense into a few heads, don't I?"
Harry gave a small nod and a smile.
"Well, we'll see," he said.
"Go on, your friends are waiting," she said, before leaping at him and giving him a bone-crushing hug. "And don't make me wait so long for your next visit."
"Whatever you say, Hermione, as long as you can make the next one a little quieter," Harry replied, before stepping back. "Take care of yourself."
"You, too, Harry. Try to stay out of trouble," she laughed.
"I thought we agreed that that was an impossible task," he replied.
Then, after giving her hand one last squeeze, Harry turned away and boarded the quinjet, slapping the button to close the ramp as soon as he was clear.
"Right, buckle up, everyone," Tony called from the pilot's seat. "Next stop, Avenger's Tower!"
ooo00ooo
A/N – The addition of this chapter means that Heroes is now officially the longest single story that I've ever written, a milestone I'm quite proud of.
On another note, this will be the last chapter for a couple of weeks – I'm off on holiday and have no idea what the internet will be like there or even if there'll be time to write or post. The good news is that afterwards, life will have slowed somewhat and I should have more time to write, so those of you waiting for more Castle Voldemort can expect chapters to resume then as well. 'See' you all the first Thursday in October.