Chapter Twenty-Six - The Hospital (Part Two)
Loki expected aggravation from the Avengers, but not from Darcy. Yes, he'd incorporated adaptive magic into the pocket dimension to create an immersive experience, but he'd never anticipated that world would find its way into theirs. He'd built a stable portal to keep everything in its place. None of this mess should be happening.
With Thor leading, they headed for the next vulnerable break out point, a patient room with flickering lights where they collected Natasha. Darcy conjured another salt wall before they moved on, everyone actively searching for Peeves.
"Has anyone seen him?" Steve asked through the line.
"Not in the last minute," Natasha answered when the rest of them shook their heads. "There's salt everywhere. Maybe he's stuck in a spot we can't reach."
"I'm going to be pissed if he got away," Tony grumbled. "Especially with the number of lawsuits we'll be facing over this."
"Not now," Steve rebuked. "Meet up with the others. It's time to get these people out of here."
Slowed by the task of blocking windows, Loki and Darcy were the last to reach the nursery where about three dozen people huddled together—the majority children. Loki discerned from the many bald heads, pallid faces and thin bodies among the little ones that special care would have to be taken to evacuate them.
The team debated if they should head out in smaller groups or one large mass. Parents and hospital personnel tossed out their own opinions, which only escalated the argument and wore on Loki's patience. He shot Professor Snape a look of annoyance across the jammed space.
Snape skirted the edge of the collective to get to him.
Loki leaned close, lowering his voice as he said, "It doesn't matter where Peeves is hiding. If he's still on this level, there's only one way left for him to escape—the stairwell."
Snape turned just far enough to catch Natasha's attention. Then he beckoned her over with a subtle tilt of his head toward Loki. The others failed to notice as she slipped away.
Since Slytherin was stepping up to take lead on this capture, Loki drew Darcy over to them. He lowered his tone to tell her and Black Widow, "Peeves will wait for us to make a move then bolt when we open the door to the stairwell."
"How do we set your trap?" Natasha whispered back, her gaze shifting to the bickering Avengers. "We'd prefer to not use these people as bait."
Snape suggested, "We trick him into thinking the door is open, when in fact, it will not."
Quick to catch on, the spy's features brightened. "An illusion. Right. How can I help?"
"Give us a half-minute to get into position. Then make an announcement," Loki instructed. "Be loud, so he's more likely to hear. Let him think he's only got one chance at this. After that, keep the people in here and quiet as possible. I'll handle the rest." To Snape and Darcy he explained, "I'm going to conceal us from view. Professor Snape, you'll cover this hallway. I'll proceed to the stairwell door, and Darcy can cover the adjacent hall. If he comes your way, use the salt spells to force him back toward me."
"Good luck," Natasha offered before rejoining the others. She nudged Sharon and Maria, passing along the information to enlist their assistance with her task.
Running simultaneous illusions required energy and talent, if not luck. Loki felt a distinct tightness in his stomach as he focused, gathering his magic while working through the details in his mind. The first step had to be timed just right as in the next moment, he, Snape and Darcy disappeared and replicas of them appeared in their exact spots.
"Let's go," Loki whispered to them. He bumped into Darcy as he shuffled for the exit, so took her arm to help her along. Salt crystals crunched under foot when they stepped out of the nursery, causing Loki to startle. He made a quick adjustment to the spells, adding a silencing element before continuing on.
Understandably, it was disorienting to be invisible. Darcy had the farthest to travel in the short time allotted to them, so Loki kept his grip on her until they reached the stairwell door where the halls intersected. Then he felt her pull away to take her assigned position.
"Alright everyone!" Natasha called out. "Stay close. We'll head for the stairwell together."
"What about Peeves?!" one young voice asked while the others quieted.
Black Widow answered with a prompt, yet somewhat reassuring, "I'm sure we scared him off."
Perfect, Loki thought, training his mind and magic on the group visible through the large nursery windows. Natasha, Sharon and Maria stood in the doorway to stop anyone from actually leaving. Loki made the swap, only this time he cloaked and replicated the throng as a whole, rather than individuals. This proved necessary because he didn't dare try to run dozens of illusions with both visual and auditory elements. All sound had to come from the fake group starting down the hallway and none from the people concealed within the room. Moreover, the Avengers and the hostages had to be able to see and communicate with each other. So, their illusion acted more as a bubble around them.
While he paced the progress of the conjured group toward him, Loki's eyes swept the area, searching for signs of movement. With any luck, Peeves would attempt some sort of an attack while fleeing, which would make him solid. Loki had to be fast and agile enough to touch the poltergeist with the enchanted setting before he realized the door was still closed or went incorporeal again. Loki slipped his hand into his pocket, careful to grip the necklace by the chain as he withdrew it.
It's a good plan, he assured himself. Though with such a versatile and unstable foe as Peeves, he had to be ready for surprises. Unfortunately, the poltergeist wasn't the only uncontrollable factor in this scenario, and Loki wasn't at all prepared when the stairwell door opened, revealing Professor Lockhart, Luna and Little Jane.
"No—!" was all Loki managed before a mass of grayish-white rammed into him, knocking the trickster into the new arrivals. Their group hit the floor in a painful pileup with poor Luna caught in the middle. Loki became visible as his focus and grip on the necklace broke.
"Watch out!" Little Jane cried to Loki's left.
Peeves snatched the girl up by an arm and one ponytail, lifting her out of Loki's reach. The wretched spirit drifted over the railing, dangling his petite prize in the open space between the winding stairs which ran the entire height of the hospital. He snarled at them, glaring even more intensely at Luna which stopped her from reaching for her wand resting on a lower stair.
Loki eased to his feet then froze, the demand for Peeves to let the girl go dying in his throat. He could hear backup running down the corridor and hoped to stall. "Don't," he begged, trying to be subtle as he inched toward Lockhart who'd fished Darcy's necklace off the floor. "Please, Peeves, don't hurt her."
"She shot salt at me. It hurt!"
"I understand that you're mad," Loki continued.
"I don't get mad," the poltergeist snapped. "I get even!" Then his eyes narrowed with menace at the struggling girl in his grasp. "Bye bye birdie," he said, breaking into a cackle as he released Little Jane.
Loki lunged for the railing, diving over it as the Ravenclaw plummeted. Her screams filled the space, echoing around him while Loki made a frantic transformation to the heavier, stronger and more agile form of a gorilla. This extended his reach by at least a foot, so he managed to grab Jane's flailing arm in one immense hand and a passing railing with the other. They came to a jolting stop.
Darcy and Luna's shouts of warning sounded from above as Peeves zoomed past Loki and Little Jane. Loki swung the witch onto the stairs and continued the desperate pursuit. He leapt between the railings, batting at the pesky poltergeist. He could not let Peeves escape.
They arrived at the ground level to discover an armed Gilderoy Lockhart blocking the door out of the stairwell. Loki expected the worst, cringing as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher thrust his wand at the charging spirit.
"Petrificus Phantasma!"
A bright spark flew from the wand's tip striking Peeves and bringing him crashing to the floor. Loki shed the gorilla form, gasping as he studied the solid, unmoving lump from which frantic squeals of protest arose.
Lockhart moved closer, holding out the jewelry like a protective shield before touching the setting against the petrified poltergeist. Peeves closed in on himself, letting out a terrible wail as the enchanted necklace sucked him inside.
"Professor, how did you…?" Loki began, but didn't finish. He didn't quite know what to say as his mind reeled at the events. Lockhart must have apparated to get ahead of them.
The teacher stared at Loki, his face a contortion of shock and bewildered glee. "I came across that spell while doing research for my book," he confessed. "I thought it would make a fantastic finishing move for the final battle scene. Wouldn't you agree?"
Loki nodded stupidly. He held out his hand to accept the necklace dangling from the professor's grip. The man had stepped up despite his usual cowardice. Perhaps he'd been inspired by the bravery of the Avengers and his own students. In fact, his desire to produce a superior tale had driven his choice in assignments for the first years, which in turn prepared Darcy, Luna and Little Jane for this encounter. Whatever the reason, Gilderoy had taken an unanticipated spring from storyteller to true adventurer.
Perhaps under different circumstances Loki would have felt some pride in him, but Gilderoy Lockhart had once again stolen the spotlight. He'd filched this glorious moment from Loki, which might have been the God of Mischief's last chance to prove his worth to Odin and the Avengers.
Loki's despair grew as the team and last of the evacuees exited the hospital to face the mob. He was to blame for this chaos. That's why the others would happily see him back to his cell on Asgard.
Amid the endless questions and clicks of camera phones, Lockhart pushed forward, stepping up on a bench to give him more visibility to declare his victory over the troublesome ghost. It was a triumph that none of them could by right deny him, and he obviously planned to make the most of the excitement.
Severus gripped Loki's arm as he tried to turn away. "I must assist in the restoration of the building." His dark eyes shone with an understanding that the trickster never expected to see from him. "Yours was a solid plan, Loki."
The words gave him little comfort. "I'll return to the apartment," Loki said, trying not to shout despite the surrounding noise, "to secure the necklace and prepare the mirror for transport to Avenger Headquarters."
"Not yet." Severus reached for Darcy, pulling her closer to speak to them both. "Keep an eye on him," he said, directing his gaze toward Lockhart, who'd started into a dramatic reenactment of the events in the stairwell. "We don't need another situation."
They agreed, if only out of necessity. Hospital, fire and police officials occupied most of the Avengers' attention. Sharon, Maria and Pepper coordinated the arrival of further resources and personnel via their phones. Bruce had disappeared—probably hiding from the ruckus. Erik and Jane stepped over when Severus took Luna and Little Jane off their hands to assist him.
"You two alright?" Jane asked then her gaze settled on Loki. She frowned, reading his sullen expression. "No one thinks you did this or let it happen."
Loki took in the scathing glare from Selvig, guessing the scientist might be the exception to Jane's claim. He knew better than to say anything in the face of such blatant loathing. Any defense he could offer was best kept for later when cooler minds prevailed.
Jane pointed toward the now wand-enabled Gilderoy still engrossed in his tale and the reactions of his wide-eyed spectators. "Is that a good idea?"
Darcy grabbed for her own wand, but Loki stopped her. A crowded parking lot was not a favorable place to have spells flung about, no matter who wielded the wand.
"I'll handle this." Loki pulled away, weaving out of the mass of people until he could find room to take to the air in owl form. Circling low, he swooped in for a landing on the back of the bench, his thick talons gripping the slats for stability.
"An owl!" cried the little ones with bright smiles and emphatic gestures that forced the acclaimed monster hunter to stop his theatrics. The moment Lockhart turned toward him, Loki snatched the wand away with his beak, an action that made the man shriek, jump back and almost topple from their shared perch.
Loki shifted from the owl to his Hogwarts avatar, letting the wand drop into hand as a chuckle escaped him. "My apologies, Professor," he said, slipping his hands behind his back to conceal the motion of pocketing the nine-inch, cherry wood wand in his robes. "One can never be too careful with Muggles about."
"He's an animagus!" declared a tall teenage boy in pajamas and gripping an IV stand. "But—he's just a kid."
Always a showman, Lockhart placed a hand on Loki's shoulder as he addressed the audience. "Mr. Odinson is one of my finest students—and a keen wizard of the illusionary arts, so I hear."
His immediate task complete, Loki should have attempted an escape back to Darcy, yet the eager expressions of the children and parents at his introduction all but booted the idea from his mind. Why couldn't he enjoy a moment or two of their admiration before the facts of his failures came out?
"I would be happy to entertain you all," he suggested, "while the others finish the repairs."
Lockhart leaned in with a strained, false grin when cheers rose up around them. "Stealing my thunder, Mr. Odinson?" he accused.
"Annoying, isn't it?" Loki rebuked with narrowed eyes and shooed the teacher off the bench to give him more space. He'd show the charlatan a thing or two about the humans of this dimension. Just like Darcy had expressed before, many adults and children alike enjoyed the Harry Potter novels, and some dreamed of attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Loki planned to give this group a taste of that adventure, even if only temporary and restricted for safety sake.
He hadn't a chance to say anything more before a barrage of questions came at him about the validity of magic, if Hogwarts was real, and how they all came to be there. Loki thought it best not to get too detailed with the explanation. He specialized in illusions, distraction. So, he straightened his posture, offering a wily smirk before shifting his appearance into that of Albus Dumbledore dressed in one of the headmaster's many stylish robes of royal blue and gold with a matching pointed hat and the unmistakable, half-moon spectacles.
"Good morning, everyone," Loki greeted the shocked crowd in perfect Dumbledore tone. "As you may have guessed, we are just visitors to your world; and our time here is quite limited. Am I correct to assume that you're all aware of our wizarding school, Hogwarts?"
"YES!" cried the mob, breaking into more cheers and mild applause.
"Can we go?!" a girl's shrill voice asked from off to his left, followed by a chorus of similar requests.
"Oh, I wish you could," Loki continued, acting sorrowful and contemplative. "I do think as headmaster that I can declare you all honorary students for the time being." This response elicited more joyful hollers that spurred him to really take in the scene. The sea of smiling faces, some frail, yet so enlivened and engaged, caused a soothing warmth to appear within Loki's chest.
"I'm a Gryffindor!" claimed one lad seated on a rolling bed with a few others. He looked the right age to be a first year.
Others declared, "Me too! Me too!"
"I'm Slytherin!"
"Ravenclaws rule!"
"All right." Loki raised a weathered hand to calm the rowdy rabble. "We'll get to that. First, you will need your uniforms." He focused, then with a snap of his fingers, every hospital gown, pair of pajamas, scrubs, et cetera were covered with a crisp black robe tailored to exact Hogwarts standard.
Loki took the opportunity while the gaping masses patted at their new garb to make a change. Starting at the tips of his decorative shoes, a cascade of sparkling energy surged up his form, replacing the royal blue and gold robes with the iconic dark green and black worn by Minerva McGonagall. Even before the magic swept over his features to reveal the character, the children closest to the bench screamed in glee.
"Settle down," Faux McGonagall requested, just short of sounding snippy and reached up to adjust her glasses upon her slender nose. "Much better. Now—where are my brave Gryffindors?"
Dozens of hands shot into the air, old and young alike accompanied with enthusiastic whoops. Beneath a wide-brimmed hat, Minerva stared them back into submission. She shared sentiments about the bold, courageous and protective natures of those individuals sorted into her house, reminding those present to put their best selves forward at all times. Still in disguise, Loki/Minerva extended the show with the impressive transfigurations of a tongue depressor into an earthworm, bandaids into butterflies, and a stethoscope into a garter snake, which no one dared to take from him.
With more sparkles, McGonagall shrank and morphed into the more compact frame of Filius Flitwick perched upon a solid stack of grimoires to be better seen above the heads of the nearby adults. As the diminutive man, Loki lectured the Ravenclaws with a favorable astuteness, suggesting they keep up their studies and endeavor to be problem solvers guided foremost by logic and common sense. This mini-speech preceded a display of enlarging, shrinking and levitating objects—or at least the illusion of such antics—to everyone's delight.
For Loki's next self-alteration, he dissolved the books, dropping back onto the bench while shedding Flitwick's neat black and white suit for a patched set of brown and mustard yellow robes tented by a well-rounded body underneath. A worn gardener's hat sat atop a tumbleweed of gray hair, roly-poly cheeks and the expressive, pleased gaze of the humble herbologist Pomona Sprout.
"What a wonderfully mixed crop we have here," Loki/Sprout commented with a surging charisma. "I see quite a few warriors among you—and scholars too—but where are my helpful Hufflepuffs? Where are the hard workers and most loyal and truest of friends? Raise your hands high to where all may see them."
With some hesitation the first hand emerged, then others popped up, scattered here and there amongst the gathering. Loki noticed the majority were adults: parents, doctors, nurses and other hospital staff. "Ah, yes. There they are. Hearty stock. Rare blossoms rooted in the ways of support and kindness, often shadowed from the sunlight. I'd pick this lot without question."
His gaze panned to the far left to see Pepper's hand raised with visible pride. The tall blonde caught his eye and winked at him, nearly stunning the trickster out of his focus. He fought the resulting grin at first, before coming to his senses and allowing it to stay—the perfect garnish for jolly old Sprout.
"Mr. Odinson," came Severus Snape's baleful drawl from behind him, "what are you doing?"
Loki shook off the illusion of Sprout to reveal his child avatar instead. Soft giggles bubbled through the crowd with his wide-eyed look of dread. He turned toward the voice, "Nothing, sir. I was just attempting—"
"To be inspiring. Yes, I noticed." The professor stepped around the right side of the bench. "It's time to go."
"Ahhhhh..." and "Nooooo!" bemoaned the children, casting despondent glares upon the black-clad party pooper as their uniforms melted away.
"Oh, come now, Severus," Lockhart jumped in. "If we must depart, at least offer some words of recognition to your fellow Slytherins." He gestured to those few inching and craning forward, their faces lifting in hopeful curiosity.
Professor Snape had stopped, his already stern frame stiffening upon the request. Loki expected he'd stride away at any moment, perhaps throw out a snide comment or two. The Head of Slytherin made a cautious turn however, his dark eyes skimming, searching.
"My advice to those aspiring to greatness..." he began, then took a breath which smoothed and calmed his pale features "... is there are leaders and there are followers. Slytherins usually fall into one or the other, but it is the rare individual that can succeed at both roles. I say be cunning, patient and observant. Learn from the best attributes of your peers. Know when to ask for assistance and when best to offer it." Snape paused, taking a side glance at Loki before a wry smile disrupted the thin line of his lips. "And by all means," he barked, "try not to act like a bunch of dunderheads!"
The horde broke into laughter, clapping and shouting their approval at his use of the canon jab. Severus acknowledged none of this.
"Time to deal with your mirror," he told Loki, gesturing for him to follow.