Chapter Ten

It didn't take long for the group of students to be escorted to the Blackbird. The sight of the solid black jet was awe-inspiring and the students didn't waste any time boarding. Beast and Phoenix helped the students load their things onto the jet while Cyclops and Harry stood guard.

Throughout the entire mission, Cyclops had been impressed with Harry's performance. While he still didn't like the fact that Harry hadn't been prepared thoroughly enough for fieldwork, Cyclops acknowledged how quickly Harry took to it. In fact, Harry reminded Cyclops of himself when he first became an X-Man.

The atmosphere surrounding the Blackbird became very still. While it was dusk, the sky darkened far too quickly. Cyclops became uneasy, as did Harry. It was at that point Phoenix nearly collapsed. Beast rushed to her aid, the students began to worry. Hermione and Ron both took out their wands. This situation had become all too familiar.

"Scott! They're coming!" Phoenix cried out as she came too. A massive surge of negative psionic energy had nearly overcome her.

"Everyone, inside the Blackbird!" Beast told the students as he readied himself for a fight.

Cyclops readied himself, his hand on his visor trigger. Harry pulled out his wand. He knew what was coming. At the edge of the woods, several cloaked figures slowly made their way to the Blackbird. The closer those figures came, the feeling of dread increased.

Try as they might, the dementors did little to daunt Cyclops. Little did they know that they were in range. With the press of a button, a crimson-red beam of energy streaked across the distance and smashed into one of the terrible creatures.

"SHREEEEEEEIIIIIKKKK!"

The foul creature cried out seemingly in pain before being blasted into smoky dust. To the astonishment of the students, Cyclops had just done the impossible. He had killed a dementor. Harry raised his wand with resolve equal to Cyclops's.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A ghostly stag soon chased off the other dementors as Harry channeled his Patronus. Cyclops fired another blast to further discourage the creatures.

"Auror, fall back to the Blackbird!" Cyclops ordered Harry.

As the two retreated to the Blackbird, Beast and Phoenix started the engines. Soon the Blackbird streaked safely away across the Atlantic. Unsurprisingly, the X-Men put the pedal to the metal.

The flight back to Xavier's proved to be uneventful, however, Jean just felt cold. The encounter with the dementors wasn't something that could be easily shaken off. While Hank piloted the Blackbird, Scott tended to Jean. While her husband's presence did comfort her, Jean still felt uneasy and drained. Harry noticed this and proceeded to see if anyone had any chocolate with them.

Sitting toward the back of the jet was Seamus going through his things for like seemed to be the thousandth time. Harry, figuring he could help out two people at the same time approached him.

"Hey Seamus, are you okay?" Harry asked.

"I'm holdin' up, just tryin' to get used to all of it," Seamus answered quietly.

"Don't worry, it's going to be alright," Harry said, placing a hand on Seamus's shoulder.

This helped ease Seamus's nerves, and Harry continued to where Hermione and Ron were. Both have been quiet for the better part of an hour. Ginny was with them too, albeit taking a nap due to jet lag.

"How are you two doing?" Harry asked as he took a seat.

"I'm doing alright," Hermione said with a small grin.

"A little sick at my stomach, but I'm okay," Ron said.

Harry walked over to the first aid kit on the wall and pulled out a small can of ginger ale.

"Here you go, Ron. This should help," Harry said.

"Thanks," Ron said in gratitude.

It was true that he had motion sickness from the flight, but Ron was also a bit unsure about what to say to his best friend. Sure, Harry looked the hero in his uniform and played the part keeping those dementors at bay. However, he still was the same old Harry. This was a relief and a source of guilt for Ron. He knew now how wrong he was about mutants.

"By the way, do either of you have any chocolate?" Harry asked.

"Sorry Harry, I don't have any," Ron answered.

"I'll look, but I don't think I have either," Hermione said as she began to search her things.

That's when Hannah Abbott spoke up.

"Here you go, Harry," she said meekly as she handed Harry a chocolate bar.

"Thanks, Hannah. This should help Jean," Harry replied.

A small smile crept across Hannah's face as Harry made his way to the cockpit. Maybe everything will be okay. After all, it seems that Harry was doing okay. So why not herself? Of course, the pain of self-doubt reared its ugly head, but this time Hannah had hope.

Meanwhile, Harry met up with Scott and Jean. The chocolate had done its job. Jean was feeling much better though at the cost of a possible breakout. Nonetheless, the ordeal with the dementors had Scott thinking about possible ways of combating such creatures. His thoughts turned to the students since they may be able to help with that.

En Sabah Nur, the being otherwise known as Apocalypse, sat upon his throne deep within the remote and ancient Egyptian ruins. He was silently eager to hear the reports of his underlings. So far, the titan's machinations were bearing fruit. This pleased Apocalypse greatly. Soon, his lieutenants approached his throne with their reports. On one side was Sinister and the other was a nearly ethereal being known now as the Shadow King.

"I await your news," Apocalypse's voice boomed.

"I have that pathetic excuse of a wizard conditioned. The clones of him have provided very valuable insight nonetheless," Sinister said with clinical fashion.

The ancient titan smiled. For five thousand years, Apocalypse had wandered the Earth and during these travels made a number of observations. Observations that fed into his core philosophy: only the strong have the right to survive. It appears that those with the gift of magic were worthy enough to be tested by Apocalypse.

"Release him Sinister, send him back to his master," ordered Apocalypse.

Sinister simply nodded and set out to carry out Apocalypse's wishes.

"Now it's time for your report, Shadow King," demanded the titan

"My lord, I have triggered Potter's powers and eliminated the boy's relatives as requested. I have even tested the boy with the dementors," the Shadow King answered while kneeling.

"Excellent," Apocalypse said with a strong undertone.

"However, the test came under interference. Xavier…"

"Xavier and his X-Men are irrelevant at this time. Let them keep the boy. In time, he will bring about their destruction," Apocalypse boomingly retorted.

The Shadow King, with a slight tremble, nodded.

"However, do keep an eye on them," ordered Apocalypse.

"Yes, my lord," The Shadow King said meekly and he soon disappeared.

Apocalypse stood up and began to ponder his plan. Charles Xavier and his X-Men have been a thorn in the titan's side for a while. They thwarted his Horsemen in the past, but this time Apocalypse would not repeat his mistake. No, he would use something those pathetic fools could not fight against. Raw magical energy of the sort that could manipulate the fundamental forces of the cosmos. The spectacle he had planned was only the first step in acquiring the means to control this power. So the mad despot smirked as he stood alone in his court.

Dusk was slowly making its way in the Savage Land as Sirius saddled up a duck-billed dinosaur mount to prepare for his trip to a research station on the border of the Savage Land. Ka-Zar walked up to his friend with a map and a small pack of supplies.

"Here you, Sirius, this should help you get to Dr. Hudson's station. There you'll be able to contact Xavier. Dr. Hudson is expecting you, and has told me you're welcome to stay with him until the X-Men arrive to pick you up," said the chieftain as he handed the pack to Sirius.

"Thank you Ka-Zar, I'll be sure to send word to you once I get to Xavier's," as he climbed atop his mount.

"Safe travels Sirius. Please send my regards to Xavier and the X-Men," Ka-Zar said as Sirius rode off in the direction of the research station.

Sirius rode into the large clearing toward the border. Lighting a torch as the night fell, Sirius felt confident that he could fend off any of the nocturnal predators easily with his wand. The duckbill was a bit slow and a little nervous, so Sirius patted the animal on its side to ease its nerves.

Ever since he found the Savage Land, Sirius had developed the same sense of wonder that children have when they went to a museum and saw the dinosaur skeletons. Even when the more dangerous animals, he still retained the wonder and awe. As he traveled along, Sirius thought of the stories he had to tell Harry. It made him even more excited to get to New York.

The Ministry of Magic staff was still going through the gauntlet. Yet the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office was having a typical time of it. Arthur Weasley and his subordinate Perkins were enjoying a tea break after a long trip tracking down bewitched toilets.

"I don't really see the humor in bewitching the loo. There must be something to it since we've had four calls," Perkins said to Arthur as he took another sip of his tea.

"Probably just to baffle the poor muggles," said Arthur, a little tired from the running around.

That's when a knock on the door grabbed both of their attention.

"Yes?" Arthur said, answering the door.

There stood a small woman dressed mostly in black, with a deep purple witch's hat. She wore silver spectacles and was deathly pale. She appeared to be fairly young, but there was a strict and commanding presence about her.

"Mr. Weasley, I presume. I'm Maline Sarras, and I am a junior assistant to Undersecretary Umbridge. I am here to discuss with you and your assistant about the future operations and expansion of your office," the woman said with clinical precision.

Arthur was slightly stunned. The Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office wasn't held in high regard by the Ministry In fact it had one of the smallest offices in the whole Ministry building. Granted, the Ministry had been run ragged with the attack on the World Cup, the cancelation of the Triwizard tournament, and the whole 'mutant menace'. The last one Arthur considered being rubbish.

"What details will we be discussing?" Arthur asked. He felt very uncomfortable about this sudden news.

"Madame Umbridge has called this expansion Operation Deirdre. Due to the threat presented by the mutant menace, the operation involves the acquisition and augmentation of muggle technology," Maline answered, and promptly handed a thick file over to Arthur.

Arthur felt very uneasy as he thumbed through the file.

"This seems to be a bit extreme, considering no mutants have attacked anyone," Arthur said, going with his instinct.

"That is where you're wrong. Madame Umbridge was attacked at Hogwarts," replied Maline, pointing to one of the parchments in the file with a frail finger.

Arthur saw the report but was deeply skeptical. He knew of how Umbridge liked to weave stories like this to suit her whims. However, the first page was an official endorsement from the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Arthur also found another page. It was a schematic of what appeared to be a large machine, that muggles referred to as a robot. It was humanoid in shape and was developed in the United States for the purpose of combating mutants.

"So, we're taking these… sentinels… and augmenting them? Something like this would be breaking the law," Arthur protested.

"A special resolution has been passed by the Ministry. Desperate measures are needed to fight these mutants and for once the muggles are actually on to something," Maline scoffed.

Arthur looked back at the file and shook his head. This wasn't something he was going to blindly accept, but he had no choice at the moment. He decided to get in touch with anyone at Hogwarts to determine if such an attack did actually occur

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