Chapter 13
An ethereal figure drifted on the outskirts of Hogwarts. The Shadow King was taking an interest in the recent activity. There seems to be a higher level of security since he was here last. A psi scan verified it wasn't his presence that triggered such a reaction. No, it seems that that toad-like woman from the wizard government is responsible.
Whatever the case, the Shadow King knew his mission was to monitor the boy and to continue to test him. The connection he had with Voldemort was strong. Stronger than a typical psionic link. Apocalypse believed this connection was key to allowing him to tap into remarkable powers.
However, he wasn't sure how he should continue monitoring Potter. Now that the boy is at Xavier's, the Shadow King knew he would be vulnerable. So, for now, he would monitor indirectly and perhaps stir up a little trouble here at Hogwarts. The hysteria was enough to draw the boy out. Not to mention, a chance to seek out the school's secrets.
Unlike Sinister, the Shadow King never considered an 'insurance policy' against Apocalypse until it was too late. The ancient titan had "rescued" him from the Astral Plane, and now he was nothing more than a slave. This only served to fuel his anger against Xavier, and maybe the boy will be his weapon against Xavier and Apocalypse. Maybe a suitable host could get him in close enough to keep Xavier from detecting him. The Shadow King grinned and quickly searched the grounds for such a host.
Meanwhile, Arthur Weasley took note of the six large shipping containers that were at an old RAF airfield outside of Sussex. It was obvious that the Sentinels were inside the containers judging by the size. Probably two to three in each. There were several muggles in addition to the Ministry agents working under Maline Sarras. The muggles were dressed in coveralls and lab coats. They all looked grim, and they were all Americans by the sound of it. All of this put Arthur on edge.
The cloudy day didn't help matters either, and Arthur didn't even know any of the Ministry agents. They looked just as crossed as the Americans. There was some talk that these robots were being sent to Hogwarts to defend the school from mutants. This made Arthur worry more. It was bad enough that an unexpected owl from Dumbledore told him and Molly of Ginny and Ron being selected for a special foreign exchange program. Molly, in her usual manner, sent an owl back demanding answers. Luckily, Dumbledore's response helped ease that tension, but still, Arthur was under a lot of strain.
Before this whole 'resolution', no one gave a toss about the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Now, within a matter of a week, the whole office was expanded into a full division. New magical laboratories were set up, specifically for augmenting these robots. That alone seems highly illegal, and Arthur had grave doubts. While his resources were scarce on the information about what these Sentinels can do, he was in no doubt that the machines had weapons. Dangerous weapons.
Arthur read over the schematics, and while a lot of it went over his head there was a good bit he did understand. Like the laser weapons built into the hands. Arthur had read about lasers and what muggles used them for a while back, but those paled in comparison to the ones in the Sentinels. All of this just made him shake his head. These were going to be trouble and he really didn't want anything to do with it.
"Mr. Weasley, is your team ready to begin transport?" asked Maline Sarras, her pale eyes staring at Arthur through her silver spectacles.
"Yes, but I was wondering if I could have a word ma'am," Arthur asked
"Now is not the time, Mr. Weasley. Sooner we get the containers back to the Ministry testing grounds the better," Sarras commanded.
"Yes ma'am," Arthur said and went back to directing the agents.
There was something odd about that woman. It was a strange feeling of being bewitched or something. Arthur's uneasiness stood ground in his mind. He decided to see if he could get some info from some friends in the Ministry to see if this whole project can be stopped.
Back in New York, Charles Xavier was back on the case of Harry's attacker. His investigation was interrupted by the emergency of getting the Hogwarts students out of Umbridge's reach, but he was back on it. Xavier was certain that it was the Shadow King. The attack on Harry and the death of the Dursleys had all of the hallmarks of Shadow King's modus operandi. Not to mention the dementor attack right before the X-Men left Hogwarts with the students. Jean had reported the drained and negative feeling she felt when facing off with the dementors, but she also noted that there was something hidden as well in the mission debrief. While it was a tenuous connection, it was enough to put Xavier on edge.
The X-Men would have to remain diligent and ensure Harry's safety. With Jean and Betsy alongside him, Xavier was sure that the Shadow King would think twice before attacking again. Luckily, Forge was working on modifying Cerebro to make an active defense net around the estate. If the Shadow King were to show up, the defense net would weaken him and allow for Xavier, Jean, and Betsy to defeat him more quickly. The only downside was that the new tech was untested.
Then there was the matter of Scott and Jean adopting Harry. Xavier had to admit to himself, that Harry's relatives being dead was probably for the best. He noticed how Harry reacted when told of their demise the night before they went to rescue the Hogwarts students. The poor boy remained silent and was understandably unmoved. Xavier still couldn't believe that Albus would allow Harry to stay with those terrible people. However, if Harry agrees to the adoption, then Xavier knew that he would be in a loving family.
Lastly, Xavier was expecting two visitors. One of them, Xavier was looking forward to seeing. The other was a possible threat.
A yellow taxi pulled up to the gate of the Xavier Estate. The intercom activated:
"Good morning, do you have an appointment?" said a female voice over the intercom.
"Ah, yeah, I'm here to drop off Mrs. Harkness," said the taxi driver.
"We're expecting you, please pull up to the mansion," the voice said.
Without a second to lose, the steel gates opened and the cab continued up the path to the Xavier mansion. Ororo, after clearing the cab, went to Xavier's office.
"Charles, Agatha Harkness is here," she said to the professor.
"Thank you, Ororo," Xavier said as he sat his morning coffee down.
The professor went to go to meet the school's newest teacher. Ever since the Hogwarts students had been here, Xavier knew they would need instruction in magic. While Forge could teach the students somewhat, his other duties would prevent him from teaching them more fully. So, it was decided they would contact an old friend.
Agatha Harkness was from New Salem, Colorado. She was among the most powerful witches in the US. Agatha was also an alumnus of Hogwarts and still held ties with the school. Thus making her the best candidate. Ororo and Charles met with Agatha outside.
"Good morning, Agatha. Thank you for coming," Xavier said as he shook Agatha's hand.
"It is my pleasure, Charles," she said as she returned the handshake.
Agatha's cat, Ebony, also greeted Xavier by jumping into his lap.
"Ah, hello there Ebony," Xavier said with a small laugh, as he scratched Ebony's head.
"Ebony down," Agatha commanded. The cat quickly jumped out of the professor's lap.
Ororo giggled at the cat, as she leaned over to pet Ebony.
"Well, looks like we're going to have fun when Logan finds out you're here," Ororo said humorously.
"Tell ol' metal-bones he best not mess with my cat, or else," Agatha said, returning the humor.
"Oh, I'll be sure he stays in line," Ororo said as she helped Agatha with her bags.
"Would you like to join us for breakfast Agatha? I'm sure your trip was quite tiring," Xavier said as he showed Agatha inside.
"That would be lovely, though my trip was rather short thanks to the Floo network," Agatha said with a grin.
"Of course. I'm sure it beats taking the Blackbird," Xavier said with dry wit.
Agatha simply laughed as she picked up Ebony and followed Xavier to the dining room.
It didn't take long for the students to notice the wizened old lady with silvery-white hair and a black cat in her arms. The professor followed behind her.
"Good morning students. I would like to introduce you to Ms. Agatha Harkness, and she will be your magic tutor during your stay," Xavier said, introducing Agatha.
"Good morning," most of the students said in unison.
"Thank you, and I look forward to teaching you later today," Agatha said in a warm tone.
Hermione, sitting between Harry and Ron, quickly took note of Agatha. She knew about the famous witch thanks to the textbooks Agatha wrote. The younger witch really enjoyed reading the textbooks. They were far from being dry texts, and Agatha seemed to know how to make the texts fun to read by encouraging students to experiment with the techniques and lessons. Hermione couldn't count how many of the experiments she conducted while reading Agatha's books.
"Where've we heard of her before?" Ron asked quietly.
"She's the author to some of our textbooks," Hermione answered.
"Ah," Ron responded.
"At least her books aren't too bad," Harry said with a grin.
Hermione gave Harry a bit of a nudge. It was obvious that he learned that through his telepathy. This and other instants had caught Ron's curiosity, and he figured that he would ask Harry about it later. It was a bit awkward anyhow.
Soon all of the students were lined up in the Danger Room. It was the first day of training and Logan and Remy were overseeing their training. Everyone was dressed in exercise clothing and there was a little tension in the air. Hermione and Ron were there as well, despite not being mutants.
Hermione had talked with Xavier about participating in the training. She figured it was only fair and to help provide moral support to the others. So, Xavier permitted them to use their magic in the parts of the training that required the use of powers in order to keep things even.
"Alright, first thing's first. The Juniors will go first to show you, newbies, how it's done," Wolverine said over the intercom.
The large metallic walls revealed several platforms, poles, and hoops.
"Elf, yer up," Wolverine called out to Nightcrawler.
Nightcrawler walked up to a newly appeared start line. His eyes were keenly locked on to the first set of poles.
"You've got two minutes to get to the end of the course without teleporting. Ready, set, GO!" Wolverine barked.
Nightcrawler sprung into action, leaping upon the poles and spinning about them in lightning fashion. Within the first thirty seconds, Nightcrawler had already passed through five of the sets and had ten more to go. For him, it was nothing as he 'flew' through the poles and hoops. For the Junior X-Men, this was typical of Nightcrawler. For the Hogwarts students, it was extraordinary. Ginny in particular was mesmerized by Nightcrawler's nimbleness. With every flex, it seemed that the demon mutant psychically anticipated each obstacle. Soon Nightcrawler was at the finish line, hanging upside down by his tail from a pole above.
"Way to go Kurt!" a few of the students cheered.
"Impressive Elf, you made it in a minute twenty-five," Wolverine said over the intercom.
Next up was Iceman. The obstacles changed, and this time a lot of bullseyes and turrets popped up. Iceman walked up to the start position and 'iced upped'. None of the Hogwarts students, not even Harry, had seen him do that before. His entire body became ice and was nearly transparent. This just added to the hype the students were feeling.
"You know the drill Iceman. Hit as many of the targets as possible without getting hit yerself,"
Iceman looked at the control room and gave a salute and primed himself for action.
"You got two minutes. GO!" Wolverine yelled.
Iceman quickly threw up an ice shield and ducked behind it as the turrets fired. Then three of the turrets were frozen on the spot when Iceman popped out of his shield. He then proceeded to dodge more turret fire and managed to score a few hits on the targets. Time was running out though and Iceman was struggling a bit.
"Time's up. Well Snowball, ya only got seven out of twenty. Looks like ya get to try again later," Wolverine said dryly.
Iceman cussed under his breath. Still, it was an impressive display nonetheless. Jubilee stepped up.
"Better luck next time Bobby," Jubilee said as she walked up to the start position.
Iceman stuck out his tongue and went toward the back of the group. Jubilee just smirked and readied herself. Jubilee studied the area around her as the turrets and targets rearrange themselves. She had a similar training program to Bobby's.
"GO!" Wolverine shouted.
Jubilee quickly shot out sparks of energy toward the first cluster of turrets. The sparks of energy acted like a flashbang grenade, confusing the sensors in the turrets. She then proceeded to blast several close targets, using her powers like a shotgun. Soon, the turrets went back online, making Jubilee dive behind the ice shield Iceman had made earlier.
The shield was melting faster with each shot hitting it, and this caused Jubilee to get soaking wet. Nonetheless, Jubilee made another flashbang and repeated the same tactic she did earlier.
"Time's up Jubes. You've got twenty targets even," Wolverine announced.
Jubilee, with a smirk, returned back to the group in triumph. Neville, in particular, noted how simple Jubilee's strategy was in comparison to Iceman's. It was a useful insight, but the thought that he had to do something similar soon made him a bit nervous.
Lastly, Shadowcat was up. For her, the turrets and targets went away. In their place were six humanoid robots. Each of them was a little larger than a person and their exterior seemed to be covered in black rubber.
"Alright Half-Pint, you're goin' to demonstrate hand-to-hand combat. You need to take out all six robots within three minutes," Wolverine said as Shadowcat got into position.
"Here goes nothing," Shadowcat said as she got into a fighting stance.
"GO!"
The robots closed in on Shadowcat, and everyone was on the edge of their metaphorical seats. Of course, Shadowcat simply 'phased' through two of the robots. The phasing caused the robots to temporarily short out, and Shadowcat took advantage of this to give one of the robots a low kick. The shorted out robot toppled into the other, and this left the other four.
All four of the robots tried to charge Shadowcat, but she then phased into the ground. This confused the robots and the spectators. The robots began to look around.
"Where did she go?" Cedric asked, highlighting the thoughts of the Hogwarts students.
"Just keep watching Cedric," Iceman said.
The tension kept building as the timer clicked down. Then one of the robots sunk into the ground up to his neck. Then another, and then the last two. Shadowcat then appeared on the surface and took a bow.
"Wow, that's smart," Ron said, having been on edge during the whole fight.
"That's the point kids. Yer not always goin' to be able to overpower an enemy, so you outsmart 'em," Wolverine said over the intercom.
Gambit joined the students and continued the exercise.
"Dis was just a demonstration to y'all, to show you a sneak peek of da sort of trainin' we do in here. However, for today, y'all be doin' normal exercises and a little playin' around with y'all's powers. Ya know, baby steps," Gambit said to the newcomers.
"As for the juniors, we're goin' outside for more trainin'. After that, Snowball you'll be redoing your exercise," Wolverine said, after joining Gambit and the students.
As the students went about their training, the Mansion received a visitor. Dolores Umbridge dusted herself off as she stepped out of the horrible muggle taxi. How much she hated these so-called lesser beings. The cab was less than ideal in terms of cleanliness, and now here she was at this undocumented school harboring a handful of students who just so happen to leave while she was investigating the exaggerated mutant menace.
Umbridge's presence was well noted before she even stepped out of the cab. Xavier had sensed the dark psyche and decided that a full scan of the woman's mind was necessary.
After being let in, Umbridge found herself confronted by Xavier himself. Ignorant to the true danger she was in, Umbridge laughed.
"Ha! So, I see this so-called school is being run by a broken man. My, this is enlightening," said the insensitive toad-woman.
"I would welcome you to our school, Ms. Umbridge, but I know why you're here and I will not allow you to harm my students," Xavier said coldly.
The tone of the man's voice terrified Umbridge, and she quickly drew her wand.
"I don't think you realize that you are threatening a member of the Ministry of Magic," Umbridge taunted Xavier, hoping to use her wand in "self-defense".
Xavier moved closer to her.
"Your arrogance is noted," Xavier retorted.
Umbridge smiled and was about to fire her wand at the broken man, only to find she could not move.
"What?!" her voice squeaked.
"You were mistaken about my abilities, Ms. Umbridge," Xavier said to her, staring into her eyes.
Umbridge didn't even make a sound, but she was absolutely terrified.
"Normally, I frown upon taking this sort of action as I feel it abuses my gifts. However, I will not hesitate if my students are in danger. When you leave here, you will report nothing unusual is here and end your investigation and occupation of Hogwarts," Xavier commanded.
A few minutes later, Umbridge had a cheerful smile as she stepped into the taxi called for her. She couldn't believe how charming Xavier was, but was disappointed that the students here were just ordinary Hogwarts students. This trip was a waste of time, but nonetheless, it was necessary.
Xavier watched the woman with grimness. When he scanned her mind, he saw something that made him very nervous. Umbridge didn't have all of the details, but she did allow and approve of the recent acquisition of Sentinels made by the Ministry.
Scott, assemble the X-Men in the War Room. I believe there is a storm brewing. Xavier called out telepathically.