Hullo, folks! This fic is way too long and full of too many headcanons, but I'm sure you'll all learn to forgive me with time. I think I originally started writing this because I read someone's attempt at a DC/HP crossover and was inspired to write my own, but it quickly became the longest story I've ever written.
Anyways, I have a ton of notes, so either buckle up, or just skip to the story.
-HP books take priority in terms of canon, so as long as something doesn't contradict what's in the books, I'll use it. For example, this story introduces the concept of transfer students as if that was always a thing—it also introduces the idea of Hogwarts taking international students upon request (which contradicts what JKR says about the school only serving the British Isles, but since it doesn't change the way the books work, I've made it so—also, this would better explain a certain ignorance about foreign wizarding schools if there were already international students going to Hogwarts)
-This is set in the HP timeline (so, the 90's), but the outside world has more advanced technology more befitting of 2010's/2020's technology, which works because HP never talks about advances in muggle technology
-'Canon' in DC is a joke, so my canon is my canon. If there are stupid things that DC does, I'm going to ignore it, and no one can stop me. And the DC timeline makes no sense, so I've solved it.
-In terms of characterization, I base Tim mostly off of his 90's comic and the Red Robin run. Honestly, I've read too many comics, so I characterize the others based off of what I've seen and what I think that might lead to.
(And frankly, I think it's stupid to argue about characters being OOC in a fic because DC writes their characters more OOC than the fandom does, people who say this just have one comic run that they're super attached to and anything that's not that is 'OOC')
-DC logic applies to this story, which means that humans can theoretically dodge bullets, knock people out with pressure points, and perform other impossible human feats because it's Batman.
Enjoy. Or don't enjoy. Don't let me tell you how to live your life.
Content warnings can be found at the end of each chapter. Please let me know if there's a content warning you think I should add.
Slow footsteps echoed on an iron staircase as a tall figure descended, each one ringing in the otherwise silent chamber. Long, slim legs took each step delicately and deliberately, and slowly the figure was at ground level, standing with hands behind her back and surveying the scene before her. Twenty or so armed assassins stood at perfect attention, all keeping their gazes on her, each with a blank expressionless face. For a moment, all was silent save for the groaning of the chains swaying from the rafters.
"Well, hello to you, too, Lady Shiva," a voice piped up, though no assassins paid it any heed, which was surprising, given that it had come from their singular prisoner who was hanging from said chains. "Gotta say, not a huge fan of the whole 'working-with-the-League-of-Assassins' thing you're doing nowadays."
The woman's thin lips curled into a mildly amused smile. "Yes, I'm certain you must get enough of them, what with the Demon's particular…interest in you." She did not seem surprised nor concerned about the fact that the individual was able to identify her despite being blindfolded.
The prisoner shrugged, an impressive feat, considering that he was currently upside-down and chained up shoulders to waist. "I mean, yeah, he's a pain, but most of the lower-level assassins are pretty neat. Ra's usually has a couple people he consistently puts on his teams. Like Sumayya. She's the one on your left who has the gauntlets." The boy attempted to wave at her with arms that were bound behind his back. The result was some unimpressive wiggling that sent him swaying again.
"She's a tough one," Shiva agreed, nodding at the assassin, who made no indication that she had been singled out, merely continued to quietly await further instruction.
For a whole minute, no words were spoken. Shiva walked up so that she was a couple feet in front of the chained superhero and slowly circled him, examining the handiwork of her troops and searching for any oversights. They had done acceptable work. It seemed as though the boy had been properly detained; they had disarmed him of his notoriously meddlesome utility belt and collapsible staff, removed his boots, gloves, mask, and earpieces, and there were several pins and other lock-picking devices that sat on the nearby crates.
"So," the boy started, drawing out the word to fill the silence, "are we doing the interrogation thing, or is this more of a hostage situation? I'd be shocked if Ra's actually gave you permission to kill me and, honestly, a little offended."
Shiva circled back around and stopped less than a foot from the boy's waist. "That would be the more practical resolution to the evening, now, wouldn't it?" The boy nodded in agreement. "But, unfortunately, you won't be getting off so easily."
His eyebrows rose just over his blindfold. "Oh, so it's just straight-up torture. Fun." He smiled in the customer-service sort of way that said, 'I know I'm not going to enjoy this interaction, but it's kind of my job to put up with this sort of nonsense.'
Shiva bent down and patted his cheek in a motherly sort of way. "Don't act so down, little Robin. I'll ask you a couple questions knowing full well you won't answer them. Then maybe it'll feel like an interrogation."
The boy sucked in through his teeth, wincing as though he was, for some reason, embarrassed on her behalf. "Actually, it's Red Robin now."
"Come again?" For the first time that night, the woman looked like she was unprepared for those words.
"It's Red Robin. Damian's Robin now."
"Is he?" Shiva actually looked intrigued. "For some reason, I was under the impression that he was being raised by the Demon's daughter."
Under the blindfold, Red Robin probably looked shocked. "Wow, you really haven't been keeping up. Yeah, he's disowned from the al Ghul's, and now he works with the Bats," the boy explained patiently. "It happened when Batman was lost in time. You remember that?"
Shiva tilted her head slightly in genuine contemplation. "I recall someone mentioning that to me. And so, because of all that, you took on an arguably worse moniker?"
Red Robin laughed humorlessly. "Don't even bother, I've heard it all before. What can I say? I was really salty about him becoming Robin. Haven't been able to come up with anything better."
"Obviously."
"It's okay, you can still call me Robin if that's easier for you. But I don't think it's super hard to pin on the 'Red' in front. Spoiler had it down in a week."
Lady Shiva shrugged, backing up a couple steps. She held out a hand that was immediately supplied with a katana from one of the assassins rather than drawing her own sword strapped to her waist. "It is a ridiculous codename, but I suppose I will honor you with the names you choose for yourself as you have done for me." She placed the tip of the sword against the boy's cheek, taking care not to draw any blood just yet. Red Robin's whole body tensed, not so much in fear as in anticipation of what was certainly to come.
"So, Red Robin, I suppose I'm supposed to ask you some questions or whatever," she drawled, applying just enough pressure to force the boy to move his head to the side, "and it would behoove you to try to answer each of them to the best of your ability."
"All right then," the boy replied in a chipper tone, his body still rigid. "Shoot."
"How is my daughter doing?"
Red Robin opened his mouth, paused, and then shut it. "Uh…come again?"
"Cassandra. How is she?" Shiva tapped the flat side of the katana against Red Robin's cheek.
His eyebrows shot above the blindfold again. "Oh, um…yeah, Cass is doing good, I think…She's taking some more online classes this fall, and she wants to attend some classes at CCGC in the spring, which is really exciting."
After he had stopped speaking for a couple seconds, she tapped his face again and said, "And?"
"And…uh…Jason taught her how to flambé the other day, and she's been making Bananas Foster for everyone at the Manor the past week. That's pretty neat."
"How are she and Stephanie Brown?"
"Still thick as thieves."
Shiva removed the sword from Red Robin's cheek. "That's good to hear. Stephanie's a bright young woman."
"Yep," Red Robin agreed, popping the 'p' at the end.
A less-than-comfortable silence fell over the pair.
"Was…that it?" Red Robin finally asked.
"No," replied Shiva, approaching him again, "That was just for me. The Head of the Demon has other queries. For example," she started, placing the blade on his side, right above where the chains stopped at his waist, "What allowed Batman's jet to be undetected when it was taken to Nanda Parbat in March?"
"Okay, yeah, that's more like what I expected," Red Robin admitted, but said nothing more. A small smile played across Shiva's face at his silence, and she dragged the katana across his side, cutting between the pieces of light body armor and reaching skin rather quickly. She continued to press in until Red Robin let out the smallest of gasps.
"Don't be too worried," she told him, her voice casual and easy as if the two were coworkers talking at a water cooler. "The Demon forbade me from causing any lasting damage." She quickly twisted the blade and dug it deeper.
Red Robin grunted in pain, and then added, "That one felt like it'll last," through clenched teeth.
"You'll be fine," she assured him, sliding the katana out and eliciting another gasp of pain from him. "I'm certain you'll heal in no time. You're a healthy young man."
"Yeah, a young man with an immune system that's gone to hell. Didn't Ra's tell you about the spleen thing? He loves telling people about the spleen…"
"Excuses, excuses," Shiva chided, now placing the bloodied blade against his left arm. "Anyways, what do you know about the recent attack on the decommissioned Lazarus Pit in Western Australia?"
"When did that happen?" asked Red Robin immediately, cocking his head to the side. Shiva, in return, made a long cut across his arm and positioned the sword for another.
He hissed, growling, "Oh, come on! It's obvious I didn't even know about that one."
"Though truthful, your answer was not satisfactory."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means I want information, and you failed to provide me with any helpful information." She added two more cuts to his arm.
"Well, that's just unfair. Didn't I answer to the best of my ability?"
Shiva let out a single laugh. "I don't actually care." She repositioned the blade so that it hovered right over where Red Robin's spleen should have been. "Now, tell me," she started, slowly pushing it in, smirking as the boy let out a poorly-suppressed whimper, "how was Batman able to discern the method in which the—"
"Oh, shoot!" Red Robin interrupted, as though he had forgotten he was being tortured. "What time is it?"
Shiva stopped pushing the katana.
"No, seriously. Pratik, what time is it?" He turned his head to the right.
An assassin a couple meters away (and somehow in the exact direction Red Robin was looking) immediately responded, "Six thirty-seven, Master Timothy."
"Dammit, I'm gonna be late!" Red Robin smiled apologetically at Shiva. "Sorry, Lady Shiva, I really have to wrap this up or Bruce's gonna kill me."
There was a loud clanking noise as the chains holding the boy unraveled, falling to the floor, and Red Robin dropped right-side up and in a fighting stance. His abdomen was now sporting a jagged cut from where it had unceremoniously been yanked out of the katana's reach.
At once, the assassins drew their weapons, awaiting Shiva's orders. Red Robin, meanwhile, grabbed the blindfold and yanked it off of his head, blinking a couple times to adjust to what little light was in the warehouse.
"Again, super sorry about leaving in the middle of—" Red Robin, or really, Tim Drake-Wayne, given that he was missing most of his gear, including his domino mask, was cut off by two assassins who swept in and began to attack per Shiva's silent command. Tim ducked down, tripping the first one and knocking him down with two well-placed punches. As the other one rushed at him, he grabbed the chain at his feet and parried their bo staff, twisting the chain to yank it out of their grasp and into his. Dropping the chain, he spun the bo around in his hands, grinning madly like he had already won the fight, which was extremely presumptuous for a boy surrounded by a hoard of well-trained assassins.
However, nineteen assassins later, it was clear that his confidence was not unfounded. As he fought, it was as though he already knew what moves they were going to make to a frankly disturbing extent. Even facing four opponents at a time with more preparing to join the battle, he managed to keep track of every attacker and counter their moves several seconds before they were made. It was also clear that it was a mistake allowing this boy to get his hands on a bo staff. It was obviously his specialty.
As he whacked the back of the last assassin, Tim looked around the room until his eyes settled on Lady Shiva, who was standing near the pile of his gear, examining his collapsed staff, seemingly uninterested in his victory.
"Pretty cool, huh?" he grinned, watching as she pressed the button on the side and extended it to its full length. "I designed it myself."
"I noticed," she replied, spinning it around and testing its range of capabilities. "Does this one also whistle?"
Tim laughed, stepping over unconscious bodies as he approached her. "No, but I don't need that to defeat you anymore."
She raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"I mean, at least in stick fighting," he admitted, only a couple yards away from her now. "You'd demolish me in basically every other category."
Shiva twisted the staff a couple more times, moving away from the gear so that there was nothing blocking the distance between them. "Well, let's test that theory."
The two faced each other, placing their staves upright, and bowed as if they were in some sort of exhibition match for all the unconscious assassins. That sentiment vanished when the two of them rushed at each other and started to fight. The speed and ferocity with which the two fought made the assassins' beat-down look like a schoolyard brawl in comparison.
"That was a cute little—ngh—trick you did back there," Shiva growled when the two were pushing against each other in a competition of strength, slowing the fight down.
"Oh—mmh—the thumbs?" Tim grunted back, slowly being pushed back. "Should've seen that one—ngh—coming." He lost his footing for a second, allowing Shiva to shove him back and continue the fight.
The clanging of their bo rang through the otherwise silent warehouse. While it was clear that Shiva was the physically stronger of the two and had the advantage most of the time, Tim again looked as though he was seven steps ahead.
Finally, in an impressive combination of moves, Tim managed to avoid a sweeping attack, hit the back of Shiva's knees, and trip her with one foot, sending her to the ground, his staff pointed at her chest.
"Gotcha," he gasped, wiping his sweaty face with his sleeve. Beneath him, Shiva panted heavily, staring at the boy in legitimate astonishment.
She pulled herself up off the ground. "It seems I underestimated your abilities, Robin."
"It's the height, isn't it?" Tim wandered over to his gear and began to slide his gauntlets back on, testing them to make sure they were still functional.
"Honestly, without the mask, you look like you're fifteen."
He tapped on the screens, which came to life. "Unfortunately, I'm probably gonna stay tha—oh shit!" He began to hurriedly throw on his gear, nearly tripping as he yanked his boots on. "Dang it, Shiva, you totally made me forget about how late I am!"
Tim strapped on his utility belt and began shoving items into whatever pockets weren't already full. "God, Bruce is gonna kill me. He literally told me yesterday to not get into anything big on patrol so that I'd make it on time." He tossed on his cloak and moved to run out through the heavy doors when he stopped, patting himself down, and spun around on his heel.
He stared at Shiva and held out his hand, tapping his foot impatiently. Shiva looked like she was trying not to laugh and tossed him his bo, which he quickly collapsed.
"It's weighted very well, Robin. You certainly went all-out on this one."
"It's Red Robin!" he shouted back, already out the doors.
As the Batcave's doors opened, Tim skidded in and came to a halt—
"—twenty-two minutes late, Tim," Batman growled from his seat at the Batcomputer the moment the boy took off his helmet.
"I know, I know," he grimaced apologetically, hopping off his motorcycle and beginning to take off gear. "I'm really sorry, but they were interrogating me, and I was getting so much information, and I just lost track of time."
Bruce let out what Tim knew to be a resigned grunt. One of the many grunts he could translate into actual emotions. "Be sure to write up a report detailing everything that transpired. What did you find out?"
Tim made his way over to the medical supplies. "Oh, a ton of stuff. You were right, Lady Shiva's working with the League of Assassins right now, and Ra's trusts her enough to give her his best troops. They definitely didn't plan on coming to Gotham. She brought twenty-one assassins; I recognized eight of them. They obviously respect Shiva and—"
"Are you hurt?" Bruce interrupted, glaring at Tim over steepled fingers.
Tim glanced down at the suture kit he had just picked up. "Nah, nothing much."
This was not enough to convince Batman, apparently, and the man immediately stood up and strode over to Tim, checking him over.
"You said you were interrogated?"
"Kind of," Tim shrugged, trying to remove himself from Bruce's careful gaze. "It didn't last long. Shiva took longer to show up than I expected, so I had to kind of rush through things." As Bruce continued his examination, his fingers brushed past the sword wound in his side, and Tim was unable help the sharp intake of breath that followed and the hand that flew to his side.
Bruce's brow furrowed under the cowl, and he pried Tim's fingers away from the wound with a surprisingly gentle touch. "Tim," he said, his voice edging into Batman territory. "I wouldn't call this 'nothing much.'"
Tim frowned, his face flushing. "Okay, I'm sorry, yes, I got hurt, but we have a meeting to attend. We can worry about it later."
"Actually, when the twenty-minute mark hit, I cancelled. Didn't want to waste Zatanna's time."
Hearing this, Tim tensed up, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry, Bruce, I really didn't mean to…" His shoulders dropped. "I just…I'm sorry I was late. Again."
"It's not the end of the world," Bruce said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and leading him over to the medical bay. "Now take off your armor and sit down so that I can tend to your injuries."
Tim threw his head back dramatically and groaned loudly like he wasn't secretly happy that his dad was fussing over him. "Come on, Bruce, I can take care of myself."
Bruce grunted (an amused one). "Your self-assessment from two minutes ago suggests otherwise. Now, what else is injured?"
Tim hopped up onto the examination table and peeled off the upper half of his suit. "Um, well, Shiva also stabbed me in the abdomen," he told him, pointing to the other wound that was letting out far too much blood. "It looks worse than it is," he assured Bruce. "She didn't get very far." Bruce responded by taking off his cowl and leaning in to further examine the injury instead of taking Tim's word for it.
"Oh, and a couple cuts on my right arm," he added, gesturing to his shoulder. "Also, when I was letting them capture me, one of them hit me pretty hard in the back of my head. Don't think I have a concussion."
After a moment's silence, Bruce stared at Tim, raising an eyebrow. "And that's all of them?"
Tim gasped in mock offense, placing his hand on his chest like he was ready to swoon. "Would I ever lie to my own father?"
Bruce narrowed his eyes. "Didn't you try to convince me that a pair of gunshot wounds to your leg was, and I quote, a 'makeup effect for a play you were in?'"
Tim, caught off-guard by the nearly-forgotten memory, giggled, but he tried to disguise it as a coughing fit. "You remember that?"
"One of the few times I've seriously questioned your intelligence," Bruce responded with the barest hint of a smile which disappeared the moment he took another look at the side wound. "How much blood do you think you've lost?"
"Not much more than a pint," Tim estimated, watching Bruce beginning to clean the wound and apply a local anesthetic with the speed and precision that only Batman could have. "I think I'm good for now."
Bruce looked like he wanted to argue that. As he worked on Tim, the boy relaxed, letting his mind wander for a bit and mull over all the information he had gathered.
Several minutes later, he stated out of the blue, "I beat Lady Shiva in a bo fight."
Bruce stopped sewing up his shoulder and looked at Tim. "You did?"
"Mm hm," he grinned. "And she was using my staff. It was crazy. It felt amazing."
His mentor grunted, and Tim blushed slightly, because that there was a grunt of pride. "Good job."
A few days later found Red Robin and Batman seated in one of the Watchtower's smaller conference rooms alongside the Justice League's resident magical expert (Shazam) and the sort-of-Justice-League magical consultants (Zatanna Zatara and John Constantine).
For the past week or so since Bruce had told him about this, Tim had been running through possible scenarios as to what was going to be discussed. Bruce had told him that it "was a very important meeting," but, when probed further by Tim, admitted to the boy that he would have a hard time explaining the situation properly, given his lack of magical background. All Tim knew was that it was an undercover mission that would last eight to nine months, and, because Tim was not going to turn down an offer like that without further information, the details would be specified in a meeting with the concerned parties.
What could possibly concern Red Robin specifically? Was there some skill set Tim had that Bruce himself didn't possess?
"All right, then," Zatanna started, clapping her hands together. Bruce had informed him that she was taking the lead on this case. "Let's get right into this, shall we? Buckle up, kiddo, there's a lot of background information to get through."
Tim nodded solemnly, inwardly quite eager to figure out how he fit into whatever magical anomaly they were facing. As someone who had no superhuman abilities and yet dealt with that sort of thing quite often, magic in particular had always both interested and frustrated him. Lots of superpowers could be attributed to various factors rooted in science: Superman can fly because the radiation of the Earth's sun is different than his alien physiology was designed to work under; and humans naturally develop superpowers due to the presence of the metagene in their DNA. There were controlled variables in these situations: if the yellow sun's radiation is not present, Superman cannot fly; if one does not have the metagene, they will not naturally have superpowers.
Magic was always a wild card in Tim's mind. There was not just one type of magic. Multiple spells from various branches of magic could have the same effect. Sometimes to be able to do magic, someone had merely to study it enough, and sometimes there were just people who were not capable of performing magic for some untraceable reason. The only thing that Tim knew for a fact was that all magic was connected to the Rock of Eternity. Other than that, though, Tim felt like he was always learning about new rules and exceptions to rules about magic. Figuring out magic was a puzzle for him, but it was one he still hadn't quite pieced together. Again, he found it both interesting and frustrating.
"We all (she gestured to the magical persons on either side of her) keep an eye on the magical occurrences of Earth, and, in Shazam's case, the universe, so we naturally take note of things that could potentially pose a threat to the rest of mankind. Recently, we've come across one of these 'things.' It has to do with a large branch of magic that Dr. Fate has in the past referred to as 'the worldwide underground wizarding community' and that I just call 'the everyday wizards.'" Tim noticed that Dr. Fate was not present, which was unsurprising. Though he was a member of the Justice League, he attended meetings on a whim and generally traveled the multiverse combating mystical threats beyond human comprehension. He, like Shazam, had a much larger territory to govern than a single planet.
"They're an incredibly small percentage of the world that is spread pretty evenly around the globe, and they basically live pretty normal lives that hardly intersect with the non-magical world. They keep to themselves and have kept their existence a secret from the world as long as the world's been around. Basically, they're like us, but they're a part of a whole different society that they've made for themselves.
"The League became aware of their existence pretty early on because, unlike ourselves, they believed themselves to be the only existing form of magic or supernatural activity, so when word got out about a flying man that could punch down walls and shoot lasers out of his eyes, they kind of panicked, assuming that Superman was some rogue wizard who was outing their entire community. It took a while to convince them that we were neither wizards nor were we trying to reveal them to the outside world. Nowadays, we don't bother them, and they don't bother us." Zatanna paused and asked Tim, "You got all this so far?"
Tim nodded. "Yep." Basically, there was a secret society of people who were magical and just wanted to be left alone. Simple enough.
"Great. Now, unfortunately, some of their internal affairs are becoming a little…problematic to the outside world." She glanced over at Constantine, who nodded at her unspoken gesture to speak.
"Yeh, well, the wizard-folk in England 'ave worked themselves into quite a tizzy," he continued. "There're rumors circlin' 'round that somethin's comin', maybe even that it already has. I've reached out to some…acquaintances, let's say, that're bandin' together under some big baddie who's gonna conquer the world or some shit. Call 'im by anything except 'is real name: He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the Dark Lord, You-Know-Who, the list goes on. Been dead fer fourteen years, but some say he's returned from the dead. It's nearly impossible to get anythin' outta those blokes 'cept an invitation to join their ranks." Constantine pulled out a box of cigarettes and lit one with a small bronze lighter that had seen better days. "So, naturally, I said yes."
"You're going undercover," Tim restated. "Trying to figure out what's about to go down."
Constantine nodded, letting out a long puff of smoke through cracked lips. "Yup."
"But even though we've been digging for more information, their wizard-world is very secretive," Zatanna told him. "It's no accident that they've kept themselves hidden for hundreds of years. It's nearly impossible to learn anything about anyone without actively being a wizard. Not to mention how closed-off Hogwarts is."
Tim made a face. "Hogwarts? God, these people need help."
Zatanna chuckled. "Yeah, definitely. Hogwarts is the name of this big wizardry school in Britain that…well, actually, we don't know too much about them. Again, they're very tight-lipped. We haven't even managed to track down its location."
"Why is it so important?" asked Tim, already liking where he assumed this conversation was going.
She held up a pair of fingers. "There are two people of interest who are there almost full-time: Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster and an incredibly powerful magician, and Harry Potter, a student who always seems to come up in conversation when talking about the Dark Lord. It's clear that Potter and this evil warlord are directly connected to each other. Still, it's hard to say if—"
"Yes," Tim said, standing up excitedly, leaning forward on his hands. "I'm in."
Shazam started, "But you don't even know wha—"
"Yes, I'm one hundred and ten percent on-board to go undercover as a student at Hogwarts even though I definitely don't have any magical abilities nor am I in the appropriate age range to attend secondary school." He grinned, glancing at Bruce to see his reaction. The man gave Tim what he knew to be the barest hint of a smile, which meant 'stop-being-sassy-but-also-I'm-proud-of-you.'
Constantine raised an eyebrow, nudging Zatanna with his elbow. "Damn, Zee, 'e is a clever lad, ain't 'e?"
"Told ya," she said, winking at Tim. "So, you think you can fit in with a British wizard society for potentially eight months or so and do some serious detective work?"
Tim nodded fervently, grinning from ear to ear. "This is literally the coolest mission ever. I'm all in."
Did Tim know anything about magic? No. Was he capable of performing magic? He didn't think so. Would people get suspicious about him once they learned of his somewhat-celebrity status he had in America? Probably.
That was what made the whole thing sound incredible. It was a challenge. Tim didn't even know how much of a challenge it would be. There were probably way more complications that they hadn't even mentioned yet. But how was he possibly supposed to refuse the chance to go on what was probably one of the coolest missions he'd ever heard of.
"So," he started, clapping his hands and rubbing them together excitedly. "Who am I working with?"
The table fell silent. Zatanna and Shazam exchanged glances.
"Uh, actually, we were only planning on sending you," Shazam admitted, rubbing the back of his neck in an embarrassed fashion.
This seemed like a major oversight. Not that Tim wasn't a fan of solo missions, he loved working alone, but sending him in without any other magical allies?
"Only me?" repeated Tim incredulously. "What about all the other actually magical teenagers, like Raven or Princess Amethyst?"
"Raven attracts too much dark magic, which is exactly the sort of thing these wizards are afraid of," Zatanna explained, "and Amethyst is far too busy ruling her own world."
"And I assume you've already tried asking Sir Timothy Hunter, an actual British teenaged wizard?"
Zatanna sighed, glancing at Constantine, who had mentored the boy in the past alongside her. "Tim's…I really don't want to put him in danger… not again… Tim's been through…a lot. I think he just wants to be left alone."
That was inconvenient. From what Tim Drake-Wayne knew of the boy, Tim Hunter was an exceptional magician and could probably serve as a powerful ally in a magical school setting. But he would respect the boy's wishes for a more normal life.
"Traci Thirteen? She's British." he posed.
"Too flashy. Plus, the majority of her power comes from urban settings, and Hogwarts is in the middle of nowhere."
"Zachary?"
Zatanna snorted. "Zack is the farthest thing from covert, trust me."
He turned to Shazam. "And none of your family…?"
Shazam let out a booming laugh. "Oh, no way, they'd blow their cover in days, trust me. And we're all pretty busy guarding the Rock of Eternity, we'd have to leave school all the time. We do leave school all the time."
"Don't worry," Zatanna told him. "We'll be in contact with you throughout the mission."
"Oh, I'm not worried," Tim responded with a shrug, "I just wanted to make sure we hadn't overlooked any other options." He sat back down, folding his hands in front of him. "Now, where were we?"
"…and then yesterday she gave me this," Tim reached under his shirt and pulled out a necklace that he slipped over his head and handed to the person sitting opposite him. Outwardly, it was fairly simple; it was a leather cord wrapped around a small, half-inch thick annulus that was carved from some dark onyx-like stone. "Apparently, it's an actual piece of the Rock of Eternity that she and Constantine enchanted so that it would 'bestow upon me the very essence of magic.'"
"So you can do magic?" breathed Ives, holding the necklace close to his face so that he could examine it. The image of it reflected off his glasses.
Tim smirked as he watched his friend inspect the object. "I guess."
"That's insane," he remarked, running his finger over the charm's perfectly smoothed surface. "Like, super fucking insane." Ives looked up at Tim, grinning madly. "Dude, you're literally going to a wizarding school. You get to do actual magic."
"I get a wand," Tim added excitedly, taking a sip of his soft drink.
"You get a—oh my god, Tim, I'm so jealous." Ives ran a hand through his short hair, handing back the amulet. "Can I come with?"
Tim laughed, although he felt a little bad about doing so. "Afraid not, Ives. I don't exactly think you have the qualifications the League's looking for."
"Which are…?"
"Superhero with experience going undercover and proficiency in investigation, deception, and stealth."
Ives rolled his eyes. "All right, you got me there. Also, I don't look like I'm still fourteen."
"Hey!" Tim leaned over and stole some of Ives's fries as punishment for that remark.
"But seriously, this is, like, the craziest thing that's ever happened to you. I mean, as far as I know. I still don't know about ninety-five percent of the things you've done."
"Well, it's probably in my top twenty," Tim suggested. At Ives's raised eyebrow, he added, "I've literally owned a sentient alien car and beaten my future self in a fight. And those are just things I've done. If we're talking things that have happened to me, I might add that I was stabbed in the chest by a flaming sword that ghosted right through me and deemed me 'pure of heart.'"
Ives jaw dropped like he was a cartoon character. "Dude. You need to show me your case files."
"That would require that you be allowed in the Batcave, which I'm pretty sure is still off the table."
"Boo. You're no fun." Ives took a huge bite out of his hamburger, which had been neglected for the past ten minutes due to him bombarding Tim with questions about his new assignment. "You know," he commented through a mouth full of food, "it's kind of ironic that you're becoming an actual wizard, since I'm pretty sure your Serpents & Spells character from our seventh-grade campaign was one. School of Illusion, right?"
"Yeah," Tim nodded. "That's the first thing that came to mind when they were telling me about it. Kind of why I wanted to tell you first, since you're also obsessed with fantasy nonsense."
Ives grinned. "It means a lot to me." He paused, then tilted his head as he asked, "Wait, does this mean you haven't told Stephanie yet?"
"Uh…" Tim let out a nervous chuckle, fiddling with the amulet.
"Were you planning on telling her?" Ives continued slowly, raising an eyebrow.
Tim swallowed anxiously and avoided eye contact with his friend. "…eventually?"
"Tim. You've gotta get it over with now so you two have time to work things out. You know that, right?"
"Yeah," Tim sighed, flipping the amulet over in his palm. "It's just…I know she's gonna be furious with me, and I just…I dunno…I kind of want to—"
"—avoid facing your problems?"
"No, I just…" he trailed off. The truth was, he was afraid that once he told her, she would get mad at him and not speak to him the rest of the summer. All Tim wanted was to be able to spend time with her without her constantly thinking about him leaving. Despite the fact that he was totally thrilled about the idea of going on an undercover mission, which were always his favorite, the fact still remained that he was leaving behind a lot of people. Sure, most of them had the means to visit him practically whenever they wanted (Kon could be there in minutes if he really wanted), but there was going to be a lot of time that he spent without those people. Especially his family. Tim was so used to spending his weekends at the Manor and hanging out with his family or even crossing paths with the others on patrol that it would be odd not seeing anyone for possibly months. He hadn't been that isolated since he had started going out as Red Robin, and those early days weren't exactly pleasant.
But it wasn't like he'd be completely alone. There were tons of people at Hogwarts he could probably befriend, and he would still stay in contact with everyone back in America. But that wouldn't be the same. Tim knew this. He had thought about all of this even before interrupting Zatanna and consenting to her then-unspoken proposal. And he had agreed to this, so Tim had to follow through, which meant making the most of this summer before he had to go away.
So! How'd you like it? Good? Bad? Terrible? Please be sure to let me know.
CW: descriptions of light torture, blood, injury