"Then the Warriors Three and Lady Sif came down to help Thor. Loki had sent the Destroyer down to Earth so that it could kill Thor and allow him to keep the Throne, though we didn't fully know that at the time. We worked to evacuate the town all the while Thor and his friends fought the metal monstrosity. Eventually Thor was wounded, and, in his sacrifice, he was able to prove himself worthy again. Mjolnir – that's the hammer he wields – became his again and he defeated the Destroyer and saved the town. It honestly was an amazing sight to behold…"

Harry Potter listened to Dr. Erik Selvig with half an ear. He honestly wasn't all that physically present to take in all the information he was getting at the current moment. Infinity Stones, aliens, and now Norse Gods. The existence of deities shouldn't have been a surprise – he was tied to one of them – but physical and visual confirmation of them was still a little something.

He took another sip of his drink and felt the alcohol and Pepper-Up Potion mix burn down his throat. It was an odd taste that could use some refining. His new friend also had a similar concoction in front of him though he didn't seem to notice the potion in the drink. The scientist was more focused on his story and everything else that had happened on this day.

"The world was much simpler when the gods stayed in their own realms." Harry sighed as he leaned on the bar they were both sitting at. Tony Stark's penthouse was damaged from a prior fight but was mostly intact. It was also stocked with so much alcohol that Harry would be surprised if the billionaire wasn't a high functioning alcoholic.

"Aye, but you can't deny that it is interesting." Selvig said. "The possibilities that it brings are endless, though there are some things that I'd rather not explore."

Harry followed the man's line of sight to the scepter that rested against the bar. The Mind Stone was thrumming mostly to itself and when the mind control had been brought up it didn't at all feel sorry with its actions. Harry could empathize with the scientist. Mind control was all too familiar to Harry and the memories he had with it were not good ones.

"Then it's a good thing that no one will ever use it for that purpose again." Harry said and patted the scepter. "Me and mind control have a bad history."

"I don't know how you're going to convince everyone to just let you take it." Selvig replied and took another sip of his drink.

"Right, there is that." Harry had to concede. "But I wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing."

Selvig's confusion at Harry's words was quickly switched for shock as the Man of Iron came to a stop with a metallic thumb. They both turned to watch as the face plate was lifted to reveal the handsome and goateed face of Tony Stark. The man had a somewhat amused grin on his lips as he walked over to them with his metal suit clanking with each step.

"Did I miss an invitation?"

"Mr. Stark." Selvig said and stood with a hand offered.

As the two men shook hands, Harry downed the rest of his drink, and then stood up as well. He did have some form of social etiquette after all. With the flick of a hand, he smoothed out his clothes with a bit of wandless magic, and then turned to the Avenger.

"I would be offended at your raiding of my liquor stores but from what I hear you were responsible for closing the portal." Stark said in lieu of a handshake. Harry took it at face value and simply shrugged.

"Well, when a giant hole rips open in the sky I tend to notice."

"Though, I will need to bill you for the damage you did to my tower." Stark said and Harry was taken aback by that. "You did flatten the entire roof."

"Well, it wasn't my intention to destroy your property like that, but I hardly knew what I was doing in the first place." Harry shrugged. "But do I really need to pay for your building considering…" He gestured towards the rest of the city and the destruction all around them.

Selvig coughed at that, and Stark looked out at the city as well before grinning and chuckling to himself.

"You have me there." Stark said and then offered a hand. "Tony Stark, Iron Man."

"Harry Potter," Harry shook the man's hand and then decided to throw caution to the wind. "Wizard.

Both Stark and Selvig looked at him with raised eyebrows, though more on Stark's part than Selvig's, seeing as the scientist had witnessed everything of the last hour.

"A wizard?" Stark said as he walked over to the bar himself and poured himself a drink. "Like Merlin?"

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that. Merlin's fame had penetrated muggle society and he was almost as legendary to them as he was to the Wizarding World. It was to the point where the man was to go to person when anyone muggle thought about wizards. However, being compared to him wasn't so much of a compliment coming from someone who knew nothing about magic.

"Yep," Harry smirked. "a wand waving, broom flying, potion brewing wizard."

"Alright then English." Stark said and Harry and Selvig watched with some amazement as the man walked over to a wall that came apart with a series of robot arms that efficiently took the man's metal suit off. The man who walked out was one that wore a t-shirt and jeans of all things. "We're gonna have to test all that wand waving at some point. JARVIS, add Potter and Selvig to the visitor's list."

"Of course, Sir." A disembodied British voice said. Harry and Selvig both looked around for the source as Stark snickered.

"Never gets old."

"Who was that?" Selvig asked as he retook his seat at the bar. Harry did the same, more so to keep the scepter within arm's reach than anything else.

"JARVIS." Stark explained as he returned to the bar and picked up his drink again. "An artificial intelligence that I created while in various states of intoxication. He is all knowing and all seeing."

"And he has a British voice?" Harry asked as his mind went over the implications of a piece of technology as sophisticated as the one known as JARVIS.

"Yep."

There was more of a story there but since the man wasn't elaborating Harry didn't push him to. He knew very well what it was like to have some skeletons in his closet. It was then that he noted that Death became corporeal again, though she didn't reveal her form to anyone else in the room, and she was giving him that look.

'You require rest in order to take on the full power of the Mind Stone, Harry Potter. Stop playing with these mortals.' Death sent through the mental link that they shared.

'You're not my mother.' Harry sent back.

'Yet at times you have the maturity of a child.'

'Ouch.'

"Well," Harry grabbed hold of the scepter and stood from his seat at the bar. "it was nice meeting you both, but I apparently have a schedule to keep and if I deviate too much then certain people will get snippy."

He didn't fail to notice the way Selvig nearly flinched away from the scepter nor Stark's raised eyebrow at Harry's words. It was possibly a little stupid of Harry to make references to Death herself, but he'd already said the words, and didn't really feel like obliviating two of his new friends.

If Stark was worried about Harry taking the scepter and Mind Stone with him, he didn't show it. Selvig seemed happy to be rid of the thing. Death was in her normal state though there might have been a hint of impatience in those dark pits for eyes that she had. The Mind Stone itself was thrumming in tune as well, clearly wanting to get on with the show, though Harry wasn't looking forward to taking on the power of yet another Infinity Stone.

"Sir," The disembodied voice of JARVIS said through some speakers in the room. "SHIELD and STRIKE agents are arriving at the tower presumably for the scepter that Mr. Potter is currently in possession of."

"That's not going to be a problem, is it?" Harry asked. He didn't know what SHIELD or STRIKE were, but it sounded a whole lot like a government organizations, and Harry didn't have the best track record when government organizations came into mind. The Goblins were still angry at him for breaking into Gringotts.

"Well, Thor did say something about us having one of the greatest warriors in history on our side," Stark said, and Harry grimaced at that. "and you can supposedly do magic, so you're okay in my book. Plus, SHIELD isn't exactly the type of organization I'd be comfortable handing the scepter over to, I mean just look at what happened to the Tesseract."

Neither Harry nor Selvig mentioned that the Tesseract had been reduced to a fine layer of blue particles, and they shared a look that conveyed their continued agreement to not speak of it, for it was agreed upon that it would be safer if its location remained a mystery going forward.

"So, you're just going to let me walk out of here with it, no questions asked?" Harry wanted to clarify that point just for himself.

"I have many questions." Stark said and fiddled with his glass. "So many questions that if I asked them all then we'd be stuck here for the next fifty years. But seeing as those SHIELD agents JARVIS mentioned are most certainly coming to get the scepter and I know for a fact that they don't have the best intentions with all this alien tech, you are probably the best person to keep it for now. Plus, Thor vouches for you, and Point Break isn't exactly a guy who befriends evil wizards."

"Know many wizards, do you?" Harry asked just for the hell of it.

"I have a distinct feeling that I'm going to meet many more of you in the coming days."

Seeing as Harry had broken the Statute of Secrecy multiple times already, he didn't doubt that. He'd just need to convince the American Obliviators to not wipe any and all memories of magic from both Stark and Selvig's minds. If push came to shove, he could just call in one of the many favors he owed from one Department Head Alexander Smith. One of the benefits of being Harry James Potter the Man-Who-Conquered, he had accrued a lot of political favors, and if there was one thing that was common no matter where he went it was government corruption.

At least President Quahog wasn't like Fudge.

"Well, I guess that's it for today gentlemen." Harry said and nodded at both Stark and Selvig, the former smirking, and the latter giving a relieved smile as Harry stepped away with the scepter in hand. Death went incorporeal again and the Mind Stone was sending its excitement to Harry. The intent of jumpjumpJUMP brushing against his occlumency shields. "Until we meet again."

With a two-finger salute, Harry James Potter spun on his heels, and apparated away with a crack.

Though he had many years of practice with apparating, it was still an odd feeling, being compressed to the point where his body felt as though it was bending in ways that were unnatural. The feeling didn't last however, and soon enough he was back in his home, though when he took a deep breath, it hit him.

He realized that he had indeed forgotten his broom back near the Stark Tower, the damn thing having been thrown from the roof when he had taken on the power of the Space Stone. Harry sighed to himself at that and shrugged off the Cloak of Invisibility and hung it back on the coat rack as he made his way through his home. The broom was charmed to the nine and probably survived the oh-so-many hundreds of feet it fell to the sidewalk below.

All he had to worry about was if Muggle-Repelling Charms had broken and a bypassing muggle had caught sight of it.

"Your broom is insignificant." Death said and became a corporeal form as Harry stepped into his bedroom. The dragonhide boots were kicked off near to the bed and the scepter was placed next to a pile of books-he-was-totally-going-to-read. "The Infinity Stones are not."

"I know." Harry returned as he started the process of taking off the dragonhide armor. One of the perks of the tough hide was that it was resistant to most spells. Though, that also meant that it was resistant to all forms of switching magic, so Harry had to go through the laborious task of taking it off one piece at a time. He couldn't simply magic it off. "But you have to admit that it's a nice broom."

"I have no need for such trivial forms of flight."

"Well, not all of us can fly at will."

Harry didn't get a response to that and simply counted that as a win. The last piece of dragonhide armor came off and Harry felt as if he could truly breath again. He took a deep breath and stored his armor back into its place as Death paced somewhat restlessly. It was a slightly concerning sight. For all the years they had known one another Harry had never seen her get antsy like this.

"Is something the matter?" He prodded slightly.

"No." Death seemed to forcefully stop herself from pacing. "Nothing is wrong."

Harry didn't truly believe that, but Death had never lied to him before and claimed that she never would, so he wasn't overly worried. There was still a part of him that wondered what that was about, but he didn't press it. She would tell him about it when she felt that the time was right. He knew that to be true.

For the time being, Harry worked on putting the scepter into a safe and more importantly, secure, location so that when he was ready to take on the power of the Mind Stone it would still be there. That led him to fix his sights on one of his spare trunks. The Space Stone had proved that the near limitless power that the Infinity Stones possessed did not interfere with the magic that Harry had come to know. If one of them could sit safely in his mokeskin pouch then that meant another would be able to sit within a warded trunk without the world imploding.

At least he hoped that was the case.

Now, Harry would admit that he wasn't as knowledgeable about warding than he would have liked, but he was pretty decent at it. There were also the many books that Hermione had gifted him over the years and there was bound to be one about warding amongst his library of books-he-was-totally-going-to-read. A perusal of the leatherbound spines showed a variety of topics from potion brewing to a history of magic from Ancient Egypt to the Founding of Rome. Harry still wasn't sure why Hermione thought he would like to actually read that one, but he wasn't really bothered by it at the moment as he spotted the book he was looking for all the way on the bottom of the pile.

Warding Techniques through the Ages: A Thousand Years of Magical Protection from the Time of Merlin to the End of the Twentieth Century.

As Harry picked up the book, he remembered the little note that Hermione had written for him concerning the text. The fact that the author had included Harry James Potter as one of the great warders of magical history was quite ironic, as Harry was no where near as great as many of the others listed in the book, but that didn't seem to matter much since he was the Boy-Who-Lived and all that. It seemed that surviving the Killing Curse – twice – and then going on to defeat Voldemort automatically made him great at everything.

He spent the next hour or so flipping through pages and reading instructions. The reading itself was informative but dry, certainly wasn't a page turner, but Harry had learned to power through this kind of reading long ago and forced himself to take in the words. The Elder Wand was in his hand and as he leafed through the pages his wand was moving over the spare trunk. Death paced a little more in the background before she simply left the room. Harry wondered where she went and got his answer when he heard the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen.

Just like him, it seemed that Death the tendency to cook when anxious, or that was what Harry assumed was going on.

When the final touches were put to the trunk itself the food had long ago finished cooking and a couple of hours had gone by without notice. Harry sat back on the floor and realized that he hadn't focused so much on something like this in quite some time. It felt reminiscent of his time at Hogwarts when the biggest thing he had to worry about was getting a term paper done on time. He smiled to himself as he took the scepter in hand and opened the newly warded trunk.

"Now, I know that it's a little weird to be talking to a scepter of all things, but Death says that you have a form of sentience." Harry was glad that no one else was around as he looked down at the scepter. "I hope its not asking too much for you to remain silent within this trunk? No need to attract any unwanted attention if you catch my meaning."

The Mind Stone thrummed through the air in a tone of acceptance that made Harry sigh. He was already pretty drained from the events of the day and dealing with an uncooperative scepter would have made it all the worse. Thankfully it didn't put up a fight and Harry placed the entire thing into the warded trunk with a deft hand. There was nothing else within the trunk and when the scepter was situated, Harry snapped the lid down, and took out the Elder Wand to lock down the wards.

It was a five-minute process but, in the end, it was probably one of the most secure trunks on this side of the planet.

Harry looked at it for one last time before making his way back into the kitchen. Death had plated the food – a delicious looking sandwich piled high with various meats and vegetables – and he took a seat and promptly dug in. His constant companion had gone incorporeal again, so Harry ate in silence. It made him wonder about how long until he wouldn't be able to do this again, for the school year was coming to an end for Teddy, and there were still four other Infinity Stones out there.

"Speaking of Infinity Stones." Death said suddenly and Harry jolted in his seat. His half-eaten sandwich nearly slipping from his fingers. "We will need to create a vessel in which you will use them from."

"Vessel?" Harry asked as he took another bite of his sandwich.

"Yes, a vessel." Death took a seat across from him and with a snap of her fingers a silverly blue outline of a hand came into being in the air between them. "The energy from the Infinity Stones must be channeled through something in order to maximize their potential. Simply holding one in the palm of your hand is inefficient and to do so with all six of them would be counterproductive."

"So, we're talking about a weapon with six Infinity Stones embedded within it?"

"That is a rather vulgar way to describe it, but yes, a Vessel that is able to easily channel the power of the Infinity Stones." Death snapped her fingers again and the floating silverly blue hand changed so that it was wearing what looked like jewelry to Harry's eyes. There was a bracelet around the wrist and a ring around each finger with finely made chains linking them all together. Each ring had a gemstone set within and on the back of the hand was a final gemstone.

"It looks…"

"Beautiful." Death said with a slight amount of awe and that caused Harry to look back at her. She didn't always get like this and the last time he could remember was when the Space Stone had ripped a portal open earlier. He looked back at the conjured image and could make out where each of the six Infinity Stones would sit. One on each finger with a final one on the back of the hand.

Like a gauntlet of sorts, or a rather gaudy piece of jewelry, but certainly eye-catching.

It was not something that Harry could see himself wearing. He looked down at his right hand and tried to imagine all of that on it. The entire thing would stand out like a sore thumb and wielding that much power didn't feel right. The Space Stone itself had proven that there was a very dangerous aspect to the stones and to have them in the palm of his hand felt wrong in a way.

"But if you do not collect them," Death spoke his unvoiced thoughts. "others will, and they might not be as good of heart as you are, Harry Potter."

"Yeah…" Harry sighed. "It does seem that way, doesn't it?"

"It will continue to be as such until the stones are out of mortal hands." Death continued. "Only then will you be able to rest."

Harry decided not to think too much on that and simply finished the rest of his sandwich. The silvery blue hand with the interlinked gemstones floated in the air and gave him much to think about. Death's design wasn't the most structurally sound to Harry's eyes, but then again, he wasn't a forger of weapons or jewelry, so he really couldn't judge the quality of a proposed piece. All he could do was trust that Death knew what she was doing when it came to the Infinity Stones.

That was the line of thought that Harry was going with when a silvery translucent form of a horse bounded through the closed window. The Patronus Charm galloped through the air and caught the attention of both of them. The hand and accompanying designs that Death had conjured were dispelled into nothing. Harry stood from his seat and waited for the Patronus to come to him. When it finally finished prancing around his apartment and came to a stop in front of him a familiar voice rang out.

"Harry, its Angela. You need to get down to the office now, and before you go on and complain about how you're totally not an auror and only hang out with us because we're a bunch of adrenaline junkies, you need to know that it concerns the aliens." The voice of Auror Angela Liang came from the translucent horse. "If that isn't enough then the Smith told me to tell you that he's calling in his favor."

The message caused Harry to sigh and rub his face. Of course, he had expected something like this to come, but for the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to call in the favor? That was downright insulting. He didn't need to be forced to head on down to the Woolworth Building by the favor of all things. Though, the situation was rather serious, and Harry did say that he would drop everything and come on in when the favor was called upon.

He should have never slept with the man's daughter.

Harry stood to make his way towards the fireplace when the Patronus spoke again.

"And make sure to change into something presentable. By that I mean no jeans and t-shirts! Wear some business casual clothes, like slacks and a button-up shirt if you have any, which I hope you do in fact have. You may have shunned all the fame you get but I do hope you didn't get rid of all your proper looking clothing too."

With that, the horse Patronus galloped its way out of his apartment, leaving one Harry Potter standing there feeling a bit insulted.

"She speaks the truth." Death commented. "You do look better in proper clothing."

"I'm not taking clothing advice from someone who wears a single outfit." Harry gestured to Death and the plain black silks she always wore. He didn't think she could wear anything other than that. Just like how she always had that ring on her middle finger with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows engraved in the gold. It was just a part of her.

"That does not mean I cannot have opinions." She countered as the two of them made their way back to his bedroom. "For all that I am a primordial being, I can still understand the frivolous importance that mortals place on fashionable clothing, and you have very bad taste in said fashionable clothing."

Harry was insulted by that, but he also had to admit that what Death was saying was completely true, for he was rather inept when it came to fashion. He never truly cared about it until after the Second Wizarding War had ended and life went back to normal. Being on the run and constantly looking over his shoulder made fashion pretty insignificant on the scale of what to care about during those days.

But, that was all in the past, and the Harry Potter of the twenty-first century did know something about fashion. Opening his closet showed the wide variety of muggle clothes he owned. There were more than a few t-shirts and jeans within, but he also owned some nicer clothing, and it was one of the nicer pieces of clothing that he took out. The button-up shirt was plain white and unadorned. The slacks he paired it with were navy-blue and also unadorned. Adding a nice belt and some polished dress shoes would let him blend in with the muggle population more than any wizarding robe would allow.

When it was all done and done, Harry looked at himself in the mirror and had to admit that it was rather, for the lack of a better word, fashionable. He retrieved some gold wire glasses to replace the spare he was currently wearing. The mokeskin pouch remained on his belt as it always did and the amount of Notice-Me-Not and Disillusionment Charms applied to it would make it near impossible to spot.

As he headed towards the fireplace, he checked over everything else he might need in, as well as touching on the three constants on his person. The Resurrection Stone still hung around his neck, the Elder Wand still in the wrist holster, and the Cloak of Invisibility was grabbed from the coat rack and placed into his mokeskin pouch. Death gave him a once over before going incorporeal again, though Harry thought he spotted a hint of satisfaction at the way he looked, and he smirked at the thought as he grabbed some floo power and stepped into the fireplace.

"Woolworth Building, Atrium!"

The floo power was thrown, and with a burst of green flames, one Harry James Potter disappeared from his Manhattan apartment.

"-nd make sure that it doesn't happen again. You're a fucking Auror not a damn first year! Obliviators are already working overtime, so let's not needlessly pile on more work by doing magic in front of the No-Majs! DeMarcus! I need confirmation about that report of the No-Majs wanting to nuke Manhattan to deal with the aliens! What? I don't care about governmental jurisdiction right now! Just get me confirmation that they didn't send the missile! Goddamn No-Majs and their fucking idiotic decision-making skills. Ah, Turner! Where's that-"

Angela Liang hastily shut the door to the Command Center and made her way towards the Atrium of the Woolworth Building. The strong voice of Alexander Smith was muffled but not completely deadened by the thick wooden doors. It was a miracle that the man still had voice at all with the screaming and yelling he did, though, she couldn't imagine the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement being any other way than loud.

It was just a part of life at this point.

Having been an Auror for three years at this point, Angela had grown used to her career as an Auror, but there was always something that came up and shook the foundations of their world. They had all been expecting it to be sure. When reports came in from across the Atlantic that Great Britain was undergoing a civil war, preparations were made for it spilling over onto American shores, and it was by a stroke of luck that it hadn't. Then there were the Neo-Death Eater attacks that rose up during the early years of the twenty-first century, but those had been put down, and the few idiots that had tried something similar in America had been swiftly apprehended and executed as terrorists. After that everything had quieted down for the most part, and it seemed that nothing major would be happening, no more shaking of the foundations.

Then the sky ripped open, and aliens started blasting their way through the city.

She rubbed her left side as she walked, even thinking about the aliens and the fighting in the city made her bruises smart, the action doing little to alleviate the pain. Damned freaky looking aliens and their energy weapons. The Battle of New York as the No-Majs were calling it had been like nothing they had ever seen before. The weapons used by the aliens had been able to penetrate their Shield Charms in a way that should not have been possible. No matter how much power was put into the charm the energy bolts just went right through.

It was a lesson that many of the Aurors, Angela included, had learned the hard way.

Along the way she passed by many different colleagues from various different departments. Two men in Obliviator Robes ran past her as they made their way towards the revolving door. The magical side of New York City had been forced into the battle and as a result the Statute of Secrecy had been broken. The entire Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-Maj Obliviation was working overtime in order to erase any memory of magic from the No-Majs before something disastrous happened. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement was doing much the same, though with the main part of the battle now over with the portal closed, things had calmed down to where they only needed to hunt down those stragglers that evaded the No-Maj fighting forces.

That didn't mean that there wasn't activity within the Woolworth Building, far from it in fact. As Angela stepped into the Atrium, she noted the way that it was filled with witches and wizards. The fireplaces were almost constantly roaring to life with green flames and people were entering and leaving at a steady pace. The injured were being herded towards the triage center that had been set up. Noncombatants were being led to more comfortable sitting rooms so that they were out of the way.

It was controlled chaos if Angela had ever seen such.

But it didn't stop her from noticing when a certain wizard stepped out of a fireplace in a haze of green fire. No matter the situation, when Harry Potter stepped into a room, heads seemed to turn towards him. Even in the chaos that was the aftermath of the Battle of New York, the famous Man-Who-Conquered was able to shock some people still for a moment, the noise of the Atrium quieting down for just a second. Angela watched as the man looked all around him and a slight grimace formed on his face.

"Potter." Angela called out as she made her way towards the British Wizard. Everyone else seemed to snap out of it and returned to what they had been doing previously. The level of noise rising back to what it had been, though, some passersby couldn't help but catch a glimpse at Great Britain's most famous wizard.

"Liang." Harry Potter returned as he came to a stop across from her. She took a moment to look over the man and noted that he did in fact follow her orders on dressing appropriately. Gone were his very No-Maj like jeans and t-shirt. In their place was a very nice white button up shirt and navy-blue slacks.

"Any other day and I'd say you clean up well." Angela led the way and Harry followed at her side. She noted the way that his button up shirt was not in fact button up at the collar and the slight bulge of his right forearm where there was definitely a wand holster. It was certainly a different way of looking at business casual.

"I'll have to agree with you on that." The British wizard said as they walked a rather bloodied Auror who was making his way towards the triage center. "Though I will say that Smith didn't need to call in the favor. I would have come in regardless."

"Well, seeing as Manhattan has been invaded by aliens of all things, its safe to say that Smith wanted you here no matter what."

"Alright, you have a point there. But I do have to ask why exactly am I being called in?" Harry asked as Angela pushed open the doors to the Command Center.

They were met with the sight of paper messages flying through the air and the magical switchboard connecting the Woolworth Building to over fifty Aurors still in the field. The Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-Maj Obliviation, the Major Investigation Department, and the Department of No-Maj Misinformation were all present as well and working in tandem. There was a constant level of noise that came from near one hundred witches and wizards talking over one another. All in all, it made the large marble room seem rather cramped, and the way the desks were arrayed didn't help matters much.

"Because the Statute of Secrecy hasn't been broken this many times in God knows how long!" Alexander Smith bellowed as he came up to them. The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was a tall man with hair that was greyer than it was red and had a rather impressive stature. He was also frowning slightly at Harry and Angela wondered if that had to do with the less than clean break between Harry and Vanessa, or if it had to do with the whole alien invasion, or maybe it was just both.

"Right." Harry said and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I might have added to that count by about a dozen or so. But I did close the portal."

"Around twenty different Aurors saw that little stunt on the top of Stark's tower." Alexander said and caught a piece of flying paper message heading towards them. "While I'm grateful for that, I can't excuse the egregious breaking of the statute." The Department Head looked down at the message and the frown deepened. "Though it seems that we may have bigger problems on our hands."

"Doesn't sound ominous at all." Angela said blandly.

"It seems that Mr. Potter here has caught the eye of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."

"The who now?" Harry asked.

"They're a No-Maj American intelligence agency, abbreviated as SHIELD, that oversees the Avengers Initiative among other things. However, the concerning part is that they've made breaches into our little world, and Mr. Potter's activities on the top of the Stark Tower are but the latest thing to have caught their eye."

"Ah…"

"There's no doubt that they'll be looking for you as well." Alexander said and handed the paper message off to a passing secretary. "The information about your closing of the portal has already spread too far for our Obliviators to catch up with and there's no way in hell we can erase your now substantial digital footprint. Hope you didn't have any plans on laying low, because it seems that you're going to be a very popular man in the coming months."

"Bloody hell…" Harry cursed as he took of his golden wire frames and rubbed his face.

"There's no way that Congress is just going to allow this breach in the statute, right?" Angela asked.

"No doubt that they're going to be debating it for who knows how long." Alexander snorted. "All we can do for now is try to return life to some semblance of order."

"Go back to pre-alien invasion New York?" Angela raised an eyebrow at that. "Fat chance of that."

"Yeah, maybe that was a little too optimistic." Alexander caught another paper message from the air and looked it over. "And it looks like we have another pile of shit to deal with." Angela followed the Department Head's gaze to Harry. "Mind explaining what the hell happened to this… Tesseract… that's got the No-Majs' panties in a twist?"

"Right." Harry started and then looked off to the side for a moment. Angela followed his gaze and found nothing. The pause was starting to get a little concerning when the man started speaking up again. "We should really continue this conversation in a more private setting. Which way's the closest conference room?"

"So… he's a wizard?"

Tony Stark – billionaire, genius, and the best Avenger in his humble opinion – simply held up a finger as he finished chewing on his cheeseburger. The last of the Chitauri had already been mopped up and for the most part their work was done. The sun was already setting and that meant they had the opportunity to sit down and have a bite to eat, which was sorely needed after hours of fighting, and cheeseburgers were always his favorite.

"He said that he was a, and I'm quoting the guy here, a wand waving, broom flying, potion brewing wizard." Tony said with an exaggerated British accent as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Aliens, Norse Gods, and now wizards. The twenty-first century is full of surprises, but at least cheeseburgers haven't changed." Steve said as he looked down at the burger in his hands. He was still partially covered in dust and dried blood, but that wasn't any different for the rest of them, baring Tony himself of course. He'd left the Mark VII back at the tower and had taken a shower before they'd all went out for some food.

"He is more than a wizard." Thor exclaimed in his booming voice as he ate near half of his burger in one bite. "Harry Potter is a master sorcerer and one of the greatest warriors Midgard has ever seen!"

"We're only learning about him now?" Bruce sounded more tired than the rest of them. It had taken quite a while to get Hulk to calm down enough so that Dr. Banner could be returned to them. Fighting Chitauri warriors and their giant flying slugs really got Big Green's blood flowing. "It sounds like we could have used his help earlier with Loki."

"Yeah, and how did you know about him before today, Thor?" Tony did wonder how the Norse God knew about the alcohol stealing wizard before any of them did.

"When one survives the Killing Curse twice you tend to notice, no?" Thor looked at them all and got vaguely confused looks in return. "Have you all not heard of his many deeds? The Boy-Who-Lived? The Man-Who-Conquered? The Savior of Britain? The Master of Death?"

"Not ringing any bells." Clint said as he took another bite of his cheeseburger.

"What is a Killing Curse exactly?" Bruce asked.

"I think the name is self-explanatory." Tony commented and Bruce thought about it for a second before nodding.

"Aye, it is." Thor agreed. "His stories have been told through the Valaskjalf's halls many times. I would wager that after today many more tales will be told as well. One does not simply close a portal powered by the Tesseract and go unnoticed."

"About that." Natasha said and took a sip of her soda. "There's been a lot of chatter from upstairs about the Tesseract going missing. Loki's scepter seems to have disappeared as well."

Tony simply shrugged at that while the rest of the team barring Thor – who was looking up at the ceiling – looked his way.

"How should I know what happened to the glowing cube? It wasn't like I was flying around the city fighting Chitauri at the time or anything."

"JARVIS didn't see anything?" Bruce asked. "It was on your tower after all."

"He's not all seeing, unfortunately." Tony answered.

"Well, no doubt our next mission is going to be us searching for it again." Steve said. "As well as the scepter."

Tony noted the way that Clint shuddered a little at the mention of the scepter. It was probably a good thing he had handed it off to Potter than, the British wizard had said he didn't like mind control, so there was probably no chance of the guy using it. Hopefully he hadn't made a misjudgment there.

"Am I the only one who thinks the cube should remain lost?" Tony asked the rest of the group. "I mean, we all did see what SHIELD was planning to do with it, as well as the whole portal in the sky."

"It has caused more harm than good." Steve sighed.

"Same goes for the scepter." Clint said quietly.

"Then it is good that the scepter is in safe hands." Thor said and did the world's least subtle wink at Tony. It made the billionaire wonder how the guy had survived for this long.

"Safe hands?" Bruce said and Natasha sat up a little more.

"We're gonna have to work on your subtly." Tony quipped and then took another drink of his coffee. "And it is in safe hands. The guy closed the portal for us after all. I also remember you having a promise of speaking again with the man, right Thor?"

"Aye." The God of Thunder said as everyone else looked at Tony.

"You just gave it to him?" Steve asked.

"Fury's not gonna like that." Clint added.

"Is he trustworthy?" Bruce asked.

"Guys." Tony held up a hand. "I'll have you know that my consulting hours are from three to four in the evening, every other Thursday, so I can't really tell you much right now. I also don't wanna ruin the eating of cheeseburgers that's going on here."

"But to be clear, you gave the scepter to the wizard?" Natasha asked.

"Yes."

"One we know very little about?"

"Thor seems to know a lot about the guy."

"Oh God," Clint said and rubbed his eyes. "I can already see the look on Fury's face."

"Hey, I'm really good at reading people, and English seems like one of the good guys." Tony defended himself.

The rest of the Avengers seemed to accept that, though Tony wasn't sure if it was because they actually believed him or because they were all tired, but he'd go with the former. Besides, that was all a problem for tomorrow, for today they had defeated an alien invasion and were celebrating with some cheeseburgers.