Harry rolled in his chair across the floor of Thor's personal kitchen. From what his dad said it wasn't used often, but all the Avengers had one in their floors apparently. He'd spent the last hour peppering his dad with questions and being peppered in return by Jane. For his part Thor was cutting up carrots. Harry, having done quite a bit of cooking in his life, was fairly certain that one wasn't supposed to cut carrots with a cleaver but felt it best not to comment. After Harry asked how Heimdall saw everything (and was throughly unimpressed by Thor's answer of 'magic') Thor laughed. "You have as many questions as Jane did." He chuckled, gesturing between the pair with the cleaver. Jane arched an eyebrow.
"So you're saying that I'm just like a preteen boy?" She asked dryly, leaning towards him in her chair. Thor's eyes widened and his mouth worked in silent terror.
"I...uhm...I mean..." He stammered. Harry couldn't take it any more and burst out laughing at his dad's reaction, Jane doing so after a second more of stern looks. Thor glared at her. "You would get along far better with my brother than I like Jane Foster." He said, waving the cleaver unhappily. Harry paused, considering what had just been said.
"Wait...does...that make Loki my uncle?" He asked hesitantly. Thor paused, then nodded, sighing heavily.
"Indeed it does." He told Harry, the merriment leaving his face. "Had things worked out differently, I have no doubt that he would like you both." Thor's face twisted, and he shook his head. "Perhaps one day he will atone for his crimes. But I do not imagine that it will come in this century." Suddenly JARVIS interrupted.
"Excuse the interruption Prince Thor, but Director Fury has arrived and is asking to speak with you." Thor frowned.
"Is Midgard being invaded?" He asked.
"It does not appear to be." JARVIS assured him. "However, he said that Colonel Rhodes encountered a threat of either extraterrestrial or supernatural origin, and wishes for your opinion." Thor paused, looking at his son and his lover.
"We'll be fine." Harry assured him. Jane nodded firmly.
"He's right. Go talk to Fury. I'm sure Harry and I can find things to talk about." Thor nodded and gave Jane a kiss on the lips and Harry a kiss to the top of his head before heading for the elevator. As he did, he heard Jane ask "So how does magic work exactly?" followed by a sigh from Harry.
"I'm 12! I just learned that magic even existed last year!" Thor grinned as he left his preteen son to the mercy of a curious scientist.
A minute later he strode out of the elevator into the conference room located near the top of the tower. "Director Fury. How can I be of assistance?" He asked, registering the presence of his friends, who were gathered around the table.
"Four days ago an experimental United States Air Force jet was shot down over China." Fury said bluntly. The others blinked.
"What was it doing in China?" Tony demanded, looking confused. Fury grimaced.
"The Air Force won't say." He said, sounding frustrated, before shaking his head and continuing. "After checking the usual channels to see if the Chinese government had anything to do with it, Colonel Rhodes was sent in to retrieve the pilots." Tony stiffened in his seat, but remained quiet. "This is what happened." Fury said, putting a flash drive into the projector on the table.
The Avengers watched in silence as the recording from Rhodey's suit played. Once it was done, everyone assembled looked at Thor, who frowned in consideration. "It is not magic of Midgard." He said slowly. "None that I've ever encountered at least. Some mortal wizards and witches have a degree of wandless magic, but it's largely limited to telekinesis. Nothing so elaborate as what this Mandarin displayed." Fury considered him for a moment.
"What about a demigod?" He asked bluntly. Thor paused.
"It would be possible." He said slowly. "However, the godly parent in question would need to be a god or goddess of magic to give their child such skill at conjuring without a wand. And demigods are not as common as they once were." Thor shook his head. "It's possible, but unlikely."
"So we're dealing with something extraterrestrial than." Fury said. Thor grimaced and walked up to the screen, examining the rings as best as he could.
"They could be magical artifacts." He said hesitantly. "But there are no legends of such weapons that I am aware of." He gave Fury an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Director. Academics and artifacts have never been my forte. I left that to my mother and brother." Fury sighed.
"It was a long shot. But at least I know he's probably not a wizard, which helps." He shook his head. "I was going to make the trip anyway, for a few reasons. Stark." Tony arched an eyebrow. "The Air Force refuses to let the Iron Patriot suit leave their custody."
"I'm sorry, Iron Patriot?" Clint demanded as Tony spluttered indignantly. Fury sighed.
"Apparently the name War Machine didn't test well." He said dryly, rolling his eye. "Regardless, that drive contains everything Colonel Rhodes was able to get from his encounter with the Mandarin. I'm not expecting you to figure out how he did it, or even what he did, but I need you to get to work on making new armor that can withstand the blast the Mandarin used, or at least not get blown away like tissue paper. Can you do that?" Tony shrugged.
"Depends on what data the 'Iron Patriot' suit was able to pull." He said, waving a hand. "JARVIS, download the data, give it a look. See if you can get any heat, pressure, or chemical readings from where Rhodey got hit."
"Right away Sir." JARVIS replied promptly. Tony looked at Fury. "Anything else?" Fury ignored him, instead looking at first Thor, then Natasha and Clint.
"I just went over your reports, as well as Agent Broughton's." He told the two spies before directing his gaze at Thor. "Were any of you planning on telling me that you have two demigods in here now?" Thor gave him a firm look.
"I fail to see how that's any business of yours." Fury sighed.
"Look, I'm not here to demand you hand either of them over or anything like that. That's not my place, and I'm not stupid enough to try. But it's my job to know what threats are out there and what's likely to attract those threats. And I'm sorry, but dangling the son of Thor and the daughter of Set in the same place is going to attract attention from your enemies. Moreover, from what I gather your son has already made at least one very powerful enemy in the Wizarding World. I need to know these things so that I know where to increase my watch." Thor nodded reluctantly.
"You make a valid argument Director, my apologies." Fury waved him off.
"It's not a huge deal." He admitted. "Just something I needed to express." He refocused his attention on Clint and Natasha. "Agent Broughton communicated the wishes of Princess Ahmanet quite clearly." He told them. "The Council has decided to honor those requests. For once, I am inclined to agree with them. So, provided that there's room for her, Agent Broughton will be arriving at the Tower tomorrow morning." Tony snorted.
"Does it look like I'm hurting for space Fury?" He asked wryly. "I had to clear out one of my spare labs, but the Mummy has her own floor." He made a face and looked around at the others. "Speaking of which, anybody else got any long lost relatives or something that they promised to keep an eye on? Just want to know if I need to make space." Steve rolled his eyes and both Clint and Natasha snorted, but Bruce actually drummed his fingers on the table.
"My cousin might come to visit occasionally." He said slowly. "And...I would like to be able to invite Betty here once in a while." There was a pause as the others stared at him, then Tony scowled and whacked him upside the head.
"For the love of...of course you can have your girlfriend over!" He sighed in exasperation. "Or your cousin! Well, as long as your girlfriend isn't your cousin. But c'mon Bruce, how many times was Thor going need to bring Jane over before you realized that everybody's girlfriends, boyfriends, or whatever are allowed?" Bruce shrugged uncomfortably, earning Tony a disapproving look from Steve. Clint, on the other hand, snorted.
"Wait, you seriously think that Thor's the only who's brought a lover home?" He demanded incredulously. Tony stared at him.
"Wait what?" Before anything else could be said, Fury cut in.
"As fascinating as this discussion is, I'd appreciate it if you'd wait until after I left." He said flatly. Tony muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'killjoy' but let Fury continue. "Good. Agent Broughton will arrive tomorrow morning than. Please behave yourself." He sighed with the long suffering of a parent, giving Natasha a Look. Natasha huffed.
"You get in one prank war..." She muttered, rolling her eyes. Tony fell out of his chair as Thor and Steve stared at Natasha.
"Prank war?" Tony demanded. "What...what the hell? What alternate mirror dimension did that happen in?" Clint chuckled and Fury scowled.
"Leaving the corpses of your targets in random closets throughout SHIELD headquarters for the other to stumble on isn't a prank war Romanoff." He growled. "We're still paying for Sitwell's therapy bills." Natasha shrugged unrepentantly, and Tony stared in horror. Thor could all but see him mentally canceling his short lived plans for an Avengers prank war. Fury sighed and pulled out the flash drive. "That's everything." He said flatly, walking out the door. The minute he was gone Steve swiveled his seat around to face Natasha directly.
"You stashed corpses in random closets?" He demanded. Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Fury's exaggerating." The others looked at her. "They weren't random, they were carefully calculated to be the ones the other was most likely to enter. Lorraine just got her leg broken and was a bit slow to get to the closet one time, that's all. Sitwell is a big baby, it's not like any blood got him." Clint was cracking up now, getting him some disturbed looks from Tony. Steve sighed.
"All this because she has one more kill than you?" He asked.
"Actually I was ahead by five at the time." Natasha replied. "There's some personal issues between us I admit, but nothing I want to discuss." Tony shook his head and stood up.
"I'm going down to my lab to look over the data Patches brought over." He said, holding up his hands. "Just...don't leave any corpses around the Tower please, okay Natasha?" He pleaded. "Pepper would kill me." Natasha smirked but nodded.
"No corpse hiding, promise." She said. Tony nodded and headed for the elevator, Thor close behind. Bruce looked at Natasha who held up her hands. "What? I promise. This isn't exactly a group I want to startle, you know? Especially not since I live here." Bruce chuckled.
"Fair enough." He said with a nod before stifling a yawn. "Well, I'm off to bed. Night everyone." There was a chorus of 'good nights' as the Avengers filed out of the meeting room.
ThirteenHours Later
Tony blinked as he walked out of the elevator and into the lobby of the Tower to find Ahmanet standing in the center of it, looking at the doors very intently. She was wearing yet another of her formal Egyptian sheet robes things, this one pure white and looking freshly dry cleaned and pressed. To most she looked utterly calm and collected, but Tony could see the tension in her shoulders and the way she was ever so slightly bouncing on her heels. "How long have you been down here kid?" He asked as he came up to stand beside her. Ahmanet frowned. She'd gotten used to Tony's lack of formality, largely due to Thor's repeated explanations that the inventor meant no personal slight, but it took some getting used to.
"I do not know." She said flatly, not removing her eyes from the doors. "This room does not have a clock, nor do I have a watch. It was dark outside when I arrived." Tony looked around the lobby, registering an utter lack of chairs beyond the one behind receptionist's desk. He'd have to do something about that. But more to the point...
"You've been standing here for six hours?" He asked incredulously. Ahmanet gave a very small shrug.
"I have stood for longer, in places more hostile than this. Moreover, I was aware to a certain degree for much of the time that I was in my sarcophagus." Tony whistled.
"That sucks." Ahmanet nodded curtly.
"It was not a pleasant experience." She agreed.
"Doesn't explain *why* you chose to stand here that long though." Tony pointed out.
"You said that Agent 10's commander said she would arrive tomorrow." Ahmanet said. "You did not specify a time." Tony blinked at her, startled. Ahmanet seemed to blush ever so slightly, and she shook, refocusing on the door. "I would be a poor Queen to not be present when my Seti Pai arrived."
"Your what?" Tony asked, confused.
"My Chosen." Ahmanet explained curtly. "My tutor, aide, and bodyguard." Tony blinked again, but before he could ask anything further Lorraine strode through the doors carrying a large suitcase, a cigarette in her free hand.
"Quite the reception." She said dryly, eyes moving from Ahmanet to Tony and back again. "You majesty." She said, nodding her head at Ahmanet. The shorter woman frowned up at her.
"We last spoke five days ago." She said, a hint of petulance in her voice. It startled Tony some. For all of Ahmanet's regal bearing and attitude, it was easy to forget that she'd been nineteen when whatever had happened to her her buried alive for five thousand years happened, and that, like Steve, she hadn't aged since going under, which meant that she still had the mind and emotional maturity of a teen. "You said that you would speak to your superiors immediately." Ahmanet continued, her tone coming dangerously close to whining. "What happened." Lorraine shrugged with a huff.
"Bureaucracy and legal red tape." She told Ahmanet flatly. "You've churned up quite a storm among the leadership, you and Thor's son, just by existing. There's no precedent, which means no way for the politicians to do anything quickly. I apologize for the delay." Ahmanet stared at her intently, her double irised eyes searching the taller woman's face before nodding.
"It is not your fault." She said finally. "Come, I will show you to our floor and then we can retrieve the rest of your things." She turned and headed for the elevator.
"The rest of my things?" Lorraine asked carefully as she followed. Ahmanet stopped, mid stride, her shoulders stiffening. "I'm afraid these are all my personal belongings." Ahmanet sighed and nodded curtly.
"We shall rectify that then." She said, continuing to the elevator. "You are a royal retainer now, and you will need to be outfitted as such." She hesitated and looked from Tony to Lorraine. "Precious stones are still acceptable forms of currency, yes?" Lorraine's lips twitched and Tony shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. But bring them to me and I'll convert them into cash for you." Ahmanet stared at him blankly, cocking her head to the side. "Sorry, forgot why you needed a tutor." He said quickly. "You give me some precious stones, and I'll give you their value in our currency." Ahmanet nodded in understanding.
"Thank you Lord Stark. I will be with you again shortly." She said, hitting a button on the elevator, making the doors closed. Tony blinked, realizing that left him stuck in the lobby until the reached the upper limits of the Tower and the elevator could come back, and sighed.
"JARVIS, make a note to get some chairs for the lobby. Comfy ones."
"At once Sir." JARVIS replied, sounding quietly amused.
Up in the elevator, Lorraine looked Ahmanet up and down. "If I'm to get new clothes, you'll need some too." She said finally. Ahmanet looked at her sharply.
"What is wrong with my attire?" She demanded. Lorraine's lips twitched in another small smile.
"It doesn't exactly blend in." She said, not unkindly. Ahmanet gave her a dry look, gesturing at herself to indicate her skin, tattoos, and double irises. "Makeup and sunglasses can cover that up." Lorraine pointed out. "But if you want to go anywhere outside of this tower without dealing with crowds of gawkers, you'll need modern apparel." Ahmanet let out a small huff but nodded. This was one of the reasons why she needed Lorraine after all. Her divine father had been pressed for time, and the knowledge he'd imparted was limited to the things he'd deemed essential to her survival. And Star Wars. Things such as fashion and currency had not rated a mention.
Lorraine blinked as she stepped out of the elevator and into Ahmanet's floor within the Tower. For the most part it looked as how she'd expected Ahmanet to want things decorated, lots of silk, tan walls and hieroglyphics carefully painted on the walled, but on the other hand..."Shag carpeting?" She asked in surprise. Ahmanet definitely blushed this time.
"I have spent most of my life walking on the sands of Egypt or the stone floors of the palace." She said, gesturing to indicate bare feet. "This is a...welcome change." Lorraine shrugged, setting down her suitcase.
"Fair enough. Where will I be sleeping?" Ahmanet nodded and led her to a room directly across from her own.
"It isn't finished yet." Ahmanet warned her. "Most of this floor isn't. So far only the entrance room and my bedroom is. And..." she hesitated before continuing "I did not wish to have your room designed without letting you give your input." Lorraine smirked.
"You're sweet." She said, leaning down and giving Ahmanet a peck on the nose before walking into the sparse bedroom, leaving Ahmanet staring after her, mouth slightly open.
Elsewhere in the Tower, others were making similar plans to go shopping. And while clothes were on the list, there were less mundane items to be acquired as well. Jane stared at Thor and Harry in disbelief.
"Wait wait. You're telling me that there's an entire Wizarding shopping district in London, one the size of Times Square or possibly bigger, and that nobody without magic has ever noticed it?" She demanded incredulously.
"Yeah." Harry said. Jane stared at them and shook her head.
"There are more surveillance cameras in London than any other city in the world!" She protested. "We've got airplanes, helicopters, every other kid has a drone! How could it go unnoticed if it's not underground?" Harry and Thor looked at each other.
"Magic." Father and son said in unison, smiling innocently at Jane, who folded her arms and let out a huff.
"You can't just use magic as an excuse for not explaining everything." She told Thor shortly. Thor sighed.
"Very well. Diagon Alley, like much of the Wizarding World, is shielded from non magical eyes by a mixture of illusions, charms designed to distract those without magic, and barriers that detect magic."
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Tony interrupted, dragging an apologetic looking Bruce into Thor's living room. "You can't just explain magic to Jane and leave me out in the cold!" He protested, plopping down in the couch and dragging Bruce down with him. Thor blinked at their arrival, then blinked again as Natasha and Steve entered from the stair way and Clint slid out of the vents.
"All of you?" He asked, sounding slightly stunned. Clint shrugged.
"The Wizarding community is pretty secretive." He said. "Any information is good." Natasha nodded. Steve gave a half smile.
"I may not be a scientist, but that doesn't mean I'm not curious." He said genuinely. Bruce sighed.
"Tony dragged me here." Thor chuckled.
"Very well. Ask away my friends. Harry and I will do our best to answer your questions." Harry nodded, though he was quieter and was sitting noticeably closer to his dad than he had been when the others started filing in. He wasn't afraid of the Avengers exactly, he'd been in the Tower for five days and had spent at least a little time with all of them, but there were still a lot of adults gathered together in one small place, which made him nervous, even if he didn't want to be. Plus they were all heroes who saved the world on a regular basis, he couldn't help but be star struck a bit.
"So, how do wands work?" Tony asked eagerly. To Harry's surprise, the question seemed to be directed at him as much as it was his dad. Harry paused, pulling his wand out of his pocket and rolling it in his hands.
"I'm not sure." Harry said slowly, looking up at his dad. Tony blinked.
"You use it and don't know how it works?" He asked incredulously. Harry blushed.
"Nobody teaches us how it works, I just know that it does." He said awkwardly. His dad stepped in, saving him from Tony's lack of comprehension at this concept.
"A wizard or witch's body produces magic." He explained. "Constantly. The wand is created from certain materials that resonate with the individual's magical frequency and harnesses it. As for why only certain people have the ability to produce this energy, I do not know. As I told Fury last night, academics are not my forte." Tony looked deeply unsatisfied with this, but didn't pursue it.
"Why are they still hidden?" Steve asked. "After New York, why not come out into the open?" Thor sighed.
"A variety of reasons. Long lingering mistrust after the witch hunts, a reluctance to be forced to offer magical solutions to all the world's problems, an institutional belief in their own superiority, and tradition." He listed. Clint snorted, unimpressed. Tony agreed.
"So racism and stubbornness." He summarized. Harry shifted uncomfortably, and Thor nodded, putting an arm around him. Natasha was not so dismissive though.
"Fear is a valid reaction." She said thoughtfully, looking at the others. "Religion, at least the Abrahmic ones, have taken a negative stance on magic for millennia at this point. If the majority of a demographic hate you and try to kill your on sight, and have been advocating doing so for at least two thousand years, that's going to build up." Tony opened his mouth, but Bruce cut him off.
"Don't say that's not a thing anymore Tony." He said reproachfully. "I remember the Satanic Panic, it's still a thing, even if it's on the downswing right now." Tony sighed but nodded.
"Fine, whatever." He said. From there the conversation turned to lighter things, such as how brooms worked, what kind of classes Harry took, why was astronomy considered a required class for all wizards and witches, what kept Hogwarts hidden from satellites, and the like. Eventually the questions ran down, and the topic turned to the original impetus for the conversation, Harry's school shopping. His supply list had come in earlier that day, along with a carefully worded but clearly displeased letter from Professor Dumbledore asking to meet with him as soon as possible (to which Thor had sent a terse reply with the owl who'd delivered it, agreeing to a meeting the next day). Tony blinked when Harry pulled out the parchment.
"Whoa whoa, wait a minute. How'd you get that?" He asked, pointing at the letter. "The mail hasn't come in yet." Any and all mail delivered to the Tower was carefully examined by JARVIS and DUM-E to make certain that nothing dangerous made it past the reinforced basement, so Tony knew Harry shouldn't have gotten any letters yet. Harry shrugged, not sure what the problem was.
"It was delivered by owl earlier." Tony stared at him.
"Owl? Is that some kind of acronym?" Harry shook his head.
"It's an actual owl. It's what wizards use to deliver mail." Tony sighed.
"This going to be a whole nother security issue, isn't it?" He moaned, massaging his temples. "I'm going to have to build a little room for them to land in and scan the mail and..." he paused and looked up sharply. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. That's from your school, right kid?" Harry nodded. "You guys have owls that can fly across the Atlantic?" Harry paused, then nodded.
"Yeah, I guess so." He said.
"Magic." Thor explained with a slightly smug smile. Tony gave him a dirty look.
"Great. That...that's just great. Super owls." He groaned. "JARVIS, find a space in the upper floors that I can convert into a super owl landing zone so we can check the mail that British wizards are going to be sending, because this is my life now."
"Right away Sir." JARVIS said quickly.
"You alright Tony?" Steve asked gently, concerned. Tony looked at him, a slightly maniac look in his eyes.
"Yeah, fine. My world is totally not flipped on its head. I've already got the Norse god of thunder, a five thousand year old teenage Egyptian princess, and a World War 2 vet that looks younger than me living here, why would super owls bother me?"
"Tony, breathe." Bruce urged him. "Just...breathe."
"I'm with Tony actually." Clint said, shaking his head. "Super, mail delivering owls." He looked at Thor. "I assume that they don't have to have previously been somewhere to deliver mail there?"
"No, they don't." Thor said. Clint cursed.
"Fury's going to hate this."
"I'm sure he knows." Natasha pointed out.
"Well I hate it then." Clint sighed.
"They can't do any harm to a person." Thor reassured them. "No more than a regular owl at least."
"Yeah but they can deliver bombs or poisons." Clint pointed out. "Or you could just follow it on a broomstick and bam, you know where the other person is hiding." Thor considered this.
"I see your point." He said with a nod. "I will look into this while we are at Diagon Alley. Wizards value their privacy as much as any other person. I'm sure that they have protections that I can acquire for you. If not, I'm sure that my mother can arrange something." Tony nodded his thanks.
Three Hours Later
Harry couldn't fight his smile. Part of the reason was that he was about to go into Diagon Alley with his dad. A smaller part of that though, was the way that the Avengers and Jane were getting around the magics stopping Muggles from getting in. Namely by holding hands. The image of Earth's Mightiest Heroes gripping onto each other like a group of schoolchildren wasn't something that would leave Harry any time soon. "You sure we're going the right way?" Tony asked, looking around. "Cause I'm not seeing this pub you mentioned." It was also interesting to hear someone who wanted to see the Leaky Cauldron but couldn't. It made him wonder how Hermione and the other muggleborn students got there parents here. Did the professors and Hagrid fetch all of them every year? Something else to ask Hermione he supposed. Thor just chuckled and gave Jane's hand a reassuring squeeze.
"I couldn't miss it." He assured Tony, leading them up the steps. Halfway up the steps, Tony came to a dead stop, looking at the invisible (from his standpoint) steps that he was on.
"I am not okay with this." He complained, looking around. "I shouldn't be in midair without knowing why." Clint grunted.
"Right there with you buddy."
"Just keep moving guys." Bruce sighed, nudging them. Tony sighed.
"Definitely going to have to make some glasses to see this stuff." He muttered, but continued up the steps all the same. Then they came to a dead stop as Thor and Harry pulled them through the doors of the Leaky Cauldron and the pub melted into view. Tony whistled.
"Okay, now I can see why this would give Fury a heart attack." Steve sighed, looking around the large pub. Bruce took off his glasses, cleaned them, and put them back on, just to make sure. Natasha remained mostly stone faced, though her eyes darted from corner to corner, assessing threats and exits.
"Damn." Clint muttered. Jane stepped away from Thor, jaw dropped, then bolted for the front door. She stuck her head out the front door, making sure she couldn't see the steps, then pulled her head back in, checking to look around the pub. She repeated this several times, then turned back and collapsed into a chair.
"I need a drink." She muttered, staring off into the middle distance. Thor patted her on the shoulder consolingly as Tony and Clint slid down into the seats next to her. Harry eyed them uncertainly, wondering if they were serious or not. Jane looked up at him and waved her hand. "Don't worry Harry, I'll be fine. Just reordering my concept of reality for the third time in as many years. Takes some adjustment." Natasha snorted, walking up and putting a hand on Clint's shoulder.
"You're taking it pretty good." She assured Jane. "I couldn't get Clint to string three words together for a week after we fought a group of werewolves in Nepal." Clint grunted.
"Alien experiments, not magic." He told a confused Thor. "Still weird. Was my first encounter with something definitely not of my world." Steve nodded as he walked up to the table.
"I met a woman in France during the War." He began. Tony looked up sharply, staring at him, and Steve snorted. "Not like that Tony." He said dryly. "It was after I'd seen the Red Skull and HYDRA's Tesseract weapons but she was...different. Schmidt was just a disfigured man. Their weapons were advanced, but the Allied scientists insisted that they were just using more advanced science." He shook his head slowly. "But she...she could deflect bullets with her bracelets. I don't know if I could react that fast. I once saw her destroy a HYDRA tank by picking up another HYDRA tank and throwing it at it. She had a lasso that could compel anyone to tell the truth and couldn't be cut." The others stared at him.
"That's new." Natasha said slowly. "Does Fury know about this?" Steve shrugged.
"No idea. I haven't asked. I only knew her for a month. She refused to leave France, said she'd left war behind and was just trying to protect her home. She was the one who taught me how to throw a shield properly actually." Tony whistled.
"Put that woman on the Olympic discus team." He said. Steve shrugged.
"She never said where she got her powers, and got very cagey when asked for a name. The other Howling Commandos took to calling her Wonder Woman."
"Alliteration!" Clint enthused. Thor frowned thoughtfully.
"I had not heard of this, nor am I familiar with an artifact such as this lasso." He said finally. "Though I confess to have never met the gods and goddesses of France before Christianity took hold." Steve blinked owlishly.
"You think she was a goddess?" He asked, staring at Thor. Thor shrugged.
"I can't think of any other being that would look human, be able to perform the feats you described, and who would be bound to one nation." He explained. "There are races from other worlds and realms who could do those things, but I can't think of any reason they would participate in one of your wars, or why they would insist on only aiding one nation." Just then Tom, the bartender of the Leaky Cauldron, walked over to the table they'd taken.
"Can I help you ladies and gentlemen?" He asked politely. Harry looked up, having forgotten that they were in a public place. Thor cleared his throat and stood up.
"No thank you, sorry. We should be on our way to Diagon Alley." He said, nodding at Harry. Tom's eyes widened and stared at Harry, then looked at Thor. He opened his mouth, but quickly closed it when Thor arched an eyebrow and nodded.
"Well I'll let you get to it then." He said, backing away quickly. Tony arched an eyebrow after him as Thor led them to the back of the pub.
"What was that about?" He asked. Harry blushed.
"I'm...famous." He muttered in embarrassment. Tony blinked, but at a stern look from Thor decided not to pursue it. They stopped at a brick wall. Harry paused, looking at the barrier, then turned anxiously to his dad. "I don't remember which bricks to tap." He hissed apologetically. Thor waved away his concern.
"Not to worry. I am possessed of *some* magic." He said dryly, pressing a hand against the wall and closing his eyes. There was a moment of nothing, than a strong wind ran through the group before the wall glowed briefly and folded in on itself. Thor grinned as the large shopping district was revealed.
Author's Notes
Thank you so, so much for reading everybody!
Alright, so first off, yes, this is long. It got away from me _ Sorry!
Secondly, yes, I'm making Ahmanet bi. Sorry everyone who was hoping for Harry/Ahmanet. I have an idea who I'll be pairing Harry up with, but he's only 12, so we'll be taking a bit before he starts dating. (It won't be Ginny, Hermione, Cho, or Diana though) And Ahmanet's main love interest *will* be Lorraine. Speaking of Ahmanet, I wasn't able to find any information as to what precisely her age was before being mummified. Her actress (Sofia Boutella who I am *NOT* convinced *ISN'T* the literal goddess of grace, beauty and being adorable) is in her early 30's but she looks like she's in her late teens. I legitimately went through the whole Mummy movie thinking she was 18, so that's what age I've put her for this story.
Also, yay! More information about Diana is brought up, even if she's not technically mentioned by name!
As for the Mandarin's rings, I do know that they are alien in nature, not magic, but I was unable to find the name of the race who created them.
And finally, a question with regards to the soon to appear Gilderoy Lockhart. How do y'all want me to handle him? I could keep him as the amoral con man he is in canon, I could make him be more tongue in cheek (think of the story Oh God Not Again) or I could make him a total badass who really has done everything he claims to have done. I'm open to all three, I have ideas I consider to be amusing for all of them so it's up to you!