Chapter 3
"As I said before, it was self-defence," Loki said, his illusion appearing in the alleyway, standing next to where Harry was slumped against the wall. "If you had not taken their lives, you might now be dead, and so would I."
Harry sniffled. "And what about Dudley?"
"I explained this to you as well." Loki sighed, though his tone was patient. Whilst many would not believe it, he too had once had a similar conversation. "He literally ran into your knife. And have you not read the tales in which someone's parents are killed? The orphan always rises up and avenges them. You don't want that to happen to you."
With a sigh, Loki knelt down to Harry's level, manipulating the boy's nervous system so it felt as though he was tilting his head upwards. He stared into his eyes. "Harry, we are similar in many ways, destined to be outcasts among our peers. These mortals–muggles–they will hate us for who we are. Our actions do not matter, for it will not change their opinions. If we are to survive, you must learn that you are far more important. With my addition to you, the blood of immortals courses through your veins."
By this point, Harry had calmed slightly. With a concealed grimace, Loki made his illusionary form pull the boy into a hug which was happily requited.
"Your wound should now be healed," murmured Loki. Whilst he couldn't outright use Harry's magic, he could manipulate a small portion of his own within Harry's own body, allowing him to heal him, manipulate his nerves, and enhance his muscles.
A cold gale whipped through the alley, but Harry didn't even shiver. Loki frowned. When Harry's magic inefficiency had taken the form of coldness instead of heat, he should have known something was afoot. A few days ago, Harry had still been as sensitive to the cold as any other human. He doubted this new affinity for ice was natural. The only explanation could be that for some reason Loki's frost giant side was having more of an effect on Harry than his Asgardian.
There were no downsides showing so far, but he hoped that Harry wouldn't end up as a blue abomination. He would have to begin altering Harry's physiology to that of an Asgardian to ensure that it didn't happen. Hopefully, he would be capable of doing that. The strength, durability, and possible power boost would no doubt aid him as well.
"Come on, Harry," whispered the god. "You must find shelter; the mortal authorities will no doubt be seeking you."
Harry leaned against the wall, observing the people as they passed, wrapped up tightly in their winter coats. Since his first use of magic he rather preferred the cold for a reason Loki had decided not to disclose.
Noticing someone walking by close to him, he did as Loki instructed. An invisible tendril of magic came into existence, and with Loki's help, Harry was able to manipulate it just enough to reach it out a gently nudge a man's wallet out of his back pocket. It fell to the floor with a quiet thump, and no one seemed to notice.
Harry waited for a few moments before walking forward and calmly picking it up. His eyes widened as he stared at its contents. Acting upon Loki's advice he had decided to target a man with more expensive looking clothing, and it seemed to have paid off. There had to be at least a few hundred pounds in here!
He pocketed the cash and dropped the wallet to the floor. Most would find it suspicious to see a child using a credit card anyway.
"Hey, kid!" a voice suddenly called from down the street, and Harry turned, his eyes widening. The man in the suit was running towards him, his face red. Harry turned and ran, zipping down the street with speed that a six-year-old shouldn't have possessed. With Loki enhancing Harry's speed, the overweight businessman had no chance and was quickly lost as Harry darted his way through London's back alleys.
'Good job,' praised Loki. 'The man didn't notice the wallet leave his pocket, only that it wasn't there at a later date. He would have probably gone about his day if not for that.'
'Thanks,' Harry mentally replied, gasping for breath. A few days was not long enough for Loki to transition him from human to Asgardian, and combined with the fact he was a child, he still didn't have anywhere near superhuman levels of strength, speed, durability or stamina. He was just far better than an average six-year-old, though neither Loki nor Harry saw this as a major achievement.
In a fight, he would have to reply purely on magic. His blast of pure magic was still his primary attack. Though it was inefficient, it could deal a large amount of damage, including rupturing internal organs if he was actually touching the person. He could, of course, also manipulate magic tentacle-like constructs like he had done when he had stolen the wallet, but that was hardly going to be useful in a fight.
As a result of his apparent aptitude for coldness, Loki had told him that he would teach him ice-based spells next. The god had told him that ice spells would be far less exhausting for him to use. Once again, he refused to reveal his reasoning for this, though Harry knew it was to do with his type of magic; Loki had told him that the magic within him was of mixed nature. Some of it was that of mortals, whilst some of it was that of the immortals.
Mortals apparently needed foci to channel and use their magic. Whilst Harry didn't require one, it would help him. Loki claimed to know the vague location of where one could purchase wands. It was a shop in a place called Diagon Alley, though wizards didn't generally learn to manipulate their magic correctly until they were eleven and were sent to magic school. Harry was an obvious exception to this rule, having a god in his head who changed his magic, but he didn't exactly want to explain that to a shopkeeper.
'When am I going to get a wand, Loki?' Harry mentally projected. At the moment, the god could only pick up on his thoughts when he was feeling a very strong emotion.
'When you are capable of creating an illusion that will fool people into thinking you're an eleven-year-old. Have I not told you this before?'
'No,' said Harry. 'You just whined about me not being big enough to wield a spear and use it to blast magic at people.'
For a moment, Loki was silent. 'I recall that, though I did not whine. I merely criticized you.'
Harry snorted. 'Sure you did.'
'If I did complain, I had a valid reason. An Asgardian focus would be able to channel both mortal and immortal magic, and you can stab people with a spear. Can you stab someone with a wand? I think not.'
A frown came upon Harry's face. 'Well, I suppose you could jam it up their nose or something…. Would that work?'
Loki sighed. 'If you're close enough to put your wand in someone's nose, there a variety of other techniques I can teach you.'
'You mean like karate or something?'
'No!' groaned Loki. 'Why would you ever need to perform mortal martial arts when I have trained with Asgard's finest warriors for millennia?!'
'Okay, then what would you recommend?'
'I,' Loki drawled, 'would recommend that you use a spear.'
Harry laughed. Whilst the god of mischief often came off as rude and prideful, he was quite funny–even when he didn't mean to be.
'Can you do Asgardian magic with a wand?' Harry asked.
'I don't know. Mortals cannot perform the magic of Asgard, and there has never been a need for an Asgardian to use a mortal wand,' Loki explained. He felt that he had improved quite a bit at patience over the time he had been teaching Harry, which was less than a week. He dared not say that he may have gained a bit of affection for the boy.
'So are there Asgardian wands?'
'Yes, and they can also perform mortal magic, though it is hard for an Asgardian to channel, but unless you feel like going up to Asgard to obtain one, the only way to get them is to make one, which would also require travelling the Nine Realms.
'There are nine realms that you used to be able to travel from via the Bifrost before my idiot of a brother broke it,' explained Loki. 'You have already heard of Asgard, and we are currently on Midgard. I will not tell you of the others now for they will be too dangerous for us to traverse at our levels of power, so there is no point.' He paused. 'Come to think of it, you probably won't remember their names anyway.'
Harry made a minor protest of indignation, but it was most likely true. For a moment, he contemplated what a weirdo he must have looked like, sitting in an alley with glazed over eyes and occasionally giggling. From what he had heard from Vernon and Petunia, that was what drug addicts looked like, though they were usually older than him by at least a few years.
When Harry thought of his aunt and uncle, the sadness and disgust he had felt few days ago was no longer there. This was partially down to Loki's manipulations of his mind, and partially from Harry's own logic. Vernon, Petunia and Dudley had all been cruel to him because of his "freakishness." His life was far more important than theirs, for he had magic and they did not. Everyone's life was less important than his, because if he died, Loki did too, and that wasn't something he was ever going to let happen.
The god could have simply retreated to the depths of his mind or struggled to get out. He could have tried to take control of Harry, but he didn't. He could have left Harry to the wrath of the Dursleys, but he didn't. Loki was his best friend–his only friend–his mentor and, from what he understood, Loki's magic influencing him effectively made them father and son.
He wouldn't let Loki die, not for anything or anyone. He didn't need friends, when they would all eventually leave him. Loki was an immortal, and so was Harry so they would live forever. Harry just had to ensure that happened and first, he would need to grow stronger, destroying any obstacle in his path. They did not matter, for his and Loki's survival was the most important thing in the world.
