Author Note

I hope to have another chapter up over the weekend.

Reviews

Gabriel Castillo

It isn't about her not handing over Rita to the authorities, which would have been rather pointless as you correctly stated, it's more to do with Hermione keeping Rita Skeeter trapped in her bug form. Rita must have been terrified and she's a nosy bitch for sure and a massive gossip with no empathy, but does she deserve to be tortured for it? I say no and that's my opinion. Yours is equally as valid.

Alan

I don't want to do a DC/Marvel mashup like in the CYOA as there wouldn't be much of a story to write. Supernatural has lots of monsters for Kol to hunt so that he can become a high-level Red Mage before he goes to DC or Marvel.

Damion Tinsley

It's not mentioned in the CYOA and Red Mages don't use hammers, but he could take it for an ally to use later I suppose.

Supernatural does have some cool magic to learn, plenty of bad guys to kill and get XP form. It's connected to some dimensions like Oz and there is the possibility of some time travel as well.

Morkail

If my English teachers in High School saw how much I'd improved they'd be quite shocked.

Kol wants to avoid starting a revolution. When compared to travelling the multiverse and protecting the word seed a muggleborn revolution would be a waste of his time.

Mugen-Muse

The Mask only really works for visual comedy so I won't be having anyone else wearing it.

Crossworlds 1 - Harry Potter

Part 48

The Titanic. The Atlantic Ocean.

I'd left the Native American Reservation in good spirits having been given the chance to learn a little about their magic from a real shaman. When I wasn't spending time with his very good-looking granddaughter, who had been quite willing to spread her legs as well as prepare a few meals for me.

Since I was no fool I'd figured out very quickly that she'd wanted me to stay with her in their community and I could see why she'd want that. I was a powerful and wealthy wizard who could support her and I'd already proven how useful I could be to her family. Yet I know my fate was to one day leave this world and go on to do greater things so I'd left before I got too attached.

Loki made no appearances while I was in New York, at least as far as I knew, leaving me free to see some sites and to buy tacky souvenirs for my few friends that seemed to be some sort of requirement for anyone who visits that city to take home with them.

Now I was on the Titanic as it once again crossed the Atlantic, a trip that would take a few days, and finally, it looked as if would be able to hand over The Mask as Loki was currently waiting for me within the ship's massive dining room as I came in for dinner.

He'd changed his appearance so that he looked like Gabriel/Loki from the Supernatural series, an image I assumed he'd taken from my mind, and I knew that it was my patron because somehow I always did. We were connected mystically since I was one of his agents.

"Kol," he said with a wave.

It seemed as if the term secret identity didn't mean anything to him, and I hurried over so he would stop using that name in public.

"So do you have it?" asked the trickster as we began to eat the food which had floated over to our table as soon as I sat down "I can't sense The Mask, I hid it even from me so please tell me you have it or I'm going to have to wait a whole decade for my next chance to recover the damn thing".

Carefully I took out the wooden box I'd placed The Mask in, the container was supposed to be able to safely contain cursed objects, but The Mask wasn't the product of any mortal magic-user so I'd been very careful with it.

"I had to wait for you to come to me," Loki said, "Or I would have met you sooner".

Since it was after dark I could feel The Mask's magic even when out it was of sight. It was tempting me, luring me into putting it on, I'd never felt such a strong and yet subtle bit of compulsion magic. I felt very glad that I'd resisted the temptation to examine The Mask even when it was daytime.

Loki took The Mask out of the box and smiled.

"Oh, it's been centuries since I've seen this old bit of woodwork," I was told "My Dad has never stopped bugging me about getting my silly toy back".

He put on The Mask and I almost jumped out of my seat when he dropped to the floor and began yelling. Without thought, I got up and moved around the table only for a normal-looking Loki to jump up while yelling 'BOO!' at me. Which resulted in me making a very childish-sounding yelping noise. Thankfully Loki had done something to ensure that no one paid attention to our dinner meeting.

"Your face," said the deity as he smirked at me "That never gets old".

I sat back down.

"My last trick on you I swear" Loki promised "But if you feel like throwing the odd prank on someone in my name I wouldn't mind".

The Norse god placed The Mask in the box and made the whole thing vanish.

"As agreed you're now excused from taking part in my amusements" I was assured "And I wanted to get you a little something to say thank you for handling this so well".

I was lucky in that no one had known I ever had such a powerful relic on my person. If I'd not been so careful it could have fallen into the wrong hands and done some major damage.

"This is for you," said Loki.

Expecting that it was a trick I carefully opened up the package that had just appeared on the table and I found within the packaging an ornate bowl with fancy Norse runes decorating it.

"It's a Pensieve" my patron let me know "I made it myself".

I didn't really need one as I had Cortana, but I would not mind having a Pensieve so that I could show other people important memories. I'd tried to acquire one before without much luck and I'd not put too much effort into the search since it hadn't seemed important.

"Thank you," I said "I'm not much of an artist, but I like the design".

Loki smiled and then gestured to the dance floor.

"If you'll excuse me there are some fine ladies here tonight and intend to show them a good time," said the Norse god.

Moments after he'd left, and I'd carefully placed the gift inside one of my mokeskin pouches, someone else came over and joined me for dinner. Fleur the future Triwizard Champion, the young witch who had been giving me dancing lessons the last time we travelled on this ship together, had spotted me.

"May I join you Tom?" she asked.

Her family didn't seem to be around and I rather liked the part-human so I invited her to come to sit with me. We ate a meal and drank some wine, as I gave myself the chance to practise my French some more. Between my Babel Fish, Cortana and my own efforts, I was starting to converse in French nearly as easily as I could understand it.

Once the meal was finished I made to leave only for Fleur to invite herself to my room, and despite her youth, I couldn't bring myself to refuse her. Perhaps I wasn't as immune to her Allure as I'd first thought and the wine could have weakened my resolve to resist her, or maybe that was just an excuse for me being a pervert.

All that mattered was that we soon ended up in my very expensive suite and we were kissing. It was all very passionate and I felt as if my blood had heated up inside my body. My AI didn't say anything, she just went dormant as did during times like this in order to give me some privacy.

Fleur kicked off her dainty shoes and then her dress very quickly ended up on the well-carpeted floor. This action showed me that she was wearing something rather fancy underneath that involved stockings and a lot of lace. I had no name for what it was she wore, and it looked as if it would be a lot of work to take off.

Quicky I underdressed and I never took my eyes off the vision of beauty before me as I did.

"I want you fuck me, you English brute" she requested,

She crawled onto my room's massive bed and kicked off the covers as I joined her. No sooner had I laid down than she rolled on top of me, but not before she put her wand on the nightstand and I couldn't help wondering where she'd been storing it given that her current outfit had no pockets.

I let my hands wander, to explore her body as we kissed. She had a slim figure suitable for a dancer or a great swimmer, but she had some curves and very soft skin that I enjoyed feeling as well as a butt she didn't mind my slapping.

It took quite some time for her to want to move on from being felt up while kissed, not that I minded, and I was even happier when she took off her fancy underwear and stuffed them under my pillow. Something for me to remember her by later.

"I want you to use me for your pleasure" Fleur requested "Ravage me".

Well, if this was what she wanted then I would be happy to oblige.

(Line Break)

Hiddleston Residence. Godric's Hollow.

When the door closed I slipped back into my base form and felt my clothes resize themselves for the smaller frame thanks to some nifty charms. The simple black clothing might not look like much, but they were enchanted to always fit and be comfortable.

I'd gotten off the ship without Fleur making a scene after we'd spent the night together, or at least the evening as she'd snuck off back to her room. Things might be a little awkward if she ran into me as Tom Hiddleston during one of the Triwizard events, but I'd deal with that when I had to.

Her leaving had ensured that she wasn't around when I fell asleep and returned to my base form. If she'd woken up with what seemed to be a younger version of Tom Hiddleston then that would have led to problems. I might have been required to mess with her memory.

"Hermione I'm home!" I called out.

I'd gotten so used to having her here when we weren't at school that it took me a moment to realise that she wouldn't be in the house. She should be with her parents and perhaps be hating my guts for not having told her the truth about the reality of me back when we'd first become friends.

Since I made liberal use of Pouches Of Holding it didn't take much effort to drop my luggage off in my room. I would sort it all out later and test out my new Pensieve. If nothing else it would be interesting to view a few of my favourite memories from an outsider's perspective.

Some mail had made its way into my house via the letterbox, as the post owls knew when and how to do that, and I carried them into the kitchen. After my trip, I fancied a nice sit-down and a proper cup of tea.

Unlike most wizards, I didn't take out my wand for every little thing as I respected the power force too much to do that. So I made myself a cup of tea the old-fashioned way and while waiting for the kettle to boil I began to look through my letters.

Neville Longbottom had invited John Hiddleston to his birthday party I would attend and likely spend most of the afternoon talking about plants. He wasn't a bad kid, but he didn't have many friends and when he got into his favourite subject it was hard to get home to stop.

Despite that, I would take the time to take to Neville about growing some herbs for me. Before leaving the states I'd learned a little about using herbs. Just the basics, but such knowledge was valuable and could be useful one day.

Harry Potter had asked in a letter if I was going to the World Cup, which I would be doing as the Minister had promised me tickets, and he mentioned that he wanted to talk to me about something important. I decided to invite him and Sirus Black around for afternoon tea next week as it was vital there was no sense in waiting so long.

There was no letter from Hermione so I had no way to measure her mood with me, Meaning that I would have to go to her and see if wanted to murder me or not.

Tom had a letter from the Ministry as well, but that could wait until tomorrow. For tonight I wanted to enjoy some time on my own, or as much as on my home as I can be with an AI living in my head.

First of all, I needed to reply to the letters so that tomorrow I could post them via the owl office.

(Line Break)

The Ministry of Magic. London.

As soon as I arrived back in the country I'd found a letter from the Minister asking me to come here for a chat. The message hadn't made it sound urgent, but since Fudge didn't have Dumbledore or Malfoy to tell him what to do I figured that he might need me to do some of his thinking for him.

With the final of the Quidditch World Cup only a matter of weeks away and with it being hosted by Britain there was a lot going on around here. Wizards and witches from all over the world would just before the match begin entering the country, finding places for them all to say and then transporting them to the pitch would be a major undertaking, not to mention getting them out of the country again.

If that wasn't enough work then there were people who lived in this country who wanted to go watch the match. They would need Portkeys to get them to the site of the match and then back home again. The Ministry might be corrupt and careless, but at times they really could get things done.

"We are glad to have you back, Tom," said Minister Fudge as we met in his office "There are a few things that I'd like to chat with you about".

Rather than get right down to it right away the wizard and I chatted about stuff that didn't matter as an attractive young witch brought in a fancy tea set. Fudge wanted to know if I'd enjoyed my holiday and I made some vague comments about sightseeing as well as selling off some antiques to American buyers.

As we were both British we didn't get down to business until after the tea had been served and I felt more interested in the chocolate biscuits than in what Fudge had to say, but I forced myself to pay attention to his words.

"There's the matter of the Hogwarts governors" Fudge was now saying "Dumbledore did everything he could to keep the Ministry out of the school, now with him gone the way is clear and I want to take measures to ensure that Hogwarts is once again the finest magical school in all of Europe".

This society had improved both within Hogwarts and in the larger wizarding world for a while since I'd begun making them better. Still, there was room for improvement, and it could be difficult to bring about those changes with Professor Minerva McGonagall in charge. She had been one of Dumbledore's biggest supporters and would no doubt do her best to carry out the Bright Lord's will despite him being dead.

Not that I was totally convinced that Dumbledore really was dead, there was a reason why I'd always been very cautious around the old man, he wasn't just a powerful wizard he was smarter than the other wand wavers as well. However, I wasn't going to spend my time looking over my shoulder for him either as that would just lead to me acting like Mad-Eye Moody.

"To that end, I would like to appoint you to the board of governors" declared Fudge "You are not officially part of the Ministry as such it shouldn't be seen as direct interference and you have shown some interest in the school before so your appointment won't seem odd. Not to mention that you have a young cousin attending the school as a student".

Judging by the smug smile on his face the Minister had thought this up himself, and it wasn't a terrible idea even if it was a little surprising.

"The board only meets for a few hours every year so it won't be a demand on your time," Fudge told me "They only meet unexpectedly if there is a major emergency".

Thinking on it I realised that I should be able to sneak out of the school to attend those gatherings without much trouble.

"I'll take the post," I informed the Minister.

Should the job ever become a hindrance to my plans then I would just quit.

"Jolly good," said Fudge "I'll let the board know and they'll contact you with the details".

We moved on to other matters before long.

"Now as to the events surrounding the Triwizard Tournament" Fudge was now saying as he looked over some paperwork "It all looks like a lot of fun to me. You're running a quiz, and there will be a few friendly Quidditch games. I see that you want a chess contest as well".

I did want one because even with the added extras most of the coming school year didn't have much happening to make to keep the students amused.

"Yes, Minister" I replied "It can take place at a weekend when there isn't much else going on and I'll supply the prize, a fancy chess set should do. I doubt that there will be much interest, but the winner will earn a few points for their school's champion and that helps the rest of the students feel involved".

Minister Fudge approved of the idea.

"You have my full support" Cornelius promised "We should have enough events here to hold people's interest between the tasks without it overwhelming the staff of the school".

It wasn't all smooth sailing as while the others schools didn't mind bringing in a few younger students for the quiz they didn't want those students attending the Yule Ball, so that would be limited to those over sixteen.

This meant I couldn't take Luna or Hermione as a date. I would have to interact with students in their final years and convince one of them to go with me. It might seem odd that I worried about this given the things I'd done over the years, but teenage girls are a headache I simply didn't want to deal with.

Perhaps I would just ask one of the French girls to be my date, at least then I would have to deal with them much after the Yule Ball was over.

"I have your tickets for the Quidditch world cup finals and the arrangements for a portkey" Fudge let me know "Are you sure that you want your cousin to leave that early, the match might go on for hours and I can arrange adult supervision, or you could come yourself?".

Tom Hiddleston didn't care for Quidditch, not like John Hiddleston did as he played for Ravenclaw House as a Chaser. Besides if John went rather than Tom then I could have Hermione with me.

"I'm attending a private gathering and I don't want John staying out all night," I said "Not to worry he's a good lad and will make his portkey on time".

Since I knew that the match wouldn't last that long unless I'd really messed up the timeline there would be no need to camp out overnight and why do so when I could sleep in my bed or sneak back at Kol the Red Mage and deal with any Death Eaters who might turn up.

(Line Break)

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. The Wizarding World.

In the dead of night, I came to the grave of Albus Dumbledore in the guise of Kol the Red Mage in order to collect a special prize that as far as I knew had been left out in the open for me to take.

I'd missed the funeral, I had been invited due to being a current student, but I'd had better things to do with my time, and no desire to listen to people wax on about how awesome the old man had been. No doubt people had come here to sing Dumbledore's praises about what a great Headmaster he had been, despite the school having suffered since he took over of that I was sure.

They also would have thanked him for him supporting the rights of muggles and muggle-borns even with there being little in the way of evidence to prove he'd ever done anything to bring about equality here in the Wizarding World. If he had done anything meaningful in that regard then Hermione from that possible future wouldn't be leading a muggle revolution with that dark lord version of me.

Perhaps someone had talked about how he'd worked tirelessly against Voldemort, even though the Dark Lord and his minions had been able to go around killing loads of people, and it was little Harry Potter who had actually ended the fighting thanks to some action taken by Lily Potter.

"What did you do?" I asked.

The white marble tomb didn't answer me. Its mere existence was a testament to the sheer stupidity of the wand wavers, even with all the evidence that book I'd co-written had contained, which showed people a bit of the real Albus Dumbledore, so many fools had still revered him for not having done much at all.

Sure he'd defeated Grindlewald, but even that was suspect since only those two wizards knew for sure what had really happened during their supposed duel. Perhaps before I left this world I should take the time to question Grindlewald since he was still alive as far as I knew.

"I worked right under your nose for years and never knew," I said to the tomb "Oh you suspected Tom Hiddleston towards the end, but even then you didn't do anything. You were too cautious, old man".

Before I began ranting I shut my mouth and started inspecting the spellwork around here. This wasn't transfigured stone it was real marble, that must have been expensive, and I had no doubt the school had paid for it.

"I never did ask what we are here for" mentioned Cortana "So why are we here? Did you just come to vent at a gravesite?".

Since I'd not planned to come here I'd not had a chance to explain my actions.

"I defeated Dumbledore" I started by saying "The curse I placed on the fake ring was what led to his death so there's a chance that command of the Eldar Wand has passed to me and the Bright Lord was buried with it".

The spells on the tomb were simple enough, they were just meant to keep the sight clean and to prevent damage. It seemed safe to assume that no one had imagined anyone would want to break into the old man's tomb. To be fair he was still very well respected by the majority of the local magic people so there wasn't much chance of vandalism.

I made my way inside the tomb and saw the flowers left around, someone had been to visit and perhaps people were allowed to, it would explain the lack of security. I opened up the coffin and saw the magically preserved corpse of Albus Dumbledore. He was holding the wand and I very carefully took it from him.

When I held the wand in my hand I felt nothing.

"Lumos" I whispered.

I could feel my magic trying to work through the wand but it didn't result in anything. The wand felt wrong as well.

"Must be a decoy" I realised "He's hidden the real thing somewhere".

I snapped the wand and saw that it was a piece of solid wood. There was no room for the core of the wand.

"This is just some sort of decorative piece" I muttered "He's hidden the real one. He might even have destroyed it or arranged for one of his minions to somehow claim it".

I repaired the fake wand and put it back. I then left the tomb and did nothing to the corpse as I wasn't that petty. Dumbledore hadn't been an evil person his intentions had been good, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Still, that was no reason to disrespect the dead.

(Line Break)

Granger Residence. The Muggle World.

Reality twisted or bent or something like that as the motorcycle stopped in the driveway of the house belonging to Hermione's well-off parents. The house was bigger and much more modern than mine, yet it didn't feel like a proper home to me. There was something unhomely about it.

I got off my bike and knocked on the door while amusing myself with the idea of how Hermione's parents would react to the punk at their door who wanted to see their daughter. I wore a leather jacket, jeans and t-shirt that boldly declared my dedication to the band Metallica.

To my disappointment, no one answered the door and I figured that the dentists might be at work given that it was the middle of the week, or maybe they'd gone on holiday. I decided to cast a spell to see if there was anyone around.

"Homenum Revelio"

I discovered that there was someone on the property's far side, most likely in the backyard. I made my way around the house and through the unlocked gate. As I did I heard a radio going that was playing a song I hadn't heard in a couple of decades and yet I could have sung along to if I so desired. Memory can be a funny thing at times.

Hermione was in her backyard sitting in an inflatable paddling pool, reading a book to my complete lack of surprise, and she had a drink with ice on a nearby table. She was wearing some sort of swimsuit but I couldn't see much detail since most of her body was out of sight.

"You seem very relaxed" I commented.

She jolted a little upon hearing my voice.

"Oh, it's you," she said.

Her voice was a little frosty, however, since she wasn't throwing curses at me things were better between us than I'd feared.

"I'm back from America" I needlessly told her.

Since I wasn't sure what to say I just stood there as she picked herself up out of the water. She looked good in her swimsuit and would look better if she'd been at least two years older. Three would be better, then she'd be a right hottie.

"I was wondering if you would dare show your face," she remarked.

Her words might have made me feel bad if I hadn't faced a Wendigo recently. An upset teenage girl just doesn't compare to a magically malformed cannibal that can rip grown men apart with its bare hands.

"After that letter you sent, I'd thought you'd be too embarrassed to see me," she said.

I wondered what she meant exactly.

"Why would I be embarrassed?" I asked, "I just wanted to give you time to come to terms with the truth".

She frowned at me.

"What truth?" she asked back "I don't know who you are anymore".

Now she sounded a bit upset and confused as well I'd guess. To be fair it was a lot even for a magic user to take in. I'd anticipated this well in advance and knew what to do.

"Get dressed and I'll prove that I told you the whole truth" I promised.

She didn't move for a moment or two and went inside. It felt as if she'd been gone for a while, and I figured that she'd made me wait longer than required. When she came back she wore trainers, jeans, a top that exposed her midriff and a denim jacket.

"I don't know how long we'll be gone," I said as I took my special dagger.

Hermione stepped back upon seeing what she thought was a weapon and then yelled when I cut a tear in reality.

"Take my hand" I instructed "You don't want to get lost where we are going".

If you didn't know which gate to take you'd die wandering the Crossworlds as Umbridge likely had. That might even be her bleached skeleton we passed by as we made our way to the Mall at the Crossworlds.