Disclaimer: I own nothing here you recognise (and depending on what fandom drew your interest to this fic, I may not own some things you don't recognise); you know how it goes.

Feedback: Always appreciated

AN: In advance, I apologise for a very dialogue-focused chapter (and I ended up breaking it in half to stop it being too long), but obviously these people have a lot to talk about before they can even start working as any kind of 'team', which means answering a few important questions

The Guardians of Magic

"The… Guardians of Magic?" Billy repeated uncertainly. "You want us to… be a team?"

"The name is a matter for you to sort out yourselves, but it encapsulates your mission," Doctor Strange said.

"To guard… magic?" Harry said cautiously. "How can we… do that?"

"And… hold on, magic's a real thing?" Nick said uncertainly, even as he kept up a protective position close to Mildred. "I mean, I don't entirely get how I'm the only one who can see wesen woge at certain times-"

"I'm sorry, wesen?" Bo cut in as she looked at Nick in confusion. "Is that some other term for fae?"

"Fae?" Angel looked at Bo in surprise. "That's… just an Irish term-"

"And why do you need to use such a specific term anyway?" Emma cut in. "I'm fairly sure Henry's book just talked about fairies-"

"If I might interject?" Doctor Strange cut in with a raised hand. He waited until the group were all silent and looking at him once again before he continued. "As I was about to explain, you will find that many of you have different methods of using magic… because many of you all come from different worlds with different types of magic."

"Different… worlds?" Wanda repeated, looking cautiously at him.

"We're not just talking about the Enchanted Forest and the idea that my world is the 'World Without Magic' here, right?" Emma asked. "You're saying… we're all from different worlds?"

"For the most part," the man in the red cloak nodded. "Mr Potter, Miss Weasley and Fawkes are from the same reality, as are Miss Rosenberg and her associate, and Miss Maximoff and the Vision-"

"And I came here with Bo, just so we're clear," Kenzi held up a hand.

"OK, so we've established that bit, but… why are we all here?" Paige asked. "And why did some of us get to bring company and others just got dragged along on their own? I mean, my sisters and I-"

"Power alone is not a requirement for you to have been brought here, Miss Matthews," the doctor interjected. "I will confess that the spell that brought you all here was only intended to bring one person from each of your worlds, but if you were in physical contact with someone else at the crucial moment…"

"So Ginny and Fawkes are here because of a mistake?" Harry asked, his grip tightening on his wand as he looked at Strange.

"You're sure you were the target, kid?" Kenzi looked at the boy with a curious smile.

"I'm the Boy Who Lived; I feel like I should be used to getting dragged into things like this!"

"The… Boy Who Lived?" Mildred looked curiously at Harry. "What's that?"

"I survived being attacked by a dark wizard who'd already killed my parents when I was only a year old and it somehow nearly killed him in the process," Harry clarified with a bitter shake of his head.

"Someone tried to kill you when you were one?" Nick looked at the young wizard in shock.

"And you dragged him into this because of that?" Tommy looked sharply at the man in blue.

"I should inform you in advance that my responses are limited."

"Limited?" Emma asked. "How?"

"Limited in the sense that I am not actually Doctor Stephen Strange."

"…Huh?" Kenzi looked at the figure in confusion. "Why'd you introduce yourself as this Doctor guy if you're not him?"

"To put it in the simplest terms you will all understand, I am essentially… consider me an aspect of the soul of the true Doctor Strange," the figure explained. "The true Doctor Strange is capable of astral projection and temporal manipulation; he created me by essentially projecting himself as he cast the spell to summon you here and drawing out that moment so that I could answer your essential questions."

"…There are spells capable of that?" the dark-haired man in the brown jacket and blue shirt asked, staring at the projection in awe.

"Very particular spells only possible through the possession of very unique artefacts, some of which only exist in my world," Strange explained. "The point is that I possess knowledge of everything Strange was thinking of in the moments when he cast the spell to bring you here, but obviously even a man with a photographic memory and a natural grasp of magic can only recall so much in a matter of moments."

"And telling us everything about how you brought us here and what we are meant to fight was not a priority?" Wanda asked, fingers glowing red as she glared at him in frustration.

"The first does not matter as you cannot undo it yourselves, and the second you can learn over time," Strange explained, as he looked around the room. "Each of you have earned your own reputations in your worlds, but you shall have time to explore your histories as you face the Empirikuul."

"Uh… and who are the Empirikuul?" Billy raised his hand uncertainly. "I mean, you said we had to 'save magic' from them…?"

"The Empirikuul are an empire from another dimension that have made a vow to eliminate all magic from the multiverse."

"So… we're basically talking the Salem Witch Trials on a larger scale?" Dave shook his head. "Oh boy… and I thought that kind of thing stopped being an issue years ago…"

"Salem Witch Trials?" the man in brown asked.

"You… haven't heard of them?" Ginny looked at the man in surprise.

"He is from a point much further in the past than the rest of you," Doctor Strange clarified. "To deal with your most obvious question, Doctor Strange's spell was intended to summon the champions of magic- or the local equivalent of magic- from each of your worlds and bring you here so that you may fight against the Empirikuul, but… I will confess, this spell was a matter of sense and feel more than conscious choice."

"Sense and feel?" Bo raised a sceptical eyebrow. "How does that work?"

"When Doctor Strange cast this spell, the best analogy for what he was doing is to compare it to the idea of a tightrope walker finding their sense of balance," the projection explained. "Just as such a man cannot explain how they achieve a sense of balance but simply that it feels right, I cannot define the parameters that prompted the spell to pull you all in at this time in your lives, simply assert that it would not have brought you all here if you were not the ones needed to solve this problem."

"So… we're meant to just trust that we're the right people for this?" Paige asked. "You dragged four kids into this and we should-?"

"The fate of magic itself across the multiverse is at stake; as the aspiring Sorcerer Supreme of my world, I would not make mistakes," Strange affirmed.

"And we're not kids," Harry said, placing an arm around Ginny's shoulder in a comforting gesture that made the shaking redhead blush.

"No," Billy nodded, a quiet confidence to his own manner that suggested at a greater strength than his youth suggested.

"N… no," Mildred nodded, her arms tightening briefly around the tabby cat in her arms even as she seemed determined to agree with the others.

"Does… your spell have anything to do with why my trailer's here?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, what does a trailer have to do with all this?" Dave looked curiously at the police officer. "I mean, don't get me wrong, good to have something more than the clothes on our backs, but…"

"This belonged to my aunt Marie before her death," Nick explained, walking over to place a hand on the trailer with a brief smile. "She taught me about my family heritage, and basically everything I use to hunt wesen back in my world is inside here."

"Wesen?" Billy asked. "What are they?"

"They're… well, I guess they're what passes for magic in my world," Nick said with an awkward shrug. "From what I've heard, they're most well-known as the inspiration for most of the fairy tales of my world; my ancestors are known as Grimms-"

"Grimm?" Willow grinned. "As in the Brothers Grimm?"

"You know about them?" Nick looked at her in surprise. "Even in another world?"

"Many of your worlds will share similar mythologies even if their magic evolved along different lines," Strange put in with a smile. "It is a fascinating paradox of parallel evolution in many ways; older, more famous tales and legends will remain the same across the multiverse, even when the context that inspired them is so very different in each world."

"So it's not just that some person back on… every Earth somehow made contact with the Enchanted Forest and retold the events as stories?" Emma asked.

"Enchanted Forest?" Bo looked at her curiously. "Is that where you're from?"

"Not entirely," Emma explained. "I'm still learning how it all happened, but basically… OK, I'll assume you know Snow White, right?" Once that question was met with surprised nods from most of the group (the dark-haired man in brown and blue looked curious, but Emma made a note to explain things to him later), she continued. "Basically, Snow White's stepmother the Evil Queen cast a spell that banished Snow White and several other fairy-tale characters into… well, to what I thought was my world, but it turns out I'm part of the Enchanted Forest as well."

"In what way?" Billy asked.

"Snow White is my mother."

"…Huh," Bo said, raising her eyebrows as she looked at Emma with a slightly stunned smile. "And I thought I had an unusual family history."

"Uh… would like to hear more about that, but maybe we could let Detective… Nick… finish his story?" Willow raised her hand before she looked apologetically at Nick. "Sorry, I didn't quite get your last name earlier…"

"Burkhardt," Nick clarified with an understanding smile. "But… feel free to call me Nick; if we're working together, no point being too formal."

"Right…" Willow nodded.

"So, your story?" Dave asked.

"Like I said, my ancestors are known as Grimms, because we basically have the ability to see the wesen that live among us and hunt down those that break the rules and hurt others," Nick explained. "They can look human, but they do this thing they call woging where they assume more… well, monster-like appearances, and one of my abilities as a Grimm is being able to see them; they can do it in a manner normal people can't always notice for reasons I can't explain."

"And you hunt them?" Bo asked.

"The ones that hurt other people," Nick clarified. "Some of my ancestors have had more… ruthless reputations, but I'm trying to do better, making it clear to those I meet that I'll help them if they're not dangerous. I've worked with a few wesen to deal with others who are actively threatening people; as an example, my best wesen contact is Monroe, whose species is known as blutbad and basically inspired the Big Bad Wolf."

"Oh, so he's like a werewolf?" Willow brightened slightly. "That's cool; that's l-like my boyfriend."

"You're dating a werewolf?" Kenzi looked at the redhead with a grin. "Respect the nerve, girl."

"I-I mean, we lock him up when he transforms, so I don't… I mean, it's just a part of him…" Willow shrugged.

"And what about you?" Emma asked. "I mean… well, if you're here…"

"Oh, I'm working on being a witch, but it's still… I mean, I only did one big spell so far and that was when we didn't have any better options…"

"Your spell worked," Angel put in with a reassuring smile. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"She cast a spell on you?" the man asked.

"A curse, actually."

"…I'm confused," Tommy looked at Angel uncertainly, part of him wondering if he should talk with Doctor Strange even as the projection seemed content to watch them right now. "You're… OK with being cursed?"

"It's… complicated," Angel explained. "What she did was intended as a curse, but its effect on me as a person is…"

He seemed to come to a decision as he stood up and his face changed, assuming a more protruding forehead, glowing yellow eyes and sharp teeth. Angel appeared unconcerned when the others jumped back, although he looked more curiously at Nick when his first reaction was to point his gun at him.

"I take it this is similar to what you deal with?" he looked casually at the cop.

"Yeah," Nick said, carefully studying the teeth. "Vampire?"

"You've seen this before?"

"Just what comes to mind," Nick clarified, even as he lowered his gun.

"It's… OK, he's not like other vampires," Willow put in, raising her hand. "That's the whole point of the curse; I… well, I gave him back his soul."

"His soul?" Paige repeated. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Back in our world," Angel explained as his face returned to his human form, "vampires are basically demon spirits inhabiting human corpses, with a complete lack of empathy or any interest in what they were as humans. I spent over a century doing every horrible thing you can think of that a vampire could do, and after that… I was cursed with my soul."

"Which… restored your ability to care?" Bo asked, looking at him with new sympathy.

"And feel guilty over every person I killed without my soul," Angel nodded. "The curse was… broken… for a few months a while back, but Willow and our allies were able to cast it again…"

"And it's not going to be broken again, so don't worry about him," Willow put in anxiously. "H-he's good; he's on our side; he's a strong fighter; we can-"

"Hey, I'm not judging anyone for past mistakes," Bo put in with a smile. "Considering what I did in the past… well, I can get behind doing things better."

"What you did?" the man in the brown jacket asked.

"I'm… well, I'm a succubus."

"…isn't that a sex demon?" Dave asked, looking at Bo with a new sense of apprehension.

"Less of the 'demon', buddy," Kenzi glared over at the college student. "She's actually part of what we call fae back in our world, it's just what she is, and she spent years not even knowing what she was because someone decided it was safer to dump her with humans than actually look after Bo here herself."

"You didn't know what you were?" Nick looked at Bo in surprise. "So… you basically got hungry and didn't know how to deal with it?"

"More like I found out how I fed when I drained my first boyfriend," Bo clarified, looking at the cop with a grim expression on her face. "Familiar story?"

"I had a… child abduction case a few months back where the girl turned out to be a blutbad who didn't know what she was until… a bad experience," Nick explained. "It's not the same as your situation, but… well, I can see how it would happen."

"It's always hard when you… don't know what you are," Mildred said with a soft smile.

"You too?" Bo looked at Mildred with a sympathetic expression.

"I'm a witch," Mildred explained, the cat in her arms letting out a supportive meow. "But… well, I only just started at school, and I'm literally the first witch to attend the school who didn't know I was a witch when I was invited to attend; most people call me 'the Worst Witch' when I really want to learn, and a few people look down at me for not being from a witching family…"

"So… you're muggle-born?" Ginny asked.

"What?" Mildred asked.

"It's what we call witches or wizards born to non-wizarding families… well, back in our world," Harry explained, indicating himself and Ginny. "It can be a bit… well, there's some prejudice back home, but most people know that it's not important…"

"Oh," Mildred said, looking at Harry with a new sense of uncertainty. "So… is it just… I mean, am I-?"

"Hey, we all have to start somewhere; don't go judging yourself compared to other people," Dave smiled encouraging at the girl. "Look at me; I got dragged into this magic stuff because I was basically chosen as the heir to the most powerful sorcerer who ever lived back home, and I spent most of my first few lessons barely able to do anything until I had to fight for my life."

"He's right; some people just learn better under pressure," Harry smiled over at Dave in understanding before he looked at Mildred. "Anyway, if you're the first witch who didn't come from a witching family in your world, how did you start at your school?"

"Maud- another student at the school- crashed into my flat while she was flying in for her first day, and reasoned that I had to be magic because I could see her and her broom when there are spells preventing that," Mildred explained. "I helped her fly the rest of the way because she'd broken her glasses, and she convinced me to try out for the exams."

"And you passed?" Wanda asked, trying to give the girl an encouraging smile.

"I got one percent on the written for spelling my name correctly and failed the practical because I accidentally sabotaged someone else's potion."

"Oh," Wanda looked apologetically at Mildred.

"How did that even happen?" Ginny asked.

"I took some ingredients from her cauldron without knowing she needed everything," Mildred explained with an awkward shrug. "I only got in anyway because I saved the school from our headmistress's evil twin sister Agatha Cackle thanks to a few legal loopholes allowing me to interfere in a duel where no other witch could, and then I was given the chance to stay around on a trial basis…"

"And how did that go?" Emma asked.

"There were some rough moments, but I just completed my first year exams with a 51% pass mark and saved the school from Agatha again."

"Again?" Kenzi raised an eyebrow. "Not sure if we should be impressed you did it again or annoyed that nobody made sure she couldn't try that again."

"In their defence, Agatha did pull off a few tricks to do that…" Mildred said with a shrug.

"Still, you did all that when you didn't know you magic was real?" Emma said with a smile. "And I thought I had it rough when I got dragged into that curse mess; at least then I was an adult and nobody else knew about my situation either."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"The curse that sent my mother and everyone from the Enchanted Forest to… well, to my Earth… basically erased all their memories of their real identities," Emma explained. "From what I learnt later, I was sent on ahead through some kind of magic portal so that I could grow up outside of the curse and join them to break the curse later, but… well, would you believe that the schoolteacher the same age as you is your mother, and that's just the easiest one to explain?"

"Point," Dave nodded, before he looked at the man in the brown jacket. "Uh, sorry if this is rude, but I just realised we've been talking around all of us and nobody's asked your name."

"Right… thanks for asking," the young man nodded at Dave. "I'm… my name's Merlin-"

"What?"