A/N - Hello everyone. It's time for chapter 35 but before we get to it I just wanted to tell you all that I have added an extra scene to chapter 32 in order to give Dumbledore a better role and let us see him fight Magneto. It begins after Lightning tells Dumbledore not to call him Harry and takes up the rest of the chapter. Please check it out.

Okay, here's the new chapter. If you're a Draco Malfoy fan you probably won't like the first part but I won't apologize for it as it seemed to me that it was inevitable considering what's happened with him so far. The characters do what they want and I let them as it's better than trying to force them to do stuff that they don't want to do. That never ends well. It all does have a reason beyond simply bashing Malfoy.

Disclaimer: The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and belong to Marvel Comics. Harry Potter was created by and belongs to J.K. Rowling.

"Normal Speech"

"Telepathy"

35) WRAPPING UP THE DAY

"Harry" Marvel Girl was calling him, "the feast will be starting soon. You should come back to the front of the school."

"Thanks Jean" said Lightning, "I'm on my way."

Lightning headed back down towards the Hogwarts entrance hall. It didn't take him all that long before it came into view. As he was walking down the grand staircase he saw there were still a lot of people there, including some important new arrivals. Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge was there talking to Dumbledore. Next to him was Lucius Malfoy. Lightning would know him anywhere. He wondered how people were treating him these days since it was confirmed he had been a Death Eater. To judge by his presence in the crowd next to the minister himself it didn't seem to have made much difference which was rather sad in Lightning's opinion. There were other people there who looked like VIPs including at least two people who looked like they were from the press as one was taking pictures while the other looked to be interviewing random people in the hall. The other X-Men were there too mixing with the crowd many of whom were still treating them with awe.

Beast looked up and saw Lightning on the grand staircase and waved for him to come down.

"Here comes our last member after his wanderings exploring this fine institution of learning" said Beast in a deliberately loud voice. Many people heard him and they turned to see Lightning coming down the stairs. Seeing all the attention he was getting Lightning gave a rueful smile and raised a hand to wave at everyone.

The moment Lightning stepped off of the staircase he sensed that something was wrong. He reacted automatically and with the quick reflexes he had gained from both Quidditch practice at Hogwarts and months of training in the Danger Room he dodged a curse headed his way then spun around and struck out with his telekinesis in the direction it had come from: the archway that led to the dungeons. When the curse flew everyone in the hall had turned towards where it came from with many drawing their wands. Fortunately the curse didn't hit anyone.

"What are you doing?" came a familiar voice, "stop! Put me down!" Draco Malfoy came floating into the entrance hall being held upside down and unable to move by Lightning's telekinetic grip. As soon as Malfoy was fully out in the hall people started to laugh although Lucius Malfoy looked shocked and quite angry as he realized that his son had tried to attack one of the X-Men. Lightning, however, didn't pay attention to the laughter. He stared at Malfoy in disbelief.

"You again?" he demanded, "what's wrong with you?"

"Draco" Lucius said stepping forward, "what is the meaning of this?"

"He attacked me!" Draco yelled, "make him put me down."

"He did not attack you" said Lucius looking angry at the brazenness his son was showing, "you threw a curse at him, he reacted."

"Pardon me sir" said Lightning politely to Lucius Malfoy as if they were meeting for the first time, "is he your son?"

"He is" said Lucius, "has he been bothering you?"

"Yes" said Lightning as the other X-Men were approaching along with Dumbledore, Fudge, McGonagall, and a furious looking Snape who stepped forward.

"Lucius, I'm afraid Draco has been acting very irresponsibly all day" he said.

"He tried to take on Magneto by himself" said Lightning, "I got him out of there before he could be injured or killed but he didn't thank me and he's been giving me attitude ever since."

"It's true" said Marvel Girl, "he tried to pull his wand on Lightning earlier after we'd been to see the headmaster – which reminds me, how did he get his wand back?"

"He didn't" said a panting Crabbe who looked like he'd just run up from the dungeons with Goyle right behind him, "he took mine before I could stop him. He said he was going to 'put that miserable filthy muggle in his place.'"

"And all this simply because I got him away from Magneto?" said Lightning with a sigh, "maybe I shouldn't have bothered."

"You don't mean that" said Cyclops with some reproof.

"You're right I don't" conceded Lightning, "but it's getting old."

"What do you have to say for yourself Draco?" asked his father.

"Put me down" said Draco, "and fight me face to face!"

"Are you challenging me?" asked Lightning with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, wizard's duel" yelled Malfoy, "right here and now. If I win you become my servant like I asked earlier." The crowd gasped at the demand.

"Like hell I will" said Lightning.

"I agree" said Lucius, "withdraw that condition at once Draco. I'm ashamed of your behavior." Lucius turned to Lightning. "I apologize for my son. He will not make such an outrageous demand and he will not duel you."

"Oh if he wants to do that I'll duel him" said Lightning, "just as long as he leaves me alone afterwards."

"He will" said Lucius.

"Indeed he will" hissed Snape, "would you mind putting him down now?"

"What? Oh, okay" said Lightning who turned Malfoy until he was right side up and then dropped him on the floor. He managed to stay on his feet but he was unsteady for a moment.

"Why you – " he began.

"Enough Draco!" said his father, "control yourself. A Malfoy doesn't lose his temper."

"Are you sure about this?" Cyclops asked Lightning.

"Yeah I think it has to be done" muttered Lightning, "at least this time he won't be able to threaten me with telling his father." Cyclops nodded and turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Why don't you give young Malfoy back his wand for this?" Cyclops said to the professor, "it should be fair after all." McGonagall looked like she wanted to disagree but at a look from Dumbledore she did so. She also relieved Draco of Crabbe's wand and gave it back to its rightful owner.

"Headmaster will you referee?" asked Lightning. Dumbledore, who seemed rather amused by what was happening, nodded and had people clear the middle of the of the entrance hall before directing the combatants to face each other from either end of the space. Malfoy was looking at Lightning with hatred to which the X-Man just rolled his eyes.

"How long do you think it'll take Lightning to beat him?" Iceman whispered to Beast.

"Ten seconds? Probably less?" Beast whispered back, "unless he decides to draw it out for spectacle's sake."

"He might" put in Angel, "remember who he's dealing with." Beast and Iceman both nodded at that.

Dumbledore held up his hand.

"When I drop my hand you may begin" he said. Then he dropped his hand.

As soon as Dumbledore's hand dropped Lightning telekinetically yanked Malfoy's wand out of his hand and caught it as it sailed over to him.

"Winner: Lightning" said Dumbledore. The duel hadn't lasted 10 seconds.

"What did I tell you?" said Beast to Iceman and Angel.

"That's our Lightning" said Iceman.

"Hey!" yelled Malfoy, "you can't do that."

"Sure I can" said Lightning calmly, "why? was that too fast for you? Here, try again. I'll actually let you say a spell this time." He threw Malfoy's wand back to him.

"Headmaster, if you would?" Lightning said to Dumbledore who nodded and again signaled for the combatants to begin. This time Lightning allowed Malfoy to fire one spell, the knockback jinx as it turned out, which he easily dodged before again telekinetically disarming Malfoy. This made Malfoy even madder.

"Stop doing that!" Malfoy yelled.

"Why should I?" responded Lightning even more calmly than before, "I told you that you should leave the fighting to the professionals, kid." Malfoy's face turned purple.

"STOP CALLING ME A KID!" he screamed.

"Draco!" called Lucius sternly, "control yourself! Your conduct is unseemly." He turned to Lightning. "Again I apologize for my son's behavior."

"That's all right" said Lightning before turning back Draco, "that was strike two. I'll give you one more chance if you want. And just to make it fair – by your standards at least – I'll let you fire as many spells as you want. I won't attack you until you're finished. How does that sound?"

If Malfoy had any sense he would have realized that he was being toyed with but he was too angry at the losses he was being dealt to think straight. Lightning tossed him back his wand and Dumbledore once more signaled for the duel to begin. Malfoy didn't waste any time.

"Diffindo" he yelled and a yellow jet of light came out of his wand and headed towards his opponent. Lightning didn't move from where he was. He simply stood in place with his arms folded staring at Malfoy. It looked like Lightning was just going to let the spell hit him when suddenly the spell hit the telekinetic shield that he'd raised and fizzled out. There was total silence in the entrance hall when this happened because, with the exceptions of the other X-Men and Sirius, no one knew that Lightning could create shields that stopped magic. Malfoy looked at this in shock. Lightning raised an eyebrow at him but otherwise said nothing.

"What?" said Malfoy, "no. Diffindo." It was the same spell – and the same thing happened.

"Impossible!" yelled Malfoy, "DIFFINDO!" It was obvious to all of the onlookers that Malfoy had put more power into his spell. Lightning responded by increasing the strength of his shield so that this time when the spell hit the shield it bounced back towards Malfoy who hastily ducked out of the way. This did nothing to help Malfoy's mood and he started sending spell after spell at Lightning. All of them hit the shield and bounced back. Malfoy had to move fast to avoid them all. During the whole barrage Lightning just stayed where he was calmly watching Malfoy's attacks.

"Are you quite finished?" Lightning asked sounding bored when Malfoy stopped casting and stood breathing heavily, "my turn." He unfolded his arms and raised his right hand. A bolt of lightning shot from his hand and hit Malfoy's wand hand. It was too quick for Malfoy to avoid and he grunted with the pain of the shock. It was only a low powered bolt because Lightning didn't really want to hurt him – much – but it did cause Malfoy to drop his wand which Lightning again used his telekinesis to summon.

"Strike three Malfoy" Lightning said as he caught the wand, "that's all you get."

"Winner: Lightning" declared Dumbledore.

"Thank you headmaster" said Lightning as people began to applaud the duels now that they were over. Lightning handed Malfoy's wand back to Professor McGonagall as his teammates gathered around him congratulating him on all of his wins. Looking toward the door to the Great Hall Lightning saw Ron and Hermione watching. Ron was grinning like a lunatic as if watching Malfoy get trounced in the duels was the greatest thing he'd ever seen and even Hermione looked like she was trying very hard not to smile.

"You cheated!" Malfoy suddenly yelled. Lightning turned and looked him.

"Excuse me?" said Lightning sounding a bit offended.

"You said you wouldn't do anything while I was casting spells" said Malfoy.

"No I didn't" said Lightning, "I said I wouldn't attack you while you were casting spells and I didn't. I never said I wouldn't defend myself. And seriously what did you expect me to do? Just let your spells hit me?" The look on Malfoy's face made it clear to everyone that he had expected that. Lightning sighed the sigh of one much put upon.

"Isn't that just like a bully?" he said, "you think you're allowed to do whatever you want to whomever you want whenever you want and never suffer any consequences for it but if someone dares to fight back against you it's a crime worthy of death. You're probably already thinking about revenge even though you're the one who attacked me in the first place and I was just defending myself.

"Look Malfoy, I don't know why you've decided to hate me and honestly I don't care. I never did anything to you. You only met me for the first time today. Do yourself a favor and forget about me. You'll probably never even see me again. Is your ego that big? Suck it up. Nobody always wins – not even a Malfoy. Isn't that right Mr. Malfoy?" He addressed the last question to Lucius.

"Alas that is true" said Lucius who turned to his son, "Draco, I'm very disappointed by your behavior. When you come home this summer we will be discussing this in great detail. I forbid you to take this dispute any further. He beat you fairly and that's the end of it. He didn't even make any demands of you except that you leave him alone. Surely you have enough honor to abide by such a simple demand?" The Malfoys locked eyes for a long moment before Draco looked away. Dumbledore came over to speak to Lucius.

"Lucius" he said, "I'm afraid that Draco will have to be punished for this. He recklessly put his life in danger earlier today when he tried to challenge Magneto. He then twice tried to attack the person who saved him, the most recent attack you yourself witnessed just now. We will discuss this matter later but be advised that detentions are not going to be enough to deal with this." Lucius Malfoy nodded, for once accepting what Dumbledore said without challenging it.

"Go to your dormitory and stay there for the rest of the day" Snape said to Draco, "I mean it Draco. Don't leave, unless you want to be sweeping the halls with Filch for the rest of the year in addition to whatever punishments the headmaster and your father decide on. Summon a house elf if you get hungry." Malfoy looked at his head of house for a long moment before turning around and storming away.

"Well" said Dumbledore, "I think that's enough excitement for now. Let's all go in to dinner."

The crowd turned and began walking into the Great Hall. Cyclops tapped Lightning on the shoulder and gestured for him to come over to where Fudge was. A stern looking woman with a monocle in one eye was standing next to him on his right side while a short, squat woman dressed all in pink was standing on the minister's left and looking at him with the blankest face Lightning had ever seen on anyone. Lightning thought there was something a familiar about her but couldn't place it just then.

"Lightning, this is Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic for Great Britain" he said, "and two of his colleagues, Amelia Bones, the director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement" he gestured at the woman with the monocle, "and Dolores Umbridge" obviously the other woman, "who is the minister's undersecretary. They arrived while you were off exploring the castle. You're the only one of us who hasn't met them."

"How do you do minister?" said Lightning holding out a hand towards Fudge. He'd seen Fudge before but had never met him until now.

"I'm fine, thank you" said Fudge, "and very glad to meet you along with your fellow X-Men. As I've already told your teammates we're all very grateful to you for coming to Hogwarts' defense today."

"Of course" said Lightning, "we were glad to." Now he turned to Madame Bones.

"Madame Director" he said as he shook her hand.

"I, too, wish to thank you" said Madame Bones, "my niece is a student here and I'm glad you kept her safe."

"As our leader says it's what we do" said Lightning before turning to Madame Umbridge, "Madame Umbridge." He held out his hand to her, after a few seconds Madame Umbridge shook it although she seemed a bit reluctant to do so and she let go pretty quickly. She didn't say anything except to give Lightning a very brief nod.

In some ways the feast that night was unlike any other Hogwarts feast that Lightning had ever been to. For one thing he was sitting at the staff table along with his teammates, the minister, Lucius Malfoy, and the other VIPs whom he would later learn were some of the governors of the school. Somehow not only was the table big enough for everyone when it shouldn't have been but the width of the Great Hall also seemed to increase to accommodate the larger table. Magic, thought Lightning with a wry grin, nothing seemed to be beyond it.

In other ways the feast was exactly like all of the other feasts he'd been to at Hogwarts. The food was excellent and plentiful as usual. Lightning ate well but he didn't stuff his face like he might have done in the past when he was still living with the Dursleys. He was in much better shape now and wasn't at risk of malnutrition. He also knew better than to overeat. He'd worked hard to get the body he now had and he wanted to keep it.

While he ate he looked around the Great Hall at everyone without making it too obvious he was doing so. The X-Men had been spread out among the staff and other guests. Beast was having a deep academic conversation with Professor Flitwick while Iceman was sitting in between Sirius and Remus which made things easy for him. Although he was still in icy form he had no trouble eating. Angel was on Remus' other side while Marvel Girl was further down the table talking with Professor Sprout about something. Cyclops was talking to both Minister Fudge and Director Bones who were seated on either side of him and they seemed to be getting on all right although Madame Umbridge, who was sitting on Minister Fudge's other side, looked less than pleased even though she was keeping her mouth shut. Lightning briefly wondered what her problem was before it suddenly hit him why she seemed familiar. He had to stop himself from laughing aloud as he realized that she looked an awful lot like the Toad, too much for it to be a coincidence. He wondered how closely they might be related and made a mental note to mention it to the Toad next time they crossed paths. As for himself he was sitting between the headmaster and Professor McGonagall. Lightning decided that there was no way this was a coincidence even though McGonagall didn't recognize him. She was perfectly cordial to him and seemed quite interested in learning about him and the other X-Men. He did his best to answer her questions without giving anything away that might compromise the team.

Lightning's eyes rested on his friends at the Gryffindor table for a few moments. As if sensing him Hermione looked up and smiled at him. He gave a slight nod back. He looked around some more and spotted Hagrid at the end of the staff table. That made him stop to think. He'd revealed himself to Ron and Hermione because they were two of his best friends at Hogwarts, but Hagrid was one too and Hagrid had been his very first friend in the magical world. If anyone deserved to know the truth about him it was Hagrid. Unfortunately, even though he had a good heart, Hagrid wasn't very good at keeping secrets.

"Professor" Lightning thought.

"Yes Lightning" Professor Xavier replied, "are you enjoying the feast?"

"Yes" said Lightning, "I'm sorry you're not here to enjoy it too. I'm sure Professor Dumbledore would be glad to see you."

"As I would be to see him" was the answer, "but that's not why you contacted me, is it?"

"You know me so well" said Lightning, "I wanted to ask you about Hagrid..."

Professor Xavier listened to Lightning's problem and then told him what they would do.

"I'll let you know when it's the right time for you to speak to him" said Xavier.

"Thank you professor" said Lightning. He turned back to his food and decided he wanted some salt. Looking around he found that the nearest salt shaker was in front of Professor Snape who was sitting on Dumbledore's other side. Lightning felt a little mischievous when he saw Snape begin to reach for the salt shaker himself. Just as the potions master was about to grab the salt Lightning snatched it away from him with his telekinesis. He reached up and caught it as it floated over to him. He salted his food and then looked up to see Snape staring at him in both surprise and irritation.

"Oh" Lightning said in as contrite a manner as he could feign, "did you want the salt? I'm sorry. Here you are." He floated the salt back to Snape, "as a telekinetic I'm afraid I sometimes forget to ask people to pass me things. I know that's no excuse and I do apologize." Snape didn't say anything to this but his face cleared and he gave the young mutant a nod so Lightning guessed that he'd accepted his explanation. The young X-Man noticed that Dumbledore was twinkling more than usual at this interaction. He turned to Lightning.

"You did that on purpose" Dumbledore said to him in a low voice so no one else would hear. Lightning just smirked a little and shrugged.

When the main course was finished the tables, as usually happened during a Hogwarts feast, were covered in all kinds of desserts. Lightning looked at the selection in front of him. Nearby was a treacle tart and Lightning wanted very much to have some of it. Unfortunately it was well known to everyone that treacle tart was Harry Potter's favorite dessert. In his rational mind he knew that it was very unlikely that if he were to take some that it would immediately cause anyone watching him to become suspicious of his real identity but the paranoid part of him didn't want to chance it. He refrained from taking any of the treacle tart and helped himself to some ice cream and cake instead. He didn't see that Dumbledore had noticed his behavior nor did he see the slight frown cross Dumbledore's face followed by a thoughtful look.

When the last of the desserts had been cleared away Dumbledore stood up to address the school.

"Honored guests" he said, "X-Men, minister, madame director, aurors, members of the press, school governors, staff, and students. Now that we are all fed and watered I would just like to say a few words. I have been at Hogwarts for many years, first as a teacher, then as headmaster. I have seen many things happen at this school during that time, both good and bad. Today I saw something that has not happened at Hogwarts in living memory when outsiders attempted to invade and capture the school. Even worse we were unprepared to stop them on our own because we had little to no experience with who and what they were. They were not magicals as we know them. They were people from the mundane world who have developed impressive powers of their own of which we in Britain know almost nothing because of how much we have cut ourselves off from the outside world over the years. Thankfully from that same outside world there were others with similar powers who were willing to help us against these invaders when asked. They didn't come help us expecting a reward, they came because it was the right thing to do. Though a few of us helped them during the battle they were the main ones who repelled the invaders and kept our school safe. For that I thank them.

"So to our new friends the X-Men from America I raise my cup to you. Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Lightning, Beast, Marvel Girl you have done Hogwarts a great service. You will always be welcome here any time you might wish to come back." He raised his cup in a toast and the entire Great Hall followed his lead.

"Thank you headmaster" said Cyclops in reply raising his own cup, "we were very glad to come help you out and we're delighted to have made some new friends. Cheers!"

"Cheers!" roared the Great Hall back to him as the population of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry broke out in applause and cheering.

"Thank you for attending our wonderful feast tonight" Dumbledore said to the room when it quieted down again, "there is still some time before curfew so feel free to mingle." He clapped his hands and the tables were completely cleared. People got up from their seats and everyone began to mingle. It didn't take long for most people to move into the entrance hall and outside beyond the front steps of the school. Each of the X-Men attracted people who wanted to meet them, talk with them, or shake their hands.

As he was mingling with the crowd Lightning felt someone touch his arm. He pulled away and whipped around to see who was there and saw a thin blonde woman looking at him with a sharp, even predatory smile.

"Oh" she said in a tone of voice that Lightning thought she meant to be ingratiating though he wasn't sure about that, "did I startle you?"

"I don't like to be touched by people I don't know" said Lightning.

"I'm sorry" the woman said not looking one bit sorry, "I didn't mean any harm. I'm Rita Skeeter, journalist for the Daily Prophet. May I ask you some questions?" Lightning stepped back a little, clearly not sure about this.

"I'm sorry" he said, "I don't mean to be rude Ms. Skeeter but, well, I'm underage. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to speak to the press without a guardian or parent present. Even if I am" he continued when he saw a look of annoyance beginning to appear on Ms. Skeeter's face, "I'm probably not the best person for you to talk to. Hold on a second." Lightning turned and saw that Cyclops was nearby. He waved his leader over and told him what was going on. When Cyclops nodded at him he turned back to the reporter.

"If you want to interview someone you should talk to Cyclops" Lightning said, "he's our leader, he's of age, and he knows more than I do." The annoyance on Rita Skeeter's face disappeared and she smiled again at the two X-Men.

"My apologies Lightning" she said, "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable and thank you for your help."

"No problem" said Lightning still feeling a little leery of her, "just because you might not be able to interview me doesn't mean you shouldn't get an interview at all."

"Well" Rita said smiling even more brightly, "it's refreshing to meet someone who actually understands that. Now then," she turned to address the X-Man leader, "Cyclops was it? Shall we?"

"All right" said Cyclops, "what do you want to know?"

"Oh, everything" was the journalist's reply. Lightning moved away and left them to it. He didn't know if there was a law about minors speaking to the press or not and he knew it was important to have the press on their side but something about Ms. Skeeter made him nervous. On this one occasion, however, his fears were groundless. He didn't know it but his willingness to help Rita Skeeter and what he had said regarding her being able to get an interview had caused her to look favorably upon him and his team.

It was rather strange, Lightning thought as he began moving through the crowd again, yet at the same time rather freeing, to be here again at Hogwarts, to see so many people he knew, and have almost nobody at the school know that 'The Boy-Who-Lived' was there. He met some people who were perfectly friendly to him as Lightning who probably wouldn't have been if they'd known he was also Harry Potter. Some of the Slytherins obviously, also a couple of the Hufflepuffs, particularly Ernie MacMillan who had given him grief during second year over being a parselmouth, and Zacharias Smith who was just unpleasant to most people.

"Could I get another picture of you?" Colin Creevey came up to him. Well that wasn't any different.

"Okay" said Lightning.

"I want to be in it too" said Ron coming up next to him, "I'm a huge fan of Lightning's."

"Sure" said Colin who adjusted his camera.

"Do you mind?" Ron asked Lightning.

"No" was the answer and Ron and Lightning stood next to each other and faced the camera.

"The Quidditch World Cup is this summer" said Ron out of the corner of his mouth in a low voice so only Lightning could hear him, "do you want to go? My dad is getting tickets."

"Smile!" called Colin and the flash went off.

"Send me a letter and I'll let you know" replied Lightning in an equally low voice as he turned and shook Ron's hand before the two of them split apart and went separate ways while Colin moved on to take pictures of the other X-Men. Not too long after that Professor Xavier contacted him.

"Harry" the professor said, "Hagrid left a short time ago. He should be at his hut by now. If you want to go see him now would be the best time. Don't take too long. The X-Jet will be at Hogwarts soon."

"Thank you Professor" said Lightning. As unobtrusively as he could he slipped out of the entrance hall and out through the front doors of the school. The evening was advancing but it wasn't dark yet. Lightning took off and flew across the grounds to Hagrid's hut. Light was already coming through the windows from inside when he landed so he knocked. A loud barking came from inside the hut.

"Back Fang!" Hagrid yelled from inside the hut before the door was pulled open. Lightning looked up at Hagrid for the first time in ten months. His friend looked just the same. Hagrid stared down at him in surprise.

"Hullo" Hagrid said, "you're one of them X-Men blokes, aren't you?"

"Yes" said Lightning, "I'm Lightning."

"Pleased to meet you Lightning" said Hagrid, "especially after you protected the school from them Brotherhood folks. What can I do for you?"

"May I come in? I'd like to talk to you."

"Okay" said Hagrid sounding a little uncertain but he stepped back and let Lightning inside the hut. It looked just the same as the last time he'd been here. It was nice to know that some things didn't change. Once Hagrid shut the door behind them Lightning turned to look at him.

"I have something very important I want to tell you" said Lightning, "but I wanted us to be alone when I did because it's nobody else's business." The real reason was because Lightning was sure Hagrid would have a strong reaction to what he was about to learn and Lightning didn't want anyone else to see it so they wouldn't get suspicious.

"All right" said Hagrid, "I don't rightly know what you could have to tell me seeing as how we've never met each other before and all."

"Oh but we have" said Lightning with a grin at Hagrid's look of confusion. He reached up and pulled off his mask.

"Hello Hagrid" said Harry once his face was revealed. Hagrid's jaw dropped open wide and he sat down heavily in the nearest chair staring at Harry.

"Harry?" he said in a small voice, "is that you?"

"Yes" said Harry, "it's good to see you again."

"Merlin!" exclaimed Hagrid and then he was out of his chair and hugging Harry in a bone crushing hug.

"Harry" he said, "I can't believe it's you."

"Can't...breathe...Hagrid" said Harry. Hagrid released him at once.

"Sorry" the half-giant said, "sometimes I forget me own strength. Where have you been Harry? What have you been doing and why are you one of those X-Men?"

"It's a long story" said Harry with a chuckle, "which unfortunately I don't have time to tell you right now but someone else does and will. They should be here right about – "

There was a knock on the door.

"– Now" finished Harry who pulled his mask back on while Hagrid called for whoever was outside to come in. The door opened and Professor Dumbledore entered the hut.

"Oh good" said Dumbledore to Lightning, "you're here, just as I was told you would be."

"Yeah" said Lightning, "Professor X planned well. Hagrid, the headmaster will tell you the full story of where I've been and how and why I became one of the X-Men. He knows everything and he's known it all along. In fact he helped make the original arrangements."

"Indeed I did" said Dumbledore, "and I will be happy to tell you everything I know at the earliest possible time. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that Harry has just entrusted you with a very large secret and it needs to stay secret."

"Should you have told me then Harry?" asked Hagrid, "I know I ain't the best at keeping them secrets – "

"That's where I come in" said Dumbledore, "Harry wanted you to know the truth. He felt you had a right to know it. With your permission I would like to cast a charm on you that will prevent you from telling anyone about Harry although it won't stop you from talking to people who already know about this. It will also stop anyone from learning the secret by using legilimency. If your half-giant heritage ever causes the spell to fall I will know and will either recast it for you or have the X-Men's leader, who is a telepath, take care of things."

"All right" said Hagrid, "you can do it. Who all knows?"

"Besides myself" said Dumbledore, "Harry's friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger know."

"That don't surprise me" said Hagrid.

"Professor Lupin knows as does Sirius Black and Alastor Moody" said Dumbledore.

"There's one other person who also knows" said Lightning, "when I was wandering around the castle before the feast I met this girl named Luna Lovegood up on the seventh floor. She knew who I was. I don't know how she knew but she did. She even called me by my name."

"Ah Miss Lovegood" said Dumbledore with a knowing look, "such an interesting young woman. I do believe she is an emerging seer. This is by no means the first time she has known things she should have had no way of knowing. I will speak to her but I don't think you need to worry about her letting your secret slip."

"Somehow I don't think she will either" said Lightning, "and from some of what she said I got the impression that people wouldn't believe her even if she did."

"That's often the case with seers" said Dumbledore, "being able to see the future can be a heavy burden. Now Harry I think you should head back to the castle. I understand that your 'X-Jet' will be here shortly. I will finish with Hagrid and follow you back to see you off."

"I can give you a lift if you want" said Lightning.

"All right" said Dumbledore with a smile, "if you'll just wait outside I'll be out very soon."

"Good-bye Harry" said Hagrid giving him another hug, "thanks for telling me what you did. Don't be a stranger."

"I'll try not to be" said Lightning, "until next time Hagrid."

Lightning stepped outside of the hut and gazed up at Hogwarts castle in the distance for some moments. The sky was darkening and lights were beginning to appear in the castle windows.

"That's still a beautiful sight, isn't it?" said a voice at Lightning's elbow. He turned to see that Dumbledore had come out of the hut.

"It reminds me of the first time I came here" said Lightning, "it never gets old. I think I appreciate it more because I don't see it all the time anymore."

"The cliche is 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' is it not?'" said Dumbledore, "I know you won't be returning here as a student but you're always welcome to come visit any time you want."

"Thank you headmaster" said Lightning, "are you ready to fly?"

"Certainly" said Dumbledore with smile, "what should I do?"

"Just relax and let me do the work" said Lightning. He took off and when he was about ten feet in the air he reached down and telekinetically lifted the headmaster up into the air alongside him. As he did so it occurred to him that today was the first time he could ever remember using his telekinesis to take someone else flying with him. Of course when he did it earlier with Malfoy it was a rescue in the heat of battle. This time he was simply giving someone a lift so he decided to have a little fun.

"Welcome to X-Men Airlines" he said in an announcer's voice, "with non-stop service from Hagrid's hut to Hogwarts castle. My name is Lightning and I will be your pilot today. Please adjust your robes, tuck in your beards, hold onto your hats, and holster your wands. Estimated time of flight is under two minutes. Due to the shortness of the flight there will be no in-flight beverage service but we hope you will relax and enjoy your flight anyway. Thank you." He began flying back toward the castle at a somewhat leisurely pace. Dumbledore relaxed and let Lightning carry him.

"What an interesting experience" the headmaster said as they flew.

"I know" said Lightning, "coming in for a landing headmaster." He set the two of them down before the front steps. Some of the crowd had drifted outside and saw them arrive.

"Thank you for flying with X-Men Airlines today" he said, again in announcer mode, "we hope you enjoyed your flight. If Hogwarts is your final destination you may enter the castle through the front doors here. If you are continuing on to America please wait here for your connecting flight on the X-Jet. We appreciate your business and we look forward to having you onboard X-Men Airlines again in the future." There was some quiet laughter from some of the onlookers, primarily muggleborns who recognized the "airline spiel." Some of the other people looked puzzled and Lightning guessed they were purebloods with little experience in the mundane world. Some of them probably didn't even know what an airplane was.

"Thank you for the trip Lightning" said Dumbledore.

"My pleasure" said Lightning. A sound from the sky made everyone look up.

"I think our ride's here" said Lightning as he saw the X-Jet approaching Hogwarts. Attracted by the sound more people came out of the school to see what was happening. Many of the purebloods and some of the halfbloods really had never seen an airplane before and more than a few of them watched with open mouths as the big jet landed in front of the school. The most impressive thing about the landing (to those familiar with normal planes at least) was that the X-Jet didn't need a long runway to land. It had been custom modified a long time ago with V/STOL (vertical and/or short take-off and landing) technology. How exactly Professor Xavier had managed to arrange that was still a mystery to the X-Men and the professor wasn't telling. Nevertheless it meant that when needed the X-Jet could take-off and land going straight up and down. This was a good thing for the Hogwarts front lawn. It also had shielding against magic so there was no chance of it being disrupted by Hogwarts.

The other X-Men had joined Lightning and Dumbledore as the plane arrived. Once it came to a complete stop the main cabin door swung open and the staircase unfolded to the ground. Cyclops turned to Dumbledore.

"Well headmaster" said Cyclops, "it looks like this is where we part company."

"Yes" said Dumbledore, "again we cannot thank you enough for your help today."

"No problem" said Cyclops as the two of them shook hands, "if you ever need us again let us know."

"I will" said the headmaster, "and as I said at the feast you may all visit Hogwarts whenever you wish. Milly!" With a pop a house elf appeared next to the headmaster.

"Headmaster calls for Milly?" she squeaked.

"Yes" said Dumbledore, "is it ready?"

"Yes headmaster." Milly snapped her fingers and a largish box appeared in her hands which she gave to Dumbledore.

"Lightning" Dumbledore said to the youngest X-Man as he handed him the box, "a little going away gift for you and the team. I hope you all enjoy it."

"Thank you headmaster" said Lightning. He and Dumbledore also shook hands followed by the rest of the X-Men. Then, one by one, they headed up the staircase and into the jet. Lightning was last. At the top of the stairs he turned and gave everyone a last wave which many in the crowd enthusiastically returned. It had been good to come back to Hogwarts but now he was ready to return to America. After a last look he turned and went into the X-Jet. The stairs folded back up and the door closed. Shortly afterwards the plane noisily took off going straight up until it was high enough to clear Hogwarts without risk. Then it turned and flew rapidly west. It was soon out of sight and the crowd began to drift back inside.

On board the X-Jet the six teammates were all sitting around the dining table.

"What did the headmaster give you?" Iceman asked Lightning who had placed Dumbledore's gift on the table in front of him.

"I don't know" said Lightning. He opened the box, looked inside, and laughed as he brought out an uncut treacle tart along with some plates, forks, a knife, and some napkins.

"Dumbledore thinks of everything" said Lightning, "who wants a piece?" All of the X-Men decided to have some and Lightning cut it up into seven pieces, serving six to himself and his teammates and putting the seventh away to give to Professor Xavier later. With that the six teammates enjoyed an extra dessert as the X-Jet flew them home.

(To Be Concluded)

A/N - That's it for now. If anyone thinks I made the magical government too accepting of the X-Men well this is meant to be a fairly light-hearted story (at least part 1 is, it will most likely get darker later) and Fudge, being the politician that he is, would want to look as good as he could here. Also I wanted to put Umbridge in a situation where, no matter how much she hates what's happening, she has to keep her mouth shut and be as pleasant as she can.

Next week part 1 will be ending. It will include some teasers of the future as well as the name of who Harry will be paired with in part 2. It's becoming increasingly apparent to me that this story will be a trilogy rather than a 2 part one and that will be reflected in the future hints.

Please take a moment now to leave me some feedback. Constructive comments are always welcome but no flames or trolls please. As always, thanks for reading and stay safe and well. Cheers!