Chapter 1

It was painful. All I wanted was to be a hero who saves people with a smile on my face. A hero like All Might. But my dreams had been crushed a year ago, when that doctor had said it with blunt finality: "It isn't happening kid."

In the year since, my life has been... difficult? No it's been awful! And my current position is just the latest example.

I was lying on my back in the park ground, roughed up and bruised from the explosion powered 'playful' beating my best friend had delivered not five minutes before. He isn't a bad guy, just... I don't know how to describe him, but he's going to be a great hero, and far be it from me to take that away from him.

All men are not created equal, that's the lesson here, some people just have more than others. It's neither good nor bad, it's just a fact of life.

But that's no reason to stop being good. All Might never did so why should I? I craned my head up to look around. The summer sun was starting to go down, I should get home before mum has a panic attack. I levered myself up and onto my feet, brushing the last specs of dirt from my All Might hoodie and wiping the dried tears from my face, readying myself for another trek home.

I'm sure mum is worried about me; she always asks if I'm okay when I come home, I think she wants me to talk about the beatdowns. Talk about why I keep coming home with track marks on my skin.

"Child..." That snapped me out of my thoughts. It was weird, not like being snapped out of a daydream, but more intense. I felt a sudden tingling sensation, like when you wake up having slept on your arm, only this time, the sensation was all over my body. It was that, combined with a feeling of goose-bumps.

I looked around, having consigned myself to the walk without really paying attention to my surroundings before hearing that voice. This was one of the safest parts of Japan, with many heroes patrolling so children like me could wander without fear. But something shifted in me when I heard that voice, like some kind of presence had wormed its way into me.

The voice was simultaneously melodic and raspy, like two people speaking at once, or one person putting on two different voices. It was unsettling. I felt it down in my gut, if not in my head. It didn't take long for me to spot where the voice came from, there was only one other person in this park – something I would only realise later was strange. How were we so alone? Even at this time of day?

She was a tall, slender woman. At least I assumed she was a woman from the timbre of her voice. I could barely make her out from beneath the dark robes she was wearing. But beyond the heavy clothes in summer time, there was something 'off' about her. When I looked at her I got a tingling sensation behind my eyes and in the tips of my fingers, not unlike the one I felt when she spoke earlier.

"Child..." she spoke again, only this time her voice was smoother, softer, like when my mum spoke to me while hugging me. It felt like the woman's voice was thrown out to me rather than coming from her at a distance. "Come to me..."

It was soothing, encouraging – exactly like my mother's. It promised me that everything would be fine and that I no longer had any worries in the world: I was beguiled. I started off slowly, but eventually I was walking with purpose, straight towards the robed woman. As I was walking, I had a question wandering idly in the back of my mind: why am I speaking to a stranger? why do I feel so relaxed? What is THAT!?

That final thought came purposefully and clearly when I final caught sight of her eyes, yellow with vertical pupils, like a cat. They glowed with a confident certainty, one that conveyed a sense of... wrongness. Do heroes feel like this when they stare down villains?

I should turn and run! I needed to get away from her! But I couldn't seem to look away, those eyes, those predatory, hungry eyes were boring into my soul, trapping me in her inviting, melodic embrace. So naturally I panicked, struggled, screamed in my head desperately attempting to get away. I cried out for help, for All Might...

"Hey, Garfield!" came another voice. "let the boy go." This one was different, completely unlike the thing that had ensnared me. It was a man's voice, it was punctuated by hesitation, as if Japanese wasn't his first language. In spite of that it sounded confident, like All Might's every time he'd heard the man speak.

It wasn't just me who heard the voice. The woman's eyes broke contact with me and looked up to see something behind me. I tried to turn my head but whatever quirk this woman had still gripped me to my core.

"And who are you, mortal?" this time the voice came out as something less than pleasant, quietly threatening and cold. And what did she mean by 'mortal'? Did she have some kind of life extension? Why did she speak like she was talking down to some animal?

"Wow, I haven't heard that one in a while. You must be new to the game, if you don't recognise me." the man spoke as I heard his footsteps, walking towards me. I couldn't understand what he was saying since he was speaking English but he seemed to have a confidence in his voice that reminded me of All Might, I was going to be safe!

He switched back to Japanese, just to introduce himself. "My name is Harry Dresden." When he spoke, the villains eyes widened and a barely audible gasp escaped her. Now she seemed to be on edge, like she was suddenly questioning her whole existence.

Harry stepped forward with a slow, deliberate pace and that's how I got my first look at him. He was tall for someone without a mutation quirk, and he was wearing a long duster coat. In his left hand he carried a staff, as long as he was tall.

I didn't get a good look at his face, since all of my attention was still captured by the villain in front of me. "Don't worry kid, I'll get you out of this."

That made the woman flinch and I felt her grip, or whatever it was loosen. I fell back, now looking around preparing to bolt. I desperately needed to distance myself from the fight between this hero and villain. I tried to recall the name ' Harry Dresden' from my hero research (or what I called research at that time – I was a kid, shut up!). It was clearly in English, which I hadn't learned yet: 'Harry Dresden' what could his quirk be?

"I'm giving you one chance. Forget you saw the boy and you get to return to the Nevernever without chunks blown out of you." I heard Harry say as he positioned himself between me and the woman. Somehow I understood all but the word in English: Nevernever? What was that?

"I found him! He is mine!" this time the woman spoke with desperation, not melodic like it had been before.

"No you don't. You, and the rest of the Fae have no right to any mortal, least of all a child. Especially if he hasn't struck a deal with you." Harry's voice had grown cold, with a quiet threat of violence. "Not even my boss does that. And I mean honestly, what could you possibly want him for?"

She ignored the question and tried to circle around him in an attempt to get me back in her sights so she could do that thing to me again.

"What's to stop me from revealing the boy to the whole world?" Again, it sounded like the woman was desperate and angling for some way to get at me. I was now very confused: what possible use could I have? I'm just some quirkless boy.

"Are you going to? Garfield?" Harry asked. While he spoke, he pulled another shorter staff from the arm of his coat. It was about as long as his forearm and was carved with characters I didn't recognise. I only caught a glimpse of it before he pointed it at the woman. This would have to go into my hero analysis when I got home, I thought as I desperately scrambled away in a backwards crabwalk.

"Of course! You cannot protect him foreve-" as she was speaking she was cut off by Harry.

"Pyro Fuego!" he thrust it forward and four baseball sized lights leapt from the tip of the shorter staff and launched themselves at the woman, each taking an irregular arc, moving to surround her in a pyramid pattern.

She evaded the initial barrage dodging to her left and raised her left hand, conjouring up a kind of green lightning. What was her quirk? She was able to put me into some kind of mental lock but also summon lightning, what? How? I'm so confused. But I couldn't look away, mesmerised by the display of power.

She was about to launch her lightning at Harry with a triumphant shout, only to be cut off as the four balls of light elongated themselves and lashed towards her. They were so intense I could feel the heat from where I was and it felt as though I was going to get a sunburn if I didn't look away.

The points of the pyramid became strings of burning heat that launched from their stationary position and carved into her body! INTO her body! That could kill her!

And like that, it was over. Before I could cry out to stop him, Harry's attack had ripped her apart and charred the remains into burnt ash. The whole exchange had taken less than five seconds. Harry had barely moved beyond bringing his shorter rod to bare.

I just kept staring at the burnt body and the glaze sand that used to be the park ground where she stood. What just happened? Heroes don't kill! I was cut off from my musings as the burnt flesh started to fall apart, not into piles of ash but some kind of clear liquid. What, "what's happening?"

Harry by now had put his shorter rod away and turned to me. "she's melting. In a few minutes it'll be like she was never here." he walked up to me and I flinched away. "It's okay kid, I'm not gonna hurt you."

"But you killed her!" I blurted out, did this guy really think I was stupid? That I would just listen to him after he killed someone? Even if they were a villain, this guy isn't a hero.

"Yes, but she wasn't a person." he said as he crouched down to my level. "She was a creature of fairy, a predator. Look it's difficult to explain quickly. Instead, let's get you home so I can explain everything."

"How do I know you won't hurt me or Mama?" I asked, well there was a lot more stuttering involved but he understood me.

"If I wanted to hurt you, do you really think I couldn't?" he asked. And he had a point, why not just nab me and hurt me in some alley? I looked around and there were still no heroes around so he could very easily do it.

"But I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is Harry Dresden, Wizard." Wizard? Like in those old movies... Harry Potter? I took the hand he offered out to me after introducing himself and he pulled us both up. I almost missed him talking to himself under his breath, "god that sounded lame, I swear I never talked like that when I was younger." it was in English, so I didn't really understand.

"You mean your quirk is called wizard?" I asked.

"Nah, I was a Wizard before quirks were cool."

What?

"I've been a wizard since before the first quirks appeared." he said while smiling at me. "I remember the news quite vividly, and all the chaos that followed."

Had I answered him aloud before?

This is so confusing. I shook my head and then remembered I hadn't introduced myself. "My name is Izuku Midoriya." for some reason he winced and looked around when I said my name. Then he turned back to me with that smile, that old, weathered smile and spoke again.

"Lead the way Midoriya." and that's what I did.

It wasn't far to walk to my home, but we had enough time to talk a little. Mostly about me that is. He'd asked me about my family, friends and quirk. He made no judgements, but I could see him quietly assessing me, like one of those psychologists. This wasn't the only thing I think he was doing.

When we got the elevator in my apartment building I felt a tingling sensation. It was the same as the one before, when I was in the gaze of that... what had Harry called it? A fae? Creature of fairy? Like those short, winged creatures in western myth? Regardless the feeling was the same and somehow I knew he was watching me, maybe with some kind of scanning ability?

"What are you doing?" I asked him without turning. As I spoke the elevator doors opened and I stepped in, accompanied the tall figure of Harry Dresden.

"You felt that?" he asked, before raising his hand and waving it in a clear indication not to answer, "not important, don't answer that. As to what I was doing, I was looking at you through my Wizard Sight."

"What's that?" I asked, mentally taking notes to be put in my new entry of journals, annoyingly he'd switched to English again for the name.

"It's one of a Wizards many abilities, you could also call it the 'third eye'. Basically, it lets me see the world as it truly is." he paused as we stepped out of the elevator on my floor. "At least that's one way to describe it, we wizards have had the sight for ages and we still don't know how or why it works."

"So, it's like enhanced vision?"

"You could say that, but there's also more to it. I may have poorly explained it at first, I have a poorer grasp of Japanese than I'd like." It was an error in translation then. That sounded right since he seemed to like sticking to the same words and phrases. "Don't worry about it right now, I'm learning fast, considering a month ago I knew absolutely no Japanese."

Now that, I found interesting, do wizards have some enhanced ability to learn things? I never got to ask before we arrived at the door. Harry blinked and looked at it, then looked up and down the hall that made up this floor.

"Why is this the only door on this floor?" He asked. And it was a good question, most people were surprised when a housing building like this had what appeared to be a spare floor. But there was a good explanation for it.

"My dad owns the building, and my Mum acts as landlady." it was one of those things that my Dad did to make up for the fact that he was always working abroad. He made sure that we never wanted for anything. I was not bitter; he came back every few months and made a point of spending time with me.

"She must have a lot of time to spend with you then.?" Harry asked. And he was right, she did. She's been the greatest part of my life, and the one reason I haven't broken down from not having a quirk.

"Yeah, she does." I answered with a smile. I reached out and opened the door. "I'm home mum!" I called out to her.

"Welcome home Izuku!" she called back to me as she stepped out into the landing, only to stop when she saw Harry standing behind me.

"Hello, Mrs Midoriya, my name is Harry Dresden. I walked your son home after he was attacked by a villain." technically a lie but I think I understood where he was coming from, why complicate it with a confusing explanation when a sort-of truth was enough?

Of course, when he mentioned a villain attack my mum panicked. As she does. I don't mind really; I know it means she loves me. "Are you okay Izuku!" and that was just the first thing!

She fawned over me for a full minute before remembering that Harry was there. "I don't think I recognise you... Harry Dresden." it sounded weird, after all English wasn't either of our first languages and foreigners are generally viewed with suspicion in Japan.

"That's okay ma'am, I'm not from around here." Harry told her with a placating gesture.

"Well thank you for making sure my baby boy is safe." She smiled at him, then down at me, all the while I tried to stop blushing at the overdone signs of affection. "Can I offer you some tea?"

Harry hesitated for a second before answering, "Actually, I would like to speak to you and Izuku both. It concerns... villains like the one I fought earlier and your son in particular."

"Of course! Please come in." He flinches at that invitation, just like when I gave Dresden my name earlier. What was that about?

"Thanks Mrs. Midoriya." he smiles and follows me through the door. As we walked down the landing he took in the surroundings as though he was expecting something.

Before long, we were seated around the table, I had a juice in front of me as well as my notebook. I was recording everything I remembered from our conversation on the way here from the park. Harry was a hero after all so he was due a place in my hero notes currently up to volume 3.

"What did you want to discuss, Mister Dresden?" mum asked. I had a pretty good idea what this would all be about, the teachers had told us about heroes making house calls when they saved a kid out on their own. But Harry wasn't a normal hero, who knew why he was here.

"It was about the creature that attacked your child. And those like it." Harry started, then he paused and wiped the bottom of his face, as if trying to come up with the words. "What I'm about to tell you may be difficult to take in, so I'd ask you to keep an open mind and wait until I'm done to ask me questions."

Mum frowned for a moment before taking a sip of her tea and responding, "Okaaay."

"The thing that attacked Izuku, it wasn't human." that didn't catch me as off guard as it did the first time, but it was still strange to hear. "I don't mean it was an animal with a quirk either."

That gave my mother pause, but Harry just kept talking, "It was a fae, or fairy if you're feeling impolite. A predator from another realm. This one in particular was drawn to the massive beacon of power your son is giving off."

I stopped scribbling down notes and stared at him. "what are you talking about, Mr. Dresden." now my mother was sounding serious, a no-nonsense response was expected here. Add to that the frown on her face I was sure I'd never seen.

"There is a lot more to the world than Heroes, Villains and quirks. There is an unseen side which can be traced to a time long before quirks. I and your son's attacker are both products of that unseen side. I am a Wizard, one of the wise, a hero from before the age of quirks." now that was a bomb shell, granted one I'd already heard earlier.

"Let's say I believe you, why are you here?" Mum asked him.

"For a similar reason as that predator. I was made aware of an enormous well of magical power." he turned to look at me and spoke again, "You have a gift, Izuku, or at least have the raw makings of one."

There was a silence that stretch just long enough to get uncomfortable, then he kept talking. "You felt me watching you when we were on our way here remember?"

I paused, "Yes... it was a tingling sensation, all along the side of my body facing you."

"That would be your natural ability for magic coming to the surface. I looked at you with my third eye and what I saw was genuinely incredible."

Then mum decided to re-join the conversation, "Why are you here Dresden-san?"

"Your son is the first mortal with any talent to be born since the age of quirks began. His magical presence, metaphysical might if you will, it's something else, like nothing I've ever seen from a mortal, or even some minor deities." he spoke as if he'd actually met a 'minor deity'.

He straightened up. "I also noticed that your son's aura has flecks of darkness within it, like someone's taken a knife to his soul. Did something happen within the last year or so that gave you a lot of grief Izuku?"

Year or so? There's only one thing fitting that "It was about a year ago that I found out I was quirkless, that my dream of being a hero couldn't happen." Even I could feel the depression in my own voice.

"Izuku's never been the same since." Mum spoke softly, rubbing my shoulder and back all the while.

"That would certainly do it with a soul as bright as his... which leads back to your question. I am here to teach your son how to use his power." Harry explained. Though it didn't click until a few seconds later.

"You mean, magic?" I asked, a surge of... something going through me.

"If you want to that is, otherwise I'll just tell you the seven laws of magic and then leave you to your own devices. Maybe check in every year or so." Harry explained.

"Izuku?" It was my mum, she was looking at me with worry.

"I can be a hero mum! I don't need a quirk I can use magic!" I said hurriedly, not even stopping for breath. "I saw what he was able to do! I can use it to save people like All Might!"

Mum just sighed and then turned to Harry with that same hard look, "You aren't just giving my son false hope, are you? I don't want his hopes to be raised, only to crushed again like last year. He could not take that.

He shook his head, "I promise Mrs. Midoriya, I will teach him to use his power and the principle behind it. I only know what he has told me and what I've seen, but I believe your son can live his dream."

Mum let out a sigh of relief as if something had been lifted from her shoulders, "Then, train my boy, but no harm must ever come to him under your watch Mr Dresden!"

"Understood ma'am." he saluted like he was in the army and replied quickly. Then he turned to me, "But at the end of the day it's your decision kiddo, do you want to learn to be a wizard?"

I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my face, the nightmare was over! I could do it; I could be a hero! "When do we start?"

"What's your schedule like?" he asked with a smile at my child like excitement.

... Hi? Is anyone still paying attention to this profile?

Had this idea since around September Last year when I first discovered the Dresden Files. If you haven't heard of it, go listen to it on a certain audiobook website.

Will move to the Xover section if necessary.