Harry flinched as the light increased once again. The stone became white-hot. He dropped it with a hiss, shaking his hand. The pain didn't abate, only became stronger. What the fuck was this thing? Still shaking his hand, Harry looked down at the floor where the not so innocent looking stone was sitting in a haze of smoke. Wait. It wasn't sitting there. It was quite happily burning through the carpet and beginning work on the floor. His eyes widened.

He quickly scooped the strange burning stone up. The blistering pain started up right away. Harry grit his teeth and wandlessly summoned his dragonhide gloves from his wardrobe. They flew over and he shoved them on. The relief was instantaneous. His hands still had hot coals dancing a tango across them but there was now a barrier that was going to stay in place until he figured out just what in Merlin's name was going on.

The stone, now that it wasn't intent on searing a hole through his hands, held a familiar energy. It was still the Resurrection Stone...just different. The energy inside and around it, from what he could feel, was more wild, more powerful. There was something about it that intoxicating orange glow he knew would make other people lose his mind. He wasn't quite sure how he knew. The stone was...almost sentient. There was something endless about it. Like he was looking down into an endless abyss that only he could see. Disconcerting was certainly the right word for it, along with comfort.

The feeling it gave off was in the same vein as the Sceptre. Wait. This new version of the Resurrection Stone could help in the experiments with the Sceptre. There was no reason for him to wait now. He had to tell the team about his invulnerability to it, as well as how he is willing to be a test subject. Tony and Bruce would be able to figure something out, something big, something that would help them in the fight.

Harry made duplicate copies of the dragonhide gloves that wouldn't disappear into nothing in the next two days (he would get more actual pairs within the next day, it was only a quick portkey to Diagon Alley). He didn't want the others to get burnt as he did. They didn't heal as quick as he did, though it did seem to be slowed down by the power the stone possessed. As he was doing that, he bustled past the wardrobe, catching a glance of his reflection in a mirror. He frowned. He really should update his look; it had been pretty much the same for the last ten years. Even Natasha changed hers fairly often, though her job did entail changing her appearance to fit into places.

Harry shook his head. The last thing he needed to be thinking about right now was changing his look. That would come later. The gloves, and the stone which was humming happily in his palm were what he needed to focus on right now. The copies of the gloves were tucked into his pockets, the Elder Wand in his holster.

Well, there was no time to lose.

He turned on his heel, disappearing with a crack. Not even a second later, he appeared in the living room. Steve, who was lounging on the couch, lazily sketching the New York Skyline, jumped. Harry gave him an apologetic look before asking:

"JARVIS, can you get everyone to come up here, please? It's quite urgent."

"Of course, Mr Potter." Harry was so focussed he didn't even try to get JARVIS to call him Harry. "They will be up within the minute."

"Thanks."

Steve flipped the sketchbook shut, zipping the pencil back into his little pencil case. "Couldn't you have walked."

"Not enough time."

"What's got you in such a tizzy?"

"Look at this." Harry held out his gloved hands, showing Steve the stone. "Don't touch, it burns," he added when Steve reached out. "There's a reason I'm wearing gloves."

"What is that?"

"It used to be the Resurrection Stone. Something happened in London to awaken it, though. I don't know what it is, but it shares similar energy to the Sceptre and the Tesseract. It may be of similar origin."

"Where did it come from?"

"It was inside the Resurrection Stone." Harry sighed. "I'll explain it when the others get here. That way I don't have to do it twice."

"Mr Potter, it seems that Mr Stark and Dr Banner have experienced a slight hiccup. They will be around five minutes."

"That's okay," said Harry. The stone wasn't burning through his gloves. Five minutes couldn't matter? Now that he was here, there wasn't such a large rush. In the scheme of things, that short of a time period wouldn't matter.

"Harry, I have something to show you, while it's just us two. And while Nat isn't here."

"Oh?"

"Do you remember that photo I snapped of you and her?"

"How could I forget?"

"I, uh...here, let me just show you." He grabbed his sketchbook and leafed through the pages until he found what he was looking for. "Here."

Harry looked down and a smile instantly took over his face. It was a gentle smile, fond. The page that Steve was showing him was a pencil sketch of him and Natasha. Her head rested on his shoulder, his arm around hers. They both looked relaxed, at peace. In the picture, he wore the same smile he did now. It was just after he placed Loki's helmet in the trophy case, after his conversation with her.

"That...that's wonderful." Harry didn't quite know what to say. "Thank you."

"I figured you may want something to remember that moment by. I'll also give you the photo, a bit later, when you're not holding what could possibly be another sceptre situation."

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

Steve shut the sketchbook, placing it down on the coffee table. He looked immensely proud of himself. These thoughts were cut off by the elevator door dinging open. Harry turned around, laughter bubbling up in his throat at the sight that greeted him.

Tony tumbled out of the elevator, hair sticking up in all directions. It was worse than his old hair, not that it was much better now. His face bore evidence of a particularly sooty explosion. Behind him, Bruce carried the same sooty face. He managed to look far more dignified, calmly strolling out of the elevator and to the couch. An indignantly spluttering Tony hauled himself to the floor and rolled over the back of the couch.

As was normal.

"We're here, as requested. What is so urgent that you needed us here immediately?" asked Tony, still righting himself. "We were in the middle of something."

"I assure you, this is infinitely more important."

"How?"

"I think it may have something to do with the Sceptre and Tesseract. A similar power source, though it feels far more powerful. Here, look." He thrust his right hand forward, digging through his left pocket for the gloves. He grabbed the three pairs (Clint was also away on a mission, the same as Natasha) and chucked them around. "Put those on, then you'll be able to handle it. The last thing I want is you guys getting burned."

"That thing feels wrong," said Bruce as he pulled the gloves on. "All...dead"

"That is something we can agree on for once," said Tony, throwing Bruce a rather venomous glare. What on Earth happened down in the workshop. Better not to ask.

"That's because it's one of the Deathly Hallows. Or it was until it did whatever it just did." Harry was met with blank stares. "Okay, all you need to know is that they're ancient artefacts from my world, apparently created by Death, and I have all three. Yes, Tony, I will give you a more in-depth explanation later." Tony nodded in satisfaction.

"So, what, you want us to look into it."

"Yes, that would be ideal." Harry bit his lip. "And one more thing."

"What's that?" asked Bruce.

"I think that I may be immune to the effects of the Sceptre and I would like you to run some tests on me to see if we can develop the immunity into something to use against possible future enemies? Or a defensive thing? I don't know."

Tony took a deep breath, steepling his fingers. "So what you're telling me is that you may have an immunity to the sceptre."

"Yes?" Harry answered, not quite sure where this was going.

"That you've known about for six months."

"Ah." So that was where it was going.

"And you didn't think that you should tell us sooner?"

"The moment didn't seem right?" Even to his own ears, he sounded lame.

"Give me the fucking stone. I'll get the sceptre back from SHIELD." Tony held his hand out. Harry was suddenly reluctant to part with the stone. There was something pulling it to him. He forced himself to hand it over, dropping it into Tony's palm. He cringed the second it left his possession. "I'll admit, this could be good, very good, in fact. That doesn't excuse your absolute stupidity."

"Woah, Tony, calm down," said Steve, raising his hands in a placating gesture.

"No, I won't. I'm amped up and frustrated. Now let me steal your son and interrogate him about everything."

Harry shivered. Maybe this was the wrong decision. Tony was scary when he put his mind to something. He still allowed himself to be pulled along, not too soon to hear Bruce whisper, "I'm sorry."

Fuck.

Three days later, Harry was sitting in the lounge, happily perusing the book on Animagi he picked up from Ron and Hermione. He was on an absolute high. Once Tony managed to get over his frustration at Harry, he turned into an absolute whirlwind. The interrogation wasn't that bad, more of a flurry of questions that he was easily able to answer. Tony even made him consider some things he'd never thought about the before. It was really quite fascinating.

That irresistible pull to the Stone seemed to have lessened a significant amount, even though it was definitely still present. Harry was quite comfortable leaving it in the very capable hands of Tony and Bruce, even if he did go down several times a day to check on the two scientists. So engrossed in their project were they that they didn't even notice him peeking in the door.

He turned his mind back to the book. It was nearly finished. The thought of becoming an Animagus was a tempting one. It could give him more abilities that couldn't be found when he was human. If he could turn into an animal to escape confines or surprise the enemy, that would be a great help. In the upcoming fight, Harry would take every ability he could.

He wasn't going to kid himself. Hiding under a rock wasn't his style. Harry knew that there was a bigger enemy out there. His voice echoed around Harry's head, still occasionally infiltrated his dreams. One day, the owner of the voice was going to attack, and Harry was going to be ready for that day. The Avengers were also informed of this and were preparing accordingly. Soon Natasha and Clint would return from their respective missions. He would tell them the second they returned. The time for downtime was over; they had a war to prepare for, whether it be in two weeks or two years.

They would be ready for it whenever or wherever it came.

He finished the last page, slamming the book shut. Becoming an Animagus would be an excellent idea, Harry decided. Even if he never needed to use the ability in battle, it would be excellent to have it as a backup.

The only problem was how long it took to become an Animagus. By far the most tedious part would be keeping a mandrake leaf for a month. Making the potion and drinking it during a lightning storm would be a breeze. He was slightly more than adequate at making potions now, and Thor had a visit scheduled for a month and a half, to come and visit his friends as well as spend some time with Jane. Harry didn't think Thor would mind creating a lightning storm for him to transform in. If anything he would be eager to help a friend, knowing his caring nature. Hopefully.

"Hey, Steve," Harry called. Steve looked up from the other side of the lounge. "I won't really be able to talk for the next month. More like mumbles and very garbled words. I'm starting to tomorrow."

"Okay?" His eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah, I'm doing the animagus transformation. I have to keep a leaf in my mouth for a month and don't want to swallow it."

"That is...interesting. I presume that it lets you transform into an animal?"

"Yeah, got it in one."

"Just wizards?"

"Sorry."

"Ah, that's alright. It was a nice idea to entertain, though."

Harry smirked. "If you want, I could turn you into an animal."

Steve paled. "I do not want a repeat of the Natasha goose situation." Harry sniggered. "I'm fine, thank you."

"Your loss. Oh, and one more thing." He got up, ready to go and get the leaf from the apothecary it New York's version of Diagon Alley, the great underground cavern full of so many colours it almost blinded him. "Please keep this from Tony for as long as possible. I don't fancy his interrogations again. It was fine, but two within four days is far too many."

"Will do." Steve gave a thumbs up.

"Thanks."

The leaf was bitter.

After ten days of having it in his mouth, Harry came to the conclusion that it was the worst thing he had ever tasted. Well, maybe not the absolute worst. It was certainly the most intrusive, though. It left a constant aftertaste in his mouth. Every meal he ate was tainted.

And that was nothing on how frustrating it was to keep the damn leaf in his mouth. If he could, Harry would use a sticking charm on it. Unfortunately, the magic would interfere.

Damn leaf.

His brooding was interrupted by a very familiar black and red blob at the edge of his vision. He twisted around, lolling over the back of the couch. An upside-down Natasha, looking as good as she ever did, stepped out of the elevator. Harry stood, making his way over to her.

"Welcome back," he said. Cotton balls may as well have been stuffed inside his cheeks for how garbled his speech was. Damn leaf.

"You're sounding rather stuffed."

"Yup."

"What have you done this time."

Tony appeared around the corner, grinning madly. "He's got a leaf in his mouth and is using it to turn into an animal. No idea how it works, but I will find out."

"Mmmhmm."

"I will, Potter. Mark my words." He slinked back around the corner, leaving a very confused Natasha and a frustrated Harry.

"How long has he been like that?"

"Days." Harry felt the leaf tickling the back of his tongue and wrestled back into place, between his cheek and teeth.

"Oh dear."

"Yup. How was your mission?"

"Painfully easy." She flopped back onto the couch. "They didn't suspect a thing."

If Harry heard correctly, she was almost complaining. Only Natasha. It was good to have her back.

The next month passed in a strange fashion. Eventually, Harry managed to get the leaf out. The no talking thing was extremely annoying. To finally be able to gabble all he wanted was a relief, and he wouldn't shut up for days. The potion was complete, Thor was arriving later that afternoon, and Tony was nearly finished with the experiments.

At last, they were all standing in a room. Well, Harry was in the middle while the rest of the Avengers were standing behind the glass. Tony eagerly waited to record everything, willing Harry to begin. The storm was raging outside, courtesy of Thor ("It would be my pleasure, son of Steve.") and Harry held the vial in one hand, his wand in the other.

"Okay, here goes nothing," he muttered. He downed the foul-tasting potion and muttered the incantation, placing his wand directly over his heart.

There was an immediate change.

Lightning crackled across his skin. It didn't hurt, merely tickled. Then his vision blacked out, leaving him to see nothing.

When it came back, Harry was closer to the ground than before. He looked up at the glass, which was slightly reflective, and almost fell over in shock.

Staring back at him was a great golden bird with three pairs of wings, lightning crackling across his feathers. He recognised his new form immediately.

A thunderbird.

Oh, this was going to be good.

Okay, I know this was short, but I needed to get something out before my brain exploded. Exams are driving me up the wall. Next chapter will be going more in-depth to the animagus transformation, the mind stone, and preparations for something that I'm not disclosing yet, hehe. I am very tired. I burnt myself out after the last chapter.

Next chapter will be out on Sunday at 11 pm. It will be a lot longer. Around 5-6k, I think. It needs to be, for me to get in what I want to get in.

Okay, talk to you soon. BY THE WAY, I GOT A NEW COVER IMAGE AND IT IS GLORIOUS. HARRY's APPEARANCE WILL BECOME THE SAME NEXT CHAPTER. I really need to sleep BAI

Sincerely,
Mariadoria