A/N – This is mostly new stuff chapter as Asgard gets a lot more attention and it will get stretched out into more chapters. Also some more events or plots will be started or put into motion. I know that rewrites aren't liked, but when I got into certain chapters of the previous version I was slamming my head into a wall every few paragraphs and I wanted to avoid writing thing that I didn't like writing.
o-0-o
Wanda poured herself a goblet full of wine, sipped some and finally looked at Thor, they were sitting in a small, private sitting room of Thor's chambers, which could be described as humongous and overflowing in riches. They were also joined as Jane as even if they didn't admit it, they were in love. "You know that Harry is a mutant?"
"Yes" Thor nodded "I didn't mention it to him as he needs some normality in his life and until it shows up, I'm not going to tell him about it. He is getting used to the fact that he is one of us and I don't want to tell him that he is different before I need to."
She emptied her goblet, enjoying a bit of a sour taste the wine had and looked outside the window, it was coming towards the massive gardens spread behind the Citadel. "I don't want to tell you what to do." She finally said "He is your son, but if I were you I would consider sending him to Xavier's as it is a place where he will have an opportunity to develop his powers as a mutant and it will get him used to being in Earth."
"You know that she is right?" Jane asked as she looked at Thor. "I know Hank McCoy who is one of teachers there and he always said good things about the place. Also if there is a single place on Earth where he can be truly himself, its there."
"Also Warren Worthington II is going to send his son, Warren Worthington III there, sooner rather than later and they are cousins." Wanda added with a smile "So it will be a good opportunity for him to meet and get to know his cousin, also it will allow me an easier access to him as I will have more legitimate reasons to be there."
"Did you set it up?" Thor asked as he looked at them.
"No" Wanda chuckled "It's just that some things are obvious and this is one of those cases, so I fear that you will need to agree to it."
Thor nodded and looked at her "That's the future, there is also a matter of Harry's godfather-"
"Who is sentenced for a thing that he didn't commit and as a scapegoat he was shipped to Azkaban prison for a life sentence." She finished with disgust
"Azkaban?" Jane frowned
"The worst prison known to wizards." Thor explained "Hell, even some of our worst prisons look better than it does. Nobody escaped it since it was created and guards of it are unpleasant."
"They can suck soul out of your body." Wanda added "Also they are empaths and make everybody around them feel hopeless and weak, as well as turn most of them mad in few weeks or months."
"There's that." Thor nodded and looked at Wanda "I was thinking about doing it in a couple of days, I planned on speaking with Tony and asking Avengers to join me on trip to Azkaban."
"You can count on me." She said "I never particularly liked that place and Sirius was a nice person, also he is Harry's godfather."
"Wait a minute." Jane said and they looked at her "For what did he get shipped to Azkaban?"
"Official or true reason?" Thor asked
"True."
"For being a rash and stupid person, also the Ministry was looking for a scapegoat and he was in a wrong place at the wrong time." Thor explained "Official reason is for murder of I believe it was thirteen non-magicals and Peter Pettigrew-"
"Who was the one that did the thing." Wanda added and looked at Thor "During that time you were in coma, but it was obvious to anybody that could think, that Pettigrew was the one that did it."
"Than why this Sirius was the one to be sentenced?" Jane asked, anger and something else visible in her voice.
"Because the Ministry didn't want to see a reason and they just arrested the first person to get their hands on." Thor said and shook his head "They are a bunch of idiots that think only about their precious backsides and nothing else."
"They also care about cash." Wanda added and poured herself more wine "If I'm right about the ones that are now in power, it won't be wise for me to show up in the UK for some time."
"Because of what?" Jane asked "You said that you are an Apprentice of the Sorcerer Supreme, right?"
"I'm." Wanda nodded and sighed "But for wizards that worse than being a squib, that is one born into a magical family without magic, Strange isn't from a wizarding family and it irks them that he is the most powerful user of magic on Earth."
"It won't change, will it?" Thor sighed and looked at her "They shouldn't see you being with us, as Tony and I will get most of their attention."
"It's not that I have a lot of reasons to be in the UK." She shrugged off "It's more of an inconvenience than anything, I will stay out of it for a year or two and they will forget about me."
"Okay." Thor nodded "If you don't mind it, we can go later today."
"I don't mind it." Wanda smiled, on her face an impish smile, one that didn't bode too well.
Thor shuddered and she chuckled lightly. "Can you don't do it?" He asked after a moment.
"I like it too much, get used to it." She said and finished her wine "If that is settled I will go and get prepared."
Thor nodded and as she walked to the room she was given, she thought about what she knew about Azkaban and dementors, getting inside wasn't going to be easy. No, she corrected herself, getting inside would be easy, but tricky.
o-0-o
Dumbledore looked around the staff room in Hogwarts and finally his gaze landed at the rest of the teaching body. "Asgard seemed weirdly open and kind, many would say generous." He said and looked at the Professors gathered in the room.
"Considering that they are celebrating the fact that there is another Prince, I'm not surprised." McGonagall said as she looked at Dumbledore. "Especially one in the direct line of succession and son of Thor, who is loved by them and you could feel that."
"And pray tell me why we should bother about Asgard?" Snape drawled, his face pulled into a usual sneer.
"Because mother of that Prince was a human." Dumbledore said and added with a smile "One rather familiar to you."
"Who?"
"Lily Evans or more properly Potter." McGonagall said and Snape paled. "Yes, the same one." She added after a moment and he paled even more.
"How?" Flitwick asked as he got over his shock, his eyes glowing with curiosity and intellect hidden behind them.
"James was Thor in disguise and from what I managed to see most of their nobility is ecstatic about the fact that he has a son." Dumbledore said and looked around the room. "I think that a little reminder for students about Asgard might be in order as I talked with Odin and he didn't say no about Harry being taught magic at Hogwarts. He said that he would consider it and if I'm right, it means that he has agreed to it."
"And I suppose that he will expect everyone to bow down to him?" Snape sneered
"From what I saw about him, he seems rather humble, at least for a Prince." Dumbledore said as he looked at Snape "I want heads of houses give them a crash course in what Asgard is and basics of what we know about them as the last thing I want is an insulted and angry Prince."
"And rather pointed reminder about challenging ones you cannot defeat." McGonagall added "I do not wish to explain why we are scrapping off someone from the walls and the ceiling because he insulted someone."
"How strong is he?" Flitwick asked
"Very" Dumbledore said "Or at least will be in few years as from what I saw he trains under Sif and also his uncle, Loki, seems to be taking a hand in it." He didn't miss a hint of shock pass across Snape face and made a note to talk with him about it.
"The life won't get boring, will it?" McGonagall asked
"No" Dumbledore smiled and looked at her, amusement visible in his eyes. "Life is always interesting, it's the matter of how we look at it."
"Maybe you are right." She sighed and nodded. "I will speak with students about Asgard and tell them to be more cautious."
"It's still six years before he will be able to attend this school." Dumbledore said and she nodded.
"I know that, it's just that James or Thor isn't known about being calm or patient and if he inherited some of their traits, he might not take well several behaviors."
"We will see." Dumbledore said and looked at her. "Hope is the thing that we have and one that we need, we just need to use it."
She weakly smiled, as if unconvinced and slowly nodded.
o-0-o
Ethereal, multicoloured beam of light slammed into the top of the Avengers Tower and everybody that was inside of it rushed to see who was coming.
"Thor?" Tony Stark asked as he looked at the Thunderer. "Where were you been for the past few months?"
"Busy on Asgard." Thor said and Tony could feel something about him. "I need your help in getting someone out of prison on Earth."
"Who?" Hawkeye asked
"Somewhere less public." Wanda said as she stepped from behind Thor "The less people knows about it, the better as some would love to know about it."
"Inside?" Tony suggested
"Yes" Thor nodded as they walked into the Tower and towards a large table set in the middle of the room.
"So who do you want to get out of prison?" Natasha asked "And from where?"
"Sirius Black and Azkaban." Thor said and Natasha's eyes narrowed at those words.
"As in one that was supposed to betray Potter's to Dark Lord?"
"Same one." Wanda nodded "Fury might remember him as I remember seeing the two of them getting drunk more than once."
"Who would expect Fury getting drunk?" Tony chuckled
"Can we get to the task on hand?" Natasha asked getting their attention "Since we all know that he wasn't the one to betray them, Thor you were James Potter, weren't you?"
"Yes" Thor nodded "My father banished me to Earth to learn some things and Harry Potter is my son."
"That makes things interesting." She said dryly and mused "Azkaban, if I remember that place, getting inside won't be easy."
"Polished to the perfection outer walls and dementors." Wanda said and rolled her eyes when she saw a lack of understanding on their faces. "Demons that can suc out your soul, turning you into an empty husk that does nothing."
"JARVIS!" Tony called "Find any map showing where Azkaban is and project it."
There was a brief moment of silence and than a map of the North Sea appeared with a small dot marked in the middle of it. To the side of it appeared an image of an octagonal tower that seemed to be one with the island. "Getting inside will be hard." Steve said "Either we get from top or we aren't getting inside."
"I've been thinking about using Quinjet and getting through the top." Natasha said "It's the best way to do it."
"Yes" Loki said as he walked into the room. "I spoke with Fury and he will make an excuse for it so that nobody will look why Sirius escaped, so we can do whatever we want to it."
"Than let's go." Tony said getting up, the rest of them looked between each other and followed him out of the room.
o-0-o
Odin's gaze was cold as he looked at the noble that entered the Throne Room, even if he was his own brother, there was no love between them. His gaze flickered to his grandson who stood to the side of his throne, in a place reserved for his family, and on his lips appeared a brief smile.
However he momentarily schooled them and focused on the herald. "Lord Tyr Børson, Marshall of Asgard, Master of War, Lord of the West March, Jarl of Sonderland."
Tyr was a hulking man, well over seven feet tall, with rippled muscles and mane of wild salt and pepper hair that fell down his back, he was dressed into silver chainmail with golden armor plates over it, to his belt was attached a scabbard of his sword and only thing that destroyed his image was his missing left hand.
"Your Majesty." He said as he kneeled in a proper distance from the throne. "I've come here to suggest marrying one of my daughters or grand-daughters to one of your sons or grandson. I also have dire news, ones about parentage of your grandson, His Royal Highness Prince Harald James Thorson. They suggest that he isn't a legal son of your own son-"
"Enough!" Odin said coldly, he was amused by those words, but there were some lines that were not to be pushed and this was one of them. "My opinion about betrothals is known and it still stands, so I won't accept your offer. Also do not question parentage of my children or grandchildren, one more world and you will be thrown out of this room."
"But, Your Majesty." Tyr said standing up "It's truth and nothing will change it-"
"Silence!" Odin silenced Tyr and looked over the room, courtiers looking at him and trying to guess his reaction. "I, Odin Børson, the Allfather, King of Asgard, Shield of Asgard and Protector of the Nine Realms, strip you, Tyr, Marshall of Asgard, Master of War, Lord of the West March, Jarl of Sonderland, of all of your titles and banish you from Asgard for a period of a century." As he was saying each and every of those words face of Tyr paled, it went through all shades of white, until it was as pale as snow was.
o-0-o
"That's a thing I didn't expect." Ullr said as he stood with Sif in the crowd of courtiers and watched the whole spectacle. "I always thought that Tyr had more intelligence than to do something as crude and stupid."
"Not everybody can think." Sif said and looked at him "You know that your son and His Highness are getting annoyingly clever when it comes to fencing and tactics?"
"Was that a praise of them or a complain?"
"More of a praise." She said after a moment "Honestly speaking, they are one of few that I truly enjoy teaching and they want to learn it, not like a lot of annoying brats that are lazy."
"Competition usually helps." He chuckled
"Well, there's that." She agreed "To whom do you think Tyr's land will go?"
"It was always a part of the royal demense, so most likely one of His Majesty relatives." Ullr mused "Correct me if I'm wrong, but the lands given to His Highness border those that previously belonged to his great-uncle."
"Indeed, they border."
"Than most likely he is the one that will get them and that would reinforce his position in the normal power plays in the future." Ullr said and looked at Sif "Are you going to show them more of horse riding or should I do it?"
"Well, Atalanta is an Amazon, so she knows how to ride, so we could do it together." She said and paused "Question is where as while Ulf and Harald are used to the wilderness of Nordmark, for her it might be a bit too much."
"Maybe the Plains of Ida." He suggested and she arched an eyebrow. "They are flat, huge and perfect for riding."
"True." She nodded "So tomorrow morning then?"
"Why not, I don't have a lot of better things to do with them as for firearms they are too young and for piloting they need more of science based education."
o-0-o
Sirius Black looked around as another lightning slammed into the top of the prison, storms weren't an uncommon sight, but not one as vicious as this one was. Winds were howling for last few hours and they seemed to be getting worse with each moment, throwing sprays of seawater into his cell. If that wasn't enough, there was also this constant and heavy rain that seemed not to end.
He moved into the corner of his cell, away from the bars of it and away from the window. He heard a dementor scream in front of him and his eyes widened in shock when he saw a pillar of light erupt through it. It was not a Patronus charm, but something else.
He walked to the bars of the cell and looked around, he could see some people, they were fighting with dementors and he saw some of those monsters attempt to get away from them. He saw a lightning strike one of those things and his eyes widened when he recognized what was responsible for it, it was a large hammer and only one hammer was known to summon lightning strikes. It was Mjolnir and it was wielded by the Thunderer.
His eyes barely registered crimson beams of energy and lithe person surrounded by a crown of red light, he saw her fuel everybody short of Voldemort. She was furious as he could see dementors howling in fear and pain as they attempted to get away from here.
She flew through the corridor, dementors scattering out of her way and she landed in front of his cell. "Step away from the bars, Padfoot." She said and the moment he did this, doors were blasted to shreds and their parts flew into the opposite wall.
"What is going on?" He asked as he walked to her.
"We came to get you out of here." She smiled and turned towards the Thunderer "Thor, I have him."
"Get him out of here." Thor shouted back "We will get you time."
"Glory and fame." She muttered and grabbed his hand, while with her second, she opened a portal in front of them and walked through it, dragging him with her.
They landed on a plush carpet, somewhere far away as it was bright and certainly it was not raining.
"You look like hell." She said taking a long look at him "Also you smell of dog."
He laughed, his laugher weak and barking. "For most of the time I was a dog."
"I can see that." She dryly said and threw a small bundle at him. "Those are some normal wizarding robes, bathroom is second doors on the right. Change those rags and please, do something about your smell of a dog.
"It's not that bad." He laughed, but obeyed her.
o-0-o
Fudge stepped into the hall of Azkaban and looked around, everywhere could be seen signs of heavy fighting going on, walls were scorched and parts of them collapsed, parts of some dementors were scattered all over the place and a great gaping hole in the ceiling was hard to miss.
"Who did this?" He finally asked as he turned to look at Amelia Bones, Director of Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He didn't miss broken doors of one of cells and internally winced, press was going to be vicious about this one. Azkaban was supposed to be invincible and escape-proof, yet somehow proved both of them to be wrong.
"We don't know." She bluntly said "Some of those marks left by ones that attacked it, are foreign to us."
"Than what about this?" He asked walking forward and pointed at a large burned out circle of runes. It was in the middle of the corridor and looked as if it was laughing at them, with its thick, black lines and Norse runes. Around it was crouched a small group of aurors and hooded and cloaked Unspeakables.
"It's some sort of a targeting matrix of runes." One of them said, his face hidden behind a mask that only showed his mouth and eyes. "But where it leads..."
"Is an unknown to you." Amelia finished and he glared at her.
"You need to figure out where it leads!" He shouted at them "There needs to be something that can be done!"
"Sir-" One od Unspeakables said
"What?!"
"Some of those runes are names of gods, Odin, Heimdall, Thor and the rest of the Æsir pantheon." He explained, not flinching under Fudge's gaze "We don't think that it will be a wise idea to tinker with it."
He paled for a moment, but when he thought about his ratings and the fact that voters wouldn't let him live, he pushed fear aside and looked at them. "They are just a myth that isn't real."
Unspeakables looked between each other and nodded, some started to draw additional runes, while some went over ones already imprinted in the stone floor. The moment they applied magic to it, everything started to glow in hundreds of ethereal colors, lighting up everything and painting normally dull, gray walls in a rainbow of colors.
For a moment it was the only thing, but then clouds started to gather over the tower and above the circle was left a clear patch of air, without a single trace of a cloud. He looked up, some fear appearing back in his eyes and he stepped backwards, away from the circle. He gulped in fear when he saw a lightning flash across the sky, immediately followed by a loud ruble of a thunder, that shook everything and everybody.
Then the circle exploded, force released in its destruction slammed them into the walls and sucking air out of their lungs.
He slowly got up looking around, his ears ringing furiously as he tried to see what had happened. All of Unspeakables that were working with the circle were scattered around it, their wands broken and remains of them smoking.
"What was that?" He asked
"Something in the circle." One of them said "Whatever this circle is, playing with it is dangerous and I don't think that the second time it will be any better."
He nodded and looked at Amelia Bones, who was standing few feet away from him. "I want Sirius Black hunted down and I want this done as soon as possible."
"Should we announce his escape?" She asked, fidgeting with her wand. He could tell that she didn't like the fallout of this.
"Yes, but do not reveal any information about the attack."
"Of course." She nodded "What about the Muggle government and MI-13?"
His head snapped in her direction, his eyes burning with a cold fire. "Do not mention it to them, it's our own investigation and they don't need to know about it."
She nodded and apparated out of place, he stood up and groaned in pain, it was going to be a long day for him and it didn't start too well.
o-0-o
"Where am I?" Sirius asked as he stepped out of a bathroom in clothes that Wanda gave him, she somehow found his size and he felt comfortable in them. However as he looked at himself, he could still feel the stench of Azkaban, one that he was most likely wasn't going to forget any time soon.
"Sanctum Sanctorum." Someone said, it was a male voice.
He turned around and his gaze landed on the form of the Sorcerer Supreme. "Hello Stephen, long time no see, what was it? Seven years?"
"Something like that." Strange nodded "Do you know why you were rescued and by whom?"
"No" Sirius shook his head
Strange hummed and snapped his fingers, in front of him appeared a large table filled with dishes that made Sirius's stomach grumble. "You will eat and I will explain some of those things to you, it's a long story, just so you know."
"Okay" Sirius said as he dug into the food, he followed what Stephen was saying and his eyes widened the moment he said about Harry and who was his parent. "Did you just said that he is a son of Thor?"
"Yes" Strange smiled "I will take you to Asgard once you are healed and at least you get over the time you had spent in Azkaban, unless you want to scare your godson."
Sirius mouth opened in the protest, but than he closed it and nodded. "You are right, also I want to get used to the fact of being free."
Strange nodded and smiled. "If you want I can tell you a thing or two about your godson as I saw him on Asgard and he is a very interesting kid."
Sirius laughed at those words, his laugher barking. "He was interesting when I last saw him."
"He changed since that and grew up a lot." Strange said and paused, as if considering next words he was going to say. "He is also learning magic and some martial arts, he seems quite good for his age."
Sirius nodded and focused on his meal, he was hungry and he wanted to get those things out of James or Thor when he would have an ample opportunity to do it. However now he wanted to enjoy the freedom and being away from dementors and his insane, annoying cousins.
o-0-o
"Not bad." Sif smiled as she rode alongside Harry and Ulf, keeping an eye on them, in case they would do something stupid. She came to like them, but they were also young and a bit of foolhardy, as well as tended to show off from time to time.
"Than what is good for you?" Harry asked her as he tried to focus on riding and staying in the saddle.
"Well" She said and pointed at Atalanta who was ahead of them riding with Ullr. "She does it quite well and that is good for me."
"But she is an Amazon." Ulf said "So she is expected to be riding well."
"And?" She arched an eyebrow
"It's unfair that you compare us with her, she was doing that for a long time." Harry huffed
"You know that practice helps with mastering something?"
She smiled when she saw that Harry or Ulf didn't say a word and instead bit down on their lower lip and focused on riding. She disliked using such arguments, but sometimes they worked the best. They weren't the most subtle ones and not the most graceful ones, but they certainly worked well.
o-0-o
"Is horse riding always that painful?" Ulf asked as he stumbled forward, his whole back and a better part of his legs aching.
"No" Ullr laughed and Ulf glared at him, lack of understanding for his amusement visible in his eyes "Horse riding takes practice; you'll get eventually used to it. You are using a completely different set of muscles."
"With getting used is problem, it isn't the most pleasant thing." Harry grumbled as he massaged his back. "Everything aches me and I'm used to training with Sif."
"There are no shortcuts." Atalanta asked as she gracefully landed on the ground. Getting weird looks from them. "What? My mother is Queen of Amazons."
"Knowledge that you are an Amazon is a one thing, seeing you ride so well is one thing." Harry said and glared at her.
"We ride all the times. The best riders know hot to steer a horse using only their knees."
"There is a reason why sometimes they are called Valkyries of Olympus." Sif said getting attention of Harry and Ulf "They are one of the best riders as well as fighters, not many armies were able to win the battle when they arrived."
"You can steer a horse using only your knees?" Ulf asked as he had troubles believing those words, steering horse even with reins was a hard enough task for him and she said about using only your knees as if it was something trivial.
"It's difficult, but not impossible." She admitted "It's a very useful talent to have, as you never know when you will need to use a bow on horseback. Harry, you are supposed to have lessons with Heimdall now; Ulf and Atalanta will be with me as it seems that you need to work on your fencing skills."
Harry laughed as he saw not so happy expression on the faces of his friends, he wasn't going to envy them and training they were going to endure, he much more preferred being with Heimdall, even if after it he felt as if someone or something was jumping up and down inside of his mind.
o-0-o
"What is Yggdrasil truly?" Harry said as he stood in the Observatory with Heimdall, the sun was slowly hiding being the horizon, bathing everything in a multitude of colors. On the golden shields covering the interior of the Observatory there were visible hundreds of colorful reflections and it seemed as if they were made out of a liquid, not out of a solid material.
"It is a cosmic tree that connects Nine Realms." Heimdall as he looked at Harry "It is also an ash tree that grows on Asgard in the Hall of Yggdrasil and a net of portals connecting the realms. It is many things at one, as it is also a cluster of galaxies and dimensions in space. When you were traveling through Bifrost you saw how it truly looks in space."
"That glowing gold and red thing was Yggdrasil?"
"Yes, those things that you saw were a physical manifestation of the Tree and its glory, but you also saw events of the past, of the present and of the future, many events that might happen or might not, you didn't see one future, but instead many possible versions of them, each as probable to happen as the rest of them. All of us have some resemblance of Sight, bigger or lesser and it appears later in our life."
"Sight?" Harry asked
"Ability to predict the future. Your grandfather has one of the strongest in the whole Nine Realms." Heimdall explained and grabbed Harry's hand "Now going back to your lesson."
Harry's sight blurred for a moment before it once again focused and he saw a mountain covered in something that looked like temples and other buildings with columns. It was surrounded by a pitch black darkness and there was only a one source of light above it.
"This is Olympus, home of Olympians and other of realms of gods." Heimdall and Harry nodded in understanding. "It is ruled by Zeus, God of Lightning and Hera, Goddess of Family."
Vision blurred once again and this time they saw an asteroid field with a weird shaped rectangular one in the middle of it.
"What is it?" Harry asked, some sort of shock and surprise visible in his voice.
"Did anybody mention to you Infinity Stones?" Heimdall asked as he looked at Harry. He didn't want to talk about this, but if fate decided to show it, it was important to know for this Prince and he thought how to explain it.
Harry curtly nodded "Yes"
"Than this is a hiding place of one of them, Aether. It was reclaimed from the Dark Elves by your great-grandfather and your grandfather hid it in this asteroid field." Heimdall said "I didn't intend to show it to you, it did on its own as your mind directed us there. Now going back to where we were supposed to be going."
Images blurred and they saw planet covered in smoke and acidic clouds. Flames were erupting from volcanoes and furnaces that were nearby. It was surrounded by thick rings of infrastructure on the orbit.
"Home of dwarves, Nidavellir." Said Heimdall "They are ruled by King Eitri and are one of the greatest artificers, craftsmen and builders in whole Nine Realms. Most of the most well known or famous weapons was forged by them, your father's hammer, your grandfather's spear, your sword and so on. They hate giants in all forms and are one of our most faithful allies and vassals of King Odin. They always answered our call to arms, but in return we defended their realm whenever they called us."
Vision changed and they saw heavily forested world with buildings and cities hidden between trees. People that they saw were almost as beautiful as inhabitants of Asgard and Vanaheim, standing tall with godlike grace and they could be described only as beautiful.
"This is Alfheim, realm of light elves, ones with one of the most powerful magic inside of the Nine Realms. However it isn't destructive magic as our own is, their is mostly focused on healing and creation of life. They are scholars and sorcerers, healers and scientists, however you shouldn't underestimate them as they are also fierce warriors, they do not fight often, but when provoked or when they think that the cause is just, they fight valiantly and never surrender. Also one of the best horses in our stables come from them."
o-0-o
Dumbledore sat in his office and mulled over the events of last week, there was one attack on Azkaban. One that had fingertips of Princes of Asgard all over it, also who was freed suggested it as only one person was liberated and guards were only stunned, at least in case of humans as dementors were scattered and burned. If he was going to bet why it happened, he would bet it was because they didn't have patience to deal with Fudge and he wasn't surprised by it. He was a fool and stubborn fool at that, one that would say 'no' just for the sake of doing that and annoying person with which he was speaking. Situation was changed when there was money in play as than he became rather open and would do as he was asked to do.
His musing were cut short as in the middle of his office appeared vortex of green and gold that signaled arrival of Prince Loki. Moments later out of that vortex stepped out mentioned Aesir with his usual smirk on his lips.
"Prince Loki." Dumbledore politely nodded
"Headmaster." Prince of Asgard nodded and conjured for himself a comfortable armchair in which he sat down.
"Breakout from Azkaban was your doing?"
"Mine, Thor and SHIELD." Loki agreed "They provided distraction and covered our tracks. Even if there were placed tracking charms on Sirius, they won't work as he is in a place that stops most of magic from reaching its insides."
"There are not many such places on Earth, there are only two in the UK and maybe six dozens or so all over the world." Dumbledore frowned and paused as he realized what Loki meant. "You got him out of Azkaban and to the Sanctum Sanctorum of Stephen."
"Exactly." Loki smiled and explained "He is safe and sound inside of it and I will take him to Asgard once he is fully healed. So for now he will be stuck there as it is the safest place for him to be and anywhere else he would be caught."
Dumbledore nodded and made a note to discourage Fudge from looking around the USA, to keep him away from the Sanctum Sanctorum and Sirius. He folded his hands and looked at Loki. "When you are planning on reintroducing Harry back to Earth and its issues?"
Loki was silent for a moment, the only sound in the office being a soft thrill of Fawkes. He took a sip of mead from a goblet he had conjured for himself and finally spoke. "I spoke with my brother and Harry's godmother and they mentioned something about his twelfth birthday or so, as he is most likely going to be a mutant and there is only one place that can teach him how to use them."
"Xavier's Institute For Gifted Youngsters." Dumbledore smiled "He should do well there, I planned to do a small project with Charles, but we will see if it works, if it does, it certainly will be interesting."
Loki looked at him, confused for a moment, but than his his lips turned into a smirk, one that would make lion ran away from him in fear. "It should be a really good idea as with the amount of enemies lurking in the shadows and some of them being more open, you will need to be united and stand together."
"That was my idea about it, now with Harry there, I might push it a bit faster as it might be a good idea. Do you want me to do anything about Fudge and his pet investigation?"
"Not really, just keep him out of the way and away from Hogwarts, the Institute and the Sanctum Sanctorum as he can cause a lot of damage there."
"I will." Dumbledore nodded and looked at the paperwork covering his desk. "As much as I enjoy our talk, I fear that we need to end it..." He trailed off and Loki only smiled
"As the paperwork won't get done on its own and you need to do it." He said "My father has the same problem, so I understand you well."
"So, if you excuse me, Your Highness." Dumbledore said and Loki nodded, disappearing with a swirl of green and gold.
Dumbledore looked at the various forms and papers, that were scattered all over his desk and sighed, he enjoyed being a Headmaster, but he disliked the part about filling papers and making sure that everything was correct.
o-0-o
Lucius Malfoy stood in the study of his manor and looked outside of the window, his gaze was focused on the rolling hills that were in the distance, while gears of his mind were spinning furiously. "So someone had freed Sirius Black." He said to himself and poured himself a glass of fire whiskey.
"Question is not who did it, but why he did it." He paused as his mind analyzed every single possibility, all of the known ties of Sirius and why someone might have decided that he needed to free him out of Azkaban. There weren't many things that he could gave them, so there was something missing out of the whole thing. Something that was crucial for the whole thing to make sense.
He turned around and walked back to his desk, sitting down he pulled out several rolls of parchment and quills, he needed to get several things done, as well as to rebuild the network the Dark Lord had during his last ascension to power. Network that he would need to stay under the radar of SHIELD and especially MI-13.
Director Wisdom was a person he didn't want to get interested in him or his deals, he was vicious, deviously clever and stubborn. He was the one that removed some of the less powerful supporters of the Dark Lord that survived the war, now all of them were gone and gone for good. However Wisdom didn't touch magical supporters and that was the only bright point from Lucius's point of view. It suggested that he was a normal person, not a wizard, which meant that he was slightly less dangerous.
He winced in pain as he felt his old limp suddenly ache him, as if it wanted to remind him that normal humans were not to be underestimated as they were as deadly as wizards, or even more. There was one more person that he feared, he feared he honestly more than he feared Death or Wisdom, it was Director Fury.
o-0-o
Harry keenly looked around as he followed his uncle through the maze of the corridors that made up a better chunk of the Citadel, he was curious where his uncle was leading him as he didn't have an opportunity to see this part of the Citadel, yet. "Where are we going?" He finally asked, impatience and curiosity visible in his voice.
"You will see." Loki smirked "Somewhere that you should like, though."
Harry sighed and focused on the corridor ahead of them, his attention was immediately drawn to the pair of guards that stood at the end of it. On the doors between them was emblazoned a large image of a tree.
"Any idea where are we?" Loki asked him as they came to stop in front of the doors. "Heimdall should have mentioned it to you at least once."
Harry frowned and his gaze ran to the tree, he knew that he saw it somewhere and just couldn't remember where he had seen, he chuckled silently at the comparison as he knew that his memory shouldn't fail him. He signed and looked at his uncle. "Any clue what is it?"
"Probably the most important and the oldest ash tree in this part of the universe." Loki smirked
Harry's eyes widened when he heard phrase 'ash tree' and missing pieces in his mind almost immediately connected. "That's the Hall of the Yggdrasil."
"Well done." Loki nodded and looked at the guards, who stepped aside and doors opened on their own. Harry glanced at his uncle and followed him into the chamber, it was a huge room with the ceiling disappearing out of view.
However Harry's eyes didn't run towards it or towards the mosaics covering the floor, they ran to the ash tree that was in the middle of it. This tree was one of the biggest he had seen and it was full of power, he could feel magic fill the air and he was able to see whisps of silver and golden smoke fly under the ceiling.
As he breathed in the air, he could feel some strong incense fill the air, it's smell was almost intoxicating, strong and rich. He felt as if he was somewhere else. "Snap out of it." Loki said lightly punching him in the shoulder.
"What was that?" He groggily asked as he fought an urge to fall asleep.
"What is it, you mean." Loki corrected him and added seriously "That's the magic of the Tree, I'm the one showing it to you as I can protect you from some of its power, your father is powerful magically, but his magic is different."
Harry looked towards the tree, taking a better look of it, it was growing in a some sort of a massive pond, it's roots were disappearing in it, as he walked closer, he felt magic of it. It felt as a slowly running water, calm and beautiful, yet deadly.
"Don't" Loki caught him before he walked into the pond that surrounded the tree. "Clear your mind, it's a beautiful thing, but can be deadly. Also the pond is a portal into the rest of the Nine Realms."
Harry closed his eyes for a moment and started to slowly and evenly breath, pushing every single thought out of his mind. After a moment of silence he shook his head and looked at his uncle. "Why did you want to show this – he indicated the tree – or should I ask why did you decide to do it now?"
Loki looked at him. "So that you know how it looks as it has an annoying tendency to show up in prophetic dreams and so that I could see how powerful you are going to be magically, every single Æsir has some magic, but it varies, some have a weak one, while some have a strong one." He paused and placed hand on Harry's shoulder. "Your reaction to the tree and it's magic told me more than testing your magic through other means."
"And?"
"You need to find it on your own." Loki said with a sly smile "But it's nothing bad, you should like what it implies."
"Oh?" Harry asked, shuffling his feet impatiently.
"Nephew, patience is one of the most precious and most powerful virtues, try to learn some of it." Loki said seriously as he glanced at the tree. "Don't wander into this chamber alone or with some of your friends as I don't want to explain to your father and grandfather how the hell you ended up in the biggest pit of lava."
Harry shuddered and slowly nodded, he could feel that his uncle wasn't joking about this one and he didn't want to get into his bad side. "I swear."
"Good" Loki smiled and ruffled his hair "Your free to go."