A/N – Mostly slow and laid back chapter, no much happens excluding some small moves and certain demons of the past. It is a small break to relax and prepared for the show to come. Read and review!
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Beta – eri1551
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Wolf Hall was a traditional residence of the Lords of the West March, one of the mightier and more respectable nobles of Asgard. Even if they were powerful lords the palace was a humble one, yet located in a picturesque location with majestic views.
Perched on top of a cliff, this complex of wooden and stone buildings overlooked vast forests and meadows. In the distance the peaks of one of many ranges that created the Nordmark Mountains -which were just a part of an even more massive range, the Nordheim Mountains- could be seen. Those peaks created a border between West March and Nordmark as well as caused the weather to be unpredictable and wild. Those buildings stood firmly, not budging to the attacks of wind and rain or the flow of the time.
The whole palace looked like a few dozens of buildings connected with various passages and built over time, in some cases they were stacked on top of each other. The various styles used in the architecture of Asgard could be seen, the transition from one into another fluid and hard to spot. Serving mainly as a summer palace it was not designed with administrative or military functions in mind, it was mostly designed with rest and entertainment in mind. Providing a safe haven for the royal family, away from the stormy waters of court politics and the constant schemes played between nobles. In the past it hosted almost every member of the royal family of Asgard and a lot of their most trusted advisors.
Wooden and stone buildings, airy, wide corridors and open spaces made the Wolf Hall look like a paradise come true. It didn't have the oppressive feeling of a more formal palace and it invited everybody to enjoy their time inside of those halls. Enjoy their time and forget about their worries.
Harry stepped out of a portal and smiled as his sight ran over the complex of buildings, his eyes slipping over wooden roofs and stone walls. Ivy that was climbing up their side and finally over the cloudless sky with the sun almost directly above their heads. He felt at home here and he preferred it over the Citadel that was the main seat of his family.
He could hear gasps of shock and surprise as his friends emerged from the portal. "I expected something smaller," Warren finally said.
Harry looked at his cousin and snorted. "It's Asgard, everything here is big and or grandiose,"
"I know, but this..."
"This is a royal residence, so it is supposed to be big and show the prestige of the family," Atalanta said. "Even if it is a summer palace, it needs to be of a proper size and scale."
"Are we going to stand here or are we going to see it?" Jean asked
Harry ignored them and their antics and walked into the palace. He loved the place with its wooden floors covered in furs, the hunting trophies hung on the walls and the sense of calmness and peace that he rarely felt at the Citadel. There were too many people at the Citadel, here there were a few dozens of them and he was able to fully relax, allowing the shields around his mind to drop.
He walked through the halls that were even older than the Citadel was and looked around, feeling just how ancient they were. The sculptures and other pieces of art decorating the halls were cruder and less intricate than the ones in the halls of his family seat. Also, the golden material that was so common at the Citadel here it was almost impossible to spot. Its place was taken by wood and stone, it made everything look and feel darker, but he didn't mind it. It even looked better in his opinion.
Stepping into the room he occupied here he looked around the familiar space and immediately walked onto a large balcony that was attached to it. Stepping outside he momentarily felt the cool breeze hit his face and ruffle his hair.
He breathed in the air that was carrying the smell of the forest, addictive and fresh, one that allowed him to forget about all the blood from that night. The night he was forced to kill, in defense, but it still felt bad.
o-0-o
Thunder rumbled above the Citadel, shaking everything and lightning lit up the sky, but Loki didn't even acknowledge it. He was focused on various pieces of paper and parchment as well as data displayed on a holographic display placed on his desk. Something was not adding up.
He poured himself a goblet of mead from a nearby jug and slowly sipped it, enjoying its taste as his, mind tried to piece those little bits of data together. Fudge isn't stupid, so there must be a logic to this madness, he thought, inviting him here won't be a bad idea as it might be an opportunity to drive our point home. He is scared by the events of the last few weeks, so maybe this will help us even more.
He placed the goblet back on the desk, watching not to spill its content onto his notes and reports from the various spies that he and SHIELD had. He looked over them, his eyes slipping over the hundreds of names and locations written on them, easily memorizing each and every one of them.
His eyes narrowed when he saw one name that drew his attention. He picked up the piece of paper and read her name on it. "Dolores Jane Umbridge. What a lovely toad and grey eminence that attempts to be the power behind the throne and seems to hate everything that isn't pure, even better."
He scribbled a quick note about Umbridge to mention her to Hrimhari, in case his furry grandson was running out of targets, and focused on Fudge. Father might not be the happiest man alive after this thing, but it should work and help us a lot. Even if he doesn't agree to inviting Fudge, showing the wizards in a crude manner that we are around won't be bad, he shook his head, destroying those thoughts and focusing on the work ahead of him.
Even if the wizards' schemes were primitive and crude by the standard of interstellar politics, they were unpredictable and quickly changing. In the world of interstellar empires there were certain unspoken and unwritten rules that everybody accepted, the wizards didn't have any such rules.
Loki sighed and shook his head as his mind wanted to wander into the direction of the more predictable and slow by mortal standards games played by the great of the universe. Where the fates of the whole solar system, galaxies and even whole civilizations, were at stake.
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"Finally we'll learn some magic." Oliver said as they followed one of the guides they were assigned to the lecture halls and classrooms.
Tonks tried not to laugh at his words. "Since when have we started with actual magic at Hogwarts? If my mind is working correctly we started with theory and thousands of warnings about magic."
"Since when are you all doom and gloom?" He asked, arching an eyebrow.
"I'm not," she said, shaking her head. "I'm more of a realist here, do you think they would allow us to use magic without theory behind it?"
He sighed and nodded in agreement as they entered a massive lecture hall with dozens of rows of seats facing the lectern. He blinked a couple of times to get used to the size of the room, compared to Hogwarts this was new and much bigger than anything they saw at Hogwarts.
There was some shuffling and commotion as they took seats and looked at the lecturer that stood in front of his lectern. She looked quite young, but they quickly learned that appearance was misleading when it came to Asgard and its inhabitants, some looked ancient and were young and vice versa.
"For this lecture you will need to forget everything that you learned about magic to date, this magic is different than one taught at Hogwarts and you will need to think differently than you normally do. There are two things on which our magic is based, runes and the understanding of how combining them can get you the desired effect, and eighteen spells created by our King Odin when he hung from the World Tree for nine nights.
"From what I remember about magic taught by Prince Loki to the human founders of Hogwarts he didn't show you those spells and only showed the runes that were supposed to be a compulsory course so I expect you to know the basic meaning of all sixteen runes for tomorrow, if not the consequences will be unpleasant."
Oliver shuddered at those words, the way she said 'unpleasant' suggested that they shouldn't even dream of not learning those sixteen signs.
"Magic done with runes can be more precise than even magic done with the best magical focus you can find. Not to mention it can lay dormant for ages before being awoken. The most famous examples of charms done with runic magic are ones connected to the weapons used by the royal family. Those that allow only the worthy one to wield the hammer Mjolnir, spear Gungnir and sword Tyrfing, they were placed by His Majesty. While those are the most famous ones, there are also more common ones and ones that you see around you and have an example of it at Hogwarts."
"Translucent ceiling," someone said, Oliver was unable to guess who it was.
"Indeed, it projects onto the ceiling the image from above, while retaining its strength and durability. Those are the most known examples, but not the only ones..."
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Maria Hill looked at the map of Europe and smiled, it was starting to look good and the wizards were less and less of an issue. There were several red dots on the map of the UK with names stenciled under them, those were the latest victims of Loki's work. She sipped her coffee and focused on Eastern Europe, a place where law was a questionable thing and where criminals were mostly able to do as they pleased. Not to mention that a lot of black or dark wizards was harbored by various governments, hailing from there.
"It looks good, doesn't it."
She looked around, trying to find the source of the voice and her eyebrow arched when she saw Loki walk towards her.
"I thought that you were supposed to stay on Asgard."
Loki smiled and walked to the map, he studied it for a moment before he finally looked at her. "I'm a person that gets bored quickly and needs entertainment in his life. Thus I decided to drop by here and see how well the hunt goes."
"Now it's mostly halted, Widow is licking her wounds and her cover is mostly destroyed, while Hawkeye is in the US helping Fury."
"What about agent Psylocke and maybe Banshee?"
"Psylocke is good, but Banshee always was more of a cop and I need someone that doesn't have any qualms with murdering in cold blood if need be and can survive on the streets of Moscow."
Loki chuckled and she glowered at him. "Even Natasha didn't survive on the streets of Moscow," he said with a thin smile. "So I highly doubt that it will matter as she had failed."
She winced and looked at the map. "Psylocke's answering to Wisdom and he might need her, but if you can get Banshee to help me I won't mind."
"Now you are speaking the way I like." Loki looked at the digital clock placed in the corner of the display. "He should be here in few hours and with a small gift for you."
She arched an eyebrow. "Gift?"
"A group from our version of your special forces, they are trained to fight wizards and other users of magic as well as are quite proficient in the normal ways of fighting."
She smiled, her smile feral and dangerous. She looked at the map, thinking how to best use those gifts, she would need to see how good they were, but they should be sufficient.
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Oliver looked around the hall and had a really bad feeling about the things that were about to come, he had spent half of the night memorizing those runes. He did it, but he had the help of his nifty little mutation that seemed to give him eidetic memory along with better sight. It made studying a lot easier, but as he looked around he could feel a lot of people shift uncomfortably in their seats.
His suspicions were confirmed the moment the Instructor entered the hall as she clapped her hands twice and in front of them appeared tests. He looked at his and wanted to groan as it seemed that someone was feeling nasty when creating them. They needed to explain each and every rune and how their meaning changed according to with what they were used.
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Illyana walked through the corridors of the Academy, her mind wandering on its own as she tried not to think about an essay she was supposed to get done. As she walked around the corner and entered one of shadier corridors that were a nice shortcut leading to the library and several other areas. She quickly learned that there were hundreds of such passages and it was only a matter of time before discovering them.
She smiled as she entered the library and saw that most Hogwarts students pouring over books about runes and their meanings, she had done the same when she started studying here. She had this small advantage that she had some help, while Hogwarts students had none and if she was right they wouldn't get any. They were too arrogant and expected everything to be given to them.
She walked past them and between the rows of shelves, looking for books on Alfheim and the beings inhabiting that realm, she heard some things about it from Harry and the other students, but it was not a lot. Collecting a large stash of books she walked to one of the bigger tables and slammed them onto it she sat down. She pulled out her writing supplies and a lot of paper as it was supposed to be a longish essay.
Flipping pages and making notes she didn't hear it when someone sat down at the same table, she finally noticed the presence when it loudly cleared its throat. She looked up and smiled when she saw one of her friends, but also roommate Idunn Ragnardóttir.
"You're normally easier to distract," she said with a smile and looked at Illyana's notes. "Alfheim, what's so hard in annoying me with questions? After all I'm one of Alf and I know some things about it."
Illyana rolled her eyes and looked at Idunn. "Point taken, so that's how you did your essay about Vanaheim?"
"Annoy one of the Vanir with questions? Yes," Idunn said and picked up one of books. "Also some of those books tend to omit some of the nicer things about Alfheim, don't know why, since its ruler is the second cousin of His Majesty."
"Maybe they forgot to mention them."
"Maybe," Idunn said and glanced at the paper covered in Illyana's scribble. "Beings inhabiting it? Seriously?"
"What's wrong with it?"
"It's too easy, at least for me."
"It's your home," Illyana said with a roll of her eyes. "So the beings living there? Are you going to tell me about them?"
Idunn moved her hand through her black as night hair and looked at the table. "The list is long and some of those creatures are weird. Direwolves, unicorns, pegasi, hippocampi, storm eagles, small groups of Wolf People and us, Alfs."
"Storm eagle?"
"Overgrown version of a normal eagle that can summon winds and storms, usually stays away from the cities and hunts in the forests or plains, but it is one of the apex predators. Generally everything that I mentioned is big and dangerous."
"Not a nice place to be."
Idunn chuckled. "Depends where and for whom, generally around cities it is safe and nice, deeper into wilderness not really and even some of the more experienced hunters aren't eager to go hunting alone."
Illyana nodded and focused on her paper, trying to put those things into sentences that would make sense and wouldn't get her chewed out yet again for chaotic writing. Once was more than enough for her poor soul.
o-0-o
Harry walked onto the balcony and looked at the stars and moons that were slowly populating the night sky of Asgard. He could name all of them, he didn't even need to think too much to recognize most of them. But tonight he was unable to focus on them, the events of that night at the Institute were still haunting him.
At the Citadel he was able not to think about them, but here they rushed to the forefront of his mind, not letting him sleep. He heard the soft scraping sound of claws moving on the wooden floor and when he looked in its direction he saw Freki walking towards him.
"What am I supposed to do?" He asked, his hand moving through the fur of his pet.
Freki looked up, it's amber eyes looking at Harry, they were too keen and too intelligent to be the eyes of a normal wolf. Harry smiled and sighed as he looked at the sky, the cool air of the night keeping his mind clear.
"Come to terms with it."
He looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, it sounded familiar. His eyes widened when he saw that it was Jean. She walked through his room and joined him on the balcony. He looked at her and asked. "What do you mean?"
"I know that Atalanta talked with you," she said. "But did you really understand those words or did you agreed with her so that she wouldn't dig secrets out of your mind?"
His eyes widened and he looked at her. "I guess the latter is the truth, I know what she meant, but it is so hard to shrug it off. It is so easy to take a life away."
"Indeed," Jean said, her eyes flashing orange. "Phoenix is just that, a being that can take or give life when it so wishes or desires to. You're supposed to be a warrior, a prince of Asgard, one that will protect its people and fight its enemies."
He sadly nodded and looked at her. "So where are you going with it?"
"Killing is sad and unfortunate, yet unavoidable for you. You need to come to terms with it, the sooner you do, the better," she said and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I can tell that you were avoiding the subject as much as you could, but it needs to end or you will drive yourself mad with grief and tears."
He blinked and sighed. "So how am I supposed to deal with it? I hate killing, yet fighting in friendly spars is so enjoyable."
"Because killing isn't supposed to feel good or nice unless you're an insane person, a psychopath, or both. But I doubt you're one of those two, are you?"
"No, I'm not."
"So killing will always haunt you, question is only how badly," she said. "I'm forced to kill from time to time, but I came to terms with it and the feeling is still there, but less visible and not as painful as it's for you now."
He nodded at her words and looked at the landscape spreading around them. "I know what you are saying, yet it is hard to accept."
"It isn't easy, but otherwise you'll drive yourself insane. So focus on your mind and remember what I told you about meditation."
"Clear my mind," Harry said with a roll of his eyes. "Easier said than done, especially now."
He closed his mind, focused on his breathing and heartbeat, trying to slow them down and even out into a slow, steady pace. Slowly breathing in and out he could feel it as his mind calmed down, the memories of the past being swept away along with his worries and issues.
He felt something sweep over his mind, he opened his eyes and looked at Jean. "What was that?"
"A little help." she smiled. "One of many tricks you can do when you're a powerful telepath and have physical contact with your target. You should be able to get some rest and you shouldn't wake up in the middle of the night and screaming, now."
He smiled weakly and nodded. When he stopped feeling the continuous dull ache in his mind he finally realized how tired he was, he yawned loudly and looked at her. "Goodnight, Jean and thanks for what you did."
"No problem, Eaglet," she said and left him alone.
He stood for a moment on the balcony, focusing on the sounds of the night, but after a moment he once again yawned and walked into the room. It was a far less grand than the one that he had at the Citadel, but calling it small was a huge understatement, it was anything but small.
The biggest difference between the room he had at the Citadel and the one here was that at the Citadel everything was gold and silver, which made being inside in the middle of sunny day a nightmare. This one was mostly furnished with wood, tapestries, furs and hunting trophies. While the head of a hunted direwolf placed above the bed looked weird, it certainly made the room look and feel unusual... But in a good way.
He stripped of his clothes and jumped into the bed and covered himself with one of many furs that were strewn across it. He closed his eyes and, for the first time in a long while, was able to sleep without any interruptions and didn't see flashbacks of the events of that night. Blades stained with blood and bodies ripped apart.
o-0-o
When Harry woke up he felt rays of sun move across his face, not letting him sleep for much longer. He opened his eyes and looked around, everything was covered in a honey-colored layer of sunlight that brought with it warmth and new hope. Hope of a better day and a better future.
He yawned loudly and crawled out of the bed, he opened the French doors leading onto the balcony and felt a gust of wind enter the room, ruffling his hair and his wing's feathers. He walked onto the balcony and he saw the sun slowly travel up the sky. His nostrils moved on their own as the smell of hot chocolate, coffee, honey and other things connected with breakfast drifted with the wind. He looked over the railing and smiled when he saw that his friends decided not to wait for him.
He stepped onto the railing and dropped onto the ground, a small cloud of dust rising into the air as his feet slammed into the ground.
"You could have been more subtle," Atalanta said when she noticed him. "Also there is something called stairs."
"And?"
"You could have used them," Warren said.
"I could have, but I didn't need to." Harry heard Warren sigh, but he ignored his cousin and instead focused on breakfast. "Almost a week of doing nothing and being away from the noise of the capital."
"Doing nothing?" Bobby asked.
"Lazing around and not caring about the world and its affairs. After all this is the reason why we are here, unless there is Ragnarok coming they won't bother us and Ragnarok is not going to happen, not anytime soon."
Harry almost winced when he felt the cold fingers of the wind touch his neck, as the cold went away he heard a voice that was carried by the wind. Don't be so sure, Young Prince, we decide the fate, not you.
He shook his head and focused on eating, he hoped to completely forget about this feeling and the dream he got all those weeks ago.
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Jean glanced at Harry and looked at Warren, they were sitting outside and she could tell that something was an issue for Harry. She finally sighed, closed her book and looked at Warren. "Come with me, we need to talk in a more private setting."
He looked at her, later at Harry who seemed to be focused on reading something and with a nod stood up. She walked through the palace and into the room they chose as their own. She let him inside and the with her mind she closed the door and windows. "What do you need to talk about with me?" he asked as he sat down on the bed.
"Harry. I talked with him yesterday and he seems to have issues with something," she said and looked at the ceiling. "What he did during that night finally caught up with him and probably woke up demons of his past. I'm not attempting to guess what they are and I'm not going to take a stroll across his mind, but someone needs to see what's going on with him."
"And you think that I'm the best one for this," Warren said and she nodded. "He is my cousin, but I can tell that he hides a lot of things from me and isn't willing to share them."
She nodded and wrapped a long lock of her fiery red hair around one of her fingers. "He is hiding this stuff, but between you and me, you are his cousin and sometimes we are more willing to open up to a family member."
"Or push me away and try to deal with it on his own," Warren said, his expression sombre.
"You need to try to reach out to him as we both know how destructive it can be to bottle up your emotions and feelings," she said and looked at him. "One fiery tornado was more than enough for me."
"Yes," Warren nodded and sighing stood up. "It won't get done by itself and you won't let me live if I don't get it done."
"Good boy," she smiled as he walked out of the room.
o-0-o
Harry stood on the balcony of his room and sighed as he looked at the sun slowly hiding beneath the horizon. It looked so peaceful and calm, a total opposite to what was happening inside his mind, where his emotions and feelings were battling each other.
"Stop beating yourself for what you have done," Warren said as he walked to Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Killing is something we cannot avoid as sometimes it is a choice between our death and the death of our enemy, but you need to accept it and come to terms with it."
"How can you be so calm about it?" Harry asked, turning to look at his older cousin. "You can kill with ease and don't seem affected by it, at all."
"I'm affected," Warren said and winced. "I just learned how to cope with it and you need to find it for yourself, didn't Professor X speak with you about it?"
"He did," Harry said, his voice sullen and the exhaustion finally showing on his face. "But it didn't help a much."
"Nightmares?"
"How do you know?"
"Had them, survived them," Warren said. "They will be gone with time, but you will drive yourself mad if you don't find a reason for the what you did."
"I did it to protect others that couldn't do it on their own."
"A reason as good as any other, but do you believe in it?"
It struck him like a lightning bolt and he looked at Warren. "Y… No, I was always taught that the duty of a warrior and a Prince is to protect others, but belief is something entirely different."
"Indeed," Warren briefly smiled. "I don't know what you were taught, but I guess that you were taught about protecting others and why some things even if evil are sometimes necessary."
"Yes," Harry said and looked at the sky. "The values of life and that sometimes you need to choose between two evils, bigger and smaller."
"Start to believe in those values and the things you were taught and remember what the Professor told me, 'with great power comes great responsibility'."
"I will try, it's just so hard and killing feels so easy that it seems impossible."
"It isn't," Warren said and patted him reassuringly. "You just need to start."
"I will," Harry said. "Can you leave me alone?"
"Sure," Warren said and Harry waited for his cousin to leave the room before he stripped off his clothes and tucked himself into his bed. For the first time in a long time he was able to get some rest as nightmares seemed to vanish and let him live.
o-0-o
Strange walked around the pedestal brought by Wanda and frowned, it was familiar yet strange, he knew that he had seen those charms in some place, but he was unsure where exactly. But the more worrying thing was that he couldn't feel the soul shard inside of it. He turned around and looked at Wanda.
"Well, this thing you brought is a fake, maybe there was a horcrux placed inside of it, but it was a long time ago."
She growled and looked at the pillar, anger in her eyes. "So where is it now?"
"That's what I would like to know." He shook his head and sighed. "We know that one of them is in Scotland, right?"
She nodded to those words.
"We both know that it is at Hogwarts and we both know that Hogwarts is empty."
"I like this idea," she said and bared her teeth. "Nobody will interrupt us and we will be able to search for it without interruptions."
"Exactly." He snapped his fingers and opened a portal leading to Hogwarts. He allowed her to step through first and followed her. When they emerged out of it they were at Hogwarts, it felt strange without its usual noise and activity.
Normally there were hundreds of people inside of those corridors and rooms, filling them with happiness and energy. Now there were only some ghosts and that was it, the place felt deserted and empty. He looked around for a moment and walked in a direction only known to him.
o-0-o
Even if at the beginning a week felt like a lot of time to Harry, it passed too fast and after their enjoyable stay at the Wolf Hall they were forced to return to the Capitol for the opening ceremonies of the Tournament and the Tournament itself that would follow. While normally it was an event Harry looked forward to, now it felt bleak and boring.
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A/N:
Wolf Hall is let's say summer palace and hunter lodge that was originally Tyr's palace, but since he fell out of grace and his titles were removed it fell to Harry. So if he wants some time away from the noise of the court and annoying schemes of various nobles he goes there. It is not as new as the Citadel, but it is more comfortable and he can hang out with friends and away from almost all supervision.
Loki and his comments about the speed at which events are happening, he is used to games with a much higher stake and one mistake during such game and you lose, so you are reluctant to make any move and consider it over and over again. While Umbridge is doing things that would normally take months in weeks. So he is unsure of how to treat her.
Alfheim is my idea, in myths it is just mentioned by its name and there is not much else, excluding the fact that it's inhabitants are tall, graceful and powerful. Alfs will be physically almost as strong as an average Æsir, but they will not be hulking people, they will more resemble Loki and they will focus on magic instead of martial arts. Sure, they will rip apart a human in them, but it isn't a focus of their education.
Hrimhari is a son of Fenrir/Fenris and thus Loki's grandson and Harry's cousin.
Reviews:
TimothyB – Snape was a huge problem and it needed to be dealt with or at least shown his place as he knows a lot and can be useful, but also is a terrible teacher and a bully. While his talents are needed, he needs to be tempered.
Otsutsuki no Yami – Pairings are let's say complicated and it will take time for them to reveal. Dumbledore knows that Harry is on Asgard which is one of the biggest haystacks in existence and he doesn't have a single lead where is Harry, how does he look and lacks data on how to track him down.
randomplotbunny – Power is a nice tool of intimidation and seriously, if you want to make someone afraid what's a better way than introduction to Odin.