A/N - Beautiful bludgeoning tool of state propaganda makes a debut, simple approach, but an effective one that works on almost everybody and is a nice entertainment for the masses of citizens. Since I'm finally done with school for the next few months this chapter will be earlier than usually. Read and review!
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Beta - eri1551
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Harry braided his hair backwards, looked at his reflection in the full length mirror and tried not to smile. He looked good in his armor, his armor was a mix of plate armor with chainmail. The plates were covering his chest, shoulders, arms and legs, while the chainmail was beneath those plates and covered his whole body. Most of them were painted matte black with silver engraving, he liked this combination over the much more common, gold and silver armors that were so popular in Asgard.
He picked up the ceremonial scabbard of his sword and looked at it. It was a new part of his gear, previously he used a leather scabbard, this one was completely forged out of metal, covered in engravings showing scenes from the Asgardian history and richly decorated with gilding and gems. As he attached it to the belt he wondered who was accepted as a master jeweler and craftsman after finishing their work on it.
Picking up his silver and matte black horned helmet he walked out of his chambers, cape billowing in his wake. With a corner of his eye he glanced backwards and saw his guards silently fall into place behind him, they were mostly for ceremonial purposes, but he also understood why his grandfather decided that they should follow him for most of the time. As he got closer to the place from where his family would be watching the opening ceremony he could feel the roar of the crowds get louder and louder with each moment. Stepping onto the balcony he saw that every single balcony in the vicinity of the main alley of the city was filled with people and the street below was full of people who were standing along the walls of the buildings.
Harry nodded to his grandfather, who was standing at the railing in his golden armor and with the crown on his head, with the sign of his position, the spear Gungnir, in hand. Odin slammed it onto the ground three times silencing the crowds and giving Harry just enough time to slip into his spot to the right of his father.
"On this day we celebrate our victory in the War Against the Darkness of Svartalfheim, even if it happened five thousands years ago it is still an event that affects our lives and all of Asgard. It is a time for celebrations and joy for all of the inhabitants of the Nine Realms as our valiant warriors under the command of my father, King Bør, stopped the Dark Elves from destroying all of the universe. Now it is also a time when users of magic from the Academies located in our realm have time to showcase their abilities and the glory of the realm.
"The tournaments, which are the main focus of the celebrations, are supposed to show how good you have become in the magical arts and showcase friendly competition between the various users of magic, no matter their gender, no matter their culture or race. It is an opportunity to forge new friendships and see how good you are. I hereby declare Asgard's Magic Tournament open."
When Odin finished speaking, immediately, there was a sound of horns, dry, metallic and deep, rattling bones and unsettling almost everybody. Even those accustomed to the sound were shaken a bit by it. They were horns of war and the signal for the military parade to start.
The moment the horns stopped playing, other instruments started and the music settled into marching music, even and less unsettling than the horns that were able to rattle almost everybody.
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It was an event for which hundreds, if not thousands of warriors and cadets practiced for the last few weeks. Perfecting even the smallest detail as everything was important and nothing could be ignored.
It was led by Hermóðr who was dressed in his golden plate armor with a long purple cloak and an elaborately decorated helmet with a massive plume on his head, he was riding a white winged horse. Completely at ease, moving in synchronization with the moves of his horse, his sword was resting against his shoulder, its blade gleaming in the morning light. He was followed by a rider in golden armor, but without the cape of a high-ranking commander. As well as a trio of riders, all of them on normal horses, the one in the middle was carrying a red banner with a golden triskelion in its middle. It was a color guard carrying the Royal Standard of Asgard.
Behind them the first true formation taking part in the parade could be seen, their march was slow and precise. It was a group of the oldest students of the Academy of Battle Magic and Sorcery, they were wearing their dress black robes with red coats over them, carried sorcerer's staffs in hand and were being led by Bragi in his black armor with a red coat over it, he was accompanied by the color guard of the school with its banner. Gold with a red triskelion with a staff and a sword crossed behind it.
Following them were groups from other schools of magic, the only distinction between them being the color of their robes and their banners. Each of them flying proudly ahead of the group sent by its school. The group from Vanaheim had a vibrant green banner with a silver triskelion surrounded by a chain of red balls and their robes were dark green. The group from Alfheim had a dark blue banner with a golden triskelion with runes stitched around it in a loose circle and their robes were silver.
They were followed by the even ranks of hundreds of cadets of the various military academies that were on Asgard, they were being led by the Commandants of those academies. Opposed to sorcerers they didn't wear robes, instead they wore black armors and fur cloaks.
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Dumbledore looked at this crude display of power and frowned, he didn't approve of such things, his frown grew in size when he saw Harry standing at Thor's side, on the Citadel's balcony. Dumbledore wanted Harry to grow up in a loving environment, but not in one where being a warrior was expected from him.
"Impressive show, isn't it."
At those words he turned to his right where he saw Loki appear out of nowhere. "Your Highness, what do you mean?"
"I mean those warriors, or soldiers as you would call them, marching down the street," Loki smiled. "Those cadets as you would call them and the Royal Guard and other elite formations that will follow them."
"It reminds me of the imperialistic policy of the nineteenth and twentieth century on Earth, brute force and constant warfare."
Loki was silent for a moment as ranks upon ranks of warriors walked past their position. "The universe isn't a safe place, everything tries to survive in it and you need to have a bigger set of teeth than your neighbors to discourage them from attacking you, peace conferences and summits are nice, but as Stalin once said-" Dumbledore glared at Loki. "What? He wasn't a saint, but he knew what he was saying. Anyways, he said 'If any foreign minister begins to defend to the death a 'peace conference', you can be sure his government has already placed its orders for new battleships and airplanes'. We much more prefer to be ready at all times and avoid being caught unaware."
Dumbledore sighed, but nodded and looked towards Harry. "What about him and his training in the art of war?"
"What's wrong with it? That's the traditional way of upbringing the children of nobles."
"He is young-"
"And the universe isn't a safe place," Loki said, a dangerous twinkle to his eyes. "So he either is prepared for its horrors or he gets eaten by them, is it that hard to accept?"
Dumbledore didn't say a word and instead turned to watch the ranks of warriors move past them, the sound of their boots hitting the stone etched in his mind. Even if it didn't make any sense to him, he was forced to admit that there was something more to the coordination and perfection showed by those warriors and sorcerers.
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Following the cadets from various military academies, were detachments from the Royal Guard in their gold and silver plate armors with open horned helmets and long cloaks falling down their backs.
As they marched around them an air of superiority and confidence could be felt that not many units possessed. Getting into the ranks of this unit was a dream many of the young Æsir had. Since it was usually a window to fame, wealth and glory as they had the hardest missions to achieve and were usually deployed alongside members of the royal family. They were also the most well-known unit as they fought in almost every conflict and opposed to the Rangers their achievements weren't shrouded with darkness and mystery, instead they shone with glory and fame. Two qualities that made everybody want to be a part of it and be allowed to bask in it.
As they walked, each of their steps purposeful and precise, the cheer of the crowds started to grow louder and louder with each passing moment. It was one of the most revered and respected formations of Asgard and now it was fully visible.
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Warren stood with most of the X-Men and Ulf ,who somehow joined them on one of the balconies, and tried not to gape at those soldiers. "They look shiny and impressive."
"Because they are supposed to be," Ulf said with a smile. "Sif is their commander and you should know how good she is. She also said that if I really want to, I could join the ranks of the Royal Guard once I'm of age."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that. She trains me and knows my level, so she can accept me into the ranks." Ulf said and laughed. "But I turned down her offer, maybe in a century of two, but not now."
"I thought that it was the best formation to serve in, at least you said so." Kitty said with frown. "And you just turn it down so easily."
"Because I would need to use 'His Highness' to refer to Harry and I don't plan on doing it any time soon. Someone needs to pull his head out of his ass."
Warren laughed at those words and threw his head backwards. "So you don't want to miss an opportunity to tell my dear cousin how stupid and foolish he is."
"Exactly," Ulf said and pointed towards the next formation that was marching right after the guard. "Watch them."
"Who are they?" Warren asked, squinting his eyes.
He was able to see a large group of soldiers that were different than every previous formation that took part in the parade, every single one of them had shiny armor and fancy cloaks. Their armor, was different. It was completely black with not a single spot of other color and their faces were hidden, while every other warrior had their faces visible. To make them even more mysterious and dangerous they had cloaks that seemed to melt with the surrounding landscape. However none of those things was as unusual as their weapons.
Those weren't normal spears or swords, so common on Asgard, those were weapons that Warren always connected with Earth. Rifles that seemed to be customized for each user and seemed alien to him, sleek, graceful and much less bulky than ones used on Earth. He also saw large knives in scabbards on their belts, but it was obvious that it was a secondary weapon.
"Rangers, my brother was one of them for a few dozens years. The Royal Guard looks fancy and takes part in battles, but as he said, these are responsible for the work behind the scenes and the assassination of various targets."
"Sounds charming," Warren said. "No wonder they look so dangerous and dark."
"Yes," Ulf nodded. "If they are here, the next formation will surprise you even more."
"Why?" Kitty asked. "What can be more shocking than this?"
"Valkyries," Illyana said as she joined them. "You will see why."
Warren was about to ask when he heard the clattering sound of hundreds, if not thousands of hooves. When he looked in its direction he saw riders on winged horses. Winged? Yes, those were winged horses. Even if the horses weren't enough to get all of his attention, the riders were more than capable of doing it. All of them were female, beautiful females at that. Dressed in shining, gold and silver armor that drew attention to itself.
"Focus," Jean said, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Wh...What?"
"You almost jumped over the railing," she said. "They seem to have some sort of aura around themselves that does it."
Warren nodded and shook his head.
"And to think that those are not the most powerful ones," Ulf quietly said.
"What do you mean?" Kitty asked.
Ulf was silent for a moment. "At the end of King's Bør rule there was a rebellion, led by the Valkyries, thirteen of them took arms against him and they were the most powerful ones. They were banished out of the realm and cast into the void between dimensions, they are a common topic in a lot of tales and stories. But in short, they are the worst kind of traitors and nothing will change that."
Warren nodded and focused on the Valkyries and the other formations that followed, it seemed to not have an end.
o-0-o
Harry frowned as he watched the troops march down the alley, there was something amiss, then it hit him. Normally there weren't so many and the Rangers weren't present. "This parade is bigger than the last one," he finally said.
"Indeed," Odin said, " The Chitauri are rousing trouble. There is a need to reassure our allies that Asgard stands strong and is ready to commit its forces to war in their defense."
"And this gets the message across?"
Odin looked at Harry and Harry could see in the sole eye of his grandfather the intelligence burning brightly. "Aye, it shows how good our army is and how numerous, also the choice of who leads it says even more."
"Hermóðr," Harry finished.
"Yes, you know what his fame is and you should know how it will influence our allies and our enemies."
Harry nodded to those words and focused back on the warriors marching, their heavy boots striking the alley's stones in an even rhythm.
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Carol Danvers was focused on fighting her Math homework when she heard some commotion outside of her room. She put away her pen and looked up, curious about who was the reason for it. When she saw her uncle appear in the doorway with her father behind him, and trying to say something, she smiled.
"How's my favorite niece doing?" Robbie asked
"Good," she smiled and chastely hugged him. "I thought that you promised to take me flying."
A frown passed over her uncle's face. "I did promise, but I didn't have much time, work keeps me busy. I should be free in a few days. Read this, please."
She looked at him and caught the newspaper thrown at her by her uncle, her eyebrows arched when she saw the headline.
Attack on a school by religious radicals?!
We all remember the video that was released on YouTube a few weeks ago showing armed men storm Xavier's Institute For Gifted Youngsters, one of the best private schools on the East Coast, it seems that it was not fake and those events actually happened.
SHIELD released a brief statement about the attack. 'It did, indeed, happen and we are carrying out an investigation. Unfortunately due to security reasons we cannot tell you more than that behind the attack stood a group called Purists, led by Reverend William Stryker and supported by Lt General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross.'
According to research done by me, the Purists are a group of mutant hunters that use religion as an excuse to murder whatever mutant they can find, no matter their age, gender, nationality or belief. The biggest question here, is why they were able to legally work for over twenty years and nobody dared to stop them or at least hinder their activities. Why was such an attack needed to get any sort of reaction?
The second biggest question that we would like to know the answer to is why is Thaddeus Ross still a member of our country's military forces, even when he is suspected of helping in carrying out an attack on a school full of children. Why?! We demand those answers and nothing will stop us from getting them.
We will keep you appraised of the situation and inform you when new evidence appears.
Carol tried not to growl as she folded the newspaper and hurled it at the wall, she had seen a lot of things, but this was new. She shook her head and slowly breathed out, trying to control her temper and keeping it from exploding. She wondered when she would hear about it from Warren, probably the sole person that was able to not openly stare at her and was somewhat intelligent.
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Maria Hill grinned as she watched those Hunters from Asgard demolish the training course and destroy with ease every single target that was to be destroyed. She knew they were supposed to be good, but this was something she hadn't expected to see.
"They are really good," she finally said and looked at Banshee. "How did you get convinced to help me with my hunt?"
"Loki. He said that I'll get bored on Asgard, while here..." He waved his hand around. "While here I'll have the opportunity to use my abilities, I also know a few things about wizards, not that I want to admit that."
"The ones that murdered your wife?"
Sean winced and looked at her. "Yes and when I saw the Hogwarts students on Asgard, it opened the old wound. You don't know how corrupt and how wrong their society is."
"Natasha mentioned it a couple of times." Maria shook her head. "But I never knew it was that bad."
Sean didn't say a word and turned to watch the Æsir that kept demolishing the course.
She let him brood for a moment before she finally broke the silence. "So could you capture one man for me?"
"Who?"
"Igor Karkaroff."
Sean slowly turned towards her and as she looked into his blue eyes, she saw grim determination. "I'll do it, though he might not be with all of his limbs attached. I met him in the past and we have a score to settle."
She sighed, but nodded. "Just get him alive and take as much time with him as you wish to. Natasha might have spooked him with her mission in Moscow."
"Durmstrang is a pain to track down," he said and briefly smiled. "But I think that our common friends will be able to do it, even if Karkaroff is going to hide."
"Yes," she smiled.
She heard him walk out of the room and focused on the Rangers below. She would do everything in her power to keep them as they could solve a lot of her issues. Issues that tended to fight back and didn't know reason.
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Once the military parade ended everybody that was interested in watching the tournament live made their way into the Academy and onto the stands of the largest arena. It was able to house thousands of people and after the opening ceremony, smaller arenas would come to play, allowing even more people to watch sorcerers showcase their skills and abilities.
Harry smiled as he followed his family into the Royal Box from which most of the usual dignitaries were chased away and in their place the X-Men, Illyana and a few people from Hogwarts got places, however Illyana would join them later. The only dignitaries that managed to save their sits were Sif and Bragi.
When he entered the box he could see the whole arena below them, the first groups of sorcerers were already entering and forming even ranks on its surface.
"Where is Illyana?" Danielle asked as she joined him.
"On the arena or she will be there soon. She needs to make that oath, whether she plans to stay on Asgard after she is done training or not."
"So it's done 'just in case'?"
"Exactly." He smiled and looked at the arena.
Every sorcerer was on it, kneeling on one knee in front of the Royal Box and Odin walked to the railing. At the same time everybody in the arena fell silent and looked towards Odin.
"All of you are here to make an oath that you will not betray Asgard and will not taint those robes with any unhonorable deed. Are you willing to do it out of your own free will? If you have any objections you may withdraw now, after this very moment there won't be a single chance for you to withdraw."
Odin paused for a moment, allowing those that wished to withdraw to do so, but nobody did moved.
"Do you swear to obey and serve faithfully the Kingdom of Asgard and its King?"
"I do!"
"Do you swear to protect the Kingdom of Asgard from all of its enemies? Both internal and external ones?"
"I do!"
"Do you swear not to use magic to commit crimes?"
"I do!"
"Then, I, Odin Børson, the Allfather, King of Asgard, Shield of Asgard and Protector of the Nine Realms accept those oaths as valid in the light of law and tradition, you may rise, new sorcerers and sorceresses of Asgard and uphold those values."
"So that's why she needed to make this oath..." Warren said. "The part about committing crimes with magic."
"Exactly," Harry nodded. "Magic is sometimes annoying to track and you haven't seen how much mayhem our version of it can cause."
"I saw you summoning storms and other things when at the Institute, isn't it enough?"
Harry laughed at those words. "No, that's merely the beginning, here you will see what some of the best can do."
"If you say so, little cousin."
Harry knew that Warren wasn't convinced, but he leaned back and focused on the arena below.
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"What?!" One of the Slytherin students asked. "Are they forced to make such oath?"
"Different world, different customs," Flitwick said with a shrug. "It's not like we wizards are the best at everything, other races and civilizations also can make something great or good."
Slytherin student wanted to say something, but fell silent and allowed Flitwick to look around.
While he was a Dueling Champion for a couple of seasons and he loved such entertainment, it seemed that not everybody was going to enjoy the show that was going to take place on the arena below them.
"It is mainly to send them a message and get it into their skull," said Bjarni as he passed by and stopped by Flitwick side. "Usually a show of power and might works nicely on everybody except idiots and those too narrow-minded to think clearly."
"Which unfortunately makes up the bulk of Hogwarts," Flitwick said. "While a lot of them is good when it comes to magic, they are a failure when it comes to anything connected with logic or academic subjects."
Bjarni's brows furrowed. "Don't you have any form of educational institution before Hogwarts? Here most children are either home-schooled or attend a school ran by the noble who governs the land."
"Most of them is sent to educational institutions ran by non-magical people, but I suspect that before Hogwarts they forget almost everything they had learned and the rest is schooled at home,the quality of which is a questionable thing."
"As well as strokes their egos to the size of a planet, turning them into arrogant brats that don't know the word obedience or discipline," Bjarni murmured. "Sometimes I want to grab one of them and throw out of the Academy into the water below, as a warning to the rest."
"Not only you, not only you," Flitwick said and looked towards the arena where the first pair of fighters was preparing to start to duel.
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Percy Weasley tried not to gape as he watched the duel, the two fighters that were dueling each other were breaking almost every single law of magic that was taught at Hogwarts. He could see whole mountains being created and destroyed and the amount of power was unnerving to say the least.
"How are they doing it?" He finally asked loudly.
"They aren't human.," Katie Bell said. "They do things only they can do, things that are out of our reach and I have a feeling that those two are not the very best."
He dumbly nodded and his eyes widened when one of wizards on the arena summoned a thirty-meter tall pillar of fire that charged across the arena and slammed into his opponent. But that was not what shook him, it was what followed. The one hit by the fire spell shrugged it off as if it was nothing and with a furious expression walked forward, the ground cracking around him.
Chunks of rock and soil flew into the air and formed a cocoon around him, creating a protective shield for him. He pushed his hand forward and some of the debris charged towards his opponent, changing into spikes and shards while in the air.
Percy shook his head as he saw it and pinched his nose, trying to see if it was an illusion.
"It's real," Katie said. "They just did that."
He nodded and his eyes widened when those chunks of rock were melted by beams of fire that came almost out of nowhere, passed through them and charged at the opponent.
Looking at the duel Percy could tell that it was only the beginning and that the true fight was far from starting.
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Loki could feel Dumbledore shift uneasily in his seat, apparently the old Headmaster was uncomfortable in such close proximity to so many powerful mages, mages that could easily squash him like a bug. Also, there was something more to the current state of the Headmaster, Loki's gaze flickered towards the arena and then it dawned on him.
He put on his usual mask and looked at Dumbledore. "Headmaster, what do you think about the festivities of the day?"
"They seem interesting, but is it really necessary to force upon ones so young such oaths?"
"If you want to keep them under control, then yes," Bragi grumbled. "I might force some of your students as well, as I have more than enough of them feeling adventurous and exploring at night when everybody is trying to sleep."
"They are young so they should be allowed to have some freedom."
"Freedom ends the moment you violate someone else's personal space" Loki said with a sly smile. "I was right about the fact that Hogwarts needs serious remodelling and its students need some lessons from reality, by the looks of it the staff too."
Dumbledore looked at Loki, some fear in his eyes. "It works well without any major changes, so I don't see the need to do anything more than add a few minor changes."
Loki smiled and looked at the sky visible through the glass dome. "Then how is it that nobody explained to your students that the Boy-Who-Lived is nothing but a myth, a bad one at that."
He could feel a couple more people pay some attention to their discussion, some of them X-Men, but more importantly the rest of his family was looking at Dumbledore. Looking in a manner that suggested calling guards and dragging the goal into the nearest dungeon.
"We needed hope after the times of Voldemort and it was one of the few sources we could get it from, it was also the one that shined the most, so we needed it badly."
Loki heard Thor growl, but he slowly shook his head indicating for his brother to calm down and looked towards Dumbledore. "Even if it was a source of hope, how hard would it have been to slowly start to explain that it is false, once you had gotten past those issues."
"And destroy the sole hero they have heard about?"
"If need be, yes, this will cause more bad than it did good," Loki said and sighed. "Now my nephew can't show himself close to wizards because of the fact that they worship him for something that he didn't even do."
Loki smiled when he saw Freyr narrow his eyes. "What do you mean, dear cousin?" Asked the Prince of Vanaheim.
"That thanks to Dumbledore, Harald is worshipped because a spell bounced off him and towards the one that casted it. True, it was the Killing Curse, as they call it, but it wasn't its true version."
Freyr growled and looked towards Dumbledore. "What do you have to say about it?"
"He is a hero and he deserves to be worshipped, he was the one that stopped Voldemort."
Loki sighed, rolled his eyes and looked at Dumbledore. "Can we cut to the chase? Changes will happen to Hogwarts, no matter what you do. So the best thing for you is to cooperate with me and convince me not to remove you from power." Loki saw Harry get up and walk out of the box, but he fully understood his action, and instead, focused on Dumbledore. "So what is your answer?"
"I dislike it, but I will accept."
"Perfect," Loki said with a smile and looked at Bragi. "Would you mind helping me with fixing Hogwarts? After all you have been running the Academy for a few hundred years now and it works well."
"It would be an honor, Your Highness."
Loki nodded ,content, and focused on the duels happening on the arena below.
o-0-o
Harry walked out of the Royal Box and stormed down the corridor running along the stands, he wanted to have an opportunity to think and clear his mind. He slowed down and leaned against one of columns supporting the ceiling.
He slowly breathed out and looked at a single spot on the ceiling as he attempted to push the thoughts out of his mind. He closed his eyes and was actually able to focus on something, not on the rage and anger that was flying around his mind. His uncle could have warned him that such talk could happen.
Clenching his fists he looked around and slowly started to walk down the corridor, a small smile appeared on his lips when he saw Ulf leaning against a pillar in his scale armor. His friend had some kind of weird smirk on his lips, a confident and mischievous one.
"What are you doing here and not with your family?" Harry asked as he came to a stop near Ulf.
"I could ask you the same question," Ulf said. " I'm mainly watching a group that seems amusing and a bit annoying."
Harry arched an eyebrow.
"The Wizards brought to Asgard by your uncle, Prince Loki, some seem like nice people, while the rest is too loud and obnoxious, even for my taste."
"I was like them when I got here."
"You were." Ulf shrugged and looked at Harry. "But we both were louder and more careless than now. They are worse than we were."
Harry sighed and nodded. "I like a few of them, but from what I saw when Bjarni was making them go through the paces, they are weak and slow."
"Than why did your uncle invite them to Asgard?"
"Don't know," Harry shrugged. "He doesn't divulge his plans to me, but he must have had a reason to do so. If I had to guess, he wants them brought to heel and Hogwarts was always connected with Asgard."
"Was?"
Harry sighed and looked at the sky. "Did you really pay any attention to what Sif was telling us about the Second War with the Frost Giants? Something like twelve centuries ago."
"That we had won it and that it was thanks to your grandfather?"
Harry yawned and looked at the sky. "Didn't she mention a few more things? One of them being the fact that my uncle decided that Midgard needs to start to train its own wizards, if they don't want to constantly be the damsel in distress?"
"She mentioned something about it," Ulf said and frowned. "And this Hogwarts is supposed to be a school of magic? Even I with my limited magic I can cause more havoc than they can."
"You have magic?" Harry asked, he hadn't expected that.
"According to my father I have, not the most powerful, but it should be more than sufficient."
"Not bad," he whistled quietly and looked at Ulf. "But I guess that it is not something you want to talk about."
"No," Ulf said as they started to slowly walk towards the boxes occupied by the more important nobles and their guests. "Are you planning to go back to Wolf's Hall after the Tournament is over?"
"Maybe," Harry said and shrugged. "I might actually try to watch the wizards more closely than I did before. Sometimes being a Prince isn't bad."
"Guards?"
"Yes," Harry nodded as they entered the box and not many looked at him returning. He sat down and focused on watching the duels. Duels that would last well into the night and finish in a week's time.
o-0-o
Oliver tried not to gape as he looked at the duels taking place on the main arena, he knew that the Æsir were powerful sorcerers, but this was new and even better. He already saw the whole arena flooded more than once. "I knew that Black Eagle is powerful, but this is something more," he finally said.
"We knew that he was starting to learn more serious magic," Tonks added. "So he is weak compared to them."
"Who are you talking about?" Percy Weasley asked.
Oliver sighed at those words and looked at the most annoying Weasley out of the whole family, he was a stickler to the rules and nothing was able to get into his mind. "A friend of ours that is half-Æsir, you don't need to know about him."
"Tell him, it'll be fun to watch," Tonks said. "It's not like everybody knows the son of Thor, the rather special son of Thor."
Oliver laughed when he saw how gobsmacked their peers became, it seemed impossible for him that one sentence was enough to cause such a reaction. He expected more than this.
"When did you meet him?"
"When we were at the Institute," Charlie said and shrugged. "I'm really surprised that you didn't notice them yet, they are quite visible."
"Yeah." Oliver looked towards the Royal Box and easily spotted several X-Men inside of it. "The only thing that is surprising is where they are."
Tonks chuckled and looked at him. "It's kind of obvious why they are there, they were invited and believe me everybody will be more than grateful for chasing away those annoying dignitaries."
Oliver nodded and focused on the arena, most of which was hidden behind a thick layer of smoke and dust that was thrown into the air by some kind of a spell.
o-0-o
The week of the Tournament passed with many sorcerers showing impressive abilities and more than a couple of times testing how badly the arena could be damaged in a duel with huge chunks of it flooded, melted or obliterated in other ways. Once the time of festivities had passed it was time to slowly return to normal or more usual life. Which for Harry meant studying, training and in his free time spending time with his friends and the X-Men, his grandfather decided that there was no bad time for training and that every opportunity should be used.
One of the things that was added to his training was mixing magic and normal fighting techniques into one fluid style that would combine the best aspects of both things and negate their most glaring shortcomings. Thus allowing him to be much better when in combat than he already was.
Harry focused magic in his palm and smiled when he saw Ulf charge straight at him. Harry pushed his hand forward and a beam of energy flew from it and slammed into Ulf, its force throwing him backwards.
Ulf rolled backwards and came to a stop on the sand of the arena, an annoyed expression on his face and his eyes narrowed, looking for any opportunity to strike. "How did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"This spell," Ulf clarified
"Luck," Harry shrugged.
Gripping the handle of his axe with both hands Ulf charged at Harry, forcing him to watch out and prepare to defend himself. Harry's blade made an arc and slammed into the shaft of the axe, pushing it backwards and making Ulf lose his balance for a part of a second.
It was a miniscule amount of time, but enough for Harry to jump away and get some room to breath, without any axes flying close to his head and attempting to chop it away. His eyes watched Ulf, trying to analyze his moves and find a pattern in them.
"Someone is getting slow?" Harry asked as he charged at Ulf.
"Maybe in your dreams," Ulf shouted back.
Harry only smirked and thrust his sword forward, counting on surprising Ulf with this move, however hoping as far as it went. Ulf moved out of the way of the strike and slammed the blunt side of his axe into Harry's head. It dazed Harry and threw him onto his knees, before he had a chance to get up he felt a blade pressed against his neck's soft skin.
"You won." He said as he saw Ulf's hand keep a knife at his throat.
"Finally," Ulf said and helped Harry to get up. "After something like ten losses to you I finally won."
"Even the best can lose," someone said, when they turned they saw Bjarni walking towards them. "I watched the fight and it was impressive for your age."
"Thank you," Harry bowed his head, picked up the sword and looked towards Bjarni. "You will be training the wizards?"
"Yes," Bjarni said and shook his head. "They are annoying and sometimes I wonder if they possess a brain, or at least one that works."
"They need to get used to the idea of using something else than magic," Harry said. "At the Institute they learned it, as they were the more intelligent ones."
"I noticed."
"I would wish you good luck with them, but I have a feeling that they will need it more." Bjarni sadly nodded in agreement.
Harry smiled, slid his sword into its scabbard and walked out of the arena, while passing through the gate, they were met by wizards. He was thankful for the fact that he hadn't taken off his helmet and it hid his scar. When he saw Tonks pass by him, he threw a small ball of folded paper at her. She looked at him and for a moment, distracted, but then nodded and smiled.
"What was that?" Ulf asked
"Message to friend," Harry smiled. "She should understand what I mean by it."
"What did you use this time?"
"Nothing," Harry said and rolled his eyes. "I was too tired to think about fitting quotes or passages from something she would recognize and knew how to read. Unless you think that quote from the Song of the Old One or from the Song of the Fiery One would be understood on Midgard."
"Point taken," Ulf nodded as they entered into the changing rooms to get out of the layers of armor that they were wearing to protect themselves from harm and get used to their weight. In a normal fight, speed was crucial and getting used to those several kilos of steel, mithril and other alloys was important.
"She is an intelligent one and I left her just enough hints to figure out what was going on and where to look," Harry said as he threw pieces of his plate armor onto the floor. "The problem might be for her getting there without any tails following her as many would love to meet me."
"Where do you want to meet her?"
"The terrace on top of the wing to the right of the entrance," Harry said.
He threw the last piece of his plate armor onto the floor and it was quickly joined by his chainmail, that loudly clattered on the floor. "What a mess," he murmured as he saw it, snapping his fingers he made it fly into one of the lockers and land in a somewhat organized pile.
"There is an advantage to scale armor," Ulf said with a thin smile. "It's easier to get in and get out of, as well as much more comfortable and easier to wear."
"But it is weaker," Harry said and saw Ulf mutter something.
They stripped out of their clothes and rushed into the bath, Harry almost hissed as the hot water touched his skin, but after a moment it was gone. All of his strained and sore muscles relaxing in the water. "As I was saying, she is intelligent and can actually think," he said as he looked at his friend.
He was kind of envious that Ulf was slightly bigger than he was, but then he didn't have wings. Wings which according to Eir's opinion would make Harry a little less bulky than an average Æsir and much less bulky than his father was. However the wings and his avian traits meant that he traded some of the physical bulkiness of an Æsir, for much better senses and that his body was able to survive higher speeds than the normal Æsir.
"Also not the worst looking one." Ulf added with a smile. "I can see why you like her."
Harry blushed slightly, but nodded. "So what do you think about the wizards?" He asked, trying to move to safer waters.
"Loud, obnoxious and not worth any attention."
Harry's lips curled up into a smile. "What did you say before wrestling Colossus?"
"He can at least think and knows how to behave," Ulf said. "Also I came to trust you and since you trust them, I'm not as suspicious."
"You know that I could order you to behave?"
"I know, but the question is if you would do it."
Harry frowned for a moment. "No, I don't think so."
"Good choice, Your Highness," Ulf said, making Harry roll his eyes and sigh.
"What did I tell you about honorifics?"
"Not to use them," Ulf said with a chuckle. "But you know that I should use them towards you and nothing will change that."
"I know," Harry said and sighed in relief as the water dealt with his aches and removed most of the grime that covered his body. "Sitting here is nice, but there are other things to do."
"Including you meeting that girl," Ulf sniggered as they got out of the pool.
Harry growled and shook his head, he fully opened his massive wings and in a couple of moves send most of the water that was in them towards Ulf. It slammed into him and covered him in a layer of water.
"That was nasty," Ulf growled and shook his head, trying to get water out of his eyes. "Not, that I expected something better from you."
"Someone needs to keep you awake," Harry grinned and was forced to jump out of the way of a punch flying towards his head.
He quickly dressed and walked towards the terrace where he was supposed to meet Tonks.
o-0-o
"This is an incredible place," Charlie said as he wrote runes on a piece of paper. "And I can fully understand why it is called a Realm of Gods."
"Why is that?" Asked a tall, lean Slytherin with nasty-looking blond hair and an even more unpleasant sneer on his face. "It just feels like a fancy illusion and nothing else than that."
"Maybe if you were able to pull your head out of your ass you'd be able to see what he means," said Tonks. "It is obvious that it's true and only a blind person would say something different."
"Keep your opinions to yourself, traitor," he sneered and stormed out of the room.
"What a jerk," Charlie muttered and looked at Tonks. "You okay?"
"Yes," she said and shook her head, focusing on the papers strewn in front of her. "I should have expected it from him. Flint was always lacking in intelligence."
Charlie winced and nodded.
o-0-o
Harry stood on the terrace and leaned over the railing with a faint smile on his lips, it was one of better sight-seeing spots on Asgard. The city was sprawled in front of it and if one looked further than the city, they could see the peaks of mountains in the distance. However none of it was drawing Harry's attention, he was looking at the city and trying to think about the past, the present and the future.
He heard footsteps behind and when he turned he saw Tonks walking towards him with Charlie Weasley following her. "I see that you figured out how to get here," he smiled briefly. "There are a few things that I would like to talk about with you."
"Oh?" Tonks asked as she and Charlie joined him at the railing.
"I know about my fame as Boy-Who-Lived among wizards and I don't really like it," he said and they looked at him. "The problem is that even if I dislike it, I need to start interacting with wizards in general, sooner or later."
"How can we help you with that?" Charlie asked.
"You know how they will react if I tell that I am Boy-Who-Lived."
"Not good," Tonks said with a wince. He looked at her and arched an eyebrow.
"She means that you might get trampled by them," Charlie said and paused. "Most wizards lack common sense and are as stupid as a rock, maybe even more. The moment they see you, they'll try to keep you with them and worship you."
"Worship? As in worship like a God?" Harry asked, trying not to chuckle.
"Yes, like a God." Charlie rolled his eyes. "I know that it sounds stupid and all, but that's their way of thinking and there are also riches that Potter family has gathered over the ages."
"And money always draws attention," Harry said and looked at them. "So could you subtly mention that the Boy-Who-Lived is here? So that they are more accustomed to the idea? I will reveal myself in few days once the hype is over. Are all wizards as lazy as the rest of Hogwarts is?"
Tonks sighed and winced. "I'll put it this way, some families are like that, some are better and there are some that actually know something more than magic. It's complicated and confusing for those that didn't grow up with us."
"That's a different story," Charlie said and Harry looked at the older boy. "We'll mention that you're here, just be careful when you're close to us as some might behave weirdly."
Harry smiled and snapped his fingers, making Freki and Geri appear at his side. "I think that these will keep most trouble away from me and there is my Wolf Guard and friends."
"Friends?" Tonks asked. "I don't remember you talking about them."
"Because you didn't ask about them," Harry said and looked at them. "The three people with whom I spend most of my time here, they also know how to keep things at bay."
"You'll need their help, you'll see why, but trust me on this one and keep them close," Charlie said.
"I will." Harry looked towards the walls of the tetrahedron that was rising from the middle of the structure. "What do you think about staying here?"
"It's certainly nice and interesting," Tonks said. "Also it reminds me in a way of the Institute."
"Though the wake up call is painful," Charlie said, subconsciously rubbing his ears. "I feel as if my head was placed inside of a bell."
"It happens." Harry said with a grin and looked at them. "It's still better than having an axe crash into a helmet on your head."
"Or have a meeting with a Bludger to the face," Charlie said and Harry arched an eyebrow. "You haven't heard about Quidditch, have you?"
"No, what is it?"
"A game played by wizards, a fun and dangerous game."
"Broken bones, twisted joints and a few other things," Tonks said cheerfully.
"Can you tell me about it?"
Charlie nodded and told Harry about it, at the end of the explanation Harry was rather interested in it as it seemed dangerous and exciting, the two things he loved, combined they were even better. It also made him look forward to his stay at Hogwarts, he was still suspicious about it, but much less than previously.
o-0-o
Loki smiled as he saw Dumbledore shift uncomfortably in his seat, apparently being in the presence of two extremely powerful sorcerers, whilst each of them is easily able of defeating him, was a bit too much for the old Headmaster.
And even if their presence wasn't enough to unsettle Dumbledore, their surrounding were more than capable of doing so as they were in the lavishly decorated office of the Lord Commandant of the Academy. Loki smoothed out his robe and looked at Dumbledore. "During our last talk we had agreed that Hogwarts needs to be changed and you were willing to cooperate."
"I said that I might be willing to make some changes to it, besides you didn't tell me what kinds of changes you were planning to make."
"I thought that I mentioned what kinds of changes I was planning to make," Loki said and looked at the sculpture showing Yggdrasil. "Anyways, in the past even if the houses competed with each other, there was some sort of friendship, now they seem to be fighting like a group of children. Can you explain to me how did that happen?"
"On its own and thanks to the fact that the majority of Death Eaters came from Slytherin."
"And you didn't see a reason to interfere and straighten things out?" Bragi asked. "After all the main task of any leader is to keep conflicts from escalating into all out wars, you saw that even if the Academy is competing with other schools, we are able to keep it civil."
Dumbledore shifted uncomfortably and for Loki it said more than anything else would.
"It seems that either the leader is bad, blind or he doesn't want his students to stop fighting each other," Loki said and smiled when he saw Dumbledore look at him. "If I'm honest, this is probably the easiest thing to change."
"Move living quarters into one place?" Bragi asked "So that they are forced to interact with each other, no matter how badly they hate each other?"
"Exactly," Loki said with a grin and saw Bragi nod in approval. "Either they will learn how to be civil on their own or they will be forced to do so, society dislikes people that insult everybody and it loves to teach them a harsh lesson to remember that." He saw Dumbledore open his mouth. "You might dislike it as much as you wish to, but it won't stop me from reaching my goals. And before you mention the fact that there is no place where they can fit. I will build one, it is a simple matter of remodeling the inside of Hogwarts and adding a few new things to it."
"There is also the matter of one of your teachers that seems to be favoring his house well beyond anything that could be accepted as normal," Bragi said. "He does everything to throw the blame at everybody else than his house. Even if he is shown with direct evidence he still is slimy."
"He should change," Loki smirked dangerously. "I spoke with him about my dear nephew and he understood the warning he was given, if not I can be more persuasive."
Dumbledore sighed. "I guess that I won't have a choice, but to accept those changes and try to negotiate with you."
"Finally you see reason," Loki briefly smiled. "I also plan to add runes that were a part of the curriculum when Hogwarts was first created, they disappeared over the ages, but it is high time that something was changed and fixed inside Hogwarts."
"Also, add academic subjects," Bragi grumbled. "Useful when you face wards or runes that create systems based on geometry or some pattern as well as in normal life and by the looks of it half of your students can't solve simple equations."
"And to think that they want to study Arithmacy," Loki said and rolled his eyes. "Probably a subject where there is more math than magic, math that is complicated and not easy to grasp. No wonders that the UK, in terms of magical inventions, is lightyears behind some countries, not many study runes or Arithmacy and the effects are visible."
"Not to mention, they need to be knocked down a peg or two, preferably a whole ladder. I understand being arrogant when you know something and have abilities to back your claims, if not then you better stay silent."
"Mentality will take longer than a single moment to change, but that's another thing that needs to be gone." Loki looked at Dumbledore. "You will stop the blatant favoritism of one group, unless you want me to play with you and Hogwarts and it will be nothing pleasant, I assure you."
"If I agree to those terms what will Hogwarts and I get in return?"
Loki frowned and looked at Bragi. "How badly would you mind some students, let's say twenty-eight, from Hogwarts for six months?"
"If they can behave, why not, after all it was a tradition in the past and it was a nice way to make students excel in their studies and compete with each other. And it works on almost everybody, so it is even better."
"I think I will accept." Dumbledore said. "However, could I have some impact on who is chosen to travel to Asgard."
"Why not," Loki said with a shrug. "It's not that we will keep those misbehaving or continuously testing everybody's patience. They will be sent back sooner than you think is possible. They will also get the same punishments as everybody else does and nothing will change my stance on that."
"I understand," Dumbledore said, though Loki could feel something more to the old Headmaster. "When will you do those changes to Hogwarts?"
"Probably during the summer as now it is the middle or so of the school year and it would be a bad idea to disrupt the way school works."
"I think it will be perfect, I will also have time to prepare the students and the staff for the changes that are to come." Dumbledore said and stood up. "I will leave you, since it seems we have discussed everything of importance."
"Indeed, we thank you for the opportunity to talk, it was a most enlightening discussion." Loki said and the moment Dumbledore was outside, he looked at Bragi. "I've seen politicians less scheming than him."
"He believes to be a messiah for his society," Bragi said and shrugged. "It will take time, but it should go away, sooner or later."
"I hope that it will be sooner," Loki said and looked out of the window, letting his mind wander over random topics. As well as what other changes would need to be applied to Hogwarts in the coming years.
o-0-o
Tonks looked at her paper and winced when she saw that she scored only ten points out of a hundred possible to get. She looked at Oliver and leaned over his shoulder and saw that he didn't fare much better than her. "Did they expect us to learn all of those things overnight?"
"I think that the answer is yes, I have eidetic memory, but it seems even it has some limits," he said and winced. "McGonagall and Flitwick will murder us for our results."
"Yes," she sadly agreed and looked around the hall and saw that most of people started to grumble unhappily. "They aren't too happy with their results."
"Who would be?"
"Point taken," she said and sighed. "It will be so, so troublesome."
Lecturer cleared her throat and they looked at her. "Since only a small amount of you managed to get an acceptable result from this test, it will be repeated once more in a week time and I hope that you see that you need to study and maybe ask fellow students for help. This is the place where your petty grudges and dislikes stay, maybe at Hogwarts you are allowed not to work that hard, but I expect you to at least try."
"There is this sliver of hope," Oliver said. "So it shouldn't be that bad."
"No, it should," she agreed and pulled out her parchment and started to make notes. "Take notes or I have a feeling we will get a nasty surprise once more."
"She wouldn't do it, would he?" Oliver asked as he started to write, his quill screeching on the parchment.
"She might," Tonks said and smiled, making him groan.
o-0-o
Tonks sighed as she entered the library and looked around until she found familiar form of Illyana hunched over some books and random notes. She walked to her and lightly tapped her on the shoulder, almost immediately getting her attention. "Hey Tonks, what do you want?"
"Help with runes as I feel we are going to be murdered," Tonks said sitting down in one of the free chairs. "And not only by your Instructors, but also by our own Professors."
"Why didn't you come when you were supposed to have the first test?"
"Because I thought that I would be fine and besides, nobody seemed eager to help us."
Illyana sighed and rolled her eyes. "Did you ask for help? Or did you assume someone will jump and help you?"
"I think that it was the second thing," Tonks admitted. "So could you be so kind and help me?"
"Why not," Illyana said as she looked at her notes. "This thing is almost done, so I don't have much else to do. She gave you those sixteen runes to learn?"
"Yes," Tonks said.
Illyana nodded and hummed quietly for a moment. "It will take time, but I think that I should be able to explain all of them to you."
"Thank you," Tonks said and pulled out her writing supplies, as she did it, it seemed that the ice was broken and other Hogwarts students took an example out of her.
o-0-o
Oliver gaped as he looked at the massive map of the local universe made in three dimensions with various realms marked in various colors, he was aware that Asgard was a huge empire, but now looking at a map that showed over a thousand galaxies and thousands of nebulae as well as uncountable other objects made him realize how massive it was. If he was right more than one fourth of the map was painted golden, a sign of it belonging to Asgard and even more was painted in a paler yellow, a sign of it being in Asgard's sphere of influence.
"This is the area of space where Asgard and Midgard are located," the lecturer said, drawing him out of his musings. "So that you can understand, Asgard is made out of over twenty galaxies and more are in our sphere of influence, your realm is a planet, just one planet."
"Some will have heart attacks," Tonks whispered and he looked around and saw a lot of pure-blood wizards gape and pale.
"Isn't it that they are supposed to be superior to everything and everybody?"
"Touche," she nodded with a smile. "They need to get used to a different scale and thinking, Xavier's did it for us, they are like children in a thick fog."
"Blind and too arrogant to realize how outclassed they are," he said and looked towards the lecturer.
"The only organization that we respect and recognize on Midgard is SHIELD as they helped us deal with a dangerous incursion of Chitauri and since then we have been helping them,the wizards of your planet aren't even marked on our maps, the only magical structures that we keep track of is Hogwarts, because it was created by Prince Loki, the White Council meeting place and Kamar-Taj, the rest is of no importance to us. We might change our view on them, but not in the immediate future as we do not see a point in doing so."
"Well, this will cause a lot of heart attacks," Charlie said and Oliver sadly nodded.
"Yes, especially the Slytherin students as they aren't the brightest, not that some of our house are any better,"
"No, they're not," Charlie agreed. "But the good thing is that those things seemed to shake them and they started to take more interest in the classes we have."
"Yes," Tonks said and added with a smile. "Some also managed to hide their pride and actually ask for help, which is rare."
"That's new," Oliver whistled. "This trip to Asgard seems like a very educational experience."
"Yes," Charlie agreed as they focused on the lecture.
o-0-o
Carol Danvers frowned as she looked at the CNN website, it seemed that someone decided to reveal what had truly happened at the Institute. She clicked the first link and a long article appeared in front of her eyes, way longer than most that were normally published.
Details of the attack on Xavier's revealed – SHIELD published whole report!
We all remember the events that happened those few weeks ago at the Xavier's Institute For Gifted Youngsters and the fact that SHIELD confirmed that they were carrying out an investigation, but couldn't release more due to security reasons. However, now it seems they are willing to say more as yesterday a report was released, over four hundred pages long and naming those that took part in this attack. The names of the students and the X-Men, whose base was Xavier's, are partially censored, we fully understand that and we won't question the decision to keep them secret.
According to the report the attack began around midnight when almost everybody was asleep and thus vulnerable, it seems that those that carried it out don't have a sliver of honor as only thieves and murderers attack at night, not allowing their victims a chance to react. When the mutants inhabiting the Institute discovered the attack, a short and brutal fight started with a lot of the attackers being killed. Some of the students were killed in the attack, but according to the report most of them only received various injuries. The whole thing ended with the arrival of SHIELD teams that dealt with the rest of the attackers and helped the injured.
According to the report the Institute was defended by its inhabitants, some names you can recognize are Warren Worthington III, son of Warren Worthington II, owner and CEO of Worthington Industries and one of the richest men on the planet. James Howlett, war hero and one of the super-soldiers during World War Two and Emma Frost, one of the rising stars of business and owner of Frost International.
The attackers were mainly various kinds of troublemakers, criminals and xenophobes from the Purist movement led by Reverend William Stryker who was one of the loudest supporters of anti-mutant policy and persecution. Weapons and supplies were provided by Lieutenant General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross, former officer of the Air Force, who is now stripped of his rank and all the honors he had attained over the years. 'He is not worthy of being a soldier of the United States Air Force, we never supported him and he was always a rogue agent,' said General Robert Jackson.
SHIELD also released information that all of those involved in those events would face legal charges. However due to the high profile of the case and the people involved in it, the exact date and place will be a secret until the time of the trial to avoid disruptions.
We hope that it will be the last act of such violence committed in the name of bigotry, prejudice and religious reasons in our country and that people will be able to see others as citizens, no matter their culture, race, belief or physical appearance.
As she read it Carol almost whistled loudly, she knew that Warren loved to end up in the media, but she never expected to find him in such a place. The fact that the words of her uncle were quotes didn't surprise her, he was one of the more commonly quoted soldiers.
She put her tablet away and sighing turned to look at the pile of homework that didn't seem to disappear on its own and needed to be done.
o-0-o
Fury looked at the thin sheet of paper that made its way onto his desk and narrowed his sole working eye as he studied it. The news brought by it were grim and potentially deadly, but they wouldn't explode right in his face now or in the next few years.
"So someone had a bright idea of attempting to clone Wolverine and a getting second mutant of the same kind." he said and shook his head. "Weapon X should know when it is time to retire and let others live."
He folded it and walked to the wall, he swiped his hand over the surface and saw the wall disappear under his touch. In its place a safe was revealed, he input the code, waited for it to open and when it opened he placed the document inside. It needed to stay hidden and out of sight. Being constantly paranoid was an important trait for a spy.
A/N:
Military parades are simple and effective way of showing that my hammer is the biggest and that you should listen to me or it will pay you a visit. Also it gives an opportunity to entertain the masses and stroke your own ego and show how good your military is. The most well-known ones are probably Roman triumphs and Russian military parades to celebrate the end of the Great Patriotic War(their name for the world war two). A lot is being said by who leads it and who is receiving it as well as what units are in it, if you show elite units and famous commander is leading it, you try to send a signal that one wrong move and this hammer will slam into your face. For size, shown were twelve groups from academies, Royal Guard, Rangers, Valkyries each of them was a rectangle forty people wide and twenty-five deep. Military academies usually open the parade as they are the future of the nation and are treated as units of the military.
Hogwarts, let's put it that way. Loki and Asgard need something that will allow them not to rush to the rescue of Midgard every time they get a minor problem with a wizard. SHIELD does a lot of work, but they can't be everywhere and Hogwarts just asks to spawn a trouble or two - no way for students to release their energy. When you have a group of teens and they are bored, it is just bad. Also he wants to undermine positions of everybody in the UK and with those actions he gets it.
Size of Asgard - land means more people, more people means more taxes, more taxes means more income, more income means more funds and more funds means that you can conquer lands around you. Also if you are about to forge weapons inside of a star, you need a lot of them and finding one that is big and stable enough is like looking for a needle in a haystack. And in two twentish galaxies you have a lot of needles.
Purists are an example of what propaganda can do, they are destroyed economically and socially as nobody will even admit that he thought well about them. Stigmatisation works wonderfully and used properly can destroy almost everything.
Fury's musings are for you to discover.
Reviews:
bearfan23 - no and maybe, after all she doesn't look bad
TimothyB - he is different, taller, much more massive, with wings and has this aura of danger and confidence around himself. Not many will be willing to look into his eyes and onto his face, thus they won't spot his scar
Captain James H00K - there will be something done about it, there are some reasons why the Dursley's got away with it, but it is a matter of time before Loki finds a good way to deal with them
TheFishKing - Deadpool is a wetwork man for SHIELD, if they lack muscles or need to get their agent out of a trap, he is their choice. Umbridge won't die soon, even if she is on the list of targets to kill, that list has several hundreds if not thousands of people that need to be killed. Love interest, no comments. Snape didn't realize how bad his situation is. Malfoy may.
randomplotbunny - Exactly, they are growing up to be warriors, but even them need time to relax.