A/N - Pink menace might be gone at the end of the chapter, same as another idiotic teacher that shouldn't be a teacher.
o-0-o
Gambit smirked as he looked over the gather first year students, they were in one of the biggest classrooms in Hogwarts and he could see that they didn't have the slightest idea of what would happen next. On the floor were scattered mats so that falls would be less dangerous and less painful, but nonetheless embarrassing, he glanced to the side and saw Banshee leaning against one of the walls, his silent form relaxed, yet ready to strike at moments notice.
Gambit's eyes slipped over students and most of them was a mix of nervous, curious and interested, with Harry and his friends being the only ones that smiled, though those smiles would make a wolf nervous.
"You probably wonder why I am here and who I am," Gambit said, pacing across the front of the room, his coat flapping in his wake. "My job is rather simple, teach you how to be able to defend yourself without magic, you will either learn or you will suffer greatly." He stopped for a moment and let his eyes wander over the faces of students, some were silent and still, while some looked as if they wanted to murder him. "Magic is a hard thing to use, I'm not a wizard, but I saw it used and unless you are allowed to concentrate you will be unable to use it."
There was complete, uniform silence in the room as everybody went still and looked at him with widened eyes. Nobody, not a single human being tried to contest power of magic inside of those walls, yet here was a crimson eyed man, not a lot older than most of them that had gal to say that magic was hard.
"Harry," Gambit said, breaking the silence. "I know about the events of January a year ago, how easy was it for you to use magic when bullets were flying around and you were wounded? Also what would say a textbook on Asgard about magic?"
"Almost impossible," Harry said. "I knew that I could use it, but I more cared about surviving next few moments and fighting back. It would say that I should use it only when I would have time to focus and channel it properly."
"Exactly," Gambit smiled. "For magic you need to focus your thoughts and that is a task that's a really hard to achieve when you have things that want to murder you." He paused for a moment and looked at Harry and Ulf. "Want to show them what you can do with weapons and in hand to hand combat?"
They only grinned and dropped their outer robes, making Gambit whistle in appreciation at the amount of weapons they had on themselves, thus promising a very enjoyable duel to watch. "You may begin when you are ready," he said and looked at everybody around. "I suggest that you make them some space."
Harry smirked as he pulled his sword out of its scabbard and looked at Ulf, who was gripping in one hand Jarnbjorn and in second a small shield. He moved forward, his eyes focused on Ulf and barely had a chance to dodge a strike that almost removed his head.
"That was nasty," he commented before sending his own strike, one that stopped on Ulf's shield. "You usually are far more reserved."
"I have a new axe, one that I want to test," Ulf replied with a grin, before sending a massive overhead strike that Harry barely blocked on his sword. "And you seem sloppy."
"No, I'm not," Harry said and then his eyes widened as he saw a boot fly towards his abdomen. He jumped back, his wings spreading and helping him with getting away and barely avoiding the kick. "That was nasty."
"Life ain't fair," Ulf said, sending a whirlwind of strikes at Harry making him dodge as many as possible and parry the rest.
Harry smiled when he blocked the last strike, he moved forward and sent an extremely fast strike at Ulf's armpit, the blade slammed into the clothes, but didn't cut them. "Surrender or should I cancel magic and open your arm?"
"I surrender," Ulf said through gritted teeth. "You won it."
"Because you know your place and that you should let me win?" Harry asked, sheathing his sword and looking at Ulf.
"Of course, Your Royal Highness Prince Harald James Thorson," Ulf said with a mock bow. "Should I kneel before you or is this enough?"
Harry laughed at it and looked at Ulf with some annoyance. "Didn't we discuss it already that you don't need to bow to me?"
"I know," Ulf said as he straightened and looked at Harry. "I just love to annoy you and this is one of the best ways of doing so."
Harry sighed and looked at Gambit. "Do you want more or is this enough?"
"I think this is enough," Gambit said and walked to the front of the room. "They are Æsir and are physically far stronger than you, also they trained since childhood, but it shows that you can use something else to fight than magic. I will be unable to teach you what they could do in hand to hand, but I will at least make you capable of getting away from someone that wants to murder you," he paused and let his eyes roam over the students. "Pair up and we will start, Harry, you and your friends can do whatever you want. Professor Cassidy might help you with it."
Harry nodded and with his friends walked to Professor Cassidy, who for him became more of a friend, than a teacher. At the Institute relations between teachers and students were more lax and X-Men usually had a lot of freedom when it came to how they treated teachers. It caused interesting situations, but usually worked just fine and had good results so nobody was really interested in changing it.
"I watched your duel and there are things that you could work on," Professor Cassidy said and they nodded. "We will work on those things as it is a problem with your thinking, not technique so I don't need to know how to use swords to tell you what's wrong."
Harry nodded and for the whole class while the rest tried to learn how to fall, he and his friends were focusing on hammering out mistakes in their tactic and trying actually to think before doing anything. Two things that proved to be challenging and left all of them mentally exhausted, not bringing a lot of results.
"We will work on it for the foreseeable future," Professor Cassidy said as the class ended. "You are all used to charging at the enemy without too much thinking, which is a really bad thing."
Harry smiled sheepishly at those words before grabbing his gear and with his friends trailing behind, they barely made it to the first intersection when he heard an unpleasant cough behind. He stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around, only to find a very pleasant face of Madam Umbridge looking at him. On her lips was a sweet, unhealthy smile, one that made him watch to punch her, punch her hard and hope that she would be dead.
He wanted to growl at her, but his training kicked in and he forced a pleasant smile onto his face. "How may I help you, Madam Umbridge?"
"I saw all of your carry weapons with yourself and there were reports that you have even more of them," she said, pleasant smile on her face. "Which under Educational Decree Number Thirty-One is illegal and results in a week of detention and hundred points loss for each person. Also I fear that I will need to inspect your personal belongings for any other contraband."
Harry's smile morphed into a scowl, one that would make almost everybody on Asgard looking for a way to get away from him. Yet on Umbridge face appeared an even sweeter smile.
"I expect Mr Potter tomorrow evening in my office," she said before turning around and walking away and leaving them alone.
"She made it up," Atalanta spat and Harry looked at her. "Last time I checked there was no Educational Decree Number Thirty-One."
"She is bent on destroying you," Ulf quietly said and Harry nodded in agreement.
"I know, uncle warned me about her and what she could do," he said and let out a sigh of annoyance. "But he didn't tell that she would be that brave and bent on her goals, we expected something more subtle and far more veiled, not direct attacks like a not very missed uncle of mine."
"My father told me that Tyr wasn't the most subtle person and that it took millenia before he became somewhat refined," Ulf said and Harry looked at him. "My father is far older than he looks for it, you know that we age really slowly and he is a prime example of how slowly it can happen. So he remembers and saw a lot of the events that are history for us or even for your father."
"So she is a hopeless case that doesn't have any chance of improving," Atalanta finished as they made their way for the next class. "Which means that you can tell your uncle to remove her."
"He won't do it," Harry said with a sad smile. "He prefers his victims to suffer before he is done with them and she will suffer a lot before he even thinks about doing a single thing to her."
Atalanta growled in frustration, yet managed to control herself from showing her true temper. "That's bad, really bad," she slowly said, carefully pronouncing each word. "She will be our doom and he doesn't want to remove her now, because she needs to suffer."
"Couldn't you ask your mother or one of sisters to pay a visit and turn that thing into a pincushion?" Ulf asked.
"No," Atalanta said and looked at Harry. "You know how the war is going, Amazons joined the fight and mother would need to have a really good reason to call back one of my sisters or on her own leave the field of battle."
"Fuck," Harry muttered. "My uncle doesn't seem willing to kill her now, your mother is tied, we are all doomed."
"We can remove her on our own," Ulf said, affectionately patting scabbard of his saxe knife.
"We can," Harry agreed with a smile as they walked into the Charms classroom, one of few subjects that he enjoyed and was different than magic that was on Asgard. So far it was only theory, but he could tell that using it in practice wouldn't be the easiest thing, far from it in fact. On Asgard spell that was overpowered so badly that it wasn't even funny worked just fine, just a lot, lot stronger and could have some interesting side-effects.
o-0-o
Harry tried to contain the scowl that was on his face as they followed Umbridge into their dorm, she seemed too cheerful for it to end good. She entered the dorm before waving her wand and summoning his trunk with a flick of her wand. Then she waved the wand and the lid flew open, at this she smirked and started to pull out his clothes as if they were just rags and then throwing them onto the ground. Harry watched it with impossible to read face and only winced when poetry from Jean and some of his other favorite books were treated as if they were trash.
"Where it is?" she snarled.
"What?" Harry asked, an innocent expression on his face.
"Weapons and armor that you are rumored to have."
"I don't know," he said and her eyes narrowed before she pointed her wand at the bottom of the trunk and muttered a word under her breath.
Harry saw a beam of light flow from the wand and slam into the wooden bottom of the trunk before forcing the second trunk hidden below to pop out. Umbridge smiled at the trunk and muttered a string of spells that made the locks protecting it snap and open, revealing its content.
"How many heirlooms did you take with you?" Ulf whispered and Harry glanced at him.
"Enough of them," Harry said and paused. "Grandfather and dad were very generous in terms of what I can take with me."
"You know that they will be greatly displeased when they learn that some puny mortal took them from you? Not even defeating you in a fair combat."
A flicker of annoyance passed across Harry's face before he nodded. "They will be thrilled and someone might suffer a lot."
Before Ulf could say a thing Umbridge croaked and Harry paid her some attention. "That will be four hundred points for each of you and I will take them and return to you once you graduate out of Hogwarts, if you graduate."
Harry placed his hand on Ulf's shoulder just in time to prevent him from hurling at Umbridge and nodded in understanding. The moment she was gone he looked at Ulf and smiled. "Did you forget that Heimdall is watching over me?"
Ulf blinked in confusion and then on his lips appeared a smile. "Did he just watch the whole thing and reported to your grandfather?"
"Indeed," Harry said before grabbing a book and jumping onto the bed. "Now we just need to wait."
o-0-o
Heimdall opened the Bifrost and watched as a lone female left it, her features sharp and hair as white as freshly fallen snow. Seconds later she was joined by several warriors with shields, swords and dressed in maile. "Welcome to Asgard, Your Majesty," he said, bowing his head ever so slightly.
"Thank you, Guardian of the Bifrost," she said.
"It is my honor and duty to welcome everybody in the name of my King and liege His Majesty, Odin Børson," Heimdall said and looked at her. "Your arrival, Winter Lady, was an unexpected one, so it might take a while before His Majesty can meet you."
"I understand," she said, as she turned, her hair flying, to look at the city. "I will make my way to the Citadel and take the rooms kept for any representatives of Unseelie when they are in Asgard."
Heimdall once again nodded and focused on the Bifrost, someone was requesting it to be opened, he looked in that direction and discovered that it was one of innumerable allies of Asgard. He quickly opened the bridge and moments later into the Observatory started to pour our dozens of female warriors on horses. If he had any doubts about the identity of this group, they were gone when a tall woman with pitch black hair, golden eyes and a circlet of gold on her head rode out of the Bifrost. She was wearing an armor that fitted her body perfectly, not leaving any room for imagination and around her hips she had a masterfully crafted belt made out of intertwining golden and silver wires with gems placed between them and a circlet of laurel wreath was visible on the buckle of it.
"Welcome to Asgard, Your Majesty," Heimdall said, bowing his head.
"Thank you," she said, her voice soft and sweet, yet there was steel heard in it. "I know that I'm an unexpected guest, but those matters cannot wait."
He nodded and watched as dozens of horse riders charged towards the city, large banner with a crowned eagle holding a thunderbolt in its claws flapping at the front of the group. Next few days on Asgard were going to be interesting and dangerous. Indeed, interesting and dangerous. As he returned to his watch post he could hear sound of horns echo across the city. The Amazons were rare guests on Asgard, their queen last time here was over ten centuries ago. She on her own would cause months of gossips and rumors, she combined with Winter Lady was bound to start gossips and rumors for few decades, not to mention confusion and chaos among foreign diplomats and ambassadors accredited to Asgard.
o-0-o
Odin rubbed his forehead as he felt massive headaches building up, he looked at the goblet of mead that was standing on a nearby table and emptied it before walking to his chair and sitting down in it. Events of the day were interesting and those two delegations on Asgard meant that someone was rising stakes and playing bravely, very bravely. He didn't have an idea what were their ideas or goals, but they were worrisome. While Otrera was more or less expected, Molly Carpenter, Winter Lady, was not and her presence worried Odin, her liege was expected to appear in few days, but not she.
For few moments he gathered his scattered thoughts trying to piece them back into something logical before he stood up and walked out of the room. On his way out of the room and on the way to his study he put on his crown and grabbed a belt with his sword. He entered the study and snapped his fingers at the guards that stood outside to bring Otrera, she was a more important one so he wanted to be done with her first.
Waiting for her he had time to fully gather his thoughts and think about what she could possibly want from him. There weren't many things that she could possibly think were important enough for her to negotiate them in person. While many thought that most of negotiations was done during official audiences, the truth was that during them nothing was achieved, nothing excluding exchanging of barbs or pleasantries, or in rare cases of both.
When doors opened he stood up and walked to Otrera who even with her beauty and grace was a dangerous predator, one that could rip out a throat of someone who insulted her and the next moment return to sipping the wine.
"Cousin," Odin said in greeting. "What brings you here to Asgard?"
"Cousin," she said with a nod. "I think that you know what I want from you."
"No," Odin said and indicated a couple of chairs placed around a small table in the corner. "Maybe you should amuse me?"
Otrera nodded, walked to the table, took one of free chairs and waited patiently for Odin to join her and pour them wine that was probably few millennia old. "I will speak bluntly," she started and Odin nodded. "Matters that I want to discuss pertain to your grandson and my youngest daughter."
"That's understandable," Odin said slowly and looked at her. "I assume that you would like to discuss if I would have anything against their marriage in the near future?"
"Indeed. They are of age when talks about marriages can start and while I don't want force any of them into something that makes them angry or unhappy and we, Amazons, hate being restricted. However I think it will be better than letting them being haunted by marriage proposals from all over the universe."
Odin nodded and was silent for a moment, considering what Otrera said. "I understand and can agree with your reasoning, while I doubt that any betrothal or marriage contract will make them happy I should be able to make sure that nobody even thinks about sending a marriage offer for one of them."
"Should I know how are you going to achieve it?" Otrera asked.
"I would suggest that you do not seek an answer to this question as what you could learn could have a very bad influence on my realm," Odin said carefully. "I will handle it so that they stay away, but I would like it to stay as a secret."
"Of course," she said and looked at him. "How the war is going on?"
"They seem to be careful where to attack as last few attempts of offensives on their part ended with Wardens cutting them to pieces," Odin said, slowly sipping his wine. "Since you deployed and Winter Court started to play hard they are being pushed back and we should be able to bring back status quo before the summit."
"So it is true? That the meeting of all Accords members will take place on Asgard?"
Odin only nodded and several next minutes they spent discussing the Accords and what could be negotiated, giving him an idea of what Olympus would try to gain during the summit. Even if she an autonomous ruler, she usually knew a fair bit of detail of what was going on Olympus.
o-0-o
Atalanta growled as she looked at Ginny, that girl was an annoyance, like an irritating little fly that thought it could punch above its weight.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked as he felt her change of mood.
"That girl, one that I want to murder," Atalanta said, indicating Ginny. "She behaves like I wasn't there."
"I'm not surprised about it," someone said and their heads flew in the direction of the voice, person that said those words was a girl in Hufflepuff robes. "I'm Susan Bones and the fact that she looks like she wanted to rape you is simple, almost every kid when they were growing up heard about Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived and they want to either be like you or get close to you. She is just the extreme version of it."
"And her brother?" Atalanta asked and looked at the girl. "Sit down with us, if you want, I usually don't murder people without a good reason."
"If you mean Ron," Susan said and they nodded. "I have no idea what's going on inside of him, I met him a couple of times, but he was completely different."
"How so?"
"More open, dumber, rasher and arrogant," she said. "Also if he doesn't get something, he gets angry."
"We saw it," Harry said with a wince. "On the train to school."
"That's a prime example of an average pure-blood wizard," she said and let out a sigh of resignation and frustration. "As much as I dislike pure-blood nobility, Blacks, Malfoys, my family and few others, they are way above the level of average pure-blood wizards. While most of his siblings are nice and all, he, his sister and his mother are nightmares."
"It seems that I will need to have a chat or two with him," Atalanta said with a vicious smile.
"What kind of a chat?" Susan asked, confused of what was going on.
"A very convincing one," Harry said with a shrug. "Not as convincing as my grandfather, but still managing to send almost everybody running away from her."
"I see," Susan said and looked at Harry. "How is it that you have your ears pierced? Here guys rarely get them."
"Gift from a friend and a custom in a way," Harry explained, brushing his finger across the earlobe and the stud with an emerald set in it. "It is the same thing as tattoos for us and we tend to see it as a sign that someone is a warrior."
Susan nodded and hummed quietly. "So all of you are warriors of Asgard?"
"More or less," Atalanta said, her keen golden eyes shining with intelligence. "For some we will need to serve few years with the military to be considered warriors, but generally we are considered warriors."
"You need to?"
"We don't need, per se," Harry said, pausing to gather his thoughts and take a sip of butterbeer to silence headache that was driving him insane. "But since draft is in place we don't really have a way to avoid it."
"And mostly it is a way to let us receive more advanced training and education when it comes to military," Atalanta added. "So we spend two years or so in one of barracks scattered around the Capitol and train."
Susan nodded and looked at Atalanta. "When are you going to deal with Ron and his idiocies?"
"Well," Atalanta smiled dangerously. "How about now?"
Harry shuddered at her words, rolled up sleeve of his shirt, revealing a scabbard placed there and earning a small gasp of shock from Susan. "Have it," he said, pulling it out and handing to Atalanta.
"Thank you, love," she said before kissing him on the forehead and taking the blade. "I will use it well."
o-0-o
Ron growled when he saw Atalanta kiss Harry, she was his, not Harry's, yet Boy-Who-Lived thought that she was his. However his scowl of disgust turned into a small smile when he saw her walk to him, her hips swaying as she walked and making him follow them with his eyes like a lost puppy.
"You are a goddess," he only managed to say, his brain having troubles piecing together coherent thoughts.
"Indeed," she smirked. "I am a goddess and you won't even think of flirting with me."
"What?" He shouted, getting up. "I will flirt with whoever I want."
"You only think so," Atalanta said, her eyes burning with cold fury and the next moment he felt something sharp touch his crotch. "One wrong move and I will personally castrate you and feed you your own balls."
He gulped and his eyes ran to his crotch, only to see her holding a knife that rested on his body.
"You can test me," she said with a vicious smile and looked at him with disgust. "But first I suggest you change your pants as you just pissed yourself."
He looked at her and then finally felt that his pants were wet. Without any more words he run away from her and into the dormitory, everybody in the common room laughing at him and his behavior, making his blood boil in his veins.
o-0-o
Fred laughed loudly as he watched his stupid, little brother run away in fear like a weasel he was. Getting up from the table and making a wide circle around the spot where Ron pissed himself he made his way to Harry's table.
"That was the best show ever," he said, sitting down between Harry and Ulf, who appeared seconds before with Luna to his side. "Also he run much faster than I ever see him do it."
"It seems that she healed him from wrackspurt infestation," Luna added, making them arch eyebrows in question.
"Thank you," Atalanta smiled. "He started to irritate me and it might be beneficial for him."
"Would you really feed him his own balls?" Fred asked, unsure if she was sincere.
"Well, yes," she said, correcting her hair. "This tradition lives in my people and I need to uphold it."
"Your people?"
"The Amazons," Atalanta smiled and Fred's jaw almost dropped.
"Those that took part in Trojan War and those that fought with Heracles?" Luna asked.
"The same ones."
"O-Okay," Fred said, for the first time in his life being out of words. "If you do it, may we get the best seats possible."
"Sure," Atalanta smiled. "I will enjoy doing it."
"Can we talk about something more pleasant?" Harry asked. "I'm aware that you're a sadist, but can we not talk about mutilating people. At least I would love to remain whole," he said and added with a smirk. "Not to mention that you have use of me remaining whole."
At those words on Atalanta's face appeared a small blush, Harry's face turned into a nice beet root color, while everybody else laughed.
"So it is true that there is something going on between the two of you?" Ulf asked, trying to control his laughter. "I knew you were sleeping with each other, but I didn't know that you were doing anything physical."
Fred wanted to laugh, but stopped when he saw Atalanta's gaze focus on him, one that would turn him to ash if it could. "Your secret stays safe with me or my brother," Fred said and she nodded. "Also we won't be mad if you damage our brother or stupid sister, though mother might be."
"That screeching banshee will be mad," Susan said, shaking her head. "I met her once and this is enough for me."
"So?" Atalanta asked.
"She will try to send you few dozens of hellish things known as Howlers," Fred said with a hint of disgust in his voice. "They are a pure horror and you don't want to know that they even exist."
"And since our brother is a git, he will tell her about this event and the encounter on the plane, so be prepared for a rain of them," George said and shook his head. "Even if Percy is a stickler to the rules. He at least behaves like a civilized person and doesn't go running to our mother for help whenever he needs her help. We will send her a letter so hopefully Ron gets chewed out, not you, but we cannot promise."
"On Asgard he would get chewed out so badly that he wouldn't even think about dragging her into a scuffle with friends," Ulf said with a snort. "We usually solve our problems on our own and without dragging parents into the mess."
"So what would happen to him if he asked his parents to interfere?" Susan asked.
"Merciless teasing and a lot of unfriendly behavior," Harry said and frowned. "Usually it doesn't get that extreme, but there are cases when it can get nasty."
"So Ron would be an outcast?"
"Not exactly," Ulf said and sighed. "He would be just at the bottom of the chain, which usually means having an unpleasant duties, paying for everything eaten and drank by the whole group and explaining any and all mishaps."
"Mishaps?" George asked. "Why do I have a feeling it can be amusing?"
"Explain how all flower pots ended missing or shattered to pieces, why there are few holes in the walls and so on," Atalanta explained. "Or my favorite how the hell half of the garden was aflame."
Weasley twins laughed at the last one and it took them a while before they calmed down. "Why do I have a feeling that it was Harry who did it?" Fred asked.
"Because it was him," Atalanta said with a smug smile. "We were training our magic and he tried to show off."
"And set on fire most of the gardens?" Susan asked as at the same time Harry blushed.
"Pretty much yes, his grandmother was definitely not amused by his performance," Atalanta said, making Harry scowl.
"Why did you pick on me? Ulf is a much safer target," Harry pouted.
"Because I like to annoy you," Atalanta said and left a peck on his cheek. "Also you are the one that I want to annoy."
"Maybe you should find a broom cupboard for yourself?" Susan suggested, trying not to laugh.
"I will have the time when we will be back on Asgard," Atalanta smirked and looked at Harry. "Also we prefer more room for ourselves, cupboard would be a bit too small."
"Can you drop the topic and can we move onto something that we really need?" Ulf quietly suggested and they nodded. "Good, Fred, George, I heard that you know how to cause troubles and we might need your services."
"What would you require?" Fred asked.
"A rather special pink menace needs to be gone," Ulf said and Fred nodded in agreement. "While for us it would be bad if we directly took part in it, I think we could help you."
"How?" George asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Considering that my uncle is known as the Trickster and we were allowed more or less to rob the armory," Harry cut in. "I think that's enough, not to mention that we have no love for that thing, the only problem with our gear is that she has it, not all, but most."
"Well, you made us interested," Fred said and looked at them. "You manage to convince your uncle to show us some pranks and magic, and we'll gladly help with your problem."
"I can convince him," Harry said. "Question is if you want to learn from him."
"From the great God of Lies and Magic?" George asked, twins once again switching and making Harry roll his eyes in annoyance. "We would be honored by being just in his presence."
"I was just asking to be sure," Harry said and they nodded. "So what would you need to cause chaos and make her suffer?"
At those words twins smirked and the two of them, Harry and his Asgardian friends walked to a separate table, far in the corner of the room where they discussed the matter in hushed voices. Sending suspicious glares at anybody that wandered too close.
o-0-o
On Loki's face appeared a smirk when he saw a couple of balloons drop onto Umbridge and paint her a beautiful mix of gold and red. While those two weren't his favorite colors, they certainly added a lively note to her boring outfit that better fit a simple clerk, not a person of her station. That was assuming that she had any qualifications for this post, which at best was doubtful.
Making a wide circle around her and ensuring that the veil around him was holding he made his way through the castle, looking for ones that caused the deed. It was a plain and simple one, yet showed well how clever they were as they weren't anywhere close to her, allowing whoever it was or whoever they were to get away with it.
He walked around the corner, leaving miserably looking Umbridge behind and smirked when he spotted a tapestry that was slightly moving. He stopped in front of it and took a look at the pair of bears dancing to the tune played by a satyr before closing his eyes, teleporting to a spot where was the other end of this passage and waiting. When he felt the tapestry move he snapped his fingers and an illusion hiding him dropped and he became visible.
Two teens emerged from behind the tapestry and looks on their faces when they saw that there was someone waiting for them was priceless. One moment on their faces were smug smiles, the next moment they froze in fear and dropped to their knees.
"O' the great Trickster take us as your apprentices," they said in unison, touching with their heads the floor and making him smile. "We were praying to you, hoping for your blessing and support."
"Rise from your knees, my faithful followers," Loki said with a smile. "My dear nephew mentioned you."
"Did he?" Fred asked.
"He did," Loki smiled and they looked at him with admiration in their eyes. "I believe that he asked you to make that hideous creature suffer for all she did and will do," at those words they nodded in agreement. "So I might as well as help you and enjoy the havoc you will cause."
Twins laughed merrily at those words and made Loki realize that they were so much like him, he was a lot more experienced, brutal and tougher, but deep down he was the same troublemaker the two of them were. He also could see intelligence, scary amounts of intelligence inside of them, one that needed to be carefully directed and nurtured. They weren't magical powerhouses as Dresden, Dumbledore or he were, but they were clever and knew how to think, which tended to be enough to at least survive meeting with a magical heavyweight that wanted to murder them.
"So when do we start?" one of them asked.
"How about now?" Loki asked and snapped his fingers, moving all of them to an empty and unused classroom that was out of the way and out of sight. Then he moved his hand around and vanished all the dust, cobwebs and spiders that gathered inside during last few centuries. One more move of his hand and it was turned into a more comfortable place to study, being an almost identical copy of his own study, combined with a library and surrounded by wards that made entering it excruciatingly painful and almost impossible.
"How did you do it?" if he was not mistaken, Fred asked, trying to force his body to work.
"You will learn in due time," Loki smirked. "Just know that it is on the fifth floor and at the end of a short corridor adjacent to the Charms classroom. And just three more people know how to find it and get inside without being violently dismembered."
"Harry and his friends?" George asked.
"Yes, I keyed those wards to the two of you and few traits that only he and his friends have," Loki explained. "Everything else won't even notice the door leading inside and even if they notice they will get murdered when trying to get inside."
"What about pink menace?"
"The same as everybody else," Loki said and they grinned. "So can we get to some actual work?"
Twins only nodded and next several moments were spent on going over what they knew with Loki absently correcting any mistakes or faults he was spotting. While at the same time he attempted to answer any and all questions they had which proved to be amusing and tiring, yet reminding him about Harry's curiosity when he was a lot younger and didn't have the patience and understanding to devour a library or two.
o-0-o
Harry looked around History's classroom and smiled at the decor, it took almost a whole week before they would have the first History class and it made him eager to see what it would be about. According to what Sirius told him it was boring, but then they were taught by a ghost, now there was a new Professor and the classroom looked interesting. On the walls there were visible maps of the world from various points in history, portraits of famous wizards and witches, two kopis swords and a round hoplon shield, busts of several of the Merlins of the White Council and many other trinkets, some of them odd and rare. It made the classroom look stuffed full and cluttered, but in a good way and suggested that one doing the teaching knew what he was teaching about.
They took their seats, Harry with Atalanta, much to chagrin of almost everybody else, while Ulf with Luna which resulted in a one more round of complains and moans from everybody else. A brief moment passed before a Professor entered, he was a tall man with a long, white beard, keen gray eyes, aquiline nose and a mane of long, white hair. He walked across the whole room and stopped in front of the teacher's desk before turning towards the class. "I'm Nicholas Flamel, an alchemist, theoretician, researcher, historian and since this year, your new History of Magic Professor. I've lived for far longer than any of you and I expect that you show me respect that comes with knowledge and one's age."
They murmured that they understood it and focused on him, every single student looking at him, as if he was a magnet drawing their attention.
"Good," he said with a thin smile and waved his wand around, making words appear on the blackboard. "I will skip boring talk about what I expect you to learn as you can peruse that when working on your homework. So we'll delve into the first topic that for some might be a very obvious one," Flamel said and Harry felt gaze of the older wizard focus on him, his friends and few other people. "We'll talk about something that wasn't taught by British wizards since the time when the Ministry came to power, that is since year 1707."
"What's that?" one of Ravenclaws asked, Harry had troubles telling which one it was.
"How wizards came to exist," Professor Flamel said and there were gasps and shouts of shock, outrage and surprise. "The fact that the Ministry decided not to include it into the curriculum means nothing as they have no right to say what should be taught at Hogwarts. And more importantly, knowledge is knowledge and as such should be taught," he added, his gaze slipping over people that shouted the loudest and forcing them into complete and utter silence.
For a moment in the room there was silence, silence and only silence. So complete that you could hear a pin drop onto the ground and beating of their hearts was obnoxiously loud in their ears. Sounding like beating of massive drums that filled the void created by the lack of any other noise.
Professor Flamel waited for a long moment before waving his wand and making hundreds of things come to be on the blackboard – names, places, races, titles, dates and important events. He slowly walked to it and looked at them. "What can you tell me about those things?"
An even longer moment passed, feeling like an excruciatingly drawn out one before anybody raised their hand into the air. Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance when he saw that it was Hermione, Flamel nodded and she took a deep breath before explaining things. "Those names are the names of the old gods, ones that were created by primitive people to explain things they couldn't explain or comprehend and from fairy tales evolved into beings they believed and prayed to," she said.
The moment she finished saying those words a loud, low, rumbling sound of a thunder shook the whole building and everybody looked around in confusion. This late in a year thunderstorms were rare, thunderstorms without a single cloud covering the sky were unheard of, yet here they were and thunders were rumbling.
"I think that this will be enough of a demonstration that gods are true," Professor Flamel said with an amused smile as he looked at Harry. "So Ms...?"
"Granger, Hermione Granger," she said.
"So Ms Granger, be kind and don't assume that everything is false, some things are real, very real and unfortunately for you gods are real," Professor said and started to pace across the classroom, his plain black robes flying in his wake. "As are demons, faeries, demigods, angels and almost every single being named in the myths or major religions. This is an important bit of knowledge for you to remember as their actions shaped the history of humankind and have long-lasting impact on who we are and what we had done, are doing and what we will do. But going back to the topic, who can guess what's the connection between those beings and us?"
Someone raised their hand and Harry was a bit surprised when he noticed that it was Luna.
Professor Flamel nodded in her direction and with an ethereal smile she explained. "They gave us an ability to shape and manipulate magic, some of us received a bigger control, while some smaller. However after all of the time the level almost is even across the whole community."
"Indeed," Professor Flamel nodded with a smile. "Most of European magic took root from three main lines, Olympians, Asgard and Sidhe. Thus the three of them will have a significant impact on what we will study during this year and the entirety of your education. We will go in chronological order and as such for the next class I would expect ten inches long essay on Sidhe. However before the end of the class we have some time and we will discuss how powerful wizards can get."
Harry raised his hand and waited patiently for Professor to notice him.
"Yes, Mr...?"
"Potter, Harry Potter," Harry said and paused for a moment to gather his thought. "What about the Sorcerer Supreme and his Apprentice? According to what I was taught, two of the most powerful wizards on the planet, ones that can challenge the Senior Council and survive combat with the whole body."
"I take you met one or both of them," Professor Flamel said with a thin smile and Harry nodded. "What you had said isn't wrong and indeed they can challenge the Senior Council and at least fight them to a standstill, the reason for their power is a Mantle. A special thing that is a container of power and much more, however much more isn't needed at the moment and let's just say that on their own they are powerful, but with their Mantles they are much, much more powerful."
"How can they be so powerful if they are Muggles?" Ron Weasley asked. "And how in the first place they were chosen for those posts."
"Because you don't need to have anything special to be powerful," Flamel said. "They were chosen because they were the most deserving ones to receive those titles and power that comes with them."
Harry could hear Ron growl, but then it ended and the class carried on with a talk about power and how strong wizards could get.
o-0-o
Harry felt a feeling he couldn't describe or pinpoint as he walked through the castle and to the office occupied by Umbridge, he could feel Atalanta shadow him and he smiled in her direction when she appeared in sight. "You know that I will be fine?" He asked with a glance towards her.
"I know," she said with a smile and soundlessly moved to him. "Yet, I'm worried about you," she whispered, wrapping her hands around him and planting a kiss on his cheek."
Harry blushed and wrapped his hand around her side. "I will be fine," he whispered into her ear, her head resting on his shoulder, her hair brushing against his cheek and reminding him of how well she smelled. "She cannot do anything dangerous to me."
Atalanta let out a small sigh and squeezed his hand. "I know," she slowly said. "Yet she's a vile person and she can do something to hurt you."
He smiled at the warm touch of her hand on his and looked at her. "At, I will be fine," he whispered and shuddered when her fingers ran through the feathers covering his wings, easily slipping over nerve endings and making him shudder. "Please, don't touch me there."
"You don't like it?" she asked with a mischievous smile.
"I like it, but not here and definitely not now," he said and looking at the door in front of them steeled himself. "I will be back before you notice my absence."
"I hope so," she whispered before slipping into the darkness that dragged along the walls of the corridor.
He glanced in her direction and saw her golden eyes flash in the darkness of the corridor before they were gone and she disappeared altogether, leaving him alone to deal with this crazy punishment and cruel Umbridge. Lupin reversed the point loss, but he couldn't do too much to the detention, excluding limiting it to him citing that Atalanta and Ulf were his bodyguards and as such couldn't be punished by her.
For one last moment he stopped in front of her office and took a deep breath before he opened the door and stepped inside. What he found inside made him stomach lurch in an attempt to throw up, walls of her office were painted pink and adorned with dozens of paintings of kittens and chinaware. In the middle of the room behind a desk made out of cherry wood sat Madam Umbridge in her disgustingly pink clothes.
When she saw him enter the room on her lips appeared a nasty, yet sweet smile. "Perfect," she said and indicated for him a seat on the other side of her desk. "Be seated."
"What am I supposed to do?" Harry asked as he took a seat and looked at her. There was something evil inside of her, something evil that made him uneasy about being so close to her.
"Mr Potter, you will write line," she said and handed him a long piece of parchment and a long, black quill.
"What about an inkwell and ink?" He asked, taking the quill and looking at it.
"That won't be necessary," she said with a sweetly sick smile. "You are to write, I won't break any rules."
He nodded and the moment he started to write those lines a stinging feeling appeared on his hand, he ignored it for a moment, his resistance to pain and years of strenuous training having an effect on his body. Yet after a moment even he was forced to cry out in pain and when he looked at his hand he could see bloody outlines of letters he was writing.
He was about go back to writing when door leading into the room was turned to kindling by a burst of magic that felt oddly familiar and he instinctively dropped onto the ground, letting pieces of wood fly over his head. Slowly getting up from the ground he could see armored forms enter the room and behind them a pair of females, though through all the dust that was in the room he had troubles telling who was who.
"That will be enough," a strong female voice said, one that Harry almost immediately identified as his grandmother. "Harald, stay where you are. Sif, detain that vile being."
"You have no right to detain me!" Umbridge shouted before pointing her wand in the direction of armored guards that walked towards her and spitting out a string of incantations. "The Ministry will kill all of you when they learn what you did."
"We have every right to do so," Frigga coldly said, her gaze piercing Umbridge and making her unable to move. "There is a difference between punishment and abuse, difference that you forgot and decided to abuse my grandson for doing nothing wrong."
Umbridge seemed unable to form a coherent answer and Frigga smiled viciously as her guards twisted arms of that vile being and cuffed her before stuffing a piece of cloth into her mouth. Harry used that moment to get up and walked to his grandmother who was accompanied by Sif, several guards and even two Valkyries in their body-fitting armors and winged helmets. Frigga gently grasped his hand and when looked at the set of fresh wounds on it he saw a dangerous scowl mar her features. She gently moved one of her elegant fingers over the injury and it on its own disappeared, yet Harry could that a true horror for Umbridge just started.
For a long moment there was a complete silence before Frigga diverted her attention from his injury to Umbridge and the guards that stood around her. "Hildr, Reginleif," Frigga said, breaking the silence, her voice crystal clear, yet deadly. "Escort my grandson to the area where his house is and stay with him until I will come back to speak with him. Lady Sif, you will accompany me, the guards and the vile thing for a talk with the Headmaster."
Harry looked at the two Valkyries and sighed, even if they were going to be courteous and polite, his freedom was severely limited and he would gain nothing by arguing with them. Possibly the only thing he could get was getting an annoyed look from them. He let his grandmother and her entourage of guards go and meet Dumbledore before taking a deep breath and nodding at the Valkyries who slipped into positions behind and slightly to his sides. "Let's go," he said and they nodded.
The walk through the castle was fast, somehow nobody crossed their path excluding the poltergeist that disappeared the moment one of the Valkyries looked at it, magic crackling in her hand. "How is it that it is free and allowed to wander the halls?" Reginleif asked as she looked at Harry.
"Headmaster allows him," Harry said with a shrug. "Or that's what I was told about it, it isn't dangerous, more of an mischievous one that causes chaos and havoc because it enjoys it."
He could feel her nod and at the same time they stopped in front of a door into the common room, he opened them and stepped inside with them closely following him and looking at everybody inside. Everybody that is Ulf, Atalanta and few of his friends as everybody else was either in their house common rooms or deep asleep.
Atalanta was the first one to break the uncomfortable silence as she almost flew through the room and slammed into him, her hands wrapping around him and pressing their bodies against each other. "What did she do to you?" she asked quietly, her golden eyes meeting with his green.
"She told me to write with a quill that used my own blood," he said with disgust and indicated with one hand the Valkyries, while second was pressed against the back of his lover. "But my grandmother appeared and took that being with herself."
"I told you that the menace was a vile thing," Atalanta said angrily. "You should have listened to me and ignore her."
"I should have," he agreed and looked at the rest of his friends. "Umbridge is gone or as close to it as possible. My grandmother should know once she's done with her and Dumbledore, but I doubt she will go for anything less than removal from school."
When he said those words happiness erupted from his friends and somehow Fred and George managed to get several butterbeers and a small party started as they waited for his grandmother to get done with Dumbledore.
o-0-o
Frigga smiled coldly as she looked at Dumbledore who seemed frozen in fear and shock when she briefly showed her full magical might and there was also Umbridge, tied, gagged and kneeling on the ground, held in place by two armsmen.
"Can you explain to me how is it that this being could hand out punishments?" Frigga asked, her whole attention focused on Dumbledore. "As far as I understand she has no power over students and thus should be unable to hand out any punishments. Yet she did it and abused that power to harm my grandson."
"When the Ministry made a law about her being named as a High Inquisitor, they gave her power to punish students as she saw fit," Dumbledore explained tiredly. "If I knew what she was going to do she would never cross wards of the school, but..."
"But you didn't know," Frigga finished and gave Umbridge an icy look. "You will come with us to Asgard to face our justice and no mercy will be for you."
"What will happen to her?"
"She will be most likely sentenced to a capital punishment," Frigga said, then paused. "Or something entirely else might happen to her, but that's for my husband to decide, not me."
"What about your grandson?" Dumbledore gently inquired.
"That is a talk for me and him only," Frigga rebuted him. "There are matters to be discussed between us only and you as a Headmaster have no need to be privy to them."
Dumbledore winced at those words, but nodded and without further ado Frigga walked out of the room, guards and their package following her swiftly and not leaving much room for negotiations.
o-0-o
Several moments later Harry looked at his grandmother and let out a sigh of relief, looking at her mood one that got chewed out was Dumbledore and Umbridge. Frigga gently embraced him and looked into his eyes. "The next time something similar happens to you, your grandfather commanded that you are to be removed from this school," she said and silenced his protests with just a look. "I know that it is important for you, but your safety is more important for the realm."
"I know," Harry said and let out a sigh. "Yet those limitations annoy me."
"As they did your father when he was your age," Frigga said and released him from her embrace. "But that is a talk for a later time, now there is a more pressing matter."
"Umbridge?" Harry asked looking at the bundle held by two guards that wanted not to be there.
"Yes," Frigga said and Harry could tell that she was still not happy. "She will be punished, your grandfather will decide, but one thing is sure. She won't come out of it alive."
Harry nodded and then looked at the bundle in disgust. he wanted to kick it, but he managed to restrain himself. "She tortured me," he slowly said, anger simmering below the surface and ready to explode at any moment.
"I know," Frigga said, sending a dangerous look at Umbridge. "I know and she will pay for all of this. Your grandfather can understand a lot of things, but one of them is not torturing and abuse of his family."
"Good," he simply said, fighting to control his emotions. "I don't want to have anything in common with her."
"And you will have nothing," Frigga said, before embracing Harry for one last time and looking at him. "Stay safe and out of troubles, grandson."
"I will," Harry said and watched as Frigga, Valkyries, guards and Umbridge disappeared in a flash of light. He waited for a moment before letting out a sigh and walking to his dormitory to get some very needed sleep.
o-0-o
Odin sat on his throne and surveyed the throne room, almost every single noble that was in the city and every single courtier were present. Most of them wasn't sure what was going and seemed confused why they were here. He looked at one of guards that stood to his side and the guard without any words spoken bowed and walked out of the room.
Moments passed, while the nobles looked around in confusion and tried to guess what was the reason for all of this and for what their liege was waiting. Then the massive doors leading into the room opened and through them walked in a squad of guards with a chained person between them. They slowly walked through the whole room and stopped in front of a raised dais on which the throne was placed before making the prisoner kneel in front of him.
She was a human female, dressed in pink clothes that used to be immaculate, but after a short stay in the dungeon were wrinkled and dirty. However that was not what caught his attention, his attention was caught by her expression, she smiled, smiled as if she believed that all of this wasn't real and she would be able to get away from it.
"Dolores Jane Umbridge," Odin spoke and everybody immediately focused on him. "You are accused of torturing my grandson, His Royal Highness Harald James Thorson. How do you plea?"
"I did what was necessary to teach that brat some respect and obedience," she spat, making Odin arch an eyebrow, while most of the nobles reached for their weapons, only to be stopped by his cold look. "He disrespected me and was breaking the rules with everybody else not seeing a single issue with it."
"So do you admit to torturing him and abusing the position you held?"
"I do," she said.
Those two words caused the whole hall to fall silent for a brief moment before a wave of cries and shouts of outrage and fury shook it. Odin let them show their displeasure before he glared at them and they dutifully fell silent, not wishing to anger him any further.
"So you admit torturing him," Odin said coldly and fell silent for a moment. "So the harshest punishment possible would fit you," he muttered to himself before focusing on her. "I, Odin Børson, King of Asgard, sentence you to a life of slavery," he said and glanced at the guards who dragged her out of the room, not paying any attention to her protests.
o-0-o
Time at Hogwarts seemed to flow on its own and Harry was surprised when he discovered that the first week ended, weekend passed and the next week started. Even the appearance of his grandmother and demise of Umbridge didn't affect it much, excluding speeding up the legendary rumor mills of Hogwarts. When the next Defense class came he felt some trepidation and fear of what the idiotic teacher would bring to the class. When they entered the room they found a large cage standing on a teacher's desk and wrapped in a cloth, a cage that seemed to be rattled by something or someone that was inside.
"I wonder what's inside," Ulf said, eyeing it carefully and keeping a hand on the handle of his knife. "It doesn't look too friendly and he doesn't seem like the sanest one."
They didn't need to wait for an answer too long as soon the cowardly and pompous git of a teacher entered the room and stopped to the side of the cage. "Today we will have a practical lesson," he said with a maniacal grin before pulling the cloth of the cage and revealing its content.
Inside there were dozens, if not hundreds of small humanoid beings with with wings, blue hair and faces covered in blue warpaint. When the cloth was removed they started to rattle the cage even more than normally, shaking it and threatening with toppling it onto the ground.
"Cornish Pixies!" Lockhart said, opening the door and letting them out.
Harry's eyes widened when he saw those things. "Those are not Cornish Pixies," he said, reaching out to a dagger he had hidden below his clothes.
"This is Little Folk," Atalanta finished as she dodged one that almost shaved her hair and took a bit of her skin with itself. "One loyal to Mab."
He nodded and ducked as a fae flew above him. "I'm brave and all, but I'm not insane," he said, looking at Atalanta. "Any idea how to get out of this alive and without pissing off Mab so that we don't get murdered by her."
Atalanta only smirked and indicated the door leading into the classroom. "Watch," she said.
He was about to ask her what he should watch when it opened on its own and a gust of an extremely cold wind entered, followed by a person in a leather duster and with a staff. It took Harry some time to recognize Dresden as he was constantly forced to dodge small, bloodthirsty faeries that wanted to remove his head from shoulders.
"Begone," Dresden said as he entered the room and looked at the fae. "Begone and do not come back here unless summoned by me."
Fae stopped in their tracks and looked at him, unsure if they should listen or not.
"Begone!" he roared, bringing down his staff, the tip of which was slowly smoking.
Faeries took one last look at him and disappeared out of the room, as if the hell was about to come for them. Which considering Dresden was most likely true, he was the Knight, mortal agent of his court and he could deal with them however he wished. Dresden gave them one last look before marching across the room before stopping in front of Lockhart.
"Are. You. SENILE?!" Dresden roared. "You trapped several dozens of Little Folk and you expected first year students to deal with it! You do not trap them! You do not hold them against their will! And you do not piss me off!"
It seemed that with each word spoken Lockhart became smaller and smaller, as if shrinking on himself and trying to disappear.
"You are gone before midnight or I will remove you out of here!" Dresden finished before turning to look at the students. "Class's over, this fool cannot teach you anything useful. Scram to your dorms."
They hurried out of the room, chatting excitedly about the encounter between Dresden and Lockhart and happy that the class ended sooner than normally. Not to mention that they wouldn't have any more classes with Lockhart who managed to irk most of them and they didn't mind seeing someone tear him a new one. Which probably quickly put Dresden in the top five of the favorite beings inside of the school for those that saw the event.
o-0-o
Peter Wisdom smiled and looked at Amelia Bones with a smile that would make a shark run away. "Umbridge is gone," he said and threw a thin manila folder onto the desk between them. "From what Banshee reported Asgard got pissed off and their queen decided that enough is enough and this menace needs to be gone."
Amelia nodded and quickly scanned the files. "She overextended herself," she said. "She tried to give Thorson's a detention, which is all normal and fine, but how did she do it is not."
"What did she do?"
"A blood quill," she said and Wisdom's eyes narrowed. "Yes, the same quill that can only be used to sign important documents or inside of Gringott's. I don't know how limited she's in her understanding, but I sent people to Azkaban for ten years for using it outside of those two situations."
"They're known for their idiocy," he said and shrugged. "If they are that stupid we may as well as use it."
"How so?"
"Start planning on disassembling the Ministry," he said and smiled dangerously. "Fury wants them slowly fried, from what I talked with Ebenezar the White Council has enough of them and the government is losing their patience."
"Not that I expected anything else," she said and was silent for a moment. "They are idiots that cannot think logically and care only about their asses, nothing else."
Wisdom nodded and looked out of the window of his office, looking at the peace of people unaware of what was happening behind the veils of polite words and politicking. He slowly turned around and once again focused on his deputy. "How soon could you have plans ready on how to get them disassembled?"
"I would need to get all of the plans of the Ministry, Azkaban and few other places before I can plan anything that can survive," Amelia said and frowned. "Give me two or three months and I will have plans ready. Azkaban is an easy one as a couple of satellite passes and close flybys will do it, the Ministry is a maze and buried under the city."
"I know," Wisdom said and looked at her. "I was once an agent and before that a wizard so I know those things."
"Sorry, I'm used to dealing with idiots that need everything explained a couple of times and later beaten into their thick skull," she said and he nodded. "I will be back in three months with everything that you need and then we can strike."
"That's good enough," he said and without further words she walked out of the room.
He watched her leave and then focused on the blasted paperwork that seemed to grow and multiply on its own. Not that the amount of idiots all over the Ministry was helping with it.
o-0-o
A/N:
Little Folk - Harry could murder them quite easily, but by doing so he makes a connection Mab could use to mess with him and his life so he's not going to even touch them.