A/N - Hi everyone. I've got the new chapter here. This chapter was helped along by suggestions from Khatix, mermizle, and DRAGONDAVE45 all of whom had similar ideas to mine but it was their suggestions that gave me the push to actually use them, so thank you for that folks. This chapter is the result. It was a fun chapter to write. I hope it's just as much fun to read.

Disclaimer: The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and belong to Marvel Comics. Harry Potter was created by and belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this and the only thing that's mine are the original parts of the story.

"Normal Speech"

"Telepathy"

12) SUPERHERO FUN AND GAMES

After saying good-bye to Ororo Harry portkeyed back home to the X-Mansion. He had the rest of the day free so he decided to go flying. After changing into his X-Man uniform he took off behind the mansion and headed south towards the city.

Lightning had no particular plans for when he got to New York but once he was flying over the northern tip of Manhattan he decided to drop by the Avengers Mansion as he hadn't been there in a while. He continued flying south until he was over Central Park and then turned east to Fifth avenue and followed it down to the mansion.

What Lightning found when he got to the Avengers Mansion was not what he had expected. The front door was hanging off of its hinges as if it had been blown open by force. When he stepped inside the front hall it looked like a war zone.

"What the hell's going on?" Lightning asked himself and then fell silent as he could hear the sounds of fighting from not too far away. He was about to call out a "hello?!" when he stopped himself. If there was an attacker in the Avengers Mansion it wouldn't be a good idea to let them know he was here until it couldn't be avoided.

It wasn't hard to find the fight. All he had to do was follow the trail of destruction through the hallways of the mansion down to the first below ground level. Oddly enough the trail led him straight to the training room. When he looked into the room his eyes went wide at what he saw.

Thor was there and he was fighting – not sparring but all out fighting – an opponent dressed in yellow and green and wearing a helmet with two horns on it. Lightning knew at once that it was none other than Thor's brother Loki. The youngest X-Man briefly considered turning around and leaving right then and there. He knew who Loki was and knew that he could in no way match the power of the Norse god of mischief and magic. He knew that Loki and Thor were arch enemies most of the time although Lightning didn't know why and he knew that Loki had tried to kill Thor more than once in the past although sometimes they would be reconciled. It was a strange relationship the two of them had and Lightning would never claim to understand it.

The moment in which Lightning had considered leaving passed quickly and he knew he couldn't do that. Thor was his friend. He didn't know what he could do against someone like Loki but if nothing else at least he could serve as moral support. While he was considering exactly what he might do the combatants broke apart and stood glaring at each other.

"Oh boy" muttered Lightning softly but not softly enough as both Thor and Loki turned and saw him in the doorway.

"Lightning?" asked a surprised Thor, "what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to drop by" said Lightning, "I haven't been here in a while. Obviously this is a bad time. I can come back."

"No, no, by all means do come in" said Loki with a false smile on his face as he gestured for Lightning to approach them both, "Thor would be remiss in his duty as a host to let you leave so soon." Lightning looked at Thor who nodded to him to come in so the young mutant did. He walked up to the thunder god and stood by him looking at Loki.

"And who are you?" asked Loki, "as the newest visitor you should name yourself first."

"I'm Lightning of the X-Men" was the reply. Loki looked at him with more interest.

"Oh really?" said Loki, "That is a bold affectation of a name."

"You're right" said Lightning as he held out a hand, "and this is how much of an affectation it is." He shot a lightning bolt at one of the only training dummies in the room that wasn't damaged and hit it dead center in the chest.

"I see" said Loki who looked at Thor, "brother you did not tell me that you had a new son."

"He is not my son" said Thor, "although I would be glad to be his father."

"Thank you" said Lightning.

"Then how can he possess one of your powers?" demanded Loki.

"I'm a mutant" said Lightning, "and that's one of my powers."

"Oh really?" said Loki, "so you are one of those new freaks people are talking about?" Lightning stiffened.

"Excuse me?" he said in a cold voice. If there was one thing Harry hated more than almost anything else it was being called a freak. When he'd lived at the Dursleys that was almost all they had called him – that or boy. After years and years of being denigrated as a freak and being physically punished for doing "freaky" things he'd a developed a deep hatred of the word. Nevertheless he did his best to stay calm.

"Oh does that offend you?" asked Loki with a smirk as he noticed Lightning's reaction, "you know even on Asgard we hear about people like you. Well, well, well. You must be a real freak of nature to develop a power so like one of my brother's that I thought you might be his son." Suddenly Loki stopped and looked more closely at Lightning.

"But what's this?" he said with raised eyebrows, "I sense magic in you. You're a wizard too."

"How do you know that?" demanded Lightning.

"I am a god of magic" said Loki, "of course I can recognize it when I come across it. So you are a mutant and a wizard. A double freak. Your family must absolutely love you."

Lightning's eyes blazed in anger.

"Don't. Call. Me. A. Freak!" he snarled in a vicious voice. Then before anyone could move he turned, grabbed Thor's hammer out of the thunder god's hand, lifted it up, and swung it.

WHAM! Loki went flying across the training room and hit the opposite wall hard before falling to the floor looking stunned. Lightning looked at this, shocked at what he'd just done. He took a breath and shook his head, his anger suddenly gone. He turned to Thor and handed him back his hammer.

"I'm sorry about that" he said, "I know I shouldn't have attacked Loki and I should've asked you for permission to use your hammer first. It's just I really, really, really hate being called a freak." Thor just looked at him with a strange expression on his face and didn't say anything.

"Um Thor" said Lightning after a moment, "are you okay? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You lifted Mjolnir" said Thor in a soft voice.

"I know" said Lightning, "I should have asked you if it was okay first but – "

"Nay" said Thor, "you lifted Mjolnir." Lightning looked confused.

"So what?" he asked, "I'm sure lots of people have done that."

"They have not" said Thor, "I can count on the fingers of one hand how many people can lift my hammer and still have fingers left over."

"What?" asked Lightning, "why? It wasn't heavy at all."

"Maybe not for you" said Thor, "behold what is written here." Thor held the hammer up so Lightning could see the writing on one side of it.

"Whosoever holds this hammer," Lightning read out loud, "if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor" He looked up at Thor.

"I don't understand" Lightning began but he was interrupted by some soft laughter coming from the other side of the room. He and Thor both turned to see Loki getting to his feet, an amused expression on his face of all things.

"This one is a keeper my brother" said Loki, "none save you or Odin himself have dealt me a blow like that in a very long time. I did not think Midgard could raise such mortals anymore. It has been centuries since a mortal was last able to lift your hammer."

"If a person is not worthy" said Thor to Lightning, "then Mjolnir will be too heavy for them to lift even the slightest bit. It would be as if it weighed tons. My father can lift it. He enchanted this hammer thus when it was first made and thus it has always been. Until you only two other mortals have ever been able to lift it."

"Who were they?" asked Lightning.

"Their names would mean nothing to you" said Thor "they were not famous warriors or kings or high lords. They were just ordinary people who Mjolnir found to be worthy – as with you."

"The interesting question now" said Loki approaching Lightning, "is who are you?" Lightning backed up a bit to stay out of Loki's reach.

"Oh do not worry" said Loki with a bit of a scoff, "if I wanted to harm you I would have already done it. I do not attack children and it is clear that despite your power you are not yet an adult and will not be for some time. Maybe some day when you are older we will battle each other but not at this time. Now look at me."

"Why?" asked Lightning not trusting Loki.

"It will be easier if you do mortal" said Loki, "I can examine your mind whether you look at me or not but it will be easier for you if you cooperate."

"You will not harm him brother" said Thor hefting his hammer.

"I already said I would not" said Loki,"do you want an oath to that effect?"

"An oath from you" said Thor, "would not be what it appears to be."

"Oh, for Asgard's sake" said Loki who acted.

Lightning had been training under Professor Xavier for over a year on how to defend his mind and he was strong enough by now to shield against normal telepaths or even legilimencers. Unfortunately against someone like Loki he never had a prayer*. His mental shields might be good but they couldn't stand up to the power of a god. Loki, without saying anything further, dived into Lightning's mind and was out again almost before Lightning had known he was there. Lightning gasped and turned to look at Loki who was now gazing at him with more respect.

"So" he said to Lightning in his mind, "you are the Boy-Who-Lived."

"You know about that?" asked Lightning.

"As I said before" said Loki, "I am a god of magic. I know all about that. If you were not already an X-Man I would urge Thor to train you to be a warrior."

"What did you find brother?" asked Thor.

"That I will not tell" said Loki, "keep your friend close. He may need your help one day."

When Lightning left the Avengers Mansion he didn't fly directly home. Instead he flew at a slow, lazy pace as he thought over what had happened. He didn't understand what criteria Mjolnir used to decide who was "worthy" to wield it or how he was such a person but he could tell from the way both Thor and Loki had reacted that it was a rare honor indeed. He wondered about the implications of this without forming any conclusions.

As he flew along he passed over Central Park and turned north flying up the park at a slow, lazy pace towards the upper end at 110th street. As it was a Saturday a lot of people were out and about in the park. As he reached the mid-80s he flew over a playground on the east side of the park just north of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He looked down as he floated past and saw a bunch of kids playing a game together in a large open space in the playground. Having nothing better to do he flew lower to get a better look and soon he could even faintly hear their voices.

"I've got you now Magneto!" he heard someone yell and he stopped to hover where he was in surprise. It would seem that the "Superheroes" game he'd seen a couple of months ago was more widely played than he realized. He floated lower to get a better look. One of the boys in the group (who all looked to be about 6 or 7) was holding his hands out towards another boy as if shooting something out of them. The other boy was holding hands up in a shielding motion.

"You won't break my shields Lightning" said the shielding boy. Lightning's eyebrows went up at this as he watched the game more closely.

"He will because I'll help" said a third boy who made a motion with his hands at his head as if raising a visor. Obviously this boy was pretending to be Cyclops. He made a sound to indicate he was firing his optic blasts. 'Magneto' pretended to be straining to hold a shield against them as 'Lightning' waved his hands and made a sound to show that he was firing bolts of electricity. A girl stepped forward and raised her hands as if casting a spell.

"My hex power will stop you" she called identifying her as the Scarlet Witch in the game. She made a motion at 'Cyclops' who reacted as if he'd been struck by a hex.

"You leave him alone" called a second girl who stepped in between 'Cyclops' and the 'Scarlet Witch' making motions as if trying to lift the other girl into the air. 'Must be Marvel Girl' Lightning thought to himself. He decided to join in so he floated down lower and called down to the kids.

"Well now that looks like fun" he called, "can anyone play?" All of the kids turned to look up at him and they all suddenly froze where they were with their mouths hanging open as he descended towards them and landed in the middle of their group. Although he still had some growing of his own to do he was a good deal taller than any of these kids who all looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I've always wanted to meet the X-Men" he said to them with a smile, "now let's see who's who? You're obviously Cyclops" he pointed to the boy pretending to be Cyclops, "you're Marvel Girl" he looked at the girl who blushed and nodded, "and you must be Lightning" he said to the first boy, "but where are Angel, Beast, and Iceman?" Three other boys came forward and raised their hands all looking star struck, "so nice to meet you all. How do you do?"

"You – you're the real Lightning!" said the boy who had been pretending to be him.

"I am" Lightning said with a nod, "and let me give you a tip. You don't need to only use your hands to shoot lightning bolts."

"I don't?" asked boy looking at him with something like awe.

"Nope" said Lightning, "you can use any part of your body. Like so." As he spoke he summoned some electric bolts and had them dance around the top of his head before suddenly floating up a few feet so everyone could see electricity surrounding his lower legs (when he did that he made sure none of the kids tried to touch him where the electricity was manifesting).

"Wow!" said several of the kids. Lightning just grinned, let the electricity fade away, and landed again.

"Would you take me flying?" asked the boy who had been playing him. That made Lightning pause for a moment. He looked around and saw several adults standing nearby or sitting on nearby benches. They were all watching him with the kids quite attentively although they didn't come over to join them, at least not yet. 'They must realize I don't mean the kids any harm' he thought before turning back to the boy who had asked to go flying.

"We-ell" Lightning finally said, "are either of your parents here?" The boy nodded.

"My mom's over there" he said.

"If she says yes" said Lightning, "then yes – but only if she says yes." The boy was off like a shot at that and a moment later a woman who must have been in her late thirties was approaching with the boy at her side. Behind her were some of the other parents who had also come over.

"Hello" said the woman as she got to Lightning.

"Hello ma'am" said Lightning greeting the woman, "would you be this little me's mother?" The woman smiled at that.

"Yes" she said, "it's a surprise to see you here. Lightning, right?"

"That's what I'm called" said Lightning, "I was passing by when I saw the game they were all playing and I just had to drop in."

"We all saw you" was the reply, "you seem like you might be good with kids."

"I don't know about that" muttered Lightning, "but thanks."

"Now" said woman putting her hands on her hips and giving him a stern look, "my son says that you'll take him flying if I give you my permission. Is that right?"

"Yes."

"What exactly will you do?"

"Well" said Lightning, "I'll just take him up a little ways with my power. We won't go very high, no higher than the highest construct in this playground, and we won't leave the area. And I won't let him fall." The woman thought for a moment before nodding.

"All right" she said, "but you keep him safe, you hear?"

"I will ma'am" said Lightning who now turned to look at the boy who looked very happy, "so what's your name kid?"

"Daniel" said boy proudly.

"Daniel" said Lightning, "that's a fine name. Okay Daniel, first of all raise your arms up over your head as high as you can and have your hands stay open." Lightning demonstrated.

"Why" Daniel asked as he copied Lightning.

"It'll make you more aerodynamic" said Lightning who upon seeing Daniel's confused face added, "it just means you'll move through the air more easily. Okay, are you ready?"

"Yes" said Daniel looking excited again especially as he saw all of the other kids watching him closely.

"Then here we go" said Lightning who reached out with his telekinesis and took hold of Daniel. He took off bringing Daniel with him and soon they were about 15 feet up where Lightning began having the two of them circle the area. Daniel whooped with joy as they flew.

"You like it?" Lightning asked him.

"This is so awesome!" Daniel yelled.

"That's how I felt the first time I flew" said Lightning. They circled around a few more times and then Lightning gently set them both back down where they'd started from.

"That was great!" said Daniel who was jumping up and down with excitement, "again!" Lightning laughed.

"Sorry Daniel" he said, "one ride per customer. Besides it looks like your friends all want to have a go." It was true. The other kids were now all clamoring to have a turn flying with Lightning so for the next half hour Lightning took each kid flying around the playground. There was a lot of laughing and hollering from the kids while their parents or guardians all watched, many of them taking pictures or using video cameras to record the moment.

When it was over it was clear that Lightning had gained a lot of new fans both with the kids and their parents.

"Thank you" said Daniel's mom shaking his hand, "you made my son's day."

"Not just his" said one of the other parents. Lightning looked around with a smile.

"It was fun" said Lightning before looking at Daniel, "next time you're being me remember what I told you about firing lightning bolts" he said to the boy who nodded. Lightning took off and climbed up to about 20 feet before turning and circling around to wave at everyone. They waved back. Then he flew higher, turned north and headed for home, this time flying much more rapidly than before. He was pleased with how things had gone at the playground but he also felt rather wistful too. He wished he'd had friends to play with when he'd been the same age as those kids. Unfortunately Dudley and his gang had threatened anyone who wanted to be Harry's friend into staying away from him and Harry had grown up a lonely kid until he went to Hogwarts.

He sighed to himself as he thought about those days and wondered what the Dursleys were doing now. He knew that the first letter from HSBC had been sent already and now he just had to see what they did. He sighed again and shook his head. He needed to stop brooding like this. He couldn't change the past but the present was pretty good these days and the future could be even better. He'd just have to make sure that it would be.

When he got back to the X-Mansion he sought out Professor Xavier without even changing out of his uniform first. He found the professor, as usual, in his office. He seemed to be a little preoccupied but he still greeted Lightning without any hesitation.

"Have I got some things to tell you" said Lightning to the professor.

"Oh?" asked Professor Xavier and Lightning launched into the story of his afternoon from the events at the Avengers Mansion to playing with the kids in the park. Xavier listened attentively.

"You've had quite the day Harry" he said when Lightning was finished.

"No kidding" said Lightning, "what does it mean that I can lift Thor's hammer?"

"I don't know" said Xavier, "but it's something to remember. It may come in useful some day."

"That will be interesting" said Lightning, "are you all right professor? You seem a little disturbed about something."

"I'm fine" said Xavier, "a little puzzled but otherwise fine."

"Is something wrong?"

"I hope not" said the professor, "before you came in Cerebro picked up a signal but only briefly and then it was gone."

"How is that possible?" asked Lightning.

"Cerebro isn't fool proof" said Xavier, "there could be any number of reasons."

"But if Cerebro found it then it's a new mutant, right?"

"A mutant of some kind, yes" said the professor, "but I don't know what kind. The signal indicated it was somewhere out the in Pacific Ocean east of Japan. But there's no land in that area so I don't know what it could be. I did, however, get the impression that whatever it is it's big."

"Oh?" asked Lightning, "as big as Hagrid? Or even Giant Man?"

"Bigger" said Xavier, "much bigger."

At Hogwarts both Hermione and Ron were concerned about Professor Moody. When he saw them in the hallway before their first defense class with him and later in the class itself it seemed like he didn't know who they were. This puzzled them as they had both seen and spoken with him during their week at the X-Mansion. Other than that he seemed just the same as before so perhaps they'd imagined it? Just to be safe though they sent a note to Professor Dumbledore about it. When he received their note the headmaster also became a little concerned. As far he'd been able to tell there was nothing wrong with his friend but he knew how paranoid Moody could be. If something was wrong with him it could be very bad. He resolved to keep a close eye on his defense professor for a while.

(To Be Continued)

*Pun intended

A/N - That's it for this week. Happy spring everyone. Please take a moment to leave me some feedback. Constructive comments are always welcome but no flames or trolls please. As always stay safe and well everyone.