A/N - Nothing of note to say except on with the story.
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"
35) NEW MAGICAL DANGER ROOM
The portkey from Hogwarts deposited Professor Xavier, Lightning, and Marvel Girl back in the professor's office. As soon as they arrived the professor sent out a call to the rest of the team to come join them. The X-Men who hadn't gone with Xavier to Hogwarts had spent time in the Danger Room doing their usual morning training session. Soon Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, and Mage joined their other teammates in Xavier's Office having come straight from the Danger Room without changing out of uniform first.
"Glad to see the three of you back" said Cyclops, "did everything go well?"
"Yes" said Xavier, "With Jean and Harry's help I successfully cured Professor Snape."
"Does this mean that Snivellus will be resuming abusing the students again?" asked Mage.
"That's not funny Sirius" said Cyclops.
"It's not meant to be" said Mage.
"Not for a while" said Xavier, "he needs to fully recover from the ordeal. Things like that never just go away. And he wasn't the only one which brings me to some interesting news I have for all of you. While we were at Hogwarts I discovered a new magical mutant. Lightning, would you like to tell them who it is?"
"Oh yeah" piped up Lightning with a grin, "it's one of my former roommates in Gryffindor."
"Don't tell me" said Mage, "I want to guess: Seamus Finnegan."
"Not even close" said Lightning, "you can have one more guess."
"All right" said Mage, "I'm going to eliminate Ron Weasley. If he's a mutant then one would think his siblings would all be mutants too. As far as we know they're not."
"Not necessarily" said Marvel Girl, "my sister's not a mutant."
"She's older than you" said Beast, "one could argue that the mutations in your family didn't start happening until after she was born so only you became one. By that line of reasoning Ron could be a mutant while his older brothers might not be. It wouldn't account for young Ginny though unless she's a mutant and just hasn't manifested a power yet."
"The points are noted" said Mage, "however I still don't think it's Ron."
"You're right" said Lightning, "it's not. That leaves one of only two other choices: Dean Thomas or Neville Longbottom." Mage thought that over while everyone else waited to see whom he'd pick. Xavier and Marvel Girl already knew of course but they were enjoying the guessing game so neither of them said anything.
"I'm going with Dean Thomas" Mage finally said, "seeing as how he's originally from the muggle world he probably has a better chance of being a mutant."
Lightning made a loud buzzing sound while making a motion as if he was hitting a buzzer.
"BZZZZZT!" said Lightning, "you are wrong. Sorry, but you don't win the grand prize."
"Neville?" said Mage, "really?"
"You do realize" said Beast to Mage, "that your rationale for selecting Mr. Thomas as a mutant makes no sense?"
"Who said mutations made sense?" said Mage, "they seem to make as much sense as magic does. So Neville Longbottom is mutant? I didn't see that one coming.
"Yeah" said Lightning, "his grandmother seemed pleased about it."
"That's even more unexpected" said Mage, " I was friends with her son Frank when I was at Hogwarts and from what I remember of Augusta Longbottom she's a very stern and forbidding woman. If she approves of Neville being a mutant that's impressive."
"She does" said Xavier, "we met with her in Albus' office. She's supporting young Neville in this."
"Does that mean he's going to come here?" asked Iceman.
"Yes" said the professor, "I offered for him to come here over the summer like I first did with Harry and he'll do that. Before that, though, he'll be joining us in a couple of weeks for his school's Easter vacation so he can get an earlier start on controlling his power. Remus will be bringing him."
"Good" said Mage, "I'm glad Moony's coming back."
"In addition" said Xavier, "there's another matter that concerns young Neville." Here Xavier explained about how Neville's parents were also tortured into insanity and how he was going to try to heal them after Easter Break, He added that the difference with the Longbottoms was that they had been insane for over 13 years. It might be too late to help them although he would try.
"I hope you can do it" said Mage, "I would be glad to see Frank and Alice well again and I know it would be good for Neville to get his parents back."
"We'll see" said Xavier, "now before I let you all go we have one other piece of business to discuss. Auror Moody recently informed me that he's a finished a prototype of his magical Danger Room and he asked me if we would test it for him. Would you all be willing to do this?"
"I don't know about everyone else" said Cyclops, "but I would. As the people who inspired him we're already involved."
Everyone else made noises of agreement so Xavier said that he would let Moody know. With that he dismissed the team.
Lightning lingered after the others left.
"Yes Harry" said Xavier, "was there something else you needed?"
"I just wanted to know if you found out anything about Malfoy" said Lightning.
"I did" said Xavier, "it was only a brief surface scan but it was very revealing. I found out that Voldemort is staying at Malfoy Manor. Young Draco has met him and is now very afraid of him and disgusted by him."
"I wouldn't have expected that" said Lightning, "considering how much he was always going on about how great it was to be a pureblood and how Voldemort would set everything right once he was back. What made him change his mind?"
"I didn't get everything" said Xavier, "just flashes of Voldemort torturing his own supporters. One thing I did get quite clearly is that Draco not only saw Voldemort torturing Snape but he also witnessed other Death Eaters joining in at Voldemort's command."
"Ah, oh" said Lightning, "that's bad. No wonder Malfoy was so grateful you healed Snape. I wonder what will happen to the two of them now?"
Later that day Harry traveled to Ilvermorny for his afternoon classes. While he was there he spent some time with Ororo and filled her in on what had been happening at Hogwarts.
"You've had an interesting day so far" she said after hearing his story.
"Yes" said Harry, "coming here and talking to you is very soothing actually."
"Thank you" said Ororo, "I do my best. Neville is really a mutant?"
"Yes" said Harry, "he'll be at the mansion in a couple of weeks. Have you met him? Oh yes, he was sitting with us at dinner and breakfast just before the second task."
"He seemed like a nice guy" said Ororo, "although he also struck me as very timid."
"He is" said Harry, "hopefully his being a mutant will help him get more confidence. You should stop by the mansion while he's in town. Us magical mutants need to stick together."
"Okay" said Ororo.
During the first weekend in April Moody sent Xavier a portkey to bring the X-Men to the British Ministry on April 3rd. At 9 AM New York time they all traveled to the U.K. This time Professor Xavier went with them, again wearing a glamour. Sirius didn't go with them for the same reason he hadn't participated on the day the aurors came to the X-Mansion. He knew that if he went to the ministry he was likely to run into people he knew and who might recognize him even if he went as Mage. He didn't want to risk compromising the team like that so he stayed home.
The portkey deposited the X-Men in the atrium of the ministry. As it was early afternoon in Britain there weren't the big crowds of workers that one would see arriving at the ministry in the early morning or leaving in the late afternoon. That being said a place like the Ministry of Magic, like any important location that holds a center of government, is always busy to some degree. The atrium might not have been crowded at that time of day but there were enough people coming and going that quite a few saw the X-Men arrive. Fortunately two of the people present in the atrium were Mad-Eye Moody and Director Bones.
"Welcome X-Men" said Moody coming right up to them and shaking their hands, "professor, I'm glad you could make it today."
"Of course Alastor" said Xavier, "after all of our work I wouldn't miss this."
"Of course not" said Moody with a smile, "allow me to introduce to you to Amelia Bones, Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Amelia this is Professor X, the founder and mentor of the X-Men. He wasn't present when we visited the X-Men in December."
"How do you do professor" said Director Bones holding out a hand to Xavier who took it and kissed the back of it.
"Very well thank you" said Xavier, "and quite interested to see what Auror Moody has created."
"Right" said Moody, "if you'll all come this way please?" He led them over to one of the elevators and they all went in. A few moments later the elevator deposited them in the lobby of the DMLE. There were quite a bunch of people milling around here, most of them were recognizable as aurors by the color of their robes. No one seemed particularly surprised to see the X-Men and it was obvious that at least some of them knew that they were coming. Moody and Bones nodded at a few of them here and there but didn't stop to talk to any of them. Moody led the group down a couple of hallways before coming to a door which he opened and ushered the group through. Some aurors had joined the group along with one or two other ministry workers. Lightning recognized both Shacklebolt and Robards among them along with several others he didn't know.
The room they entered was large, easily the same size as the Danger Room back home. Also like the Danger Room it was completely white and featureless.
"Just like home" said Professor Xavier to Moody.
"Naturally" said Moody who looked at the X-Men, "you all know how the Danger Room works. With the help of your mentor I have attempted to create a room just like it with magic. If everything works properly you should be able to use it in the same way that you use your own room. I was hoping you would be able to test it out as you all know what to expect with a room of this type. Once I know it works I'll be able to start using it to train the cadets at the academy as well as helping our active aurors to get better."
"All right Auror Moody" said Cyclops stepping forward, "we haven't had our regular training today. We can do it here as easily as at home if you instruct us in how to use your room properly."
"Your room is controlled with electricity" said Moody, "while this one is run by magic. There are ten levels. Level one is for beginners. They get increasingly difficult all the way up to level ten. On each level there are sub-levels. Each sub-level is designated with a letter of the alphabet from A to Z. It is possible to mix sub-levels, i.e. you can run level 5AG for instance, or level 6 PDF, and so on, and so on which allows for many possible combinations."
"I see" said Cyclops before turning to Xavier, "professor, shall we try it out?"
"Yes" said Xavier before addressing the team, "all right my X-Men, please take a few minutes to warm up and we will begin training for the day."
"Yes sir" say Cyclops who signaled to the others to get ready. Angel and Lightning both took off and began engaging in their usual game of aerial tag much to the amusement of Moody and the magicals who had seen them do this before and to the surprise of the ones who hadn't. Meanwhile Beast and Iceman did a gentle spar while Marvel Girl and Cyclops both did stretches and other exercises.
"That is enough" sent Xavier after about ten minutes, "assemble before me X-Men and we shall begin." Within seconds all of the X-Men were lined up by Xavier who turned to Moody.
"Alastor" Xavier said, "you've sat in on enough of our practices. What level do you recommend for this demonstration?"
"Aye Professor" said Moody, "your X-Men are experts at this sort of thing and could probably handle the highest levels with ease but I don't want to scare the observers so let's use middle levels five and six, maybe seven."
"Very well" said Xavier. Unlike the team he knew what the levels and sub-levels contained. He had worked with Moody to help design the room and he knew which exercises would be right for his team.
"Iceman, we'll begin with you today" said Xavier to Iceman who moved to the middle of the floor, "level 6C. Begin."
Flames shot out at Iceman from several directions. This was an exercise he was quite used to but there was one difference this time. In the regular Danger Room the flames came from machinery that was all set in definite places. This time the flames were set magically and could come from anywhere. It kept the young mutant on his toes more than usual but he made it through.
After that both Angel and Lightning were subjected to a magical obstacle course up above the heads of the watchers. Again, not much different from what they usually did but because the obstacles were made by magic there was a larger variety of them than usual. Moody had designed these obstacles to test magicals flying on brooms so it was actually a bit easier for the two flying X-Men as they could make aerial maneuvers that broom riders couldn't.
So it went with each member of the team as they sampled Moody's Magical Danger Room. For the X-Men themselves it was a fairly normal training session. After working for a while on level six Xavier jumped them up two levels to level eight. The X-Men worked out on that level for a while longer. It was clearly a much more difficult level but they managed to beat all of the challenges here too though it took more effort on their part and often required them to work together more as a team than as individuals to win through, which, since they were a team, was kind of the point. Either way they emerged victorious when the exercises were done.
Xavier was pleased with how well his team performed. Moody was pleased with how well the room worked. He glanced over at some of the observers who had not seen the X-Men train before. He smirked to himself at the looks of apprehension on their faces. They knew he would soon be insisting that everyone in the DMLE get tested in the room, not just the academy cadets. Not many of them were looking forward to it.
"Good work my X-Men" Xavier sent to the team, "you have performed well today."
"Thank you professor" said Cyclops, "you must have worked more closely with Moody than we thought. This room is a lot like ours."
"He wanted it that way" said Xavier who turned toward Moody.
"I think you have a winner" he said to Moody.
"Thank you professor" said Moody, "with this room we'll be able to train our aurors to deal with many more things than they could before. By the time I'm done with them our entire DMLE will be able to handle all kinds of threats, both from our world and from outside it." Moody turned and looked at the observers.
"We've seen the X-Men handle this room" said Moody, "now let's see a magical try it. Who wants to go first?" No one responded. Moody rolled his one regular eye.
"Fine" he said, "I'll do it myself." He clumped his way into the middle of the room.
"Professor" he said to Xavier, "please call something. It doesn't matter what." Xavier nodded and called out a random combination on the fifth level. Two magical dummies appeared in the room and both attacked Moody who proceeded to eviscerate them while barely breaking a sweat. Xavier raised the difficulty of the exercise to level six and started it again. This time it took Moody longer to beat the dummies but he still did it. Finally Xavier raised the level one more time to level seven. The dummies were now faster, stronger, and much harder to beat. It took Moody quite a while to do it but he finally destroyed them. He was breathing pretty hard when the battle was over. He clumped back toward the viewing crowd.
"Okay" he said with a clear challenge in his voice, "you've all had your fun watching me. Who wants to go next?"
Later that day a Death Eater entered Malfoy Manor and was greeted by Lucius Malfoy.
"Albert" said Lucius, "greetings. What brings you here today?"
"I must see our lord" was the reply, "I have news that he needs to hear although it won't please him very much." Lucius nodded and led his guest to the door of his private study.
"Wait here" said Lucius who went inside for a moment before coming back out.
"Go right in" he said to the guest who nodded to him and entered the room.
Lord Voldemort was sitting at Malfoy's desk. He turned to see his visitor enter and go down on one knee before him.
"My lord" said the visitor with his head down.
"Runcorn" said Voldemort, "I understand you have news for me."
"Yes my lord" said Runcorn, "I don't think you'll like it but you should know it."
"Very well" said Voldemort with a frown, "rise and speak."
"Thank you my lord" said Runcorn, "you are aware of Auror Moody's project to create a new training room for the Auror Academy, are you not?"
"I am" said Voldemort.
"He has made that room a reality" said Runcorn, "he tested it today. I was there to see it. It works. May I show you the memory?"
"Yes" said Voldemort raising his wand and casting the legilimency spell on Runcorn who thought as hard as he could about the X-Men testing Moody's Danger Room while Voldemort viewed the memory. The memory started with Moody bringing everyone into the room and ended when the X-Men stopped training. When Voldemort was finished watching Runcorn's memory he leaned back in his chair in thought. He'd heard about the X-Men but not all that much as their last major appearance in Britain had been during the previous summer at the Quidditch World Cup. He was intrigued by them but hadn't devoted much time to learning about them until now. Runcorn's memory was his first chance to actually see them.
"These X-Men" asked Voldemort, "how much do you know about them?"
"They're mutants my lord" said Runcorn, "with various powers, as I believe you know."
"Yes" said Voldemortl, "although to hear the Malfoy house elf talk some people refer to them as 'New Magicals' and that term seems to be catching on."
"That's true" said Runcorn, "as you've seen they're well trained. They're experienced fighters and from everything that I've heard Moody knows them pretty well and based his room on their training room."
"How much of a threat do you think they pose to us?"
"Hard to say" said Runcorn, "they can be a threat. Their involvement at the Quidditch World Cup shows that, but it was just luck that they were there."
"They appeared at Hogwarts too" pointed out Voldemort, "Lucius told me all about that. His own son got on the wrong side of one of them."
"That's true too" said Runcorn, "on that occasion they came to Hogwarts to defend the school against other mutants. Those were mutants that they know well from everything I've heard. They're not part of our world. They won't come looking for you on their own but it's clear that if someone calls on them they'll show up to help."
"Then we'll have to make sure that they aren't called on" said Voldemort, "where are they located? Could we find them?"
"They're in America somewhere" was the reply, "but no one knows where."
"I see" said Voldemort, "they would make good allies if we could convince them to join us but I fear that would be impossible. The likes of them would never join us as they are all too much the heroes. As long they don't interfere with us in the future we won't waste our time with them but we'll keep an eye on them just the same."
"Of course my lord."
"Now this training room of Moody's" said Voldemort, "when does he intend to start using it?"
"He has already begun using it" said Runcorn, "after the X-Men tested it he used it himself. Aurors Shacklebolt and Robards also tested themselves with it. They both did reasonably well although Moody did stress that both could use improvement."
"That does sound like Moody" said Voldemort, "he doesn't waste time. Runcorn, you were right on both counts. I don't like your news but I did need to know it. You did well to bring it to me and you have my gratitude for it."
"Thank you my lord."
"Keep an eye on Moody and his room" said Voldemort, "it takes time to train a large number of people, even when you're as intense and paranoid as Moody. I intend to make my move soon. If all goes according to plan we will be in control of Hogwarts before the school year ends. From there we'll be able to take over the ministry quite easily. That is soon enough that Moody won't have enough time to train very many people. You have done well today Runcorn. You may go. Keep me informed of anything else of note happening at the ministry."
"Yes my lord" said Runcorn bowing again before exiting the study and leaving Voldemort to his reflections.
"Soon Mr. Potter" Voldemort muttered to himself, "soon you will have to come to me and on that day I will destroy you once and for all."
Voldemort was wrong about Moody. The auror might not have enough time to train a lot of people before Voldemort's attack on Hogwarts in the normal scheme of things but Moody was anything but normal and when it came to training people he knew how to do it so as to get optimal results in the shortest amount of time. Every military organization on Earth, whether mundane or magical, would have killed to have someone like Moody training their recruits. He might not be able to train a huge number of people at once but he would be able to train more people than Voldemort thought he could, something that Voldemort and his Death Eaters would eventually find out.
(To Be Continued)
A/N - And we're done for now. Next week Easter Break arrives and a certain character will make a fateful choice.
Regarding the scene with Voldemort I have read many stories that show Voldemort using the Cruciatus curse on someone just because they brought him news he didn't like whether the messenger was at fault for the news or not. In canon this wasn't always true. In chapter 26 of Order of the Phoenix Rookwood explained to Voldemort about why one of his plans to get the prophecy wasn't working (in this case it was Lucius trying to use the Imperius Curse on Bode to get the prophecy) and not only did Voldemort not torture him but he told Rookwood that he had done well to tell him what he did. He didn't like what Rookwood said but didn't punish him for it. In that case anyway Voldemort knew the value of not shooting the messenger, especially since the messenger wasn't the one at fault.
That's all for this week. Next week the story continues. As usual 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.