Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or Harry Potter. Unfortunately.
Chapter 7: Magic or Madness?
Tony was fairly certain that he had never been as emotionally comprised as he was in that moment. His whole life he had worked hard to suppress his emotions, and show the world a perpetually snarky, uncaring front. He'd forced himself not to care because if he didn't care than he couldn't get hurt. He'd cared about his parents, and they in turn had neglected him. Then they had died while he'd still been young, and any hope that one-day they would come to love him was lost. It had shattered him, made him emotionally withdraw from the world at large. He turned towards a world of fast women, and copious amounts of alcohol to forget. He participated in dangerous stunts, and gambled with large amounts of money with little care just for the thrill. Very few people managed to break through his hard exterior, and got to see the real person beyond the armor that he had incased his heart in. Obi had been one of the few he had trusted and cared about, and he went and betrayed that trust in the most horrible way imaginable. It had crushed him. Then when he thought he had been dying he'd gone off on a huge destructive rampage. Only Rhodey and Pepper had been there to pull him out of it.
The point of the matter was that Tony just had a really hard time letting people in especially after everything that had happened in his life in the past few years. When he had found out about Harry he knew logically that he was his son, and that he was supposed to feel some sort of attachment to him and he did. In the three weeks he'd spent with him he'd found himself liking having Harry around. But he'd hardened himself against feeling anything more towards him. He didn't want Harry taking a place in his heart. It would only cause him that much more pain in the long run when he screwed up. He knew it was a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy because by believing that he was going to be a bad father he had ended up becoming one. It was only when he'd discovered that Harry was missing the morning after their fight that he realized just how much he really did care, and that if didn't start acting appropriately he would lose Harry. And that was something he really didn't want. That meant he couldn't just drink himself into a stupor every time they hit a rough patch.
He was just relieved that he had found him, and that he was now safely ensconced in his arms. He was pretty sure that he never wanted to let the kid go again. The best part was that Harry had forgiven him. He still had a look of caution in his eyes in regards to Tony but it was much more than he had been expecting. He was sure that Harry would never even speak to him again let alone willingly hug him. It was just more proof that Tony didn't deserve to have a kid as awesome as Harry was. He had a heart of gold, something he certainly hadn't inherited from Tony. He was pretty sure that he could hold on to a grudge well beyond Judgment Day.
It was while he was holding Harry that he noticed Harry was holding something strange. It was a thin polished stick of some sort. It sparked a memory of Harry shouting at him that he was a wand-waving wizard. "Hey, this might be a bad time but didn't you mention something about you being a wizard?"
Harry pulled back from the embrace and looked up at him with wide, nervous emerald green eyes.
"Yeah," he murmured.
"Are you still claiming that you are one?" Tony asked cautiously.
"Yes," Harry snapped glaring at Tony.
"Okay, okay. I'll try to reserve judgment. But you have to admit it is a pretty outlandish claim to make, right?" Tony really didn't know what to do about the fact that Harry still firmly believed himself to be a wizard. He was surprised that Harry was still holding on to this belief even while he had calmed down enough to have a more rational conversation. Was there something wrong with Harry? Who put those outlandish thoughts in his head?
"Yeah, I was really shocked when I found out," Harry admitted.
"We'll talk more about this later. Let's just go home," Tony said wrapping his arm securely around Harry.
"We should talk to Phil before we leave. He said he could help me explain things to you since he knows about the wizarding world," Harry said fiddling with his stick, wand, whatever.
"Phil? Who's Phil?" Tony asked in confusion.
"He's an agent who works for SHIELD, and he found me in the park yesterday. He said it was his job to watch out for me, and we talked for a while. He's a squib so he knows all about the magical world. He took me to a wizard shopping alley, and let me sleep here for the night because I didn't want to go back to the tower," Harry informed him.
"I'm glad you had someone looking out for you. But I really wished you would have called to let me know you were all right," Tony murmured.
"I'm sorry for what I did. I shouldn't have run away like that," Harry said softly.
"Hey it's okay, I understand. I would have preferred that you hadn't run away but I understand. We both made some mistakes, and now we're moving forward."
He couldn't exactly be that harsh with Harry about not calling after all he was the one who had gotten completely wasted, and passed out while his son had been off gallivanting around New York City with a SHIELD agent. It did give him pause though; that Harry said a SHIELD agent knew about this so-called magical world of Harry's and had even taken him some wizard place. He'd figured out that he was in a SHIELD base after the second hole he blasted in the wall. He would never tell them but he was grateful to the spy organization for watching over Harry. But why would they have entertained Harry's delusion that magic was real? Unless… Unless what Harry had said was true. No, he couldn't accept that.
"Stark!" came an all too familiar voice, jolting Tony from his thoughts. "What in the hell do you think you're doing smashing your way into a secure government facility?
Fury swept into the small bedroom which Harry and Tony currently occupied. Tony figured it must have been where Harry spent the night. Following closely behind the irate Director was the ever calm and collected Agent Coulson.
"I thought you could use some new sky lights in here, Director. It's awfully gloomy. But I guess that's just the way that you like it," Tony replied smiling. He was feeling so much better now that he had Harry safely in his sights once more even if Harry was still claiming to be a wizard.
"You are paying for the repairs, Stark," Fury growled.
"Duly noted," Tony agreed sharply.
"So now that we're all here I think there are a few things about Harry that you need to be informed of. I think it would be best if we all sit down and have a comfortable discussion to get everything out on the table," said Agent Coulson.
"My place would be better," Tony immediately butted in.
He had a feeling he knew what sort of talk Agent Coulson was getting at, and he really didn't want to think about it. Harry had said that a Phil who worked for SHIELD would explain to him about his belief in being a wizard. This meant that SHIELD knew something about what Harry had been referring to as magic, which meant that there was a large possibility that Harry had been telling the truth. He needed time to come to terms with the fact that magic just might exist in some form. Although, he figured he would need a couple of years before he could even contemplate the existence of magic or that his son might be wizard, not just the fifteen minutes it would take to fly back to the tower.
"All right, you can head on back to the tower, and the three of us will meet you there for our discussion," said Agent Coulson amicably.
"Can I fly with you?" asked Harry sending Tony big, puppy dog eyes that made Tony melt a little. It wasn't fair that he could use his own pout against him.
Before their fight the kid had been begging for a chance to fly with Tony. So far he'd been too busy to give Harry what he wanted.
"I don't know if it would exactly be safe. Also are you sure you won't freak out?" Tony asked doubtfully.
"No, I love to fly. I've flown lots of times," Harry replied.
"You've flown lots of times… On what a flying broom stick?" Tony asked sarcastically.
"Yes," Harry said looking dead serious.
Tony just stared at him blankly. He looked over at Fury and Coulson to see if they were buying this.
"Quidditch is a very popular game to European wizards. It's played on flying broomsticks. It involves seven players on each team: a seeker, a keeper, three chasers and two beaters. There are four balls used: a golden snitch, two bludgers and a quaffle. Harry is a seeker on his school team," Agent Coulson piped up looking far too pleased with himself with his casual and infuriating explanation.
That statement had all sorts of questions rattling through Tony's mind but he stopped himself from asking them. He needed some time to think, and gather his wits if he was actually going to get through this conversation with Agent Coulson and Fury. It appeared that SHIELD was backing up Harry's belief that he was a wizard, and that this wizard stuff wasn't just some isolated thing but some sort of secretive community that was all over the world. Tony didn't like it, but it did sort of fit in with the gaps in information about Lily and Harry. He needed more information but for once he was almost too terrified about getting it. This could very well shake his belief in the world around him.
"Right, of course, I knew that," Tony muttered. "Okay, Mini Me, let's head back to the tower. Pepper is probably yanking her hair out with worry by now, and I definitely don't want to end up dating a bald chick. We'll meet the Men In Black over here back at the tower, and have our little heart to heart about you being Merlin then, okay?"
Harry nodded looking excited about getting to fly with him. He grabbed his getaway bag, and then ran into the attached bathroom to change into a new set of clothes.
"You better get your act together, Stark," Fury commanded harshly as soon as Harry had disappeared into the bathroom.
"I don't need you telling me what to do, Fury," Tony hissed back.
"Apparently you do, considering the mess you've made of things with your kid. Coulson found him on a park bench in Central Park by himself, and due to the fact that he's at least half as stubborn as you are he refused to go home. I don't know what happened between the two of you but the kid was devastated by your actions," Fury replied.
"Yeah, yeah I know, okay? Go ahead and gloat. Say I told you so or that I'm an unfit parent, whatever. I don't care what you think of me. As long as my son forgives me, I can deal with whatever opinion you might have of me, Director," Tony said stiffly.
Fury gazed at him with dark, penetrating eyes. "Don't screw up again," he gave Tony one curt nod before sweeping out of the room.
"We'll see you at Stark Tower within a half hour to explain things, Mr. Stark. Try to keep an open mind, Harry really needs you to accept him for who and what he is," Agent Coulson told him firmly yet gently before he turned to follow Fury from the room.
Harry emerged from the attached bathroom wearing a pair of jeans, and an AC/DC T-shirt that Tony had picked out for him. Tony couldn't help but grin at the picture he made since he had the exact same T-shirt, and it made Harry look literally like a miniature version of him. It was a very stark (pun intended) reminder that he was, in fact, his son. The warm fuzzy feeling in his chest unnerved him but he'd already made the decision that he wasn't going to let his fear of his emotions ruin his attempts on building a better relationship with his son. If that meant keeping an open mind that all this hocus-pocus might be real then he would do it.
"All set?" Tony asked.
"Yup," Harry chirped swinging his backpack up onto his shoulders.
"Hold on tight to your bag if you drop it at the height we're going to be flying you could really give someone a decent whack on the head," Tony told him.
Harry's eyes widened in shock. "Don't worry about it. I'm just kidding. But it's actually, probably the truth, so be careful."
Harry relaxed a bit but his grip on the straps of his backpack tightened.
"How did you know where I was?" Harry asked.
They had started walking back through the base. Tony was aiming towards the area where he first blasted a hole through the wall. When he had first arrived in the more dilapidated part of the city he thought for sure he would find Harry dead with some junkie trying to sell parts of Harry's robot for money or drugs. He hadn't even entertained the possibility that SHIELD might have him. But it seemed like it would be a lot like Fury to be keeping a close eye on Tony after finding out about Harry. It was also a lot like the Director to take Harry, and then let him sweat it out for a while thinking he was missing to teach him some sort of lesson. He hated to admit it but boy had he learned it.
"There's a tracking device in Tank," Tony replied honestly.
"What?" Harry gasped.
"It was for your own safety. I told you I had a lot of bad guys are after me. This was sort of a last resort in the event that I ever needed to find you I would have some way to track you down," Tony explained.
"Oh," he replied, quietly.
"And I'm glad I did it. It was the only way that I would have found you if you really had been in trouble or lost or something."
"I am sorry for running away like that. I shouldn't have done it," Harry told him.
"Hey, I can't really blame you since I did the exact same thing. Must be a genetic trait."
Harry's lips quirked into a smile, which made Tony grin in response.
They walked the rest of the way in a somewhat companionable silence.
When they got to the huge hole in the ceiling that Tony had inadvertently created in his single-minded pursuit of finding Harry, Harry gaped at the destruction in awe.
"I told you I was worried. I was ready to come kick the butt of anyone who had messed with my kid," Tony told him seriously.
Harry flushed but there was an obvious note of happiness in his eyes at Tony's statement.
"Okay I'm going to swing you up and hold you in my arms. You loop your arms around my neck and hold on as tightly as you can, okay?"
Harry nodded looking determined. Tony scooped him up, and gently but securely held him against his chest. Harry looped his arms around his neck and clung to him like an urchin. Tony had Jarvis gently activate the thrusters, and they were air born in a matter of seconds. Harry yelped in surprise as they took off but the grin on his face as they rose above the city showed that he was anything but scared. Tony kept the speed ten times slower than what he normally would. One because Harry wasn't in a suit and wasn't protected by the wind resistance, and two Tony really didn't want to risk dropping Harry by going too fast. He did however fly high enough where people wouldn't be able to discern the features of the person he was carrying. It wouldn't due to have someone get a video or picture of Iron Man carrying Harry.
As they flew Tony was once again reminded that Harry was definitely his son. His sharp green eyes flashed over the city below him without an ounce of fear, and more than once he tried to get Tony to go faster or do some sort of aerial maneuver. He did concede to speeding up a little bit but there was no way in hell that he was going to do a barrel roll while carrying Harry in his arms.
They flew around the city a bit, instead of taking the direct route to the tower. Tony was in no hurry to get back to have that conversation with SHIELD, and Harry was really enjoying the flight. In this moment between Harry and he everything was peaceful. Once their feet touched the ground they would once more be faced with all the problems they had between them, and it would be impossible for Tony to avoid whatever the truth Harry and SHIELD were planning to force on him.
He touched down on the landing pad outside Stark Tower, and set Harry down so he could run inside ahead of him so the suit could be removed. Harry's owl had somehow known that he had returned to the tower, and was waiting inside for him with Pepper. He watched as an anxious Pepper swept Harry up into her arms in a tight embrace.
"Oh thank god you're safe. Don't you ever do that to me again Harry James Stark," said Pepper squeezing the poor kid so tightly he wasn't sure if he could breathe properly.
"I'm sorry for worrying you, Pepper, I promise that I won't ever runaway like that again." Harry looked much more repentant with Pepper. Of course she was the only one that was innocent in all this.
"You better not, young man. I know Tony is an idiot but you could have called me, okay? You can always call me Harry no matter what. Besides running away doesn't solve anything," she said sending a sharp look in Tony's direction.
Appropriately chastised Tony let his head drop in shame. Harry wore a similar expression of remorse.
"I know and I'm really sorry for everything," murmured Harry letting Pepper stroke his hair, which showed just how repentant he was since he wasn't someone who often allowed prolonged physical contact with people.
"Good. Here, let's get you something to eat, I bet you're hungry. Did you even eat yesterday? Where were you?" Pepper asked already ushering him over to the kitchen, falling naturally into mother hen mode.
"I was with Phil most of the day. He works for SHIELD," Harry explained and then at Pepper's insistence he told her everything that had happened yesterday.
Tony listened in to the conversation without being too intrusive trying to make himself invisible. He was worried Harry wouldn't be as forthcoming with him around since he wasn't exactly Harry's favorite person at the moment. Harry did hesitate for a moment about telling Pepper about magic, and when he did Pepper sent him a sharp shocked glance to which Tony could only shrug.
"I don't know anymore than you, which is why the Director and his loyal sidekick Agent are going to be stopping by any minute to give us a crash course in what being a… wizard actually means," he hesitated on the word wizard it made him feel strange to admit such a thing out loud. It felt like he was conceding that this crazy story might actually be true.
Admitting to the existence of magic felt like such a cop out, and Fury and Agent Coulson better come prepared to give a damn good presentation because he was ready to analyze the hell out of whatever they threw at him. He really couldn't just blithely accept the existence of magic. It was going to take something very impressive and extensive to get him to believe that this was actually a real thing.
"You don't mind do you? About my being a wizard and having magic right, Tony?" Harry asked timidly.
"No, of course not," Tony assured him. Of course at this point he wasn't exactly convinced of its existence so it was easy to placate him.
"The Dursleys didn't," Harry murmured softly.
That one statement made Tony still and suddenly everything clicked. If this wizard thing was real then it would make sense as to why the Dursleys hated Harry, and why the aunt hated Lily. Harry and Lily would have possessed abilities that they didn't, and it probably frightened them. Abilities beyond the norm didn't frighten Tony, in fact they excited him. If it could be proven that this was real then he would embrace it, and do whatever he could to learn more about it to help Harry. He would do whatever he could to make him feel comfortable with himself, and whatever abilities he had.
"I think we've already established that the Dursleys were idiots and any opinion that they may have had is entirely wrong," Tony said offhandedly.
It seemed to do the trick because Harry's tense shoulders relaxed fractionally.
"Sir, Director Fury and Agent Coulson are in the elevator, and are on their way up," Jarvis suddenly chimed.
"All right let's do this," Tony murmured making his way over to the couch.
Pepper followed with Harry reluctantly trailing behind. The three of them sat in tense silence as they waited for the elevator doors to open, and for Fury and Agent Coulson to make their appearance. When they finally did Pepper greeted them warmly.
"Nick, Phil so glad you could join us," Pepper smiled and waved them towards some chairs opposite the couch where the three of them were sitting together.
"Phil? Wait he's the Phil from yesterday? And here I could of sworn his name was Agent," Tony piped up.
Pepper sent him a withering glare that he interrupted to mean 'not now, this is a serious discussion you idiot, and I want to get to the bottom of it'. Tony wanted to get to the bottom of it as well but he was nervous, and the way he dealt with nerves was to be snarky.
"Contrary to popular opinion, yes I do in fact have a first name," replied Agent Coulson genially as he sat down. He shot Harry a warm, genuine smile, which Harry returned with a large one of his own. Tony felt a twinge of jealousy stir inside him. He remembered when Harry had graced him with a similar one. He wondered if Harry would ever decide to give him one again.
"Let's not beat around the bush we all know why we're here, since I'm assuming, despite the fact that he shouldn't have, that Harry told you about his being a wizard, Miss Potts?" Fury questioned leveling his one eye on Pepper.
"He did. But only because I asked him," Pepper said defending Harry since he looked rather nervous when Fury mentioned he shouldn't have told Pepper.
"It's fine, since you are technically one of Harry's guardians, and in a steady relationship with his father there are no problems with you being informed about the wizarding world, Miss Potts," Agent Coulson replied evenly.
"So you're really going to try and convince me that this is a real thing? Wizards and magic?" Tony couldn't help but butt in skeptically.
"Would we be here if it wasn't?" the Director replied sarcastically.
"Could be some sort of elaborate hoax," Tony muttered.
"Trust me, Stark, I have much better things that I could be doing with my time then playing pranks on you. It would be satisfying but a waste of time," said Fury.
"True and you know I would get you back ten times worse," Tony pointed out.
"Tony, you're getting us off track. Maybe you should start from the beginning, Phil. You mentioned a wizarding world, what does that mean exactly? Are they actually from another world?" Pepper questioned, ever the voice of Tony's reason.
"The wizarding world isn't a separate place exactly. It exists alongside our own and occupies the same space. However, they are hiding in plain sight from normal every day people that wizards refer to as muggles. Wizards and witches have been around for as long as humans have existed or at least as far as we can tell. They have the ability to control a force of energy beyond the realm of normal human capabilities, which can do a wide range of extraordinary things. They tend to live longer lives, well into their hundreds or in rare cases two hundreds—"
"Nicholas Flamel lived to be over six hundred but that was because of the Philosopher's Stone," Harry cut in.
"Philosopher's Stone?" Tony asked blankly.
"I think we're getting ahead of ourselves, Harry," Agent Coulson said gently, giving him a small smile.
"Oops, right, sorry," Harry said bashfully.
"It's all right. Now where was I… Wizards and witches are essentially the same as humans expect of course for the... well for lack of a better term except for the magic that they wield. It is a force of natural energy that they are born having the ability to manipulate. We believe that is what keeps them living longer than the average human. But we don't know a lot about their genetic make up besides the fact that magic is a trait that is passed down through bloodlines. However there are the occasional hiccups. For example it is possible, though rare, for two magical parents to have a non-magical child, and that person is called a squib. I myself am a squib, which is why I know so much about the magical world because I grew up in it. But I have also spent a lot of time in the muggle world."
Straight-laced, ordinary looking Agent Coulson was claiming to have grown up in the wizarding world? Well this day certainly couldn't get any stranger for Tony.
"There is also the opposite of a squib which is someone who is normally called a muggleborn. This means they have two non-magical parents but they are born a witch or a wizard. Like Harry's mother was. It is our belief, though we don't have any definite proof, that muggleborns are actually the descendants of squibs and muggles, and for whatever reason magic decides to pop back up in the family line at random intervals. But there hasn't been a whole lot of study into the matter. It has only been within the last few years that SHIELD has known about the magical world. Before that only top government officials were allowed in on the secret. The wizarding world is a very private one, and prefer to keep their abilities to themselves and distanced from the muggle world especially after all the persecution they faced in the past."
"Right Salem Witch Trials and all that," muttered Tony.
"Unfortunately that was mostly muggles who were executed. But it did leave wizards and witches throughout the world with the strong desire to hide themselves from human eyes. There is a wizarding society in all of the inhabited areas of the world. They use spells made up of specific words and wands movements to control their magic. Their spells make it possible them to hide themselves from prying eyes, and they have been hiding themselves ever since the days in which they were persecuted for their abilities. Compared to the muggle population the wizarding one is somewhat small. They use wands made from various types of woods and magical cores to help focus and control the use of their magic. They can do anything from changing the shape of an object, to making things float or controlling fire or water, and so much more. There are very few limits to what they can achieve, and there are strict laws of magic that witches and wizards must follow. For example a wizard cannot make food out of thin air. They can, however, summon it or multiply it if it already exists."
"Makes sense you can't make something out of nothing. It would be completely impossible," said Tony feeling somewhat mollified that there were actual laws to this magic thing. If there were laws, then it followed some sort of logical pattern which meant it probably wasn't as illogical as the coined termed magic made it out to be.
"Exactly. There are also a wealth of magical creatures out there that wizards protect and hide from human eyes," Phil commented.
"Magical creatures? What like fairies and unicorns?" Tony asked skeptically. A genetic ability to manipulate energy was one thing but unicorns were another matter entirely.
"There really are unicorns, I've seen a unicorn, well a dead one. And my friend Ron, his older brother Charlie works on a dragon reserve in Romania. We sent a baby dragon there that the gamekeeper had hatched. I also road on a centaur's back once, and I saw a three headed dog," Harry suddenly cut in.
Tony stared at him not even knowing what to do with that sort of information. "You seem to have lived a fairly interesting life so far."
"A three headed dog? That sounds dangerous," Pepper worried.
"Oh it was fine, Fluffy went right to sleep after listening to some music," Harry assured quickly.
Pepper looked appeased but Agent Coulson's eyes had narrowed with suspicion. Whatever he knew about three headed dogs seemed to suggest that it probably wouldn't have been as simple as Harry made it out to be. Tony filed that information away for another day.
"Okay so magical creatures are supposedly real. Keep going," Tony commanded.
"Electrical energy or any type of new technology have adverse effects when brought into contact with powerful concentrations of magical energy," Coulson explained.
"Which is why everything in the penthouse exploded yesterday?" Tony asked, well besides his arc reactor. There was an area of study that he could look into once he was ready because he had to admit the more he heard the more he was inclined to believe.
"Yes, Harry's display of accidental magic caused the disruption. Because Harry is still young his magical core is still a bit unstable so any time he is experiencing heightened states of emotion his magic will lash out, as he gets older his control over his magic will become stronger and these bursts of accidental magic won't happen as often. When a child has a case of accidental magical parents are normally the ones to clear things up but in the cases of muggleborn children Aurors, the magical police force and Obliviators wizards and witches who wipe the minds of non magical people who witness magic step in to hide the problem," Coulson explained.
"Whoa wait a minute are you telling me wizards can just go around erasing people's minds without anyone knowing?" Tony demanded.
"Only with just cause. Using magic against or even in front of a muggle is forbidden unless there is a very good reason. Even then you still have to have a trial, and if your reason isn't good enough you can be given a fine or even a few months in prison," replied Coulson calmly.
Tony thought about that for a while. It didn't quite sit well with him but there wasn't much he could do about it at the moment.
"So the wizarding world sounds fairly organized if they have police and laws pertaining to who can and can't know about their world," Pepper commented.
"Yes, the wizarding world isn't that different when it comes to their governments. Each individual society is controlled by their own government much like muggle countries are ruled by their own governments. There are basic laws that all wizard governments adhere to. For example the International Statue of Wizarding Secrecy. This is the law that states only elected officials, blood relations or close guardians can know about the wizarding world. There is an International Magical Office of Law that oversees the entire wizarding world to make sure that all witches and wizards adhere to these laws. And finally there is an International Confederation of Wizards. It's sort of like NATO in which most wizarding societies take part in it to discuss the issues and problems within their own societies."
"Problems? What sorts of problems could a magical world have?" Pepper asked.
"Well, just like in the non-magical world the magical one has its fair share of evil villains looking to take power and change the world to suit their ideal image. And because of their magic things can often get pretty messy. There was just recently a particularly nasty war in Britain just as early as a decade ago amongst light and dark wizards. Before that another wizard help start World War II," Phil explained.
"War? Harry didn't you say something about your mom and James fighting a dark wizard?" Tony asked frowning.
"Yes, you see the wizarding world just like the non-magical world is prone to prejudices. It just so happens that there are some wizards who hate anything and anyone non-magical. Those who can trace their magical blood back several generations call themselves purebloods. While some of them have no problems with the magical world there are others who are elitists, and despise the fact that muggleborns are allowed to be a part of wizarding culture. They have a severe hatred for anyone non-magical and don't believe that they are worthy of magic. Several years ago a dark wizard who called himself Voldemort started up a war to take over wizarding Britain so that he could push this pureblood agenda. He wanted to kill off all muggleborns, and succeeded in causing a lot of panic and fear with his attacks and murders against muggleborns. It became so terrible that people were even afraid to speak his name," Phil explained.
"So what did people call him? That evil scary wizard guy?" asked Tony.
"You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Harry said.
"Really? You're pulling my leg right? You-Know-Who?" Both Harry and Coulson's faces were completely serious. "Wow! Talk about unoriginal."
"They were terrified of this man, Mr. Stark, and they had very good reason to be. He was an extremely powerful and intelligent wizard. Who also happened to be a mass murdering psychopath bent on total world domination," Coulson stated.
"Okay if he was so amazing what happened to him?" Tony continued.
"Harry did," replied Coulson.
Tony snorted. "And here I was just starting to think this magic thing might be true."
"Voldemort attacked the home of James and Lily Potter on Halloween night 2001. The story goes that he killed James first and then proceeded to the nursery where he killed Lily who sacrificed herself for her son. Voldemort then cast the most terrible of the three outlawed, Unforgiveable curses, Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse. Nothing can stop it or block it and if it hits you then you die, instantly. Harry is the first and only known person to survive it. If the list of events are to be believed," Phil said.
"It's why I have this scar. It's from where the curse hit me and then rebounded on Voldemort. Headmaster Dumbledore said my mum's sacrifice gave me a special kind of protection, and that's what saved my life," Harry said pointing to the lightening bolt on his forehead.
"Right… Before I get too wrapped up in this whole Voldemort and spell of death thing, I'm still not even convinced magic is real," said Tony because if he did believe that meant accepting that Lily had been murdered by some evil wizard who had attempted to then murder his son only for him to somehow survive a magical spell used specifically to kill people, which no one was supposed to survive.
"Harry why don't you show Mr. Stark a couple of the spells you've learned," Agent Coulson said smiling warmly at Harry.
"But I'm not allowed to do magic outside of school," replied Harry frowning.
"I've gotten you a free pass for today so that you could show Mr. Stark what you can do," said Coulson.
Harry's eyes widen with surprise, and then with a grin he ran to his bag and returned with the same polished stick he'd seen earlier.
"Can I see that?" Tony asked holding out his hand for the stick.
Harry handed it over with obvious pride. "It's my wand. It's made from holly and has a phoenix feather core."
"Of course it has a phoenix feather core," Tony muttered as he turned the stick over in his hand looking it over closely for any sort of hidden software. He scanned it closely but the only information that he got back was that it was an ordinary piece of wood with a strange type of energy emitting from it. He handed it back to Harry.
"All right this is one of the first charms we learned in Charms," said Harry looking a little nervous to have all eyes on him. "Wingardium Leviosa." Harry swished and flicked his wand in a certain pattern and before Tony's eyes the book on the table lifted into the air.
Pepper gasped but Tony quickly waved his hand around the book to check for strings or anything else that might have caused the book to suddenly lift into the air.
"Jarvis, are you recording this?" Tony asked.
"Yes, sir," replied the AI. Tony was pleased that everything was back online in the penthouse living room so that he would have an accurate record of just what Harry was doing.
After he'd made the book float he then looked across the room and with another wave of his wand he said "Accio Tank."
His robot came flying across the room and landed in his arms.
"Lumos," he declared and instantly a light appeared at the end of the wand. With a whispered "Nox," the light went out. He went through a range of various other spells that Tony observed closely to check for the slightest chance that this was all a hoax.
After the display Tony was that much closer to believing in magic. But it still took over an hour for him to grill Agent Coulson a bit more thoroughly on all the details of the wizarding world and on this Voldemort guy. When they were approaching two hours in to the discussion, and Harry had performed all of the spells he knew at least twice at Tony's insistence, Tony was starting to believe that this magic stuff might actually be a real thing. Oh he didn't think it was actual magic, but he was convinced that there was an entire race of people out there capable of manipulating this incredible energy force, and he accepted the fact that Harry was one of them. It also helped when Agent Coulson told him about Thor and the incident in New Mexico. He'd read something about it briefly while hacking SHIELD but there hadn't been much on it since it had happened fairly recently. Learning about more instances of the bizarre things out in the world only helped him to assimilate that there was more out there than what he could see with his own two eyes, and numerous spy satellites.
"We'll leave you with several books that go into much more detail about the history, and what sorts of things you can expect when raising a wizard. If you'd like to talk further or you want to get in touch with the wizarding world you know how to contact us. We would love to have someone like you to look into the relationship between magic and technology. So far anyone we've had working on the subject hasn't been able to make any breakthroughs," Coulson offered as he and Fury got ready to leave.
Tony followed them to the elevator.
"Between you and me how much of a threat is this Voldemort guy? You mentioned that he was still alive or some sort of evil ghost thing," Tony asked them in a hushed whisper, not wanting Harry and Pepper to overhear.
"We don't know. We just became aware that he wasn't completely destroyed. We need to look into the situation more closely," Coulson said calmly.
"If we can get past those stiff British wizards," Fury snapped.
"I'm guessing they're not exactly friendly," Tony commented.
"They just aren't the most open to interference in their affairs with non-magical people," replied Coulson.
"Keep me updated," was all Tony replied.
"We will, and for god sakes Stark try and keep us updated on any breakthroughs you make," Fury snapped before disappearing into the elevator.
"Will do," he assured them.
He planned on looking into it but there was no way that he was going to help out SHIELD with anything. He would do this for himself and for Harry.
"How are you taking everything?" Harry asked him once SHIELD had left.
"Surprisingly well," replied Tony even though he really, really wasn't. Dragons, unicorns and pixies were real. His son knew how to ride a flying broom, and there was entire population of people out there that he had previously known nothing about. Tony hated not knowing things.
"Well it is a lot to take in. I was really shocked when I found out. But magic is great. Are you sure you're all right with everything? With me being a wizard?" Harry asked.
"Of course, Harry, we care about you no matter what," Pepper assured him with a huge smile but Tony could tell that this revelation was a lot for her to take in as well. It didn't change her feelings towards Harry but finding out that fairytale creatures actually existed was sort of like getting hit in the chest with a two by four.
"Yeah kiddo everything is completely fine. Just like Pepper said it doesn't matter to me if you're a wizard to me you're still my kid. But you do know I'm going to be bugging you nonstop until you tell me every little detail that you know about magic right? Can't believe I just said magic. We should make a new name for it. I'm Tony Stark, I'm Iron Man, the builder of technology for the future. I can't just go around saying magic. It just sounds too… wrong. Hmm let's think, what could we call it?"
"Let's just stick to what Harry knows okay, Tony?" Pepper said exasperatedly.
Tony pouted he really didn't want to refer to something as magic even though what Harry was able to produce was quite impressive. He'd been having Jarvis take notes on the level of energy waves that Harry had been producing while performing his wand waving spells, and he was planning on going over the data later.
"Do you want see my broom, Tony? Phil said I could show you guys and even fly around on it as long as I didn't go outside," Harry said obviously eager to show off.
"Do I want see a flying broom? Um yeah," said Tony grinning.
Harry grinned back and raced back to his bag. He pulled out something that looked like a toothpick with bristles but after tapping it twice it quadrupled in size into the sleekest looking broom Tony had ever seen. He didn't even think that it could be used as an actual broom since the bristles were so tightly packed. It did make him wonder just why witches and wizards had decided it was a good idea to make brooms, of all things, fly.
Harry flew a few laps around the ceiling of the penthouse. He performed a few daring stunts that had Pepper nervously wringing her hands, he had Tony nervous too not that he would ever admit it. After he was done, and had once more settled back on the ground Tony couldn't help but ask him more about his school. Harry launched into a delightful description about Hogwarts, and it's four houses, professors, students, ghosts, moving staircases, and the many adventures he had gone on. Tony wasn't quite sure what to make of some of the things Harry told him.
Some of his adventures seemed a little extreme. Was it normal for an eleven year to fight off a mountain troll in the wizarding world? And that wasn't even mentioning the fact that this Voldemort person seemed to still be alive albeit a really angry ghostly spirit thing. Tony needed more information. Harry seemed to really love Hogwarts and all the people he had met there but Tony was really hesitant about letting him go back after hearing all the stories especially knowing that the evil maniac who had originally tried to kill him was still around. And he really didn't like the idea of sending his kid off to some boarding school so soon after he had met him. But again Harry was excited at the prospect of going back, and Tony was hesitant to make him angry by flat out denying him the chance to return. He would need to have a serious talk with these professors of Harry's to make sure he was really safe. Tony wasn't going to let himself be a failure this time.
He needed to learn more about these wizards. He had some solid connections with the American wizards through SHIELD, not that he particularly wanted to owe SHIELD anything. He still had the option to gather more information through them. The British wizards were another matter entirely, and they were the ones he needed the information from. His son was a British wizard. Lily had been a British wizard, and they were the ones he would have to deal with if Harry really wanted to go back to school there. It was just so strange thinking that his son was a wizard, and he wasn't just any wizard either, he was famous amongst them. He was hailed as some sort of hero for defeating some evil bastard when he was a baby, and that evil maniac and his minions could potentially still be out there searching for ways to get to his son. Without the chance to learn more about the British wizards Tony figured it was time he hunkered down and figure out the limitations of magic. He was going to do whatever was necessary to insure his son was protected, and building him a range of different gadgets to protect him from magic seemed like a very good place to start.
So just one more chapter to go until the Avengers. The chapter has already been written but still needs to be edited quite a bit. Chapter 9 has also been written but again needs to be edited. I have basic outlines for chapters 10-15 and a fairly solid idea of where I want to take this story and how it will conclude I just need to find the time to actually write the story since I'll be going back to school in a week.
As always thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows!