Harry Potter - Superhero
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter works belong to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 05: The hero needs no wand
Harry gave them a broad smile and lifted his hand. "Lo and behold, I give you Thor."
From his hand sprung a brilliant Mithril shield in 3 concentric circles until it was 2 feet in radius. On it was the image of Stonehenge, surrounding a crisscrossed hammer and lightning. "You asked me to work on a shield, right? So here you go."
"Brilliant mate," whispered Mike.
"It is, and you haven't seen the whole thing yet."
"It has some sentience to it. See it's energy is connected to my own energy ball and with a single thought I can make it as small as a dial of a wrist watch or big enough to envelope me if I am being attacked from all sides. Here let me show you."
The shield, which was covering his upper body shrunk back into a black bracelet with a white dial that looked like a watch and rested on Harry's left wrist. "See these bands? I made these with mithril as well, mithril string, only I changed the color. It's brilliant how easy that metal is to work with. The white dial on the band is the shield. Now I will extend it to 3 feet."
The shield expanded one concentric level at a time. "The shield produces as many levels as needed. Now, 5 feet." The shield expanded to cover Harry's entire 4'9" frame.
"Now entire body" The shield circled Harry covering him completely in a dome shape. Then within 3 seconds it was back to its dial size.
"Isn't it heavy?" asked Jess worried about the strain Harry might feel.
"Nope. Light as a feather."
"Why did you name it Thor?" asked Mike.
"Because it can pack a punch. While I was working on it, I accidentally dropped it and it nearly crashed through the floor into the kitchen below." He shook his head and smirked. "I had to use my Jedi mind trick to get my uncle and aunt to forget the noise. It was easy enough to repair the damage. It kind of reminded me of Thor's hammer from the comics."
Mike laughed out loud until tears started rolling down his eyes. "Oh Harry! I don't think I ever imagined I would meet someone like you. Everything you do is extraordinary."
Harry blushed and shrugged.
The next few months passed by fast. Harry was busy studying for the Common Entrance Exams, which were in March. If Harry got more than 90% on his scores he could get into one of top schools instead of the Stonewall High, he knew his relatives would send him to.
He also had his martial arts classes where he was studying the 5th stage, much to the surprise of many. Harry knew that if not for his power he wouldn't have made such a huge progress. His goal was to be done with it by the time school closed for the summer.
Every weekend Mike took him to a wooded park where Mike would use a paint gun to plow Harry, while Harry protected himself using Thor as well as his power shield. He also worked on his offensive skills, mainly a blaster and a stunner. Mike got that idea from Star Trek's Phaser pistol. A stunner would render a person unconscious for an hour or until Harry wakes him up. A blaster is mainly used for blowing up stuff and not to be used on living beings as it would more than likely kill them. Harry's stunner is a bright blue ray and the blaster a yellow ray, which were emitted from his hand.
June was the month of Celebrations. Little James celebrated his first birthday. Harry got into Reeds, one of the top schools, with a scholarship. The best part was that it was located in Surrey and as it also offered boarding as a choice, he could tell the Dursleys that he was staying there and stay at his other home with his real family. And finally after 2 years of mugging through the screenplay and getting producers interested in it only for them to drop out at the last minute, Mike finally made his first sale and also got his first directing gig. He did confess to Harry that it was loosely based on the boy hero and the sale could be because of the renewed interest his latest adventure caused.
Harry helped rescue 4 Hostages from 2-armed gunmen who barged into a house while trying to escape the cops. There was a stand off for over two hours with the gunmen demanding for a bus or that they would shoot the hostages. Harry heard the news. He was as ready as he could be to go into a hostile situation. He put on his new supersuit and it was beautiful. It was a black one-piece suit stretching from his neck to his feet in a tight body fit. It was partly lined with the remaining Mithril he had on hand. The Mithril made it durable, strong and it would always fit him, as he got older. It was highlighted with a white lightning bolt on the chest. He had Thor on his left wrist and his feet were covered in a cushioned layer of leather to give him extra grip. Finally his face was covered with a black mask in the shape of a lightning stretching from top left to bottom right.
He didn't need a forget-me anymore as his supersuit protected his identity. He flew as fast as he could to the hostage location.
The area was busy with cops and TV crew. One of them pointed up in the air. "What is that?"
Everyone looked up, when Harry stopped for a second above the scene, before he ported down in front of a police officer. The officer jumped back in surprise leveling his gun. He never believed in that superhero mumbo jumbo the papers claimed. But he couldn't stop gawking at who could only be a kid dressed like a super hero. And acting like one with powers and all.
Harry raised his hand in a sign of peace. "Fear not. I'm Bolt and I'm here to help." Harry grinned in his mind. He was practicing that line for a long time.
Long story short, he turned invisible, flew to the house, peeked through the window, ported in, stunned the two gunmen, ported them out and dropped them in front of the police squad.
Everyone stayed silent for a second before the reporters and the TV crew surged toward him. The moment he saw them coming, Harry flew into the air smiling. He was enjoying giving them the show. After he reached a decent height he ported away directly to his room at his home in London.
Harry got up from his bed in #4 yawning. This will be the last month he had to spend with his relatives for a long time. Reeds started at the end of August and today was July 24th. His relatives were ecstatic, though it took the schools letter to convince them he wasn't pulling their legs, when Harry told them he won a scholarship to Reeds and he will be boarding at the school. Uncle Vernon even offered 50 pounds for his school supplies, which Harry took, not that he needed it. Jess already got him the uniform and the books.
He made breakfast as usual and went to get the post, when he saw a letter addressed to Him. It even had his room on it and felt different. Raising an eyebrow, he tucked the letter into his pocket and went about his day. Once he was done with the small chores his aunt needed, he went to his room where he opened the letter and read through it with his eyebrows raising to the heaven. He wondered if this was Mike's idea of a joke. That man liked his jokes.
He pressed a white crystal on his own Mithril ring calling out for Jess mentally.
He added this feature to the rings recently. He created 3 tiny crystals, one for each of their rings and put them in the Mithril rings. Now when they wanted to talk to each other, all they needed to do was press the crystal and call out the name of the person who they wanted to talk to. And when they get a call, the ring will start vibrating and pressing the crystal once will enable them to talk to the caller. If the person was busy and didn't want to answer the call, pressing the crystal twice would stop it. All three could talk to each other at the same time and all talking can be done mentally. And after they finished talking, pressing the crystal once would cut the call. Harry also included another feature without telling Mike and Jess. The other two rings and James' chain are connected to his own ring, which was connected to his Energy ball. If they ever get into trouble he would know about it and also know where they were.
'Hey Harry. What's up?' replied Jess in his mind.
'Where are you?'
'Just getting back home. Want to come over?'
'Yeah, I want to show you something'
Harry ported into his room and walked down the stairs to see Jess putting away groceries. Little James saw him and cooed in his baby language. He raised his arms wanting to be picked up by Harry.
"So what did you want to show me?" asked Jess as Harry picked up James.
Harry gave her the heavy parchment letter with a scowl. "Is this one of Mike's practical jokes? I didn't want to call him as he would be on the set today."
Jess went through the letter and looked at him a raised eyebrow. "This certainly feels a little elaborate even for Mike. Let me call him."
As it was Mike was in middle of a scene and didn't call back until lunch, when he categorically denied sending the letter, though he was very interested in it. The next day when they broke the set for a couple of days break, Mike came home and all three decided to write back to see what happens.
"So my power is really magic then…" Harry thought aloud, "But if there are so many of us with this power like me and James, why don't we see them?"
"Maybe they hide it like you, Harry."
"But… but we never heard of anyone, except me in the news. Hiding their identity is one thing, but why hide these powers completely?"
Mike and Jess glanced at each other. They could guess the answer, but it would be better for Harry to learn it for himself.
"Why don't you write to them? Maybe they can give you the answers you want."
Harry nodded in acceptance. "What do they mean, we await your Owl?" asked Harry before he remembered something. "Do you think they use Owls for post? Remember I saw an owl last year, which was carrying a letter and that too in broad day light?"
Harry flew in the air out of his supersuit with a forget-me looking for an owl. He asked his energy ball, to ask the air to find a nearby owl. Harry felt a pull and followed to see an Owl heading away from him. He accelerated and leveled with a large intimidating owl before keying it into seeing him. The bird screeched in surprise and flapped its wings. Harry raised his hand offering it for the bird to perch. The owl looked at the flying human in confusion, before it landed on Harry's hand.
"Can you please take this letter to Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts? They asked me to owl it to them. So…" asked Harry helpfully.
The owl tilted its head a little before it raised its leg. Harry took a moment to understand. "Oh! You want me to tie it to your leg?"
The owl hooted. "Well you certainly are a clever bird," said Harry a little amazed that a bird could understand him. Then he laughed as the bird preened at his praise. He created a thread and tied the letter to the owl's leg.
"Thank you." Said Harry as he scratched the owl on its head. The owl responded back with a soft hoot and nipped his finger gently before taking off.
Minerva McGonagall was going through the acceptance letters she got so far. She knew this year was going to be exciting. Every professor, well not Severus or Sybill, but the rest were excited that Harry Potter would be coming to Hogwarts.
Charles, Harry's grandfather was in her year and was a good friend. Unfortunately, both Charles and James were killed by you-know-who in the last war leaving Harry the only Potter alive. The once prestigious and thriving house was on the brink of extinction.
She sorted through a muggleborn student's acceptance letter and smiled at the memory of introducing Ms. Granger to magic. She preferred to introduce muggleborns to the magical world herself as she delighted in seeing their expressions.
She glanced up sensing a movement to see a large eagle owl heading for her. The owl landed on her desk and raised its leg presenting the letter. Professor McGonagall took the letter and read it. She scowled after she finished it. She should have expected it.
She marched towards the headmaster's office with the letter in hand.
"Come in Minerva," said a voice from the headmaster's office. She huffed in frustration. She pushed open the door. "I told you Albus, I told you those muggles were the worst sort. But you wouldn't listen."
Albus raised a hand stopping her tirade. "Why don't you take a seat and start from the beginning. Since the only muggles who you referred to as the worst sort were the Dursleys, you must have gotten some response from Mr. Potter?"
She pursed her lips. "I did. Here why don't you read for yourself." She handed the letter to the headmaster who put on his half moon glasses and read it.
Dear Professor McGonagall,
Thanks for the invite to Hogwarts. I would appreciate it if you could send someone to explain more about magic and the magical world, as I have never heard of it before.
Thanks for your time,
Harry Potter
"Interesting," murmured Professor Dumbledore.
"Interesting? That's all you could say?" said Professor McGonagall in anger.
"It seems Mr. Potter is uneducated about his heritage. He's no worse than what a muggleborn would be. But that's the safest place for him until he comes of age. Nothing has changed Minerva. I am willing to sacrifice a little knowledge for his life, wouldn't you?"
Professor McGonagall sighed. What could she say to that? "I'll go meet with him tomorrow."
Professor Dumbledore nodded. "You would need to tell him about his past and his special moniker as well."
Professor McGonagall gave him a stiff nod and left the room.
Dumbledore tapped his table in thought. "It's time for him to enter this world again. I wonder what the future holds for him. For us."
The next day Harry finished breakfast and was walking to his spot to the trees at the end of the street to teleport to his London home, when he saw an old woman dressed in a robe walking in his direction.
Harry slowed down to a stop as the woman approached him.
"Mr. Potter?" Harry nodded slowly.
"I am Professor McGonagall from Hogwarts."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "So the owl reached you? I thought it wouldn't."
Professor McGonagall gave him a tiny smile. "Owl's have a magic of their own. We have much to discuss today Mr. Potter. Why don't we sit down with your aunt and uncle and I shall I explain."
Harry frowned. "I don't think my aunt and uncle will appreciate that Professor. I wrote that letter without their knowledge. Why don't you tell me what this is all about and if I decide to go to Hogwarts, then I will tell them?"
McGonagall's heart jumped a beat. Harry Potter not going to Hogwarts?
"Very well Mr. Potter. Is there a place where we can sit and talk?"
Harry nodded and pointed towards the park. "There's a park down the street."
They walked together in silence and Harry used the opportunity to analyze the woman beside him. She definitely has the power and her second energy was slightly larger than Harry's but it wasn't as closely connected to the first energy as his was. And that confused Harry. He thought for someone as old as her, the second energy would be much larger than what it was and more closely connected to what he started calling life energy. Does it slow down with age?
Once they settled on a bench Professor McGonagall started explaining about the magical world. "You must understand Mr. Potter, the magical world is an entirely different world. We have our own laws, our own government and the different aspects that make up a society. It would be impossible to explain everything in one sitting. Most of it you would need to experience yourself. So I will give you some highlights. The most important rule of our world is it's hidden. That means you are not to do magic in front of muggles."
"Muggles?"
"Non magic folk like your family. We call them muggles." Harry thought it sounded derogatory, but kept silent.
"The second important rule is, students younger than seventeen cannot perform magic outside school. Seventeen is when you are considered an adult in our world. Hogwarts is considered one of the best schools in Europe and most students from Britain attend that school. There are two smaller schools and if you wish I can give you their details. Hogwarts has four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. While you are at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family. Do you have any questions so far?"
Harry laughed. "I can think of a few questions, Professor. But can you tell me more about magic? What is it and what you can do with it?"
She gave him a smile. "Magic is something very few people are gifted with. Think of it as a power you can wield to do what normally would be impossible." She took out her wand and flicked it around them. Harry sensed something very similar to a forget-me form around them. "I just put up a notice-me-not around us. If any muggles were to pass by, they wouldn't notice us unless we go out of our way to make ourselves noticeable."
Harry gave her a nod. It was exactly the same as his forget-me.
Then the professor flicked her wand again and turned a nearby rock into a pig and then the pig into a cat and then the cat into a chair. Harry stared at that display in surprise. He never thought of doing that, though he never had a need to do it.
"That's called transfiguration. Changing one object to another object or animal. It's a very complex field and shouldn't be taken lightly. I will be teaching this subject for all seven years of your Hogwarts education. The other primary fields of study include, Charms, where you will learn to levitate objects and much more, defense against the dark arts, where you will learn to defend yourself against the darker forces of our world, Potions, which is similar to Muggle chemistry, and Herbology, where you will study about magical plants and how to care for them. There are of course more complex fields of study, some of which you will have an option to study in the third year and some you learn if you apprentice under a master after graduating from Hogwarts."
Harry nodded slowly. "Is there a prospectus, professor?"
Professor McGonagall expected this question. Many muggleborns ask it every year. "Unfortunately no. Because of the secrecy involved, we prefer not to give out prospectus to students who may decide not to join. But when you go to buy your course books, you can buy related material to understand the world better."
Harry nodded again. "What's the stick you used before to do the spells?"
"It's not a stick Mr. Potter, it's called a wand. And you will get one as well."
"Do you need a wand to do the spells? You can't do them without it?"
"Wandless magic is a very difficult art. Only the most powerful wizards to date were ever able to do any wandless magic and even they need a wand to do anything significantly powerful."
"So how does a wand work?"
McGonagall sighed. If this keeps going they would be here all day and they have some important aspects still to discuss.
"I think we will leave the discussion about magic here Mr. Potter. You will be able to find all the answers in the books you can buy in the store. There are some aspects that are yet to be covered."
Harry nodded slowly. "Alright Professor, please continue."
"It's my understanding that your relatives never told you about magic?" Seeing Harry nod, she continued. "It's unfortunate as you have a history in our world. A famous history. You see Mr. Potter, like all societies we have good and bad in ours as well. A few years ago, a wizard went as bad as one could. He gathered many followers under his banner and they attacked those that didn't stand for their beliefs. On Halloween of 1981, this wizard attacked your parents and killed them. But when he tried to kill you, for some reason his curse backfired and hit him. No one knows what happened to him, but since then he was not seen. Because you survived the one curse no one has ever survived with nothing but a scar, and because you in effect defeated this dark wizard, you were hailed as the boy-who-lived."
Harry touched the scar on his forehead and stayed silent as he absorbed the details. "What was the wizard's name? The dark wizard who killed my parents…"
Professor McGonagall sighed. "We do not say his name Mr. Potter. People still fear it and call him you-know-who or he-who-must-not-be-named. But for your sake I will say it once. The dark wizard's name was Lord Voldemort."
Harry thought it was entirely silly and it seemed the magical world had a fixation on hyphenated names. "Voldemort. I'll remember that name."
After a few minutes, Harry looked up at her. "So my parent's were a witch and wizard?"
"And powerful ones. Your father was very gifted at Transfiguration. Your mother was famous for being the best at Charms and nearly as good with Potions. They were good people, Harry, and it was sad to see their lives cut short so abruptly. You look much like them. If not for Lily's eyes, you would look exactly like James did at your age, though you are slightly taller and do not wear glasses."
Harry gave her a small smile thanking her. "I used to wear glasses, but I am using contacts now. You know my relatives, all they ever said was there was no such thing as magic. They never told me anything of my parents other than their names."
"Unfortunately, I do see it a few times in the muggle world. Once in a while, there will be a parent who couldn't digest that their child is magical. They are too caught up with religion."
"So what happens to those that decide not to attend?"
"Well, in the case of a muggleborn, the knowledge of a magical world is wiped from their mind by the government. Other than that we don't do much. In the younger years when the magic is unstable children would experience bouts of what we call accidental magic. This is triggered by emotions and it cannot be controlled. But after they reach a certain age, for most, eleven years, the magic stabilizes and the accidental magic drops down to only the most emotional events. So the risk of someone finding about the magical world is negligible."
"So if I decide not to join the magical world, the government will erase all my knowledge of magic?"
Here Professor McGonagall frowned. "Yours is a significantly different case than a normal muggleborn. Not only are you famous in our world, but you also have your family assets to consider. Your father came from a very rich a known pureblood family. You have quite he assets at your disposal in the magical bank, Gringotts, which is controlled by Goblins…"
"Goblins?"
The professor nodded giving affirmation. "Goblins. Not the friendliest creatures you will find. But they do know how to do their job. I believe you have a trust vault setup by your parents until you come off age. Here's a key for that."
She removed a small golden key and gave it to Harry, who took with interest.
"Going back to your question, I honestly don't know Mr. Potter. Being from a pureblood family, you are expected to be part of that world. So I doubt your memories will be changed. But you would need to show just cause for not attending one of the three schools in Britain and you would be held to the same laws as anyone in our world. I will be honest Mr. Potter, you not attending Hogwarts was never considered as an issue."
"I understand where you are coming from ma'am. But ultimately, the decision will rest with me."
"Very well. Shall we go see Diagon Alley? It's the only magical shopping center around London and that's where all the major stores are including Gringotts."
Harry gave her a nod and they got up from the bench. Harry observed as the Professor removed the forget-me spell she put with her wand.
"I am going to take you using a method we call apparition. It's where you disappear from one place and appear at another. I will be side-long apparating you. It will be slightly uncomfortable, but please do not try to fight it."
Harry nodded and the professor took his hand and they were gone. They appeared back again in a narrow alley. "This way Mr. Potter. For your information, we are at charring crossroad. We will be going to a magical pub called the Leaky Cauldron. That's the gateway to Diagon alley. Muggle wouldn't be able to see this pub unless they are accompanying a wizard or a witch."
Harry followed her listening to her explanation. The leaky cauldron ended up being an old rundown looking place from the outside. When the professor opened the door everyone in the pub went silent. They recognized the professor and a few greeted her.
"Hello professor, anything to drink?" asked a bald man behind the bar.
"Not today, Tom, Hogwarts business."
Tom gave Harry a quick glance before he turned around to his work.
The professor took Harry to the back of the pub and stood in front of a wall. "Remember this pattern Mr. Potter." Then she tapped 5 bricks in a particular order and the wall started to move brick by brick and soon in front of them was a gateway.
Harry's senses were starting to overload. There was so much energy in the air. Not as much as Stonehenge, but more than any other place he ever saw. And the shops and the people, they all looked so magical. Harry couldn't help feeling excited about seeing such wonder.
The professor first took him towards a white marble building, with the words Gringotts printed clearly on it. Harry got a first glimpse of a Goblin. He tried to analyze one as they waited in a queue. The goblin had only one energy and it was a mixture of both the life energy and the power energies.
Soon it was their turn. "Mr. Potter would like to make a withdrawal," said Professor McGonagall and Harry presented his key after the Goblin asked for it.
Soon Harry was in a roller coaster ride to his vault. The professor explained the magical world's economy system and how it worked and how it can be compared to the muggle currency. Harry was awed at seeing so much gold and silver. He never had any money of his own and before meeting Jess he only had a handful of possessions. So it came as a huge surprise that he was rich. Not just rich, but filthy rich.
According to the Goblin that took him to the vault, his trust find had 100,000 galleons equivalent of currency in it. That's 500,000 pounds and just less than 1% of his monetary assets. The rest were in his family vault, which he will gain access to at 17 according to his parent's wishes.
After a cart ride back, they went to the bookstore, where Harry purchase a few books which talked about the theory of magic, the different fields of magic and the laws of the society. Professor McGonagall also suggested that he buy Hogwarts a History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts as it had more information on the even that made him popular.
By the time they finished it was lunch and the professor suggested they have some in the pub. Harry readily agreed, as he was very hungry himself. He sent a mental message to Jess, so that she wouldn't be worried.
They sat at a table when Tom approached them with a smile. "What can I get for you Professor?"
"How about the lamb stew and a butter beer, Tom?"
"Aiye, lamb stew it is. How about you lad? I am Tom by the way, the owner of this pub."
Harry shook the hand of the friendly owner and smiled back. "The same will be fine, Tom. And I am Harry Potter," answered Harry before Professor McGonagall could stop him.
Tom stood there for a moment in shock, still holding Harry's hand. The soon to be 1-year-old looked at the owner in confusion. "Bless my soul its Harry Potter!" blurted out Tom for the whole pub to listen. That was when Harry remembered that he was famous in this world. Soon a whole mob of people came to shake his hand.
"All right, that's enough. Behave yourself. You are all acting like a barbaric mob," scolded the stern professor. Most of those in the bar were taught by here in the last 3 decades and they were cowed by her anger.
Harry couldn't believe he had such a following. Being a famous is one thing, but this is completely insane. When he whispered that to the professor, she gave him the reason. "You must understand Mr. Potter, you-know-who was winning the war. People were dying everyday and no one knew whom to trust. It was a very traumatic period. When you-know-who was defeated, the entire world was affected by it. So many people are thankful even today for what you have done."
After lunch, the professor apparated Harry back to Surrey. "I hope you would decide to come Mr. Potter. I will personally be very disappointed if you decide not to."
"I will let you know my decision in a few days Professor. I just need sometime to think about it."
Later on that day, Harry, Mike and Jess read through the books to understand what the magical world is about. "I still can't believe that a whole world exists in secret with a government, laws and everything," said Mike.
"I am more worried about Harry being famous for defeating a dark wizard people are still afraid to name."
Harry snorted. "Can you believe that? How can I defeat what the books say was the most powerful dark wizard ever as a baby? It must be my parents. They must have done something and since I was the only one alive, they credited to me."
There was a few minutes of silence. "Remember your scar?" said Jess.
Harry nodded. "I thought about it. When Voldemort used that killing curse on me, and it failed, it must have left something behind." Harry shivered. "Thank god it's gone. I don't want a link with someone who would murder so many people including my parents."
Mike chuckled. "Ahh… but he's your super villain, Harry. And the hero and villain are always linked with some unseen force."
Harry shrugged. "I guess. But no one saw him in 10 years or so."
"So what do you want to do, Harry?"
Harry thought about it. "I can learn everything by myself and get the ideas from the books I can buy in the alley. Maybe there are other books, but the few books I bought on how magic works, didn't have anything about sentient energies, dial energies, the enegies in the air. Nothing. Most of them seem to think that magic simply was. So I don't think Hogwarts will help much. But I also don't want anyone to know I can do all this stuff wandlessly. It seems I am rather different even in this world. And I just hate being famous for something I couldn't possibly have done."
"But what about your family estate?"
"I can live in both worlds can't I? And if nothing else, I can withdraw the money when the time comes into pounds."
"But you said you liked Diagon Alley," pointed out Jess.
"I did. It was amazing. I will take you guys tomorrow. I will just need to change my appearance. I don't want to be mobbed again and I certainly don't want them linking you guys to me. As Jess said, who knows what kind of enemies I might have."
"It looks like there's something else bothering you?" prompted Mike.
Harry gave him a nod.
Two days later Professor McGonagall got a letter from Harry saying he won't be attending Hogwarts.
AN: Thanks for the reviews guys. To answer some questions, there will be some romance way later in the story. But the main genre is Adventure. Most of your questions will be answered in the next two chapters. Very excited. Until next time.