Tony's going to have to learn some respect... wonder how that's gonna go.

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Tony's expression changed from seriousness to open-mouthed shock as the boy wizard relayed his tale. If even half of what he was saying was true, Tony had seriously underestimated the boy.

Harry gave a brief recap of his tragic past – a Seer by the name of Trelawney gave a prediction that Harry would be a threat to the Dark Lord. So, of course, Voldy went to eradicate the potential threat. After murdering his parents, he tried to kill Harry – but his spell broke, and Voldy nearly killed himself in the process.

"I didn't know for years why the curse rebounded," Harry said, his voice low. "No one knew. But my mother – she'd died to save me. That act cast a spell of protection so strong that You-Know-Who could not pierce it. His killing curse rebounded and destroyed his body." Harry reached up and absentmindedly rubbed at his lightning-shaped scar.

Harry continued his story, explaining that the existence of his Horcruxes preserved the bit of soul that had been in his body. He disappeared for ten years, resurfacing when Harry was just 11 years old.

That's when the awe kicked in. Tony listened with growing shock as Harry talked of an Elixir of Life, unicorn blood, and soul possession. Tony didn't know how much more he could handle, learning that the both unicorns and the Sorcerer's stone were real, but Harry's expression clearly said he was just getting started.

He told of how he managed to defeat Voldy's possessed servant and, with his friends' help, keep the Sorcerer's stone out of his grasp. Tony thought he might be done then, but no, onto his second year at Hogwarts – where he faced off against Voldemort again.

This time there weren't any possessed servants; instead, there were giant spiders and a snake that had a glare as deadly as its fangs. And, to add to all the fun, Voldy's Horcrux (though Harry didn't know what it was then) came out to play. With the Horcrux appearing as a 16-year-old Voldemort, it was able to walk, talk, and command a death-eyed snake, nearly killing Harry – again – and Ron's younger sister as well. But once more Harry saved the day, impaling the Basilisk with a sword of all things, and destroying the Horcrux diary with a basilisk fang. So the younger Voldemort was defeated, a Horcrux destroyed… and Harry was still only 12 years old. Staring at the 17 year old Harry, Tony felt a newfound respect for him.

Harry was lucky in his third year – no Voldy, but an escaped convict and some followers of You-Know-Who kept his school year interesting. Tony wondered how anyone at the school actually got any schoolwork done – it seemed like all they did was fight Dark Wizards or get into trouble somehow.

And then Harry dropped the first bomb – Voldemort got his body back, killing a classmate of Harry's in the process. That was seriously bad news from all fronts except one. Since Voldemort now had a proper living body, if they managed to destroy the horcruxes before turning their sights on the living Voldemort – Voldemort could finally be killed.

But Tony didn't feel very good about their chances at this point. The guy had really done a good job covering all his bases.

And there was still more. Harry faced the Dark Lord again, body and all. Harry made it clear that that was a battle he wouldn't have won, but his headmaster Dumbledore came to save the day. The truth that Voldy was back was finally exposed to the Wizarding world – but during the battle that ensued at the Ministry of Magic (Magical people had a ministry?) Harry's godfather – the escaped convict – was killed. Harry tried not to show it, but there was a definite wetness in his eyes as he spoke of a veil and of his godfather dying. Tony pretended not to see.

Open warfare in the wizarding world now. Tony couldn't believe how oblivious his nice little… 'Muggle' world had been. Sure, he'd heard of the broken bridge, the 'serial killers', of the strange mists that had plagued England – but he'd never imagined that magical Death Eaters and soul-sucking dementors were to blame for that.

Tony had never felt so ignorant.

And then the biggest bombshell of all – betrayal within their school, a hateful man named Snape killing the headmaster Dumbledore atop the highest tower. Their greatest protector dead, the wizarding world in chaos, the Death Eaters in charge of the Ministry, and Harry, wanted by the law and on the run.

Tony briefly summed it up in his head. Their situation was bad, no question about it. Murderous wizard protected by unholy horcruxes, immortal in nearly every sense of the word. Wanted world domination and nothing less. Definitely not good. But then, to make things about a thousand times worse, the crazy man now had an unlimited power source in his murderous hands.

They were screwed.

Before Tony could move past the 'we're all doomed' mentality, Steve spoke up and broke the very heavy silence. "I am so sorry, Harry," He said, and for once he didn't sound awkward. His voice was steady and sincere. "No one should have to suffer through so much."

Harry nodded mutely. Tony guessed his was too overwhelmed by the recent reliving to speak; Tony certainly didn't blame him.

Steve clenched his fist on the table. "We'll help you bring him down. Just tell us what to do."

Hermione cast a concerned look at Harry before speaking up. "The Tesseract complicates matters," She said, "But we can't kill You-Know-Who – not now, at least. If we kill his body, we won't be able to finish him off completely until he is restored to another body. So, if we ever enter another battle –" She shuddered, "We must be careful not to kill him."

"But we can't just let him have free rein with the Tesseract," Bruce objected. "If he figures out how to use it, the world's his. End of story."

"He's not trying to use the Tesseract for world domination – not yet, anyway," Harry said. "He thinks his own magic is enough for that. No, he's trying to convert the Tesseract into a shield – a force field to protect his Horcruxes.

"That's why you found the snake and the metal at the crater – test subjects, worthless replicas of his Horcruxes, to see if the Tesseract could protect them. Obviously, they failed.

"We only have as much time until he unravels the Tesseract. If he casts an impenetrable field around them, we've good as lost."

Tony finally found his voice. He usually wasn't one for kind words or assurances, but damn. The Potter boy had been through a lot. More than the hardships, though, Tony was impressed by the fact that Harry was still solidly fighting for the good side, despite all the crap that had been thrown his way. And Ron and Hermione (though Tony still didn't care for Ginger that much) were just as admirable, sticking by Harry through thick and thin, even when Lord Voldemort himself showed his ugly face. That took more than plain goodness - that took guts. There was no question of courage in these three – they were in it to the end. They would either kill Voldemort or die trying.

But whether they defeated Voldemort or got blown up, Tony would see them to the end.

So Tony cleared his throat and said, "Regardless of the how at this point – we're with you, Harry."

He didn't feel bad about saying 'we' – there was no question on any of the Avengers faces. They would stand with Harry.

"Like Steve said, just tell us what to do," Natasha said. That was huge, coming from her. Her eyes were burning with hatred as she clenched her hands together on the table. Lord Voldemort had hit a nerve in Black Widow – regardless of magic or immortality, she was not a good enemy to have.

Likewise, everyone else looked angered and fired up. Things were going to get interesting. Someone would have to get the happy job of explaining to Fury the change in plans, but now the Avengers had a mission. With Harry, they had to find the Horcruxes - wherever the hell they were – and destroy them before Voldemort figured out how to use the Tesseract. It was quite a task, but as he looked around the room, he couldn't think of anyone better suited for the job.

Then again, he didn't know any other superhumans, so maybe that wasn't saying much.

"Well, I think I've upheld my end of the bargain," Harry said, just before everyone started getting up. Everyone stared at him, wondering what he meant.

With a slight grin again, Harry said, "I thought we agreed that if we told you about You-Know-Who, you'd explain to us why a few of your members are… more than human."

"Oh. Right," Tony said. He'd completely forgotten about their little deal in light of everything Harry had said. "Doesn't really compare to yours. At all, really."

He looked around at the Avengers. Instead of going into a big long speech, Tony just started to point around the table. "Steve here was given an experimental serum to turn him into a super-soldier – needless to say, it worked. He's super strong, fast, heals quickly, and can't get drunk." Steve turned red at Tony's frank appraisal of him.

"Bruce was attempting to recreate that serum – got blasted with a deadly amount of gamma radiation instead. Didn't kill him, but created a giant green rage monster that comes out to play when Bruce gets pissed. You met Hulk back at the manor." Bruce grinned ruefully.

"Moving on – Natasha here is an assassin. A master one." Tony didn't want them to get any ideas that she was somehow weaker than the others. He'd seen her battle for two minutes – that had him convinced. She wasn't one to mess with. Ever. "Don't touch her gloves when they're turned on. And Clint... well, Clint can shoot things with a bow," he said, adopting a bored tone as he savored the look on Clint's face. Before Clint could retaliate, he moved onto Thor, who was the person Harry had been asking about in the first place.

"And Thor's our resident god - he's actually a god from Asgard. Yep, they're real," He said as Hermione cried out in surprise. "All those myths about Odin and Heimdall and everyone…? All true."

"Not all of them," Thor said with a frown. "You humans misrecorded several of our greatest feats."

"What a pity," Tony said sardonically. "My mistake, wizards. Forgive our petty human faults, Thor," Tony said to Thor in a mock-respectful voice.

"The gist is correct, though – Thor here is the god of lightning, and that's Mjolnir, his mighty hammer." Tony figured the hammer deserved that title – it was more than heavy enough. "The guy you helped upstairs is Thor's brother, Loki – he's the god of mischief."

"I fear he is the god of more than mischief now, Stark," Thor said solemnly. Tony shrugged and ignored that comment. Loki was crazy, but Tony didn't believe Loki was entirely evil. Not anymore.

"And then there's me. Resident genius and master of all things mechanical." He finished his introduction with a self-satisfied grin.

"You forgot ego-head in your rundown, Tony," Clint said. Tony ignored him.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all staring at Thor, identical looks of shock on their faces. Tony had a feeling that was how all the Avengers looked about five minutes ago.

Tony clapped his hands together. "Well, I think we're all caught up. What exactly do we do now?"

Harry tore his gaze away from Thor, who was looking resolutely away from the wizards, trying to hide his embarrassment of being stared at. "What now? Rest," Harry said frankly. "We'd be worse than useless, searching for Horcruxes now." Only now did Tony see the dark circles etched deeply under Harry's eyes – Ron and Hermione were likewise shadowed.

Well, Tony could help with that, at least.

"Say no more. Follow me," he said, and he stood as the meet broke up. The wizards followed him up the lift and into one of the deserted wings of the mansion. "Pick a room, any room," Tony said, spreading his arms wide. Playing the part of gracious host, Tony said, "Bathroom's there, kitchen's over there. You need anything else, just ask JARVIS."

"Jarvis?" Hermione asked, looking confused.

Oops. He'd forgotten to introduce his built-in butler.

"How rude, JARVIS," Tony said, addressing the ceiling. "You've been here all this time, yet you didn't introduce yourself?"

Forgive my discourtesy, sir, JARVIS answered immediately. The wizards whirled, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. Tony pointed at one of the many speakers that lined the walls and said, "Wizards, meet JARVIS. JARVIS, meet the wizards."

Well met, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, JARVIS said. As Mr. Stark has previously mentioned, if you require anything, I am but a call away.

Harry looked unnerved. "What is he?" He said, still staring at the speaker.

"A robot," Tony replied promptly. "An AI – Artificial Intelligence. I had a bit too much fun programming his personality in… so now he's butler of the house."

Caretaker, not butler, JARVIS corrected.

Harry's expression changed back to shock. Tony grinned broadly. "Machines are a whole different kind of magic, Harry. You'd be amazed at what a few wires and sparks can do."

"I don't disagree with that," Harry said, looking back up at the ceiling.

"You guys can chat with the robot all you want. I'm going to sleep," Ron said, turning to one of the bedrooms and disappearing inside. Tony waved at the three and turned to leave the wing. "Come down whenever you guys are ready to take us Horcrux-hunting."

He heard muttered assent and the closing of doors. Those wizards must have been more tired than they were letting on. Tony figured he had a few hours to himself before the wizards would be awake enough to help with anything. He got on the lift, thought for a second… then headed to the medical bay.

Just to make sure for himself that they weren't going to be one sorcerer short.

The medical bay was not empty. Clint was in a heated conversation with Thor on one end of the room – and at the foot of Loki's bed was a pair of familiar looking shackles.

So Clint was trying to convince Thor to put the shackles back on. That was bound to be an interesting argument.

Tony took a look at Loki. There was no question at all that he looked better. Though they'd mostly covered him with a blanket, his shoulders were exposed – and what had once been thick gashes were now just thin red lines. And he was no longer the color of a drained corpse, which was definitely a good thing. He gave a small sigh of relief. The wizards had done their magic well.

Determined not to focus on the continued relief he was feeling, Tony's gaze strayed to the shackles lying innocently on the sheets. The metal seemed to glint, even in the diffused light of the medical bay. The angular runes just positively seethed with magic. Hmm…

Tony walked back down the hall, the shackles swinging in one hand. Clint would find out soon enough that the shackles were gone, by which time Tony would already be in his workshop. Those shackles repelled magic. Tony really needed to be able to repel magic, and – as Loki had already hinted at more than once – the shackles most likely held the key to imbuing metal with magic-cancelling force. Armed with such logic, Tony felt no guilt whatsoever in taking the shackles from the overeager archer.

And besides, he doubted Loki would take kindly to waking up shackled again. Might as well try to stay on good footing, right?

But he mainly just wanted to test the shackles for himself.

Tony made it to his workshop, triple-locked the door, and promptly set the shackles on the scanner. He had work to do.


This chapter was hard...

Anyway, there will be more reflection from Tony about the wizards later, don't worry, but I tried to give Harry the adulation he so deserved :3

And... just so you guys know... next chapter is going to be very FrostIron-y. Just saying. So look forward to that xD

And I had a feeling I was forgetting something the whole time I was writing this, so if I left out something glaring and egregious could you tell me please? D:

Hope you guys enjoyed this! I think Harry finally got his due :3