Robin, in an effort to keep Thor from spilling the beans too early, decided to stick around Xavier's school for a bit with Hermes so that Loki could properly fall for her past self.
She had noted that since she had taken up the mantle as the Æsir goddess of Rebirth and Hel's Avatar among the mortals while her past self was recovering, she had more power. A lot more power. Her naturally long life span as a powerful witch (the more power, the longer they lived) had multiplied by ten at least, if not more. She could cast wandlessly like it was nothing, and she could now go to Hel's realm with a thought, instead of having to meditate for ten minutes.
The Professor didn't mind letting her stay at the mansion, as she tended to mother some of the more damaged children.
As a child from an abusive home, she was able to reach those who had been hurt the most by their families who had trouble handling the news that their children were mutants better than most.
Xavier suspected she might be one of the few people able to reach his old friend, Eric Lencher.
Robin was in the room as Jean gave her speech on mutation. To her amusement, she was right next to one of the most powerful and anti-human mutants alive, Magneto.
However the drivel Senator Kelly spieled out was too much for her to take.
"What a load of bollocks," she said loudly.
Her voice was loud enough to catch the attention of those below, and quite a few turned to look in her direction.
"Here I thought you Americans had at least learned from your past mistakes, or have none of you learned from history?"
"Young lady, if you have something to say..." said Kelly irritated she had interrupted his spiel against mutants.
"Oh I have something to say alright, you arrogant neo-Nazi racist bastard," she shot back.
That really set off the good senator.
"Excuse me?!"
"How is that tripe you're spewing about mutants any different than what Hitler pulled with his Nazi regime before World War Two? And here I thought you Americans had learned not to piss off the minority groups," she said annoyed.
Seeing she had everyone's attention now, she decided to go on a roll and point out flaws in his so called Mutant Registration Bill and knock his approval ratings down the toilet.
"Fact one: shortly before taking over Germany Hitler and his group known as Nazis forced those who practiced the Jewish faith to place the Star of David on their clothes to identify themselves to the Nazi party. Fact two: the last time Americans tried to suppress a minority group it ended up with thousands dead and a civil war happened. Fact three: mutants, while possessing powers that we have yet to fully understand, are considered the minority compared to the amount of those without powers and should by all rights be given the same protection that other minority groups are given by the US government. Fact four: last time I checked, persecuting a minority group was considered racism and is illegal in all states. So tell me, how is calling you a neo-Nazi racist inaccurate?" she drawled.
She could sense Magneto's amusement at her little speech, mostly because she was entirely correct that what Senator Kelly was trying to do was technically illegal by US standards. Senator Kelly was quite shocked someone had just insulted him on public TV and was defending mutants in the same breath...and would likely get away with it because not one single bit of it could technically be called slander due to her reasoning.
She could also sense Xavier's shock rolling off him in waves, as clearly he hadn't considered telling Jean to point out the logical flaws in Senator Kelly's little bill.
Robin was just enjoying the fact that an arrogant prick who could care less about others was currently turning a shade of red she had last seen on the face of one Vernon Dursley and she was the cause of it.
Once the presentation was over and she had escaped the media with ease, she walked up to Eric Lencher with an amused glint in her eyes..
"It was a nice sentiment, but it would take more than words for humanity to accept the fact that mutants are here to stay. Though knocking that arrogant wanker down several pegs was fun."
"You sound like you have experience," said Eric.
"Far too much. I may not be a mutant, but I am a witch. We used to be the ones who suffered from humanities inability to handle those who are different from the norm before we went into hiding and started erasing the memory that we are still here," she said.
Eric knew about the magical communities, but he wasn't a big fan of them. They had tried to erase his memories one time too many for him to accept them.
"The normal humans will need something to shake their belief that they are alone in this world, and mutants are too new for that to work," said Robin.
"Oh?"
"In a few short years, there will be a massive upheaval in the world as the boundaries between the magically inclined and humanity come crashing down around their arrogant minds. The result will give Mutants all the opening they will ever need to redraw the lines between those with powers and those without."
"You sound very knowledgeable. How do you know about this?" asked Eric. Something about this witch put him at ease, and he knew it wasn't a spell.
"Let's just say that you aren't the only one who has lost their parents to war and forced to become a weapon against your will. Perhaps we should discuss this over drinks?"
Magneto noticed the wedding band on her right hand, and correctly assumed she wasn't interested in seducing him.
"I suppose that wouldn't hurt," he admitted. This woman was far too interesting to pass up a harmless drink.
Xavier watched the exchange from a distance, as Robin had allowed him to listen in from afar.
Magneto met the woman known as Robin Black in a quaint tea shop near a construction site. There was so much metal nearby that he could kill her within minutes if he had to.
Looking at this Robin, it was clear she knew his power and chose this setting in order to make him fell more at ease. Beside him was Mystique.
"Greetings Mystique. I must say I find your use of such a rare magical gift fascinating," said Robin pleasantly.
The female mutant blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"Your mutant ability, that of perfect transformation into anyone, down to the voice, is actually a manifestation of a rare magical ability called Metamorphamagi. I have a cousin, one Nymphadora Tonks, who can do the same, but she is quite clumsy. Your mastery of the ability is both impressive and inspiring. Your ease at mimicry suggests that you are a natural actress as well," explained Robin.
That threw both mutants for a loop. They had been unaware that there were others with Mystique's particular gift.
"If you like, I can try to bring Tonks here so you can talk to her. I know how rare it is to find another with the same gift," said Robin.
To Magneto's surprise, Mystique smiled, genuinely at that.
"I would enjoy that," she replied.
"I am curious, Mrs. Black, as to why we feel so at ease around you. Generally I cannot stand magicals and barely tolerate mundanes at the best of times," said Eric.
"That is because like you, I was forced to become a weapon as a child because of a power I didn't understand, and I was branded," she said calmly. She carefully moved her bangs back to reveal a faded scar in the shape of a lightning bolt.
"This scar is both my destiny and my curse. When I was a year and a half old, a madman by the name of Voldemort came to my house and made me an orphan. I spent ten years being abused and hated by my own flesh and blood, and six more years after that being molded into a weapon by a senile old man named Albus Dumbledore. At eighteen I was forced to 'marry' someone who happened to be my third cousin once removed, in order to keep the blood 'pure'. Last month I helped my past self escape that loveless marriage to find someone who could care for her and give her another chance at actually living. In three years I will be hit by an artifact known as time sand and sent into the past."
Magneto and Mystique were silent through this explanation.
"I would have thought that you couldn't be in two places at once," said Eric.
"In the future, I marry the same god who tried to destroy New York out of misguided rage. Loki set me free from my bindings, and though my bond to him by love, I was made the new goddess of Rebirth and the Avatar of Death. Because I was not considered human by most definitions of the word, I was able to free my past self long enough for her to escape."
Magneto and Mystique relaxed around Robin, who despite being a witch was easy to talk to. While they had different views on magical/mutant/mundanes, they all had similar agreements towards fools who thought anyone who had unique powers should be registered like a monster should be killed. Violently.
Unlike Xavier, Robin held no delusions about humanity. There were some people who would never be won over, and until they were the minority and not the majority, those with powers and those without would never coexist.
Having a pleasant conversation with a witch/goddess was enjoyable enough that they set up regular meetings to simply chat.
Even megalomaniacs needed a break from being evil every once in a while.
And Robin knew Tonks would love talking to Mystique, who was quite possibly the only mundane-born/mutant witch who had the same shapeshifting ability she had.
"How did your tea time go?" asked Xavier.
"Well enough. I'll be taking Hermes with me next time. Eric said hello by the way," she said pleasantly.
Xavier nodded.
"I had the feeling you would be good for Eric to interact with. There is something about you that puts even the most broken person at ease."
"That's because I was broken, for a very long time. It takes someone who has battled the darkness and survived to understand others with the same problem. Yet another reason why I let Hermes learn alongside those with unusual powers. The more exposure he has with those who aren't fully human, the less likely he is to discriminate."
"If only more had that opinion," said Xavier.
"More will, but right now isn't the time. In a few years the Purge will be brought to the Earth, and walls will come crashing down. Mutants will be able to gain some support by joining sides with the magicals who will be out of their league in a world they never fully understood."
"Why is the Purge coming? From what I heard from Strange, it shouldn't happen for another hundred years," asked Xavier.
"Long story short, the British magical community did something to really piss me off, and they needed the wake up call. I couldn't exactly have the Purge happen on only one continent, so I was given the go-ahead by Odin to start it off early. The end result will be that in a few generations the magic will return. But in the meantime, the magical communities will have to grow up a little," said Robin flatly.
"What could they possibly do to anger someone as even-tempered as you?"
"They bound me, tried to break me because I refused to follow their foolish lies, and then when it became clear that I wouldn't be their new 'savior' and pretend that their inbreeding was okay, they tried to kill me. They turned me into a living weapon just because a madman with a penchant for 'blood purity' was too strong for them. They ruined everything about my childhood that could be considered good. All I have left...is Hermes."
Xavier couldn't help but feel a small flicker of relief when he heard that last bit. At least she acknowledged that her son was the good part in her life.
Marie was a rather unusual mutant, and one who was quickly a fan of her new magic teacher, who discovered that she had a rare magical disorder that for some reason had become tied with her mutant blood. Fortunately Robin had a solution that quickly became her best defense against her strong and very dangerous mutant power.
The impervius charm, originally created to make things water proof, also worked surprisingly well at protecting others from her power to drain people and use their characteristics after. Robin cast it on her every morning and Marie was determined to become a master at casting it wandlessly.
So far it had prevented ten separate incidents when she touched people by accident. Robin didn't know if it would worked if she had any...intimate...relations with a boy, and had told her not to experiment until they found a way to keep her mutant ability under control.
In short, no going all the way with a guy until her power stabilized or they found a way to keep her partner from being killed.
Still, Robin Black was a mentor to most of the mutants in the school, and her door was open at all times of the day.
Quite a few of the more...abused...kids went to her for nightmares, and came out either with something to cope with them, usually a dreamless sleep potion, or they stayed in her room for a minor sleepover.
Hermes didn't have any issues with it, as he was considered the kid brother by practically the entire school.
Meanwhile, in between her magic classes, she was helping the Wolverine coax some forgotten memories out of his brain.
To date, she had helped him remember how to speak Japanese, the fact he was older than Xavier (way older...), and that he had magic, which had been repressed since he was young and tied into his healing factor.
The only reason he put up with her was because she had the only supply of liquor for ten miles, and she hid it from the kiddies. That and she had no issue with him smoking her in room...a simple air circulation spell and a few candles got rid of the smell. That and she usually had a the bubble-head charm on anyone else in the room.
So yes, he gravitated to her as the only adult he could get along with other than Jean.
It was her bi-monthly tea chats with 'Magneto' and 'Mystique', both of whom rather enjoyed these chats as Robin most definitely had a similar view of people they did. Tonks, when Robin had sat her down and explained what a mutant was and what Mystique could do, had introduced the two during one of the chats.
If Ms. Say-my-first-name-and-be-hexed-horribly could learn to get rid of her klutziness, well that was only a good thing right? The mutant and metamorph really hit it off while Magneto tried to corrupt Hermes against humanity as a whole, only to be shot down by Robin's actual view on humans.
Magneto thought they should be wiped out, Robin just thought the collect whole was a pack of complete morons, and once her 'self-imposed' exile was over with, she was staying on Asgard for a long while.
At least there she could pound anyone who pissed her off with a sword until they either shut up or didn't express such monumental stupidity around her again.
Considering Magneto agreed that the collective majority of people on Earth were sheeple (her favorite term for those like the magical communities) and that it was damn near impossible to find anyone with a lick of common sense, it was only natural that they tended to gravitated towards each other to chat, if only to rant about the complete idiocy of the mutant registration laws.
There was also the fact Robin had given him an unabridged version of her life, and he had realized why she was able to connect with so many mutants.