Harry Potter Returns

A Harry Potter/Superman Returns Crossover

Chapter Twenty

Battle Royale

Updated June 10, 2011

Harry, Kara and a befuddled Dr. Strange walked for several hours along the yellow brick road, passing through farmlands, a green and rolling valley, and finally into a woodland area, where the trees kept most of the sunlight from reaching them. It was a strange sort of sunlight, however — though yellow, Kara complained that she wasn't receiving any energy from the radiation.

"Not surprising," Harry had told her. "Clea isn't going to give us an environment that would restore super-powers."

In the woods, Harry began to feel an emptiness in his belly. "I need something to eat," he told Kara.

"What do you usually do for food?" she asked.

"In the Palace, Clea normally had meals prepared three times a day," Harry said, absently rubbing his growling stomach. "But I should be able to whip up something on my own, with all the magic she's taught me. Are, uh, you hungry?" he asked her, sounding tentative. He wasn't sure how she'd feel about eating food made with magic.

But Kara nodded appreciatively. "I don't normally need to eat, of course, but that's on Earth when I'm powered by the sun. Now that my powers are diminishing I could use something to eat."

"Okay," Harry said, then pointed to a small clearing nearby in the woods. "Why don't we stop there and I'll conjure up something to eat." He made several gestures; a round wooden table appeared, along with three chairs. With another wave of his hand a tablecloth appeared on the table, along with three place settings. They sat Dr. Strange down at the table; then, as Kara made to sit down, Harry pulled her chair back for her.

"Thanks," she said, giving him a surprised look. Harry nodded then sat down himself. He looked over the table for a few moments, deciding what kind of food to conjure up.

"Let's start with some roast beef and potatoes," he said. "And perhaps some peas and carrots as well?"

"It sounds good," Kara smiled. Harry waved his hands over the table, invoking the magic he'd learned.

Nothing happened.

After the third attempt he sat back, frustrated. "Clea must be doing something to inhibit these spells," he said at last. "They should work!"

"Maybe that's the point," Kara suggested. "She said this was going to be a challenge."

"Yeah…" Harry muttered. He rubbed his chin, looking around, then spied something of interest on a nearby tree. Kara was comforting Dr. Strange, who still hadn't recovered from whatever Confunding Curse of Bewilderment Jinx Clea had cast on him, so he stood and walked over to the tree, where a couple of large, red apples hung invitingly from a low branch. "These look good," he said, reaching up to pluck them as Kara looked around and realized, too late, what was about to happen.

"Harry, watch out for —" she began, but too late: As Harry pulled down one of the apples, the tree suddenly reached out and slapped his hand. Harry stared at his hand in shock, then at the tree.

"Whaddaya think yer doin'?" the tree growled at him, in a raspy voice.

"Uh —"

"How'd ya like it if someone came along and pulled off a piece a' you?" the tree went on, pointing a branch at Harry's nose.

"Well, I wouldn't like it at all," Harry said. "But I'm not a fruit tree, am I?"

"Oh," the tree snorted. "A wise guy, eh? Hey, boys," it said to the trees around them. "These humans think it's okay to just come along and pluck us!" There was a grumbling from the other trees — obviously they didn't take kindly to someone eating their fruit.

"You want some apples, huh?" The tree reached up and grabbed one of its own apples, then threw it full force at Harry's head. Harry instinctively erected a barrier that the apple bounced off of. He backed away until he was standing with Kara and Dr. Strange once again.

"I think we'd better get out of here," he muttered to Kara.

"I agree," she nodded. "But maybe I can get us a few more apples, if they're going to throw them at us." To the trees she said. "You couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, with a throw like that!"

"Oh yeah?" the tree snarled. "Get her, boys!" The other trees began throwing apples at Supergirl, who snatched them from the air in ones and twos. A few flew wide, rolling into the woods on the opposite side of the road.

"I'll get those!" Harry said, pulling Strange across the road, out of range of the apple-throwing trees, then plunging into the woods on that side to locate the apples that had rolled that way. He finally came upon the last apple and picked it up, then stopped as he realized it had nestled between a pair of golden boots. Standing, he found himself looking at the golden helmet of Dr. Fate, who was standing motionless in the forest.

"Kara!" he called. "Guess who I found?" A moment later Kara was standing beside him, staring at the frozen mystic.

"She's got the role of the Tin Man," she said a few moments later. "In the story, he was rusted stiff by a sudden rain."

"Ah, right," Harry said, still not understanding. "But I don't think Dr. Fate is made of tin. And she's certainly not a man," he added, matter of factly.

Supergirl looked at him askance. "Brilliant deduction, Sherlock."

"Who?"

"Don't you read?" Supergirl looked at him in disbelief. "You have to know who Sherlock Holmes is!" Harry just shrugged.

"Oh, Rao…" she rolled her eyes. "Alright then," she continued, looking around. "See if you can find something that might 'unrust' her — a can of oil, or something like that."

"But she's not rusty!" Harry pointed out. "How's that going to work?"

"I don't know!" Supergirl said loudly, exasperated at being constantly questioned. "Your girlfriend Clea is making the rules here, isn't she? There's no telling what will free her!"

"Clea is not my girlfriend!" Harry disagreed hotly. "I was kidnapped, remember?"

"Whatever," Supergirl said, holding up a hand to cut off his protest. They both began looking around, not wanting to look at one another.

But after searching for nearly a minute they had found nothing unusual near Dr. Fate's frozen form. "I don't get this," Supergirl said, in frustration. "There's nothing that might unfreeze Dr. Fate anywhere."

"Maybe that's one of Clea's challenges," Harry theorized. "She was always coming up with tactical problems for me to solve, either magically or by using logic."

"Well, even if we can't unfreeze her, we can take her with us," Supergirl said, stepping over to grasp Fate by the shoulders. "I'll just — uhhh!" Supergirl let go of her, looking at her hands.

"What happened?" Harry asked. "Is your strength gone?"

"No," Supergirl shook her head. "I still have some left — I can still feel it! Something is preventing me from lifting her, though."

"Let me try," Harry said. He gestured at the motionless mystic, invoking a levitation spell. Nothing happened. After several more tries Harry stepped back, shaking his head. "Clea must have some kind of spell on her that keeps her fixed to the ground."
"So we're stuck here," Supergirl said. "We can't leave her here, and we can't leave without her!"

Harry was looking into Fate's helmet. "I can't tell if she's conscious of us or not. I'm going to take the helmet off her."

Supergirl, who was standing behind the figure, said, "I don't know how it comes off — the helmet is so tight-fitting that we'll probably tear her head off —"

But Harry had reached up and, placing a hand on either side of the helmet, pulled it up and forward slightly. There was a burst of light along the back of the helmet as the metal spread apart, allowing him to lift the helmet free. As he did this, Fate's uniform began to glow brightly, then was replaced by a blouse and knee-length skirt. Before him stood a pert-looking blonde with blue-green eyes, eyes that suddenly blinked, startling Harry slightly.

"Professor Sullivan?" he asked, as Chloe shook her head, trying to focus. "You can move again!"

"Harry…" Chloe looked down at herself, then around. "Where are we?"

"Uh, we're in a forest, on our way to some place called Oz," Harry said, wondering how much of the obvious he should belabor. He held up Fate's helmet. "You were wearing this — remember?"

Chloe gave a wry smile. "Of course I remember. But what do you mean, we're going to Oz? What did Clea do to us?"

"You were frozen stiff," Supergirl said. "Like the Tin Man, the character from —"

"I grew up in Kansas, Kara," Chloe interrupted her. "I know the story. So how did you unfreeze me?"

"Just taking off the helmet seemed to do it," Harry said. Chloe frowned.

"No one should be able to remove the Fate helmet except the wearer," she said. "Unless Clea altered its magic, somehow. That would take a lot of magical power."

"We think she has both the Eye and the Orb of Agamotto," Supergirl told her.

Chloe's brow furrowed. "That's bad," she said. "Where's Dr. — oh no!" she exclaimed, suddenly seeing the sorcerer standing behind them. "What did she do to him?"

"We don't know, but he doesn't seem to remember much," Harry said, as Chloe hurried over to him.

"Did you try and snap him out of it?" Chloe asked, anxiously.

"How?" Harry asked. He looked at Supergirl. She shook her head.

"All I know," Kara said, "is that the Scarecrow wanted to go with Dorothy to see the Wizard and get a brain."

Chloe smirked. "If that's the case then if I'm supposed to represent the Tin Man, I should be going to see the Wizard and get a heart."

Supergirl glanced at her, then frowned as she stared at her chest. "I hate to tell you this," she said, slowly. "But you don't have a heart."

"Well, that's ridiculous," Chloe snapped. "I wouldn't even be alive if —" she stopped as Harry waved a hand toward her, then looked into her eyes.

"She's right," he said. "There's nothing in your chest where your heart should be."

"It's Clea," Chloe breathed furiously. "She's taken my heart, somehow!"

"If that's true," Supergirl said, "then you can't leave this place — you'd die if you went back to Earth without your heart."

"That must be it," Harry agreed. "We have to figure out how to get it back inside you, or you won't be able to leave this place!"

"Then we'd better getting moving," Supergirl said. "Maybe finding Oz will help us figure out a way to get Dr. Strange his brain back, and Miss Sullivan her heart."

The four of them continued down the yellow brick road, each of them wondering (except perhaps for Dr. Strange) whether finding Oz would actually solve their problems.

=ooo=

Superman and Magik reappeared in the Dark Dimension near the building they had originally been hiding in. The streets seemed clear of any soldiers; in fact, other than them and the "zombie" versions of various superheroes from Earth they had seen no other citizens. "I wish we had a way to locate the others," Magik was saying. "I could just teleport them back to our location —"

"Hold on a minute," Superman said. Now at full power, he soared into the air, hovering a thousand yards over the city. Using his super-vision, he scanned all the buildings and the surrounding area. He landed near Illyana, shaking his head. "Other than a few roving patrols on the other side of town, the city seems deserted. I'm not sure what else we can do to find them."

"Well, you're the one with the magic here, Supes," Magik pointed out. "My powers are much more limited here than they are in Limbo. If anyone's going to find the others now, it's going to be you."

"But —" Superman paused for a moment. "Well, I know some detection spells, including some of the more powerful ones from several books on advanced magic. But I've never actually cast many spells."

"What do you know about mind-reading or mind fusion spells?" Illyana asked.

"I know a few," Superman said, then caught on. "Do you mean you and I should —?" The Man of Steel shook his head uncertainly. "I'm not so sure about that."

"Do you have a better idea?" Illyana asked. She pointed at his forehead and asked, teasingly, "Think I'm going to learn all your deep, dark secrets?"

"Dr. Fate already knows my real identity," Superman said. "I suppose you do, too."

Illyana just shrugged. "It's not like I'm going out and broadcast it to the world. Neither will Chloe."

Superman looked at her with a startled expression. "Chloe? Chloe Sullivan? I wondered why her voice sounded familiar when I heard it in my head!"

Illyana grinned. "We wondered why it was taking so long for you to recognize her."

"I was distracted by other things," the Man of Steel demurred. "She and I went to Smallville High together, along with Lana Lang."

"She's told me," Illyana said. "She was pretty down for a while, after you left Earth five years ago. You should have seen how excited she was when she heard you were going to study at the Academy."

"But I never saw her once in all the time I was there!" he protested.

"Yeah, well… she was a little reluctant to approach you — she was afraid you wouldn't remember her, or —"

"How could she think that?" Clark asked, disbelievingly. "I remember everything!"

"But you never once sought her out at the school," Illyana reminded him, a bit accusingly. "She thought you might be avoiding her."

"I never knew she was there," Clark said. "I didn't see her at the orientation classes."

"Well, anyway," Illyana said, "you know she's there now. But now, we have to find her and the others, and the best way to do that is to merge our minds and let me direct you in the use of your magic powers."

Superman nodded and stepped closer to her. "It will, um, help if I touch you while I cast the spell," Superman said, reaching out with one hand to touch her at the base of the neck.

"Like the old Vulcan mind-meld, eh?" Illyana smiled. Clark shrugged fractionally, then began reciting the words that activated the spell. They both felt a curious sensation come over them — a feeling of euphoric dizziness, and Illyana's head slowly lowered, as if she were going into a trance.

"I can feel our minds getting closer," Illyana said, in a distracted, far-away voice that Clark both heard and felt in his own mind. "It's like we're both…melting…melting…becoming…"

"…One," Clark finished. He took his hand away from her neck. "Yes…I can feel both of us…together…in my head."

"I do, too," Illyana nodded. "I think…it worked." She quickly assessed the magical information that Clark had accumulated during his time at the Academy. "You have a lot of powerful magic at your disposal, Clark!"

"I suppose I knew that," Clark agreed. "But without the experience of actually using it, I'm not always sure how to proceed."

"Don't worry — I do," Illyana told him. "Okay, let's get to work."

Under Illyana's guidance, Superman sent out detection spell after detection spell that spread out from their location across the Dark Dimension. "Won't this attract Clea's attention, though?" Superman asked. "It seems like she'd be aware of any magic that's not her own."

"A risk we have to take," Illyana told him. "Besides, Clea has to expect that we're going to try — we don't want to disappoint her."

"I don't think I'll mind some disappointment on her part," Clark retorted, "as long as we can find everyone and get them home!"

"Once we find all of them," Illyana agreed. "I'll be able to teleport everyone, jointly or separately, back to Limbo. Once we're all there, I'll take us back to Earth."

They kept up the search for what seemed like hours, scouring every nook and cranny of the Dark Dimension's many "pocket" universes, where any or all of their friends might be located. Clea had built up quite a varied array of these smaller dimensional places in the Dark Dimension, like a large house divided into many smaller rooms; each one had to be thoroughly scanned with Superman's magic. A normal wizard would have dropped from exhaustion before long, using the amount of magic Superman was using, but Illyana's ring kept restoring his strength with the ambient magic of the Dark Dimension, albeit not as quickly as it had in Limbo.

Illyana still found time for questions, however. "What will you do when we get back to Earth?"

"I thought we discussed this," Clark replied. "I'll begin training Kara how to use her super-powers."

"Yeah, but what about your job?"

"I don't know — I hope I can persuade Perry White to take me back on the Planet."

"So, back to Metropolis, huh? What about Lois?"

"Hmm, so you have been peeking at my thoughts."

"Well, it's kind of hard to miss those thoughts — I see 'LOIS' written in just about every thought you have!"

"That's an exaggeration — I am not constantly thinking about Lois."

"No, but she's in there, isn't she? Of course, I also see a bit of Chloe mixed in there now…"

"I haven't seen or heard from Chloe since we were in high school — I'm just curious to see how she's been doing."

"Right."

"Would you care to talk about your love-life, Miss Rasputin?"

"Not especially."

"All right, then… Perhaps we can concentrate on the task at hand."

"You're a real party pooper, Supes."

=ooo=

"Are we there yet?" Supergirl asked, for the tenth time since they'd entered the forest. This time Harry ignored her.

Chloe, however, put her hand on her chest where her heart should have been. "I don't know what we're going to find even if we do reach Oz, if Clea is the one behind the disappearance of my heart. It seems like only she can restore it."

"And Dr. Strange's intelligence," Harry nodded agreement. "But she agreed to let Supergirl go home if we met her 'challenge' — I just hope I can persuade her to make you and Dr. Strange normal, again."

"But that still leaves you stuck here!" Supergirl protested. "We came here to save you, not for you to sacrifice yourself saving us!"

"I don't know what else we can do for now," Harry argued. "Besides," he went on, in a lowered tone, "we still haven't come across Superman or Illyana — maybe they escaped back to Earth."

"Neither one of them would abandon us," Chloe said. "At least, I know Illyana wouldn't."

Harry stopped, looking at her sharply. "What are you implying, that Superman might leave us here?"

"No!" Chloe said, but she looked unsure. "It's just that Superman…well, he left Earth five years ago, and we just recently found that he'd returned, though he hasn't gone back to saving people."

"Everyone deserves a holiday," Harry said, defensively.

"Yes, but five years?" Chloe looked skeptical. "That's not your average vacation!"

"He was doing something very important to him!" Supergirl said, chiming in on the discussion. "He went back to find out what happened to Krypton!"

"I thought Krypton exploded long ago," Chloe said.

"It did," Supergirl went on. "He went back to see if there were any survivors."

Chloe arched at eyebrow at the young blonde. "I suppose he found you…?"

"No, my family and a group of Kryptonians survived in a space arcology. We lived in space for some time before the arcology became unstable and began to break apart. My father was trying to prevent it but he couldn't, so he put me in a life pod and sent me on to Earth. So far Superman and I are the only survivors of Krypton."

"Wow," Chloe said contritely. "I'm sorry — I didn't realize…"

"It's okay," Kara nodded sadly. "Kal and I have both dealt with it in our own ways."

"I just didn't want you to think I was heartless," Chloe said, with a weak grin. Kara smiled as well. Harry just shook his head, while Dr. Strange drooled a bit on his chin.

"Look up ahead," Harry said suddenly, pointing ahead of them. "We're coming to the edge of the forest!" Further ahead the trees were thinning out; they could see blue sky ahead of them, over a rolling field of green and red. Coming to the edge of the forest, they saw what lay before them.

Oz, the Emerald City!

Between them, however, was a vast field of flowers, with red petals. They lined either side of the yellow brick road, extending as far as Supergirl could see n either side. "The poppies," she said, looking at Harry. "They're supposed to put anyone trying to make it to the City to sleep.

"But that won't matter to me," Supergirl went on. "I can just hold my breath while I carry each of you across to Oz."

"I don't know about that," Harry said uncertainly. "These would be magical poppies, you know — they might affect even you."

"In the story," Chloe added. "They didn't affect the Scarecrow or the Tin Man, but Dorothy and the Lion went to sleep. I'm sure Clea would make sure these would affect even a super-powered Kryptonian."

"You're probably right," Supergirl said, unhappily.

"So, how did they make it past these things in that 'movie' you watched?" Harry asked. "I guess they did make past them…"

"Yes." It was Chloe that answered. "Glinda the Good Witch made it snow, which kept the poppies from affecting them. Well," she added, "it also made the Tin Man rust."

"Snow, huh?" Harry said, looking up into the blue sky. "That would have been really hard for a Hogwarts student to pull off — I'm not sure even Professor Dumbledore could make it rain or snow on demand. Fortunately, I've learned quite a bit since I came here; it should be a doss to make it snow." He made several gestures skyward — within a few seconds flakes began to fall.

In a minute's time a layer of snow had coated the entire field of poppies. "Showoff," Supergirl said, but she was smiling at Harry.

"Hey, if you've got it…" Harry shrugged airily. Chloe took Dr. Strange's hand, and the four of them continued down the road toward the Emerald City, gleaming in the distance.

As they approached it became apparent that the City was enormous. Emerald buildings towered above them, stretching into the distance on either side as they neared the first tower. "What do you think?" Chloe asked Harry, quietly.

"If you're asking what I think Clea is up to," Harry answered, "I have no idea."

At last they reached the first building. It had a large double door with a circular port in it. Next to the door was a long cord. Harry reached out and pulled on it; a bell rang out somewhere inside. After a few seconds the port opened and strangely coiffed man glared out at them. "Who rang that bell?" he demanded.

"I did," Harry said.

"Well, can't you read the sign?" the man blustered.

"What sign?" Supergirl asked.

"The sign on the door!" the man said angrily. "Why, it's as clear as the nose on my — er," he faltered for a second, looking around and not seeing what he expected. "It's — er — just a second —" Disappearing for a moment, he reappeared with a sign and hung it on the door, then slammed the portal closed.

The sign read:

DOOR BELL BROKEN
PLEASE KNOCK

Harry, Chloe and Kara looked at one another, confused. There was a large knocker on the door, and shrugging, Harry reached out and banged it against the door several times.

The man opened the door again, this time beaming at them. "That's more like it!" he exclaimed. "Now, what can do for you?"

"We want to see the Wizard," Harry said. Dr. Strange burbled happily.

The man shook his head. "Nobody gets to see the Wizard — even I've never seen him!"

Supergirl looked disgusted. "Why would Clea send us here to see him, then?"

"Oh!" The man's eyes widened in surprise. "Clea sent you? Well, well, that's a horse of a different color! Come right in, everyone!" The portal slammed shut, and a few seconds later the doors began to slowly open.

"Finally!" Supergirl said. "Clea's name does something good for us!" The four of them stepped inside the doors, into a large hallway of gleaming green. The ceiling rose dizzyingly above them; it was the largest entrance hall any of them had seen. In front of them the man who'd spoke through the portal, dressed in a vivid array of green clothing, waited for them. Behind them, the doors slowly closed.

The four of them stopped before their host. "May we see the Wizard, now?" Harry inquired of him. The man looked at them sadly.

"I'm afraid there's no Wizard here," he said, a bit contritely. "However, we do have a Sorceress you can talk to." Suddenly they were surrounded on all guards holding long halberds and old-fashioned (yet just as lethal-looking) rifles on them.

Supergirl tensed, ready to fight, but Harry muttered, "Don't start anything yet, Kara." She glanced at him mutinously, but remained still. A moment later there was a puff of smoke and Clea appeared before them, this time dressed in a white gown and tiara, and holding a magic wand complete with a sparkling star on its tips.

"Well, here you are!" She tittered, her voice a high falsetto, sounding very unlike her normal self. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd make it here!"

"Well, we did," Harry said, defiantly. "Are you going to hold up your end of the bargain and let Supergirl and the others go, if I stay here with you?"

"We'll see," Clea said, teasingly. "I'm waiting for the rest of your little rescue party to show up and complete the ensemble."

"We're not waiting that long," Supergirl said, and she sped toward the Sorceress, only to stop, motionless, mere inches from reaching her.

"Oh, my dear little girl," Clea laughed. "Haven't you learned that your powers mean nothing here?" The tip of her wand turned green, and as she moved it closer to the Girl of Steel it became obvious that it was hurting her, even motionless as she was. "How does this feel?"

"Stop it!" Chloe shouted. "You're hurting her!"

"No more than she intended for me," Clea sneered. "Why don't you put on your Fate helmet, Miss Sullivan, and try to stop me?"

Chloe glared at her, saying nothing. She had already attempted to don the helmet before they entered the City, but every time she put it on she became paralyzed again. Suddenly the wand flew from Clea's hand, landing yards away. Harry's arm was outstretched — he'd invoked magic that caught Clea off-guard, flinging the wand from her.

"Cut it out, Clea," he told her. "You've got the Orb and the Eye, and you've proven you can beat us — let them go!"

Clea glared contemptuously at Harry. "You don't have a say in what I do, pretty boy — you're here to obey me, not give me orders! Your friends deserve some punishment for daring to challenge me in my own domain, and they'll have it before I let them go!"

Clea turned and swiped an arm at Harry's companions, and all of them fell to the floor, writhing in pain, even Supergirl. "Clea, stop!" Harry shouted. "You don't need to keep doing this! You win — I'll stay!"

"Too easy," Clea shook her head. "If you want me to stop punishing them, you'll have to take it yourself. Do you accept?"

Harry looked at his three friends flailing about on the floor. Clea must be cursing them with something like the Cruciatus Curse, a pain he had experienced a few years ago, in the graveyard in Little Hangleton when Voldemort was restored to his full power. But he immediately said, "I accept."

Clea smiled, and the pain hit him full force, throwing him to the ground. It was like molten metal was flowing through his body. He clenched his teeth, fighting the pain; distantly he could hear the cries of his friends as they implored Clea to stop the torture. But she was bound and determined to break him this time. It was possible she just might…

"All right, that's enough," a new voice suddenly came to Harry's ears, and even through his pain he sighed in relief. It was Clark — he had found them somehow!

The pain stopped. "Ah, I see our final two guests have rejoined us," Clea sneered. "Did you get lost, Superman?" Harry rolled shakily onto his side, to see the Man of Steel standing defiantly before Clea and her guards, with Magik and the others behind him.

"We had some preparations to make before returning," Superman said. "Now, it's time for you to restore what you've taken from Dr. Strange and Dr. Fate, and let us leave."

"Or…?" Clea looked amused by the demand.

"Or I'll have to make you," Superman replied, evenly.

"Foolish little Kryptonian!" She laughed, extending her arm and sending a bolt of magic at him. But Superman, raising one hand before him, created a shield that deflected the bolt harmlessly away.

Clea scowled, extending both hands to send even more powerful energy at him, but Superman parried it as well, then sent a bolt of his own that knocked her back several feet.

Clea arched an eyebrow at him in surprise. "Impressive for a low-level wizard like you, Clark! I didn't think you had that in you!"

"Oh, I'm full of surprises," Clark answered. "Will you let us go, now?"

"If you can beat me," Clea said, and the fight was on.

Harry found himself sliding across the floor and behind cover as the room filled with magical bolts of coruscating energy. After a moment Harry dragged himself to the edge of the wall he'd been put behind and peered at the battle. Superman and Clea were casting bolts of energy at one another. The guards had retreated in terror, and the others had taken shelter behind a nearby wall. Where had Clark come up with all this magic? Harry wondered. Had he learned all this at the Academy?

Clea, sensing her opponent was much more powerful than she'd anticipated, brought out the Eye and the Orb of Agamotto, adding their energies to her own. The sudden onslaught of power staggered the Man of Steel, but even their power wasn't enough to defeat him. Slowly, the Man of Tomorrow made his way toward the Sorceress Supreme, deflecting the powerful bolts the Orb sent at him, until finally they stood nearly toe-to-toe. Superman's hands inched forward slowly, until he touched the Orb and the Eye. Instantly the bolts stopped, and the artifacts of the Vishanti were suddenly in Superman's hands.

Clea fell back, screaming. "Noooo!" she shouted. "It's impossible! You cannot defeat me!"

"I already have," Superman told her, looking at the artifacts in his hands. Harry was staring , gape-jawed with astonishment, at what just occurred. Clark had somehow beat Clea! "Now, I want you to restore Dr. Strange's intelligence and Miss Sullivan's heart and her ability to use the Fate helmet!"

Clea stared at him sullenly, but gestured toward the two. Strange shook his head as his mental abilities returned. "Thank you, Superman," he said.

Chloe took out the Fate helmet and held it before her. The back opened and she placed it over her face. Her clothing shone brilliantly for a moment , then changed to the yellow and gold Fate uniform. She nodded at Superman, still able to move.

"Now I claim the title of Sorcerer Supreme of the Dark Dimension!" Superman stated. "Clea, you are banished to one of your pocket dimensions, to stay there until you learn what it means to be a true leader, not a despot." Clea opened her mouth to argue, but disappeared before she could speak.

The others crowded around Superman. "That was pretty awesome, Kal!" Kara said, as she quickly hugged him then stepped back to let the others speak. She stopped next to Harry, who had stepped up to Clark as well.

"It was amazing," Harry said, holding out his hand. Clark smiled at him.

"We're all glad to have you back, Harry," he said, taking the young wizard's hand.

"Even if it took two years of your time to get here and save you," Illyana added.

When Superman turned to Fate, she reached up, removing her helmet and reverting to Chloe Sullivan once again. "Hi, you," she said. "It's been a long time."

"Hello, Chloe," Superman said, for the first time since they'd seen him again looking a little uncertain about himself. "Miss Rasputin told me you were at the Academy. If I had known—"

"It's alright," Chloe said, holding up a hand to stop him from saying anything else. "Maybe we can talk later, after we're back on Earth."

"I'd like that," Clark said.

Kara, standing next to Harry, smiled. She turned, whispering in his ear, "It looks like my cousin has found an old friend."

Harry looked at her. "It looks like I've found a new one, too," he smiled.

Kara gave him a shy look. "It looks like you have," she agreed. "Are you going back to that school when we get back to Earth?"

"I don't know," Harry said. "I doubt it — I learned a lot about magic while I was here, I doubt there's anything else for me to learn there."

"What about your friends?" Kara asked. "Won't they feel like you've abandoned them if you leave now?"

Harry thought about that for a second. He'd been in the Dark Dimension for what felt like two years now, although only a few days had passed on Earth. If anyone felt abandoned it was him. Hermione had warned him about Clea, but he hadn't listened. "Well, it's not that long before Christmas, I suppose I can attend the rest of the term before holiday break. What are you going to do?"

Kara shrugged. "Oh, I'll go back to the Kent farm and practice with my powers — get ready to be Supergirl." She was silent a moment. "But I could come visit you at the school every so often, until the break. If you want me to, that is," she added hastily.

Harry grinned at her. "That would be super," he said.

The emerald building around them suddenly shimmered and vanished, leaving them standing in a pastoral green field. "I've restored the Dark Dimension to a less-foreboding place," Superman said. "The inhabitants here will be able to lead normal lives from here on."

"What about Dormammu?" Dr. Strange said, glancing toward Harry. "Was he ever really a threat here?"

"In two years we never had any indication he was interested in this place," Harry said. "I think Clea just used him as an excuse to kidnap me."

"I have set up safeguards to let me know if there are any attempts by Dormammu or any other extradimensional being to invade this domain," Superman said.

Dr. Strange was looking thoughtfully at the Eye and the Orb, now hanging from Superman's neck. "Since Clea was also Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, there is no one holding that title now—unless you plan to claim it as well, Superman," he added, carefully.

"I hadn't thought of that," Superman admitted. "Perhaps that's something you can handle when we return to Earth, Doctor."

"Okay, everyone!" Illyana was saying. "Gather around — we're all going back now." The others stood around her and she concentrated on taking them, not only back to Professor Potter's study, but as close in time to when they left as she could. There was probably no need to tell everyone that her teleportation ability didn't work quite as well through time as she'd like — they'd all find out how close she'd come when they arrived. With a flash of white light below them they all disappeared from the Dark Dimension.

Professor Potter started as six people suddenly appeared in his study. In a nearby chair, Professor Dumbledore looked up, smiling as he saw Harry and the others. "Welcome back," he said genially as everyone looked around, making sure they were back on Earth.

"Yes, yes, welcome back!" Professor Potter echoed. "We were beginning to wonder what had happened. After your first communication with us we didn't hear anything else from you."

"We were a bit…distracted," Chloe said.

"It's been several hours since you left," Professor Dumbledore remarked. He looked at Harry. "From the difference in Mr. Potter's apparent age, time must've passed quite differently in the Dark Dimension than it does here."

"You can say that again," Harry agreed, feelingly. "It felt like two years for me!"

"Goodness gracious!" Professor Potter said. "They must have found you almost immediately!"

"Not quite," Superman said. "But I suppose we have Illyana to thank for bringing us back so close to when we left. How long has it been?"

"About six hours," Dumbledore said, checking his timepiece. "A remarkable feat, if Miss Rasputin was able to accomplish that."

"Aw, shucks," Illyana said, with mock modesty. ""T'weren't nothing…"

Superman stepped next to Chloe. "Well, if you'll excuse us, Miss Sullivan and I have some things to discuss. In private."

"Superman, wait," Dr. Strange said. "We should discuss —" But Superman had already gathered up Chloe in his arms and disappeared at super-speed.

"That's not a bad idea," Harry said to Supergirl. Now that they were both back on Earth, their bodies were absorbing yellow radiation, replenishing their own super-powers; Harry could feel the familiar surge of power building within him. "D'you want a tour of the school, Kara? I can introduce you to my friends Ron and Hermione."

"I'd love to, Harry," Kara smiled. They both disappeared as well.

"My goodness!" Professor Potter exclaimed. "The room sure emptied out in a hurry!"

Author's Note: As always, reviews are requested, and I appreciate your comments and input!