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Chapter 24

Fred and George stared at the page they were reading and looked up at each other. "We met the god of mischief and lies!" They crowed together, before jumping up and down in their seats.

"You know what this means, don't you Fred?" George asked.

"Of course I do, George. We can't-"

"Let any of our-"

"Work be just-"

"The usual." The two finished together. They grinned evilly and slunk out of the library, plans already forming in their heads. They had the inspiration of all pranksters to impress after all.

Albus Dumbledore didn't know who was doing it, or how, but he was starting to become very frayed around the edges where his nerves were concerned. It had begun simply enough. Food that made people sing or dance, but he'd let it slide, as he always had. But then he and Severus had both been affected. Their clothes had changed into the dresses from the muggle can-can dance and they had both had stood up on the table and began doing said dance complete with kicks, twists and jump splits as well as cartwheels and backflips and the scream and yelp that always seemed to accompany the dance.

The whole performance had scarred him for life, he was sure. And he was sure the same could be said for Severus (and several students). It also seemed to have just been the tip of the proverbial iceberg. He was sure the paintings mooned at him when he could only see them in the corner of his eyes, but when he turned round, they were in their normal positions.

Severus had found himself pink with silver sparkles one day, and red and gold the next. He also found himself randomly singing love ballads to students, both male and female, which sent them running- and Severus giving chase, unable to stop until the song had finished. The gargoyles had also begun acting up. They continued to find their way into the potions lab and dropped anything they could find into Severus' potions, making the things very volatile quite often. And, they found that their offices moved around periodically. The rooms could be in one place one moment, and they could take two steps away, turn back to go fetch something, and the door would be gone and reappear somewhere else in the castle. That one was also a mystery. Who on earth would have the power to do that?

Peeves had just been wreaking his usual havoc all over the castle, but on top of this new stream of pranks, Albus was getting spread thin. Very thin. Especially with his duties as Mugwump and Chief Warlock, both of which were being threatened now thanks to that blasted article. He was just glad that the wizarding world could be so slow to act at times.

He was currently sat on his office, his right hand massaging his temple. He hoped he could get at least a day's reprieve before the meeting with S.H.I.E.L.D, but it wasn't looking good for him. Suddenly, the floor beneath him shook and he looked up, startled. What the hell now? Wait- was his office moving? He concluded that it most certainly was. The floor was beginning to rotate, and the walls were beginning to move in the opposite direction. He gripped his desk as his chair began moving away, and the speed increased. When he found whoever was behind all this, they were going to find out why Voldemort was afraid of him.

An hour later, it was a greenish grey Albus Dumbledore that staggered into the hospital wing. The spinning had gone on for fifteen minutes and he still hadn't recovered. It had taken him fifteen minutes to get to the hospital wing, as none of the House Elves answered his call and he'd kept walking into things and falling over. Would the nightmare never end?

Jade couldn't help but yawn as she stood between her parents. Apparently, they were having some very important business guests over who they had to meet in person upon their arrival at JFK airport. She was sure they were hiding something. No one had ever been this important that they had gone to meet them for their arrival. And they most certainly hadn't taken her before. She'd attended a few dinners and parties, but that was it. She was still young, and should be able to enjoy her childhood as much as possible.

The arrivals gate was soon swarming with people and Jade looked up at her parents. "Are you going to tell me who these guests are now?" The fact that she hadn't been let in on their identities was irking her the most. She was curious, she couldn't help it.

Tony grinned down at her. "You can wait a few more minutes."

"It won't be long now." Pepper told her, pulling her into her side for a hug. "They'll be out soon. And trust me- you'll recognise them."

Jade stood on her tip toes to try and see who she recognized. So far, there was no one. She had been un-grounded for two days now, and had quickly gotten on the phone to Hermione for a long catch up. They had had a few minutes now and then, being to pass messages on between themselves and the two boys. Suddenly, she saw a mane of bushy brown hair and she gasped. "Hermione?"

"Ok, so we lied about the business associate part." Tony said. "It's your friends who we came to meet."

"Go on sweetheart." Pepper said, smiling as she pushed her daughter in the direction of her friend, who had split from their parents and guardians and were heading for her at a fast pace. Jade ran at them and caught Hermione in a hug, and soon found herself in a group hug with Ernie and Neville too.

"I missed you guys."

"We missed you too!" Hermione said. "I can't believe you aren't coming back to Hogwarts! I can't believe that security was that lax!"

"We were so worried!" Ernie said.

"Hermione had a panic attack." Neville said. "So did I." He sheepishly admitted.

"I'm so glad you guys are here! Are you here for the whole holidays?" Jade asked.

"Yeah." Ernie nodded. "Your dad covered everything. It's amazing how muggles get around! How did that plane stay up? What's the point of all those checks? How did our baggage arrive at practically the same time we did?"

"Ernie, Ernie, slow down. One question at a time." Jade laughed. "Technology and science are behind how the plane flies. I'll explain it later. The checks are to help prevent terrorist attacks. And your bags flew in the plane hold, with you, just below."

"Oh I see." He said, scratching the back of his neck. "I should have guessed that the plane would have somewhere to put the bags."

"Are you three going to introduce us?" A voice asked.

Jade's friends turned, and nodded hurriedly and began speaking to the adults who came up behind them.

"Whoa, one at a time." One of the two men said. There were three women, one of whom was obviously Neville's Gran.

At that point, Tony and Pepper reached them and the boys motioned to Hermione to go first, but Tony beat her to speaking.

"Hi, I'm Tony Stark, Jade's father. This is my wife, Pepper, Jade's mum." He said, holding his hand out to the man who spoke.

"Daniel Granger." The man introduced. "Hermione's father. This is my wife, Jean. Hermione's mum. Thank you for paying for this trip, Mr stark. We would be happy to cover the costs, however."

Tony waved him off. "It was nothing. And, you'll be staying in the tower with us anyway."

"You have a tower?" Neville's gran asked, shocked.

"Designed it myself. Power wise it's self-efficient." Tony boasted.

"Well, that is interesting." She replied. "Augusta Longbottom. Neville's grandmother. I would like to add my own thanks. The change of scenery and experience of a new culture will do both myself and my grandson some good, I think."

"Matilda McMillan, and this is Stephan. We are Ernie's parents." Ernie's mother introduced herself and her husband. The adults all shook hands, before Jade told her parents' who was who and her friends introduced her properly to their parents. Then, they left.

"Don't worry about your bags." Tony said. "I'll have someone bring them up."

With the exception of the Grangers, the newcomers looked confused when they stopped at the lift doors.

"Oh, we're waiting for an elevator- or a lift as they're called sometimes." Jade explained. "It's a large metal box basically, which can be pulled up and down. It'll save us walking all the way up to the penthouse."

"Marvellous!" Stephen said. "How does it work?"

"Well," Tony began, before he launched into an in-depth explanation concerning the mechanics and the physics behind it. Jade rolled her eyes when she noticed that her dad had failed to see that he had lost just about everyone with the in-depth explanation, which was branching off into other topics in science and technology now. Jade tugged on his sleeve to shut him up, and simplified it for him. "Honestly dad, with some people we know, surely you would know that you were just throwing them in at the deep end with your explanation."

"I explained it though."

"Yeah. At university level." The doors opened, and they walked into the lift. "There is no technology like this in the magical world. I mean, the muggle studies books that we've seen from older students had people believing that the type-writer was the height of non-magical discovery."

"Ah, yeah. Got a bit carried away. Sorry."

Pepper rolled her eyes and shot their guests an apologetic look. "He does that a lot. If there's something you aren't sure about, ask someone else. He tends to speak genius."

"I am a genius!"

"It's no problem." Augusta said. "Thank you for the advice."

When the lift door opened again, they stepped out into an empty lounge.

"It's quiet." Tony said. "Too quiet." His eyes were narrowed. "What are they up too?"

"Maybe they all went out?" Pepper suggested.

"No. There's something up."

BANG! Everyone jumped.

"What was that?" Neville asked. Though, the almighty roar afterwards, had everyone on edge.

"Do you keep a dragon as a pet?" Matilda asked.

"Why does that remind me of the footage of the Hulk that's been on the news?" Daniel asked.

Just then, Clint ran into the room, looking a little singed. "I dropped Bruce's experiment, and it exploded in his face! He hulked out!"

"Looks like I'm on, then." Jade sighed, shaking her head, before walking off in the direction Clint had gone in. A moment later, the others snapped out of it, and followed her.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed, please review!