Masons – Harry Potter/X-Men
"You've just ruined the punch-line of my Japanese-golfer joke... one more noise out of you, and you'll wish you'd never been born, boy!"
Trying hard to hide the tremors shaking his body, Harry slowly let Dobby out of the wardrobe he'd locked the elf in, jabbing a finger towards the door accusingly. "See what it's like here?" he hissed out angrily, "See why I've got to go back to Hogwarts? It's the only place I've got – well, I think I've got friends".
"Friends who don't even write to Harry Potter?" Dobby asked, trying and failing miserably to act sly and sneaky.
"Well," Harry began suspiciously, "I expect they've just been – hang on," he said with a frown as he latched onto what was wrong with the house elf's behaviour. "How do you know my friends haven't been writing to me".
The house elf swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing as comically large eyes flickered this way and that nervously. "Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby – Dobby did it for Harry Potter's own good, even if he had to slam his head in the oven door afterwards".
"Have you been stopping my letters?"
Jumping out of Harry's reach before he could even think about grabbing for the elf, Dobby reached into his pillowcase and pulled out a thick wad of envelopes. "Dobby has them here, sir," the elf admitted cautiously, "Harry Potter mustn't be angry. Dobby hoped, if Harry Potter thought his friends had forgotten him that Harry Potter might now want to go back to school, sir".
Harry wasn't listening though; instead he lunged forward and forced a startled yelp to escape Dobby's mouth as the elf ducked away and out of reach. "Give them back before I slam your head in the oven door," he threatened darkly, stepping forward and fixing his best Snape-taught glare on the elf that shrank back in fear.
"Harry Potter will have them, sir, if he gives Dobby his word that he will not return to Hogwarts. As, sir, this is a danger you must not face! Say you won't go back, sir!" the house elf insisted, Harry's eyes narrowing as Dobby started edging towards the door.
"No," Harry said angrily, "Now give me my friends' letters!"
"Then Harry Potter has given Dobby no choice," the elf said sadly, flailing his arms wildly with a sudden scream, making Harry jerk back in shock before blinking as his bedroom door bounced shut after the fleeing thief.
Mouth dry as his stomach twisted, Harry sprang after the insane house elf, using all his knowledge of the house's creaky spots as he chased Dobby down the stairs. Skidding into the kitchen and automatically pulling himself back into the doorway so he wasn't seen through the door to the living room, Harry started looking around for the house elf, peering around the best he could for a pair of huge ears with the eyes to match.
That's when he saw it, Aunt Petunia's masterpiece of a pudding, a mountain of cream and cake.
Floating.
Following the barely visible glistening lights to the house elf crouched on the cupboard in the far corner of the kitchen; Harry swallowed and shook his head desperately. "No... please... they'll kill me," he whispered, "Please".
"Harry Potter must say he's not going back to school".
"Dobby..." he pleaded.
"Say it, sir".
Staring at the house elf, Harry could only shrug weakly. "I can't".
Dobby let out a dramatic yet tragic sigh. "Then Dobby must do this, sir, for Harry Potter's greater good," the elf declared, snapping his fingers loudly and making the cake jerk sharply, before beginning the slow trek towards the living room.
A strangled whine escaping from his lips as he watched it move, Harry darted forward and reached for the pudding, flinching as Dobby made it rise up out of his reach. Sending the stubborn house elf a pleading look, Harry reached for the pudding again, watching as instead of slowing it sped up instead.
No! He couldn't let this happen, he'd be lucky to leave his room in time for Hogwarts if Dobby did this to him – which was likely the house elf's plan all along. He could feel a spark of desperation building up inside him as the cake finally crossed the threshold of the living room, catching the look on his Aunt's face as she just happened to glance past the Mason's and see him. No! He wasn't going to let this happen, reaching for the pudding again, Harry willed for his magic to rise up and stop Dobby from ending his life through pudding.
And then the cake stopped.
Biting back a gasp of shock as he felt something tightening in his raised arms, like a muscle straining to hold the cake in place, Harry exchanged a terrified look with his Aunt who subtly tried to making a 'shooing' motion with her hand.
"So Mr Mason!" she blurted as the man turned to follow her gesture, "Do tell me that story about the American plumber, Vernon kept chuckling about it for weeks!"
Taking an uneasy step back and feeling the pressure in his arms building as the cake moved back with him, Harry kept his attention locked on the pudding as he slowly edged back into the main room, grateful for his Aunt's quick distraction as he almost bumped into the doorway. He didn't know how he was doing this, but he wasn't going to freak out about it until it was over, maybe then he'd have a chance to explain what happened to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon – who would be so glad to have made that deal that they wouldn't kill him and bury his body under the shed in the backyard.
"GGGAAAAHHH!"
Yelping as a Dobby-sized body slammed into his back following a Dobby-sounding war cry, Harry felt his concentration snapping and the power withdrawing from his arms, the pudding splatting all over the ground as small hands curled into his hair and started pulling viciously.
"Dobby is sorry, Harry Potter!" the house elf apologised shrilly as Dobby started smacking every inch of Harry's head that he could reach. "Harry Potter has left Dobby with no choice!"
Forgetting for just a moment where they were, Harry flailed to get Dobby off of his back, stumbling closer to the wall so he could slam the squeaking house elf against it roughly. Blinking tears of pain from his eyes as he managed to reach behind him at the right angle to grip Dobby's pillowcase, Harry tore the elf from his back and shoved him away, the house elf looking utterly insane as he let out another war cry and charged him again.
Raising his hands defensively again, Harry could only watch in a mixture of horror and amazement as the power in his chest lashed out again, feeling tingles rolling down his arms and into his hands moments before Dobby ran straight into an invisible wall and was launched backwards off his feet and into Aunt Petunia's precious glass cabinet with a flash of light and the sound of shattering fine china. The house elf not even hesitating to launch himself to his feet and charge Harry again, the dark-haired wizard could only watch in shock and a little bit of awe as Dobby slammed into the invisible wall again and screamed, pounding his fists on it wildly.
"That's quite enough out of you".
Mouth falling open as the sound of someone snapping their fingers cut through Dobby's tantrum-like screams, Harry stared as the house-elf let out a startled squeak seconds before freezing – literally freezing – into a house elf shaped block of ice.
Head turning slowly as his arms dropped to his sides, Harry stared at Mrs Mason as the woman cleared her throat and smoothed down her dress. "I do apologise for that," she told her husband as a faint blush tinged her cheeks, "Lord knows I can't handle screaming children, and that thing was close enough".
Hunching in on himself as he finally noticed the way Uncle Vernon's fury-filled eyes were locked on Harry with the clear intent to either kill or seriously maim, Harry briefly wondered if there was any way for him to replicate his accidental magic later. Something told him that he'd really need whatever kind of shielding spell he'd just managed to cast for when Mr and Mrs Mason left and it was just Harry and the Dursleys alone.
"Get out of my house".
Watching nervously as Mrs Mason slowly turned to raise an eyebrow at the red-faced Uncle Vernon, Harry shifted uncomfortably and glanced down at his hands. He'd raise his hands and wish if Uncle Vernon attacked him, if that didn't recreate the shielding spell then he'd brush it off as accidental magic, if he could do it again then he would.
"Excuse me?" Mrs Mason asked calmly, Mr Mason dropping his face into his palm and shaking his head with a groan. "What did you just say?"
"I said get out of my house, you freak!" Uncle Vernon snapped, puffing his chest out to make himself look bigger (he only managed to look bloated instead). "I don't want none of your kind anywhere near here!"
"Does your 'Uncle' often speak to you like this?"
Blinking in shock as Mrs Mason suddenly turned and started addressing him, Harry froze for a moment before nodding shyly, ignoring the warning look on his Uncle's face as he stared at Mrs Mason. Was she a witch too? Was that how she managed to freeze Dobby like that? Would he be able to use magic like that one day?
"I SAID GET OUT!" Uncle Vernon roared, taking a step forward only to cower away as Mrs Mason's hand snapped up to aim at him.
"You know what, Mr Dursley, I think we shall. Edward, start the car," Mrs Mason ordered, Harry already flinching at the promised 'punishment' coming his way. "And you, young man, what's your name?"
"Ha- Harry," he mumbled nervously, "Harry Potter, Ma'am".
"Well then Harry, how about you show me to your room and we'll pack your things," Mrs Mason declared, turning to send a dark warning glare in Vernon's direction when he spluttered. "I will not leave such a kind young mutant in a hellhole like this," she said with a sniff as her husband obediently gathered their things and left the house without another word, "It's just asking for a terrorist to be made, if you ask me".
"We didn't".
Mrs Mason turning to glare Aunt Petunia into submission, Harry stared at the woman in shock, and dare he say it, a little bit of hope. They were taking him away from the Dursleys? But what if someone from Hogwarts found out? Professor Dumbledore had been very clear when he said that Harry had to stay at the Dursley's, no exceptions. What if the Headmaster came and brought him back here? What if those 'blood wards' collapsed and the Dursleys were hurt because of him? What if- wait… why did he care if something bad happened to the Dursleys? In fact, he hoped something bad did happen to them, nobody deserved it more than them, after all.
"Come now, Harry, go pack up your things, we'll be leaving soon," Mrs Mason said calmly, making Harry jump and quickly turn to hurry out of the room, not giving the house elf ice sculpture another look as he hurried up to his bedroom and started gathering what little things he wanted to bring with him that weren't already in his trunk downstairs.
"Excuse me, Ma'am," he asked hesitantly when he finished dragging his backpack downstairs to where Mrs Mason was staring the Dursleys down silently. "Most of my things are under the stairs, in the cupboard. And I don't have a key".
Mrs Mason's glare darkened as she let out an annoyed sound, rising to her feet and following Harry out into the hallway, the woman barely giving the caged Hedwig a second glance as she reached out to hold the cupboard lock. With a loud snap Mrs Mason had torn off the frozen solid lock and had thrown it to the side, eyeing Hedwig suspiciously as she stepped away and cautiously reached out to freeze and break that lock too.
"I'll not be having that thing in my house," Mrs Mason said warningly, jerking her head towards Hedwig in disgust. "She can stay in your room and fly around outside, but she doesn't enter the rest of the house".
"Yes Ma'am," Harry agreed immediately, ignoring Hedwig's betrayed look as he bobbed his head quickly. He didn't like it, but it was better than what was happening to Hedwig now, so he was willing to make the sacrifice if it meant he got to keep her.
"Now. Say goodbye, Harry, you won't be coming back," Mrs Mason decreed, picking up Harry's backpack and heading for the front door, leaving Harry to release Hedwig and drag his trunk after her.
Watching as his owl waited for Mrs Mason to reach the car before flying out of the house (Hedwig had always been a fast learner), Harry paused in the doorway and looked back at the Dursleys who were all gathered around the door to the kitchen watching him leave in excitement. He didn't want to say goodbye, and most of the things he did want to say were very rude and he didn't doubt Mrs Mason would box him around the ears for saying them if she heard, so instead of saying goodbye Harry settled for something equally as rude that he knew Mrs Mason wouldn't hear.
He flipped them off.
Masons
So this idea isn't really based off any challenges of mine, I'm sure it could count as a 'Homo Superior' response if I wanted it too but something tells me that if I were to continue this it wouldn't match with the challenge at all.