MoP

Harry Potter and the Myriad of Possibilities: Prologue

Chapter 27: Deception, Part 12.

Disclaimer: This is solely a not-for-profit fan activity and does not intend to infringe on copyrights held by Time Warner, DC Comics, Bloomsbury et al, and JK Rowling. Any characters that are original to this work remain the property of the author.

A/N: The Myriad of Possibilities Series primarily uses the background from the Harry Potter books but some elements and scenes have been borrowed from other sources – including the movies, Pottermore and my own headcanon – that will be covered where they fit into the narrative. The timeline of the DC Comics elements borrows heavily from Young Justice (2011) and may adapt elements and characters from the comics and several additional other media instalments – including but not limited to Smallville (2001) and Superman and Lois (2021) – and relocates events of Young Justice to the Eighties and early Nineties rather than the New Tens as screened and includes several 'legacy' and original characters as a result. Any other recognisable characters belong to their copyright holders.

A/N: Thanks to Dragon97 and 6f5e4d for their help on this chapter.

Seattle Medical Centre.
November 11, 08:16 PST.

Dinah caught the eye of several familiar faces as she entered Paediatric Intensive Care and then headed towards one of the side rooms.

Denny Neilson turned towards her as she entered the room, "Labrīt, Canary."

"Good morning," Dinah replied, then glanced down at his unconscious charge. "How is she doing?"

"No well," Denny replied. "Doktor Cross does not say so… but I believe that she has a day or two at most…"

"Did she eat this morning?"

He shook his head. "She did not have the strength."

Dinah nodded, that made sense. "Have you eaten this morning?"

"Nē," he admitted.

"Dr Cross won't be by for a while yet," Dinah reminded him. "I can stay with her."

The young man paused for a moment, then nodded. "You have provided yourself capable of protecting Queen Perdita when I could not before," he declared. "I will be back in a few minutes."

Dinah waited until he left the room, then crossed to one of the spare chairs and settled down, her mind immediately drifting back to her first meeting with the young monarch.

Star City International Airport.
September 29, 18:45 PST.

The PA crackled into life overhead. "Ladies and gentlemen, we apologise for the delay," said the captain. "There's some kind of… disturbance inside the airport. But as soon as we're clearing for our gate, we'll have you on your way. In the meantime, feel free to use your personal devices."As the PA cut off, Dinah reached into her jacket and pulled out her phone, powering it up at the same time.

She had one message.

She dialled her answering machine and put the device to her ear. As she expected, her boyfriend's voice began talking. "It's me. Sorry, I know it seems like I'm late again. Traffic, right? But, um… I'll meet you at baggage claim. Okay, bye."

Dinah hung up her phone and glanced out the window. Well, Ollie. Looks like for once I'll be keeping you waiting… she thought, then noticed a familiar figure in green running across the tarmac carrying a small, blonde girl. I know her… where do I know her from…

The answer came to her as Oliver was struck in the leg with an arrow and tripped, tumbling over and over as he tried to shield the girl – Perdita Vladek, Crown Princess of Vlatava – from harm.

I've got to get out there and help him, she thought and jumped to her feet, grabbing her carry-on bag as she headed for the bathroom.

"Miss, you should really say in your seat…" began one of the flight attendants as she reached the cubicle. But it was empty, so Dinah ignored her for the moment.

A minute later, she emerged from the cubicle in her costume. "I need to get off this plane…"

"W-w-we're not set-up for that…" stammered the man. "We use airstairs or a jet bridge."

"Let me worry about that," she told him. "Unless I'm very much mistaken, there's a major diplomatic incident in progress on the tarmac outside. Personally, I'd rather it was resolved before it turns into an assassination."

"A-a-assassination…?"

"Yes," Dinah confirmed. "I just saw my team-mate Green Arrow running across the tarmac under fire while carrying the Crown Princess of Vlatava."

The young man swallowed nervously, then nodded. "We need to talk to the pursar."

18:50 PST.

Dinah rolled as she landed, shedding momentum quickly. When she came to a stop, she looked up and made eye contact with the purser and nodded to him.

The older man sighed in relief.

Dinah turned away, scanning for her partner and spotted him just as he disappeared back into the terminal through a service chute.

Dinah considering going for Dark Archer, but before she had a clear shot, he ducked inside the massive building and out of sight. "Black Canary to Watchtower," she said as she hurried to catch up. "Black Canary to Hall of Justice… Black Canary to all points. Priority Red!"

But her commlink remained stubbornly silent, even Oliver didn't respond. Merlin must be blocking it somehow… she thought, grimly and set off at a run towards a door that she suspected would give her access to the baggage claim area. I guess it's up to the two of us then.

She entered the baggage claim just in time to see her partner finally beat the Dark Archer in an archer's duel, snapping his bowstring and sealing the deal with a gas arrow to knock him out.

"You beat him!" exclaimed the princess as she high-fived Ollie.

"Law of averages, right?" replied Ollie modestly.

"Well, if you want something done right…" began a sneering aristocratic voice, then a shimmering wave of energy swept over the pair, causing them to fall backwards.

As Dinah manoeuvred around to get a better look he continued. "Of course, I came here to protect my niece… I fear that tragically, I may have arrived too late…"

Dinah took a deep breath and released a devastating but tightly focused Canary Cry directly at him. Knocking him flying to slump unconscious on top of the Dark Archer.

She walked over to her partner and the princess and stood looking down at him, hands on hips. "What would you do without me?" she asked with a sigh.

"Now that you mention it…" he replied and as he struggled onto his knees, he reached into a pouch at his belt and retrieved a crimson jeweller's box. "And since I'm on my knees already… can't live without you, babe. Literally, please say you'll marry me?"

Dinah was momentarily struck dumb at the diamond engagement ring that he held out to her until the princess broke the moment. "Say yes!" demanded the young girl. "Or else… perhaps I will. After all, every queen needs a consort."

Not likely, Your High… Majesty, Dinah thought, correcting her thought as she realised what the girl had meant.

"She's right," added her partner. "Every Queen does."

"Yes," she replied, kneeling down to his level. "The answer is yes."

Then she leaned over and embraced him, bringing his lips to hers.

08:32 PST.

"Black Canary?" asked a familiar voice bringing her out of her reverie.

Dinah opened her eyes and looked up at the queen's surgeon, Dr Pieter Cross, who was standing across her bed surrounded by members of his team.

"Hi, Doc," she said, and smiled at him. "I don't suppose you have some good news…?"

"Actually, I might," he replied.

"Really?!" said Dinah, sitting up in her chair.

"Yes," confirmed the surgeon. "As you know, the principal difficulty with acquiring a new heart Queen Perdita is that she has a very unusual blood-type…"

"It doesn't play well with others," Dinah added.

"A simplistic way of putting it," suggested Dr Cross with a smile. "But close enough. Which means that finding a candidate for donation."

Dinah nodded.

"Well, I just got a call from the transplant team at Boston General. They're currently negotiating with a rapidly deteriorating patient with the correct tissue type who is expected die within the hour."

"That's…" began Dinah, then cut herself off.

Dr Cross nodded in understanding, "Welcome to my world."

At that moment, Denny barrelled back into the room. "Do you have word, doktor?"

"As I was just telling Black Canary, Boston General are currently in negotiation for a potential organ," he replied. "I should know by the end of my rounds whether they have been successful."

"This is great news!" exclaimed the bodyguard. "Is there anything that I… that the Vlatavan government can do to… expediate the process?"

"That would be very inappropriate, Mr Nielsen," replied the surgeon with a frown.

"Forgive me, doktor," said Denny immediately. "It is just… she is very important to me… us. If we were to lose her as well, so soon after her father's death…"

"I understand, Mr Nielsen," Dr Cross assured. "It is already forgotten."

"Thank you, doktor."

"I will keep you and your team apprised," said Dr Cross, then turned to Dinah and nodded. "Black Canary."

"Dr Cross," replied Dinah and returned his nod as he and his entourage filed out of the room.

13:00 PST.

Dinah was gathering her things to leave when her comm-link beeped.

"Batman to Black Canary."

Dinah tapped the link to activate it. "I'm just about to leave for the Cave."

"Negative," Batman countered. "My investigations indicate that the current weather conditions are the result of hostile and it is vital that we stop them as soon as possible."

Dinah sighed. "Where do you need me?"

"Blue Valley, Nebraska," Batman replied. "Red Tornado, Superboy and Wolf will meet you there. You'll need to hurry… the Zeta Network is expected to crash shortly."

"I'm on my way," Dinah promised and started to struggle into her parka.

Blue Valley.
16:35 MST.

The Super-Cycle swept down to land next to Dinah as the shadow of the ice-fortress began to appear in the cloud bank to the north.

Wolf barked a greeting as she clambered into a seat in the front of the New Genesisian vehicle.

"Any word on the rest of the Team?" she asked as they took off and headed towards the threat.

"I dropped Kaldur and Robin in Philadelphia on my way here," Conner replied. "They've engaged one of them… The girls are taking Bio-Ship to Nashville to help deal with the ice fortress there."

"Time to intercept, sixteen seconds," reported Red Tornado as he flew alongside. At that moment, several turrets began to move on the surface of the machine and spat white disks of energy in their direction, which he easily avoided. "These turrets must be neutralised before we can take down the machine.

"Agreed," said Dinah.

"Then let's get on with it!" declared Conner as Super-Cycle banked to avoid another salvo and replied with a pair of blasts of her own, raking the deck and destroyed one of the turrets.

Glancing around, Dinah spotted another turret rotating in their direction and unleashed a Canary Cry at it, weakening but not destroyed the device.

"I'll get it!" roared Conner as he stood up in his seat and jumped towards the machine, with Wolf only a breath behind. The Kryptonian teen grasped the turret and yanked it out of its mooring, so that Wolf could bite through the power cables. Then he tossed it to Red Tornado, who batted it down again, slamming it into a third turret and destroying both in the process.

17:00 MST

Super-Cycle swept in close enough for Conner and Wolf to jump back onboard as the ice-fortress began to explode and then crash to the ground. As she drifted down after it, local fire and police vehicles sped towards them and within minutes, the entire area was swarming with emergency workers.

A lean, middle-aged balding man in a police chiefs uniform walked up to the group. "Black Canary, Red Tornado… I'm Police Chief Bob Infantino. Thank you for your help."

"Afternoon, Chief," said Dinah, wearily. "You're welcome. Superboy and Wolf did a lot of the work."

"Then I thank them to," replied the veteran officer. "Are we in any further danger?"

"The machine has been neutralised," Red Tornado assured him. "All that remains is containment of any secondary fires."

"We can handle that," agreed the chief. "Do you need to leave, or you would you like to come back to the station to warm up first?"

"I could stand a cup of coffee," Dinah admitted, then shivered a little. She turned and looked at her partner. "We might as well stay here until anything else develops."

"Agreed," replied the android. "The third ice fortress has been neutralised by Artemis, Green Arrow, the Martians and Zatanna. The fourth and fifth fortresses remain operational, but Justice League members are responding."

Blue Valley Police Department.
20:26 MST.

The GBS logo broke into the programming on the chief's television. "This is Iris West for GBS with breaking news from our field reporter in Phoenix… Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Captain Atom, and Wonder Woman have defeated a fifth flying ice fortress," the redheaded reported briskly. Then she glanced down and for a second she lost her composure, before continuing with a heavy tone. "But… This just in… Despite the best efforts of Kid Flash and a team of transplant surgeons led by world renowned expert Pieter Cross… young Queen Perdita of Vlatava died on the operating table at Seattle Medical Center a few moments ago!"

Dinah's hands numb and she dropped her coffee mug. "Reddy, stay here and assist Chief Infantino!"

"Affirmative."

"Superboy, let's go!"

The Kryptonian teen put down his own mug and gestured to Wolf, who rose to join them. "We're going to Seattle?"

Dinah nodded as she slipped her coat back on.

"Even at full speed, it'll take us over an hour to get there."

"I know," she confirmed as she zipped up her coat. "I'm guessing Ollie and Bio-Ship will beat us there."

Seattle Medical Center.
22:06 PST.

As predicted, a familiar silhouette was barely visible in the snow as they came into land and when they reached the waiting room outside the ICU, the girls – all in civilian clothes – were hanging around there. Conner sped up and reached them first.

Artemis spoke first. "Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter are meeting with Dr Cross and the hospital board. Flash is finishing up in "

"Where's Kid Flash?" Dinah asked, looking around for the redhead. "Is he in the meeting too?"

Artemis shook her head, "He was exhausted when he got here. Dehydration, hypoglycaemia and a minor head injury. He's in recovery."

At that moment, a nurse came out of the ward and looked around. "Black Canary, Kid Flash is awake and asking to speak to a member of the Justice League."

"That's me right now," Dinah confirmed, then turned to Artemis. "Flash is probably still working clean-up in Philly, but try and get hold of him?"

"I will," promised the half-Vietnamese girl as Dinah turned away and followed the nurse into the ward and down the room past a curtained cubicle.

Wally smiled wanly as they entered the cubicle.

"How are you?"

"I'll be fine," he said, briskly. "We have to talk about how I ended up here."

"I thought it was just the stress of the run?" Dinah asked as she sat down on a guest chair.

Wally glanced at the nurse, who took the hint and excused herself. "I was crushed when Batman told me that he was benching me from the first ever League-Team team-up so that I could play delivery boy…" he paused as Dinah made a noise. "I know now that it was for Queen Perdita… although that shouldn't really make a difference… should it?"

"I can understand why it does," Dinah assured him. "You know that…?"

"We'll get to that," Wally told her, cutting her off. "It was a hard run, particularly once I picked up the heart in Boston… had to take a bit of a detour in Chicago to get 'round a pile-up… but everything was going okay until I blew through South Dakota… I was delayed by Savage."

"Vandal Savage!" exclaimed Black Canary. "What was he doing there?"

"Waiting for me – well Uncle Barry really – so that he could stop the transfer…"

Dinah had a feeling she knew where this was going but decided to let the young speedster talk.

"But I managed to get clear of him after a few minutes and continued here," he said, then swallowed. "When I got here, I was met by a massive bald man in surgeon's scrubs. I thought he was the surgeon, so I handed off the heart."

"But he wasn't the real surgeon," Dinah added.

"No, he wasn't," Wally agreed. "Which I realised a moment later when Dr Cross turned up and asked me about it. So, I chased the fake surgeon down to basement and got the heart back, but before I could get back upstairs, I was ambushed by his boss…"

"Count Vertigo."

The red-head nodded. "I was able to shake them and lose and get the heart to the doc, but then I passed out."

"I'm sorry, but it was all for nothing," Dinah told him.

"Actually, it was not," said a familiar voice from behind the curtain next to them and it was whisked open to show the smiling face of the pre-teen monarch of Vlatava.

"You're alive!" Dinah exclaimed joyfully. "Then why…"

"It was Kid Flash's idea," replied the girl. "It is clear to us that my uncle is a threat which must be… dealt with. If he can be lured here to… gloat… then we may be able to get him to confess to organising the two attempts on my life."

Dinah nodded. It was a gutsy plan, but with the amount of power and influence that he had in Vlatava and his diplomatic immunity it was probably the best – maybe even only – option.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

The Cave.
12:16 EST.

Dinah and the Team were in the middle of a training session when a holo-window popped into life. "I thought you'd want to see this immediately," said Ollie. "I'm patching in a television feed…"

His face disappeared from the window and was briefly replaced with a GBS logo, then… "Breaking news, Werner Vertigo – until recently the Regent of Vlatava – was just arraigned on charges of murder, conspiracy and terrorism," reported Iris on the holo-screen. "According to our contacts at the State Department and the Vlatavan government are currently in negotiation over where his trial will take place and where any potential sentence will be served. This is Iris West-Allen for GBS, signing off."

Artemis turned to Wally. "You did good, Baywatch."

"Thanks," he said, then crossed to the side of the ring. "I need to put this with my souvenirs."

Gotham City.
November 19, 17:00 EDT.

"Well, it's been quite a month since our last session…" began Professor Deinhardt.

Dinah nodded.

"How are the Team coping?"

"Some are coping better than others," Dinah replied after a moment. "They were starting to recover from the Fa'ehyl'saav Ritual when we were caught up in the 'World Without Children' plot..."

"That hit a lot of people," agreed the professor. "Were you involved?"

"Only on the sidelines," Dinah replied. "Batman was taking the lead on the investigation on our side, so I was stuck here helping Uncle Ted and the GCPD with damage control. The Team, Batman, Captain Marvel, Red Tornado and Zatara were the ones that saved the day…"

"But at a cost?" prompted the psychologist as Dinah trailed off.

Dinah nodded. "Do you remember what you said about grief in one of my early classes?"

"That it's a complex and individual process with multiple stages," said the professor. "Did you lose someone?"

"Not me," replied Dinah. "Zatanna."

"Her father's dead?"

Dinah sighed. "I wish it was that simple… I've got training for that… and I've lost a parent, so I can relate."

The professor nodded.

"We've talked about Nabu before," said Dinah. "And his Helmet and what it represents…"

The professor nodded again. "After Mr Nelson's death, Kid Flash promised to…" Then paused, as realisation kicked in. "Zatara had to put on the Helmet to merge the worlds back together and he's stuck as the Host now."

Dinah chuckled hollowly, "You're close… that's how it ended but it's not the whole story."

The professor paused to take this in, then nodded as if understanding. "I'm guessing that his daughter put on the Helmet for the magical boost during the crisis and then Zatara traded his life for hers afterwards."

"Exactly," confirmed Dinah. "So, she's grieving. But because his body's still walking around…"

"It's complicated," Professor Deinhardt agreed. "Even after nearly two decades of practicing in Gotham that's a new one on me."

"So, you don't know anything that can help?"

"I didn't say that," countered the professor. "I do have a couple of ideas…"

"On the other hand, some good did come of it," said Dinah.

"Really?" asked the professor curiously.

"Yeah," Dinah replied. "It surprised me a little too."

"What happened?"

"During the crisis, Lana called Superman for help, and seeing what she was going through and being there when they were reunited in the Cave after Sarah took him there for safety made him re-evaluate how he's been handling the Superboy issue."

"Well, that's good."

"It's early days yet," Dinah said. "But Superboy – and possibly Miss Martian and Zatanna – are going to spend Thanksgiving with him, so…"

"They're taking it one step at a time," finished the professor. "That's often best, in grief and new relationships."