Chapter 36: Who Needs the Talk?

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The next thing to hit Hogwarts was the laptops. Harry had Tony send him and Neville one with a printer. They decided to start doing their assignments on them. They still printed them on parchment paper, but it was printed. It was something the goblins had invented at Gringotts and incorporated into the wizarding world. Tony capitalized on it quickly.

All of them were wireless and had Bluetooth capabilities. They were all state of the art and completely capable of operating in the rough environment of Hogwarts. If they worked at Gringotts, they would work anywhere.

The sunlight room with the solar charger would keep them charged, so there was that. It wasn't overly hot in there, more like a spring day. The printers would stay there, there was no reason for them to be anywhere else. Another room would soon be needed for just the printers, but that was later down the line.

Siri was quick in giving one to both Sprout and Flitwick. She knew if a couple of professors had them then the other professors couldn't complain when the students started using them. Flitwick was over the moon over the inventions and the easiness of use. He could put his entire library on the laptop and use a search engine to help his research. There was a small AI on the computer that Siri had integrated just for the diminutive man. Sprouts' was on horticulture, and she loved it. They were nothing like Jarvis, but it was a start.

The laptops took off like wildfire, and soon they were in half the students' hands. Tony and the family were making even more money. The investment firm was making a lot of people very rich indeed.

"I can't believe this worked," Neville said, typing two fingered on his keyboard. He was writing his potions essay. It was much easier to, with the new teacher. That woman was nicer than Snape on a bad day. She explained what was what, and how things worked. Neville was a whiz at plants and so was a natural at potions now that he knew how each plant worked in potions.

"I can. Laptops are much more convenient than PCs," Harry said, thinking of the cumbersome tabletop computers. Sure, they had their place in the world, but for students, laptops were much more accessible. Laptops could be carried around in backpacks, and kids didn't need to have the entire library at their fingertips. They had a library they could go to for that.

Tony was donating a larger computer system for the Hogwarts Library with a search engine. Hermione Granger, who was the girl that seemed to think they were in a competition, was over ecstatic. He was going to set it up as a Yule present for the school.

"No, I mean that the wizards are using them so easily. I thought that common sense had been drummed out of them ages ago," the sandy-haired boy said, finishing his paper. He hit the print button and waited for the printer to start printing it. He loved doing his homework in the sunroom. It was the warmest room in the whole castle, and the brightest.

"Oh, well modern necessities and all that. I find that humans are lazy by nature, and will adapt to whatever makes their lives easier," Harry said, playing his game of Gattaca. His homework had been done hours ago. Neville was a much slower typer than him. He still stuck it out by his side though. He too preferred to stay in this room.

"What will you do next?" the other boy asked, wondering what other chaos his friend would bring.

Harry grinned and brought out his Nintendo Switch. Sure, the phones and laptops had games, but nothing beat a gaming system. Since he couldn't get a tv to work here, there were no outlets, he was going to use the handheld ones.

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Siri, Pepper, and Natasha sat Ivy down before she turned twelve. "Ivy, you are getting into your teen years, and you are going to turn into a young woman," Pepper started, looking at the other women in Ivy's life. They didn't know if she had started her menses yet, but it was getting close to that time.

"I already know about the birds and the bees," Ivy said, in a bit of a panic. She had done all the research about becoming a woman. She hadn't started yet and wasn't sure if she wanted to. While it made her a woman, it seemed messy. There were spells that made it easier, thank Merlin. "Laurie told me a bit, and Loki explained to me a bit more," she quickly said, holding up her hands to ward off the Talk.

"That is good to know," Siri said, glad that that talk wasn't needed, "but there is more to it than just the physical changes," she added, she needed to make sure that Ivy understood what was happening to her mentally too.

"You're cute, and your cuteness is going to change into sexual prowess," Natasha said, looking at Ivy with a knowing look. If anyone knew about that it was the Black Widow. "You need to know how to use that and not to have it used against you," she said, leaning back in her seat and relaxing.

"Not if I can help it," Ivy muttered, batting her eyes in an innocent fashion. "I want to stay as adorable as I can for as long as I can," she said louder. "I know it can happen. I've seen others maintain their innocence." She had seen some of the starlets from films stay sweet and innocent long after they left films. She was sure that as long as she led a good life, she could do the same.

"Nevertheless, you should be aware of what men, and women, will try to do and what you should be cautious for," Siri said, folding her legs in a feminine manner. "This way you are not caught unaware and can counter them or avoid them. I know you're not stupid, or naïve, but I don't want you to be duped by some suave playboy, or femme fatale. Gandr and Fenrir won't be with you all the time," she stated, leaning forward, and placing her hand on Ivy's arm in a motherly fashion. "But I suppose Goose can be," she muttered, hoping the alien would keep his word and be by the girl's side forever. Then again, Goose was a free agent. She had no idea how long Goose would live. For all she knew he was on his last legs, or in his youth.

"I guess," Ivy said, hoping she never had to have this discussion, but she could see where it was needed. At least it was the women who were giving it to her and not Daddy. "Fine, what do I need to know?" she asked, resigned to learning what they wanted to depart.

What followed was an in depth talk about men and women who used and abused their position and wiles to get what they wanted in life. How to spot it and how to counter it. Each woman had a different perspective on what to look for. Natasha came at it from a spy's point of view, while Pepper gave a businesswoman's. Siriusly was different as she was taught how to use hers from a Dark Witch's demeanor, which meant to take someone down using dark magic and feminine wiles. Each was useful and enlightening.

"We'll have more talks like this over the years, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask," Natasha said, after about an hour of talking. She stood and gave the overwhelmed girl a hug.

"I guess," Ivy said, going over what she learned. She knew that there were people who used what they had to get what they wanted, but to sink to such depths was unfathomable to her. To use one's body in such a manner. It was degrading. She shook her head and moved on. "I'm going to go read," she said, putting the talk out of her mind for now and left the room.

"Do you think she's too young?" Pepper asked, watching her leave.

"No," Siri said, tapping her finger on her leg. She was worried they might have shared a bit too much, but no, she didn't think Ivy was too young.

"I was younger," Natasha said, though her circumstances were different. "She'll adapt," she added, knowing that the human mind was a resilient thing. "We'll be there for her if it gets to be too much," she said, patting Pepper on the shoulder.

"I guess," the redhead said, standing and going to the bar and making a spritzer.

"She's a target," Siriusly said, making herself a gin and tonic. "She needs to know what to look for. It's not just women who whore themselves out," she said, downing the drink. She had already had this talk with Harry, and it had been easier with him. He was far more jaded than Ivy was.

"Okay," Pepper said, sipping her drink.

"What are you ladies talking about?" Tony asked, coming into the room. He knew the women were going to talk with Ivy, but not about what.

"We just got through giving Ivy the Talk," Siri said, giving Tony a smirk.

"Oh, thank God," he said, sinking into a chair.

"Why do you say that?" Bruce asked, coming in from behind him. He too was smirking. He knew that the women were going to give Ivy a run down on the gold-diggers of the world.

"I didn't want to have it with her," the other man said, a sigh of relief was heard from his mouth.

"It wasn't that Talk," Pepper said, making Tony groan.

"You're still going to have to sit down and talk about boys with her," Natasha said, not letting up one bit.

Tony groaned and looked pleadingly at everyone in the room. No one gave one quarter. It was his duty as her father to have that Talk. He groaned again and got up to go and get it over with. As he left the room everyone broke down and started laughing.

"Do you think we should have told him that she already knows about sex?" Siri asked Pepper. She felt a bit bad that they were torturing the man.

"No, let him suffer a bit," the redhead said, sipping her drink.

The rest of the room laughed again, making Loki and Thor wonder what was so funny as they walked in.

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Ivy, Gandr and Fenrir were reading when Tony joined them in Ivy's room. "Ivy, little bug, do we need to have the Talk?" he asked, hoping the answer was no.

"I know about boys," she answered, looking at Gandr. Who just shrugged. He knew about the birds and bees too.

"And just how do you know about them, young lady?" he asked, glaring at the two boys in the room like they were the ones who told her.

"Loki told me," Ivy said sweetly, not seeing the issue. "Well, him and Laurie," she added.

"Did he now?" Tony asked, not sure how he felt about that. On one hand, he was glad he didn't have to. On the other hand, he wasn't sure he liked that it was Loki that did the deed. Laurie was okay, she was a kid too. Sure, she was a few years older than Ivy, so she would know more than his little bug.

"Yes, he said he'd save you the embarrassment," she said, looking at him with a cocked head. "Why would you be embarrassed?" she asked with the innocence of a child. She didn't think there'd be anything that would make her daddy uncomfortable. He was Iron Man after all.

"It's a daddy thing," Tony said, shifting his weight a bit. It was a male thing. Then again, Loki was a male.

"Oh," Ivy said, not getting it but dropping the subject.

"I'm assuming you two don't need the Talk either," he addressed the two boys.

"Of course not," Fenrir said, looking affronted. "Father took care of that ages ago," he stated.

"Good," the older man said, whirling around and leaving the room. He joined the rest of the adults who promptly laughed at his expression. "You could have told me," he accused Loki.

"I thought you knew," the other man said, shrugging his shoulder.

"How would I know?" Tony asked, poking Loki's shoulder with an accusing finger.

"I thought Ivy would have told you. She tells you everything," the demigod said, a smirk playing on his face.

"I guess," Tony conceded. Ivy did tell him everything else. He wondered why she didn't tell him this. Maybe she was just as embarrassed as he was. Oh well, it was over now. His little bug was growing up and there was little he could do about it.

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A few months later, Ivy was at Xavier's School for the Gifted, visiting Laurie and her friends over summer break and having tea when the school was attacked by Magneto. Well, attacked was a strong word. He casually strolled into the compound with his minions. He confronted the X-men and Xavier. Ivy and the younger students watched from the school.

Xavier and Magneto seem to have a repartee that the others couldn't understand. It was like they were old friends that didn't want to be enemies but had no choice. The two teams faced off fighting without fighting. They just yelled at each other from across the yard. Showing off their mutant abilities and shouting insults and such.

Ivy had enough of their banter and decided to go and see if she could help them. She walked in the middle of the two groups and broke out her tea set. She set up a table for three and invited Charles and Erik to join her.

"Mr. Magneto and Mr. Xavier, would you join me for tea?" she asked sweetly. She waved her wand and erected a barrier so that they would not be harmed while partaking. "I promise you will not be injured while we talk," she said, nodding to the two men.

Charles joined her right away. He adored the little girl. She had done so much for the children under his care. Laurie had come out of her shell and was saved from her admirers many times thanks to the girl.

Erik looked at the cute little girl for a few minutes and decided that she was harmless and went to sit. He waved to his minions to stay where they were while he talked to Charles and the girl.

"I don't understand why you two are fighting when you want the same thing?" she started, pouring her best tea into cups. Goose decided to pop in out of nowhere and reside over the talks. She might trust these two, but he did not.

"He wants to control those that are not mutants," Charles said, pointing at Erik. "He doesn't want to do this peacefully, but through violence," he added as if that were a deadly sin.

"I do not, I want them to leave us alone," Magneto denied. "I want us to live in peace. I will have that peace any way I can," he added, looking to his minions, who had been pursued for their mutant abilities and looks. "I will not be held down and persecuted any longer by those that fear what they don't understand. I lived through that once before. I won't do it again," he added, reliving the nightmare of his past. The camps, the fires, the screams of death. It was just too much at times.

"I understand that," Professor X said, not really understanding having never lived through it, sipping his tea and sighing. It was good tea. "However, violence is not the answer. Only through understanding can they learn," he intoned. He was a gentle soul who never had to go through what Erik had.

"I see that you two will never see eye-to-eye. So where can you compromise?" Ivy asked, tapping her chin in thought. "I don't want to see the mutants suffer because the other humans are scared of the violence," she said, leveling a look at Erik.

"We are men of science," Charles said, also looking to Erik. "Can we not try to open their eyes using that branch? We have Dr. McCoy," he added, pointing to Beast. The blue furry man looked perplexed as to why they were looking at him all of a sudden.

"He is the leading man in mutant science," Erik said, thoughtfully. Even he had to bow to that knowledge.

"My daddy will back you if you decide to stop your tirades," Ivy said with conviction. She whipped out her phone and called Tony. "Daddy? Hi! I'm talking to Magneto and Charles Xavier. They are trying to call a truce. Will you help? I told them only if they stop fighting. Oh. Okay. I'll let them know. Okay. I'll see you when I get home. Bye, Daddy." She put the phone away and looked at the two men.

"Well?" Magneto asked, expecting to be turned down flat. Rarely did normal humans get involved with mutants. It was too political.

"He said, if you two stop fighting, he would be happy to meet with you," she said, perkily. She bounced in her seat and clapped her hands, making her cute factor shine through.

"What can he do for us?" the man of magnetic pull asked. Sure, he had heard of Stark, the man was a genius and rich, but what can he do for mutants?

"He has political pull that could help you," Ivy proposed. "My daddy has the money to back you in your research and a computer that can help you in said research," she added, thinking that Tony could whip up a computer like the one at Hogwarts. Not quite Jarvis, but an AI, nevertheless.

"It's worth a shot," Charles said, always willing to stop fighting.

"I will stop for a period of two months. If I see no progress in that time, then I will resume were I stopped," Erik said, folding to the power of cuteness. She was an adorable child, just budding on the cusp of womanhood. Not that he was swayed by females of any age. However, cuteness of any gender was just unstoppable.

"Yay, Daddy will call Mr. Xavier in a few days to set up a time to talk," Ivy said, waving her hand and setting up a large picnic table with tea for everyone. There were two sides, one for each team. There were cakes, sandwiches, and fizzy drinks for everyone to enjoy.

Goose decided that he wasn't needed anymore and jumped onto her lap and went to sleep. He kept his ears open, but other than that ignored the rest of the event.

Erik and Charles talked to their respective teams and told them there was a cease fire and that they were going to try and talk the regular humans around with science. The teams didn't quite understand but trusted their leaders and relaxed.

The groups tentatively joined the table and ate the fare. They started talking instead of arguing and were surprised that they had much in common. Well, Wolverine didn't partake, but he did stick around to make sure that if a fight did break out that he was there to stop it.

Ivy was just happy that she could help in this small way.

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Harry's first year at Hogwarts was good. He passed in the top ten grade group, surpassing that Granger girl. Nothing interesting happened to him, other than him starting all the electronic trends. The gaming systems were banned within the week. Well, they were banned to the weekends only. And only if you had your parents', or guardian's, permission. You had better have your grades up too.

Summer had come and he was spending his time with Ivy and the rest of the Avengers and the Asgardians. Ivy spent some time at Xavier's, but that was okay. He spent some time at Neville's, who was happy to have him on the occasional weekend. Portkeys were a wonder, even if the international ones were a bitch.

Siriusly had got permission for Luna to join them later in the summer, so that Harry and Ivy could get to know her better. She'd be here for their birthday, which was coming up in a few days.

"What do you think they are going to do for our birthday this year?" Harry asked Ivy. They were lounging in Ivy's room watching Bambi for the hundredth time. It was one of their favorite cartoons.

"I don't know," Ivy said honestly. Every year Tony would try to outdo himself from the year before. He was still trying to outshine Deadpool's unicorn. Frank was still a welcome member of the family. Though, Tony was still jealous of Wade for him.

"I hope it's not something extravagant," Harry said, hating when they did that. Last year Tony rented out a theme park for the entire family and all their friends from both schools. While they had had fun, it would have been a better experience if they had been with the regular public. At least in Harry's opinion.

"I hope not too. Maybe we should tell them that," she said, hopping down from her seat and going from the room. "Daddy," she sang out, going to the living room looking for Tony.

"Yes?" Tony said, coming in from the kitchen, eating a sandwich.

"What are you planning for our birthday?" she asked, batting her eyes at him.

"Never you mind," he said, holding firm at her onslaught of cuteness.

"I hope it's not something too elaborate," she said with a cute sigh. She turned up her cute factor just a bit.

"What? Why?" he asked, flabbergasted as to why she would say that. He loved to give her ornate gifts. It was his way of showing his love. It was the only way he knew how.

"I just want something simple this year," she said, sidling up to him and giving him doe eyes.

"Fine," he said, giving in. He knew the day would come when she would want him to tone it down. Pepper was the same way. "What do you want?"

"Cake and ice cream with a few close friends and family?" she suggested, looking at him innocently.

"I can do that," he sighed, thinking of hiring the best caterers.

"Besides, you chase off my friends with all your overboardness," she explained, waving her hand in an exasperated way. "Mindy didn't talk to me for a week after last year's expedition," she said, remembering the other girl's jealousy. Then again, it showed just what type of friend the girl was.

"I'll tone it down," Tony promised, giving up on his plans to rent out the cruise ship for just her and Harry's friends for a week. He had been so looking forward to it too.

"Thank you, Daddy," she said, giving him a hug and going to find Harry and letting him know that they avoided something excessive.

"I'm still renting out a restaurant," he yelled after her. He'd just have to make sure it was one that wasn't five stars.

"That's fine," she hollered back as she went.

At least there were some things that wouldn't change.