On Punching Gods and Absentee Dads

Enigmaris

Chapter 28: Father-Son Magic Lessons

Summary:

Loki and Harry sit down for the first of many asgardian magic lessons

Notes:

This one is pretty lore heavy folks! Please forgive me rambling on about how I think magic works lol.

Chapter Text

"Alright." Loki said rubbing his hands together. "Are you ready Starlight?"

Harry looked up at him from his position on the ground. He was sitting cross legged on a pillow. Loki had instructed his son to wear something comfortable and his son had taken that to mean his pajamas, a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that was slightly too large. With Tony's help Loki had been able to expand his son's wardrobe over the past month and now Harry had plenty of things to wear, it warmed something in Loki every time he saw his son wearing something that fit and that suited him.

"Course." Harry said, wiggling a little in place. "I thought we'd never get around to doing this."

"In my defense you had that meeting with the Americans and then there were your lessons with Tyr and then the meeting with the Order in London." His dad said. "With your training schedule and the work you're doing with Hermione and Ron, you've hardly had time to relax. I've also been busy training the Avengers in magical fighting tactics. Things have gotten quite busy."

"But in a good way, right?" Harry asked, unsure for a moment. "I know I've totally changed how you and the Avengers do things…"

"A change for the better I assure you." Loki said sitting down in front of his son, he crossed his legs and they were just close enough that their kneecaps bumped lightly. "You've been here for almost two months and we all adore you."

"I like it here." Harry said, sounding just a little bit awed that he could say that out loud.

"I'm glad." Loki said. "Now. We're here to help you learn Asgardian magic. It's been a few weeks since your first flame party and we really should have started lessons then but… well you know things happen. Better late than never."

The past few weeks had done wonders for Harry. He was almost a different person to the stick thin boy who'd punched him in the face two months ago. Now, only two weeks from his son's 16th birthday, the boy looked like a demi-god. It was true he'd never have the bulky muscle of Thor, but he'd filled out, thanks to the copious amounts of food Loki fed him each day. His son had grown into his height and now instead of being a broom he was lithe and powerful. There was a healthy glow to his skin that combined with the light tan he'd gotten from all the time he spent outdoors made him look very dashing.

There were new callouses on his son's hands from his sword work. Each day his son spent two hours practicing with either Loki or Thor to work on the lessons Tyr gave. Tyr had been extremely doubtful that Harry would progress quickly if he wasn't in Asgard every day but Thor had convinced him and Harry had quickly proven himself. Harry had taken to a sword beautifully too.

He'd had a tendency in the beginning to go on the defensive only. He was very careful to block hits to himself, especially to his gut, and he tended to dart in and out of a fight, retreating whenever there was a threat of a hit. Tyr had appreciated the caution but had disliked the lack of aggression. Loki and Thor had worked hard to force Harry to start actually attacking his opponents instead of just reacting to what was thrown at him. It was a work in progress still but Loki could see small daily improvements.

Part of him liked the idea that his son was so defensive, it meant he was less likely to get hurt. Granted he was aware that his son would eventually have to use his sword or his magic to kill Voldemort, but that wasn't something he liked to think about. Often when they practiced Harry gravitated towards maneuvers and methods that would allow him to subdue opponents without hurting them much. He still liked the disarming spell best. Loki didn't have the heart to point out that he wasn't going to win the war by yelling 'Expelliarmus'.

His daily practices, in which he was frequently joined by Ron and Hermione, had allowed him to grow. His strength grew too, now that he was properly using his Asgardian muscles, his body was growing to it's fullest potential. Tony had been more amused than annoyed when Harry kept breaking things with his growing strength, thankfully. Ron and Hermione had also grown stronger and more confident, although their muscles took much longer to grow than Harry's, his godly ancestry helped him heal much faster after each practice.

That didn't mean the two other teens didn't keep up. Tyr had been insanely impressed by Harry's shield siblings. Ron with his long, almost gangly, limbs had started learning to use a bow. And he was good at it. There had been a sharp learning curve at first but Ron had excellent aim. It was all a matter of strengthening his arms so that he could hit things from a distance. When in Asgard Fandral always swung by and the godly archer gave the boy tips. When he returned to the tower Clint told Ron to forget everything Fandral told him and to listen to him instead.

Ron seemed delighted that two different adults were fighting for his attentions.

Hermione had, before going to Asgard for the first time, devoured 15 different books on weaponry and created a chart detailing the pros and cons of each weapon as it related to her skills and strengths. She'd marched right up to Tyr, showed him her research, and told him that she would like to learn how to use a battle axe. Tyr had taken one look at the tiny girl, far shorter than any of the other trainees with her bushy manic hair and snorted.

"Perhaps a dagger would be more appropriate?"

He hadn't asked that question again after her first lesson when she'd picked up one of the training axes, cast a spell on it to make it light enough for her human arms, and used it without hesitation to attempt to cleave one of the other trainees in two. Hermione's justification for using the axe was that she could use it as she pleased in close quarters, she could also use the broad side as a shield against spells, and use it as a way to quickly carve shapes into the ground or nearby walls for offensive runic magic. The fact that she'd determined the battle axe to be the best match to her magic had confused most at first and frightened most everyone after two weeks.

Volstagg the member of the warrior three that used a battle axe had been pleased to meet Hermione. Even more pleased when she was happy to sit with him and listen to his advice on the best sorts of chopping methods. It was almost sweet in a way. Hermione, always a sponge for knowledge, was more than willing to listen to any of the warriors in Asgard drone about their accomplishments as long as they were willing to answer her detailed and pointed questions.

Sif had also liked Hermione, offering the girl far more advice than she ever gave to any other trainee. Sif was used to being smaller and slightly physically weaker than most of her opponents. She helped Hermione adapt her fighting style so that it was more effective against her male counterparts.

The three had learnt so much over the past few weeks but the biggest change had been wrought in Harry. Loki had managed to help strengthen up Harry's mental blocks against whatever thing was in his scar, giving Harry the ability to sleep comfortably through the night. Harry had more than enough food and he hardly ever flinched when people touched him. The suspicion and wariness in his eyes had faded as well, leaving behind a relaxed teenager.

Harry held his head high now and he spoke his mind and demanded respect from people without having to be spitting mad. He walked with confidence and his laughter came easily. It wasn't always perfect. Sometimes Harry had nightmares and generally the weekly meetings with the Order always left Harry feeling mulish and frustrated. He also had a tendency to retreat into himself whenever something bad happened. But things were improving, slowly if not as steadily as Loki would have liked.

And now it was time for the next step. Loki had been training Harry and his friends in human magic for the past month. But there were things that only Harry could learn. His Asgardian magic was active now and it was important that Harry learnt to control and command it.

"So." Harry said looking down at his hands for a moment. "What is the difference between the magic I know and this stuff? You said it's Asgardian magic but like…all magic comes from the World Tree right? That's what you told me. Shouldn't it all be the same?"

"You're correct. All magic does come from the Yggdrasil. Each magic user draws power from there and stores it in their core. We've talked about cores before you and I, and about what makes yours so unique." Loki said causing Harry to nod. "For the most part Asgardian magic is very similar. Asgardians just tend to have larger cores which means that they are capable of more powerful spells."

"But…?" Harry pushed.

"But there is a reason we're called gods."

"I thought that was just like a title?"

"No. You see when I say I'm the god of mischief what I mean is that I can access portions of the Yggdrasil that others cannot. I can draw power from the magic that represents entropy and bend that energy to my will. Thor, as the god of thunder, can access the magic of nature and command the forces of nature in a way that no one else can. Yes, a powerful magic user can make a storm, but they are not connected to the storm, not like Thor is. If they call a storm, they can't control how long the storm last or how strong it is. Beyond that Thor can call on specific portions of lightning and thunder, to a degree that is unheard of in any other being."

"Okay." Harry said mulling that over in his head. "But you said that every Asgardian magic user gets that flame thing-y like I do. So are they all gods?"

"Generally speaking yes." Loki said. "Asgard has two classes of magic users. The mages and the sorcerers. Mages are those who either have a small amount of magic, not enough to access the higher planes of the Yggdrasil or who gain magical power through other means. And then there are magic users like you and I, sorcerers who are born with great magical power and can produce a flame. A flame is an indicator that you have the capability of becoming a god."

Harry made a choked shocked noise which made Loki grin. He conjured a glass of cool water and handed it to his son who drank it thankfully.

"I'm a god?" He asked once he'd calmed down some.

"No. Not yet at least. No one is born a god, it's something you become." Loki said. "And the path is unique for everyone. What you decide to do with the power you already have will define you and it may allow you to become more than what you are."

"Oh." Harry said. "But then if I'm not a god right now, then why do I need to learn any different sort of magic?"

"The flame, your flame, Harry, is evidence that you are accessing parts of the Yggdrasil that a lower magic user cannot. The color of your flame indicates what types of magic you are best suited for which further shows what sorts of higher magic you can call upon from the Yggdrasil." Loki explained. "As you age your magical core is going to grow to take on more qualities from the parts of the Yggdrasil you have access too. In time, if you don't train yourself to use these new forms of energy, your magic will grow out of your control."

"Okay that makes sense. Sort of." Harry said. "But I don't really understand the color thing? I mean my magic was like four different colors right? You said that they connected to different branches of magic but just now you said they were planes of magic."

"Human magic users access the middle pools of magic in the Yggdrasil." Loki said.

Loki carefully waved a hand conjuring an illusion of the World Tree. It floated between glowing gold and sparkling.

"We've talked about the World Tree before." Loki said. "How each fruit of the tree is a planet or realm and that the branches are streams of energy connecting each one."

"Yeah."

"Well, Midgard or earth is right here, in the middle of the tree." Loki said pointing to the center where there was a ball of light representing the earth. Harry leaned in to get a better look, squinting his bright green eyes. "So humans who are born with the capability of using magic, tend to draw power from the trunk of the tree, right close by. There are some who can reach the higher planes just as there are Asgardian magic users who can only reach the middle, it's not a hard rule. This isn't a lesser form of magic either, there's quite a bit of power to be gained from using the trunk. Humans have a wide breadth of abilities with magic. If there's a form of magic out there in the universe then it's likely that humans have found a way to use it. Think of it like this, everything passes through the trunk. Energy travels up from the roots through the trunk and then up to the leaves and branches on the top, so that means that almost all forms of magic are possible for humans."

"So when Hermione talks about all the branches she means those?" Harry asked pointing to the branches of the trees. His son looked like his mind was swimming through syrup. Loki knew it would be difficult to cram centuries of magical theory into a few lessons but they had to make do.

"In essence yes. Each type of magical energy congregates in different parts of the world tree and develops fully there." Loki said, Harry looked a bit confused and so Loki sighed. "Okay let's start over. Let's go down to the roots of the tree, well before any realms have formed. The roots of the world tree hold magic in its purest most undiluted form. Gathering magic from here is dangerous, there is no diversity it is just pure purposeless energy. You can't cast complicated spells with this stuff Harry. It's incredibly powerful, so much so that it's nearly impossible for any living being to control. Magic from the lowest planes can be divided into six forms."

"What are they?"

"Time. Soul. Space. Mind. Power. Reality." Loki said making the roots of the Yggdrasil light up in six different colors to represent these concepts. "This is magic in it's purest form, all spells and branches of magic can be placed into one of these six categories."

"My flame was purple. That's soul magic right?"

"Yes." Loki said smiling a little. "But you are not taking your magic from the lower planes, if you tried it you'd explode."

"Then where am I getting it from?"

"Patience." Loki said. "Let me finish explaining this. You know most Asgardian magic users have to spend centuries learning this stuff. You ought to be grateful I'm giving you the simplified summary."

"Right." He rolled his eyes at his son's cheek and then had the six colors from the roots begin to travel up into the trunk of the tree, passing by the realm of the fire giants and the dwarves. As the magic traveled up it began to spread out into new hues, once where there was just red there was suddenly pinks and blood oranges and scarlets.

"As the energy in the Yggdrasil travels upwards it diversifies into new types of magic. It can all be traced back to the original six types but now there is the possibility for spells and unique types of magic." Loki explained. "For instance, transfiguration is part of Reality. When you transfigure something, you change reality for a moment. Drawing magic from the trunk means you are still taking magic that is truer to the source but still diluted enough to allow you to change a needle into a matchstick."

"So if you go higher into the world tree…then it gets even more colorful?"

"Exactly." Loki said pleased, his wiggled his fingers causing the colors to travel up into the branches and leaves. It pooled around in a rainbow of colors, every single one imaginable. There were brilliant whites and silvers mixed in with bronzes and golds, every single color visible to the human and not so human eye. "The higher the magic travels up the world tree the more it changes. By the time it reaches the top it's become the sort of divine magic that I and Thor use. This sort of magic is very specific in what it can do. Its diversified to the point that Asgardian magic users can really only access a few of the colors instead of the whole rainbow as it were. We can do great and powerful things, things that humans could not ever dream of, but our skills are far less broad than a human's. We exchange a breadth of magical branches for an in-depth strength in one or two."

"Okay, but I'm from both here and there." Harry said pointing to the trunk and then to the upper branches.

"Yes you are. That means you can draw magic from the trunk with ease as well as from the pools of magic in the higher levels. I can do so as well but that's because I'm the god of magic, that gives me greater leeway in where I draw my power from."

"So could you take magic from the roots?" Harry asked.

"I've never dared to." Loki said. "Starlight taking magic from there is dangerous, anyone who's ever tried it has died. Taking magic directly from the source without allowing it to dilute and diversify is just asking to make yourself explode."

"Got it." Harry said. "Roots are off limits."

"Good." Loki nodded. "Now. You are in a state of flux. Because of the spells I placed on you, your magical core has only been able to access the trunk of the tree as you grew, now that those spells are gone, your core is touching the branches for the first time. Now your magical core is evolving, it's going to take time before your magic stabilizes into something new."

"Is this like magical puberty?" Harry asked.

"Essentially." Loki said. "It's not going to be easy Harry. Most people don't go through this. There are very few people who can draw their magic from more than one level of the tree."

"Is anything in my life easy?"

"Don't worry. I'm going to help. I went through this too you know. When I became the god of magic my core went through significant changes, very similar to the ones you're going through now. I'll help you learn to control it, I promise."

"Okay. I trust you." Harry said. "How do we start?"

"First you need to know which branches of the tree you can access. We know what colors your flame is; purple, white, green, and gold."

"Purple is soul magic, White is enchantment, Gold is charms, and Green is transfiguration. That's what you said."

"See here. Look at the tree." Loki said pointing to the left where the variations of white hues and tones had congregated in a wonderful monochrome canvas. "This is where Alfheim lays. The light elves are called such because they most frequently call upon the white magic of enchantment. That's not to say that all light elves do of course but we're speaking in generalities now. The elves are capable of rendering great magic with their enchantments. There are even some elves who can just sing thing into existence, enchanting trees and weapons and anything else with great power by their words alone."

"So…Could I do that too?"

"Perhaps. You'd have to get an elf to teach you to sing. I've heard you in the shower, you need to learn to carry a tune first."

"Hey!"

"Harry you can draw from this portion of the Yggdrasil. I'm going to give you the tools to learn how to draw upon that magic and how to control it but how you use it and what you wish to learn further is up to you."

"Okay. Where's the gold?"

"That's Asgard, the golden realm." Loki said pointing to the top of the tree. "Gold is for charm magic. I know it doesn't make sense at first but charm magic is part of the Power portion of magic. In the Asgardian sense, charm magic is a way of exerting your will upon an object without changing the inherent nature of it. You can make a pineapple tap dance but once you stop it's still just a normal pineapple. In the same way you can cast hexes and jinxes upon people that can hurt or harm them but once the magic is removed they are the same as they were before. It's a powerful type of magic and by far the one that has the most versatility. Asgard has used charm magic to create a utopia free of disease and famine. Almost everything we eat, drink, wear, and live in has magic on it to better the quality of life."

"Is that why the air tastes like that?" Harry asked.

"Yes I'm afraid so."

"Huh."

"I suspect your connection to charms comes from your mother. Her magic was very gold, even if it was only human. She was best at charms out of all the magic she did and I think she passed that connection on to you. You got the green from me that's for certain."

"And green is over there? By the Vanir?" Harry had been paying attention in previous lessons! Loki smiled at him, proud that he was remembering.

"Yes. Green is transfiguration. It's change and shifting of shapes. There is also a lot of nature magic that is green. Nature is all about change and growth. I called it entropy earlier and that's what I mean. This plane of magic is about truly changing the world around you. Enchanting enhances qualities already there, charms paste on changes to something without changing the object, and transfiguration changes the object into something else."

"So enchanting is part of the Power category too?"

"No it's part of the Soul category." Loki corrected. "When you enchant the object you strengthen or play down the inherent characteristics of the thing you're working with, the soul of it."

"So. My white and purple magic is the same?"

"It's from the same source but it's diversified into something new."

"This is really complicated."

"It takes centuries of study to understand and I'm quite sure no one has ever managed it completely."

"Okay. So I can take magic from the elves, the Vanir, the aesir, and…Where is the purple?"

"Down there." Loki said pointing closer to the roots.

"I thought you said no roots!"

"I did! Just look, there's the Realm Helheim. It's not in the roots, but just right above them. This sort of magic diversified early, and it remained closer to its truer form than most others. True soul magic, the kind that you are capable of is exceedingly rare because no one lives down there. Helheim is known as the realm of the dead and if anyone lives there I've never heard of them. People who can draw from this plane of magic are powerful. It's different from enchanting."

"How is it different? What even is it?" Harry asked.

"It's the ability to interact with souls Harry." Loki said gently.

"I don't understand what that means."

"Everything in the universe, from the stars to the planets to the pebbles in the bottom of a stream bed have a soul, a bit of something that defines what that are. How and when those souls form is heavily debated. If a mountain has a soul and then is eroded down into a million stones, does it still have only one soul or is that soul dead and now there are million stone souls instead? Magical scholars have argued this topic for millennia and no one really knows for certain. What we do know is that they exist and that they are, for the most part, immutable."

"Immutable?"

"They remain the same." Loki said. "The soul of a tree is going to always be just that, a tree. If I transfigured that tree into a house, then it'll act like a house but the soul of the thing will still be a tree, and when the transfiguration fades, the tree's soul will be relatively the same and the body of the tree will revert to match that. If I charm a tree to be fire proof, then the soul is still just the same as it was before, the tree itself isn't even changed, it's just coated with a magic protection, like a shield."

"But you said enchanting messes with the soul right?"

"It enhances the soul. If the soul of the tree in question says that this tree produces flowers, then the tree can be enchanted to produce more or less flowers. An elf will sing to the tree and bring out strengths or weaknesses in its soul to get the results they want. The soul of the tree is still just that, a tree, but it has changed evolved into something different than it was before, but it is still undeniably a tree."

"That makes sense." Harry said slowly. "So is soul magic just like super enchanting?"

"I suppose you could think of it that way." Loki said with a small laugh. "What it is, is the ability to command souls. You can command a soul to linger in a body for longer than it normally would if someone is fatally wounded, you can command a soul to leave a body if you wished. Some soul magic users have used this power to call forth the souls of the dead to speak with them, although often that goes terribly wrong. A great example of soul magic is the golden apples of Asgard."

"Those are the things that give you immortality right?"

"Yes. Indunn, a powerful healer and soul magic user like yourself, used soul magic to create the golden apple trees. She took some normal apple trees and she commanded the souls of the trees to change, to bear fruit that had the ability to seal souls to their vessels. When you eat one of those apples you gain immortality because the apples change your soul, makes it stickier so that you don't die very easily. The changes in your very soul result in a stronger body, slower aging, and more magical power. Your soul is forever changed, that's what this sort of magic can do Harry."

"Oh."

"Yes oh."

"But what am I supposed to do with it?"

"I don't know." Loki said shrugging. "There are so few true soul magic users that there aren't any common paths for you to take. I'm afraid we're going to have to make it up as we go along."

"Do you think I could…I mean this Indunn lady seems to know what she's doing." Harry said. "Not to say I don't want your help I do it's just…"

"Indunn is a notorious shut-in." Loki said, giving his son a smile to show he understood. "She lives in the mountains of Asgard and tends to her garden. She'll visit the city once every few centuries if she's forced to. The only time she communicates with anyone is when there's a new child born and an apple is needed. The parents will send a message to her using a raven, and she will go to them with one apple for their new child. She leaves before the party starts."

"So, talking to her is out?"

"I didn't say that." Loki said. "I'm just warning you that it could be difficult, perhaps even impossible if she's feeling particularly stubborn. I can teach you how to access that magic, and how to control it. But the more advanced things, the stuff that women like Indunn are capable of is going to take time to study and practice."

"So my main form of magic you basically don't know anything about but the other three you do?"

"We share two colors." Loki confirmed with a smile. "And I've enchanted before, although it was the more human way of doing it. With that we should be able to manage to ensure you don't harm anyone."

"I really think I should try and talk to Indunn." Harry said after a moment of thought. "It's just…the prophecy talks about a power that Tom knows not."

"Soul magic could be it." Loki agreed. He was careful then this was the first time Harry had addressed the wording of the prophecy directly since telling it to him. Loki didn't want to scare his son off. "Tom knows the killing curse, but I highly doubt he's done any sort of magic that inherently changes the shape of a soul. There are human branches of soul magic but they're mostly lost arts, far too obscure for anyone in the last three centuries to have learnt with any degree of success."

"But the other types of magic." Harry said. "Even if Tom can't access the higher planes like I can he can still do them. He's enchanted and charmed and transfigured before. Way more than I have. Tom knows that power, even if he doesn't know the highest forms of it."

"And you think Soul magic could be it? That's not a bad idea Starlight." Loki complimented. "Speaking to Indunn could be helpful. I'll send her a message explaining the issue. I can't promise anything, but she might agree to speak to you since you have magic like hers. There hasn't been another like you in millennia, she could be curious."

"Thanks dad." Harry said smiling. "Now. Is the lecture over? Can we actually get started now? I promised I'd show Ron and Hermione something cool tomorrow before we went to Asgard."

"You didn't think to ask me if we were going to do anything interesting today? I could have had a 15-our lecture planned."

"Dad. Come on I know you better than that."

Loki smiled and waved his hand banishing the floating illusion of the World Tree, it had done its job. He reached out and took his son's hands in his own.

"You're right." Loki said. "I've always believed in learning by doing. I thought we could start with the magic I'm most familiar with. Transfiguration. How would you like to learn how to shape shift like me?"

"Really? I could learn how to do that too?" Harry asked. "Like an animagus thing or…like Tonks?"

"Those are the human forms of what I'm going to teach you. You can learn how to become an animagus if you wanted, it's quite a useful skill. Animagi can sneak through most warding systems without getting caught. Although I'd better not see you doing that without some sort of supervision."

"You didn't have supervision." Harry teased.

"Yes, and I was very irresponsible." Loki said. "What I'm teaching you is the Asgardian version. It will result in what appears to be the same thing as the human version but we are drawing power from a different portion of the Yggdrasil. That means it'll feel different than the human method."

"Okay. So, I can do this version but not the human shapeshifting?"

"That's a gift one has to be born with I believe." Loki said smiling. "But the Asgardian version is something you can learn. I was born with a natural inclination for it, but I had to practice a lot to turn into animals. I think we should start simply. Let's see if we can get you to change your hair color."

"I'm ready."

Loki took his son's hands in his own and began to lead him in calling forth his magic. Once they'd gotten through the lecture portion of the lesson things became much more enjoyable for the both of them. It was exactly as Loki had dreamed it would have been all those years ago. He recalled holding his infant son to his chest and telling Lily how brilliant their son was going to be. He'd insisted to her then that he was going to teach their son everything there was to know about magic, and that he'd be the best the realms had ever seen.

And as Loki coached his son in accessing the parts of his magic that had been hidden from him, he felt pride bloom in his chest. This was what perfection was, Loki was certain. Sharing his hard earned knowledge with his child, helping them grow and learn, and seeing the results of that right before his eyes. It made him wonder about Odin for half a moment. Had Odin ever looked at either him or Thor, sat down and shared what he knew?

Loki could recall praise being handed out. Odin had always been willing to tell Thor that he'd done a good job, just as he'd always been willing to tell Loki to try harder not to get into too much trouble. But had Odin ever sat down with either of them and gently corrected the way they held their blade, or offered advice on their studies? For the first time in Loki's life he wondered if he'd not been the only one ignored by Odin. Had Thor been just as desperate for the attention of a father that never truly came?

"You're doing a good job." Loki said as Harry's face scrunched up as if he was in pain. The boy's midnight dark hair was now slightly lighter.

"My hair looks exactly the same!"

"It doesn't. You've lightened it at least two shades. Very impressive for a first attempt."

"Why is it so hard?"

"You're exercising a part of your magical core that's been dormant for a long time. It'll take time." Loki said, not mentioning that most Asgardian magic users struggle for centuries to get their first flame to even appear and Harry had done that with relative ease. Harry didn't like to be pandered too.

"I want to try again." Harry said.

"Alright." Loki said. "Dinner isn't for another hour, do you want a snack now before you try again? Having a full stomach can help."

"Let's just do this." And Loki could respect the boy's determination.

"Close your eyes." Loki began again. "And focus on my words."

He guided Harry in reaching into his core, pulling magic from his heart instead of his stomach. Harry's hands glowed bright purple and Loki smiled, he was a natural at this.

"Now you've pulled the energy to your hands. Perfect if we were going to be doing some spell casting. But you need to redirect the flow to the area of your body you wish to change. So try and see where the flow is in your body. It starts in your heart."

"Yeah." Harry said, his eyes still closed. "And then my shoulders? They're tingling."

"So from your shoulders it went down your arms and into your hands. That makes sense. That's where you normally push your magic. Through the hand you hold your wand with, but you need to change that flow to your neck and then your head. Focus, this is your power, you can control where it goes."

Harry nodded and his face scrunched up again. Loki could feel the magic recede from his son's hands as it was pulled back, inch by inch, up his arms. He watched as minutes passed in silence. He gave encouragement and advice every five minutes or so, whenever it seemed that Harry was getting frustrated. After about thirty minutes, Loki saw a change. A brilliant smile bloomed on his face as his son's hair color lightened and filled with fire.

"Oh Harry." Loki said.

"Did I do it?"

Loki let go of his son's hands and conjured a mirror. Harry slowly opened his eyes and then his mouth dropped open. He reached up and grabbed at the thick straight locks of hair that were now a bright coppery red, the same color as his mother's.

"Woah."

"There. Excellent job." Loki was proud to note that his voice only cracked a little at seeing his son look so much like his mother. With his bright green eyes and eager grin it smacked him in the face at how much he shared with her. Harry's smile fell just a little and he reached out to place a hand on Loki's knee. Another amazing change, Harry reached out to touch now, freely and without much hesitation.

"I miss her too." Harry said, his voice soft.

"She would be so incredibly proud of you, Starlight. So proud. I know I am."

"You think I can keep the hair? Just for the day?" Harry asked.

"It's your body Starlight." Loki said. "You can make it look however you'd like."

"I don't think I'd make a good ginger, but I'd like it for a little while." Harry decided looking at the mirror again. "Is that how shapeshifting works, like all of it?"

"The simplest things. You're free to practice this as often as you want but more complicated things like changing gender or species should wait until I can supervise."

"Gender? Why would I want to do that?"

"It can be fun." Loki said letting his body easily shift around just enough that it was clear that she'd changed. "I did this quite often before becoming James Potter."

"But…"

"Remember what I said Harry. No matter how you change the shape of your body you are still you. And no matter how I appear I am always Loki. I just sometimes enjoy moving between different physical identities. It's not for everyone mind you, but it's not bad." It hadn't occurred to Loki that she'd have to explain this. She'd been playing around with gender for centuries, so long that it was old news in Asgard, and Asgard never let go of gossip. It hadn't occurred to her that her entire on earth had been spent in mostly one form without much thought to change. There had been so many other things on her mind than switching her body around to fit her mood.

"No. I get it." Harry said quickly, hurrying to assure Loki that he didn't mind. "And it's cool. I just didn't know."

"Good." Loki said.

"Do I need to call you…anything different when you look different?"

"Harry." Loki said lifting her now smaller hand with manicured nails to his face. "No matter what I appear as, I will always be your dad."

"Well that's all that matters." He said smiling back at her.

"Let's go to dinner." Loki said. "Let's see how long it takes Stark to notice my new look."