X-CELSIOR (REVISED VERSION)

CHAPTER 2:

ENTRAPMENT

The meeting had not been pleasant. Harry had to calm Laura down through their mental link, given the sheer contempt that they had all been shown by the Umbridge woman. He knew Logan would have been struggling to hold his own temper. Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman weren't as confrontational, but they were certainly as obstinate: Harry Evans was entered into the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

After having delivered the finality of the decision, the three Ministry officials left, while Dumbledore stayed. Of those who came, he was perhaps the only one to truly care about what Harry thought.

In Charles Xavier's opulent office, shortly after the Ministry officials and the Aurors left, Logan pinched his nose. "So, lemme get this straight. 'Cos some bastard managed to get Harry's name into the Goblet, he's stuck in this tournament thing with no way out? And if he doesn't participate, he loses his magic?"

"Indeed, that is correct, Logan," Dumbledore said sadly. "Both he and his brother have been entered. And rather suspiciously, the rules of the Tri-Wizard Tournament have been amended to remove any loopholes that would allow Harry or William to bow out."

Charles Xavier steepled his fingers as he sat behind his desk, the bald psychic considering the matter. "And you suspect two agencies involved, Albus."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Even with my skills in Occlumency, I find myself continually surprised by you, Charles. Yes, indeed, I suspect two culprits, two separate culprits, in entering Harry and William. Harry, I believe, was entered by an agent of Voldemort. After all, few would know that it was Harry's powers that allowed him to deflect the Killing Curse, and Voldemort would be one of them. I do not know who the agent of Voldemort is. That being said, I am fairly certain that William was entered either by James or Sirius, on William's own request. The boy wishes to test his mettle and show that he is truly the Boy Who Lived, as well as claw back some of his fame. You have gained some small notoriety back home, Harry, due to your work with the X-Men, even in a support role. The Quibbler publishes tales of your exploits."

"Well, we've had Luna and her father visit," Harry said with a smile. "So's Hermione. I heard Hermione's taken with Franklin Richards, actually."

"So I am told," Dumbledore said. "But already there is something of an outcry about a Mutant participating in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The Daily Prophet is having a field day. I'm afraid that there is little that can be done. Harry will have to come and participate in the three Tasks of the Tournament, along with two specific events: the Weighing of the Wands, and the Yule Ball. Participating in the Tasks to the best of Harry's ability is all that is needed to satisfy the magical contract, the other two are more tradition than anything else. You do still have a wand, Harry?"

"Yeah, but I don't use it much now. Wanda's been helping me with my wandless magic whenever she has time off from the Avengers and doesn't want to have some quiet time with the Vision," Harry said. "I did most of my final year exams wandlessly."

"A remarkable achievement, but they will need to see your wand," Dumbledore said.

"Hey, do we need to come with Harry?" Vanessa asked.

"While it's not compulsory, you would do well to support him, Miss Carlysle," Dumbledore said. "I would suggest wearing robes, though. By the standards of the wizarding world, the uniforms of the X-Men are rather scandalous, especially on the women."

Anna scoffed. "Maybe we should send Emma in her old Hellfire Club getup. That'd blow their minds."

More than a few in the room chuckled at Anna's snide remark. Emma Frost was known for wearing rather revealing outfits, and back when she was the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, she had worn outfits that amounted to little more than lingerie. She'd certainly make waves in Magical Britain dressed like that.

"Robes aren't good for fighting in," Laura remarked. "What if it comes down to a fight?"

"I should certainly hope it doesn't," Dumbledore said.

"Sadly, trouble has a habit of coming our way," Charles said. "Those with superpowers tend to be living embodiments of Finagle's Law."

"English, Chuck," Logan growled.

Jean Grey, a beautiful woman with red hair and green eyes, looking somewhat like her half-sister, sighed. "Finagle's Law means that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, at the worst possible time."

"Why didn't you say so?" Logan muttered. While the belligerent Mutant was far from stupid, he wasn't exactly cultured. Then again, as he often said, he was the best at what he did, and what he did isn't very nice. Of course, he was also a better father figure to Harry than his own biological father. Not that Harry lacked for role models here.

"Is there anything you can tell us about the Tasks, Albus?" Remus asked.

The old man shook his head. "I am sworn to secrecy, and the First Task requires that the student faces the unknown only with their wand…and innate abilities. That being said, it's something of an unofficial tradition of the Tri-Wizard Tournament to cheat." He looked over at Harry pointedly.

Taking the hint, Harry gently probed the old man's mind. Dumbledore had let some of his Occlumency barriers down, enough for Harry to see information on the First Task. What he saw ignited a brief flash of anger, though not at Dumbledore. Apparently it was Bagman and Crouch's idea to do this for the First Task.

"So, when do we need to be at Hogwarts?" Lily asked.

"The First Task of the Tournament takes place on November 24," Dumbledore said. "However, the Weighing of the Wands is on the 5th. I should warn you, members of the press will be there, in all likelihood, Rita Skeeter."

"Is she still working for that rag?" Remus groaned. "She's a worse muckraker than J Jonah Jameson!"

Vanessa looked at the werewolf with a raised eyebrow. "Really?"

"Well, when he isn't doing stories about Spider-Man and others, he's more accurate than the Prophet. Though that sets the bar pretty low."

"Must be pretty bad if it's worse than the Bugle, bub," Logan remarked. "I use that crap to line the litter trays here."

"Actually, I believe Moira uses a copy of the Prophet to line her birdcage," Charles said with a smirk.

"In any case, I would appreciate it if Harry and his guardians came to Hogwarts on the 5th by noon. Greenwich Meridian Time, obviously. I can provide Portkeys, or you could take the Floo connection, but I believe there is more than enough room on the grounds for you to land one of those jets of yours if you wish to make an entrance," Dumbledore said. "It is hardened against EMP?"

"Of course," Charles said. "We've taken it to magic-heavy areas before, and of course, there is what some of our enemies can throw at us."

"Good. Well, I believe you have heard everything pertinent. And please rest assured, I am doing everything to uncover the culprit behind this fiasco," Dumbledore said. "I look forward to your company soon…"

After Dumbledore left, Harry and his girls decided to head to the kitchen (well, one of them) for a late breakfast. Jean came with them. Joining them not long afterwards was Jean's lover, Scott 'Cyclops' Summer, Emma 'White Queen' Frost, her clone daughters known as the 'Stepford Cuckoos', and Ororo 'Storm' Monroe. The latter had come back from Wakanda for a short time to be a guest teacher at the X-Mansion.

While Scott and Logan weren't on the best of terms, partly due to Logan once carrying a torch for Jean, Scott did get along well enough with Harry. He was a handsome, brown-haired man who wore red-tinted glasses, a protection against the blasts of energy he projected from his eyes. Emma was a tall, haughty-looking woman with hair that was so blonde, it was practically white. A former member of the infamous Hellfire Club, she eventually defected to join the X-Men, where her psychic abilities and her ability to transform into a living diamond was a boon. She dressed in clothing that was somewhat…provocative for a teacher, though thankfully it was more concealing than her lingerie-like wear she had worn in the Hellfire Club.

The Stepford Cuckoos looked like Emma Frost in her teens, albeit dressed more conservatively. They also had more impassive expressions on their faces. They were practically a hive mind, divided between five bodies. That being said, they also helped Harry with his own abilities, and they were friendly enough in a somewhat detached way. Ororo, meanwhile, was a regal-looking African woman with a mane of snow-white hair. She had recently been married to T'Challa, the King of Wakanda who was also the hero known as the Black Panther.

Harry let Jean explain things while he and his girls had breakfast, with him doing the preparation. It was a joke that he was the cook of X-Celsior, a joke that was based in reality. Hell, he even made breakfast for the Stepford Cuckoos. By the end of Jean's explanation, none of those present looked impressed at the situation. "Didn't that old fool take any precautions to prevent anyone from entering another name?" Emma Frost asked.

"An Age Line should have prevented underaged students from participating, and the Goblet is supposed to only recognise three schools," Harry said, remembering what Dumbledore had said while the others were present. "An adult bypassed the former, though I'm of age, and used a Confundus to trick the Goblet into believing there were more schools. They have to be powerful wizards to even try such a thing. A student certainly couldn't unless they were a prodigy."

"Be thankful you weren't there when Dumbledore explained this," Vanessa said, picking at her food. "There was that awful Umbridge woman. You don't need to be psychic to tell that she thought all of us were less than human."

Jean nodded. "I peeked into her thoughts. Umbridge was a most odious woman. It's like peeking into the minds of Trask or Stryker. And that was just from a surface probe. That being said, Crouch's mind was…well, a bit weird. I didn't go beyond the surface, but he has immense Occlumency barriers, and whatever isn't behind them is…well, ridiculously focused, and yet, diffuse. I know that sounds paradoxical, but…well, it seems vaguely familiar. I just can't put my finger on why. And Bagman…well, he's like anyone who's gotten too much brain damage."

"Leaving that aside, this means that Harry has been entered into this farce without his consent," Ororo said. "And given how high anti-Mutant sentiment is in magical communities, particularly places like Magical Britain…"

"MACUSA's more used to us really only because of the X-Men, and the various superpowered groups in America," Scott pointed out. "And even then, there are elements with the magical communities who have worked with our enemies, like Trask."

"Hence why X-Celsior exists," Laura said. "X-Celsior also exists to deal with any magical threats to Mutants that can be handled without involving X-Force. By the way, Scott, how is Cable coping with Deadpool being on the team?"

"It's better that you don't know," Scott said.

"That bad, huh?" Harry asked.

Right at that moment, Deadpool, dressed in nothing but boxers and his red and black mask (and thus showing off his cancer-riddled immortal body), ran through the kitchen. "…RUNNING RUNNING RUNNING RUNNING…" he yelped as he ran through.

"…Worse," Scott said, utterly deadpan, after a moment of appalled silence.

"Tell me, why in the hell did we allow him to join us?" Anna asked.

"Well, he's skilled and funny," Harry said with a shrug. "Plus, better he's on our side than on someone else's, right?"

After a moment, everyone decided to agree on at least that point. The insane Merc with a Mouth was a skilled combatant, and he was, albeit debatably, less destructive as part of the X-Men than he was outside of it.

Debatably being the key word.

Deadpool suddenly came back into the kitchen. Thankfully, he was now wearing a shirt and shorts. How the hell that happened so quickly, well, nobody knew, though it might have to do with his teleportation belt. "Hey, Harry! Can ya rustle me up some waffles?"

Harry sighed, before gesturing at the fridge and the waffle iron. As the spell took the waffle mix from the fridge and poured it onto the waffle iron, Harry remarked, "A 'please' wouldn't go astray, Wade."

"Meh, societal norms are bullshit anyway," the Merc with a Mouth said. "You'd know all about that, Mister Harem. Then again, blame the author. He wanted to experiment with harem fics. He was the one who de-aged my paramour and made her yours."

"Wade, take your insanity elsewhere," Emma said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Once I'm done eating. I've got a plate of waffles with my name on it. That's Wade Winston Wilson, BTW," Deadpool said. "Anyway, I've gotta lay low for a bit. I kinda annoyed Neena a little too much, and her trigger finger is a bit on the itchy side. I kept asking her to pose for the swimsuit calendar I'm making to raise funds for the X-Men. Incidentally, are any of you fine ladies interested in stripping down?"

There was a 'snikt' sound, and Deadpool found one of Laura's claws very close to his groin. "I know you have a healing factor," Laura said as she ate the rest of her breakfast with her other hand. "But it won't stop it from being painful when I remove it, and force it somewhere very inconvenient."

"And we find your lack of propriety disturbing, Wade Wilson," spoke Celeste, one of the Stepford Cuckoos.

"It's worse than having Quentin crushing on me," Sophie added.

"Ew," the Stepford Cuckoos chorused at once, shuddering in unison.

"Hey, I had a crush on you lot before," Harry pointed out. It was while his relationship with Laura, who was his first girlfriend, was yet to begin.

"True, but unlike Quentin…" Esme began.

"You can take 'no' for an answer," Phoebe finished.

"You're better as our friend," Irma added.

"Aaaand that's creepy as fuck," Deadpool said.

"So are you," the Cuckoos chorused.

"Can you quit it with doin' the quintet version of The Shining?" Deadpool complained.

"You deserve it, Wade," Emma said with a smirk.

"Hey, they're your kids! Okay, like Laura here, they're clones created by Weapons Plus out of some sadistic need for living weapons that turn on their masters, but hey, technicalities! Show some parental responsibility!"

"That's somewhat rich, considering your lack of responsibility," Ororo observed. "And when was the last time you were responsible for anything, Wilson?"

"Well, I am responsible for the swimsuit calendar. On a wholly unrelated note, d'you think T'Challa would mind if you show the world how great you look in a thong?"

It was at that point that Harry, Jean, Emma and the Stepford Cuckoos sent simultaneous telepathic messages to Neena 'Domino' Thurman, telling her where to find Deadpool, while Ororo merely showed the comportment and restraint required of the royalty of Wakanda. The Merc with a Mouth had just enough time to start eating the waffles before he had to run for his life once more…

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

So, yeah. That just happened. A bit of exposition, a bit more of the X-Men, and a bit of Deadpool. Don't worry, Deadpool won't take everything over. He's just occasional comic relief.

Next chapter, heading to Hogwarts.

No numbered annotations this time.