Last time...

"Now then, I have been made to understand that young Salazar Gaunt here would like to return to school." Albus began. "I am told that this comes by your recommendation, Lady Potter. Is this so?"

"It is," Hera nodded. "though I'm not sure if as a normal student will be feasible."

Both the Goblin King and Salazar looked at her with surprise, though Salazar seemed more hurt than anything.

"How so?" Albus inquired, hoping for further insight.

"Things are different now than they were during his first stay here. He might not fit in to the role of student quite as easily as he did before, mainly because he's already learned this stuff, but being around people his own perceived age will help him ease into his new life better." Hera explained. "I would rather you hire him."

"…What?"

"Well…I mean…He could part time student to get reacquainted with the information, but if he's a teacher's assistant then he can be under direct supervision." Hera explained. "It would make you feel better, being paranoid with good reason, and it will ease him into things."

"Not-"

"I don't want Defence Against the Dark Arts." Salazar hissed angrily. "You ruined any and all love I had for the subject by continuously denying me the job, and when I finally managed to get the job, I had to suffer with Quirrell. Do you have any idea what that was like? He stuttered, and it wasn't even convincing!"

"Worst actor ever." Hera nodded, indulging the boy's antics.

"What do you suggest?" Albus inquired, trying hard to keep his amusement hidden.

"Professor Snape wants me to teach the First to Third Years." Hera supplied. "I'm going to need a brilliant assistant for that. His scores from his last life should more than qualify him, though I imagine you'll want to have him retested under his new name for the records. So do it, and then have him work for me."

Chapter 117

"…You?…" Salazar blinked in confusion, uncertain of what was happening. "…What?"

"Professor Snape wants me to teach the-"

"No, I understood that part." He interrupted her repeated explanation. "Why? Why would you want me to help you?"

"Are we really going to go over this again?" Hera demanded, looking completely unimpressed as she gave him a withering glare.

"I thought you wanted me to be a student!"

"You will be, just with a lighter course load than the rest of them." Hera explained in a huff. "I just figured that if you wanted to be taught by a god of magic, being an assistant to one wouldn't hurt."

A pin could have dropped, and no one would have noticed; such was the stillness in the room at that announcement.

"You mean…Truly?"

"If it wasn't true before, it is now." She nodded in confirmation. "If you want to learn magic from me, what better way than to be my assistant? I'll probably alternate so I don't use up all of your free time, and my friends are interested as well, so I might see if they want to help too, but essentially…yes."

"I had wondered why you smell of divinity." Jareth commented idly, though he looked at her with a discerning gaze. "What else happened?"

"I had to save my brother. There was a whole aspect of the universe thing I'm going to have to deal with at some point, and-"

"No, I mean something of time has marked you, or tried." Jareth cut in.

"Ah, that." Hera grimaced. "That will take some explaining, I think. Two organizations - the Time Variance Authority as well as the Masters of the Mystic Arts - have taken an interest in me, and sent a rather unusual individual to…erm…take me in for processing; whatever that means."

"Hera, if either of those organizations are what I think they are then you must be extremely cautious in your dealings with them, my friend." Jareth warned.

"The guy they sent was a total novice!" Hera objected. "He was still wearing his training pants! And a cape!"

"That may not be all they send." Jareth pointed out, stern. She gave a heavy sigh, but nodded in understanding.

"If it becomes bad enough, I'll send for help." She promised.

"See that you do." Jareth nodded firmly, before looking to Dumbledore. "Well? What say you? Will Salazar Gaunt be allowed to attend Hogwarts or not?"

"While Hogwarts will benefit from a god of magic teaching within its halls, I will admit that I am still somewhat hesitant to allow Salazar to attend." Dumbledore stated. Salazar tried not to think about how much that statement bothered him, all things considering. "However, these are unprecedented circumstances. Given that Lady Potter has personally vouched for him, and is clearly willing to take responsibility for him, I believe it may be possible; at least under probationary conditions."

"What are your conditions?" Salazar inquired, narrowing his eyes at the man.

"I will inform the Heads of House that a troubled teen seeking help will be attending Hogwarts. As I am to understand it, Severus is already aware of the situation. They will watch over you as well as keep an eye on you for any sign that you are a danger to the other students." Dumbledore supplied. "I will check in with you at least once a week. If there are any incidences, it will be looked into fairly, and no decision regarding you will be made lightly. Lady Potter will be present for those conversations, should they be needed. Though I am aware of your past, others are not, and I will take that into account. Is this acceptable?"

"It is…not what I expected." Salazar admitted, guarded. It could not be this easy. "Why are you being so…accepting?"

"For one very simple reason, Mr. Gaunt." Dumbledore admitted, looking at him over his spectacles. "I want to be proven wrong."

Doctor Stephen Strange walked through the halls of the TVA with a purpose. When he'd first agreed to help the organization track down Loki, he'd been certain of his course. Now…He wasn't so sure. They'd explained how they kept up with the timelines throughout the multiverse, and that in their quest to track down their target, they'd found him. He'd learned that there were many variants of Loki, all jumping universe to universe, dimension to dimension, and timeline to timeline, in an effort to escape justice.

Stephen had agreed to aid them, if only because it allowed him a wider search area with fewer problems; or so he'd thought. They'd agreed to help him as well, and he'd never doubted them as he found Loki after Loki for them. He'd never asked what was done with them after they'd been taken in either, or if the organization was right in their quest to go after the variants of Loki for their supposed crimes against the 'sacred timeline'. There was something about this child, however, that made him wonder. He'd met a child variant of Loki once, and hadn't thought much of him before handing him over, not that it mattered; he'd found out later that the boy had escaped, and had been surprised that the TVA hadn't wanted him to immediately track the child down again.

They'd immediately handed him other assignments in the hopes that one of them was the Loki he searched for, and instead he found himself faced with another child Loki. There was something else about her, and it was that something that was giving him pause now. Her signature wasn't an exact match, not like he'd thought at first, but at the same time it was. She wasn't a child of Loki, that would make her signature show half of his own, not all of his and then some. Stephen hoped that their library had something on this, because he needed answers.

While Hera had wanted Salazar to get a few of his confrontations out of the way, there was really only one he'd realistically be able to see to while there. Myrtle Warren had died in a bathroom, and while the snake had apologized for killing her, Jör only apologized because he hadn't been in control of himself. He'd have killed her anyway if Riddle had just asked, something that Myrtle had seemed oddly comforted by when Hera'd translated the apology for her. Salazar Gaunt had once been that boy, and in Hera's mind he needed to own up and apologize to the victim that was still around to be able to hear it. It hadn't gone well.

Myrtle hadn't been able to forgive him, not right away. While she'd learned that the basilisk hadn't killed her of its own volition, and she'd had a good idea of who had given the order, she hadn't put too much thought into it before that moment. She'd spent the early parts of her 'afterlife' haunting the girl who'd made her cry, and when she'd been ordered to stop, Myrtle made Hogwarts her home. Being confronted with the full knowledge and the immediate apology right after…Well, perhaps it was a good thing that forgiveness should not be expected upon the giving of an apology.

A bit of time was needed for this one. Perhaps after taking time to calm down and think things over, an understanding could be reached. Myrtle hadn't dismissed the possibility when Hera'd suggested it, but she hadn't been able to look at either of them when she'd spoken either, and Hera hadn't wanted to press it. The two girls were close, and Hera hated that there was nothing she could do for her friend. Still, she hoped that things took a turn for the better after this. Besides, it wasn't like she was any closer to forgiving Thor.

"Hera?" Myrtle called out hesitantly, as Hera and Salazar made their way to the door, causing them both to pause for her. "…I hope you die."

Hera's hand was on Salazar's mouth before the confused objection could escape it.

"If I do, I'll try to come back so we can hang out more." Hera replied with a soft smile, before gently pushing Salazar out the door and following after him.

"What the hell was that?" He demanded with a hiss. "I hope you die? Really?"

"It's what she says to people she likes." Hera shrugged, before beginning to walk away. He easily kept pace with her anyway. "Myrtle didn't have the best go of it when she settled into Hogwarts, still reeling from her death and subsequent haunting of a girl who'd teased her, and pushed people away. When she began reaching out, she was shunned for her previous behaviour. So when she finds someone she likes, she tells them she hopes they die. It's not out of hatred. It's because she wants to spend more time with them. Not everyone gets that right away."

"So…what now?" Salazar wondered, still looking a little unnerved from his discussion with Myrtle and this new revelation.

"Now? Professor Snape insists I sit for as many masteries as they can test me for, so I have to go with him here shortly for that." Hera informed him.

She was not expecting him to burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry! I just…I can't…" Salazar snickered as he struggled to get his mirth under control. "Testing a god of magic?…Really?…They…they…"

"It's not that funny." Hera stated, though the lopsided grin she sported was enough to belay the seriousness of her tone.

"It's a little funny." Salazar insisted, still chuckling. "Do you mind if I attend?"

"Why?"

"Because." He declared. "This, I have to see."

"I'm going to regret this, but sure." Hera nodded, getting an idea as they made their way down the hall. "Could be fun."

...

"Tell me you're joking." Severus drawled as he looked at the pair of them from his seat behind the desk. "You must be joking."

"He suggested it." Potter insisted, pointing her thumb over at Salazar. "Besides, Jareth left him here with us for a reason. I figured this was it."

"Potter, this is…" Severus trailed off, wondering how best to break it to her. "This is going to take days."

Gaunt seemed to get the gist of things faster than Potter did; either that, or she was in shock.

"…What?"

Shock it was then.

"Days, Potter." Severus repeated. "This is going to take days."

"You said…I know you called for experts from around the world, but…" Potter trailed off, looking lost for a moment. "All of them? They all responded?"

"Not at first, but as can happen, things changed." He explained, then looked at her pointedly. "Things changed for them roughly a week or so ago."

"When I…" Potter began, before slumping back in her seat and hanging her head, her hands gripping the armrests on either side. She took a deep breath before emphatically swearing. "Fuuuuuuuck."

"Somehow, that feels like a bit of an overreaction." Gaunt surmised, watching her.

Without looking up, Potter replied. "The twins swore themselves my acolytes. The rest of the student body is currently contemplating whether or not to start a cult in my honour. What do you think their reactions are going to be?"

Gaunt looked contemplative at this.

"They test me? They go home." Potter continued, still not looking up. "They go home? You just heard him. He called experts from all over the world. What do you think those people are going to do when they go back home?"

Gaunt began to take on an unhealthy looking complexion as he realized what she meant, and uttered the only thing one could under the circumstances. "Oh dear."

Tony waited for Hera at the train station, though this time he had brought somewhat of a surprise. He'd finally gotten the approval for Pepper and Happy to know about magic. They were around her most of the time when she wasn't in school, and they'd been having questions for a while now. It hadn't helped that he'd literally disappeared in front of Happy's eyes, though he was thankful his friend hadn't mentioned that little bit to anyone; and especially happy that they hadn't thought enough of Happy to kill him. He had technically not had any other security with him besides Jarvis, but now that Happy knew magic existed he was a lot more serious about figuring out how to secure Tony from being taken like that again.

Pepper was…From the look of things, Pepper was still in shock. He'd never been so glad to have Rhodey take over talking for him than he was when the man began talking about all he'd seen. Tony still had an Official magic user come over and explain things to them. The older woman gave each of them the books that no-maj parents got when it was discovered their child had magic. There were extra copies of that Occlumency book on hand too, because Snape really was the most paranoid bastard on the face of the planet and had gifted him with many that would show up when he needed them.

When the notice arrived that school would be letting out early, Tony hadn't been surprised, not with everything that had happened. He was a little surprised when her friends and shield brethren started walking towards him though, mainly because Hera wasn't there with them. Molly had been talking to both Happy and Pepper about things, with Rhodey asking the occasional question or two, and Arthur had happily taken to discussing his latest ideas about 'the car'. When her friends showed up, that all stopped.

"Where's Hera?" Tony asked, looking around. "She's not still…"

"Oh, no, she's fine. She's still testing." Draco assured him. "We finished ours already, but ours were only O.W.L.'s."

"Still can't believe she forgot to tell us she'd already taken her O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s." Hermione grumbled, looking more fondly exasperated than annoyed.

"Are you sure she did, or did we forget she had?" Luna mused. "Sometimes it's hard to keep track of all the things she tells us, even for me."

"That's true." Ron nodded, wearing a jovial sort of smile. "I swear, she's wordier than Hermione, that girl."

"Oi!" Hermione objected, smacking Ron up the back of the head. The others chuckled at their antics.

"So…Not to sound rude or anything, but who are you?" Draco inquired, once the laughter had died down, seeing the two newest additions.

"Harold Hogan." Happy introduced himself, stepping forward to shake the boy's hand.

"Lies." Tony insisted. "His name is Happy."

"That's never going to go away, is it." Happy mockingly complained. "I'm Tony's driver and security, though it appears I'm going to need to step things up in the security department. If you all want to call me Happy, you can. Hera does."

Pepper stepped forward next. "My name is Virginia Potts. I'm Tony's friend and personal assistant. He's taken to calling me Pepper, and well…Like Happy, the name stuck."

While they got to know each other a bit through small talk, Tony noted that Fred and George had pulled their parents aside for a private conversation. They looked to be showing them papers. Test scores, maybe? Soon there were hugs and happy tears. Tony suddenly felt like he was intruding on a private moment, and quickly looked away before he was discovered.

"I saw that, you know." Rhodey revealed under his breath, grinning just a touch when Tony looked over at him.

"No idea what you're talking about, Sugar Bear." He denied gamely. Rhodey tilted his head down and raised his eyebrows, a sure sign that he wasn't falling for it in the least. "It's fine. I have you and Hera, Pep and Happy. Hera's friends too. I'm adopting Salazar here soon, thanks to Jareth's fancy footwork and Pep's brilliance. My family's bigger than it's ever been. I'm just…having a hard time believing it's all real, you know?"

Just then, the littlest Weasley child…Ginny, he thought her name was…came over from speaking with her friends.

"Are we waiting for your parents, Draco?" She inquired in greeting.

Draco shook his head no. "They're already at the Ministry. They sent word ahead for me to meet them there. I think they wanted to get the good seats."

"Good seats?" Hermione inquired. "What ever for?"

"Uncle Sev told them about the tests." Draco replied with a slight grin, and Hermione nodded in understanding. "Normally, they would just pay for the best seats, but Hera would never stand for such blatant favouritism, and they know it. So, they went early."

"They don't normally even allow for people to sit and watch these things." Ron noted with an impressed hum. "There must have been a lot of requests."

"Oh, there were." Draco nodded, looking both smug and highly amused.

"Just what is Hera doing with these…tests…that they want to see so badly?" Pepper wondered, curious as ever.

"You're going to love this, Pep!" Tony declared, wrapping an arm around to grab her other shoulder, doing the same to Happy when he'd steered them close enough. "It'll blow your minds, I swear!"

Pepper had been worried when she'd first heard about Hera Potter. She'd not thought that Tony was the type to randomly adopt someone, but she'd also not thought of him as the responsible type either. He tended to act as a typical playboy without a care in the world. She knew that was a mask for the most part, but on the days where she had to get rid of his one night stands it was harder to remember. His adoption of Hera Potter had opened her eyes to a side of her friend that she hadn't realized she'd overlooked for so long, and she had resolved to do better in the future.

She'd worried that Tony wasn't responsible enough to take care of a child, let alone a teenager, but she'd obviously underestimated him there. He'd taken to being a big brother like a duck to water, and it was humbling to see. Hera reminded her a lot of Tony, but also of herself. When the girl knew what she wanted, she went after it with certainty, but she was also incredibly unsure on occasion. She was certainly able to handle Obadiah, something Pepper had also worried about.

There were things that hadn't added up, things that became more and more pressing as time went on. The DNA test Obadiah had insisted on had proven that Hera was Howard's biological daughter, but the questions still hadn't gone away. In fact, they'd only become more numerous; especially when Hera outed herself as a mutant. Obadiah was insistent that Howard hadn't had the X-gene, and when Pepper had managed to get a hold of the records, she realized that he'd been right. Knowing that Hera was indeed Howard's daughter, it begged the question of where Hera's abilities came from, as it was known that the X-gene was passed from father to offspring.

Pepper hadn't told Obadiah that she had done that, however. She didn't want him thinking she was on his side, not where he seemed itching to find any way that could remove Hera from their lives. Tony was happier now than he'd been in ages, and Pepper wasn't about to take that away from him. He was being more responsible, taking a more vested interest in the company, and partying less. Not that he didn't indulge himself whenever the mood struck him, he was just more careful about it now that he was directly responsible for another person.

Finding out that Hera was a witch had been a little discombobulating. Pepper hadn't believed Tony, not at first. It took an elderly woman barging into the office…although appearing directly in front of her might describe the experience better. Apparating was a thing best done on an empty stomach, she soon discovered, though it had amused her that many avoided international apparation in order to maintain secrecy. Hearing the stories about why the Statute of Secrecy had remained for so long had put a damper on that amusement though.

Now magic surrounded her as they walked through the streets. The things she saw happening around her seemed to defy science, and yet Tony didn't seemed bothered by it. In fact, he looked far too willing to delve into the thick of it. She should have known. It was a wondrous place, Diagon Alley, though she knew that she would have to keep her wits about her here. Tony had told her that the stories of the Fae were more true than not, and she had chosen to do her research; the woman that had appeared directly in front of her the way she had had been such a great help in that regard.

"Tony!" She hears, and is pulled out of her thoughts with enough time to see Hera collide with the man in a full on glomp, making her smile as Tony returned it; a far cry from how she remembered Hera being when she'd first met her.

"Hey, Frostbite, you on break?" Tony snickered, when the two stepped back, his arms still on her shoulders.

"Only just." Hera replied with a nod. Her smile froze on her face at the sight of Pepper and Happy, however. "Tony?"

"I finally got the approval for them to know about magic." Tony informed her. Hera looked back up at him, and Pepper immediately knew that there was something that wasn't being said. "I don't know how to explain what's happened to you just recently without delving into things I don't quite know how to explain," He gave the girl a pointed look, confirming Pepper's suspicion. "so I thought I'd let you decide when or if to do that."

Something softened in Hera's gaze, and she nodded. Tony let go of Hera's shoulders, and the girl turned to her and Happy.

"Come on, I'm on break for lunch. Let's go somewhere to talk." Hera suggested. "You can tell me what Tony told you, and I'll fill in any gaps he might have missed. Plus, I can tell you more about magic. It'll be fun!"

…

They ended up in a little hole in the wall restaurant in one of the side streets of Diagon Alley, which didn't really mean much when one considered that it was bigger on the inside. Hera didn't think they were ready for Knockturn Ally just yet, or else she'd have been tempted to see what their reactions would be. It was a well-to-do enough place that the Malfoys wouldn't seem out of place, but relaxed enough that one didn't need a reservation. It took some time to get everyone settled, mainly because once they heard her name the staff wanted to gush; which, of course, made Hera uncomfortable. She doubted she would ever get used to that.

"Okay," Hera began, once they were all seated and their drink orders taken. "so what did Tony tell you?"

"Magic is real, obviously." Pepper began, even as she watched the little birds on the tablecloth move around. Collecting herself, she looked to Hera, ever the professional. "You're important to the magical world because of something that happened beyond your control when you were a little over a year old, and that you'd been making waves since entering school."

"Nice sum up, Pep." Tony complimented.

"I do try." Pep remarked, giving him a wry grin before she returned her attention back to Hera. "What hasn't he told us?"

"A lot of the stories you grew up knowing are real as well, though riddled with inaccuracies, of course. One of my dad's best friends is a werewolf, and does his very best to keep his condition from hurting others. The Fae are real too, by the way, and some of the myths surrounding them are equally a bit dodgy. Jareth will explain those to you if you ask. Just be careful not to give him your name, but allow him to call you by your name." Hera supplied. "It's a whole thing. You should ask Rhodey how well it went with who he assumed was someone named David Bowie. I still no idea who that is."

"Hey, don't bring that up." Rhodey objected half-heartedly, chuckling at the memory.

She noticed the wait staff with their drink orders had arrived, and absent-mindedly took down the privacy ward she had erected for the conversation. The drinks could have appeared before them when spoken, she knew, but she also knew that the staff there wanted to be more attentive than that; hoping to make a good impression both on her and the muggles in her party. They hadn't had a chance to look at the menu, not really, and so they were left to it. Tony still snickered at how he was not on the receiving end of the attention for once, and that Hera was the famous one in the party. The conspiratorial look she shared with Rhodey let her know that she would have help making her brother regret his open reaction to that.

"Ah, I see I'm not too late then." Snape stated, as he walked up to the party with Salazar. "The Weasleys and your shield brethren have joined the Malfoys. I believe Black and Lupin are in the throng of onlookers as well. Salazar decided to come with me instead of waiting."

"I've never been good at waiting either, as much as I've had to learn the patience for it." Hera remarked to Salazar, nodding in understanding, and made a gesture with her hand; expanding the table just a touch to accommodate the new arrivals. "Now, where was I?"

"Have you told them about your new status?" Salazar inquired, choosing to sit on her left.

"I haven't even told them about my old ones yet." Hera huffed, though her slight grin took away any sharpness her voice might have given to the statement.

"Status?" Pepper repeated, curious.

"I knew I'd end up telling this story a lot." Hera muttered under her breath, even as Snape began distributing the necklaces he kept on his person at all times now. "Really, Professor?"

"Considering the words you just spoke, are you really going to question me on this?" Snape reminded her. Looking to the others, he continued. "Keep these on you until you learn to shield your mind. Mr. Rhodes already has one."

"Alright, alright. I get it. Worst kept secret, and all that." Hera sighed, shaking her head fondly at the memory that statement brought up. "At this rate, I might as well just make a worldwide announcement that I was Loki in my last life, that his soul was sent back in time to become me, and that I recently ascended to godhood in my own right by accepting Magic's decree."

For a moment, it was quiet as the three muggles processed what she'd said, and then it happened.

"WHAT?!"