Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, settings, or worlds within this work, outside of a few OC's. Any recognizable characters are not mine; I'm just playing with them. Harry Potter and its associated works belongs to J.K. Rowling. X-men and Marvel belongs to... er... Disney, I suppose? I am not making any money off of this fan work, nor do I wish to.

Author's Note: Slight language. Most fic readers (including myself, actually) probably would barely even notice, but I don't really use cussing language in my everyday speaking so it feels kind of weird writing it out, LOL. Apologies if it's out of character for this person, but I didn't really think he'd get that mad without some sort of loss of decorum, and I don't know how to do aristocratic swearing. :P

Chapter 12

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He didn't hate mutants, not really. No, he understood that they were people just like he was, that they weren't all evil, but could be good or bad or in-between. He knew that most mutants didn't have Alpha or Omega-level abilities, and he recognized that they were just trying to live their lives.

No, he didn't hate mutants.

But that didn't mean he was all that comfortable with the idea of spending much time around them. He didn't like that there had been mutants here in Hogwarts- possibly even in his classes- and he didn't even know it. He didn't like that nobody but the teachers knew who any of them were. He didn't like that nobody seemed to be doing anything to keep the mutants from using their powers unrestricted. The whole school could be run amok if this continued unaddressed!

So, he figured, a lot of people would probably feel the same way.

He wasn't going to attack any of the mutants or anything, no... He didn't like violence. In fact, for the first few days he was fine ignoring the whole thing. But as the first week passed on after the mutant reveal and they shifted on into the second, he decided that the teachers were being a bit too blase about all this. He felt a certain obligation, you see. If no one else was going to warn everyone, then it fell to him to make sure people knew.

Because there were mutants at Hogwarts, and while he didn't hate them, exactly... he didn't particularly like them either.

And Malfoy had always been a stupid, smarmy git anyway. He deserved to be taken down a peg or two.

Firm in his resolve, he closed the letter, sent it off, and watched his owl fade into the distance, satisfied. He finally felt like he could relax a bit.

There. Now I've done my part. It's up to everyone else now, what to do with it.

Things were surprisingly peaceful over the next week or so. Harry had honestly expected something to happen after the chaos of that first week. But it seemed that the whole mutant reveal had blown over everyone without a hitch. He'd been on-edge ever since the meeting on the third day of school, but he was gradually starting to relax as, to his surprise, life went on as it always did, just with a few additional precautions.

So of course something had to happen to ruin it.

He woke up on Thursday morning two weeks after Malfoy's "Big Reveal" as some had started calling it, with his powers buzzing in the back of his head. Great. I'm going to have to skip something today. As a result, he was a bit preoccupied with keeping his mutation in check, even as he ate his breakfast, to really register the atmosphere of the Great Hall.

So he could perhaps be forgiven for not paying too much attention to the sudden increase in murmuring as the mail arrived and, along with it, copies of The Daily Prophet.

There was much rustling as the students took their papers. Then, there was a gradual hush that made its way through the room as everyone took in the morning's headline. Hermione gasped, and Neville gaped at the paper in horror. One by one, people turned to look towards the Slytherin table, curiously waiting- though what they were waiting for, exactly, they couldn't quite say.

Draco Malfoy had gone silent. A series of emotions worked their way over his quickly paling face as he took in the article plastered over the front page:

"DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY MANIFESTS MUTANT POWERS IN CLASS! HOGWARTS IN CHAOS" by Rita Skeeter

The article started out explaining that there had been a terrible oversight regarding information about "Mutantism" as they were calling it, which Miss Skeeter claimed was a genetic disease caused by exposure to too much of certain types of elemental magic, making a person's magical core go wild and change into an uncontrollable mass of magic that hyper-focused on one specific spell.

It went on to detail the basics of what had happened two weeks prior, with much description of how Mr. Malfoy's classmates had barely escaped being blasted by his "icy barrage" (she seemed to believe that Malfoy had lost control over a freezing spell) and how the poor boy was now being shut away for everyone's safety. How the teachers were all in an uproar, and barely managed to save the Hippogriff before it died from being trapped in its frozen prison.

The situation was described as "chaotic" with the Hogwarts staff running amok trying to figure out how to deal with all the new cases that were popping up.

The article spoke of how the students were being tested one by one to see if they had this disease themselves, and that the students had become afraid of their fellows because they never knew whose magic would end up exploding into flames, or making everything float in the air, or transfiguring people into horrific shapes. How poor Mr. Malfoy may never be able to become a proper, regular wizard ever again because the condition was chronic. There were many other things put into that article, each somehow tying back to Draco Malfoy, all of them mostly inaccurate with the occasional kernel of truth. It all painted a very poor picture of his future prospects, as a result of his "Chronic Mutant Condition".

Of course, the real kicker was when the article mentioned that they had received all of this information via an "anonymous tip from a concerned member of the student body."

By the time he finished reading the article, Draco's hands were literally shaking, and his face had gone a deathly shade of pale. His eyes scanned the room as he tried to identify any possible perpetrators- and he realized, all of a sudden, that there was a single person, sitting innocently at the Gryffindor table, who wasn't looking in his direction.

It's him, Draco thought. He's been one of the worst when it comes to staring at me these last two weeks. And suddenly he goes and ignores me entirely?

He must be one of those mutant-haters Severus warned us about. He's a half-blood, after all, and doesn't he live with Muggles? He's got to be from one of those families that's scared of mutants. But of course, he's Perfect Potter, so he can't be open about it, and so...

Draco ground his teeth together. His hands clenched around his copy of the Prophet, slowly crumpling it into a ball, coated in diamond, though he was so agitated he didn't even notice. He stood from his place at the Slytherin table and yelled, "POTTER!"

Harry jerked out of his reverie and whirled around in his seat, confused. What was Malfoy mad at him about? Sure, they'd never exactly liked each other, but Harry had done his best to avoid inciting anything since The Mutant Thing happened...

Draco marched furiously towards the Gryffindor table, hands clenched, silver spreading up from his arms to his shoulders, and forcefully shoved the article at Potter. "What the bloody hell do you think you're playing at?!"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"This- this- this shit article in the paper! You! You're the one behind all this! Why, you- you must've been plotting this since that first day of classes! Dragging my family's name through the mud! Sharing secrets that have nothing to do with you!" With every word Draco spoke, the silver crept further and further along his body; it was up to his neck and wound around his waist by now, though nobody was aware of it.

Harry stared, flabbergasted. Peering at the paper as Malfoy screamed at him, he finally saw the name of the article in question, and managed to read the first few lines. Someone leaked the mutant situation to the Prophet? And Malfoy... Malfoy thinks I did it? Why?

He was rather angry about that article himself, to be honest. And rather insulted to be accused of being the cause.

"I don't know where you got the idea that I'm the one who tipped them off, but I swear, Malfoy, I had nothing to do with it."

"That's rich." Draco hissed. "That's really rich, Potter. Trying to save our own skin now, are we? You- you- mutant hater!"

Oh, that bastard. Harry temper was flaring as well, now. Malfoy may not know of his own mutant status, but surely Harry hadn't done anything to merit such an accusation? A strong breeze blew through the Great Hall as Harry stood to face Malfoy directly.

"You think I'm a what?!"

"A mutant hater. A filthy, disgusting, Muggle-raised mutant hater!"

"I'm not a mutant-hater! Watch who you call prejudiced, kettle! Bloody hypocrite! And I DIDN'T SEND ANYTHING TO THAT PAPER!"

The silver began to spread over Draco's face and down his legs. Liquid-diamond was practically steaming off his shoulders and arms, winding around him in slow circles through the air. The wind had picked up so that it was blowing throughout the entirety of the Great Hall, rifling through everyone's hair, though nobody paid it any mind, too focused on the argument in front of them. Even the teachers were frozen, struck stiff by the unexpected turn of events. Ron was the one to notice a sudden manic note to the wind, and tried to get Harry's attention. "Er- mate?"

Draco screamed before Harry could notice Ron's overtures.

"OH YOU DIDN'T DID YOU?! WHO ELSE WOULD'VE DONE IT? YOU'RE THE ONE WITH THE MOTIVE! YOU'VE HAD IT IN FOR ME SINCE FIRST YEAR, AND NOW YOU FINALLY GOT SOMETHING YOU COULD USE AGAINST ME!"

Ron tried to catch Harry's arm. "Harry!" he hissed.

But Harry didn't hear him. He stepped right into Malfoy's face.

"IF I EVER GOT YOU FOR SOMETHING IT WOULD BE FOR HATING MUGGLES AND PICKING ON MUGGLEBORNS! AND I SURE AS HELL WOULDN'T SEND ANYTHING TO THE PAPERS!"

"YOU'RE A LIAR!"

"I! AM! NOT!"

Draco's skin shifted completely. His hair became even paler, turning snowy white, and his eyes glowed with a shimmering silver light. His powers swelled, breaking completely from his control as he gave an incoherent, enraged shout, liquid diamond coiling into a huge mass that shot directly at Harry.

At the same time, Harry, who had been barely keeping control of his own abilities, threw up his arms. In the blink of an eye, the air directly surrounding Harry thickened and swirled around him, deflecting the liquid diamond out and away from him, splashing everyone in the immediate vicinity. Several people screamed. A mighty blast of wind flew from Harry, rushing through the room, blowing out all the candles and sending them spinning up towards the ceiling (it was a good thing it was daylight), knocking some of the lighter first-years off their chairs, picking up food and plates and carrying them in its wake. Copies of the Daily Prophet were ripped from their owners' hands and whipped through the air, hitting several people in the face.

All this took place in seconds, and the two of them stood gaping at each other in the aftermath. By the time Harry managed to get his wind to die down, it had swept through the entirety of the Great Hall, spreading chaos wherever it touched. There was not a single person besides himself and Malfoy who wasn't covered in food, not a plate left on the tables, not a paper that had escaped its pages being scattered all over.

The students and even some of the teachers stared at Harry in total shock. Some looked apprehensive. There were even a few who appeared truly frightened.

Harry swallowed. He was going to be in so much trouble for this. But first...

"There's no way I would have sent anything to the Prophet to give the mutants bad press, Malfoy. Especially since I'm a mutant."

Malfoy, still glowing a bright silver, stared in astonishment at the carnage of everyone's breakfast littering the floor. He cleared his throat. "Right. I...suppose you wouldn't have."

They stood there in awkward silence for a moment. Ron huffed and crossed his arms from his seat at the Gryffindor table. "Way to expose yourself, mate."

Harry grimaced. "It's not like I meant to."

"Well, I did try to warn you, you know."

Harry thought back to moments ago, shortly before he went out of control. "...Yeah. I know. Sorry."

"Ahem."

Professor McGonagall stood off to the side, her hair and robes covered in what appeared to be a mixture of oatmeal and cream.

Harry groaned and closed his eyes. "How much trouble are we in?"

A lot of trouble, as it turned out. Though not quite as much as they could have been.

Harry would have been in less trouble than Draco was, since he had been blatantly, publicly provoked... if it weren't for the fact that his loss of control had completely obliterated everyone's breakfast, and they all had to go off to class half-full, including the professors. It didn't exactly put McGonagall in a very forgiving mood.

Professors Dumbledore, Lupin, and Snape had not attended breakfast that morning. When they heard about what had occurred, Snape immediately went down to the Great Hall to assess the damage. He had been simultaneously impressed at the sheer scale, and unimpressed that it happened in the first place.

Since Draco and Harry had both had a power-blowout that morning, it was decided that they were excused from classes for the day. However, that did not mean they would be going back to their dorms. Oh, no. They were assigned joint detention all that day, and each evening before dinner for the next week.

Their detention, for the time, being was to clean the Great Hall from top to bottom- without magic- and to assist those who had been caught in Draco's diamond splatter in removing it from their person.

It was difficult, messy work and it kept them busy for the entire morning.

Draco used a hammer to knock yet another lump of diamond into pieces, set aside for the professors to vanish later. He glanced over to where Potter was using a rag to mop up a pitcher's worth of pumpkin juice. He thought back to the moment he blasted his diamond at Potter... the moment his diamond was blasted back at him.

Potter's a mutant.

He'd been absolutely shocked.

But really, why was he so surprised? Potter was everything, it seemed. The Golden Gryffindor, the Famous Harry Potter, the defeater of the Dark Lord, the youngest Seeker in a hundred years, best flier of their year- of course he'd be a mutant, too.

But something about that very fact lingered in his mind. It snuck into his thoughts and stuck fast like a burr. Maybe it was because it was Potter. Maybe it was because they were stuck in detention together...

Maybe it was the fact that Potter was the first mutant Draco had known about aside from Luna Lovegood. Maybe it was the fact that Potter had just had every bit as public a reveal as Draco.

Whatever it was, it made him strangely contemplative. Made him feel some sort of weird kinship with the other boy.

Made him feel like saying stupid things, such as- "I hadn't told Father yet, you know."

Potter looked up from his mopping. "Hmm?"

"My father. It's part of why I got so mad. I... hadn't told him about... about me. He's going to find out from the papers, and then he's going to write and ask me why I didn't tell him myself, and I'm going to have to explain that I'm not sick, because whoever sent out that tip to the Prophet made sure they said all the wrong things and I'll have to make sure that Father understands the truth, and..." Draco cringed. This was stupid. "Nevermind. You hate my father, why am I telling you this?"

Vaguely uncomfortable, and a bit angry with himself for saying anything at all, he swung the hammer extra hard and broke the next bit into tiny shards with a loud *thwack!*

Harry watched him for a moment, feeling equally uncomfortable. What did you say when your greatest enemy at school had a sudden bout of vulnerability in front of you? Especially considering he still felt vaguely insulted about Malfoy's assumptions earlier...

"I wouldn't have done that, you know," he blurted.

Malfoy paused mid-swing and glanced at him askance. "Done what?"

''Written to the papers. About you. That's not the sort of thing I do." He took a deep breath. "Even if I did hate mutants. Even if I was trying to get at you for something... I wouldn't write to the Prophet. It's... not my style."

Draco studied another piece of diamond. "Mm. If you say so."

They continued working in silence, but it was... strangely comfortable. As comfortable as two rival-slash-enemies could be when forced to work together in detention for losing control and throwing their powers at each other, anyway.

While the boys worked, Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore spoke quietly in the corner.

"This cannot go on, Albus," said McGonagall. "I know we're doing the best we can, and it's not as if there's much of a precedent for dealing with a situation such as this... But we simply can't continue like this. That article may have been full of foolish drivel, but it certainly got one thing right: we have no idea what we're doing."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled sharply. He turned to study the two boys who were currently working on scrubbing down the tables. "What else can we do? You yourself have stated that there is little precedent for us to follow. We ourselves are setting the standard for any other wizarding schools who end up in the same boat."

Snape frowned. There was something about what Dumbledore had just said...

There's no set precedent for mutants emerging in wizarding schools.

Wizarding schools...

Muggle schools. Muggles. He didn't particularly like this idea, but...

"If we can't deal with this on our own, perhaps it's time we brought in outside assistance."

That week, an advertisement appeared in the Muggle papers.

"Private boarding school in Scotland has had several students who were found to be mutants within the last few weeks. We wish for these students to continue their enrollment in our school, but are having difficulty helping them control their unique abilities. As such, we are looking for a qualified individual who can assist us in this endeavor. Those who wish to contact us may address their responses to M. McGonagall, at the listed address."

Author's Note:

I'm not sure what the rules are about writing articles about minors without their or their families' permission in the wizarding world, but considering all the drivel they wrote about Harry Potter over the years, I would assume they had a reason to believe they could write that kind of stuff and get away with it. Also, while I realize Lucius Malfoy is influential enough he could probably sue the Prophet for writing such an article about his son, well... at the same time, it's not entirely untrue, is it? In fact, that part about Draco is the most accurate part of the whole thing, lol. While he might be able to get them in trouble for publishing the article itself, I don't think he can exactly get them to take back what they said, considering it's got some truth to it, just hyped up as all get-out.

Can I just say, writing out arguments and making them not sound stupid is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I had plenty of dialogue that I wrote out as I went along where a lot of it was argument-worthy but didn't allow it to escalate, or took the "conversation" in the wrong direction. Took awhile to get it to a point where I was happy with the argument's progression, lol.