Omega
Chapter 2
Part 1: In which Harry pays his phone bill.
It was several months since Harry first met Superman and oddly enough the two had quickly become the best of friends. Within a week Superman had revealed his civilian identity as Clark Kent to Harry, even going so far as to invite the reality hopping wizard to meet his family. Martha and Johnathan Kent had quickly made Harry an honorary member of the Kent family, especially after Harry saved Johnathan from a heart attack the second time he visited. It was pure luck Harry was there that day, he had forgotten his jacket the night before and Apparated back to the farm the next morning to retrieve it. As luck would have it he was standing there just as Johnathan fell to his knees just outside the barn, Harry was at his side in an instant and casting every medical spell he could think of. Due to his quick thinking, Johnathan was now in perfect health and Harry was now considered the Kent's second son, even if he was older than both of them combined.
Harry's interaction with the Kent family had other benefits as well, considering Martha Kent had solved the age old problem of electronics not working in Hogwarts. Although Harry had bought several gadgets upon his arrival, the moment he activated the wards they had all stopped working. He had assumed it was the sudden influx of magic that killed them, but Martha pointed out they worked until the wards powered up. Johnathan, Clark, and Harry had spent several weeks trying to solve the problem with little success. Not even radio waves would pass through the wards and any power cables that passed through them were little better than hanging strings.
"Harry, dear, do the wards go underground?" Martha asked one morning as they all sat around for breakfast.
"As far as I know, they only go down a few meters below the top of the soil," Harry said after trying to remember what he knew of wards.
"Then why can't you run power, phone, and cable lines to a small building on your property, then have Clark dig you a tunnel under the wards to run them all though," she suggested with a smile as she made another batch of pancakes. "That's what we do here to prevent storms from knocking the lines down,"
Harry has stared at Martha for a good minute or so before he stood up and walked over to a door frame and started beating his head against it. "Stupid! I'm so bloody stupid! Almost two hundred years and I didn't think to run the lines under the wards? I'm a moron." Done with his little rant, Harry stood back up straight, wiped his hair and a trickle of blood from his forehead, then smiled at Martha. "You, my dear lady, are a genius of unprecedented degree. Gentlemen, I think we have our solution."
Over the next week a large wall was built around Harry's property, just outside the wards, with a gate and gatehouse being added. Electrical and telecommunication lines were ran to the gatehouse, a redundant drop was also added at the back of the wards under a Fidelius charm, along with a large radio antenna. From there Clark used his speed and strength to dig a long access tunnel that led from both utility drops to the now empty Chamber of Secrets. The Chamber was now almost completely devoid of magic save for the spells that sealed the doorway in and out. All of the pipes into the Chamber were now sealed and the three of them had assembled a miniature electrical substation in the center of the room. Harry then transfigured several diamond tubes up into Hogwarts and ran the power and telecommunication lines up into the castle. With the help of the House Elves, they quickly setup outlets for power, cable, and phone alone with ethernet cables to almost every room in the castle. Wireless technology still didn't work inside the castle, but shielded power, phone, and ethernet cables worked fine. Once complete, Harry cast another Fidelius on the entrance to the tunnel in the front gatehouse, then another over the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. No one would gain entrance in that way.
The only downside was Harry currently was being woken up by the sound of a ringing telephone. "The world better be ending if you're calling me at," he rolled over and looked at the clock next to his bed, "two in the morning."
Clark's voice answered back sounding panicked. "A Kryptonian ship just crashed into Gotham Harbor a little while ago. Batman was first on scene and found a young girl walking naked through the city," Clark said almost too fast to understand. "He subdued her with some Kryptonite and is now demanding I turn her over to him as 'she might be a threat to Earth.'"
"In other words he is being paranoid and thinks he knows best," Harry said as he sat up and dropped his legs off the side of the bed. "I'm guessing you want to bring her here?"
"If you don't mind," answered Clark, sounding relieved.
"Why here and not the Fortress?" Harry asked as he climbed out of bed and looked out the window.
"Batman knows where the Fortress is located and it wouldn't surprise me if he tried to kidnap her if he thought she was a threat," was the response. "Look, he got to her first and had her in his headquarters running tests before I got there. She's scared and waking up with him in the room was enough to scare her even worse, so she may have done some damage to his equipment. With you she's secure and no one can get to her, not to mention you can cast a few spells to keep her from wrecking the place. There's also the fact you can subdue her with your magic if she really is a threat."
Harry sighed, then turned form the window and grabbed his wand. "Fine. Bring her here. I'll meet you at the gatehouse. Later I'll cast a Fidelius on the Fortress, it sounds like too many people know where it's located. I assume you're staying for a while as well?"
"Thanks, I kept meaning to ask you about doing that for the Fortress," Clark said with a little chuckle. "As for staying, I sort of have to at this point, she doesn't know English."
"I've got a translation spell that would probably do the trick," Harry said as he pulled on some sweatpants and a t-shirt. "Though it won't last long and doesn't work on the written word. I'll have the House Elves clean up two rooms for yourself and her. Does she have a name or do we just keep referring to the girl as 'her?'"
"Her name is Kara Zor-El," Clark said, them paused before continuing. "Harry, she's my cousin."
"You're sure of that?" Harry asked, thinking it sounded just a bit too pat for his liking. "I'm just asking cause I know how much you want to find a connection to your race, your world, but are you sure she's it?"
"I'm not completely positive of it yet," Clark admitted after a moment or two. "I need a blood sample to test at the Fortress to confirm it. After I drop her off I'm going to take her ship there and run the blood work." He paused again before saying, "Have the elves make her room real sturdy, she doesn't know how to control her power yet."
"Oh, you bring me the best gifts," muttered Harry. "Fine, I'll charm up the room a bit as well. Now, get flying, I want to get back to bed sometime tonight. See you soon."
"Um, I'm outside."
"You complete prat," groaned Harry before hanging up the phone and heading heading downstairs.
It took several minutes to reach the edge of the wards, Harry had debated turning off the Anti-Apparition wards, then changed his mind. Too many various forms of teleportation existed in this world and he wasn't going to take the chance of someone popping in unannounced if he could prevent it. Reaching the edge of the wards he opened the gate and found Clark standing next to a remarkably pretty blonde girl and holding a large metal object over his head. Harry quickly pulled his wand and cast a temporary translation charm on himself, then a spell to hide the ship from view. That done, he looked at Clark with a frown.
"You know," he said in perfect Kryptonian, "I put the castle here to avoid drawing attention to it. I think you carrying a big arse spaceship here is going to draw some attention, not to mention the fact Batman probably put a tracker on it, so now he knows where we are."
"I… didn't think of that," Clark admitted looking rather embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it," Harry said with a shrug. "I'm sure Bat-Moody has already figured out where I am. Can't wait to see him try to get through the wards."
"You're Kryptonian?" asked the girl looking confused.
"I'm sorry, where are my manners," Harry said with an apologetic smile. "My name is Harry Potter and no, I'm not Kryptonian. I just happen to have certain abilities that allow me to speak your language as if I was. Your cousin here, the forgetful type that he is, seems to have forgotten to introduce us."
"Harry, this is Kara Zor-El," Clark said with a slight blush. "Kara, this is my good friend and adopted brother, Harry."
"Adopted?" asked Kara, looking even more confused.
"It's a long story," Harry said as he looked at Clark to continue.
"Kara, I need to take your ship someplace safe," Clark said looking at his cousin with a smile. "I won't be gone long, maybe an hour at most, and while I'm gone Harry will show you where we're going to be staying for the a while."
Kara looked up at her larger cousin with worry in her eyes. "You're coming back, right?"
"He better," Harry said with a grin. "I've got an entire kitchen staff that is looking forward to the chance to feed him again. I swear, they take filling that bottomless pit you call a stomach as a challenge. Come on, Kara. The sooner we let him be on his way, the sooner he'll be back. Tell me, have you ever dreamed of living in a castle?"
Part 2: The Neighborhood is nice, but the neighbors suck.
It was a month since Kara's arrival on Earth and the girl was making remarkable progress adjusting to life on Earth. Not only had she learned the English language, not to mention about six others, but she had also devoured every history book she could get her hands on, from both worlds. That Kara was also learning to cook from Martha Kent and the House elves of Hogwarts was due mostly to her love of cakes. Mastering her powers was tricky at first, but a recent addition to Hogwarts was helping Kara tremendously, but it was only after some unwanted visitors tried to break in.
Two days after Kara arrived, a day after I had put up the Fidelius charm to cover Hogwarts, Batman tried breaking in. The man had no idea Hogwarts was there, but he did know the location that he had previously tracked Clark and Kara to. With that knowledge and a streak of stubbornness which would put Molly Weasley to shame, he tried to sneak onto the grounds of the castle. I was called out of bed, again, at three in the morning by good old Nick to, "Deal with yet another late night visitor in strange attire." I found Batman, just like Clark had been, stuck in the outer wards glaring at me. Unlike Clark, mainly because I didn't want to invite him in, I chucked him back outside the wall around my property before I confronted him.
"Well, Batman, it seems you feel yourself above the laws of this land," I stated from under my invisibility cloak. "Not only do you attempt to trespass on my property, you also disregard my privacy," I told him as I cast an illumination spell on a no trespassing sign on the wall. "Do you have a reason for your visit, or should I just call the police?"
"Who are you?" demanded the bat themed man with his trademark, so I'm told, intimidating voice.
"I am the person asking you to justify your presence here," I replied, not being intimidated in the least. "Drop the glare, I've stood before people far more intimidating than you could ever even dream of being. Honestly, you sound more like a child smoker throwing a tantrum."
"Magic," muttered Batman, slowly scanning the area. "Either tell me who you are or I will have to consider you a threat."
"So, police it is," I said firmly, casting an spell to stun him.
Batman dodged the spell, but not the followup one that had him laying on the ground unconscious. I headed towards the gatehouse to call the police when Clark arrived and stopped me. He made a good point, Batman in jail meant the man's identity would be revealed and his enemies would be out to kill him and all those he considered precious. Eventually I caved, letting Clark return Batman to his hidden lair, but not before I snuck a tracker of my own on his teeth. Yes, I cast the spell on his teeth when Clark wasn't watching, mainly because I didn't want him ditching the costume somewhere and also because if he was going to track my friends then I was going to track him. Thirty minutes later and I had him pinpointed to a mansion in Gotham, though I didn't know at the time who owned it.
The next night he was back, this time with a rather fetching young thing in a costume rather like a tuxedo mixed with a streetwalker. Evidently she was a magic user, though not a very good one, and Kara and I watched from a little ways off as she tried for two hours to breach the wards. Personally, I thought she was a joke with her use of standard English spoken backwards as a means of focus, but Kara found it amusing. The light show she created was impressive, enough so that I cast several spells behind her to prevent anyone from seeing what she and the Bat-prat were up to. I only stepped in when I noticed she was starting to sweat and looked rather pale, a clear indication of impending magical exhaustion. A quick stunner laid her out, while another spell froze the Bat-munch from the neck down.
"Now I know you weren't going to let that poor girl keep going until she passed out, were you?" I asked as I made myself known, once again under my cloak. "It is very unhealthy for a magic user to push themselves to the point they pass out. Very unhealthy."
"Who are you?" demanded Batman, ignoring my previous question or statement.
I sighed, casting a spell to levitate the girl into the air before walking over and placing a hand on her shoulder and the Bat-wanker's. First I froze Batman the rest of the way, I really didn't want to listen to him rasp at me all night. I apparated them to the front door of the mansion I had tracked Batman to the previous night, then knocked on the door. A few moments later a distinguished older gentleman in a butler's uniform opened the door. Clearly he was shocked to find Batman there along with the girl, he couldn't see me and wasn't aware of my presence at first.
"Oh my," stated the man with a frown.
"Yeah, that sums it up," I said, startling the man as I floated the two visible figures inside the house, causing the butler to backup. "First things first, no names. I don't know who he really is, or who you are, and I really don't want to at this time. Second thing, he tracked a friend to my house, so I did the same to him. I've not tried to find out who owns the place and I'm not going to unless he pushes the issue. Third, he brought this young lady to my home and appeared willing to let her work herself to exhaustion, something very unhealthy for people with her particular skill set."
"I see," stated the gentleman, he then glared at the Batman and I realized exactly where the Bat learned it from. "I'll make sure she gets a decent amount of rest. I assume you will release them from their current state?"
"It will wear off in about five minutes, so you might want to show me a couch or something I can lay her down on," I answered with a smile, not that he could see it, then I changed my mind and conjured a couch instead. "No, forget that, I'll just put her here so I don't see anything I don't want to, like pictures of the Bat's family."
I noticed that there were three sets of eyes looking through a crack in the door to another room, probably Bat's kids or something. "Don't you come out of that room! I don't want to see you, that way I can't recognize you later. The couch will vanish in four minutes, so you kids help him move these two someplace more comfortable. Then get them back to bed, it's rather late for children to be up, and please stay in that room till I leave."
"For an invisible man already possessing a portion of the whole secret you seem determined not to know the final half," stated the butler. "Why is that?"
Turning to leave through the still open front door I smiled. "I don't want to know because I respect his privacy. The Batman, whomever he really is, does a lot of good and I can respect that as well. So, yes, I know where he lives, but I will not force him to reveal his secret nor will I attempt to find it out on my own in the hope that we can build a form of trust. Right now, I doubt he will appreciate what I'm saying, he's like an old friend of mine that always had to know the answers to everything. Given time, maybe he and I can become friends just like she and I did, but that is for later. Goodnight."
I apparated directly home from the doorway, not wanting to take a chance on recognizing the house or seeing a name on the mailbox. It was silly and a bit foolish because information is power, but I really was trying to build a sense of trust with the man. Not that I really expected him to understand that, at least not for a good long time after he got over being embarrassed by me. Still, the next morning when I found a basket of freshly baked muffins and a thank you note at the gate house signed by 'The Butler' and 'Z,' I figured at least someone in the Bat's house was a little more sensible than the Bat himself. However it came as no surprise when Batman showed back up at my property line the next night with someone new. At least this time he was smart enough to stay outside the wall.
"Wow! You've got two really nasty curses on you," I stated to the man as I approached them from the other side of the wards. "You've got a binding curse, looks like a demon, and a memory curse that looks to cause you to forget your past at random intervals. That has to be difficult to deal with."
"I am aware of the one curse, my binding to the demon, but I was unaware of the other," the distinguished looking man said. "Allow me to introduce myself…"
"Nope, don't want to know," I said, cutting him off. "I realize how rude it seems, but with the Bat standing right here and practically drooling for information, I'm going to have to beg your forgiveness."
"How did you know where I live?" demanded the Bat, once again scanning the area in the hopes of finding where I was located.
"I tracked you, just as you tracked Superman here," I replied calmly, rather glad my father's cloak worked so well. "As I told your butler, a rather sensible fellow, I don't want to know who you are, but keep pushing me and that will change. My price, stop acting like a prat and try being polite, rather than demanding answers and thinking you are entitled to know the answers just because you use a gravely voice and like to wear black tights. Trust me, I've seen it done much better by far more intimidating people than you. Far more intimidating."
The gentleman was coughing into his hand as Batman glared at me, but soon stopped. "Tell me, your wards are remarkable which indicates a rather profound knowledge of the occult and arcane. How did you learn to tie wards into a Ley Line?"
"Went to school for it, a long time ago," I answered with a shrug. "As for tying the Ley Line in, the ward stones have to be aligned properly, else they end up being useless."
The man thought about that for a moment, then nodded. "I see. I've attempted this before, but never quite managed to accomplish it. I don't suppose we could arrange a time and place to discuss this further?"
"Sure," I conjured a business card that floated to the ground in front of him. "Call me, that's my private line number. Just don't share it with the Batman and we can setup a time and place. I'm a little busy for the next few days, mainly keeping Batman out of my home, but maybe in a month or so?"
"Sounds wonderful," replied the man. "My name is Jason, I won't ask for your's at this time, but at least you will know it's me when I call."
Without further ado the gentleman turned and walked over to a rather nice car parked a little ways off. After he left I turned to focus on the Batman once again, surprised he had remained so quiet as I spoke to Jason. I figured he intended to tap Jason's phone, or sneak a peak at his phone bill, but it was to be expected when dealing with a person like Batman. Too bad for him my lines were all registered to a fictitious account holder in Switzerland. He probably wouldn't like it when my account manager at my bank just had the number changed, but that was Batman's problem and not mine.
"You really want to force me to find out who you are, don't you?" I asked him quietly. "You can't just leave this alone, can you?"
"You know where Superman hid the girl," Batman replied with his patented gravely voice. "You and her are dangerous and I'm starting to think you are hiding her, maybe you are even behind her being here."
I shrugged, turning away from him. "You really have no faith in Superman's judgement, do you? He trusts me, but you seem incapable of accepting his opinion, based squarely on the fact you are not in the know about what is going on."
"When I don't know things, I can't stop people like you from hurting others," growled the Bat. "The fact you found out where I live just tells me you are more dangerous than I originally thought."
"'People like me,'" I quoted as I waved a hand to close the gates. "You don't even know me, yet you have determined I am a threat already. I feel sorry for you, truly. You have no faith in anyone, but yourself. It's people like you that judged me when I was a child, one minute declaring me a hero and the next a villain, all because they thought they knew me. Tell me, how are you judged and by whom? Do they know the real you, or are they just making assumptions based on what they think your motives are? I pray you don't behave in that manner with your own children."
Whatever else he was going to say, I ignored after the gates finished closing between us. I didn't see Batman again for several days, though there were several more 'magic' users that showed up and attempted to breach the wards. The only one that came close was a man in a golden helmet, but he gave up after three hours, not that I paid much attention after watching him fail repeatedly for about thirty minutes. Then there was Wonder Woman, who tried brute force to break through the wards, only managing to damage my wall a little and then getting stuck in the wards. I ejected her from the wards and then sent a repair bill to the Butler to pass on to her, we had been exchanging recipes for a few days and he promised to forward it to her for me. The last attempt was the most serious, but at the same time the least threat to Hogwarts or me.
I woke up in the middle of the night, again, to the sound of warnings going off from the wards. Something had tried to penetrate them and been redirected to just outside of the ward line. The wall in that location was gone, just gone, and from my window I could see a glowing tunnel of light ending right up against the wards. A moment later I saw numerous shadowy figures running out of the tunnel and crashing into the wards. The wards had automatically gone to full power when the attempt at breaching them happened, so they weren't going anywhere, but the figures trying to get through the tunnel weren't either. I watched as the front line was crushed against the wards by the second line, this was then repeated by the following figures. This continued for several minutes until the tunnel vanished, but then four more appeared with the results being exactly the same. I was starting to wish Clark wasn't currently off world dealing with something or other, he tended to do that more than I realized, but right now was the worst time for it. Kara, who had joined me in watching the grisly spectacle, was looking decidedly green when the last of the tunnels vanished.
"What was that?" she asked, sounding more than a little afraid.
I shrugged, heading for the nearest phone. "No idea, but I know who might," I replied as I picked up the phone and dialed a number Clark had given me in case of emergencies.
After several rings the line connected and a cultured voice answered, "Wayne residence, may I ask who's calling at such a late hour?"
"Butler?" I asked when I recognized the voice.
"Ah, my invisible cooking partner," replied the voice. "I dare say, you sound as if you didn't know who you were calling."
"I didn't," was my reply. "I was given this number in case Superman was unavailable and there was an emergency. The prat didn't bother to tell me who the number was for, I swear."
"Who's on the phone, Alfred?" I heard a young man's voice ask in the background.
I heard the older man, Alfred, chuckle before answering. "Someone I am sure you will want to speak with. In fact, I know for a fact you're just dying to speak with him at length."
There was a moment's pause, then the younger man picked up the phone. "Bruce Wayne speaking."
"Bloody hell, you pick now to not be paranoid?" I asked, wiping a hand across my face. "You realize I've gone out of the way to not know who you really are and you just blurt it out."
"You!" the voice of the Batman shouted over the line. "How did you get this number?"
"Superman gave it to me in case he was unavailable and there was an emergency," I explained for a second time. "He's off world and I've got a situation I need help with?"
"The girl?" asked Batman.
"No, not the girl," I replied with a bit of anger. "Only problem I've had with her is her appetite for pudding. Now, stop being a paranoid prick and get your arse over here. I've had some unwanted guests and I don't think they were one of your crowd."
There was a pause, then the Batman spoke again. "I'm on my way."
That was it, then he hung up and I wondered if the situation was worth putting up with his crap. The small piles of crushed bodies that had been left behind when the tunnels of light closed was enough to make me think it probably was. My entire life I seemed to attract danger and mystery, well here was a pile of it right on my doorstep. Someone had tried to invade my home, the last remnant I had of my world, and that just wasn't going to work for me. My gut told me they would be back, but it also told me there was more to this than just curiosity about what was within my wards. The fact they had known where this place was at all had me concerned, the Fidelius around the castle should have kept them from coming here. Yet, despite that, here they were and it looked like I was going to be stepping back into the role of hero.
Part 3: The part where Kara gets spanked and likes it.
It took about thirty minutes for Batman to arrive in a stylish jet aircraft. Given where he lived I figured the man could afford it and who was I to complain about his toys, I live in a castle. He was about to land it outside the wall, but I made sure he could see me, then waved him inside the ward line. Batman was probably wondering who I was at first, it was the first time I had ever actually revealed myself to him, my cloak was still in my room inside the castle. I couldn't see his face when I did it, but I'm sure my sudden willingness to let him inside was enough to knock that stoic glare off his face. Of course the fact as far as he could see the inside of the wall was nothing but a gigantic open field of grass was sure to have confused him. Either way, he adjusted his landing site to just inside the wall and a little ways to the north of the gate, setting down with barely a sound and immediately jumping out of the cockpit.
"Why?" he demanded in the gravely voice, I could tell he was trying to memorize my appearance.
"Because I learned more about you than I intended to, thanks to Superman," I said with a shrug. "Whether you believe me or not, I had no intention of learning any more about you than what I already had. Sure, I knew where your mansion was, but only in a general sense and only enough for me to travel to if I needed. I never tried to find out your name or Alfred's name and wouldn't have unless you pushed me."
I turned and started walking towards the destroyed section of my wall, sensing he was following close behind me. "Trust is something I value highly, I'm a firm believer that you have to earn it and not just demand it. You demand things, thinking you have the right to know them just because you want to know them. I on the other hand accept the fact that sometimes people have secrets they wish to keep and I refuse to pry until the situation requires it of me."
"And what if your secrets could harm others?" asked Batman as we neared our destination. "Knowing those answers keeps people like you from turning against the innocent."
"I don't know if you've heard this before, but I remember reading it in school as a kid," I said turning to look at him over my shoulder. "'Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.'(1) I don't remember who wrote that, some American back when the Colonies fought against the Crown, but I never forgot it. People may not be giving up their liberty where you are concerned, but you are taking it from them. Keep it up and you become just as bad as the people you are trying to stop. So, using your line of reasoning, who stops you when you go bad?" We reached the breach in my wall and I pointed at the pile of bodies. "Tonight someone tried to break through my wards. Thankfully they failed."
Batman walked over the wards, examining the bodies on the other side of them. "Doomsday. At least ten of them. How did you say they arrived here?"
"Someone tried to breach my wards," I explained again, looking at the bodies through the wards. "The wards redirected the attempt to just outside the ward line. When I arrived I saw a tunnel of light and these things rushing out of it. The tunnel was flush against the wards and the beasts crushed each other up against them. The first tunnel closed and then three others appeared, each with the same results. When they closed they left those bodies here."
"No blood," Batman said as he looked closer at the bodies. "You're sure none of them made it through your security?"
"None," I answered with a nod. "The wards allow no one to enter unless they have my permission to enter. That's why you could land inside, I allowed it. No, the grounds are still secure and will remain that way. Now, you said a name, 'Doomsday.' Who is that?"
Batman looked around at the bodies for a moment longer, than turned towards me with a frown. "A beast of unimaginable rage and power from Kal's world, Krypton. What little we know about him is based on several sources over the years, but all of them agree that the creature is ancient, evil, and impossible to permanently kill. In his case and to paraphrase the old adage, 'what kills him just makes him stronger.'"
I thought about that for a moment, not liking the sound of it at all. "You speak of one creature, yet I saw several of them still in the tunnels, more than what we have here. Is that normal?"
"No, it's not," growled Batman as he stood up and turned to face me. "The means of travel you saw, the tunnel of light, is called a Boom Tube. It's used by a madman known as Darkseid. Darkseid is the sole ruler of the planet Apokolips and one of the greatest threats to Earth that exists. If he's trying to get through your wards, you have something he wants."
"Yeah, clearly that's not going to work out so well for him," I said as he gestured towards the bodies outside the wards.
"That won't stop him from trying again," Batman replied with a growl. "This is why I wanted the girl someplace safe. Someplace she could train in the use of her abilities. Seeing this, you have to let me take her."
I snorted, then turned and walked towards the castle Batman still couldn't see. "No, I really don't. You think Kara, that's her name in case you didn't catch it before, has just been living the life of luxury since she arrived here? Come with me, Batman." I said with a smirk. "Hogwarts is located on the property owned by Harry Potter."
Having told him the secret, Batman's jaw actually dropped as the majestic castle appeared before him. What he failed to notice was the sudden flash of fire beyond the wards, or the disappearance of the bodies in a similar flash of fire. Only ash was left behind and not much of that thanks to Fawkes.
"Kara is already awake, she couldn't sleep through all of this," I stated calmly. "I know I couldn't, so with that in mind and knowing she can probably hear me right now, she needs to meet us in the Room of Requirements."
"Yes, Harry!" shouted Kara from inside the castle.
"She's got quite the set of lungs on her," I said as I reached the door to Hogwarts, Batman right behind me. "Kara is required to do four hours of study a day with topics ranging from general earth education all the way up to advanced Kryptonian subjects. That's her morning. In the afternoon, after I try to fill the bottomless pit she calls a stomach, she spends another four hours per day sparring and doing physical exercises to refine her skills. When Kal is present he teaches her the fine points of control and precision regarding her abilities. On top of all that, at random times during the day and night I attack her to work on her situational awareness and stamina. Considering she is weak against magic, just like Kal, my attacks are the ones she finds the hardest to deal with."
"How can you possibly think any type of training she does here could compare to learning from Wonder Woman and the Amazons?" Batman asked, he was looking around as he spoke taking in all the sights. "One mistake and she could destroy this castle or kill you."
"No, she couldn't," was all I said as we reached the seventh floor. "This castle is over a thousand years old and has absorbed enough magic over the years, not to mention being tied into a Ley line, that it is quite a bit sturdier than you give it credit for. It could withstand a full powered attack from Kal. I know, we tried it on an outer wall. He didn't even scratch the stone. So, Kara destroying this place isn't going to happen any time soon."
"She could still accidentally kill you," Batman pointed out, getting a chuckle from me.
"That's not going to happen either," was all I said to him as we reached a golden door in the wall. "Welcome to Kara's training center."
I opened the door and ushered the Batman inside, watching as once again the stoic man's jaw dropped. The reason for his shock was because the 'room' was currently taking the form of a large stadium, probably five to six times larger than a standard Quidditch pitch. The outer walls of the stadium were made of solid Orichalcum, extremely rare on my world and harder than any metal on this world, but easy enough for the Room of Requirements to recreate. The floor was made of more of the same metal, but shaped into a rugged landscape to make the training more difficult. Kara in one of her 'training' outfits, a pair of skin tight lycra shorts and matching top, was already fighting in the center of the stadium as I ushered Batman up to an observation deck. Currently Kara was fighting a large golem made of more Orichalcum as three others circled around them.
"Those golems are tougher than Kal," I said as I gestured towards the magical constructs. "His record is five at once before they knock him unconscious. Kara is determined to exceed him and the two have made it a contest to see who can break the record first."
As we watched a second golem pounced at Kara from behind, almost catching her before she backflipped over it. A burst of her heat vision blasted it into the first golem, but did little other damage. While she was distracted the other two golems rushed forward and pinned her arms to her sides, she broke free a moment later sending a kick to the chest of the first and blasting the other with her breath, freezing it solid. A quick punch shattered the frozen golem just in time for the first two to make a grab for her. She ducked and swept the legs out from both of them, then leapt into the air and basted all three with heat vision to knock them back.
"Enough, Kara!" I shouted once she was free, just in time for a fifth golem appear above her and smack her on the butt and shooting her across the room. "Stop!"
Kara recovered before she hit the wall, spinning around to glare at me she flew over in the blink of an eye. "Why do you have them smack my ass, Harry?"
"It embarrasses you and causes you to be even more aware of them," I answered with a smirk. "Same reason I have them hit your chest when you slack off. Believe me, embarrassment is a great motivator to improve your performance."
Floating to the ground Kara stood in front of me, her arms crossed under her rather impressive chest, pouting like a little girl. "I know that, but it hurts!"
"Then stay aware and don't let them hit you there anymore," I replied with another smirk. "Now, stop pouting and say hello to our guest."
Standing up straight, Kara waved at Batman with a little smile. "Hello, Batman, I'm Kara Zor-El."
Batman just nodded at the girl, then turned to look at me and ignoring her. "What about training her to fight enemies that use projectile or long distance attacks."
"Fire breathing dragons," I replied, noticing that Kara was sticking her tongue out at Batman. "Centaurs for projectiles. Merpeople for underwater. Giants and trolls for brute strength."
"Don't forget the House Elves for teleporting," Kara added, walking over next to me, now glaring at Batman. "We play tag when they train me, but they get to hit back while I can only touch them."
Batman seemed to think that over for a moment, then glanced around the room. "And weapons and speed?"
"Samurai for weapons, along with several suits of armor for traditional European sword fighting," I answered with a smile. "As for speed, all of the golems are set to match Kal at his fastest, with several each spar set for faster. Kal has someone called the Flash stopping by next week so we can get a reading on his speed and techniques in order to up the difficulty rating."
Again Batman seemed to think this over, then nodded. "I would like to evaluate the level of these 'golems' and would like to have Wonder Woman do the same."
"I don't have a problem with that, but I'll be setting you against one golem at half speed and power," was my reply as I waved my hand at the stadium. "If you can handle that, I'll up the difficulty. As for Wonder Woman, we'll see."
Batman jumped down into the stadium without any thing further said. Kara and I watched as he started off his attack with several thrown attacks, it looked to me like he was using customized throwing stars of some sort. The attacks just bounced off the golem, with it just standing there looking at Batman carefully. I might have forgotten to mention to the Bat that I created these golems with a very high level of intelligence based off of my own experience and mind. Batman was good, I could tell that, but the golem had my experience to draw on and played the waiting game. One of the things I had picked up during the course of my life was a love of mixed martial arts, focusing on various Eastern fighting styles and good deal of cheating. The first rule of a fight is never fight fair when your life is on the line and my golems all followed that rule. Watching as Batman leapt at the golem we watched as it dodged, spun around and grabbed his cape, then used said cape to spin the caped crusader around several times. A moment later we watched him release Batman and send him streaking towards the wall at terminal velocity.
"Cushions!" I barked, just in time for the wall to turn to the consistency of a marshmallow. "Stop!"
Kara and I rushed down to the stadium floor just in time to see a puking Batman crawl away from the wall before passing out.
"I don't think we'll be using the higher difficulty for him," was all I could say as Kara started giggling.
(1) Benjamin Franklin, November 11, 1775.