AN There is mention of storms and bad weather in this chapter, but it's nothing to do with Thor, just bad weather. I mentioned that because I didn't want any confusion, and there is a short time skip in the chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer I don't own HP or Marvel
Chapter 10: A Fall From The Sky.
Loki's plan to get Harry and his friends to like her worked. The three of them would take the time to stop and speak to her whenever they passed the corridors, and they waved at her whenever they saw her sitting at the head table during meal times. They enjoyed her classes and sometimes stayed behind to talk to Loki. She has moved on from teaching them the history of where their magic came from to the history of Asgard. Loki started with how Asgard and the Nine Realms came to exist, then taught about Bor, the father of Odin. They were now on his battle with Malekith and the Dokkalfar (Dark Elves ) over a powerful object called the Aether. Loki sat in her chair at the front of the room and made an illusion of a battle appear. And told the story she read about as a child.
Some students interrupted a few times to ask questions. Another reason they love Loki's class is that she lets them speak their minds ( though they sometimes don't like Loki's replies) and encourages them to challenge her lessons. One day she and Hermione got into a debate that took over most of the class. Loki made learning fun, and they all loved Sirius as Jinx, the dog, who was in every History of Magic class the Gryffindors had. They laughed every time Loki and Sirius disagreed, even though to them, it appeared to be Professor Ikol getting annoyed at her dog and Jinx barking at her. The only ones that didn't seem to like Loki were Draco Malfoy and his friends and admirers. For two reasons, they hated her lessons and what Loki teaches, which puts doubt in purebloods even being a real thing, and the fact Loki didn't fall for their tricks or put up with their attitudes. The other Slytherins, though they didn't like what Loki taught about magic, still had respect for their professor because of how cunning Loki could be and the powerful magic she had.
Defense Against the Dark Arts was another favorite of the students. With Remus Lupin as the professor, the children were learning something this year. Loki witnessed firsthand why Remus Lupin was her biggest competition as the student's favorite teacher when Remus had the whole class accompany him to the teacher's lounge one day, where Loki was sitting at a table, eating an apple while reading a book.
"I hope we are not disturbing you, Professor Ikol, " Remus said as a wardrobe in the back of the room shook.
"Not at all, Remus," Loki replied, closing her book and standing, "Hope you do not mind me standing over here watching your lesson."
"Go right ahead," Remus replied. Loki stepped to the side, leaning against the wall, and ate her apple as she watched. Remus turned to address the class as the wardrobe shook again
"Nothing to worry about; it's just a boggart there. They like dark enclosed spaces." Remus explained, "wardrobes, the gap beneath the bed, the cupboards under sinks. I once met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. Now can anyone tell me what a boggart is?"
Hermione raised her hand, and Remus called on her. "It's a shape-shifter. It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."
"Correct," Remus said, "So, the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us fears; this means we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Harry, can you spot what that is?"
"Too many people in the room; it won't know what shape to take," Harry replied.
"Precisely," Remus said, "It's always best to have company when dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse, a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that same mistake, try to frighten two people at once, and turn himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening."
"That is disgusting," Loki said, making a few students snicker. Remus ignored her as he explained how to repel a boggart and what spell to use before calling Neville Longbottom up first.
"Neville, can you tell us what you fear the most?" Remus asked. Neville's face went a little red before he looked down and mumbled something. "Pardon, Neville, I didn't hear that."
"Professor Snape," Neville replied. Loki raised her eyebrow, and a few students laughed, and Remus nodded, looking thoughtful.
"You live with your grandmother, I believe," Remus asked. Nevile nodded, "Can you picture her clothes for me? What is her most popular outfit to wear?"
"Green dress, big hat, with a vulture on top, and she carries a big red handbag," Neville answered. Loki curled her upper lip at the description of grandmother Longbottom's clothes.
"Keep picturing them in your head," Remus said, stepping around and behind Neville, and spoke lowly to him, "Now, I'm going to open the wardrobe. The boggart will come out and take the shape of Professor Snape. You point your wand at it, call out Riddikulus while picturing your grandmother's clothes, and if everything goes as it should, you might give us all a good laugh."
Remus straightened up and pointed his wand at the wardrobe; it flew open, and out stepped a boggart shaped like Snape. Neville pointed his wand at him, said Riddikulus, and Snape was suddenly standing in his grandmother's clothes. Loki started laughing.
"Good one, Remus; too bad Jinx isn't here to enjoy it," Loki said. Remus smiled at that. Sirius wasn't with any of them because he woke up that morning with a bad headache that made him feel nauseous; Loki gave him a couple of potions and ordered him to stay in bed, which for him was the sofa in Loki's sitting area in her living quarters.
"Everyone think of your greatest fear, then a way to make it funny," Remus said, "You guys ready, all right, Parvati, you're up."
The boggart turned to her, and Snape suddenly became a mummy, Parvati called out Riddikulus, and the mummy unwrapped. Seamus Finnegan went next. His boggart was a banshee, and once he took care of it, the boggart turned to someone else, one by one, the class ran forward and tackled the thing. Remus called on Ron. The boggart became a spider, and he froze for a moment before he called out Riddikulus. The spider's legs vanished, and it became a legless spider rolling around before sitting up and looking towards Loki, who took a bite of her apple and raised her eyebrow in challenge, but the boggart didn't change; instead, it turned to Harry.
"Here!" Remus ran in front of Harry, and the boggart turned into a full moon before Remus called out Riddickulus, and the boggart was gone. "Excellent class, you did it. That's five points each for everyone who tackled the boggart and five each to Harry and Hermione for answering my questions at the start of class. Your homework is to read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it for me, and hand it in on Monday."
Loki kept her eyes on Harry as he was the last to leave the room and the only one not looking excited; Loki knew that look well; she wore it a lot when she was younger, and Thor had to jump into one of her battles to play the role of older protective brother and won the fight for her, it always left Loki feeling as if Thor thought she was helpless and weak. It didn't matter what form Loki was in. Thor always had to try and be Loki's savior. Even after they got older and Thor did it less, Loki still tries to keep a distance between them in battle.
"You have made my son think you believe him weak," Loki said. Remus frowned, looking at the door.
"I don't believe Harry is weak," Remus said, sticking his hands in his pocket, "Quite the opposite."
"Then why did you not let Harry have a turn with the boggart?" Loki asked, curious.
"I thought there was a chance it would take the form of Lord Voldemort," Remus replied, "I did not think that would be a good idea. The other children might have panicked."
"Understandable," Loki replied, taking another bite of her apple.
"What about you, Loki?" Remus asked, "I noticed your boggart didn't take a form. Do you not fear anything?" Loki chewed slowly and swallowed before answering.
"Oh, I have fears, Remus, one worse than the other. I just have better control over who can get inside my mind than you Midgardian wizards," Loki replied, taking the last bite out of the apple, then tossing it in the trash before leaving the room.
The next evening Loki found herself sitting in her living quarters, grading papers, Remus sat across from her reading the newspaper, and Sirius sat next to her, feet probed up on the table and flipping through a Quidditch magazine.
"Cornelius Fudge has ordered the dementors to give you the kiss," Remus warned.
"They have to catch me first," Sirius replied, trying to sound braver than he felt at that moment; he saw the announcement in the paper that morning, and Loki had vowed they would have to get through her first.
"Sirius, I hope you are taking this seriously," Remus said. Sirius gave him a cocky grin and went to say something when Remus held up his hand, stopping him. "Don't, just don't."
Sirius laughed before saying. "I don't think I need to worry. I'm not leaving the castle grounds. I'm not an idiot, Moony." Remus gave him an unbelieving look. "Okay, I'm not that big of an idiot. I'm not going to go near them."
"Good," Remus said, going back to the newspaper.
"Our son must get his brains from you," Loki said, looking at Harry's assignment.
"Why? Is he passing all his classes?" Sirius asked. He laughed at the look Loki gave him, and Remus shook his head.
"I hope, but I'm talking about his homework. It is rushed and not very detailed," Loki complained.
"He's thirteen. It makes sense he wouldn't spend hours on a school assignment," Sirius said, "Let me see it." Loki handed Harry's work to him. Sirius frowned, reading over it. "Is this wrong or something?"
"No, but I wish he would put more effort into his schoolwork," Loki said.
"Hand me your quill," Sirius said. Loki picked up her quill and handed it to Sirius.
"Padfoot, what are you doing?" Remus demanded, then groaned when Sirius graded Harry's paper, giving it the highest grade available.
"What?" Sirius asked, "Reigny said Harry got it right."
"True," Loki said. "But I was not going to grade it that high because he needs to put more effort into his work. Maybe I'll talk to him about it. Ron Weasley's paper is the same way. I'll have to give him a high grade now. I do not want to be suspicious and make it seem like I'm favoring Harry above everyone."
"But you do favor Harry above everyone?" Remus said. Loki shrugged but didn't reply. Smiling, Sirius went back to looking through his magazine.
"Harry is a bit short for his age. Have you noticed?" Sirius asked, "A little on the skinny side also."
"Yes, I have noticed he takes his height from you," Loki replied, causing Sirius to give her an annoyed look. "And got his thinness from me." She glanced at Sirius and gave him a wink.
"Well, I don't know about that, but he certainly gets his smart mouth from you," Sirius said, returning to his magazine.
"Hey," Loki replied; Sirius laughed, then winked at Loki; he had been a lot more cheerful since coming to Hogwarts; he smiled more, joked more, and laughed more, which seemed to be infectious because he was always able to get Loki to smile.
The Friday before the full moon, it was a lovely day outside, warm with a little breeze. After classes were over for the day, Loki decided to take a walk around the castle grounds with Sirius in dog form. It was his idea, wanting to enjoy some fresh air before it turned too cold. After a walk around the castle, with Sirius chasing birds for Loki's entertainment, they were walking back around when Sirius let out a bark and took off running towards the beech tree by the lake because he had spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting under it.
"Hey, Jinx," Harry said, reaching out to pet him.
"Good evening, Professor Ikol," Hermione greeted as Loki walked up to them.
"Hello, children." Loki greeted, "Enjoying today's weather, I see."
"We wanted to visit Hagrid, but Lucius Malfoy and Cornelius Fudge showed up to talk to him and told us to get back to the castle," Ron explained.
"The Minister of Magic is here?" Loki asked. "I do hope Hagrid is not in trouble. He's such a nice man, and Jinx here adores him."
"We think it's over, Buckbeak," Harry said.
"You mean the hippogriff that knocked you down?" Loki asked.
"Yeah, Buckbeak was going after Draco Malfoy when he knocked me down," Harry explained, "Malfoy must have complained to his father about it."
"Malfoy complains to his father about everything," Ron said.
"I think he's trying to get Hagrid in trouble," Hermione added.
"Harry, dear boy, there you are." A voice suddenly called across the yard. Loki looked behind her to see Cornelius Fudge walking toward them; she recognized him from the picture she saw in the paper. He was with a man Loki knew well, though he's ages since Loki was last in the wizarding world, there was no mistaking Lucius Malfoy, and Loki could tell he recognized her the moment his eyes landed on her. Lucius kept his face a perfect mask, but Loki could see the surprise and recognition in his eyes. Lucius Malfoy was married to Sirius's cousin, Narcissa, who happened to be the nosey one of the family. Even though they hated each other, whenever Loki and Sirius ran into her when out together, Narcissa always came up to them to say hi and act overly friendly, Lucius had been with her a couple of times, and even though he didn't know Loki knew, Lucius was one of the Death Eaters that had attacked her and Sirius and one of the only ones that were able to get away with his life without being seriously injured. Loki had recognized his cold grey eyes through his mask.
"You didn't fire Hagrid, did you?" Harry asked as he stood. Ron and Hermione stood with him, and Sirius had already gotten in front of Harry.
"No, no, Hagrid so far has gotten off with a warning." Fudge said. He looked like he didn't want to be here. "If you, Harry, were to complain about the hippogriff, we should be able to get the school governors to reconsider giving him a warning and remove him from his teaching position."
"I don't want Hagrid removed," Harry replied.
"I understand you are fond of Hagrid, he won't lose his gatekeeper job, but some people just aren't cut out to be teachers," Lucius said, his eyes flickering to Loki. "Perhaps we can take this conversation somewhere more private? Maybe just you and I? I am on the school governors."
"You must be bonkers if you think we'll let Harry go anywhere alone with you." Ron cried. and Loki smiled at him before turning to Lucius.
"I do not see where that is necessary," Loki said. "The child gave you his answer." Lucius narrowed his eyes at Loki, who glared back at him.
"I told you, Lucius, this is a waste of time. Unless a student or guardian complains, the governors won't do anything but send their warning and have the hippogriffs moved off school grounds." Fudge said.
"You're removing the hippogriffs?" Hermione asked.
"Dear girl, it is a necessity." Fudge replied, "Those are dangerous creatures."
"It was Malfoy's fault," Harry said, "Draco Malfoy wouldn't listen to Hagrid about the hippogriffs and charged at Buckbeak. It scared him, causing him to knock me down. If you want me to talk to the school governors and repeat that story, I will, and maybe we can get Malfoy removed from Hogwarts."
Loki smirked as she watched Harry cross his arms and glare at Lucius Malfoy with no fear on his face. As he stood up for himself and his friend, Loki felt pride for her son. Harry was so much like his father when it came to loyalty and sticking up for his friends. It was amazing, considering Sirius didn't raise him.
"I am sure Lucius would agree that isn't necessary." Fudge said, "Hagrid knows now not to teach with such dangerous creatures, and the hippogriffs will be removed from school grounds. We have done all we can do here."
"One moment, Minister, let me try and talk to Mr. Potter, " Lucius said. He took a step toward Harry, hand going into his robe, causing Sirius to bark and growl; Ron and Hermione, and Harry now had wands in their hands, Everyone turned to look their way, and Loki stepped in front of the four of them, blocking the group from Lucius's path.
"You heard the Minister, Lucius. There is nothing more you can do here," Loki said, her voice full of warning.
"I am afraid you truly don't understand who you are talking to," Lucius said, "You don't want to cross me."
"I know exactly who you are," Loki said, "a weak wizard who tries to put up the illusion of being someone important and powerful by hiding behind his riches and pureblood status. You are little more than a family name and reputation, you do not frighten me, and if I were you, I'd think twice before you pull out that wand and curse me, as you are so longing to do."
Loki had spoken all this in a low, calm voice that somehow still carried across the grounds, shocking the onlookers and causing those who didn't care much for the Malfoys to start laughing, which made Lucius turn red in both embarrassment and anger while everyone was breaking out in whispers around them.
"I think we all should calm down." Fudge said, looking surprised at the turn of events.
"Since you don't seem to realize who I am, I'll let that transgression slide," Lucius said, "Don't let it happen again."
Loki stepped closer to Lucius, leaned in, and whispered, so only he could hear. "leave." Lucius immediately turned around and started walking toward the castle, and Loki gave a satisfied smirk.
"Well, that was weird." Fudge remarked. "I need to go talk to Dumbledore about the hippogriffs. If you all will excuse me." He nodded to them, then turned and headed towards the castle.
September 29th, 2012, was a full moon. The day it arrived, Loki, Remus, and Sirius were in Loki's quarters once again, but this time, they were getting everything ready for that night; Remus was sitting at Loki's table drinking the Wolfbane potion, Loki had made, she and Sirius both refused to allow Remus to take the one Snape had made, Sirius had poured it out instead. For Remus's peace of mind, Loki added all kinds of new enchantments to her quarters to keep Remus from getting out or anyone from walking in. Most of the enchantments Loki already had up, so Sirius could walk around freely as a human without the risk of being seen. Also, the same reason Loki had no pictures or portraits hanging on the walls, she wasn't about to risk anyone from the school portraits entering them and spying on Loki.
When the moon rose that night, Sirius turned into Padfoot, Loki shifted into a giant male wolf, and the two kept Remus company during his transformation. At one point, Sirius got bored and tried to get Remus and Loki to play, which resulted in being chased around the room. Remus might have still been in his right mind, but he was still a werewolf and stronger than usual, and by the time the sun rose, there was a mess in Loki's quarters, which took minutes to fix, thanks to magic.
Sunday and Monday, Sirius took care of Remus as he recovered from the full moon, which didn't take much; Remus mostly needed rest and plenty of food, so he laid on Sirius's sofa, taking naps and eating the food Sirius brought him; Loki was sure Sirius was trying to make up for how he acted the night before.
October came fast and, with it, brought nasty weather, wind, rain, and a significant drop in the temperatures; the students complained about the castle being cold, so a lot of fires were lit and warming charms put up; Harry and Loki were the only two that didn't mind the cold. One evening Loki was sitting on the sofa, one leg crossed over the other, book in hand. She had a throw over her lap, not because she was cold but because it felt nice and comfortable. It was the first Sunday in October, and Loki was enjoying a day off without grading papers.
The bathroom door opened, and Sirius walked out, rubbing his temple; he walked over to the sofa, laid down on it, and put his head in Loki's lap; she looked down at him with a frown.
"Another headache?" Loki asked; Sirius nodded and closed his eyes; Loki took her thumb and began to rub his temple; Sirius kept getting these headaches, and Loki couldn't figure out why and it worried her that it might have something to do with her using the scepter to fix his mental state.
"I'm fine, Reigny; no need to worry," Sirius said. Loki frowned down at him but then figured he knew her well enough to know she would be worried.
"Would you like me to get you something for your head?" Loki asked, moving her hand to run through his hair.
"No, it doesn't help, remember?" Sirius said, rolling over onto his back, "It'll go away in a while; I hope you weren't planning on getting up any time soon because I have no plans of moving. Your fault; you were sitting on my bed."
Loki laughed as she started to massage Sirius's head; headaches weren't the only thing bothering him; he was complaing about dreams he's been having that felt too realistic and mentioned being overcome with emotions lately that didn't even make sense, and he was sure wasn't his. The other day he had returned to Loki's quarters angry and ranting about Severus Snape making some rude remark to Remus, and as Sirius walked around the room, stuff would fly off the shelves he walked by. Loki was sure that was a sign of Sirius developing telekinesis, but the headaches, dreams, and emotions she had yet to figure out.
"That feels good," Sirius said, "You're about to put me to sleep."
Loki set her book aside to give Sirius her full attention as she massaged his head. Sirius had let his hair grow out and was almost to his shoulders and laid in wavey curls. Loki couldn't help but admire Sirius's face; there was no trace left of what Azkaban did to him, and he was gorgeous, with high cheekbones, a strong jawline, a perfect nose, and deep-set eyes; Sirius was perfect. Loki just wished he'd agreed to give them another chance; they did seem to be getting closer each day that passed, and Loki would love to feel his lips on her's again.
"My eyes might be closed, but I can feel you staring at me," Sirius said. Loki smiled.
"How does your head feel now, love?" Loki asked.
"Better," Sirius said. "So, stop worrying; you're making me worry."
"Yes, dear," Loki replied, stopping her massage, and picked up her book as Sirius rolled onto his side; Loki went back to running her hand through his hair.
"Thank you, Reigny," Sirius mumbled as he drifted asleep. Loki smiled at Sirius's words; she hoped these headaches stopped; Loki wished she had a book on the mind stone; she needed to know what other psionic abilities it might have given Sirius.
Bad weather wasn't the only thing October brought; it also brought Quidditch season; players and fans alike were excited. Sirius went to the pitch to watch every practice the Gryffindors had when she wasn't busy. Loki sometimes joined him. Madam Hooch was always there, having been asked by Minerva McGogongall to oversee the practices just in case Sirius Black decided to take advantage of them and attack Harry; Loki found amusement in knowing that Sirius Black stood next to Madam Hooch each practice, and she didn't even know it.
Both Loki and Sirius were excited about watching Harry play Quidditch for the first time, and Loki wore Gryffindor colors to support Harry's team, despite that red and gold were also Thor's colors. That was not a surprise to Loki; they had meant Godric Gryffindor once. Before he helped found Hogwarts, Gryffindor became such a big fan of Thor he tried to act like him, which probably explains how and why Gryffindor ended up with Loki's sword; he must have recognized it once belonged to Thor and bought it from the goblins.
The Quidditch game turned out to be more exciting than Loki had thought, even if it was raining with a bit of thunder. Gryffindor against Hufflepuff, the game was close to tied; whoever caught the snitch would be the winner. Loki saw Harry and the Hufflepuff seeker, Cedric Diggory, go chasing after the snitch.
"Come on, Harry!" Loki couldn't help but cheer as Sirius barked, getting excited; as far as Loki could tell from her seat, Harry was getting close to the snitch; he reached out about to grab it when suddenly dementors were there, surrounding Harry, Loki's heart jumped into her throat as Sirius whimpered and whined.
Loki quickly jumped out of her seat and teleported into the air next to Harry, and started blasting the dementors away with magic; she took out one, then turned and got another; it didn't kill them; it just knocked them out, which gave the first one a chance to sneak past while Loki turned to take out another one, and get lunged at Harry, who, to Loki's shock, turned blue as he slipped off his broom and fell toward the ground.
"HARRY"
In a panic, Loki let herself go falling too. When she got close enough, she reached out and grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him towards her; as Loki moved under him, where his back was to her front, and wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes tightly, making sure Loki hit the ground and not Harry; she wouldn't get seriously hurt, but it will be painful. Then the familiar feeling of Sirius's magic encircled them, slowing them and lowering them onto the ground as gently as he could. Loki hoped Sirius was either still in dog form or somewhere no one would see him while he saved them from slamming down on the ground.
Harry rolled off Loki, and they sat up at the same time and looked at one another; fortunately, Harry was back looking normal. He stared at Loki wide-eyed as his teammates began to land on the pitch and run toward him. Sirius appeared, running toward them; he went to Harry first, then Loki, then back to Harry.
"Are you alright?" Loki asked, taking off her cape and wrapping it around Harry.
"How did you?..you saved me," Harry said; before Loki could reply, Fred Weasley had reached down and pulled Harry to his feet as his teammates surrounded him, asking if he was okay while the other students and school staff came running onto the field, everyone was shouting and asking all kinds of questions Loki didn't reply to anyone. Soon Harry was being led to the hospital wing, with everyone, including Sirius following.
"Are you alright, Professor Ikol?" McGogongall asked, "That was some save."
"I'm fine; give me a minute," Loki replied; McGogongall reached down and patted Loki's shoulder.
"Very well, once you've pulled yourself together to get checked out by Madam Pomfrey, just in case," McGogongall said, "Then I'd like to see you in my office." McGogongall turned and headed toward the castle.
Loki needed a moment to calm down; she's never felt so scared in her life; Loki put her face in her hand just as Sirius came running back out onto the field toward her; he turned human, and Loki jumped to her feet.
"We almost lost him," Loki said. Sirius threw his arms around Loki and pulled her to him.
"I thought I was about to lose you both." Sirius said, pulling back and pushing Loki's hair out of her face, then started looking her over, "Are you sure you're okay."
"Of course," Loki replied.
"You scared the hell out of me," Sirius said, pulling her back to him. "I have never been so scared in my life."
"I felt the same when Harry fell off his broom," Loki replied; Sirius kissed Loki's forehead, then laid his forehead on hers, and they both closed their eyes as it started to rain harder, getting so scared about Harry falling surprise Loki; she knew she cared about Harry somewhat, he was her son after all, but Loki had not realized just how much, how she actually loved her son, as much as any mother would love their child.
Loki opened her eyes when Sirius pulled away, and when she looked up at him, he was smiling at her with what looked like happiness in his eyes; they stared at each other for a short moment before leaning in until their lips touched. Loki immediately put her arms around the back of Sirius's neck and pulled him closer to her as he put his around Loki's waist and pulled her closer to him. The rain poured down, lightning lit up the sky, and thunder erupted, but Loki and Sirius didn't care as they stood on the Quidditch Pitch, holding on to each other, Loki getting the kiss she had wished for.
AN I had planned to keep Sirius and Loki apart a bit longer but decided it's been long enough. I looked up the Mind Stone, and it said in the comics it could awaken psionic abilities in people, so that is what's happening to Sirius. Lucius was going to try and use the Imerius Curse on Harry without being seen, and he was going to try and hide his wand with his robe sleeve and use a nonverbal spell to get Harry to agree to complain about Hagrid.