A/N - Hello everyone. It's update time again and as I said last week this chapter is the calm before the storm. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and belong to Marvel Comics. Harry Potter was created by and belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this and the only thing that's mine are the original parts of the story.
11) EARLY FALL
September 1st had come again and with it the new year at Hogwarts was set to begin. As usual all of the students, whether old or new, got on the Hogwarts Express at platform 9 and rode the train north to the school. As usual Harry's friends all rode together. Neville, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all shared a compartment and Luna also joined them. Seamus and Dean went off to sit with other friends this time which left Harry's friends to talk more freely as they all knew about Harry's other life.
During the first part of the trip Ron and Hermione had to go the prefect meeting as they were the two new fifth year prefects for Gryffindor. When they came back they had some odd news.
"Guess who the Slytherin prefects are?" asked Ron.
"Malfoy and Parkinson" said Neville at once.
"That's not possible" asked Ginny, "Malfoy's a fourth year."
"Right" said Ron, "the prefects are actually Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini."
"Good" said Neville, "I was afraid he might get extra tutoring to come back into our year. I'm glad that didn't happen."
"That's nice for you" growled Ginny, "but Luna and I are stuck with him in our year."
"I wouldn't worry too much" said Hermione, "on our way back from the meeting Ron and I ran into both Malfoy and Parkinson."
"Parkinson is as awful as ever and very angry she didn't get picked to be a prefect" added Ron, "Malfoy on the other hand – "
"What happened with Malfoy?" asked Ginny.
"He was quiet" said Hermione, "it was completely out of character for him. He didn't sneer at either of us once and he actually reprimanded Parkinson when she tried to insult us."
"Who is he and what has he done with Draco Malfoy?" asked Ginny, "that doesn't sound like him at all."
"You can thank the X-Men for that" said Luna suddenly causing everyone else to look at her.
"How do you know about that?" asked Ron.
"The Nargles told me" said Luna in her dreamy way.
"I'm sure they did" said Neville, "do you know everything?"
"I don't know" said Luna.
"Do you know about the letter?" asked Neville.
"Yes" said Luna.
"And the hearing?"
"They told me about that too" said Luna.
"I didn't hear about that" said Hermione, "I knew the charges against him were dismissed but not why."
"Same here" said Ron.
"What are you talking about?" asked Ginny.
"Ah yes" said Neville, "none of you (except for Luna because she's a seer) know about what happened at Malfoy's hearing. You all know about the letter he sent Professor X before the battle, right?"
"Harry told us it had to be kept secret for Malfoy's safety" said Hermione.
"The three of us know and so do the twins" said Ron, "but we don't know what happened at his hearing except for what Hermione said."
"And you'll have a hard time finding out" said Neville, "the record of the case was sealed afterwards until and unless Malfoy says otherwise. I only know because I spent the summer at the X-Mansion so I heard everything."
"Well?" asked Ron, "don't keep us in suspense."
"It can't leave this room" said Neville.
"It won't" said Hermione casting a Muffliato spell so no one outside the compartment would know.
"The X-Men came to the hearing and spoke in Malfoy's defense" said Neville, "I don't know what the exact testimony was but knowing what we all know about the letter Malfoy wrote I think it's pretty easy to figure out."
"That would do it" said Ron.
"Harry told me that, as Lightning, he made a statement on Malfoy's behalf too" said Neville. "He also told me that after the battle at Hogwarts he talked to Malfoy and urged him to be a little nicer to people in the future and not care so much about blood status. From what you two said about his behavior just now it sounds like he listened."
"Wow" said Ginny, "does he know that Harry is Lightning?"
"No" said Neville, "and Harry said it's going to stay that way."
"That's probably wise" said Hermione.
"Don't worry" said Ron, "none of us will tell anyone about this."
"I know" said Neville.
"Damn" said Ron suddenly, "I'm going to have to be nice to Malfoy now – well, if he's nice to me at least. I never thought that would happen."
"Wonders will never cease" said Luna.
The train ride continued. The snack cart came by and went although nobody bought anything this time. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna all wanted to hear about Neville's time at the X-Mansion so for much of the trip he told them about it, including learning more about his mutant power, getting the new code name of "Sculptor" to replace his old one of "Shaper," spending time with the X-Men and sometimes watching them train, meeting the new students and what they were like, and finally a little about Harry's trip although the others already knew about some of that having seen Harry over the summer when he was in Britain. Neville didn't tell them about what had happened to Harry in Africa (especially Wakanda) as he thought Harry should be the one to tell them about that if he wanted to.
It was some time later that Malfoy dropped by their compartment and he was alone. He looked at the people in the compartment while they looked at him. All of them seemed to be reluctant to speak first, in fact Malfoy seemed to be at a loss over what to say. After a few moments he left again.
"What was that?" asked Ron who was the first to speak up after Malfoy left.
"I don't know" said Neville, "but if that's how he's going to behave from now on I think I can live with it."
"I don't think it's just his relationship with the X-Men" said Hermione, "I think he's also unsure about his standing in the school now. His father was one of the Death Eaters who was executed over the summer. That would impact anyone. Also he's still one grade behind everyone else. The dynamics in Slytherin House are probably quite different now."
"He also doesn't have his father to hide behind anymore" said out Luna. That gave made everyone stop and think. Malfoy had always used his father like a weapon to intimidate people but that weapon was gone now. Who knew what things would be like for him in Slytherin. And God help him if any of his house mates found out about his role in thwarting Voldemort.
The train rolled on and eventually they got to Hogwarts. Soon they had all ridden the carriages up to the castle and taken their places in the Great Hall to wait for the sorting and the start of term feast. Neville idly looked up at the staff table.
"Hey look at that" he said to the others, "Professor Tonks is back and Snape's not here. I hope this means she's continuing on with potions this year. I did so much better in that class after she took it over."
"So did I" said Ron, "Professor Lupin's back too, We'll have another good year in DADA."
"I heard that they broke curse on the Defense position" said Hermione, "it's good to have a consistent teacher for such an important class, especially as this is our OWL year."
"Don't remind me already" groaned Ron, "it's only the first of September."
"June will be here before you know it" said Hermione sternly but before Ron could reply Professor McGonagall entered the Great Hall followed by the new first years. The sorting happened immediately after that. The Sorting Hat sang a song about looking for friends in all houses, especially now that the threat of war had been dealt with. All four houses received roughly an equal number of new first years who were all cheered on by their new classmates. Finally Dumbledore stood up to open the feast.
"Good evening" he said to the school, "and welcome to another year here at Hogwarts. Now let's eat." He raised his hands and the tables were all covered with dishes of food which the hungry students all immediately attacked with gusto.
"Hogwarts feasts never get old" said Ron as he ate.
"I agree" said Hermione, "but could you at least chew with your mouth closed?"
"Sorry" muttered Ron but he did as Hermione asked.
When the feast was ending Dumbledore stood up to make the start of term announcements as he always did. He ran through the usual notices about not doing magic in the hallways, consulting Filch's list for banned items, the Forbidden Forest remaining forbidden, Quidditch Trials, etc. Then he came to staffing notes.
"As you can all see" he said, "Professor Tonks has returned to teach Potions as our new permanent Potions Mistress." Dumbledore had to stop for a moment as most of the student body cheered before he could continue.
"She will also be taking over as the new head of Slytherin house as Professor Snape is taking a leave of absence this year" he continued. "When he returns he will mainly be doing research and may take on the occasional Mastery apprentice but he will no longer teach the regular years." There was more cheering at that causing Dumbledore to give a rueful smile at McGonagall who have him a pointed look as if to say "I told you this would happen."
"In addition" Dumbledore continued once the cheering died down again, "I'm pleased to announce the return of Professor Lupin as our Defense Professor. Since we finally found and removed the curse that Lord Voldemort had placed upon the position it is my hope that this will be the last opening feast for which I'm introducing a new regular Defense Professor for a long time to come." There was some appreciative applause at that, especially from the OWL and NEWT year students who were glad to have a familiar teacher back again that they knew was good at the job.
"Finally" said Dumbledore, "before I send you all off to bed I have a hope I'd like to express for this coming year. We've had several unusual years here at our school including full battles defending it these last two years. Now that Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters are defeated it is my hope that we will be able to have a quiet, normal year at Hogwarts without a lot of extra drama. We are a school after all, not a battleground. That is my wish and I hope you all share it. Now off to bed with you all."
As everyone left the Great Hall the students discussed what Dumbledore said about wishing for a normal year. It was a good wish and they all hoped it would come true.
Unfortunately it was not to be, although it would be a couple of months before anyone would know that.
In America Labor Day fell on Monday, September 4th so Ilvermorny had its start of term feast on Friday the 8th before starting classes the following Monday. As Ororo had returned to Uagadou in Africa Harry was at first going to skip the opening feast at Ilvermorny but decided at the last minute to go even though Ororo wouldn't be there. The sorting of the new students still had to take place and Harry decided he'd like to see that.
As Ilvermorny sortings went it was pretty normal. Almost every new student was claimed by only one of the house statues making their sortings easy. A couple were claimed by two and got to choose which of the two houses they wanted to go to. Unlike when Ororo was sorted no one was claimed by all four houses.
Harry didn't stay much beyond that, choosing to return to the X-Mansion once the sorting was done. Everything had been nice and normal with nothing happening that evening which would seem to foreshadow some nasty event to come during the year. Harry hoped against hope that, potential X-Men adventures aside, and barring the fact that this was his OWL year, this would be a quieter year for him.
He should have known better although at first it did seem like the year would be a quieter one. Harry enrolled in one-on-one lessons to start learning how to play the guitar in addition to his other classes and was enjoying it so far. He practiced almost every day after dinner but made sure to stop before it got too late so no one would have their sleep disturbed by hearing his playing through the walls.
September came and went with no problems. October also seemed to slip by calmly with nothing on the horizon as Halloween began to creep up on Harry yet again.
At the of University of Colorado in Boulder Cain Marko had recently started classes and after a few days had decided that he really liked college. As he reflected on that fact he gave a rueful smile over just how opposite his attitude was now to much earlier in his life. In fact he remembered that when he first met his step-brother he had just been expelled from his then school but claimed that he really left because he decided that "there wasn't anything else those creeps could teach me" (see X-Men #12). Recent experience however had made him realize that there was a lot out there to learn. He didn't know exactly what he wanted to major in right now but he was only a freshman and had time to think about what he was most interested in.
He did take a basic class in magic and mythology. His exposure to the power of Cyttorak had made him interested in learning more about the occult and this class seemed like a good place to start even if its focus was on better known myths like the Greek and Roman ones, the Arthurian stories (especially those focusing on Merlin), and so on. The class didn't delve far into the more obscure legends and figures of magic but that was okay. He was enjoying himself and that was what mattered most. As for Juggernaut Cain was quite willing to give his alter ego a rest for a while until he might be needed again, and who knew when that would be?
Magneto was ready. It had taken him many days to fix up one of the derelict spaceships on this planet where the Stranger had imprisoned him and now he was ready to go. The Stranger had underestimated his power when he'd left him here. Magneto's power could fix just about anything metallic, and the derelict ships on this planet certainly qualified.. As for giving the ship power his magnetic power was able to do that too as it activated the atomic pile which powered the ship.
"Here we go" said Magneto as he initiated the ship's take off sequence. Soon he was out in space and speeding away from the planet where he'd been imprisoned.
"It will take several weeks for me to get home" Magneto said to himself as the ship made its way out of the planet's system, "but it'll be worth it to get my revenge on the X-Men. As for the Stranger I'll be long gone from that planet when, or even if, he ever decides to check up on me."
On Earth Logan was spending another day in this cell that he'd woken up in trying not to go mad from boredom. He didn't know where he was or how he'd gotten there but he knew he didn't want to be here. The first time he'd woken up after being captured he was strapped down to an operating table with a man looming over him.
"You're awake" said the man. Logan tried to activate his claws but he was too groggy and disoriented to be able to concentrate properly to do it. It was all he could do to listen to this man talk.
"Who are you?" Logan said in a slurry voice.
"I'm Dr. Bolivar Trask" was the reply, "and you're in my base. Now I have a question. What are you?"
"I don't understand" said Logan blinking and trying to wake up more.
"My initial tests came back showing that you're a mutant" said Trask, "except for the metal bonded to your skeleton. Tests show it to be Adamantium. There's no natural way I know of that could cause that, whether you're a mutant or not. How did your skeleton get like that?"
"I got no clue bub" said Logan.
"Why not?" asked Trask.
"Something happened to me somehow" said Logan. "I don't remember anything from before a few months ago. Why am I here?"
"We'll talk about that some other time" said Trask picking up a syringe filled with fluid, "I have other things I need to do now. Enjoy your stay."
"Bub, when I get free I'm gonna to cut you to ribbons" growled Logan sounding a bit more awake.
"No you won't" said Trask as he injected the fluid into Logan's arm, "you'll never get free if I have anything to say about it." Logan would have replied but the substance Trask had injected him with quickly knocked him out again.
The next time Logan woke up he found himself in the cell that he had been in ever since. It was made of metal and was completely bare of any furniture. The only things that broke the sameness of the walls, floor and ceiling were the outline of the door on one side and a hole in one of the corners that could be used for bodily waste.
Logan brought out his claws and tried to cut his way out of the cell but it didn't work. He quickly realized that the metal that made up the cell was also Adamantium which his claws couldn't cut. He really was trapped.
He didn't know how long he'd been in this cell by now. The only thing that marked the time was that every now and then the lights in the cell would go out for a while as if signaling it was time to sleep. The next morning – or whatever time it was – when they came back on again there would be a paper plate of food waiting for him on the floor, presumably slid into the cell from a slot somewhere. This always happened when the lights were off so Logan didn't see where the plate came from. The first time this happened a note was included telling him to ball up the used plate when he was done eating and toss it down the hole.
Time passed as Logan slept (on the floor), ate, and, because he had nothing else to do, exercised a lot to keep in shape and to take his mind off of the boredom of his situation. He hadn't seen or spoken with Trask again and he had no idea when, or even if, he would ever get out of this hellish place.
In his Sanctum Sanctorum Dr. Strange had made almost no progress in discovering what crisis the world would soon face. All he knew was that it was almost here. All the divining of the future he had done indicated that something big would happen soon. He hoped he would be ready to deal with it when it came.
In the Sea of Japan Godzilla was both perplexed and worried. He was perplexed because he still didn't know what these boxes that were scattered along the floor of the sea were for. It had been several weeks since he first found them and nothing had happened with any of them. He was worried because the sheer number of them was far more than he originally thought they would be. By now he had traveled up and down the coast of Japan on both the eastern side and the western side and there were boxes all over the place. It was as if someone was laying the groundwork for some sort of invasion. It wasn't just in Japan either. There were more boxes off of the coast of China too, although that was outside of Godzilla's jurisdiction (so to speak). He didn't worry about them very much right now but he did realize that whatever was happening wouldn't be confined to just Japan.
Godzilla knew that if all of the boxes activated at once he wouldn't be able to handle them on his own. He would need help from at least one other kaiju to possibly serve as a second line of defense. Once again he sent out a mental call to any other guardian kaiju who might be awake and this time there was an answer. Rodan was awake and was demanding to know why Godzilla had disturbed him. Through their mental link Godzilla communicated to Rodan exactly what was going on and this calmed down the second kaiju who sent back that he would be on guard against anything that came out of the sea and tried to attack Japan. The two kaiju agreed that if whatever was in these boxes woke up that Godzilla would stop as many of them as he could while they were still in the water and Rodan would back him up and try to deal with any that got past Godzilla and made it to land. Once this was decided the two kaiju settled back to await further developments. Neither thought they would have to wait for very long.
On a Monday morning in late September Severus Snape was having a relaxing breakfast at home. His house was called Spinner's End and he didn't like being back at his old family home all that much, especially with how he was brought up and with it bringing back the memories of his friendship with Lily who had lived not too far away. Hogwarts had definitely been a better place to live except for the fact that he had to teach classes there. He was honest enough with himself to admit that he hated teaching kids and wasn't cut out to do it. Being here at Spinner's End was relaxing simply because there were no classes of snot nosed brats for him to deal with. That alone made it worth his while to be here again. It was quiet and he liked that. He felt he could hear himself think for the first time in a long time.
He was fully recovered from his ordeal earlier that year when he had been tortured for weeks by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The experience had left him catatonic and if it hadn't been for the intervention of Professor X he might still be trapped in his mind.
He owed the mentor of the X-Men quite a bit for helping him to recover his sanity. He had no idea how he could ever repay the man for what he had done but he hoped to think of something eventually. He'd made a small start by telling Professor X to call him by his first name.
Since his return to his childhood home Snape had kept busy by first setting up a new potions lab in one of the back rooms on the ground floor of the house. Once everything had been fixed up to his satisfaction he had begun brewing again. Although he was taking a sabbatical from Hogwarts he was still going to brew needed potions for Madame Pomfrey to use in the hospital wing. There were plenty of those to brew from calming draughts and nutrient potions to blood replenishers and Skelegrow. He may have hated teaching but he liked brewing potions. It was relaxing to him and potions made sense. They were one of the few things in his world that did make sense and he couldn't remember what the other things were right now.
He also had spent some time thinking over his talk with Lightning regarding his attitude toward Harry Potter. He was honest enough with himself to admit that Harry had never actually done anything to him to deserve the way he treated the boy. It was entirely because of Harry's father, Snape's history with the man, and the fact that Harry looked just like James except for his mother's eyes that had caused Snape to act in the way he had towards Harry.
Snape had often accused Harry of being just like his father but upon recent reflection Snape had to admit that Harry wasn't just like his father. He wasn't a bully, he didn't often play pranks (and when he did they were fairly harmless, like the howler he'd sent Draco Malfoy two years ago), and he didn't act like he thought he was better than everyone else the way James often had. No, Snape had allowed himself to see what he wanted to see when Harry had first arrived at Hogwarts and had treated him accordingly. Snape understood that Harry hadn't deserved the treatment he had gotten from him but he didn't know what he could do about it now. Perhaps it was best that the two of them never saw each other again.
Just as Snape was finishing breakfast there was a knock on his front door. Snape frowned when he heard it. The only person who knew he was here was Headmaster Dumbledore and he wasn't sure he wanted to deal with the headmaster this early in the morning. Knowing Dumbledore as he did, however, Snape knew the headmaster wouldn't go away if he ignored his knocks. He'd find some other way to get in touch with Snape. He always did when he really needed to speak with the Potions Master. It was best to just get it over with.
"All right Albus, what is it?" Snape asked as he opened his door before stopping in surprise. It wasn't Dumbledore at all.
"What on Earth – ?" Snape began as he saw his visitors but before he could say any more he was struck by an unknown force and rendered unconscious. One of the intruders picked up Snape and began walking away while the other shut the door of the house to avoid early suspicions of something being wrong. It didn't work as just a little later that same morning Dumbledore did come to see Snape and found him not at home. He left a brief message for Snape to contact him in the Potion Master's mailbox. When it wasn't answered in a timely manner Dumbledore realized that something had happened to Snape again. He tried sending an owl with a letter containing a tracking charm to Snape but the owl came back without being able to deliver the letter. When he tried scrying for Snape he got no results which meant that he was in a location where magic couldn't reach him. Even Fawkes the Phoenix couldn't find him.
When Dumbledore investigated Snape's house later he didn't find any magical traces around it. Whatever had happened to Snape hadn't been magical in nature. Dumbledore had no idea what had happened to Snape this time or where he could possible be.
(To Be Continued)
A/N - That's all for this week. Next time it's Halloween again and the **** is really going to start hitting the fan. So come on back to see what's going to happen.
Thanks go to Wijibo who suggested the name of Sculptor for Neville.
As always please take a moment to leave me some feedback. Constructive comments are always welcome but no flames or trolls please. Stay safe and well everyone.