Part One
Gone. There one moment, gone the next. The spot Harry, his Harry, had just been was empty. Vacant. The world seemed to have stopped, as if waiting for him to will time to reverse. To give him just that one extra moment of awareness. To have seen Sirius coming up from behind. To have noticed that wild look in the man’s eyes. To have reached out, grabbed Harry, and held him close.
Instead, his son was just…gone.
“Harry,” the yell of Tony brought the world crashing back down around Loki, bringing him back to reality, “Loki, who the hell was that? Where is our son,” Tony yelled
“Sirius…it was Sirius,” Loki muttered, still too stunned to process what was happening fully, “He took him,”
Arthur Weasley was already casting his Patronus, a weasel bursting into existence beside him.
“Tell Kingsley and Madame Bones that Harry has been taken by Sirius Black and may be in danger. Let-,” he paused for a moment, looking over at Tony who seemed to be talking to himself, “Let Dumbledore know as well. If there is anyone who knows what Sirius Black could be doing, it would be him,”
“FRI, I want you to pull every satellite we have access to. Even the secret S.H.I.E.L.D ones. I want you to scan every inch of this planet for Harry’s face, you understand,” Tony all but yelled to the A.I., his earpiece having reconnected once they were out of the Ministry
“You got it Boss. Should I alert the team,” FRIDAY questioned, her tone gone from its normal jovial sound to something far more serious
“Yeah, get Barton, Natascha, and Lang ready to roll as soon as possible. I’m not taking any chances with this Sirius Black. He stole my son, right in front of me. I’m going to make him bleed,”
“Depending on where he took him, that might be difficult,” Loki had gotten out of his stupor, his once fine wizarding robes replaced with his Asgardian armor, “Your team's tech is probably going to short out wherever he has Harry. Your suit is going to be a no-go as well,”
“That’s why I’m only bringing those three. Bows and bullets should be low-tech enough to work with magic,”
“And Lang? Isn’t his shrinking skill technology,” Loki questioned
“Chemistry, not tech. Point is, they are coming. And I don’t need a suit of armor to protect my son. I’ll pry him out of that man’s arms without it,” Tony growled
Arthur Weasley joined the other two, looking just as distress as they were.
“I have an idea of where he may be taking Harry. I can’t say the name of the place, no one can since Sirius kicked us out. The house has a spell on it, so only one person can ever know its true location. If it helps, I know it is here in London,”
Tony looked over at the wizard, once again moving the man higher up on his Christmas list.
“Maybe. If Sirius has ever set foot out of whatever magical crash pad he has here, I can have FRIDAY search for him. Go through camera records and trace his steps. You hear that FRIDAY? There should be a file on Sirius Black you can access, the one with Harry’s friends. Find him and I’ll upgrade your server space sweetie,” Tony didn’t wait for confirmation, knowing his AI was already on the job. Instead he pulled out his phone and quickly scrolled down his contacts, arriving at ‘Moustache Bro’ and dialing the number,
“Most powerful Sorcerer and he can’t even pick up his phone,” Tony grumbled, before finding his eyes filled with sparkling gold flashes of light.
A portal framed by a spinning ring casting sparks onto the ground appeared before Tony. Within it, he could see a vast desert of some kind as well as hear shouting and the sound of roars. He was about to move when a red gauntlet came flying out of the portal before it snapped shut. Catching it, Tony looked it over, pulling off a hastily written sticky note.
‘Stark. Can’t come save your son, but this should help in a pinch. Do. Not. Break. This’
“Well, guess we won’t have any Supreme back up. Loki, can you get us back to the house? I can work with FRIDAY better from there than out here,”
“No problem. Mr. Weasley, you should come with us. You know Sirius Black better than either of us I’d imagine,”
“No. The only person who really knows Sirius would be Harry. Or Remus Lupin. Besides, you’ll need some help from my lot I reckon. I’ll come find you all when we have more manpower. The more eyes looking for Harry, the better. And we will find him. I don’t know what is going on with Sirius but he would never hurt Harry,”
As if speaking truth to his words, several Patronus came cantering towards him, their words for Arthur’s ears only. Loki could have listened in, but his focus was elsewhere. If need be, he would find out what was said later. Instead, he gently hooked his arm around Tony’s and called upon his own magic.
While it wasn’t as flashy as the Sorceress and their sling rings, Loki took pride that his own method of transportation was rather simple and easy. One moment they were in front of the ministry, in the next they had appeared back at their London base of operations, framed by nothing more than a flash of green fire.
“Warn a guy next time,” Tony demanded, looking green behind the ears before he swallowed the sick back, “Alright, it’s time to get to work. FRIDAY, is the team ready to go,”
“All parties are waiting for you in the War Room Boss, including Peter. He is insistent that he comes along. Said he had a bad feeling about this,”
“Swear, all that kid knows is movie quotes,” Tony snarked under his breath as he walked for the elevator, Loki hot on his heels, “Fine. FRIDAY, any hits on Sirius you found,” he asked as the elevator doors slid shut
“Nothing yet, but I’ll find him,” the AI was determined, something Tony was glad to hear
“That’s my girl,” he praised before the elevator stopped and he walked into the lab that doubled as the war room.
Lang, Natascha, and Clint were geared up and ready to go, clearly just waiting for the word. Peter was wearing his suit, but the teen seemed far more on edge than normal. His eyes were wide and his movements erratic.
“Mr. Stark, I know you are going to say no, but I have to go with you. I just…whatever is going it has been sending my sense haywire since Harry left. It’s like it picking up on something that just doesn’t feel right,”
“Pete, I’m going to need you to take a break for a moment. I’ve got a lot on my plate and while I know you think your whole freaky spider sense is right, I’m not losing another kid today,” Tony said
“Another? Are we about to storm a magical government because you didn’t get custody of your kid,” Natascha asked, with not a shred of judgment in her voice
“Yeah, because we were already down here talking Bug Boy out of running off again, when FRI told us to get ready,” Clint chimed in
“Not exactly,” Loki said, “We won custody of Harry, however he was kidnapped by a man named Sirius Black the moment we left the Ministry,” he finished with a somber note
“Black? Isn’t that the kid's godfather or something,” Scott asked, “The one he was living with when he got all banged up,” Clint fixed Scott with a confused look, “He mentioned it one time over breakfast,”
“That’s the one, and I’m going to have him sleeping with the fishes if he doesn’t give me my son back,” Tony growled
“That’s cute and all, but I know you Tony,” Natascha started, “Between you and the green asshole, I’m sure you both would have torn him apart already, which means you have no idea where he is, do you,”
“Green asshole, really,” Loki admonished, “And for your knowledge, the most likely place that Sirius took Harry is under a type of charm that makes it impossible to know or speak of its location. If we can get close enough to it though, I should be able to break through the magic given enough time,”
As the group began to talk, Tony tuned most of them out, his mind focused on going through the images and video that FRIDAY had pulled up for him. He would have loved to join in, to help plan, but he was far too worried about his son. The pain he was feeling wasn’t something he wasn’t sure he could put into words. What he did know was that it was motivating him like never before. His son had been only a few feet away from him and he had been snatched like it was nothing. After he got him back, Tony was going to devote every bit of his life to making sure it never happened again. Even if it meant breaking the laws of magic to do so.
“-ony. Tony, did you hear us,” the voice of Clint cut through the noises in the man’s mind
“Sorry, what’d you say Barton,”
“I asked what’s that you got in your hands there, been clutching it since you came in,”
The item in question was the gauntlet that Strange had thrown to him. Honestly, it just felt nice to have something in his hands, and calm down his natural urge to fidget when things got stressed.
“Gift from Dr. Oz. Considering we are going up against magic that doesn’t play well with my toys, I’m guessing it’s to even the playing field,” Tony said slowly, before pushing his hand into the golden bit of armor.
Almost instantly he felt heat spread along his arms as golden light spilled from the gauntlet. The strands wove themselves around his body, forming runes and other designs that Tony had no hope of ever understanding. The runes flashed for a moment before vanishing entirely, leaving all parties confused.
“Was…was that a good thing or-,” Peter asked as he cocked his head to the side, clearly trying to see if he could science out an explanation
Loki, however, preferred a more hands-on approach to getting answers. With a lazy wave of his hand, he shot a harmless burst of green fire at Tony. The golden light from before flashed into existence, blocking the burst of green flames from ever touching Tony. That didn’t stop both Clint or Natascha from drawing their weapons at him.
“See, magical protection runes. Ones designed to absorb magic that strikes it,” Loki said by way of explanation, “Though I have no idea how you would use it for offe-,”
Tony stretched out his palm and from the center of the gauntlet a beam of golden light came flying out, taking out a chunk from the wall.
“Huh, magic repulsor blasters. I wonder-no. Can’t get distracted by this. Son first and then this later. The moment we get a lock on where Sirius is we head out. Harry is your number one safety. Leave Sirius to me,”
“You mean us. You aren’t the only one who wants to get Harry back and revenge at the same time,” Loki added before he stiffened, “And it seems we are about to have guests,”
At his words several pops sounded, followed by two trained spies, a thief, and a teen with spider powers looking ready to jump at the five Wixen who arrived unannounced.
“If any of you so much as twitch towards a wand, I’ll shoot off your fingers,” Clint informed them, two arrows already nocked in his bow
“I do apologize for our unplanned arrival, but I assure you, we mean no harm,” the grandfatherly voice of Dumbledore sounded, “We are here to help with the rescue of Harry,”
The elder wizard was flanked by Arthur Weasley as well as Kingsley Shacklebolt and a disgruntled Moody. Joining them was the pink-haired Tonk, her wand tucked behind her ear as she held up her hands
“You already got me once, archer man. I’m not keen to deal with that again,” she nodded toward Clint who merely adjusted his aim to keep her in his sights
“Don’t turn into my boss or friends and you got yourself a deal,”
Before she could respond, Shacklebolt fixed Tonks with a glare that kept her in line.
“Worry not, despite how your first meeting went, it is as Albus says. We are here to help. Sirius Black is still a highly trained Hit Wizard, while we don’t know why he kidnapped Harry, we do know he is still dangerous,” Shacklebolt said
“The why doesn’t matter. What does matter is finding my son. If you are here to help, you can start by telling me about this magic getaway house that Arthur mentioned Sirius having,” Tony demanded, drawing himself to his full height, his eyes even with Dumbledore’s
“There is a house that he has,” Dumbledore began, “One that has been in his family for centuries. While the magic protecting it prevents me from naming it or its location, what I can tell you is that it is a house that is stepped in Black Magic,”
“Meaning what exactly,” Loki questioned, taking a stand beside Tony
“The House of Black was well known for their exploits in Black Magic, it is where their family name originates from. At least that is what the rumor says. Their family all but worshiped the dark,” as he spoke, Dumbledore began to slowly pace around,
“While the Ancient House of Black is all but extinct, their knowledge and spells have been passed down and held within this house that Sirius resides in. When I last visited him, Sirius looked…unwell. He was still dealing with the after-effects of having been in Azkaban, but he had never been as distant as he was then. The Sirius I have come to know was not the one standing in that house, but I feel one that was being…controlled by the latent black magic with the house itself,”
“You saw this and thought it was still a good idea to leave my son there,” Loki growled, “I really should skin you where you stand,”
“I promise you, my boy, I had no idea the extent of how far gone he was at the time. Sirius and his home were the safest places to keep and train Harry,”
“Yeah, he told us about your training,” Tony took a threatening step forward, “Sounded more like abuse at the hands of a man who had no business around children,”
“That boy needed to learn, and sometimes learning hurts,” Moody finally spoke up, “We shouldn’t be talking with these Muggles in the first place, none of them look as if they have ever seen a fight before,” the man finished.
“Oh, we’ve seen a few,” Natascha fixed all of her attention onto the wizard, “Far more than you I’d wager,”
“Then let’s put it to the test lass,” Moody looked ready to cast, only for Shacklebolt to stand between him and Natascha
“This is not what we came here for. We are here to help, and like it or not, those Muggles are who we are working with. We are not going to create more problems by continuing to think we all have the best interest of Mr. Potter in mind,” Shacklebolt said, keeping his eyes on Moody
“Huumph. Sounds like a load of dragon dun to me,” Moody responded but backed down all the same.
Natascha, on the other hand, refused to lower her weapon. If anything, she held Moody’s gaze for just a few moments too long, before her gun was returned to her holster. Clint lowered his bow as well.
“For the record, I can still fire this faster than you can probably cast,” he let them know, before settling back into his chair, bow just inches from his fingertips on the table.
Both sides were wound up tight, but it seemed, at least for now, a moment of peace had been brokered.
“Well, as exciting as that was, I do believe we still need to solve the matter at hand,” Dumbledore gathered his robes and walked over to the table, pulling the chair at its head as if it was his rightful place, “Please, I feel our discussion would be better served with us sitting eye to eye as it were,”
While the Wixen took their seat, closer to Albus and with shifty eyes, everyone else was staring at them with wide-eyed confusion.
“Yeah, if it’s all the same, I’ll stand,” Tony said, fixing Dumbledore with a glare as he shifted to stand beside his teammates, “By the way, Pete, you can take off the mask. You are throwing off the whole vibe of the team right now,”
“Right, sorry Mr. Stark,” Peter pulled off the fabric mask, his hair jutting out at old angles, “So are you guys really here to help Harry,” the teen asked, his voice tinged with doubt
“That is correct. We have a better grasp on what may occur, but as Auror Shacklebolt stated, we want to work together for the sake of Harry,” Dumbledore responded, earning a snort from Loki
“Because you all have done so well before,” the god muttered under his breath, “Still, I won’t begrudge your help. Before we left the Ministry, Arthur mentioned that Sirius has a place in London, I assume it’s the same one you were speaking of,”
“Yes, the very same. Sirius has removed us from the wards as well as the Fidelus charm that makes the house unknowable. If we can find a way around that charm, perhaps by interrogating one of the remaining members of the House of Black, then we may find a way inside,”
“I already tried Auntie Narcissia when my mum told me she doesn’t know where it is,” Tonks jumped in, her hair darkening to a deep blue as she spoke, “She wants nothing to do with me or my mum,”
“Which would leave Bellatrix, who escaped Azkaban not too long ago,” Shacklebolt added
“Well, seeing as your magic is batting pretty low right now, it’s a good thing I’ve got FRIDAY searching for Sirius,” Tony placed his phone on the table and a hologram screen projected itself into the air.
While Moody and Shacklebolt tightened their grips on their wands, Arthur looked positively giddy at the display of technology, while Dumbledore kept the same grandfatherly look on his face.
The hologram was of several camera feeds from all over London, each one being sped through
“FRIDAY is checking every camera she has access to and is looking for any snippet of Sirius’s face. The moment she finds him, we will know just where this hobbit hole of his is and we can go and save my kid,”
“You expect me to believe you can find him with these cameras,” Moody groused, “Muggles and your tricks have nothing on good-fashioned magic. All I need is a bit of blood from Potter and I can find him-,”
“You will not be using my sons’ blood for a scrying ritual,” the air around Loki seemed to drop in temperature, “I do not trust any of you to dispose of it when the ritual is done. Not only that, but I have already tried searching for him before when he lived with Sirius. The wards on the house make it impossible to find him that way,”
“And what makes you such an expert on this? To me you just look like a Muggle playing dress up,” Moody was on a warpath, looking to needle them all
“I’m the God of Magic, you inept fool. I know more about magic than anyone in this room,”
At his words, the room began to devolve back into chaos, both sides bickering and posturing to the other. The only person who wasn’t joining in was Peter. The teen had a look on his face, his head turned slightly to the side. His Spider-Sense was starting to act up again, loud alarm bells ringing in his brain. The danger, however, was coming from anyone in the room. It felt far away, but potent. He could practically hear the danger screaming in his ears.
“Guys, can you all just cool it,” he suddenly said, so focused on trying to decipher what his sense was warning him about that he didn’t notice how loud he had said that.
“Pete, what’s going on,” Scott asked, “Is it your spider-sense thing,”
The teen was about to answer when he suddenly turned pale,
“Everyone, hold on to something,” he shouted.
The moment he spoke, the world began to rumble around them all. The walls and floors shook violently as an earthquake began to raise havoc. The underground room wasn’t built with earthquakes in mind, as light fixtures began to sway on their chains before falling from the ceiling, alongside other bits of debris. A glittering golden dome covered the table and its occupants, having been cast by Dumbledore.
“I thought London never got quakes,” Clint shouted over the roar of the earth around them moving and a thundering sound of things collapsing above them
“It shouldn’t, at least not one this strong,” Tony yelled back, having found himself pulled beside Loki
The shaking lasted for a few more minutes before finally dying out. Dumbledore dispelled the dome and the group stood in the trashed war room. Chunks of concrete and rebar covered the ground and the walls were sporting a number of cracks winding along their surface.
“Is everyone alright,” Arthur asked, his wand out and casting a white glow in the darkened room
“For the most part. What was that, like a 7.5,” Clint questioned, having pulled out a flashlight to help light the area
“FRI, can you get backup power running,”
“Sure, thing boss, power will be up in a few moments. The entire main structure of the house has collapsed, and the elevator and stairs are currently inaccessible. Not only that, but I’ve got eyes on the epicenter of the quake, you are going to want to see this,”
The sound of a generator powering up filled everyone’s ears as emergency lights began to flicker on. The table projected a video into the air, made hard to see by the dust floating in the air. All the same, everyone looked at the display. Taken from above, an imposing manor had seemingly risen from the ground. The area around it looked to have taken the worst of the quake. The ground had been split apart, any structures that had once been there had been swallowed into the earth. The clouds around them were of a deep green color, making the entire area look and feel dead.
“Merlin above and Morgana below,” breathed Shacklebolt as he looked at the destruction, “What is that,”
“That, my friend, is Grimmauld Manor,” Dumbledore responded, “It seems that its sudden emergence has broken the Fidelus on it. That is where we will find both Sirius and Harry,”
“Alright, FRI, I want you to get rescue operations underway, if anyone asks, we are handling it. I want you to get whatever crisis team this country has to mobilize search and rescue in the area. Lang, can you handle getting us out of here,”
“I’m on it Cap. I mean Iron Man. I mean Tony…sir,” Scott eventually got out before snapping the helmet of his suit closed and shrinking out of sight.
“Pete, is that sense of yours still going off, I don’t want to be caught by any aftershocks,” Tony asked the teen
“I don’t think so. It’s still going off, but not as strongly as before. I think it is reacting to whatever that evil house is,”
“Fascinating. Are you able to feel the magic of Grimmauld Manor all the way from here my boy,” Dumbledore looked at Peter, trying to find the boy's eyes with his own twinkling blue irises
“Uhh, I guess. I don’t know how it works,” Peter responded, shuffling uncomfortably away from Dumbledore and closer to Natascha
“Hey, Gandalf, you’ve already meddled in one kid’s life too much," Natascha's hand curled around her gun as she glared down Dumbledore, "Can’t you guys magic your way out of here,”
“We can, but it would take a while to get you all out,” Tonks said, shaking the dust from her hair, “That and I don’t think you lot would like Apperating. You don’t seem all too trustful,”
“She isn’t wrong,” Clint muttered to Natascha who just nodded in response
“Don’t worry about us, Lang will get us out of here soon. If you want to help, wait for us at this home and garden nightmare,” Tony jabbed his finger through the hologram, “IF you really want to work with us and help us get my son back, then wait for us there. Use your magic mojo to help anyone you see,”
“And what makes you think you can order us around,” Moody, predictably, shouted
“Right now, I’m a dad trying to get his son back. Beyond that, I’m fucking Iron Man. If you want to check my credentials then leave the stone age and Google me,”
Tony and Moody stared each other down, the latter looking ready for a reason to start slinging spells. Instead the battle-hardened wizard grumbled under his breath before turning on his heel and vanishing with a loud pop.
“What’s a Google,” Tonks couldn’t help but ask
“Now is not the time. Tonks, head back to the Ministry, tell them to be prepared for potential Muggles that will need aid as well as memory adjustments. It is going to be hard enough to keep this under the rug as is, let alone if we have Muggles caught in the crossfire,” Shacklebolt ordered.
Tonks gave the man a nod before vanishing with a pop as well.
“If you are worried about this breaking the statue of secrecy, I think we could help with that,” Loki slid closer to Shacklebolt and Dumbledore, “You all are so woefully out of touch with Muggles and their modern society that you truly have no idea how easy it is for them to spread the word about this. Within hours, if not minutes, all of this will be seen by Muggle eyes across the world,”
“What are you proposing Loki,” Dumbledore narrowed his gaze at the god
“Simple. We make sure any digital proof of the Wixen world involvement in this incident is deleted and in exchange, Harry stays out of your war,” Loki offered
“That isn’t possible. Harry has far too important of a role to play. He is pivotal in the defeat of Voldemort,”
“I wasn’t talking to you, my boy,” Loki brushed Dumbledore aside, standing before Shacklebolt, “Unless you wish to find out how fast information can spread these days and spend months trying to preserve your Statue of Secrecy, I would suggest making sure my child does not take part in this foolish war,”
“Hmm, that seems like more than a reasonable request. Are you sure you can erase any trace of Wixen's involvement in what happens today,” Shacklebolt grinned slightly
“You have my word as a God. Do we have a deal,” Loki stretched out his hand towards the man.
Dumbledore tried his best to hide his annoyance and fury as the two men shook hands.
“No matter what you try, you cannot keep Harry from his destiny. He will face the Dark Lord and vanquish him,” Dumbledore didn’t elaborate on his words. Merely turned and vanished with nary a sound.
“Do you think he is a little salty about how the trial went,” Tony asked, earning him a look from both Loki and Shacklebolt
“Dumbledore is a man of many plots. While I will do my best to ensure Harry never sees a battlefield, I cannot say the same for Albus. I would recommend keeping on your toes around him. We will see each other at the manor soon,”
As Shacklebolt left, the only Wixen left was Arthur, who didn’t look as if he was gearing up to go. Instead he was busy looking at the hologram with wonder in his eyes.
“You doing alright over there King Arthur,” Tony asked, drawing the man’s full attention
“King Arthur? While I share a name with the man, I assure you I am not Merlin’s love,” the Weasley patriarch responded, “Or is this yet another one of your nicknames? Severus had said you were fond of them,”
“Did he now? To think I thought he wasn’t a fan,”
“Well, his exact words were along the lines of you being a blundering fool with no respect for someone’s chosen or given name. So, I wouldn’t go as far as saying he was a fan,”
“All the more reason I’ll keep giving him new names. So, you going off with the rest of them or sticking with us,”
“As much as I trust the man, I do not trust Albus to not run off and try and find Harry without you. I’ll keep an eye on him as much as I can. This isn’t the first time he has tried to make fighters out of children. It’s how Molly lost her brothers,” Arthur turned to Tony, a bit shocked as the Muggle placed a hand on his shoulder
“You’re a good man Arthur. If you see Harry before we do, I want you to get him out. I don’t care what you have to do, just promise me you’ll put Harry first,”
“He is practically one of my own, I’ll keep him safe,” Arthur returned the pat on the shoulder before vanishing as well.
Silence filled the war room, only broken up by the sounds of Scott moving away the debris of the fallen house, no doubt in his giant form. Tony looked out on the group left. Nat and Clint were dutifully checking their weapons. Pete held his mask in his hands, lost in thought. Tony drifted his eyes over to Loki, the God coming over to him to lace their fingers together.
“Once we get him back, I am never letting him out of my sight,” Tony swore, his hands clutching tightly to Loki’s
“I second this. For now, we must focus on the task at hand. Are you able to prevent the rest of humanity from finding out about the Wixen world?”
“Information interference was the first routine I programmed into FRIDAY. She is already deleting any traces of videos about this from the internet. As well as blocking out any surveillance that may still be running. I’m sure S.H.I.E.L.D will spin this somehow, so for now we do what we do best,”
“Go in, save the day, and leave you to handle the clean up afterward,” Clint smirked
“Somehow work as a team and have the media give you or Steve the credit,” Natascha added
“Something between both of those,” Tony responded, just as the sound of shifting rubble stopped. A few moments later the door leading to the stairs opened to reveal an out of breath Scott
“I know we are on, like a time crunch,” he said between gulps of air, “But could we stop somewhere for some oranges? All mine got crushed when the house fell. Along with everything else in the kitchen,”
“We’ve got citrus on the Quinjet that FRIDAY should be landing soon. Time to go earn your paycheck Scott,” Tony said as he checked the gauntlet on his arm before running up the steps, the rest of the team in tow, “We’re coming for you, Harry,”
When Arthur Weasley popped into the area around Grimmauld Manor, the first thing he noticed was the sensation of Dark Magic that hung in the air. It was thick and cloying, feeling like he was swimming upstream as he walked about the area. Whatever had been here before was long gone. He could make out the tops of Muggle structures that had sunk into the ground. The way the earth cracked and split, making paths into jagged obstacles that would be impossible to get around.
How anyone could have survived this was beyond him, but all the same he began casting spells in search of any signs of life.
From what he had been told by a few of the other Aurors that Kingsley had pulled to help, there were few Muggles that were alive. Mostly they had been finding bodies that had been trapped under rubble. The survivors they did find, however, had signs of Dark magic exposure. They seemed to be trying to make their way to the manor by any means possible. Some of them had even resorted to trying to claw their way out with their fingers. All of them kept saying they could hear voices in their ears, telling them to go. St. Mungo’s was already treating at least 30 Muggles with more coming in every so often.
“What could have done all this,” Arthur asked to the air as he shifted a wall out of the way, trying to hold back his bile as he uncovered the battered body of yet another Muggle. It was the first body he had seen and like the others, it looked almost emaciated. As if they had their life drained from them. It was hard to tell if it was before or after they had died.
A small pop to his left heralded the arrival of Tonks, whose hair, ever reflective of her mood, was a somber grey color.
“I can’t believe Siri had anything to do with this. He would never-,” Tonks trailed off as she tried to get control of her emotions
“Neither do I. Whatever is going on, it isn’t Sirius behind this. Not really. Dumbledore is more than likely right about him being possessed by something. I’ve never seen Dark Magic this powerful before. Not even during the height of the war,”
“What do we do? Can we just burn down the house and hope that it ends all this madness?”
“Not with Harry still in there, even then, it may not work. When Ginny was possessed by that diary in her first year, she tried to destroy it before things got out of hand. Nothing she did worked. Harry had to stab it with a basilisk fang, and I don’t think we have enough over those to take out this house,”
“So, for now-,” Tonk’s wondered aloud
“Keep finding Muggles, treating those we can. Hope that Albus has a plan that can stop this madness and save Sirius at the same time,” is what Arthur said out loud. Internally though, he knew that if Albus couldn’t find a way to remove whatever was controlling Sirius, the Headmaster would resort to something more drastic.
Something that he hoped wouldn’t happen.
Across the rubble-strewn area, Dumbledore stared at the imposing manor in the distance, his twinkling eyes focused and intent. He had spent most of his time casting as many spells as he could at the manor, trying to find some way to break beyond the wards that seemed hellbent on keeping everyone out. The only people who had been able to enter were the Muggles who were ensnared by the manor magic. Though they had erected a barrier to keep the rest of them at bay, the ones that had made it past were given entrance to the manor with ease.
Dumbledore had known about the manor and its secrets, it was part of the reason why he insisted Sirius not get rid of the home when he became the head of the House of Black. There were many things within its library alone that Dumbledore longed to get his hands on. Yet, even with all his knowledge, he never knew of anything of this magnitude. He could feel the dark magic in the very soil around them, how it was pulling away the life in the earth and funneling it all into the manor.
“I should have burned that place to the ground, with everyone in it years ago,” Dumbledore muttered to himself, his mind cast back to years long since passed.
Of a time when he was a somewhat younger man who had been more lenient with those who touched dark magic. A time when he didn’t have the mental fortitude to destroy evil where he had seen it. A mistake he wasn’t going to make this time. Sirius may have been useful in keeping Harry under his thumb, but if the man was so weak that he allowed the souls within the manor to possess him, he was worthless to Dumbledore and his plans.
Dumbledore felt the ripple of magic in the air that often came before apparition. Keeping his façade on, he watched as Kingsley materialized beside him, the man looking tired beyond belief.
“Have you made any headway on breaking the wards Albus? The Ministry is worried about how long this manor will stay visible to Muggles if we do not deal with it promptly,”
“The magic that the House of Black used is far more powerful than I thought. I’ve barely stripped away the outer layers of the wards and there is very little doubt that they will only be more resilient the further I go,”
“Hmm, in that case we can only hope that Loki is as powerful as he claims to be,”
Dumbledore could barely hide the bristle at that man’s name. He couldn’t feel the magic the man had and that left him feeling far more annoyed than anything. He couldn’t gauge how much of a threat the god could be if he couldn’t feel the man's magic. If only he had the foresight when he had first uncovered the truth about Loki years ago. He could have placed the same blocks that were woven around Harry’s core. For now, though, he was going to have to play this carefully. Harry was still his main focus. He needed the power that prophecy foretold to not only deal with Voldemort, but hopefully to prolong his own life as well.
“Yes, well I find that men who often boast of their power, are often lacking in moral character where it counts. Considering his previous exploits, I wonder how safe he is around Harry,”
“Albus, we are not doing this right now. We have far more pressing matters than your ire towards Potter’s custody. You are lucky that you escaped without being charged as is,”
“My foolish notions may have led to grave mistakes. I just fear that we may have created another in letting Loki and that Muggle into Harry’s life,”
Kingsley looked ready to say more, but both men were drawn away from their conversation by a roaring sound coming from the sky, not unlike that from a dragon. Hot air blew downward on them before the sky itself seemed to be turning black in octagonal patches. It took a moment for both men to realize that it was some Muggle contraption.
The contraption hovered over Dumbledore and it took all his effort to not blast the thing to pieces. Instead, he watched with feigned interest as the group of Muggles jumped down to the ground. While he was wary of most of them, the woman with the red hair vexed him the most. She had those eyes that just seemed to look right through him. Just as Lily had. If he was sure that she was a Muggle, Dumbledore wouldn’t have been shocked if she was a Legilimens of some kind.
“I’m guessing you couldn’t break through the wards,” came the voice of Loki, the God appearing beside them all with Harry’s other parent in tow. Albus didn’t even feel the magic of the apparition and it just added to his ire.
“Quite right my boy. They seemed to be made of far darker magic than I thought. Perhaps you were right in saying you would be the only one capable of getting through,”
“Wow, Gandalf is capable of subtle digs. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t see that coming. Kind of clashes with the wise grandfather thing you have going,” Tony spoke, crossing his arms
“That and he is correct,” Loki was standing before the manor, his hands awash in pulsing green magic, “These wards are complex and layered within themselves. Not only that, but it seems to be bolstered by the magic coming from within the house. I’ll need some time,”
Dumbledore was going to make a comment about how gods should be above needing time, not feeling charitable since he needed help from Loki. However, he felt a ripple of dark magic strike the air. At the same time, he saw Loki drop his hands and the teen who had foreseen the earthquake stiffen
“It would seem the host knows what I’m up to,” the god muttered
A gust of magically induced wind blew the ground backwards, Albus finding it almost impossible to stay on his feet against the force of it. The blast backed them away from the manor, and they watched as the vile green magic began to seep up from the cracks in the ground. The wisps seemed to take crude shapes, or rather something was forming from within. It took a moment, but when the magic faded back into the ground, Albus was in shock at what he saw.
“Inferni”
“Zombies,”
“Dragur,”
Albus, Peter, and Loki look at the bodies that had suddenly appeared from the ground. They were pale, covered in tattered clothing, and with skin that was sallow and grey. A few of them seemed to have wounds that dripped with a foul ichor in thick rivulets.
“Well whatever they’re called, I don’t like the way they are looking at us,” Tony looked out on the collection of bodies, his brain running a mile a minute, “If they are like, the undead, could we un-dead them,”
“No. Once a body becomes Inferni there is no saving them. They are merely husks, doing the bidding of the one who created them,” Shacklebolt spoke with heavy disgust in his voice, “The magic to reanimate the dead is most horrid and foul,”
“Gotcha, so no need to play nice. Kid, you gonna be okay with this,” Clint nocked an arrow, drawing it back and holding it ready
“Uh…yeah. Just…gotta think of Left for Dead or something like that,” there was uncertainty in his voice, but the eyes on Peter’s mask narrowed as he lowered into a stance
“That’s the spirit. Loki, get those wards torn down as soon as you can. We’ll draw away the zombies to give you time to work. You do know how to fight, right,” Tony’s question was aimed at Dumbledore.
To answer, the elder wizard drew his wand and with nothing more than a simple wave of his hand, conjured a brilliant flame and sent it hurtling towards the Inferni. None of the creatures moved, and several of the hordes were engulfed in the magical fire. Their bodies were reduced to ash and those that were closer to the flames were also singed and turning slightly crispy.
“Gotcha, a real ‘You Shall not Pass’ moment. Alright, let’s take these things down,” Tony didn’t have much experience leading the charge for the Avengers, but his words were enough to spur everyone into action.
As for the Inferni, those that had survived the wave of flames began to twitch with life and movement, the commands from their Master being sent through their magic. They were to do one thing, attack and destroy any who tried to get into the manor. More Inferni joined their ranks, being pulled from the earth. They were mostly Muggles, victims of the curse the Black family had placed on the land. While there was a finite amount of bodies, it was more than enough to hold any forces attempting to take Grimmauld Manor.
At least that was what the ancestors of the House of Black originally thought.
Shacklebolt had taken point in the charge, using his quick spell work to raise chunks of the already splintered earth into the air. With considerable effort, the man had created a barricade between the Inferni and the Manor itself, giving Loki room to work his own magic at bringing down the wards. Before he could take a second, he was almost overrun by a group of Inferni who were scrambling on all fours like bestial creatures. A quick ‘bombarda’ sent two of them scattered into pieces, the other two being dispatched by a jinx that bent their limbs and twisted them into useless knots.
Clint had taken up the rear, his hands quickly firing off arrow after arrow into the horde of Inferni. They were fast, but he had learned how to track targets that were moving faster than a bullet. When one would jerk wildly, his arrow would find its target, burying deep into their heads. Unlike the zombies Clint knew about though, these didn’t go down with just a simple headshot. It took more careful targeting at their joints to bring them down. Seeing a handful rushing towards Natascha, Clint quickly switched arrowheads, letting three trick arrows into the air. Thudding into the ground, they exploded with enough force to sheer off a few of the zombie’s limbs in the process.
“Wotcher there arrow man,” came the jovial voice of Tonks as she appeared beside him. Her wand fired off a blast of yellow light and a few of the zombies began to turn into stone, “What other tricks you got in that bag of yours? Anything cooler than magic,”
“Oh, you know, just your standard exploding arrows, electrifying arrows, a couple of acid arrows, even has one that can shrink things,” Clint rattled off his arsenal as he shot a few normal arrows that found their mark in the knees of two of the creatures, “Nothing as handy as turning things to stone though,”
“Why don’t I give you a bit of a hand then, can you shoot off an exploding arrow in the air,” the witch asked
Having a fine mind for combat, as well as for a fair bit of chaos, Clint had an inkling of where she was going with her request. Eyes aimed at the sky, Clint let an arrow fly into the air, gliding above at least a dozen of the monsters. The pink-haired witch said something that Clint had no idea what it was, and sent a shower of silver sparks towards the arrow. The spell hit the arrow, and as Clint expected, one arrow became fifteen.
The bolts fell from the sky and on impact, bombed a number of the zombies. It was rather satisfying to watch in its own way.
“Okay, so maybe magic is a little cooler than arrows,” Clint admitted before Tonks ran off and Clint went back to providing cover fire for his team and the Wixen that were joining the battle.
Deep in the midst of the fighting, Natasha was back-to-back with Arthur Weasley, both of them taking shots when and where they could. Well Arthur’s spell work was doing a lot of heavy lifting, mostly by way of removing limbs from the advancing inferni, Natasha was running into problems. Her guns were doing nothing more than staggering the creatures. Sure, the few she did hit in the knees would collapse from their inability to stand up, but that didn’t stop them from still clawing their way towards them. It reminded her too much of the movies she would watch with her sister from a time long since gone.
“If I’d know I’d be fighting the undead, I would have packed something with a little more punch,” she grunted as she kicked away one of the creatures that had shambled a bit too closely. Arthur had followed it up with a spell that seemingly turned the thing's legs into jelly.
“Your muggle weapon is doing fine enough, don’t be too hard on yourself. Most full-grown wizards have trouble fighting these things,” Arthur encouraged as a well-aimed spell collapsed a portion of the ground, sending a decent number of the Inferni into the depths
“You don’t seem to be having too much trouble,” she sent back, firing a few Widow Stings that caused the muscles of a few of the monsters to seize up constantly
“I am not most wizards,” Arthur responded, blasting away the stunned inferni with a gust of wind, “Same as you are not most Muggles,”
With a slim smile curling up at her lips, Natasha returned her focus to defense, opting to stun or debilitate the shambling corpses to make it easier for Arthur to dispose of.
“Lokes, I would be very grateful if you could hurry along there,” Tony called out behind him, as he fired a bolt of spell-fire. He had to admit, that while he missed his suit, the gauntlet was just as satisfying to use.
“Oh of course Tony, let me just rush dismantling centuries worth of wards for you because you asked,” the god shot back, as he kept his eyes locked on the house. There were several faint shimmers and hazes that could be seen as he continued to peel away the wards
“Mr. Stark, I got incoming your way,” came the voice of Peter over the coms.
Tony turned and watched as the teen webbed up a number of the zombies together before spinning them in a circle and launching them in the air. Not one to pass on a bit of destructive fun, Tony took aim with his magic gauntlet and let a few bolts fly. The spell-fire ate not just through the webbing, but through the zombies as well. Nothing rained down but ash and a few bits of clothing.
“Kid, we really need to go to the shooting range one day,” Tony muttered before he slipped one of the zombies that had been making a run at Loki
“Well I know Tasha has been trying to get me to use the one at the mansion for a while now,” Peter responded as he lithely dodged around the grasping hands of the zombies.
“Tasha? One of the most dangerous spies in the world just lets you call her Tasha,” Tony’s voice sounded incredulous as he rolled out of the way of a zombie, missing his suit sorely. It would have been so easy to just fly in the air and carpet-bomb the entire lot of them
“Nat is like her and Mr. Barton’s thing so I couldn’t call her that,” Peter answered, snagging one of the zombies by Tony with a quick thwip of his webs
“Wait, you get to call her a nickname,” the voice of Scott cut in, “I tried calling her Ms. Widow and she threw her croissant at me,”
“It wasn’t a particularly good name, Tiny Dancer,” Natasha added, “And you still owe me a croissant,”
“Bien Cuit’s takes forever to get one. Hold on,” there was a pop of air as Scott enlarged himself to a towering twelve feet tall. Bending down he swept away a number of the zombies off into the distance before returning to his normal size, “At the very least let me make you fresh ones. It’s easier on my wallet,”
As the Avengers bantered and fought, Loki had his attention split two ways. The majority of his focus was on the wards. The more he pulled them apart, the thicker they became. It was as if peeling an onion that doubled in density with every layer. The only good thing was he could feel them waning. He was getting close to having a way in, even if he didn’t know how long it would hold.
The other portion of his attention was on Dumbledore. The wizard had been stealing furtive glances at him while in the midst of the battle. While he had no idea, what was going on behind those twinkling eyes, it was no doubt something that would cause more harm than good. The god was still furious with the man after everything that he had heard from the trial. Most of his ire was reserved at the Dursleys, but Dumbledore was going to get the fair share of a god’s wrath as well. In due time.
He turned his thoughts back to the wards, feeling them starting to give under his magical assault. If he focused he could just make out the crack that was starting to form. It wasn’t going to be wide enough to let them all get through, but it was going to have to do for now. After all, while he knew the Avengers and the Order were skilled in their own right, he did not trust them to save his son. At least not right now.
“Tony,” Loki said, knowing that the words would be picked up by the earpiece he had been given, “Get ready to run over here, the wards are about to give,”
Loki watched as Tony maneuvered over to him, the spider child taking over in fending off the rest of the bodies. Once they were close together, Loki sent a pulse of his Aseir magic through the wards and a tear ripped into existence. Tony didn’t wait, running headlong and diving into the tear. Loki was doing his best to keep it wide enough for him to enter, as he could feel the wards starting to attempt to heal themselves.
“Good job, my boy,” the voice of Dumbledore came up behind, as the old man, moving far faster than his age would suggest, made for the rift in the wards.
“Dumbledore, you bastard,” Loki cried out, as he jumped through them as well, the walls of the wards just narrowly crushing him as they snapped back into place, “Just what do you think you are doing”
The elder wizard barely looked phased as he adjusted his robes, banishing invisible specs of dirt with his hand. He even paid little mind to Tony and the gauntlet he had aimed directly at his head.
“I was under the impression we were here to save Mr. Potter. Was that not the plan,” Dumbledore responded simply
“Right, and you just left everyone else outside to fend for themselves,” Tony leveled accusingly
“As did both of you. Now, unless we wish to spend time pointing fingers at each other, perhaps we should enter into this manor and find Harry,”
Without another word and with his wand drawn, Dumbledore strode towards the steps of Grimmauld Manor with a heavy sense of superiority before him
“Under no circumstances is he allowed to find Harry first,” Loki muttered to Tony
“Don’t worry the moment Gand-Fuck!,” Tony suddenly swore as he reached into his ear to pull out the small ear-piece, the smell of melting plastic filling the air, “Pretty sure that isn’t healthy,”
Loki pulled out his just moments before it too shorted out, no doubt due to the intensity of the magic surrounding them
“If you both are not up to the task, I am more than capable of searching for Harry without assistance. I wouldn’t want you two to put yourselves in undo danger,”
“Yeah, not happening. As far as you are concerned you’re back up. Less Penn and more Teller,” Tony spat, tossing the fried bit of tech to the side before running up the steps, Loki just behind.
The three men looked at the door to the manor, noting the way the dark wood seemed to be splintered and cracked with thick lines of black webbing seeping out. Not wanting to touch the door, Tony leveled the gauntlet and fired. The wood crumbled in on itself, collapsing to the ground before fading away entirely
“Age before beauty,” Tony mockingly bent low as Dumbledore strode in first, the wizard not showing a hint of irritation on his face, though there was no doubt to it being present in his mind.
As Loki and Tony came in behind them, all three men turned around as the door was suddenly gone, consumed by a blank patch of wall, cutting them off from any possible retreat and plunging them into darkness. Loki and Dumbledore both conjured balls of light, filling the hallway they were in with a soft glow. One strong enough to illuminate a decent way around them.
Much like the door, the walls were heavily cracked and splinted. The black puss that was leaking from them seemed to almost sizzle in the air as it stretched in thick strands from the cracks. It gave off an almost palpable aura, one that made the entire area feel hot and stifling.
“The dark magic here, it is far more potent than I thought possible,” Dumbledore said to no one in particular, “That ichor you see is a residue of sorts. The run-off of dark magic has been concentrated into a physical substance. Whatever the souls of this place are up to, they must be destroyed,”
“That’s all well and good, but our first priority is Harry. If you want to destroy this place, you can do it when he is safe in our arms,” Tony instructed
“That is if Harry is-,”
“Do not dare finish that sentence,” Loki moved to glare directly at Dumbledore, “Harry is our son. If there was ever a child that would be able to survive whatever this is, it would be him. Now, pretend like you are a headmaster that cares for the well-fare of children beyond your own personal wants,”
Fully dressed down by the two, Dumbledore kept his thoughts to himself, though there was a small flash of anger in his eyes.
The trio walked along the hallway for a while, trying every door they came across to no avail. Eventually, the hallway gave way to an ornate foyer, one that was lit with several torches along the wall and leading up a grand staircase. At the first landing of the steps was a wide portrait, one that looked to be moving ever so slightly. It was of a number of people, at least 80 at a glance. The portrait stretched the gulf between the two sections of the staircase and beneath it, on a golden plaque, were the words ‘Toujours Pur’ written in the same dripping black ichor.
“You really left my son here? Is it just a thing for Wixen to consider literal haunted locations suitable to raise a child or is that just you all here in England,” Tony peered up at the portrait and shivered when their eyes all seemed to snap to him
“I assure you, this was not how the house looked when I first arrived,” Dumbledore spoke almost reverently, “The Black family were known for their prodigious use of and innovations to the Dark Arts. There were rumors that they had forged a connection with the source of Dark magic itself and became corrupted by its allure. While I do not know how it would seem such power was used to hide the depths of Grimmauld Place. Far beyond what the known capabilities of Wixen Space is capable of,”
“Gotcha, so they found a way to fold physical matter into a non-Euclidian space, one that doesn’t exist until it is needed to,” Tony responded as if it were the most common-sense thing, “I mean, Wixen Space I sort of understand, at least from what I’ve studied. That is just hiding available space in smaller spaces. Both spaces still exist at the same time and are observable at the same time. This place though, just didn’t exist in our space, until it needed to be. Though that may be just quantum super-position. When it is needed, then the waveform collapses and the manor exists again,”
“And when did you become an expert on the concept of Wixen Space,” Loki hissed, though he was thoroughly impressed all the same
“I asked Kingsley for a few books. Once you get beyond the outdated language the stuff is kinda cool. Anyway, if I’m right then we might have a bigger problem than just searching a house for Harry,”
“While I am not so sure your Muggle concepts convert cleanly to Wixen ones, I must ask what do you foresee as a problem,” Dumbledore asked
“Everything can be explained with math Nicodemus. The owl by the way, not the saint,” Tony explained, though both Loki and Dumbledore were lost all the same on the reference, “And the problem is that we are going to be trying to navigate something that exists within non-Euclidian space. There is no telling how truly vast this place could be. Rooms and hallways could manifest just because we looked in a particular direction, making navigation harder. It could stretch into the infinite and we would be stuck here, wandering. Forever,”
“Right,” Loki walked over to Tony, clasping his shoulder, “Or you could trust that a god of magic would have work around such things. With us being in the same location as Harry,”
“Relative assumed location” Tony jumped in
“Shut it. What I’m trying to say is that I should be able to trace Harry here as opposed to when we weren’t here. It won’t be exact, but it should give us a general heading on where to go,”
Loki took hold of the ball of light he had conjured earlier. Eyes closed, he poured his focus and magic into the sphere. As he did, he let his attachment to Harry’s magic leech into the ball. It acted almost like a magnet, being drawn towards his son's magic all on its own. Opening his eye, Loki watched as the orb began to shift, turning into a more ephemeral looking arrow. One that seemed to shift directions of its own accord.
“Well, only one way I can see to handle this,” Loki lifted the arrow into the air, and with a little effort, he split the arrow into three copies. The copes were pointing in three different directions, “Each one of us will take an arrow and we will split up. Follow the arrow and it will lead you directly to Harry. Once you find him, it should automatically key to finding the other arrows. Once we meet up I should be able to get us out of here with nary a scratch,”
“Genius my boy. I trust all these arrows are keyed the same,” Dumbledore asked in that irksome grandfatherly tone of his
“Of course. While I may not care for you Albus, the life of my son is infinitely more important. This is the extent to which I am willing to trust you,”
Dumbledore seemed pleased with his answer, looking up at the hovering arrow that was pointing down a mist-filled hallway to the left. With only a nod to the others, Dumbledore walked down the corridor and eventually faded from sight.
“Do you honestly trust him with Harry,” Tony asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer
“I’m the God of Lies, Anthony. Of course, I don’t. His orb will lead him to Harry, but if he finds him the magic will pull us directly to them both. I will not let the man alone with my child ever again,” Loki looked up at his own orb, pointing him directly up the winding stairs, while a glance at Tony’s revealed the arrow aiming just beyond the staircase, to a hallway that went behind it,
“Promise me you will be careful in here. Even with that device from Strange, the Dark Magic at play here is dangerous and I’m not going to-,”
Loki found his words cut off by a searing kiss from Tony. The mortal man had pulled the god down to his level, wrapping his fingers along the Asgardian armor as he let the pent-up passion he had been feeling for too long come to the surface. Eventually, he broke the kiss, looking up to see Loki’s eyes glowing bright green.
“I’ll be fine. Just consider that a down payment for me surviving and saving our kid,” Tony gave the man a smirk, his face slightly pink with blush
“And what can I expect of the full payment Anthony,”
“Just over a decade of pent-up Stark lovemaking that is going to be cashed in. Stay frosty out there Reindeer Games,”
Loki watched as Tony walked down his particular hallway, eyes still glowing as Tony vanished into the magical fog. Loki knew, that no matter what happened, he was going to come back for that man. The three of them; Harry, Tony, and Loki were going to escape this maze alive. Together. As a family.
With his own arrow guiding him up the stairs, Loki began his own trek in search of his son, sweeping beyond the portrait as he did so. The many faces of the Black family watched as he moved, already plotting against not just him, but the other two as well. No matter how powerful the man may be, the magic of the Black family was stronger. More cunning. And, above all, far more ruthless.