Chapter 8
Well when Tony said he was going in blind he didn’t expect it to be just as true as it was. Apparently between the last time he checked in with the English circles and now they’d somehow become even more behind times and segregated which he hadn’t known was possible but was still pretty much besides the point. Walking into Diagon with Shota was fun though he’d forgotten what seeing the alley for the first time was like especially when you’re not surrounded by magic. Even someone like Shota surrounded by quirks all the time was mystified and in awe at his first sight of magic. The fact that you can feel the magic buzzing through the air the difference when stepping into the alley from the muggle street it’s almost better than coffee. He did discreetly take a picture of Shoutas face as they stepped past the brick wall and it’s going directly into his most prized possessions folder as soon as he can connect to Jarvis’ mainframe. Walking through the street he sees even less creatures than he’s used to seeing in England which is minimal at best to start with and already he knows that whatever he’s missed in the last 30-ish years he’s not going to like. The inside of Gringotts looks almost the same but with noticeably more wizarding presence than in the Italian and New York branches. He walks up to the closest teller he can and waits to be acknowledged by the working goblin noting the surprise on his face before he can cover it with a look of indifference.
“May your gold flow in rivers and your enemies cower beneath your blade master goblin”
“May your coffers overflow and your bloodlust sated master wizard. How may we at Gringotts help you today?”
“I’m looking to talk to the Stark, Carbonell, and Beoucraft account managers.”
“And do you have the keys or lordship rings for these accounts with you?”
“Yeah here you go.”
“Thank you. Let me go grab the account managers follow me to the discussion rooms please.” The goblin led them towards a back room with a large table and chairs set up refreshments popping in as they sit down. Tony grabs a pumpkin pastie from the tray in front of him as Shouta wanders around the room trying to hide his wide eyes at the magic all around him.
“So obviously Carbonell is your moms maiden name and Stark is your dads what’s the other one from?”
“Beoucraft is my maternal grandmothers side. It’s from a while back but there were no more close relatives to claim the lordship so it fell to my grandmother then my mother and now me. It’s a matriarchal line so if I’d had a sister it would’ve went to her but since I don’t I get responsibility. If you ever get a sister it’ll go to her unless you get a daughter first.”
“But we’re not blood related? How can I inherit a magic title without the magic part?”
“Oh yeah that part. I’m blood adopting you. And the other child once he gets here. A blood adoption basically means that I’ll show up as your second parent you’ll get some traits from me which ones we won’t know until after you take the potion. You probably won’t inherit any magic given I am a squib but it is possible considering I come from a long line at the very least you’ll become more sensitive to the magic around you.”
“Wow. That’s.. a lot to take in. I’m grateful but are you sure? This sounds a lot more than a normal adoption…”
The you’ll be my actual father and won’t be able to back out as easily went unsaid but heard all the same. Tony knelt down next to where Shouta was sitting squeezing his hands in comfort as he did so. “Shouta I told you I’m here for the long run I promise. This is something I’ve been meaning to do this just happens to be the first opportunity I’ve had to talk to you about it. If you don’t want me to blood adopt you we don’t have to there are clauses I can use to transfer the title to you anyways this is just easier.”
Shouta took a fortifying breathe, squeezing his dads hands as he looked him in the eyes and once again chose to place his trust in him and his word about staying no matter what. “We’ll do it. That’s why we’re here now right? Or at least part of why? Let’s do it dad.”
Tony’s smile back to his son wasn’t blinding but it was real and it was there before a knock was heard at the door and he straightened up to walk back to his chair right as the account managers walked into the conference room. He folded his hands in front of him leaning forward before plastering on his business face. “Let’s get down to business gentleman. I received the letter from the New York branch about the situation at Hogwarts which requires my immediate attention. Considering how much tape we have to get through I know this isn’t going to be a quick trip so I need to reopen my account cards and the closest property to Hogwarts that has staff and a floo. I’m also going to be needing a blood adoption session for my recently acquired son here. While we’re here we might as well update the wills and account balances to make sure everything is in order before I try to do anything at Hogwarts. Of course for showing up without prior notification and because I do require so much to be done as soon as possible you will all be compensated from one of my personal vaults let’s say 8 percent of whichever vault has the highest balance and 10 percent to invest in whichever business you choose. Oh and I’d like to reopen the heir vaults as well. Let’s put an even 20 percent of all totals for the vaults into that one and invest 5 percent of that vault in the same business.”
The goblins give a tooth filled grin, making them look even more intimidating, “oh how we missed doing business with you Lord Stark. Will this need to be done discreetly as well? We are required by wizard law to send notice of opened accounts from British families to the Wizengamot but the letters can be delayed and lost for certain members for a cost of course.”
“Take an extra 3 percent from the second highest balance vault and lose the letters to Dumbledore. Its been awhile since I’ve come to Britain so any other families fully in Dumbledores pocket can be added to that list as well.”
“You’ve got a deal Lord Stark. Let’s start with the blood adoption as that will take the longest.” Here the goblin pulls out a vial and a very fancy looking dagger from the briefcase in front of him. He holds the vial towards Tony who takes it in his right hand while sticking his left over it. The goblin takes the dagger and drags it quickly across Tony’s palm letting his blood fill up half the vial before motioning towards Shouta. Tony grabs Shoutas left hand and holds it in place over the vial watching the goblin do the same to him until the vial is filled completely. After the vial is filled Tony hands it back over and the goblin rushes from the room to a door which appears in front of him. It was more than the goblins usually took for blood adoption, even when it was a muggle entering a wizarding family. Obviously they know something’s about to happen and want to give one of their best global clients the ability to prepare for it without anybody being able to question the validity.
Shouta notices the calculating look in his fathers eyes but chooses not to address it yet. If it’s something important his dad will let him know when they get to the house. Before too long passes the goblin comes rushing back in carrying a larger vial than before. Where the other one was long and thin this one is short and round with a golden chord wrapped sound the neck and a pitch black stopper sitting on the top which doesn’t stop the dark plumes of smoke rising out of it. As soon as Tony catches sight of the bottle held tightly in the goblins hands his eyes open in shock and was that fear? Standing up so abruptly his chair practically flies into the wall behind him he roars, “What the fuck is this Razortooth?! I asked you for a blood adoption not a blood replacement? What in the fuck is happening in Britain that something this extreme is your form of extra protection?!” His face red, mouth open practically gasping for breath and eyes bulging in anger and fear. Shouta say up straighter looking between Razortooth and Tony looking for some kind of clue to what was going on.
“There’s movements Lord Stark. It’s causing strife in the Wizengamot and the Ministry tensions between the three factions are causing more fights to break out every day. As you said yourself you haven’t been in England in awhile the Lights control over the government is hanging over everyone in the Dark and Grey sectors heads. Waiting for them to get hunted. Not to mention the creatures. There’s been talks of another rebellion it’s been shut down by the King and all talk is hush hush you understand but if something should happen you want no record of an adoption. Nothing to show the slightest that you aren’t blood related. If the tensions grow worse Gringotts will be caught in the middle and our King will do anything to prevent another rebellion that will force us further into servitude for wizards,” the way he says the word shows the disgust he feels for the people whose money he controls. A dangerous situation indeed. “If you want to keep your son safe in the coming times this is your best bet Lord Stark. I apologize for not letting you know sooner but as one of the best global clients we have we offer you something we don’t for the families that remain just in England. The best chance.” A dark look is shared between his father and the accounts manager before Tony retakes his seat motioning the goblin forward. His foot tapping against the ground at a steady rhythm the only outward sign of his agitation.
“Shouta this will hurt. I won’t lie not about this and not to you. It’s your choice if you’d rather not go through with it but if the situation is really this dire I’d feel safer if we took the precaution. Blood replacements will do exactly as the name says, replace the blood of your biological father with mine. It’ll boil away and if anyone was to check the only father you’d have biologically would be me. Your muggle birth certificate would still say his name but every other way for someone wizard or muggle to check would be me alone as a result. The boiling won’t feel pretty you’ll be in pain and probably delirious you’ll have a high enough fever for hallucinations and because they’ll be magic induced they won’t be the fun kind. It’s a coin toss whether you’ll remember them or if you’ll be in too much pain to remember anything. A lot of people who’ve gone through with it call it the worst experience of their life their darkest nightmares play out in front of them for hours and their sore for days afterwards. A few even felt their body was no longer theirs, it’s rare but a possibility. Most of the time the dangers outweigh the results but this is probably one of few that it doesn’t. You’ll also need to call your therapist within the next couple of days for an emergency appointment if you do it. That part is non-negotiable.” Tony looks up from his fingers to hold eyes with Shouta making sure to convey how serious the situation was. Shouta takes a second to think about his options, weighing the pros and cons of taking that big of a leap backward in his therapy progress and easing the fears his father has. It doesn’t take too long before he decides to go through with it not voicing it but holding his hand out toward the goblin holding eye contact with Tony all the while. He downs it as fast as he can and the effect is almost instantaneous as it touches his tongue. He doubles over himself in pain gasping and gripping the table in white-knuckled hands. Within minutes the pain causes everything around him to fade to black and he knows nothing else.
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When Shouta woke up it was to a heaviness in his entire body that wouldn’t go away. His eyelids were glued shut and the effort of trying to open them even a sliver gave him a head rush. He groaned unintelligible noises to convey his uncomfortableness to whoever he could feel was in the room. He heard a rough chuckle that could only have come from his dad before he felt hands on his back pushing him upwards. He grunted in disagreement at the action before trying to open his eyes again with slightly better results. Everything was so bright he shut his eyes again feeling the familiar tingle of a migraine building. His mouth felt both like sandpaper and like someone shoved a gym stick in it so he grunted again in a poor attempt to ask for water.
“I don’t speak Neanderthal but I assume after being unconscious with fever for fourteen hours you’ll be in need of water so here. It would be easier to give you a drink if you would open your eyes you know.”
Shouta could practically feel the eye roll his father was giving him but he hardly cared. It was so bright it made his eyes hurt worse than overusing his quirk. He blindly felt around until he caught the straw in the cup of water his dad was holding taking small gulps to ease his throat. “Yeah maybe it’ll make it easier for you but it’s so bright I can’t see anything. It’s giving me a migraine.”
“Shouta there are no lights on in here. The only light is from the moon coming from the ceiling. It’s 11 at night.”
“There’s bright lights everywhere dad what do you mean?”
“It’s probably from being out for so long try opening them again.”
Shouta does. It takes even less effort than it did the last time but the lights are barely any duller than before. He blinks a couple of times and it gets manageable enough for him to make out that all the lights are dancing around all different colors. When he turns to look at his dad and tell him so he sees a purple flow emanating from the man not bright but so intense it leaves him slightly breathless.
“Hey you’re scaring me Fluttershy what’s with the face?” He can hear the slight tension in his fathers voice belaying his worry.
“You’re glowing. Everything is. How can you not see them the lights are everywhere.”
“Well shit. Don’t move I’m going to get Razortooth and his healer.” Tony gets up and walks past the door across from what Shouta now notices as a bed he was lying in. They very obviously moved him from the conference room into a large antechamber with high vaulted ceilings and a large moonlight in the middle. Floor to ceiling windows are on the wall to his right. He does notice the lack of candles, chandeliers, and wall sconces in the room so his dad was obviously right about the moon being the only light source available in the room. The longer his eyes remain open the more used to the lights he gets. A couple minutes pass before the door opens once again his father walking in followed by Razortooth and another goblin. “I don’t know all the details he just said lights. Obviously he’s seeing something we’re not because there aren’t any lights in here. Just do a diagnostic to be safe we’ll go from there.” By the time Tony finishes his sentence the trio had made it to his bed. Tony gives him a small smile ruffling his hair as he sits back down on the chair next to the bed. The unknown goblin comes on his other side holding some sort of crystal ball which hovers in the air above Shouta when he lets go of it. The lights dance around the ball as it starts hovering almost vibrating with energy. The longer the ball hovers the brighter the light gets until Shouta has to close his eyes. It was like staring at the sun. It gets even brighter behind his closed eyelids and he can start to feel the vibrations the lights are making around the ball before the light suddenly dies and the healer tells him he can open his eyes again.
“Good news is there’s nothing wrong with you. Bad news is what you’re seeing is permanent.”
“Ok but what is he seeing?”
“Magic.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that the blood adoption reacted to his quirk factor. He can see what magic itself looks like. It opened his senses to what the rest of us can’t see. Congratulations you’re now one of the only people in the world who has physical senses with magic.”
“Yeah is there anyway we can tamp down on this ability? Some of these lights er magic gets really bright it messes with my vision.”
“I know that there are potions out there and there are some optometrists who sell special coated lenses for glasses and contacts but they’re not recommended for 24/7 use. Really you’ll want to do a mix and the longer you go without the potions the more used to it you’ll get. It’ll take really strong magic to blind you like that if you don’t use the potions or lenses too often.”
“Don’t worry kid we’ll add them to your hero uniform so you won’t have to worry about it while on patrols and such.”
“The only other thing the test showed was a very small magical core. Similar in size to yours so not enough magic to be accepted to the major magic schools but enough to learn the lesser magiks and household spells. Welcome to the wizarding world you’re a wizard Aizawa.”
“Did you finish the rest of what we came for dad?”
“Yeah we can head out and get to the cottage once you can safely stand. You’ll get to experience the floo for the first time.”
“Ah yes just what I’ve always wanted to be magically transported from a dirty old fireplace. You know I bet someone has a quirk like this back home. There’s a quirk for everything.”
“We’ll call and ask Nezu when we get back to the house. Now try to stand up snorlax.”
“That’s not a fair nickname I wasn’t asleep that long because of myself.”
“Yeah yeah I’ll believe it when you stop actively sleeping for this long after 3 days of not sleeping at all.”
“You can’t talk to me like this I’m going to call Auntie Pep because I have it on her authority that you’re 10 times worse than me when it comes to sleep schedules.”
“Stop threatening me with Pep it’s cheating and unfair.”
“Stop being a baby and I might consider cutting back how much I threaten you with her.”
“That’s as good as I’m going to get with you punk so up you get. Let’s blow this joint.” Tony grips under Shoutas arms helping heave him off the bed slab. He stands on briefly shaky legs before he steadies himself and starts walking toward the door. They enter into a room occupied with only a fireplace in the dead center. Tony grabs a pot sitting on the mantel grabbing a fistful out and holding it out for Shouta who copies him. “Now the important thing about the floo is pronouncing things. For example if you want to get to Diagon Alley and you say diagonally you’ll end up somewhere around knockturn. Which is in a diagonal line from Diagon. The good news is the cottage is easy you just gotta say Stark Cottage Highlands. Bad news is that is the easiest floo in my family the rest are Italian except for Beoucroft but that one has a password attached to keep people out so.” Tony has Shouta go first in case he somehow messes up the pronunciation so he can follow him. He doesn’t mess up and in a poof of green flames that make his migraine read itself back up he gets spit out into an antiquated drawing room. He groans in discomfort again laying face down on an old patterned rug before hearing the fireplace spit out his father. He groans again when his father laughs before picking him off the carpet. “Alright up to bed with you. You need a not magic induced sleep before tomorrow. Make sure you take your migraine meds your bag is in your room upstairs. You shouldn’t have an issue finding it this house is so much smaller than any you’ve been used to since I got ahold of you.”
Within seconds of putting his head on the pillow after find his room and taking his meds Shouta falls asleep.
—————————————————————-
This time when Shouta wakes up he’s in a great deal less pain than before which is always a good thing. There’s magic dancing in his room. Not vibrating like it’s being actively used but flowing from spot to spot dancing around other strands. The glow emanating from the magic strands isn’t intense, it actually feels almost calming to him. He stretches listening to his back pop before heading down to the kitchen towards the smell of coffee.
Tony is standing at the counter drinking straight out of one of 3 separate coffee pots all full of coffee. Shouta grabs the one closest to him, copying his father and drinking straight from the spout to help himself wake up. He pauses halfway through the pot and turns to the fridge to grab the cream, pouring some into the pot before finishing the rest of it. After a moment of searching through the cupboards he pulls out his favorite coffee mug pouring out some of the third pot into it and grabbing the entire box of Frosted Flakes he sits at the small table on the right wall of the kitchen facing a window with a view of a green countryside and a ridiculously large set of train tracks. He waits for a minute before throwing the napkin holder at Tony’s head to wake him up. He hears a thunk as it hits its mark followed by muffled cursing and slow shuffling sounds before his dad appears at the seat across from him pouring the cereal into two bowls and handing him a spoon. They eat in silence for awhile both still waking up before Tony turns to him ready to talk about the plans for the rest of the day.
“Here’s the deal we dealt with a lot of the monetary red tape yesterday I opened up the bank cards we sent notices to everyone that I was back in town I missed the first session of fall court so thank god for small mercies. The next thing that happens is our grand entrance to Hogwarts which will be happening today. I’m pretty sure that breakfast will be starting in the next hour or two so once we’re done this pot of coffee we’ll have to get ready to leave we’re going for full drama and as many witnesses as possible. Hogwarts will probably be a little overwhelming to your senses for a bit when you first see it considering the sheer amount of magic that exists within its walls so I mail ordered you a small dose of the potion to subdue your magik sight when we got home it should be here within the next twenty minutes since I sent the eagle instead of the house owl. Now one thing we forgot to mention yesterday before the blood replacer. Since the situation here is bad enough for us to even resort to using that I need you to go by one of my house names. I promise it’s just while we’re here and you can tell Harry your actual name but everyone else especially the headmaster you need to go buy one of the others.”
“I understand. I mean I figured I’d be doing that anyways. Not a large leap to make from blood replacer to using Stark as my last name here.”
“I just wanted to make sure. When we get back tonight I do want you to call your therapist. Or send an email it can take a couple days for nightmares to start from hallucinations so if you can make it to the end of the week without worse nightmares you should be good but I want her on standby in case something happens before then.”
“I’ll send her a message before we leave to keep an ear out.”
“Keep your watch on you but leave your phone. I have Jarvis programmed in the watches to resist the magik fuckery that happens with most technology but haven’t gotten that far with the rest of our tech. I mean your watch is basically just a wrist smart phone at this point anyways so it won’t make much difference.”
“Sounds good dad. I’m going to head up and get ready now be down in 20.”
“Don’t forget your meds! You’ll want them in case the potion wears off early.” Shouta send a thumbs up to Tony before bounding up the stairs to shower and get ready for another drama filled day to come.
By the time he’s done getting ready meds in hand the owl order potion had arrived and was sitting on the kitchen counter next to an eagle who was picking at the pieces of cereal that had dropped out of the box when he had grabbed it earlier. He reads the label of the bottle yelling out to Tony to make sure he was almost ready to leave before popping the cork out and downing it in one gulp. He suppressed a shiver as it slid down his throat the texture in between jello and pudding. He grabbed a jelly pack from the fridge and slurped it to get the taste out of his mouth and sat at the table to wait for his father.
Tony walked out of his room right as Shouta was throwing away the empty pack and together they headed out the door toward a well sitting at the end of the stone walkway in back of the house. Tony touched one of the stones at the top of the well before whispering “draco dormiens nunquam titillandus”. Harsh vibrations rattled the air around them as the magic swirled like a vortex burning a fiery blue and a cloudy archway opened before them. His dad sweeped a hand forward full showmanship in place. Shouta rolls his eyes before batting his dads hand away and walking through the archway feeling the tingle of magic glide over his skin like the time Hizashi tried to electrocute himself sticking a fork in his microwave. Once he makes it out of the archway he stops dead. In front of him is a beautiful landscape of tall thick trees on either side and a large wrought-iron gate with a giant golden H molded in the middle. Behind the gate one of the largest buildings he’s ever seen in person a castle with spiraling towers and peaks reaching the clouds. He can feel the magic in waves beckoning him closer with feelings of childish wonder and amazement. He’s really glad he took the potion before they got here because already the brightness of all the colors surrounding them is leaving him unsteady on his feet unable to focus on a single one for long. He gathers his bearings and breathes deep forcing himself to tune into specific ones before opening his eyes again. This time it’s a lot easier to manage and his feet stay steady on the ground. He turns back in front of him to admire the castle again before walking through the gate with Tony following him past well maintained gardens towards giant double doors you’d expect to see on a castle such as this. Tony obviously knows exactly where he’s going even though he was never a student here, pushing past doors and walking through countless corridors before coming upon a final hallway filled with suits of armor who spoke to them as they passed. He can hear his dad giving a countdown probably to make sure they give themselves the greatest entrance possible before using the slight amount of magic he has to help him blow open both doors with his hands. All eyes in the overly crowded dining hall swing towards them, Shouta worries about more than one of the people acquiring whiplash based on just how fast they turned, eyes turning wide and whispers starting to break out as him and Tony make their way down the center aisle of tables heading toward the staff table raised high above the rest. The teachers sitting are starting to stand up questions on their lips ready to be spoken as if they had any hope of gaining an answer from someone like Tony if he chose not to. He can tell which kids grew up at least partly in the muggle realm from the wide eyed fascination on their faces when they realize just who interrupted their breakfast and he makes note. His senses are on edge as the tension between the students and staff and this intruder grow so does the vibrations in magic the castle is releasing. He tries to keep his energy as calm as he can to help mitigate the effects and strangely it’s like the castle knows what he’s doing and releases some of the pent up energy from everyone’s tense emotions.
There’s an old man wearing garish neon purple robes with a ridiculously long white beard sitting in the very middle of the table at a chair with a higher back than the rest of the staff and a slightly taller foot to give the illusion that he looked down on everyone else in the room. This must be the headmaster Albus Dumbledore. He keeps a calm exterior but both Shouta and Tony can see the seething rage in his eyes at someone unexpected interrupting the feast currently happening. “Hello gentleman, I’m afraid we weren’t expecting any visitors today how can we help you?” Even the tone of his voice oozes with saccharine kindness as if trying to fool them into believing him to be nothing more than an old man who was completely harmless to anyone.
“Yeah see I don’t do well with expectations. Or invitations. Doesn’t surprise me that you don’t know who I am Lord Anthony Stark Carbonell Beoucroft but everyone else in the world who’s part of the 21st century calls me Tony. I’m here to see a couple headmasters and Ministry dogs about a cousin of mine in need of immediate guardian intervention.”
“Ah well if you’d like to follow me to my office we can discuss it there along with whichever student you’d been notified about.”
“Well then how cooperative of you. That would be Harry Potter and the reason of intervention is the illegal signing of a magical contract with a minor without guardian consent.” Here more whispers broke out and the anger in Dumbledores face made it look carved from stone before he plastered his genial facade back over. The smile stretched thin over his teeth as if he was truly hiding back a snarl.
“If you’ll follow me this way then Mr. Stark and..” here he pauses and looks at Shouta with a slight look of condescension.
“It’s Lord Stark actually or Dr if you’d prefer. This is my son Shouta Beoucroft. And if you’d be so kind as to grab my dear cousin please there’s frighteningly little evidence of his existence I don’t know what the poor lad looks like.”
The headmaster turns to the table of red and gold and waves over a child with bushy brown hair holding a book twice her size, “Miss Granger if you would be so kind as to escort young a Harry to my office please. Do tell him it’s urgent and I am partial to Fizzing Whizzbys today.” The girl not shoving her book into her bag and scurrying off past the doors on the far left of the room. “If you’ll follow me.” He says as he leads them through the main doors and into the winding corridors and moving staircases towards his office. He stops in front of a statue and says “Fizzing Whizzby” to it before the gargoyle nods and the eagle in the alcove beside them begins turning revealing stairs heading upwards. The door at the top of the stairs is covered in muddy brown and sickening yellow-green magic that makes his head hurt and his stomach queasy as they pass through it. Dumbledore leads them over to his desk before taking a seat and gesturing in front of him to the remaining chairs and placing a bowl of yellow candy on the edge of the desk in front of them. “Lemon drop?”
“We’re good thanks though. Now we really should wait for the rest of the party to get here before diving into the situation don’t you think headmaster, ” the way Tony says the last word would send a shiver down his spine is he was anyone but his son.
“Yes my dear boy I believe you’re right. They should be here any second now.”
“Yeah you call me that again and your desk will suddenly catch fire capiche?”
“I meant no disrespect Lord Stark I apologize.”
“No hard feelings everyone must seem like a baby to you considering how absolutely ancient you are. The cataracts have set in haven’t they? It’s the only reasonable explanation for your atrocious choice of clothing. Don’t worry happens to the best of us. Well not me but then again I rise so far above the rest I’m my own category at this point. I can hardly expect such a simple wizard like yourself to match up with my refined taste in clothes after all so blames on me.” The headmaster gained a new twitch in his eye the longer hisfather spoke to him and the grimace on his face almost broke through his carefully constructed mask. Before it could crumble there was a knock at the door signaling the arrival of the rest of the party and allowing the headmaster the reprieve he needed to regain his control on his emotions. If there’s one thing Tony Stark was good at it was annoying people who felt themselves invulnerable to emotional manipulation.
“Come in Mr. Potter are the other headmasters out there as well?”
“Not yet sir. You asked to see me professor? Is something wrong I already told you all I didn’t put my name in the goblet I swear.”
“Nothings wrong dear boy. I believe you didn’t put your name in there’s just been a small situation which needs your attention.”
“Sir?”
“We should wait for the rest of the headmasters before going into details. Wouldn’t want to repeat ourselves would we?”
“Alright professor. Who is this?” The person who must be Harry Potter asks turning to face Tony and Shouta sitting in front of Dumbledores desk.
“Ah that young Harry is part of our explanation. Since you seemed to miss out on breakfast this morning you missed out on their grand entrance.”
“Ok sir…” Shouta can hear the uncertainty in his cousins voice and feels bad for the younger boy. They all sit in uncomfortable silence waiting for the rest of the ‘party’ to show up. Just as Tony opens his mouth to spout another bought of annoyance onto the suspecting headmaster the door flies open and six people come rushing in, an older woman with a stern face and a high bun most ballet dancers Shouta knows from experience would kill for. A tall woman dressed in blue with a fur coat that would put Cruella DeVil to shame, a man with a limp and cagey eyes that kept bouncing around as if waiting for something to jump out at him from the shadows, another man who was tall and straight backed with black and silver hair who oddly reminded him of Rasputin from the Anastasia movie, a weasely man who looked like any other gambling addict you’d see in Vegas or the back streets of the red light district, and a jumpy man who looked ready to flee at a moments notice and carried the air of someone who worked in public office.
“Dumbledore what is the meaning of this? How’d they get in past the gates without prior invitation and why is everyone saying he’s related to Mr. Potter? Everyone knows that poor boy lost all his living family it’s an outrage professor!”
“Calm Alastor I’m sure we’ll all get the explanation in due time.”
“I’m sorry did you say they were related to me? There must be some mistake.”
“Fortunately for you kid no mistake here. Tony Stark nice to meet you cousin.”
“There is a question how exactly you’re related to young Mr. Potter Lord Stark. Everyone knows James Potter was an only child and Lily just had the one muggle sister.”
“Now that my friends is a surprise to me as well. Imagine my surprise when I get a letter telling me a young cousin needed guardian intervention because his name was pulled from the Goblet of Fire. I didn’t even know you guys reinstated the Lord of the Flies tournament, how very archaic of you by the way, and that it was Harry Potter that needed said intervention turned our whole life upside down for a minute. Then I went looking in the family birth charts, the Carbonells and Beoucrofts were really into keeping record all sorts of enchanted tapestry’s and the like specifically for knowing about new members joining or old ones dying. My darling Nonna Patricia took the Beoucroft name when she became the matriarch of the line but she was born squib sister to Cygnus Black making my mother Maria Carbonell-Beoucroft Stark first cousins with Dorea Potter nee Black and myself second cousins with your father James and you are my third cousin. Nonna Pati was born when Phineas was stricken for support muggle rights and the family couldn’t deal with more bad face in their circles so they covered her existence entirely removed the black name from her the day she was born but set her up with a comfortable vault in gringotts and dropped her in an Italian magical child Patronage so she would know her roots.” By the end of his speech dumbfounded looks were exchanged around the room as they all took a minute to absorb what he’d just told them. Dumbledore was the first to recover and there was a glint in his eye that spoke of him making plans.
“Ah then I’m sorry you’ve made this trip for nothing my boy young Harry here is already living with guardians who are closer in relation. They’ve given him permission to participate considering what’s at stake if he doesn’t.”
“Now see that’s where I come in. According to British magical law a child with hierships and magical abilities goes to the closest living magical relative to make sure they grow up knowing everything needed to take over their lordships. Isn’t that right J?”
“That’s right sir.” All the wizards in the room jump at the sound of another persons voice coming from the room without anybody talking.
“What in the bloody hells was that?” Harry yells looking around in a panic.
“No worries Harry just my trusty AI Jarvis. Jarvis say hello.”
“Hello.” Jarvis says in the driest voice, showing his annoyance at Tony’s showmanship yet again.
“I took the liberty to digitalize and download a copy of British and American magical law into his database makes it easier to pull up exact clauses and prove I’m right.”
“How did you get technology to work? There is almost always magical interference especially with this much magic around!” The tall woman speaks in a heavy French accent.
“Madame Maxime right? Heard a lot about you in the Italian circles they say your Abraxans are the best on the continent. Technology is kind of my thing I know you guys don’t fully keep up with non-magical media I’m a big name in the technological world I can do almost anything with it. So far I’ve only gotten around to the watches but I imagine I’ll bring my whole server into the fray soon enough. We’ll talk shop later right now the important thing is my cousin not participating in a hunger games style death match.”
The flighty man who obviously works in public office stutters out next, “The boy must participate! The goblet of fire is a binding magical contract his entire ability to use magic hangs in the balance if he doesn’t!”
“I hate to point out that again you people don’t seem to know your own laws but what can you do? You have entire sections dedicated to the inability to hold minors accountable in magical contracts they enter into without the permission of a magical guardian. Also according to the letter I was sent it was widely known an age line was drawn this year specifically to prevent minors from entering. If the age line did exist specifically to stop magical minors that means if you force him to participate then magic will recognize him as an adult and he will be emancipated. He didn’t even know he was holding an heirship look at his face! He’s not ready to take up a lordship nobody prepared him at all.”
“Even if that were the case you aren’t a British wizard you wouldn’t have the authority toward his schooling according to the Hogwarts by-laws. That would fall into the hands of his head of house.”
“Yes but only if given permission from the parent first. I downloaded a copy of those too. Had my lawyers go over everything in them with a fine tooth comb there’s nothing you can use to argue this with me right now. According to all of the magical laws currently in place it is my right and responsibility to take him in and become his magical guardian. I will be taking him to Gringotts to grab his heir rings and sign off on the paperwork for his vaults. Then we’ll be popping over to the ministry to sign the guardian paperwork.”
“Very well then. Minerva if you’d accompany them please I’m sure Harry would feel more comfortable with a familiar face around. We’ll discuss the tournament more when you return.”
“Fine but this isn’t happening at least not without a fight and a magical contract between the adults.”
“We shall see my dear boy. Harry enjoy your time out of the castle I shall let Miss Granger know she needs to collect your schoolwork.”
“Thank you sir.”
“Come Mr. Potter the sooner we get out the sooner we come back and figure this mess out.”
“Alright professor. Thank you for coming.”
“Of course Mr. Potter. Gentlemen after you. The floo password is finite incantatum.” Tony nods before grabbing a fistful of floo powder and yelling the password followed by Gringotts before disappearing in a flash of green flame. It is incredibly lucky that his potion has lasted this long because even with it the flash that came from the magik was almost blinding. Shouta goes through next in order to make sure no one else can see his reaction to the magik, Tony had warned him about the headmaster having eyes and ears everywhere but especially in his office. He wouldn’t be safe until they got to Gringotts.
Shouta gets spit out on the floor of Razortooths office seconds before the professor, Minerva, walks through. She sees him on the floor and stretches a hand down to help him up just as the final person in their group come out falling face first into Shouta as he was standing up sending all three of them sprawling on the ground. Harry starts uttering apologies as the professor gets up and straightens her dress, lending a hand once again to help him and Harry to get up. Tony the whole time sitting in the corner laughing his ass off. The professor clears her throat before looking at him with a single severe eyebrow raised causing Tony to choke on his next laugh and quickly act like he wasn’t laughing at all.
“Sorry Minnie.”
“Anthony Edward Stark how many times do I have to tell you that is not my name.” Here her tone sounds both annoyed and fond as if this is a common argument between them.
“I mean you’ve been trying to tell me my whole life and I’ve never listened before why start now?”
“Um Professor McGonagall? I'm confused.” The poor kid looks so lost Tony can’t help but take pity on him and explain.
“Me and Minnie here go way back kid. She’s the sister of my butlers wife. He was more of a father than mine was Minnie here has been around since I was in diapers.”
“I’m also the one that contacted Gringotts to look into more obscure relatives for you Mr. Potter. I couldn’t stand the thought of you being forced to participate in the Triwizard Tournament. However I was not expecting it to be Anthony who would be said relation. A little heads up would’ve been nice dear.”
“Ah but where’s the fun in warning you when I can just show up and cause chaos?”
“And when were you going to tell me you gained a son? You go radio silent for a couple years and come back guns blazing with a teenager?” Up until this point Shouta had been staring at the wall opposite him trying to make out what the magik was doing across the room while trying to stave off the impending headache he could feel building behind his eyes. He tunes back into the conversation at the mention of his name and stares wide-eyed back at his father not used to this much attention.
“Yeah that’s a long story that we don’t have time for. I rang the bell when I came through, my account manager should be here in the next couple minutes. I promise we’ll catch up when we’re done with the formal business. Harry the fact that me and your professors know each other must be kept secret you understand?”
“Not really but I won’t let anyone know.”
“We’ll explain it all later but thank you for not telling anyone it’s important. I’d usually spend a period making sure this is something you’d want to do and seeing how you felt living with us but it’s more important getting you out of the triwizard tournament we can go through the rest once it’s not a threat looming over our heads ok?”
“Ok.” Harry looks just as lost as he did in Dumbledores office as if he’s just going through the motions of replying without fully knowing what he’s saying or what’s going on around him. “Is all of this really happening? Or is it just a dream?”
“It’s real kid. I promise. Just wait a little while longer and we can go in depth.” Harry nods his head and they fall into contemplative silence. Shouta gets up and heads toward the opposite wall where the magik streams are starting to vibrate more around him. As he goes to touch it a door appears and Razortooth shuffles through the door with another goblin both carrying briefcases. They give him a sharp grin when he bows toward them before setting up their cases on the desk in the center of the room. McGonagall conjures more chairs and they all take a seat facing the goblins ready to get started.