22. STATUS QUO.
About the cheering charm not reverting Hulk into Banner.
The anger was magically induced from the staff so it being countered by an opposite magic makes some sense.
Also, the cheering charm isn't a tickling spell, it causes an actual change in mood and when overpowered can cause euphoria.
"The Cheering Charms had left them with a feeling of great contentment." - HP: PoA
It's not a physical change but a mental one.
About Loki being more powerful than Harry … yes and no. Physically it's not even a question. Loki was toying with Steve in the film after all and while physically wizards are a far more resilient than normal humans (Quidditch would be a far more lethal game if they weren't) they aren't inherently stronger or faster.
Magically on the other hand … Loki's magic is very limited. It's all about illusion, mental influence, a little transfiguration and the ability to hide objects and summon daggers. He also has a cold affinity from his Jotun heritage.
Harry's magic is far greater and more versatile. In the fight in Germany, Harry was trying to capture Loki while Loki was aiming to maim or kill and Loki's own power was supplemented by the mind stone inside the scepter. Harry still held his own … magically speaking.
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Harry stared warily at the laughing man on the ground, wand at the ready in case he suddenly reverted back into a troll.
"I'm ok now. The anger's all gone," the man offered in between giggles as he sat up.
"Anger?"
"Yeah. You know, the… well, the other guy comes out when I'm angry or in danger."
"That was all you?! I thought Loki had turned you into a troll! I feel I was denied critical need-to-know information!" Harry replied.
"I'm sure it's in my profile; you were reading it earlier on deck."
Harry searched his pockets and found the shrunken information package Sitwell had handed him when he had arrived.
"I … ehm … I never actually finished reading it. I only read your cover page, and then we all sort of got busy."
Banner gave Harry a half incredulous, half amused look.
Further discussion was interrupted as Thor burst into the cargo hold, looking about wildly, a look of anticipation on his face and his hammer raised.
Harry barely managed to restrain himself from blasting the Asgardian.
"Where is he, where is Banner?"
Harry silently pointed to the half-naked giggling man sitting on the floor.
A look of confusion and disappointment passed over Thor's face.
"I was told he had turned into a fearsome beast that would tear apart this entire ship should he not be stopped."
"Yeah, I stopped him."
"Fury seemed to think I would be the only one possibly able to match this 'Hulk' in battle. Tell me, how did you defeat him?"
Harry could almost swear there was a slight whingeing tone to the statement.
"I … err … I made him laugh?"
Thor stared at Harry in confusion.
"I do not pretend to understand the ways of wizards. If the situation is resolved, I will go and confirm that my brother is still captive in his cell."
With that, the god of thunder flew off.
"Right! We're still under attack. We should make our way back to the bridge."
Harry waved his wand and transfigured random pieces of cloth into simple clothing for Banner.
"So … magic?"
Harry nodded absently as they slowly made their way down the corridors, watching for possible attackers.
"Do you rearrange things at a molecular level?"
Harry shook his head in response.
"No. I can change things into a different thing entirely. Vegetable to mineral, inanimate to animate. One of our lessons was turning a rat into a goblet, for example. And transfiguration is just one field of magic, divination, warding…"
Harry stopped his explanation as two men dressed in SHIELD uniforms turned a corner and opened fire.
Harry swished his wand, causing the security gate between them to slam shut with a shower of sparks as the electronics inside fried.
A few bullets had whizzed past them before the gate closed but had missed both men.
"That was close; maybe you should find a place to hide until things quiet down," Harry offered.
"No. I'm good. At least if something happens, I know you'll be around to try and calm me down. Truth is I normally have a good grasp on the other guy, not sure why I lost control earlier… come to think of it, everyone was acting pretty crazy."
Harry nodded and motioned for the man to follow him down another corridor.
"That might have been Loki's plan. Turning all of you against each other using subtle mental manipulations would be his style," Harry agreed.
Harry could hear gunfire coming from further down the hall.
Signaling for Banner to hang back, Harry made his way forward.
Two groups of SHIELD agents were exchanging gunfire from well-defended positions.
Unfortunately, Harry couldn't tell the impostors apart from the real SHIELD agents, and passive legilimency was impossible at that distance and without eye contact.
"So, what's the plan?" Banner whispered into Harry's ear.
Harry realized that one group was defending access to the bridge. Hoping he was correct in his assumption, he was about to cast a series of stunning spells at the other group when he recognized one of the defenders from Barton's memories … the leader of Charlie group.
Harry stood up from out of cover and sent a bombarda at the floor in the middle of the group, sending them flying, quickly followed by a string of spells: stunning, petrification, incarcerous…
Half the opposing group was down before they could recover and regroup, but by that time, the real SHIELD agents had recovered from their surprise and rejoined the fight.
"Glad you showed up when you did sir," a SHIELD agent said, approaching Harry.
"Glad to help, and it's just Harry. So what should we do next?"
"I was going to ask you that?" The man offered.
"I'm just a consulting detective. I'm not a SHIELD agent or a soldier," Harry replied in confusion.
The man looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow and pointed at the enemy group being secured and back at Harry.
"I
don't know procedures, the ship's layout… that type of thing. So what should we do now?"
The man nodded.
"The bridge was under attack, but we lost comms a few minutes ago. We should go up and see if the director is safe. But there's also the VIP in the drop pod."
"Thor should already be there, so let's go to the bridge."
They made their way to the bridge, finding a large group of dead soldiers at the entrance.
The AGENT with Harry cried out some passphrases and received permission to enter.
The bridge was a mess. Agent Hill was bruised, bloodied, and battered. There were dead or wounded agents scattered about the wreaked consoles.
Harry rushed to the first group of wounded and began using his limited repertoire of healing magic.
"Did you get anything from Barton and how did he escape!?"
Harry ignored Fury for a few moments as he worked on the wounded SHIELD agent.
"Loki being captured was always part of the plan, and they had two teams planning separate rescue missions. Also, whatever they plan on doing is going to happen somewhere that has something to do with Stark."
Harry rushed to another fallen agent, a medic offering Harry information on the wounds.
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(edited chapter.)
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