บท 30: Chapter 30 The Brotherhood and the X-Men
The white haired teen gave the area a look over before asking in a rapid voice, "Was that the guy Mystique? How strong was he?"
The blue skinned woman answered smoothly, "For someone who looked no older than yourself, very. I did not believe Pyro and Avalanche at first but it seems they were not lying after all."
"Heard that, couldn't see much though without the X-Nobodies spotting me. What do you think?"
"He seemed to use tools but fought Wolverine well enough without them. The fact that Xavier sent his children implies this new arrival is one of us. It seems the boyscout's temper has certainly worked in our advantage this time. Look around Pietro. Very few teleportation abilities can take someone very far. If he is nearby I want him found. He must join the Brotherhood."
"You got it boss." With that the man sped away faster than a blur. Harry watched the scene from above and noticed this white haired teen, Pietro, had a concentration of time energy on his body. Harry figured he could increase time's frame of reference for himself while in motion and move several fold faster than others while watching the world in slow motion. Harry had no simple way of countering such a person. Some of the Anti-Magic spells he could once use may have had a dampening effect against the teen's access to Time Energy but Harry hadn't had any luck in making another Anti-Magic spell and he couldn't make more binding equipment that used Anti-Magic until he could cast such spells.
Before Harry could consider further ramifications, the blue skinned woman, Mystique, shifted back into the form of a raven and took flight. Harry considered following her or getting close and placing a tracking charm on her but if it turned out she was just flying around looking for him, he'd feel pretty silly following her around.
Once she left the area Harry apparated into the sky above a more populated section of North Salem and flew down into an empty alleyway before shifting back to human form and removing the concealing spells he placed on himself. Harry walked around for a few minutes and eventually spotted the speedy mutant down the street. He allowed himself to be followed into a hotel and walked up to the counter.
Harry sensed the bearer of time energy follow him inside and walk over to a coach. Harry visibly took the last Quartz crystal from the pouch at his side and kept it in his hand while talking to the woman at the front desk. She stated that Harry wasn't old enough to order a room and Harry used Lumos on the crystal held below the desk out of her line of sight, but in Pietro's. He placed it into his inventory and used a simple form of Telepathy to make the woman think that an adult was standing next to Harry, showing the right ID and everything needed for a room. She accepted the cash payment and gave Harry a room card, even saying the room number out loud and thanking the man for his time, even though anyone looking would see she was talking to empty space. Thankfully the only one paying attention was the white haired teen on the couch.
Harry thought to himself if these guys needed more hints than that they weren't worth his time.
Not long after arriving in his room, Harry took an empty pet carrier out of his inventory. It had a two way portkey that would send itself to Harry's London Home and a few minutes later, return to the same spot. Harry used a charm while saying, "Goose, get in and sit tight and this will bring you to me." The charm would make the pet carrier repeat the message upon arrival and with that Harry activated the portkey.
A few moments later the pet carrier returned and Goose casually walked out. Goose conveyed a question though their link, 'What are you getting yourself into this time?'
Harry answered the sassy Flerken back, "I'm going to attend a boarding school filled with mutants. Please don't eat any of them."
Goose turned her head up at that and conveyed back, 'I don't eat junk food except for special occasions.' She jumped up on the bed and got comfortable before sending another question at him, 'What kind of mutants?'
Harry wondered how many types of mutants Goose was aware of. Goose seemed to know lots about earth, about magics, and all kinds of things and it wasn't like she had access to the internet. Or did she? Though Harry couldn't imagine his familiar using a computer.
He answered, "The human kind who have awakened their X-Gene," hoping they weren't tastier than other kinds of mutants. He would never know however since Goose didn't say anything after that.
While waiting for the carrier to return, Harry had been setting up several traps and relics. He couldn't make more until he had more spells to use, but the amount he made before that was still in the hundreds, even if they were all prototypes. Harry could also use Wizard Magic to create things to his heart's content, but doing so would fry the tv inside the room. Harry decided to proceed anyways and compensate the hotel for the TV afterwards.
One thing Harry did was place a overpowered diagnostic charm on the door frame turning it into a scanning type artifact. Since wooden door frames were not an ideal material for such artifacts it would burn out after a single use but would give Harry a detailed report of the next fellows who entered.
*Knock Knock*
Harry answered the door and unsurprisingly the white haired teen was standing there with a stern looking thirty something looking woman wearing no nonsense business attire and glasses.
Harry asked, "Yes? Can I help you?"
The woman spoke up, "Actually it is I who can help you. Do you mind if we come in? I would like a moment to speak with you."
Harry shrugged and said with his clipped British accent, "Well I certainly have a moment. Come on in I suppose. Make yourself comfortable."
Harry pulled out the chairs near the desk and dragged them near the bed and sat himself down.
Pietro walked into the room first but turned every which way to make sure there was nothing there that could be dangerous. Harry internally laughed at this as the teen completely ignored the Flerken lying on the bed. The traps and relics scattered about all looked like trash so he didn't pay attention to that either. A moment later the woman entered and closed the door behind her. She turned from the door to face Harry while the surface of her body rolled over in waves revealing her blue form while her business attire shifted into something simpler that looked like a white one piece dress.
Harry raised an eyebrow at her and smiled back, "You did say to get comfortable."
Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging once more and not paying it any more mind.
Neither sat down in the provided chairs, preferring to lean on them while they remained standing. The shapeshifter said, "My name is Mystique and this is Pietro, we are from the Brotherhood of Mutants."
Harry answered back, "Acquaintances of the fellows from before? Well I'm Harry Potter. I don't suppose you're here to fight are you?"
Mystique quickly shook her head in the negative and said, "No, I'm here to offer you a place in the Brotherhood. A chance to rise above the humans and take your rightful place in the world."
Harry suddenly felt another presence within his mind, a telepath had come knocking and entered when he found the front door was open. Harry's mind was available to anyone who wanted to come in but would only allow others to see what he wanted. This person seemed to be borrowing his senses and trying to discern his thoughts on the conversation, but it wasn't from either of the mutants in the room.
Harry said, "Even if that held any interest to me, what could your Brotherhood offer that would help me accomplish it?"
He had no interest in such a thing but he was curious about the resources these mutants had to make such an offer.
Mystique answered, "Strength, we will make you stronger."
"Eh?" Harry thought, that's it? He looked over at Pietro and asked, "And how exactly do you gain strength."
The speedster quickly answered, "Combat training mostly. The more you fight the better you get at fighting."
Harry had a lot to say about that but simply asked, "How many times in the last few months have you fought someone or something that was willing to kill you if you lost?"
Harry waited five seconds but there was no reply as the teen seemed to still be thinking it over. Harry asked, "Then in the last few months, how many different people have you fought who are stronger than you?"
This time he quickly answered, "Six."
And lastly Harry asked, "And were at least half or more than half of these six members of the Brotherhood?"
He looked like he wanted to answer but a glance from Mystique rendered him silent as it wasn't an answer they were proud to announce.
Harry gave a flat look to Mystique and asked in monotone, "So in conclusion, your Brotherhood doesn't have anyone strong enough for you to improve yourself sparring against and you either challenge others merciful enough not to kill you when you lose or those weaker than you. And you're saying I'll get stronger if I join you. Did I miss anything?"
Mystique looked rather angry at the logical conclusion and said, "Yes, do you want to die?"
Harry gave a knowing smirk to her and confidently said, "If you think you have a chance feel free to try. But there will be no turning back once you do. I'll have you know there isn't a single soul in this world who has tried to kill me and lived to tell about it. I don't give second chances to those who come at me with lethal force, regardless of the fact that it never takes."
Harry gave Mystique the same stare he gives to the creatures that spawned during Battle Mediation. Harry was not a killer, he was a warrior. In combat against someone seeking his life, he would end his opponents. He wouldn't make them suffer of course. He'd never make someone suffer before killing them. It was that efficiency that made him even more dangerous.
Pietro, who wasn't on the receiving end of Harry's hard gaze said, "What the hell? You're immortal?"
Harry answered, "I didn't say that. My power has a lot of applications and with some prior preparation, there is a lot I can do."
Mystique realized that her own bluff wasn't going to do anything and understood from his gaze he was not bluffing. Changing the subject she said, "The Brotherhood is not weak, but neither are the humans. We must stand together for when the time comes that they turn on us."
Harry said, "You're making a lot of assumptions there. However, let's skip over all of that for now. I assume you must have seen me fight or heard about my little scuffle with your acquaintances. What did you learn about my power?"
Pietro answered before she could speak up, "Let's see, you're strong, pretty fast, though not as fast as me, you can make fire not burn, make chains, make illusions, and teleport. But besides your strength, you need to use rocks for your other powers."
Harry said, "Close enough. I call my power Upgrade. I can absorb pure metals or pure gemstones and get short term boosts, long term boosts, or momentary access to certain forms of energy. I can also absorb food and use energy from it to recover. If I absorb food in advance, I gain the ability to recover until it has been digested. I'm strong because not long ago I absorbed a lot of platinum and a few hours ago I absorbed a lot of steel. Absorbing gemstones at least the size of an egg give me a moment's worth of access to the other abilities."
Both mutants were stunned as neither expected Harry to directly tell them the details of his powers. Harry also thought to himself, fully knowing there was a listener in his head, that he could also absorb books and know their contents perfectly for a few days.
Pietro shook his head and once he processed the information he shouted, "You're a goddamn Premium Gamer!"
Harry froze complete at the term and barely was able to ask, "What?"
Mystique said with annoyance, "What are you talking about Pietro?"
The speedster pointed at Harry and said, "In online games there are bastards who spend lots of real money to get stronger than anyone else! Not because they're better, but because they're richer! They're always topping the leader boards and leave guys who play with just their skill in the dust! This guy's power is just like that, he can spend money on stuff to unfairly make himself stronger without working for it!"
Harry sat frozen for three full seconds before he burst out into hysterical laughter. He thought Pietro had somehow figured out his true power but it was that of all things. He could easily keep laughing for a few minutes but that would be rude to his guests so he took a few deep breaths to calm himself, though he still had a large smile plastered across his face.
Harry said, "Premium. I like that. I hope you don't mind if I use it in the future . Anyways, if I joined you guys, I'd wouldn't be able to keep my own source of income and your Brotherhood would have to spend its funds upgrading me. If I go too long without absorbing anything, I'm no different from a very skilled human."
Mystique frowned and said, "If it is just metals, we can easily grant you with an unlimited supply."
Harry noticed Pietro's eyes seemed to widen in some sort of realization. Harry figured he just thought of someone with a mutant ability that could guarantee such a promise.
Harry said, "Well, tabling that for now, there is one last point. Are you confident in the future that there will be no one stronger than the Brotherhood?"
Mystique said with firm resolution, "Yes. We are already gathering the strongest mutant-"
"Stop," Harry interrupted her. He said, "Just mutants?"
She was irked at the interruption and said, "Yes, we are the Brotherhood of Mutants after all."
Harry shook his head and said, "Then you are wasting your time. If you're only recruiting mutants then you are just looking for a strong mutant. That is because the only way your group could win is if you found a single unbeatable mutant. But even if you actually found such a mutant who shared the same goals, they'd never listen to you, you would have to follow them. I'm sure whoever you currently follow is very powerful, but unless he cannot be defeated by anyone, your goal is meaningless. Strength that is not absolute is not strength. Unless an undefeatable mutant is already a part of the Brotherhood, you can't claim you have strength which means that in the end, you have nothing."
Pietro said, "Now hold it right there! No one can beat Magneto!"
Mystique shouted, "Silence Pietro!"
Harry shrugged and said, "Let's end this here. You don't have any means for me to get stronger that I can't use myself. You don't have a source of the resources I need superior to my own. And since your leader isn't already the leader of the world, then he obviously is not undefeatable which means your goals cannot be achieved without luck. I will not be joining the Brotherhood, so you can show yourselves out."
Mystique had watched Harry's fight with the X-Men nearly from start to finish and had heard from Pyro exactly how quick to fight Harry had been. She thought just giving him a chance to fight more would do it, the easiest recruitment ever had by anyone. Instead, he used calm and dispassionate logic to break down her offer piece by piece and show her how worthless it was. She couldn't even counter it because she knew that her boss was not in fact undefeatable and she was in fact looking for unstoppable mutants.
She gave him one last glare that seemed about as effective against him as a gentle breeze and said, "You're making a great mistake. If you stand in our way, you won't live to regret it."
She had been used to threatening people for so long she had forgotten their earlier conversation so Harry's response was unexpected for her.
Harry smiled and innocently said, "Oh? Is that a promise? Something to look forward to then. I hope you won't disappoint me."
Pietro muttered to himself, "Bastard probably paid for extra lives," before saying aloud, "Let's get out of here Mystique. Without 'Pay to Play,' this guy's just a loser and he's even crazier than my sister."
With that the pair left and Harry felt the presence eavesdropping on his awareness leave as well. He checked the door to see what the diagnostic charm revealed and was more than a little surprised.
Pietro was pretty much what he expected. The teen's nerves seemed to channel time energy which increased his relative perspective of timespace. From a standard point of view, he could think fast, react fast, and move fast. The time energy likely spread out to his muscles allowing him to move while the world would be slowly moving around him.
Mystique was different. Her power existed in every single cell. They could divide and even merge at will. Every cell could practically shift into another cell. She could take the form of any human of any age and likely even take the form of most animals, though he suspected it would be harder for her to take the form of larger animals.
What was interesting about her power was the similarities it bore to his own. Harry's cells were all made up of the same energy and if injured, the excess energy of nearby cells could be used to make cells to replace damaged ones. Mystique's cells were similar in that each cell could potentially turn into any other cells, though it was obvious she had limits. He doubted if her head was removed, she could turn her hand into a head and survive. The similarities however were enough to make him wonder though.
Harry's mutant power was basically the ability that kept his Magic Obscurus Particles together in the shape of Harry Potter. But, was that all his mutant power could do? Both the Phoenix Force and Chthon had told him he was capable of far more than just what he knew. The Sorceress Supreme of the future did in fact tell him that he had to start practicing his mutant powers. That meant there was in fact more to his powers than just keeping his form and repairing his form.
*Knock Knock*
His musings were interrupted by his next visitor. Visitors as it were. Moreover, one of the people behind the door felt like a powerful Sorcerer saturated not with Eldritch Dimensional Energy, but Natural Energy, as if Mother Nature herself was standing there.
Harry answered the door once more and first noticed the one warrior he fought before called Logan standing to the side of a bald middle aged man in a wheelchair and a African goddess of a woman behind him. She looked to be in her mid to late twenties but Harry knew that level of saturation of Natural Energy would inhibit signs of age until she was in her late sixties so she was likely closer to fifty than she was twenty. Harry wasn't interested in older women but he could appreciate beauty.
Harry first turned to Logan and said, "We meet again. I'm sorry if you want a rematch but I'll have to disappoint. I'm kinda low on strength at the moment unless you have a few pounds of steel laying around."
He said, "Maybe later, I'm here because Charles wants a word."
Harry said, "Ah, the peeper, so what can I do for you?"
The bald man and the woman behind him were both startled at Harry's address of Xavier.
The wheelchair bound man asked, "I'm sorry, but what do you mean by that?"
Harry said, "Well, you were the one peeping on my thoughts during my earlier conversation right? I'm a pretty open guy so I don't mind, but since you didn't ask permission to borrow my senses, you were peeping, thus, you are a peeper."
Logan chuckled which caused the woman to slap his shoulder. This caused him to chuckle more.
The bald man sighed and said, "I apologize for intruding on your mind. When I learned we were not the first to arrive and speak with you I was very concerned. Mystique's unique physiology prevents me from reading her thoughts and young Maximoff's thoughts run at a speed that is difficult to comprehend. I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me and I ask your forgiveness, it won't happen again."
Harry shrugged, "If you say so. You probably already know this but I'm Harry Potter, come on in. That's Goose by the way," he motioned at the Flerken who had been amused by the previous guests and seemed to hope the next ones would be just as amusing.
Harry wasn't worried about telepaths. When Harry had the Darkhold and Book of Vishanti in his Inventory after getting his Psionic Path and had paused, he reformatted his mind completely and then sealed the memories and knowledge of how he did it. He had no idea how long he must have spent using Psionics and whatever he found in those books combined with Occlumency to do it, but his mind had several nearly flawless defenses. If a telepath entered the mental plane that was Harry's mind, they would find a massive library. Thought's Harry allowed to do so would echo through the halls allowing those within to hear the thoughts he allowed them to hear. All of Harry's knowledge was organized into the book so someone looking for something specific would have trouble finding it as they would have to find the specific book. It wasn't possible to just enter his mind and find his memories or knowledge. And the books numbered in the thousands.
That however was nothing compared to the mental attacks Harry somehow prepared during that time. When needed, Harry could cause perfect replicas of the thousands of different monsters Harry had encountered through his Battle Meditation to fill his Library. He could send them to attack the minds of other Telepaths or have them destroy weaker intruders or harass stronger ones, preventing them from finding the book and page containing the knowledge they wanted from Harry. There was even an Automated Security function that would automatically dispatch the hordes of monsters within Harry's mind if a book was taken from the shelf and not read in a designated reading area. That way if someone did sneak inside without him knowing or if he was incapacitated and unable to activate his defense, it would activate anyways.
And last, the super secret knowledge such as the dangerous magic from the Master's section of Kamar-Taj's library and stuff he found in the magic tomes of Hogwarts, the Black Library, and Salazar's private study were all hidden in folded space within Harry's mind. Should the space be unfolded, the library would become a massive maze and the monsters would automatically fill the maze. As for the knowledge of the Darkhold and Book of Vishanti, even Harry had no idea where it was and he knew better than to try and look for it. The knowledge of what he did to his mind and how he did it was also locked up with those books as well.
A moment after the trio entered, the telepath said, "I am Professor Charles Xavier. This is Logan and Ororo Munroe, also known as Wolverine and Storm."
Harry recognized the name as the teacher of Illyana Rasputin and took another look at her.
Harry said, "Storm huh. I'm guessing weather powers. You wouldn't happen to be descended from a long line of Kenyan Priestesses with white hair going back thousands of years would you?"
Shocked recognition flashed before her eyes before she asked, "How could you possibly know that?"
The curtains moved in the room despite the window being closed as the Natural Energy passively radiating off the woman reacted to her emotion.
Harry looked back at the curtains to make it clear he noticed this and said, "Many aspects of my abilities revolve around what can be considered magic. I've learned more about magic than anyone you'll likely ever meet and have read a staggering number of books on the subject. One such book was written by a powerful Sorceress who was once a priestess of a tribe and well known for their white hair priestesses which had only a single line. You are likely her descendant. The book contained her own experiences with magic, especially weather magic, and everything she learned about it. I remember the book describing how easily passive emotions affected her power when casting but it also described a practice she used to separate her emotions from her magic."
Charles and Ororo were both shocked at this and Logan asked, "Where is that book? If it can help Ororo, I'll do whatever it takes to get it."
Ororo looked sweetly back at Logan and Harry could tell there was something between the two. Harry answered, "The one who owns the book is very reasonable. As her descendant, the book should go to Ms. Munroe anyways so I should be able to get it. I can request it be shipped here and get it to you within a week."
The book Harry referred to was indeed what he claimed and in fact had been written by someone who was likely this woman's ancestor. She was also a former Sorcerer Supreme and her book was in the Master's section of Kamar-Taj's Library. It was one of the better ones on experiences dealing with Natural Energy and wind and weather magic. It also came with a caveat that it could be reclaimed by the tribe it originated from at any time. Though they had likely forgotten about it.
Xavier was startled at the easy admission of the existence of magic. He said, "If it isn't too much trouble, would you mind displaying some magic?"
Harry took out his last Smoky Quartz from the pouch at his side and had it glow for a moment before sliding it into his inventory. He then turned an unused chair into a large pig. The group stared at the pig who stared back and oinked. A moment later it turned back into a chair since Harry didn't use much magic on the spell.
Xavier recovered from his shock the quickest and said, "Thank you Harry, that was most enlightening. If you do know the location of such a book that can help Ororo, it would mean a great deal to us for her to obtain it. Now, although you've heard it before, I'd like to make you an offer as well. I was hoping you could join my Institute. It is a boarding school for young mutants such as yourself."
"Exactly how much about me do you know? You were in my head after all."
"Yes, but other than surface thoughts, there wasn't a single stray memory or idea out of place. I can easily admit your is the most organized mind I have ever seen. As the information wasn't needed to view your conversation with Mystique, I didn't access it so I know next to nothing about you that you yourself have told us or told Mystique."
Harry knew that of course as his mind's defenses hadn't activated meaning Charles hadn't taken a book off the shelf and tried to read it. He said, "Alright then, I'll give you the basics. I was born in the U.K. and I turn fifteen on July 31st. My mutation awoke a week before my tenth birthday when an accident happened which killed my relatives and I wouldn't be alive if it hadn't awoken at the time. I spent the next several months and years traveling and learning much about my power. I am very smart and paid some people to make it look like I've been in school all this time though I can test out if needed whenever I want to. I moved to New York today and got my U.S. citizenship properly. I'm also rich, but that's another story."
Xavier said, "I'm sorry about your relatives. So you've been alone this whole time?"
Harry blankly said, "Don't be sorry about them." He got out a Quartz crystal from his pocket, though it was from his inventory. He used up the three he put in his pouch but they didn't know that so it didn't matter. He made it glow for a moment before setting back into his inventory. He then took the book from his mind that had his memories of growing up with the Dursleys and copied it before sending the highlights to Xavier. Unlike Jean, the experienced Telepath could have blocked the incoming transmission but he did not. A moment later he wished he did.
Charles went over the details however as it was something a teacher like himself needed in order to help his student. What he stood out the most was their hatred of him for what he was, their obvious lies about his parents, and the fact that they only called him freak or boy.
Charles said, "Harry, I believe your mother might have been a mutant."
Harry pretended to be shocked while inwardly snickering. There was no good way to fake memories even for magic users so he could only show him real ones. He already guessed that the Professor would make that conclusion and it was logical considering the facts he knew and his prior experience. He said thoughtfully, "Maybe. Well, in answer to your other question, for the last three years I've had a teacher who was basically a mystic monk. I learned many things including how to fight properly and it was only a few months ago I was told there was nothing more I could learn without leaving on my own."
"And you decided to move to New York? Well, I do hope I can help you achieve your goals. If you are not against such an idea, I'd like to invite you over to the Institute tomorrow and give you a tour. For many mutants, the Institute is their only home, but although that does not seem to be the case for you, I still think you can find yourself a home there with others such as yourself."
Harry smiled and said, "Your pitch certainly sounds nicer than Mystique's did. Alright, you have a deal. I'll show up tomorrow and if I like what I see, I'll stay."
Goose meowed from the bed.
Harry said, "Ah, is there anyone allergic to cats there? If Goose can't come with me, that's kind of a deal breaker."
Logan chuckled, "No, we've got stranger things than cats at the mansion."
Harry wondered about that. Something to look forward to. The trio said their goodbyes and left the hotel. Harry figured that was a pretty good display of magic along with psionics so all he had to do was accept the invite. He wondered what he would get for a quest reward this time.
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