9Another Kind of Magic
by naughtypixie
Summary
A strange man with a red cape followed them from the zoo on Dudley's 9th birthday, like a stalker. Now, somehow, Harry has been signed into his custody because the bastard is a sweet-talker and his aunt and uncle not the brightest or most caring of people. He said something about a school by a natural wonder so maybe that will be cool. If the creepy monk isn't a child trafficker or something.
Notes
Author's notes:
The timeline of this fic is a little messed up, since HP was born 1980, while Stephen Strange became the Sorcerer Supreme in 1973, while in the Movie-verse it is a lot later (they have cellphones and Beyoncé for one.) so just go with me on this.
Don't own. Just playing.
Unbetaed.
"Vernon, you can't be serious!"
Harry winces at his aunt's tone reflexively. If that tone had been directed at him, Harry has no doubts his cheeks would be smarting already from his aunt's slaps.
"We don't even know this man! He just showed up! He could be one of the people who killed my sister for all we know!" Petunia Dursley hissed at Vernon, in no-doubt a volume she believed to be a quiet whisper.
Harry wants to tell her they can hear her, but doesn't really dare.
He glances at the man sitting on Aunt Petunia's floral sofa, and attempts a smile.
Judging by the wry look the man gives him, it's probably more a grimace than a smile, but it's the thought that counts right?
"He is one of them, that's all we really need to know, isn't it? Surely, they can do a better job of raising him than we can! We've tried hard to control him Pet, but you saw what he did today! Duders made him a little upset and he set a bunch of snakes on him! He could have been seriously hurt!"
Harry would really like to protest that 'Duders' had shoved him as hard as he could with his not-insignificant bulk – so hard, in fact, that Harry had ended up on the floor.
And he hadn't set a 'bunch' of snakes on him, he'd … somehow… set one python.
Pythons don't even bite!
Plus, the snake was more focused on going back to its home in Brazil than biting anyone.
Harry can't help frown at his uncle's words, but then he realizes the man can hear it all as well as Harry can, and winces. His uncle isn't even trying to keep his voice down.
The man will likely get angry.
The man doesn't get angry. He sips his tea placidly, while his relatives 'step into the hallway to discuss things'.
"I told you Dudums was too young to go to the zoo! What did I say? Let's wait till he is 11 or 12, what if some of the bigger animals scare him? But you said no!" his aunt all but screech-hisses at his uncle, and Harry is glad that for once, his aunt's ire isn't directed at him.
"And what if he is one of the monster's followers? The whole reason we took him in was to keep him safe from them!" His aunt's voice is starting to hit the octaves which always make Ripper throw his head back and howl.
Thankfully Ripper isn't here today.
Both his aunt and uncle shoot suspicious looks at the man again. They have been doing that every few seconds.
Harry has no idea why they think the man can't see them. The hallway is only 3 meters from the sitting room, the man can clearly hear and see them!
Harry keeps his eyes on the teapot on the table. It is safer that way.
Despite this being new information to Harry – what monster? What followers? – he is still more distracted by the man sipping tea next to him.
Harry gives him another awkward smile.
The man smiles back.
Harry thinks he might be trying to be reassuring but honestly, he seems as out of place sitting on aunt Petunia's sofa as Harry feels.
He is wearing a red coat which keeps rippling periodically despite there not being any wind, and the collar of the coat just swept a stray piece of hair out of the way of the man's face.
He is also wearing a giant golden medallion.
Harry heard gangsters wore large gold medallions.
"He is dressed like them, but I don't see his stick. He is also somewhat less snotty." His aunt mutters, glancing at the man again.
"His coat is poncy, and really strange looking. I think it waved at me." Harry can see his uncle shuddering a little from the corner of his eye. The man's coat is weird, and Harry thinks it waved at him too. "He is definitely one of them."
One of whom?! Harry is so confused.
It is true that the man, one Doctor Strange has refused to take his coat off when his aunt reluctantly invited him in, but maybe he was just cold.
…in June.
Maybe Harry should get the man more tea?
The decision is taken out of his hands when the man clears his throat.
Pointedly.
"Please do excuse me Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, you seem like fine upstanding people, and I can understand your concerns as I am in fact a stranger, who did knock on your door and request to take your 9-year-old nephew away to study, in a school whose location I cannot even disclose. However, perhaps I could reassure you about a couple of issues that might be of worry to you?"
The Dursley's don't look mortified that the man has been listening to their conversation. They look apprehensive and a touch annoyed that their talk is being cut short. Harry can also see them preening at the praise, transparent as it is. Harry figures the man is supposed to 'pretend' to not hear them. No doubt one of his aunt's weird rules about some kind of social norm Harry isn't privy to.
When his aunt and uncle sit down on the opposite sofa, the man puts his teacup down, and for the first time Harry notices that his hands are shaking.
Did Harry make the tea too hot?
Was the man nervous?
The man tucks them under his coat, before Harry could think more on it. His eyes are naturally drawn to the coat, which now that he is looking, is more like a cape or cloak as it doesn't actually have sleeves to be called a coat.
"I am sure sharp-eyed people like yourself, can tell that I am not just a certified doctor, but also that there is something a little different about me. That thing which is different, is something your nephew is naturally born with. As he is maturing, so is that ability which he possesses through his genes. However, as he is maturing it is also slipping his control as it expands as a part of his natural developmental process. Similar to height-growth. I have no doubt that you are careful parents by just looking at your son, such a …strong-looking boy, but naturally you likely have understandable concerns for safety regarding your nephew's additional ability since he is growing up in your family."
Harry blinks.
As do the Dursley's.
It might be the first time this has happened.
Harry has never had their relationship summarized in such a succinct way. The man is clearly buttering the Dursley's but they also seem to be letting him. They aren't disputing what he is saying either. They aren't saying anything actually. They both look rather thoughtful.
Harry tries not to read into it. Much.
"This is what I am trying to offer you. Currently, your nephew is untrained. This is why strange things are happening around him. Certain emotions also tend to trigger it in children, emotions such as fear or great excitement for example. This is completely normal but also out of his control at the moment unfortunately" The stranger actually looks mournful about this, and both his aunt and uncle lean in a little without meaning to, "but it can be trained to be under control. The school is overseas, surrounded by a natural wonder, and it is quite beautiful and remote. He would be trained and cared for, and taught respectful values." The man stresses this, and it is clear he is only saying it because the Dursley's want to hear it. Harry wonders why they can't see this.
"No doubt you worry about his safety also, and I am pleased to reassure you that our school is fully staffed with security, as many people with our abilities go there to train as well as learn to be productive citizens. We take security very seriously.
However, as we take a different approach to the training of this ability to our somewhat more eccentric cousins... Family, can't always pick them, am I right?"
The man – Doctor Strange – gives the Dursley's a what-can-you-do smile, and Harry can see the Dursley visibly warm towards him. Harry wonders just how eccentric those other people must be to make this man seem more normal, despite his waving cloak.
"As I was saying, as we use a different approach to the training of this ability, we have no contact with the faction you are worried about. Our paths simply do not cross, you see."
"Yes." His aunt sniffs, but it's almost friendly now, "That is… good to hear, I suppose. Productive citizen you say? He could use that, certainly." Another sniff, "naturally we do have…concerns, as you said. But overseas school… that would be expensive, won't it? We are not a rich family. We don't have money for that."
Not for me, Harry thinks.
The man, Dr. Strange, smiles at his aunt, he is awfully relaxed, as if he does this all the time. Harry can feel his eyes narrow.
Is this man a child-stealer? Is he a follower of the monster his aunt talked about?
"Please do not worry Madam. The school's founder was a stickler for safety, so he set up a fund for kids like your nephew. The school will supply him with everything he needs until his majority, at which point he can leave or continue to work for us. His choice. But either way, your family will be safe. Both of your families, that is."
With a sinking feeling, Harry already knows he will be leaving with the man.
He doesn't know how he feels about that honestly.
But a school, in a pretty place, which can teach him to control an ability he apparently has.
This makes so much sense, that he feels a little like trembling.
He is some kind of… mutant.
That has to be it.
No wonder his aunt and uncle are always wary around him. No wonder they never warmed up to him. He is dangerous. But they never told him that! They just tell him not to do freaky things!
He wonders why not.
Maybe if they ignore it, it would go away?
Harry has no idea. Do mutants work that way?
He never read up about them much. He was always more focused on science and math, on spy novels and murder mysteries. Sometimes science fiction but mostly elves and stuff not… humans with claws.
It just seemed too fantastical. Harry couldn't imagine something more fantastical actually.
His aunt is signing the papers the man already conveniently has on him.
Custody papers.
Just like that.
Harry feels a little numb. It's not that he hasn't sometimes fantasizes about some distant relative one day swooping down and adopting him.
This wasn't that.
He is being shipped off to boarding school.
One whose name they don't even know, or which country it's in.
There will be no way back.
Harry is realizing this.
He isn't sure how to feel about it. He thinks he might be in shock.
He gets up to get what little stuff he has under the stairs.
He thinks he might be stuffing his clothes into a plastic bag he finds in the back of the closet, but he honestly can't tell. He doesn't have anything else except his thin mattress and the thin scratchy green blanket. Should he bring that too?
He decides against brining it. The Dursley's might not allow it anyway.
He doesn't want to think of them as his relatives any more.
They just signed over custody of him to a stranger.
Heh.
Strange Stranger.
He really hopes he isn't a child trafficker.
His aunt apparently found his baby blanket, or something, and stuffs it in his plastic bag.
He doesn't want to look at them.
"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. You did the right thing. We will take care of him from here."
Through his numbness, Harry notices that the man's words are the correct ones but his tone is a lot cooler now. As if he suddenly stopped caring what the Dursley's thought.
Well.
He got Harry, didn't he?
He really hopes the man doesn't work for some military organization which experiments on mutants. The man did say he was a doctor after all.
Harry debates making a run for it, through the door, down the drive maybe…
…but the Dursley's have a car, and Harry doesn't trust them not to just…
They signed him away.
Like it was…nothing.
Like –
Trash.
"Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. Come Harry." The man puts his hand on Harry and he can't help but jump a little. Before he can panic however, the man – Doctor Strange – waves his right hand, the one not holding his shoulder, in a circular motion, and within three waves, a – the air? it's like a door, but inside a golden circle. The circle that Doctor Strange's hand has made.
That –
- that is freaky.
But before he can really panic, his is being pushed forward – through! – the door –
It's cold.
That's Harry's first non-gibbering thought.
It's suddenly very, very cold.
…
They aren't in the Dursley's living room any more.
His shoes are standing in snow.
There is a cold biting wind ruffling his hair. Fogging his glasses.
It is very, very, very cold here.
Wherever here is.
He looks behind him, purely on instinct, and sees the Dursley's gaping at them. They are still in their living room. Through the ring of gold.
Then the ring closes, and there is only the cold.
That's when he realizes he is on a mountain!
Doctor Strange takes a deep breath next to him. As if relishing it.
Crazy person.
"Sorry for the abrupt magic. I know the first time is always a little of a, ah, surprise, but I promise, I have no ill intentions. Now, this might be presumptuous of me, but are you okay?
Harry gapes at him.
A little.
What the –
"No. I can't say that I am. I was just signed away to a stranger, who is supposedly taking me to a school whose name I don't know, whose location I don't even know, or even which country it's in, and you could be a child trafficker for all I know and I am a mutant." Harry practically yells at him.
This might be Harry's first rebellion.
He has never dared speak like this to an adult. Uncle Vernon would have hit his bum a lot for that.
Maybe he is in shock?
Strange blinks at him, "Ah, no. Not a mutant actually. Good guess however." Then, more quietly, "Child trafficker? Really? What part of a monk with a cape strikes you as child trafficker?"
Strange has the audacity to give him an affronted look.
Honestly. As if Harry is the paranoid one.
"I assure you; I am not a child trader or trafficker or … whatever else you might have talked yourself into. I promise I am none of those things. What I told the Dursley's was more or less the truth. I really am taking you to a school, to learn how to control your magic. So that you don't harm yourself or others by accident."
Strange tells him reasonably.
'More or less'. What does 'More or less' mean, here?
At least Harry is getting some information.
Magic.
"I am sorry, that you have them for relatives." Strange tells him.
Harry honestly stops inside for a second when he hears that. Why would he care?
"I can't promise you much, but I think your life will be better from now on, judging by… earlier. If that opinion matters, from a stranger." He stares at Harry like he is waiting for him to get something, "That's totally a double entendre." Strange tells him.
Harry honestly doesn't know if screaming would help.
Mental.
"If not a mutant, what then? You said magic." Because getting information out of adults is critical if he wants to not be 'conveniently lost' in central London. Or a mountain for that matter.
On hindsight, Harry thinks the Dursley's didn't 'honestly forget' him that one time.
"Oh, you are magical. Specifically, you are a wizard, Harry." He says, sounding like a maniac.
Harry looks at him, to make sure he isn't joking.
"You are serious." What does magical mean? Like Gandalf or…
"Quite." Strange tells him perfectly seriously. "I on the other hand, am a sorcerer. Well, actually, I am The Sorcerer. Sorcerer Supreme."
Harry can hear the capitals, and is honestly unsure if Strange is having a laugh at his expense or not.
"Which is a different way to tap into magic, than wizards generally do, it's true. Yet works just the same. However, as I told the Dursleys –"
With a jolt, Harry realizes that Strange hasn't called them 'your relatives' even once since apologizing.
He doesn't know how he feels about that either.
"The context you are likely missing, is that you are from the Wizarding World, as we call it. Rather, your parents were. They were murdered by a lunatic who is the equivalent of a magical Hitler, but on a small scale since it mostly stayed in Wizarding Britain. But I digress."
"My parents died in a car crash." Harry tells him. Because this is what he has been told his whole life.
"No. They didn't. I am sorry Harry. The Dursley's lied to you, which on hindsight isn't surprising. I did some research prior to approaching your - former - house today, and the 'monster' your aunt referred to calls himself 'Lord Voldemort'. Rather grandiose name if you ask me but who am I to say really. It is usually taboo to say his name in your country because he cursed it to alert him to the location of the person who dares speak it. But he can't track past the United Kingdoms. Also, he is still lost in spirit-form so there is that."
Harry blinks at him.
In spirit-form, does that mean Voldemort is dead? That's usually how people become spirits right? If there was such a thing of course.
"From what I could gather, your parents were fighting him. They went into hiding and someone betrayed them. Voldemort showed up and killed your father, then your mother. However, when he tried to kill you, the killing curse rebounded, and killed him instead, giving you that scar. Which we will be looking over as soon as we have you dressed. But because of this, in the British Wizarding World, you have the unfortunate moniker of The Boy Who Lived, and you are as famous as Merlin."
Harry couldn't help gape at him. This was crazy.
What the hell?!
He only spoke to a snake! One!
"But this is why your aunt was, ah, a touch hesitant to hand you over to me, you see. She feared I was that maniacs follower. They are known by the ridiculous name of Death Eaters – honestly, what kind of name is that?" Strange is walking at a brisk pace, and Harry trots along, trying to keep up, head spinning from all the new information.
"Anyway, as I told the Dursley's, we have nothing to do with the wizards, since we are sorcerers. We have our own culture. But since we practice such a different kind of magic, wizards almost never come to visit us. No point since our spells don't work with their wands. Only with these."
He flashes Harry his ring.
"So, I am a wizard." Harry says. He sounds disbelieving even to his own ears.
"That's right! And I am a sorcerer." Strange tells him helpfully.
Harry doesn't think it's very helpful actually.
"Where exactly are we?" Harry finally gets to ask.
"Oh, didn't I tell you? We are in Kathmandu, Nepal. Welcome to Kamar-Taj Harry."
Harry stops in his tracks.
"We were in England less than 10 minutes ago." Harry points out, very reasonably.
Maybe Strange will make sense.
Despite his name.
Oh god, the warning was in the name!
"Magic." Strange looks at him. As if speaking to a very slow child.
"Right, magic." Harry says a little weakly. Never mind that it was just a few steps. He didn't even feel it –the magic – till he was already cold.
"See the 2 rings connected by a bar with runes on it on this hand?" Strange shows him his trembling hand. It still trebles. There are two rings connected by a metal bar, alright. The runes look really pretty and intricate. Like something you would find in a costume shop or something.
"This helps me channel my magic to create portals like the one we stepped through. The Wizards, where your birth parents are from, use wands made of magical woods and cores made up of magical animal…bits. Like tail or scale or whatnot. Some a little more macabre - like heartstring, as an example – than I would like, but it's not my culture to judge, you know? Anyway. My point is, we need a focus to channel the magic, otherwise it will sometimes do bizarre things like vanish glass in a zoo or make you invisible or who knows what else. Sometimes the results are fun. Other times, not so much and things blow up. That's why we will train you-"
"We are in Katmandu. In Nepal." Harry honestly can't help blurting that out, because Strange is somehow still missing the point.
"Ah, you are still stuck on that, are you? Well, we are almost here, just around the corner is the ward barrier and –"
That's when Harry realizes he has started walking a while ago when Strange had. Without even thinking about it.
His old trainers are wet.
So are his socks and feet.
He is also shivering all over.
Harry looks up, to say something. He doesn't remember what because in front of him, is a giant castle, like from a comic book. It is sitting on a huge pedestal which looks to be made of some kind of white stone. Above it, there are a number of towers scattered at different heights. They all have stacked Asian rooves on them. One even has three stacks!
Most of the walls are a brilliant white which blend into the landscape. The rooves are all golden.
Behind all the golden rooves, he can see a giant white-and-gold pillar thing with some kind of ribbons but they turn another corner and its suddenly hidden by trees.
"There is a mundane side entrance also, since I think you need a change of wardrobe before you freeze to death, I chose the expediate route. Ah, here we are."
Strange places his ring(s) rune side down on a large boulder. Harry can see that there is a grove where the bar should fit.
For a moment it lights up, and Strange murmurs, "Come here" and they are walking through a white shimmering dome, Strange's hand on his shoulder, trembles and all. It flashes golden and tingles when they touch it, then they are stepping through.
"We will go pick up your Sling ring after I tell Wong I am back. We can pick up your clothes from there too."
Harry must look at him with dismay, he might also have started shivering a little harder. The castle is close, but not that close after all.
"Now that we are through the wards, I can use my ring to get us right to Wong." He offers, like Harry actually gets a say.
"That would be nice." Harry tells him, just in case he does. His teeth have started chattering.
Strange does the circle-wave thing with his ring again, and this time Harry knows what's coming so he has a second to see the runes on the ring light up the same way they did when they entered the dome.
Then there is a much-warmer-looking library on the other side and a rather broad Asian man with short hair sitting at a table with a large tome in front of him.
Harry eagerly steps through this time.
Much warmer.
He drips water on the floor from his soaked trainers and clothes.
Strange isn't dripping.
Harry narrows his eyes.
Actually, he can't remember seeing Strange's feet touch the ground.
Wong gives Strange a long-suffering sigh, mutters something about 'opening portals inside the library, again!' and does his own circle-wave thing, but this time, a hot wind hits Harry's face. A hellscape greets Harry from the other side and he really hopes that isn't where they are going!
It's really hot. His face hurts now from going from really cold to really hot in seconds.
He is starting to sweat but the circle doesn't come any closer and because he isn't a moron, he doesn't walk towards it.
Then just as suddenly, the hot, hot, hot wind is gone.
Harry is also dry.
Huh.
"Thank you." Because what the hell. He isn't cold or wet any more at least.
"You are welcome." The Asian man says, a quirk to his mouth. He sounds rather kind actually, if long-suffering. Harry takes a moment to finally look around. The library is huge, and the shelves are thick and groaning everywhere with books and tomes that look much older than him.
A sweet-smelling incense stick sits propped up on a silver tray, on a huge wooden table. Smoke lazily curling around the books already stacked there for study.
Beyonce playing cheerfully in the background.
Harry blinks at the song choice.
Not exactly what he thought a bunch of monks from Nepal would listen to but who was he to judge?
"My name is Wong. You must be Harry. Stephen called to say he would be bringing you to us. Something about an outburst of magic?"
That question is for Strange, but Harry ducks his head just the same. He still feels a little embarrassed about it.
"It was minor. He feels strongly about animal imprisonment." 'Stephen' who is apparently Strange says.
Harry debates correcting him, but doesn't bother.
It sounds better than 'has anger issues.'
"Welcome to Kamar-Taj. We always look forward to receiving new students. It is good that you are still young. Your magic will have an easier time being taught to behave." Wong tells him, and Harry tries hard to act like he really wants to be here, even though he still doesn't quite understand where 'here' is. Or how he got here. Or why him even.
"We have the largest collection of texts outside of the library of Alexandria, so I am sure you will find your learning experience to be a productive one."
Harry has a moment to wonder, since he was sure he remembers his teacher telling him the Library of Alexandria was destroyed.
"We don't have a lot of kids your age right now, but I think the closest is Hari who is 10, and Laxmi who is 11." Wong tells him thoughtfully, "The way we do things here is, you get a mentor, usually the person who 'discovered' you – in your case, that would be Stephen and myself helping out sometimes – and we guide you through the material. You can call Stephen, Doctor Strange – he seems to be allergic to Master or Mister so don't bother – and you can call me Master Wong, okay?" The man tells him kindly, and Harry is just happy to have someone who would actually explain things in detail. Like a normal person.
"Since everyone is at a different level, your mentor designs a study curriculum based on what knowledge you are missing. In your case, it's pretty easy since I am guessing you know nothing about magic?"
Harry shakes his head no. It's not exactly something you pick up at primary school.
"Alright, so we will start from the beginning. But first, Stephen will take you to your room, get you clothes, books and the usual things. Then, likely, he will have a chat with you about how all this will work. If you get tired of his…charming eccentricities, you can always come find me here, at the library." Master Wong gives him a friendly smile.
Harry nods, feeling more than a little overwhelmed.
He doesn't know Master Wong very well, having only just met him, but he seems patient and rather nice, though he is still a big man which means that if he decided to hit Harry, it would really hurt.
They leave Master Wong to his books, and Strange takes him outside of the library. Harry nearly stops dead once he is outside. Because they used the Sling ring to get to the Library, Harry hadn't noticed that they were inside the giant temple! Of course, he should have guessed, since Strange said as much but he didn't realize…
The inside of the castle is absolutely huge!
There are many courtyards – Harry can see through the various doors and they just go on forever! – and the walls are a brilliantly white, except on the very top where they have a band of red across it, while the rooves are golden… he nearly hurts his neck trying to see. In the distance he can see the giant golden thing he noticed before. Like a giant golden pillar, will balls on it.
"This part of the temple is only for the disciples of Kamar-Taj. Meaning, mundanes – which are non-magical people – cannot see it or enter this area. So, you can practice your magic all you like, though I advise you to have me or Wong with you for the first little while, just in case you lose control. Which by the way will happen for the first year or so, that is normal for wizardkind, so don't be too alarmed as I said." Strange leads him through a bunch of courtyards, and Harry is immediately lost.
Seeing his dismayed look, Strange smirks but tells him kindly. "If you turn around and look to your left, you can see a 3-stacked golden roof with a purple flag on the top, yes? That is the library. The Swayambhunath is to your right."
"Bless you" Harry tells him, because the Dursley's had insisted on manners.
Strange just laughs at him and says, "Funny, I said the same thing when Mordo told me that. The big golden dome pillar in the distance you were looking at is the Swayambhunath."
Harry nods, knowing there is no way he would even try to pronounce that. It will forever be the Big Golden Thing in his head.
They arrive at a double story courtyard, with four buildings making a square. The second floor has a long veranda, which wraps around the four buildings.
"These are the dormitories. I myself used to live here when I first started learning. You would normally share a room with another person, but since there is no one your age at the moment, you get the room to yourself. Lucky you. My roommate was a slovenly pig who snored, so count your blessings."
Harry debates telling Strange that no one snores louder than the male Dursley's but refrains. Just.
It will be really nice to have his own room, even if he has been kind of semi-kidnapped and coerced to join some kind of religious magical cult or something.
His room is on the second floor. It has a carved wooden door, and carved wooden windows which are surprisingly pretty, and opens up to the view of the entire mountain-range they were just in. The bed is also made of wood with four short wooden posts, and carved. In fact, everything in the room that could be carved, is. Even the small wardrobe opposite the bed next to the door. The bed is a single, but the mattress looks thick. Certainly, thicker than what Harry is used to anyway. There is also a thick brown-and-cream quilt with geometric shapes all over it.
There is a table, a chair and an old-fashioned lamp, next to a candelabra with a short white candle in it.
The floorboards look old but sturdy, and a thick cream wool-rug covers most of the space between the bed and table. It is surprisingly warm inside despite the door and windows all being carved with no glass in them. It looks…cozy.
Normal even.
"Right. Let's get you sorted. First, you need some clothes." Strange says, then opens a portal without even looking at it. Harry wonders what he will bring out of it, since it's only big enough to fit his hand.
Strange pauses, and looks at him intently. It's a rather piercing look.
Harry wonders if he is being judged. If Strange is looking at his magic or maybe his potential or maybe his right to use magic or -
"I think, a size S should fit."
Then he is yanking out a stack of clothes.
Harry thankfully only has a moment to feel foolish, because the previous portal closes as soon as Strange takes his hand out, and he opens another portal and is taking out shoes. They look more like thick slippers to Harry.
Strange seems to agree because he opens another portal and brings out a pair of regular boots. Harry can see some kind of white fluff inside them. A thick brown coat joins the boots shortly.
"Then you will need, let me see, toothbrush, soap, shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, dental floss," He pauses and glances at Harry again, "No shaving for you, yet. Right, I remember this age. I think."
He is muttering, and Harry's bed is fast piling up with stuff. Since he doesn't – exactly – seem to be talking to Harry, he sits himself down on the edge of the chair and waits for Strange to finish.
By the end, Harry can hardly see the bed's blanket anymore.
He can't believe all of this stuff is for him honestly.
Strange might be a child trafficker but at least he doesn't seem to expect Harry to be uncomfortable.
That already puts him above the Dursley's.
"Wear this rune bracelet at all times, even when you sleep and shower, as that is an underage health and safety bracelet. It helps us know if you are injured and where you are in an emergency. We don't want you ending up on a Himalayan peak or something."
A tracker bracelet. Maybe he is a child trafficker no matter what he said. His goatee is very groomed, after all.
The bracelet is made of some kind of black weave Harry can't identify, and three squared white stones with runes on them sawn into the material.
"And don't worry, even if you do accidentally find yourself on a mountain top in the Himalayas… due to a teleportation accident say, and fall off a cliff or something, we can still reverse it, as long as it's within a certain amount of time. Of course, you would still die, which will hurt so I don't recommend it, but my point is, it will be temporary." Strange says, clearly attempting to sound reassuring.
Harry stares at him.
"…that is actually not very reassuring, is it?"
Harry mutely shakes his head no.
Seriously. What.
Doctor Strange coughs, Harry continues to stare at him.
He can't help it.
There might still be a chance he would start making sense.
Eventually.
Maybe.
"Well, it rarely ever happens. Probably only to me anyway." Strange waves it off. Like teleporting to the Himalayas and dying happens sometimes.
He seriously sucks at being reassuring.
"If you need assistance, inject your magic into the middle rune, and an adult will come to you."
Oh.
Well. That is nice actually.
He wonders how he is supposed to 'inject' his magic.
"Right." Strange stands there, rather awkwardly, Harry thinks.
Maybe he hasn't done this before?
"I've never… done this before."
Strange tells him.
Harry wonders if he can read minds.
He wonders if it will be rude to ask.
"Taken on a student, I mean. You are my first. Since I became Sorcerer Supreme that is."
It feels like Harry should have something to say to that.
"That's nice. It's my first time being kidnapped." He offers.
Strange stares at him.
"I didn't kidnap – you know what? Why don't you settle in, and explore a little? I will come get you for dinner."
Strange says, and turns to go. Harry debates asking him where the loo is but before he can, Strange turns around and says, "Oh, and the wifi password is Shamballa."
Harry blinks at him.
"We aren't savages here." Strange tells him, with a quirk to his mouth which makes Harry think he is quoting someone.
He is gone before Harry can tell him he doesn't even own a watch, let alone a computer.
After Strange is gone, Harry just sits there for a while, not moving.
His head is buzzing.
He knows he should put the stuff away, at least check what all Strange gave him but…
He was in Surrey. Not even an hour ago, he was in Surrey. Not even 3 hours ago he was at the London Zoo.
Now he is in Nepal.
The Dursley's always said he was a freak, but Harry thinks even freaks should have limits. To the number of freakish things that can happen to them in one day, that is.
Strange probably has weird freaky things happen to him all the time.
To him, kidnapping a kid from England doesn't even seem to register on his weird-o-meter.
Harry doesn't know if that is a good or bad thing.
Dismissing those thoughts with a shake of his head, Harry finally makes himself look at the stuff on his new bed.
In his new room.
He has a room.
Apparently, it only takes getting kidnapped to get one.
Strange seems to be erring on the side of caution because he seems to have provided Harry with everything he could possibly need for at least a year.
Maybe he will only get them once?
There are wide belts, bags, earrings – is he supposed to wear them? How? – socks and underwear. Many kinds of robes. They aren't – exactly – monk robes, as Harry thinks of them. They remind Harry of the clothes the characters in Star Wars wore.
It is the only movie he was ever allowed to go watch with the Dursley's and only because there was no one to babysit him. He absolutely loved it.
His new robes are a cream color, and Harry thinks he is supposed to layer them? Or something? There are long-sleeved shirts which clearly go inside, and some kind of bracers that seem to hold the sleeve in? Then there are robes and … other things.
He has no idea how he is supposed to wear these clothes.
Setting them aside for now, he walks to his new wardrobe and opens it. Thankfully it is full of hangers so Harry just hangs everything up. Even if he doesn't know how to wear them, he can stop them from getting wrinkled, right?
He wonders what his chores will be like here. He doesn't for one moment think he would get to not do manual labor since his schooling is for free, and he just got all these clothes… someone has to pay for this.
He slips the bracelet on, and startles a little when it immediately sizes itself to fit his wrist. Tentatively he gives it a pull, and it immediately expands.
Okay, so he can take it off. Good to know.
He lets go, and the bracelet sizes to him again.
Harry also puts on the boots, because while the room really is nice and toasty, his shoes and shocks are rather battered. He is really happy to see the white fluff is actually a fleece lining and the boots are the single warmest shoes he has ever worn in his life.
Harry also finds a Sling ring on his bed, right on the pillow. He doesn't remember Strange pulling that out and he thinks he would have noticed that but there it sits.
He picks it up and slips it on his left hand, the way he saw Strange wear it. Immediately he feels… something. Something sparkling across the ring.
Maybe its magic?
Like his bracelet, his ring sizes to his fingers.
It feels odd, because his second and middle fingers are now joined, and he feels a little like he should be making the devil sign – something his aunt said when she saw Dudley's Nirvana poster.
Harry really hopes he hasn't been given to an evil religious cult.
Seems like something his aunt would do.
He sighs and goes to put everything else away.
He hasn't noticed but under all the clothes are a stack of books also.
He is now completely convinced that Strange can randomly deposit stuff into his room without Harry ever seeing him.
No way he would have missed a huge stack of books landing on his bed.
The books actually look fascinating.
Some are on meditation – actually several are, so Harry figures there will be lots of that in his future.
There is a thick tome called Astral Projection: Do's and Don'ts which sound vaguely ominous.
There is also a stack of books on martial arts, and weapons.
At the bottom of the pile, is a thick notebook.
When Harry opens it, he has to blink a little at first because he is convinced its in some kind of alien language or code or something. He tries turning it upside down, but it still doesn't make sense, so Harry focuses hard on the first lines.
After about 5 minutes, he can finally read it.
It says simply:
Notes and Thoughts on my journey.
The script is shaky. Seriously shaky and hardly legible.
Harry suddenly realizes these might be Strange's notes. He doesn't know anyone else who's hands shake as much as Strange's, but is this his diary?
It takes Harry close to an hour, but once he figures out Strange's writing, it gets a lot easier to read.
Harry was right. This is Strange's diary. It seems he had come to Kamar Taj not that many years ago, judging by some of the entries.
Most of the notes are of his discovery of magic, and Harry is amazed to learn that prior to coming to Kamar-Taj, Strange had no magic at all.
There are multiple entries about this-or-that spell not stopping the shaking in his hands…
When Harry reaches the entries about the Ancient One and how apparently warping reality was something magic could do –
The notes have small comments here and there. Like, "How is this possible?" and "This makes no sense", "This is not how Newton's law works!" and "I will never hold a scalpel again I think."
That is written only once.
Why would he hold a scalpel? Wasn't a scalpel a surgeon tool – oh.
Oh.
Doctor Strange.
He had been a doctor. A surgeon.
Somehow Harry had missed that.
But his hands…
And now he is the Sorcerer Supreme.
Whatever that means.
Harry makes a note to ask Master Wong what that title actually stands for.
Closing the book for now, he puts it under his pillow. That book is clearly special.
He also finds a pile of books on various 'entities'. Names like Agamotto, Cyttorak, Ikonn, Oshtur, Raggadorr, Watoomb and so on. Even the book titles are weird, like: Book of the Invisible Sun, and Codex Imperium, and even something called The Key of Solomon.
Harry stares at them and wonders just how serious he should take this. It sounds like gibberish. Yet, he is in Nepal.
He also wonders if he was right to suspect an evil religious cult. Maybe a pagan cult?
What does 'entities' even mean? Are they like Gods?
He sets those books aside also and just breaths for a moment.
Everything in him is standing still. Everything in him is -
He gets up to go find the loo.
Maybe some cold water and a piss would help?
When Strange comes back some hours later, the first thing he asks Harry is, why on earth he hasn't changed yet.
Harry is a little embarrassed, but also not, and informs him he has no clue how those clothes even work.
Strange stares at him, as if that never occurred to him and Harry gets the distinctive feeling that Strange might be hitting his head with the palm of his hand if it wouldn't be so uncool.
What follows is a hilarious but informative guide on How Kamar-Taj Clothing Work.
Harry feels kind of vindicated that the robes are worn exactly like how Star Wars coolest Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn wore his. Strange's clothes are almost the exact same, minus the outer robe, and his clothes are all in black instead of cream and brown, and he wears a wider belt. But that's the only difference! For all Harry knows, his sleeves are even the same, except Strange has thick black bracers to sinch them in!
Harry wonders if Strange has a light saber too.
Maybe this isn't an evil cult. Maybe they are a Jedi order who collect orphans with special Jedi powers which they call magic?
Harry can totally live with that.
Maybe he should tell Strange that he accepts being his Padawan-of-magic?
Harry ignores that little voice that says he isn't even sure he is allowed choices anymore.
Jedi order sounds better.
Dinner with Strange turns out to be… different.
For one, it isn't in Nepal.
And Harry has just gotten used to his face hurting. Really.
New York, comparatively, has a much milder weather than you would get in the Himalayas. Who knew.
He thinks he might be experiencing continuous shock? It feels like it hasn't stopped since the man knocked on his door. Not 12 hours ago. He has been to 3 countries in 12 hours.
Definitely continuous shock.
Harry is still grateful for his new boots however.
Wong orders a tuna melt, while Strange got chocolate yogurt cake.
For dinner.
Harry gets fish & chips. Like a normal person.
The food is great, but learning about the Sanctum Sanctorum is amazing. Who doesn't want a 3-story townhouse that follows you everywhere you go?
Apparently, there are doors that can open to anywhere Strange wants them to, and his fish & chips are from a small corner pub in London.
Harry expresses his amazement for how awesome the Sanctum is and Strange has to go and ruin it.
"This is a great little place. Used to have a chaos-entity bound to it – native Shamans hate killing things when they can imprison them, don't ask me why. Something to do with not wasting things or some such – but I got rid of it." Harry can practically hear the "Because of course I did", "and imprisoned her familiar, just in case."
Harry stares at him.
He's been doing that a lot since he met Strange.
"Does anything even remotely reassuring ever leave your mouth? Out of curiosity." Harry asks him.
Strange has the audacity to give him a confused and slightly hurt look, as if he has no idea why Harry would ask that.
Honestly.
Master Wong just laughs at Strange.
Their delivery is from all over the world.
It's completely insane and a totally new way of thinking which Harry hasn't expected. So much…freedom.
He glances down at his own ring.
Maybe he will be able to do this too, soon. Wave his hand around and be back in England in the blink of an eye.
Harry then makes a mistake and asks them if the laws of physics simply do not apply to magical people?
Harry means it somewhat sarcastically, but the thoughtful looks on Strange and Master Wong's face make a cold sweat break out.
"What, really?" He asks then, incredulously.
"Yes and no," Strange tells him. Because that's really helpful.
"We draw energies – magic, if you will, but you will hear us referring to it as energies often, since magic is just another form of energy – from other dimensions of the multiverse, to cast spells, to conjure shields, and weapons, to imbue runes, which in turn, makes 'magic', as you think of it"
Thank god for Master Wong.
"Wizards don't usually draw their power from other dimensions since they are born with a magical core which powers their spells. However, for larger workings, they also tap into the multiverse via ley-lines during various times of the year, such as Yule and Litha, for example. They aren't always aware they are doing that, but it doesn't change the fact that they are." Strange adds.
Huh. He is actually capable of explaining things in detail.
That is actually reassuring.
He tells the part of his brain that reminds him, that it's easier to think about Strange's ability as a teacher, than it is about what he is actually telling Harry.
He has a magical core.
"In essence, because we are all capable of drawing power from other dimensions of the multiverse, we do often break the laws of physics, it is true." Master Wong tells him thoughtfully. "We do however, only do that when Earth's existence is in peril, and normally we work hard to preserve the laws of physics. But it is true that some of us, are rather better at it than others." Master Wong looks at Strange when he says this.
"Yeah, especially the Ancient One." Strange laughs, and Master Wong joins him, nodding.
"Um, how?" Harry can't help asking, his curiosity peaked. His fish & chips are taking up a lot of his attention, they are the best food he has had in ages, but this is just too weird and interesting to ignore.
"There are books. And spells. Diagrams. Rituals." Master Wong tells him. "You will learn them with time if you study hard."
"The various entities of the multiverse which have existed before our universe was even born, have left them for us to study and master. For example, a great many of my spells come from the Book of Vishanti, which is the Multiverse's biggest collection of Light-aligned spells."
Harry stares at him.
He thinks they will start laughing at any moment and tell him it was a joke but they don't.
Holy crap, Harry had been right! They are a crazy religious cult!
But wait, Strange has said Light-aligned spells, so maybe they are a good religious cult? Is there such a thing as a good religious cult? Harry doesn't know.
"So, it's like… prayer?" Because that's what religion people do right?
Are they magical paladins maybe?
Both Masters look at him in surprise.
"Ah, no."
"Really no."
"Definitely no."
… Harry is so confused.
"These places we draw power from are like… a large storm or a natural phenomenon. They are sentient but they are also eternal, immortal, cosmic entities. If they are a mountain, we are the bacteria in the soil, not even as big as an ant to them. They simply left ways we are able to tap into their vast, inexhaustive power, the same way you would tap into a wind farm to create energy or make a geothermal plant to produce energy from steam created by magma." Strange explains, while Master Wong sort of wags his head back and forth in agreement.
"Are they… good entities? Bad?" Harry would love to know if the cult will sacrifice him to their god, for example.
"Well, that's where it gets complicated." Master Wong tells them.
Because of course it does.
This isn't considered complicated yet.
"Some are Light-aligned like Vishanti, but others are chaos entities – which doesn't make them evil by the way – and then there are also others who aren't entities at all but demons or rock trolls or what have you. It isn't so black and white Harry." Strange says, sounding all serious, while scraping his chocolate container obsessively, like a toddler.
"Magic is magic. It is how you use the power, that defines, if it is good or evil." Master Wong tells him. "This is why, in Kamar-Taj, no knowledge is forbidden, only certain practices are."
Harry thinks about it, and then offers, "Like a gun? A gun can both kill and protect depending on who is holding it, right?"
"Yes exactly. However, because nothing in the multiverse is completely black or white, there are spells and entities that we try to avoid using at all cost, because magic abhors imbalance, and as such, when you demand a great deal of power, magic will demand an equal repayment. Remember that, if you remember nothing else." Strange tells him, looking down at his shaking hands wryly.
Master Wong gives Harry a Look, and Harry gets the impression this is a talk they have had often.
"Some people, like yourself, are born with a magical core. Think of it as coming with your own magical battery basically. The rest of us don't get that, so we tap into the multiverse's infinite energy. This means that often what you do, will have less of a 'cost' than what we do, and why we often have to be mindful of what we try to achieve with magic. Many have been corrupted by drawing too much magic into themselves in this way. Wizards and Witches, are somewhat more resistant, but even a wizard who dabbles in the Dark powers too much – drawing from the chaos entities for example – can and will lose themselves to it, and often either go insane, or become monsters." Strange tells him seriously.
Harry gulps a little, as Master Wong nods.
Maybe that's why his relatives were scared. Maybe they knew this.
"Don't worry too much. We will not have access to those kinds of books until you are a fully grown wizard, then you can make your own choices about how you want to present yourself to the world." Master Wong assures him, while Strange looks away a little guiltily, and Harry suddenly makes a tactical decision to show his books to Master Wong before he starts studying any of them.
He is clearly the adult among his two Masters.
He pats himself on the back for making the right decision when Master Wong loses his mind a few days later on Strange for giving Harry the Astral Projection book. He never knew Master Wong had those kinds of lungs.
"Are you touched in the head?! We do not give 9-year-olds Astral Projection books! What if he tries it without supervision and loses his soul on the Astral plane? Or he has accidental magic and sends him to the multiverse?! Will you hunt through billions of permutations to find it?!"
- and wow okay that's kind of scary. Master Wong maybe has a very good point.
Strange looks somewhat mutinous, and shoots Harry a betrayed look.
Clearly, he sees no issue.
"Oh relax, it was only the intro book. He can't cast anything without the theory and I won't give him that yet." Strange sounds exasperated. Like this is a fight they have also had before.
Harry wonders just how long they have known each other.
Judging by the diary, not that long.
"HE IS A WIZARD! He doesn't need the theory when he has accidental magic!" Master Wong all but bellows at Strange, and Harry sees Strange wince a little.
"The chances are miniscule!" Strange defends himself, shooting a few looks at Harry unsurely.
Master Wong just pinches the bridge of his nose. As if Strange is trying his last patience.
"You know what? I will take over Harry's introductory training. Why don't you go and … create chaos somewhere else? Maybe in Dormammu's realm. He would appreciate it, I am sure." Master Wong mutters darkly.
Harry wonders who Dormammu is. He must be really annoying to have Master Wong suggest Strange go bother him. Harry has come to realize Master Wong is usually a really chill guy.
"Don't worry kid, I will teach you when he goes to bed." Strange tells him on their way out of the library, and Harry wonders if this is what its like to have an irresponsible uncle or godfather or something.
"But yeah, maybe don't try any magic for a while without one of us there. Just in case." Strange adds, as an afterthought.
Harry briefly wonders if the Wizarding World is this bonkers and if its too late to join them instead.
Monsters and followers be damned.
Surely their magic isn't about souls leaving their bodies and getting trapped.
Surely.
He finally meets Hari and Laxmi, who turn out to be a boy and a girl respectively. They are both Nepalese, and cheerfully welcoming towards him. Their English is only so-so, apparently, they are fluent in Nepalese and ancient Sanskrit but that doesn't really help Harry.
They manage to show their welcome with a lot of smiling and gesturing but Harry realizes they likely won't really get to be friends unless Harry somehow picks up Nepalese.
He wonders if there is a spell for that and makes a note to ask Master Wong.
He joins them in their Sling ring class, which is being taught my Master Wong.
He shows Harry how to hold his hand and how the casting is supposed to work. Harry is surprised that there is no incantation or something, like a magic word or what have you but Master Wong tells him there is no need. The Sling ring apparently only opens portals.
"Mastery of the Sling ring is essential to the mystic arts. You must imagine every detail, the clearer the picture, the easier it will be to cast." Master Wong tells him, as he adjusts his hand a little. "As the Sling ring is predominantly used to create a dimensional gateway to another location or even a different dimension, it is essential that you keep your focus while casting, least you open a door to somewhere you don't actually want. Now, focus your mind, and feel for your magic, when you find it, guide it towards your Sling ring, and show your magic what you want, remember, the clearer the image, the higher your success chance."
Strange joins them before Harry can try to use it. He observes Harry's posture for a bit, and nods.
"Don't worry if it takes you several weeks or even months to get this right. It took me –" but his mouth suddenly snaps shut because Harry has completed the third circle while Strange was talkinging with his right hand and a golden portal is just... open.
Harry can see the little park he used to play in when Dudley wasn't chasing him.
He can probably even step through if he wanted.
Then he loses his focus and the portal abruptly closes.
Master Wong and Strange stare at him.
"…it was his first try?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Of course it was. Bloody wizards."
Master Wong is trying not to laugh, Harry can tell, while Strange just looks really put-out.
Harry has no idea why. Shouldn't he be happy?
"It took Stephen a trip to Everest to learn to get past his own preconceptions." Master Wong tells him, somewhat gleefully.
Harry suddenly remembers Strange telling him about the bracelet and how he can find him even if he was lost in the Himalayas.
Maybe he should be glad the Ancient One passed away?
Somehow Harry doesn't think Strange had a bracelet.
Both Hari and Laxmi congratulate him enthusiastically, and Harry goes to dinner feeling the most relaxed since he got here.
He isn't stuck anymore. He vows to never take off his ring, together with his bracelet.
Strange must have badgered Master Wong because the book on Astral Projection is returned to him later that week.
The man spends 42 minutes warning Harry about the dangers of astral projecting without supervision, but seems to finally conclude that Harry has more sense than Strange himself, and starts to explain the concepts to him.
"The Astral Dimension is a parallel dimension where the soul exists outside of the body. However, as we are dealing with the multiverse as well as the astral dimension, for an untrained magical child like you, it is very easy to get lost without an anchor of some kind. So, you will have to figure out what you will use as your anchor." Master Wong reluctantly tells him.
Strange can't seem to keep out of the discussion, and offers his own two cents, "It is a very useful skill to gain, as it is quite powerful. I strongly urge you to learn it as soon as possible, since it will aid you greatly with your studies."
That sounds fascinating, despite Master Wong's admittedly fierce scowl, but Harry has no idea how becoming a ghost essentially would help him, unless it's to go around scaring people.
Something on his face must show his confusion since Strange chuckles, "I for example, astral project when I am asleep. My body gets rest while my soul studies. You absorb things faster in that form, so you can skip a lot of memorizing if you study while in your astral form."
That… sounds really cool, actually.
"Don't ever try that till you have mastered it!" Master Wong tells him, "In your dreams, it is not safe till your anchor is reflexive."
"Actually, I was thinking about that. Your anchor can be your scar. Which reminds me, I need to take a closer look at it. It has something in it."
That doesn't sound terrifying, thinks Harry, not at all.
His scar, turns out to have a shard of a soul in it. Which causes Harry to sick up his lunch after finding out.
Strange and Master Wong both reassure him it's not active, or spreading, or taking over his body. Considering Harry hadn't even known that was a possibility, he feels completely justified for throwing up again.
Strange puts a spell on it. A containment field he says, which will ensure the scar never does anything except remain trapped in his head.
He doesn't know why it has to stay in his head, but Master Wong explains that it was probably an accident that someone lost a piece of their soul inside Harry's head, so maybe they would like to have it back one day?
Considering the only person who it could be is Voldemort, Harry doesn't much care if he gets it back or not, but Strange and Master Wong remind him of the Karmic Scales and Balance and blah blah blah, and the soul shard stays in his scar, under Strange's containment.
Harry gets them both to promise that they will research it as soon as possible so he can have it removed from his head, and he feels a little better at their "Of course! It shouldn't stay in you anyway."
At least they did something about it. Harry shudders to think what would have happened if he never learned what it was.
He hates to say it, but Strange was right.
Astral Projection is awesome and he doesn't have to be awake to wade through the huge, mountainous stack of books both Strange and Master Wong keep adding to his pile.
He is profoundly glad of this, especially for the drier and more painful books like How-is-your-Sanskrit-here-read-this, and You-should-really-learn-Gobbledegook.
His throat still hurts for months after waking up.
Why do all the temple doors face east? Harry wonders. The wind is always worst from the east.
Harry looks at the pretty flying blizzard of a snow storm, which also frankly hurts because his face hurts and also can he just point out, Doctor Strange is a lying liar because this is not pretty because it hurts too much to be anything as nice as pretty.
Harry is not a fan of the cold.
That is an understatement.
His robes apparently have heating runes which seem to only take freezing down to brisk.
While, yes, brisk is definitely better than freezing, it is still bloody brisk and Harry is glad he is wearing layered pants like a sensible person under his robes.
Harry isn't sure if this is part of the whole 'moral fiber building' which Vernon often went on about, or just sadism of monks. He thinks Strange no longer feels the temperature outside thanks to his magic, but Harry certainly does.
Maybe a trip to the supply matron? She seemed to like him last time. She gave him extra socks after all.
It's still better than the Dursley's.
His martial arts classes are actually going really well.
Harry feels a little like he cheated, or rather, his Master cheated, because Strange takes him to Kun Lun, where apparently? Time doesn't move in the same way, and it's there where he learns sword. His Master had originally suggested a staff, but after watching him whack himself about a dozen times in 5 minutes, they both realize he had no aptitude for it.
He isn't too bad with a sword though. Enough to make it actually useful in a fight anyway.
They stay there for close to 2 years. When they get back, Master Wong is in the same position, drinking the same tea he had been drinking when they left 2 years prior.
Harry ducks out of the library as Master Wong tears into Strange for 'endangering a child by warping dimensional space-time!'
Apparently Kun Lun can only be accessed from earth every 15 years.
Unless you are Stephen Strange of course.
Who knew?
On his 10th birthday – or maybe that's his 13th. Harry isn't sure anymore since his body still looks like a 10-year-olds - he gets the best present ever.
He was right before; he is totally in a Jedi Order!
He is so totally going to call Strange 'Master' from now on. And Harry is his Padawan!
Master Doctor Strange? Is that too long?
Will Strange kill him?
He can be a little sensitive about the name thing, Harry admits.
Harry still vows to try it. A Jedi Master should be addressed correctly.
He can now picture something more fantastical. He can picture it because it's happening in front of his eyes.
Strange and Master Wong are sparing and not only are they fighting with actual light sabers, even if they are only orange and the same color as the Sling ring gate, but they are warping reality around them.
Harry has never seen anything like that, even in movies!
Strange claps his hands together, and when he separates them, there is an orange-colored light saber whip thing in his hands!
Master Wong on the other hand has a staff, which with a flex of his hand, turns half of it into his own light saber, and then they are fighting!
It's vicious, and cunning. They use the portals like weapons instead of transportation. They open portals behind the other and whip their energy whip to hit the back of each other's head or torso. Then they use the portals to step on in mid-air. Harry hasn't even considered that the Sling ring can be used like that! Wait, could he learn to fly like that? Would that even work?
Suddenly, they are turning gravity upside down and Harry is dizzy just watching them because the world is melting and eating itself. His training kicks in, and he quickly casts a barrier between himself and whatever the hell the two masters are doing over there.
Harry has to blink, and blink again before the world rights itself again and he wonders how long it will take him to learn to do that. Last time he tried to warp anything, Master Wong's favorite tea cup had exploded. Strange had fixed it with a wave of his green-glowing hand, as Harry watched the teacup run backwards as if he rewound it like a VCR tape.
He later learns that was the Eye of Agamotto. The gangster talisman thing Strange always wears around his neck. No wonder he never takes it off if it was that powerful, even if it was super ugly.
Master Wong has strictly forbidden him from even attempting to play with time. Apparently, that is Doctor Strange's domain, and Bad Things happen when others try it.
Strange tells him that the Wizarding World uses something called a time-turner for short term reversals but that Time is strictly managed by the TVA – Temporal Variance Authority, whomever they are – which Strange himself is exempt from, but the rest of them are not.
Harry isn't sure why Strange gets a pass to play with Time, but Master Wong mutters something about the job of the Sorcerer Supreme, a title Harry is still not entirely sure what it actually means – other than library rights - but figures it can be summed up as, Strange is a badass and no one messes with him without being an idiot.
It's amazing how many things Harry has to translate for himself to make any sense of them at all.
Harry has finally stopped getting dizzy every time he warps reality. Their own that is. He isn't advanced enough to touch other realities yet.
Master Wong assures him it has more to do with his age, then anything else since he shouldn't be able to do this until he is much older, but apparently Harry has a ridiculously large and developed magical core. Ironically, it seems to be due to his childhood, ah, incident with Voldie. His mum wasn't apparently okay with just letting Voldie kill her and her child, so she made Voldie pay with his magic if he dared turn his wand on Harry. Which he stupidly did.
Voldie is one wizard who decidedly does not understand the nature of magical Balance and the forces that govern the multiverse.
Harry wonders if his mum wanted his animagus form to be a magpie or something.
She took Voldie's magic, Voldie's body, and a piece of his soul.
Granted, the soul seems to have been an accident, but who really knows.
The Cloak of Levitation and Harry become good friends. The beautiful red cloak often just comes and scoops Harry up like a sky-lift chair and ferries him to his Master when Strange is in a particularly insistent mood.
Harry would be annoyed, but it's a lot like flying and Harry secretly loves it.
Harry in turn talks to it often and pets it. Sometimes he even goes to sleep in the cloak's tight cocoon, safe from everyone.
He wishes he could get a magical artifact of his own, since it would be kind of nice to be able to talk to it, but apparently, most artifacts that have sentience can and often are dangerous.
Still, Harry wishes it.
He tells Cloak often that he wishes it had a little brother or sister somewhere.
Cloak listens to him and pets him, and gives him the best hugs he ever gotten.
Maybe because they are the only hugs he's ever gotten. Though Master Wong has gotten into the habit of giving Harry a one-armed hug when he manages a difficult piece of magic. Strange isn't really the hugging type.
Harry thinks about bugging Strange for a trip to the Sanctum, just so Harry can go into the artifact room and run his hands over all the magical items that buzz and whisper and make his hands tinge, but in the end, he doesn't do it.
Cloak however surprises him.
A slivery piece of fabric is deposited on his lap one afternoon while he is trying to not fall asleep over a book on complex bindings used in Dwarven crafting rituals.
Harry immediately sits up, because the cloak has never brough him anything like this before!
The material is incredibly silky, Harry nearly jumps out of his skin when he realizes his legs are gone where the material is draped over them.
He moves his toes, just to reassure himself that yes, he can still move them, so that's great.
But what does the fabric do? Shifts his legs into another dimension?
Cloak looks terribly pleased with itself, so Harry scoops up the silver material and asks Cloak to take him to see Strange.
Once Harry tells him everything that happened, Strange laughs for a solid 7 minutes. Tears streaming down his face.
"You told it you wanted a cloak of your own, didn't you?" He asks Harry, wiping the tears away, still chortling.
"Well yeah. Who doesn't want a cloak like Cloak?" Harry asks him. Duh.
"Well, now you have a cloak. This is the Invisibility Cloak. It's supposed to be in your parents vault, though I think Dumbledore managed to ferret it away from your father some years ago."
Cloak nod-nods at Strange, suggesting that one Albus Dumbledore is now one invisibility cloak short.
"It never would have bound itself to him anyway, since he wasn't from the Potter bloodline, and that was mainly why he wanted it anyway. For its additional properties." Strange tells him, running his hand down the silvery cloak in amusement.
"If you ever do meet him, try to nick his wand also. It's a black knobby thing, you can't miss it. Oh, and an ugly black stone, which I think is currently in –"
The Cloak of Levitation drops the stone on the table in front of Strange.
Strange's entire faced quirks, but he nudges the stone towards Harry, with the end of Harry's book which he is holding.
Not knowing what it is, but trusting Strange to not hand him a completely deadly item – wait.
- Harry makes a note to check with Master Wong anyway, just in case -
He picks it up, and there is a blue flash which has Harry nearly dropping it. When nothing else happen, Harry takes a chance and looks at it. There is a rune inside the gem. He can see that it's a vertical line and a circle enclosed inside a triangle. He has never seen it before, and makes a note to check his reference books later.
"Yeah that. Keep that safe and on you also." Strange tells him. "Actually, here." Strange waves his hand in a complicated pattern – Harry only recognizes the material rune combined with… nope he can't make out the rest – and the stone suddenly has a metal band around it, to hold it in place so the chain necklace Strange also summoned can suspend it.
"Wear that on you at all times. You never know when it will help." Strange tells him cryptically. Passing the silver cloak back to him, he saunters out of the library.
"But what is it?" Harry yells after him, but his wayward Master is already gone.
There are days Harry really wishes Master Wong was the one who found him.
It takes Harry a year and a half to bring it up but when he does Strange scoffs at him.
"You're kidding right? I am so much more powerful than a mere Jedi. Please." Strange sounds so derisive.
Harry totally doesn't believe him.
Harry believes him.
He has just had the dubious pleasure of witnessing 4287 ways the 'Prophecy Fulfilling' could have gone. The prophecy which killed his parents that is
Not even Master Yoda could do that.
They win in more than half of them.
They win in every one where his Master gets involved in. Even just by training him. He doesn't always win in the ones where he stayed in the cupboard. He often doesn't actually.
His Master doesn't even break a sweat in any of them.
Harry suddenly understands again how big the universe is, and how many fantastical people and things there are in it. And he hasn't even left his planet yet.
He is grateful, so very grateful, gods and entities both, that his Master found him.
His Master makes him meditate on everything he learns for days. Until it isn't so overwhelming. Until he can see patterns and connections and choices and paths. His Master helps him unravel the entire blueprint of possibilities.
Then he starts to teach him about the various dimensional realities, which requires an entirely different set of meditations.
Harry has headaches for weeks. Pounding frustrating irritating things which don't give him a break. Like getting used to new glasses.
He doesn't need glasses anymore.
A pinprick of a fraction of his magic is sacrificed to permanently fix them.
Harry will never need glasses again.
Strange gives him a shrug, when Harry asks about his hands. "I could. But I would have to give up being Sorcerer Supreme. I came to realize I didn't want that."
Harry doesn't ask him about it again.
A pinprick.
For Harry. Not for Strange. Strange was not born a wizard. Strange remade himself into a sorcerer, and found an even higher calling in the process.
Such a Jedi.
They chose the plan that ends up being easiest, and most humane.
Using the Orb of Agamotto, as well as the Lamp of Lucifer, his Master gives him the location of all the tainted souls. Horcruxes. Harry opens portals and grabs them. No one is alerted, his Master confirms. Not even Gringotts.
His Master lends him the Hand of Vishanti, and in his Astral form, he goes after the shade that is Voldemort. He seems to be just in time, since the shade looks ready to posses a bald man with a weird fake-stutter.
Firmly grabbing ahold of the soul fragment, he drags it back to Kamar-Taj, where his Master helps him trap it into a radio.
It was the closest thing to his Master, he assumes.
He is not wrong.
It takes his Master some time, but he finally confirms that Harry's scar is also a horcrux, which is why the shard of soul is trapped in it.
The Hand takes care of his scar too, but Harry pukes for 3 days and the headache is abominable.
Worth it though.
The Snake-horcrux Nagini hurts a lot worse than Harry, she stays tightly coiled up for days while cursing the whole time. Not even fresh mice are enough to get her to unclench.
Harry finds her cursing hilarious and tells his Master so. His Master gives him an odd look, but doesn't say anything, only suggesting he keep her as a pet.
He names her Peace. Just to be contrary.
With all the pieces gathered, his Master performs a ritual that merges the pieces into one horrifically scared but whole soul, and helps to… sends it on its way.
Screaming the entire way.
Some people just don't know when to let go.
During the ritual, Harry thinks he sees a dark hooded person standing in the corner, watching him, but when he looks again, it's gone.
The prophecy is fulfilled and Harry doesn't even have a scar to show for it anymore.
They decide that with the Sling ring, Harry can actually go to Hogwarts since he is about to turn 11 soon. Harry isn't so sure he wants anything to do with the Wizarding World, but his Master reminds him that there is knowledge there, and it would be a shame to not learn it, since he may as well.
"You really want to pass up the chance to be a shit-disturber?" His Master's eyes glint with unholy glee as he asks.
Harry reminds himself that Mom (Master Wong) won't approve, but Dad (Master Doctor Strange) absolutely does.
Plus, the Goblins keep sending him more and more insistent letters about his Heirship and the various vaults under his name, both inherited, conquered and gifted to him by dozens of wizarding families.
It apparently took Strange showing up in person, before his letter were redirected to him.
Mom Wong reminds him that material attachments take away from the spiritual, but Dad Strange reminds him that some things a man just has to put his big-boy panties on and go handle himself.
Harry decides to go, but he plans to come back to Kamar-Taj while he is asleep and continue his study on the Mystic Arts with his two Masters. Dad Strange promised to let him take a peek at the Book of Cagliostro if he promises not to tell Mom Wong.
Before he goes, he heals his Master's hands.
It takes two pinpricks. Harry barely even notices them.
His Master actually looks emotional. His face doing a series of expressions too fast for Harry to identify and in the end, Harry gets his first hug from his Master, so hard Harry's ribs creak.
Master Wong makes him promise to copy every single book he comes across in the Wizarding World so they can keep their own library.
After all, no knowledge is forbidden in Kamar-Taj, only certain practices.
He wonder's if he will like Slytherin House.
The End.