Between Magic and Mount Justice HP/Young Justice Xover

[Tempest Kitsune]

Just plug "In order" in after the "aren't" and that should make the sentence flow better, as well as be more understandable.

[Ristridin]

Just plug "In order" in after the "aren't" and that should make the sentence flow better, as well as be more understandable.

Ah, I didn't even realize you can read it like that. It's clear now, though.

[MrRigger2]

Part Thirty!

Spoiler: show

Harry sighed as he looked up at the imposing structure of Wayne Manor. “Good to be home.” He walked up the driveway, and by the time he made it to the front door, Alfred was there, holding it open for him.

“Welcome home, Master Harry.”

“Hey Alfred.” Harry leaned in and squeezed Alfred around the middle. “Where’re Dick and Bruce?”

“Master Wayne is currently at the office, and Master Dick is at Gotham Academy until this afternoon. I’m afraid you’ll have to manage with me until then.”

Harry nodded and took a step back. “Wait a second, dusting of flour on your sleeve, slight bunching of your jacket around the neck and waist, probably from where you were wearing an apron… You made cookies.”

Alfred smiled. “Indeed I did, Master Harry. In fact, they should be coming out of the oven presently.”

Harry’s eyes went wide. “Then what are you doing here? I can open doors myself, there’s cookies on the line!”

0oOo0

Alfred had kept careful watch over the cookies, knowing that if he didn’t, Harry would eat them all before either Bruce or Dick got home. However, Alfred was now on the other side of Wayne Manor, cleaning ballroom in preparation for the Christmas party. And the cookies?

The cookies were unguarded.

Harry crept towards the cookie jar, careful not to make a sound. He knew the Manor was empty apart from him and Alfred, but that was no reason to get sloppy. And somehow, Alfred always knew.

Always.

Just as Harry reached forward to open the lid, his right leg kicked out from under him and the back of his shirt was yanked back, putting him on the ground.

Harry scurried to the side and tried to pull himself up with the cabinet, but his attacker just took the opportunity to grab him in a headlock.

“You’re not trying to take my share of Alfred’s cookies, are you?” Dick accused as he rubbed his knuckles across Harry’s head. “Cause that would make you a villain, and I’d be forced to put you down with extreme prejudice.”

Harry brought his knee up into the back of Dick’s thigh and punched him in the kidney as Dick let go.

“Jeez, I get the quick to anger, but kidney punches are hardly subtle, don’t you think, Mr. Wizard?”

“Yeah, well you aren’t the one who had to go several months without Alfred’s cookies. You could have them any time you wanted, I couldn’t.”

“Oh, come on, I know that he sent you care packages with that owl. And seriously, you’ve got no better way to do mail?”

“It’s not the same, and you know it. The cookies are at least a day old by the time I get them, usually more.”

“And using owls to deliver mail?”

“Yeah, I got nothing. I don’t understand it either.”

Dick smiled. “Good to have you back, Harry.” They clasped hands and pulled each other into a back slapping hug. “But if you think you’re getting anymore of those cookies, you’re out of your mind.”

0oOo0

“What do you mean you’re leaving? I just got back, I thought we were going to be able to spend some time together, hang out?” Harry paced back and forth in the Batcave as Robin prepared for his mission.

“It’s a mission. Can’t turn it down,” Robin said shortly.

“So you’re just going to leave me here to fend for myself against the Gotham Elite? I’m not doing that on my own.”

“You’ll be fine. It’s not like you’ve never dealt with them before.”

“At least tell me the truth. This isn’t a real mission, if it was, Batman would have mentioned it to me by now.”

Robin sighed. “You’re right. It isn’t an official mission, but it is something I need to do.” He tapped a few keys on his wrist holo-computer and the case file appeared on the Bat Computer main screen.

Harry scanned over it. “Haly’s Circus? That Haly’s Circus? The one you were in before…before?”

“Yeah, that Haly’s Circus.”

Harry nodded. “Alright, I’m coming with you.”

“No, you aren’t. Batman needs one of us here to back him up in case Poison Ivy attacks Park Row with killer Christmas Trees again, and I don’t need anyone questioning my objectivity during the mission. I’m not taking Wally for the same reason.”

“What question? Of course you aren’t going to be objective, the whole mission is personal, that’s why you’re doing it. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it, I’m saying you should take me along.”

Robin paused for a moment, stopped right in the middle of packing, then shook himself. “No, you need to stay here. The mission should only take a few days, I’ll be back in time for Christmas.”

Harry punched Robin in the arm. “You better be, jerk. Or I’ll tell Alfred not to give you any Christmas cookies.”

“I promise I’ll be back. No telling what you’ll get up to without me here to watch your back.”

Performance is going to go just the same as canon. I thought about sticking Harry in there, but decided he wouldn't add anything to the episode, so I decided to leave him out.

MrRigger

[MrRigger2]

Part Thirty-One!

Spoiler: show

Harrier leapt across the gap between buildings with ease, never breaking stride as he landed and kept running. This wasn’t how it should have been going.

He should have been out here with Batman and Robin, but he wasn’t. He was alone.

Not that that was a problem. He’d done solo patrols before. But it sure as hell would have been easier with backup.

Dick was still in Europe dealing with Haly’s Circus, which was fine, it was something he had to do for himself. Who knows, it might give Dick a bit more closure.

But having Robin with him would have made catching the crook so much easier.

This wasn’t even supposed to be happening. There hadn’t been any rumors of any of the costumed villains on the move, so the only things Harrier should have had to worry about were the usual muggers and the made men fighting over Falcone and Maroni territory.

It had even been so slow that Batman had been willing to send him out on patrol alone when there had been an emergency requiring Bruce Wayne’s personal touch at Wayne Enterprises.

But even as Harrier grappled up to the next rooftop, he knew Batman was the only person in Gotham City who could catch Catwoman.

Harrier finally caught a good look at Catwoman’s fleeing form, and he whipped out a bola.

The only return he got for his effort was an echoing laugh. Harrier vaulted over an industrial HVAC unit and there was Catwoman, holding his bola and smirking. “Don’t tell me the Bat is sending you after me by yourself? Do I not rate his personal attentions anymore? A girl might feel… unappreciated.” She was talking slowly, low and husky, implications hidden behind every word.

It was really a lot more fun to hear her talk to Batman that way and make fun of him afterwards. Being the one on the receiving end was just uncomfortable.

“Nobody appreciates a thief, Catwoman. And I can take you down all by myself.”

“Don’t you know? Cats eat birds, little Harrier.”

“You never saw Loony Tunes, did you? Tweety always beat Sylvester.”

“Tweety had Granny looking out for him. Where’s your chaperone, birdie?”

“I already told you, I don’t need anyone else to take you down.”

“Is that so?” Catwoman lazily spun Harrier’s bola around in her hand. “See, you could barely keep up with me during our little chase, so why should I stick around to see if you’re any better face to face?”

“Curiosity.”

“I thought you three were against killing. You don’t really want me to stick around for something so lethal, would you?”

“I just want you behind bars.”

Catwoman folded her arms and tapped her lip thoughtfully. “No, I don’t think that’s it. I think you’re trying to stall me long enough for Papa Bat to get here. And you’re just not interesting enough for me to stick around that long.”

The bird-a-rangs were out of his hand before she finished talking. Catwoman backflipped through a gap in the trio of weapons as Harrier grimaced. He had been stalling, but he hoped she wouldn’t figure that out.

Harrier threw another trio of bird-a-rangs. Catwoman dodged to the left, right into his second set of bolas. She twisted in mid-air, catching the weighted end on her upper arm, but managed to stay free.

Catwoman cartwheeled away and lashed out with her whip. Harrier danced away from the first two lashes, but then Catwoman caught his ankle and pulled his feet out from under him, dropping him head first on the roof.

“Very poor showing, little bird. Guess you’ve been out of the game too long. Toodles.” Catwoman flipped off the rooftop, disappearing from Harrier’s dizzy view.

Harrier groaned as he rubbed the back of his head and sat up. “Harrier to Batman. I’ve lost Catwoman. She’s heading out of Park Row towards the Bowery.”

Batman spoke over the communicator. “On my way. Keep your patrol to Park Row in case she doubles back.”

0oOo0

Harry sighed as he peeled off his cowl. It had been a long night, and if he knew Batman, it wasn’t quite over yet.

He started to take off the rest of his costume, but winced as his ribs protested. A lucky shot from a mugger he had come across after Catwoman escaped. It was going to bruise, if it hadn’t already.

He shifted again, pulling his gear over his head. Yeah, it had already bruised. Catwoman had a point, he had been out of the game a while. Hogwarts was great for magical learning, but it was crap for keeping in shape for Gotham. Not that there were many substitutes for fight-or-die running battles with thugs, criminals, and supervillains.

Actually, he was pretty sure the only substitute was to square off with superheroes, but that tactic was just as useless at Hogwarts, and Harry wasn’t planning on going villain just to stay in shape.

Still, he’d have to figure something out. His conditioning training wasn’t cutting it. He’d think on it later. Sometime when his ribs didn’t feel like they were about to burst out his side.

“What happened?”

Harry suppressed the startled jump Batman inspired. It was funny when he did it to Commissioner Gordon. It was annoying when he did it to his sidekicks.

It was a reminder of just how far he had to come before he was as good as his mentor.

“Catwoman got away, but you already knew that. She took me down with that whip of hers and was gone before I could recover.”

“I caught up with her near the Museum. I recovered the jewels she stole, but she got away. What happened after you lost her?”

Harry shrugged. “Pretty normal patrol. Couple muggers, two drug deals, one for pills, one for coke. Fairly uneventful.”

Batman looked pointedly at Harry’s purpling side.

Harry reddened. “It was a lucky shot. Guy was supposed to be down, but he must have been on something to get up after he went headfirst into that wall. It’s not that serious.”

“Get Alfred to check it out anyway. Have him make sure nothing’s broken. You'll have back-up next time.”

MrRigger

[Tempest Kitsune]

To be fair to Harry, it was frigging Catwoman. He was spot on when he said that Bats is really the only one that can catch her successfully.

[MrRigger2]

Oh, I absolutely agree with you. But he's part of the Bat Family. To call them hard on themselves is an understatement.

MrRigger

[jgkitarel]

Understatement is a bit mild, don't you think?

[MrRigger2]

Part Thirty-Two!

Spoiler: show

Christmas morning, Harry woke up late. He knew it was his duty as the youngest kid in the house to wake everyone else up at the crack of dawn in his excitement, but patrol had run long after a prolonged car chase led them all over the city, and neither he nor Batman made it back to the Batcave until four in the morning. Waking up at the crack of dawn simply wasn’t in the plan, no matter what the day.

“So, Alfred made gingerbread waffles for breakfast. You gonna get up and eat or can I have yours?” Dick was leaning on the doorjamb, a lazy smirk on his face.

“You made it back,” Harry said sleepily.

“Told you I’d be home for Christmas. Got back late last night.”

“How’d your mission go?” Harry asked as he slipped out of bed.

“Parasite was trying to make a doomsday device, and was using Haly’s Circus as his cover. We stopped him, and Jack Haly is safe.”

“How was going back to the circus?”

Dick hesitated. “It was good. Being back up on the trapeze… it felt nice.”

Harry clapped his hand onto Dick’s shoulder. “Good, glad it was good for you.” He squeezed Dick’s shoulder, and there was a brief moment of brotherly bonding. “But if you touch my gingerbread waffles, I’ll tie you up and drag you behind the Batmobile.”

Dick shoved Harry back onto his bed and took off down the hall. “Good luck beating me to them!”

Then the moment was broken.

0oOo0

They didn’t dive into the pile of presents until after breakfast. With Robin now on the Team and Harry at Hogwarts, they each had a few more presents than normal.

Bruce had gotten Lucius Fox to delve into the R&D department, and come out with a set of robes that looked identical to his normal school robes, but were as bulletproof and explosion resistant as Batman’s cape, although it wasn’t recommended that he try gliding with them.

Dick’s present came in a tube instead of a box, and ended up being a genuine Flying Graysons poster, straight from Haly’s Circus.

From his friends at Hogwarts, Harry felt he made out like a bandit. Justin had given him a big box of Chocolate Frogs, while Susan and Hannah both decided he would be better off eating Licorice Wands. Megan continued the candy trend with a pack of Toothflossing Stringmints, and Leanne opted for Jelly Slugs. Harry smiled as he heard Alfred tutting at each additional box of candy he opened.

Sally broke the candy tradition with a pencil drawing of Harry curled into one of the squashy armchairs of the Hufflepuff Common Room, a textbook in his hands. He knew that Sally had enjoyed drawing in her free time, but hadn’t realized quite how good she was. The sketch wasn’t amazing, Harry had seen a lot of better artwork, but it was clear how much effort she had put into the present, and it was also clear she had a lot of potential. Harry made a note to encourage her. Bruce had taught him that talent wasn’t to be wasted, and the world could always use more beauty.

Ernie had sent him a book on the history and accomplishments of Magical Britain – a real history, not like what Binns taught, or didn’t teach, rather. He’d have to make sure Ernie knew how much he appreciated it, especially since he knew Ernie shared his feelings about Binns’ teaching style.

Zacharias had also sent him a book on history, one detailing Britain’s most prominent pureblood families, their accomplishments and their most well known traits. Harry noted that the chapter devoted to the Smith family had already been flagged for him.

Professor McGonagall had also sent him a book, one titled Practical Transfiguration, and there was a note written on the inside cover.

Dear Mr. Potter,

This is one of my favorite books concerning Transfiguration. While I suspect many of the theories herein may be beyond your current comprehension, I have no doubt that you will find this book very useful both now and in the future. I know I do.

Have a Very Merry Christmas.

Professor Minerva McGonagall

Harry flipped through the heavy book and the pages creaked, obviously new. Some of the illustrations looked familiar, but only towards the beginning. Even a third of the way through the book, he was looking at material he hadn’t seen before. It definitely bore further study.

Harry almost missed the envelope tucked under the tree, leaning against one of the last presents.

Dear Mr. Potter,

I find that I cannot thank you enough for you actions in Roanoke two months ago. It is because of you that I am able to spend Christmas day with my daughter, as myself.

If you had allowed me to continue along my path that day, I would have lost my daughter just as surely as if Nabu had not released her. I was blinded by my emotions at the time, but now I can see the situation clearly. While I would still give up my freedom for my daughter’s sake, you ensured that such a sacrifice was not needed. For this, I owe you a great debt. If there is anything I can ever do for you, please, do not hesitate to ask.

For now, I can only offer this. A method of communication. Nabu has allowed you usage of an artifact in his possession, a pair of mirrors that allow the holders to speak to each other over great distances. Perhaps an imperfect solution compared to the features League communicators offer, but as a father who has found out exactly how painful not being able speak to his child is, I feel I would be doing a disservice if I did not allow you both the chance.

Again, thank you, Harry Potter.

Sincerely,

Giovanni Zatara

Harry read over the note twice, slightly taken aback by the emotion in the letter. Zatara was hardly the most demonstrative person, and Harry was used to dealing with that from Bruce. Receiving such an emotional letter was a shock.

After carefully folding the letter back up and placing it back in the envelope, Harry picked up his last package. Whatever it was, it wasn’t in a box, and very light. He pulled apart the string and wrapper, and something fluid and silvery gray slid to the floor. Dick quirked an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“Not sure.” Harry searched around for the card, finding it amongst the folds of the present.

Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well.

-A Very Merry Christmas to you.

“No name, but says it was originally my father’s,” Harry said quietly. He had never had anything from his father before. It was a strange feeling. It wasn’t a bad feeling, just strange. Like he had found something he was missing.

Harry picked up the fabric, and noted it was unlike any material he had ever felt before. It was more slippery than fine silk, and honestly felt like someone had woven water into fabric. Was that possible? Could wizards were a robe of water, or smoke? He hadn’t seen anything like it before, but Hogwarts was hardly the height of fashion.

“It appears to be a cloak, Master Harry,” Alfred noted. “Perhaps you should try it on?”

Harry nodded and swung the cloak over his shoulders. Bruce grunted and Dick yelped and Alfred ahem-ed. Harry looked down, only to find his feet had disappeared. And so had the rest of him. “This thing makes me invisible?” he half-shouted.

“Nearly, Master Harry. Perhaps you should draw the cloak forward? Right now you seem to be doing an excellent impression of an inversed Headless Horseman.”

Harry pulled the cloak all the way over his head, and the other three in the room murmured to themselves. Invisibility! Real invisibility! It was amazing.

Bruce folded his hands in front of his face, one of his classic thinking poses. “Indentations in the carpet where your feet are, and I can still smell the ointment on your ribs… but it’s remarkable. Waynetech has been working on similar stealth systems for years, and even our most successful projects won’t have working prototypes for years.”

Harry pulled the cloak off and tried to fold it up, only to find that the fabric kept escaping his grasp, as if it wished to remain undetected even when not in use. Alfred plucked the cloak out of Harry’s hands and expertly folded it up into a neat square.

“It’s too long for me, and there’s no way I could ever fight under it, there’s not even sleeves, but actual invisibility is just too cool.”

“Stealth without having to worry about sight lines? We really need to figure out how this thing works,” Dick added.

“There’s something more urgent that we have to do with this, you realize.”

Dick nodded. “Mess with Wally?”

“Mess with Wally.”

MrRigger

[Tempest Kitsune]

I love how Dick and Harry have their priorities straight at the end.

[SLAMU]

Messing with Wally. I'm glad he's such a good sport about things like that, else it would seem like picking on someone.

...how long before they put a plate of chips under a box propped up by a stick?

[Random_fan]

Wally's reaction to them messing with him would be messing with them back, and super speed can be used in a lot of ways to mess with people. I now really want the next update to be a prank war.

[MrRigger2]

Part Thirty-Three!

Spoiler: show

The rest of the holiday break sped by. Harry spent his days hanging out with Dick and his nights patrolling Gotham. The rust quickly gets shaken off, and a few days after Christmas, it’s like he never left, working in concert with Batman and Robin seamlessly.

The Invisibility Cloak saw plenty of use as Harry works to find out any limitations, mostly by sneaking around Mount Justice. Hide and Seek ended up being a lot more fun when you’re invisible and have seven people to avoid instead of just one.

Miss Martian was the first to find him, which was totally cheating, by the way, since she looked for his mind and not his body, but the Team wasn’t hearing it. Superboy’s hearing was strong enough that invisibility didn’t really matter since his heart was beating, and Zatanna just used a spell to reveal his presence.

He was able to sneak close enough to Artemis and Robin that he could prank them, but both had training in blind fighting, and caught him fairly quickly after he revealed he was in the same room. The Invisibility Cloak really wasn’t designed with combat in mind. Kid Flash resorted to running fast enough to kick up winds and blow the cloak off, which was also totally cheating, but was effective nonetheless. Of course, before that, Harry caught him with two woopie cushions and a hot foot. He’d have to be on the lookout for Wally’s revenge. Aqualad ended up flooding whatever room he was in with an inch of water to see footprints, and kicked up a thick cloud of mist and watched for disturbances when Harry proved able to move through the Cave playing The Floor Is Lava.

Or The Floor Is Location Revealing Water, but that hardly flowed off the tongue as well.

The only day he wasn't able to have fun with Dick and the Team was the thirtieth. As Harrier wasn’t officially a member of the Team, he wasn’t allowed to attend the Justice League induction ceremony, and was forced to watch it on TV with Alfred.

Harry brushed it off, taking the opportunity to read through his Christmas present from Zacharias.

He reacted somewhat less maturely when he found out the Team took the opportunity to skip out on the ceremony to take down Cheshire and a group of villains working for the Light.

When he found out that the Team then went on to fly out and attack the Light directly, including Lex Luthor, Queen Bee, and Sportsmaster, Harry was alternating between livid and sulking.

He never got to do the fun missions.

0oOo0

Batman woke Harry up early the next morning, his hard voice startling Harry straight out of bed. “Get up. I want you at Mount Justice for the debriefing. We discovered information that affects you as well as the Team. Half an hour.”

Harry quickly dressed and proceeded to rush downstairs, where he ruined Alfred’s wonderful breakfast by slapping it all between two pieces of toast and eating the sandwich on the run.

As it turned out, he didn’t need to rush, as he beat Robin to the Zeta Tube by five minutes, and Batman had already gone ahead.

Batman and Red Tornado were already there, waiting as the rest of the Team arrived.

“We have reason to feel proud of yesterday’s victories, but one thing has not changed,” Aqualad said.

“Somehow the bad guys are still getting inside intel about us,” Robin added.

“Yeah, but at least we know none of us are the mole,” Kid Flash piped up.

“That’s correct,” Batman agreed. “The mole was Red Arrow.”

For a moment, all members of the Team bar Red Tornado looked wide-eyed at Batman. The silence was broken by Robin and Kid Flash reacting simultaneously. "Roy?" "No way!"

Aqualad was a bit more elaborate in his reaction. “Batman, that cannot be! He was Green Arrow’s protégé and we have all known him for years!”

“Look, he might have been a jerk sometimes, but he was a hero, through and through,” Harrier added, while Robin and Kid Flash nodded emphatically at Aqualad's words.

“Unfortunately, the Roy Harper we have known for the last three years is another Project Cadmus clone,” Red Tornado explained.

“We’ve learned that the real Speedy was abducted and replaced immediately after becoming Green Arrow’s sidekick. The clone was preprogrammed with a drive to join the Justice League,” Batman said as holographic displays appeared behind him.

Batman and Red Tornado went on, explaining how Red Arrow was programmed to do whatever it took to join the League, including heading out on his own to become a solo hero and refusing to join the Team. Once he was inducted, secondary programming kicked in that forced him to attempt to betray the League to Vandal Savage.

“Fortunately, I had already deduced Red Arrow was a clone, and we were prepared,” Batman finished.

“Savage was subdued, but Red Arrow escaped. He is now a fugitive, armed and dangerous.”

Superboy looked stricken. “If you guys hadn’t rescued me from Cadmus…”

“What happened to the real Roy?” Robin asked.

“We don’t know,” Batman said. “We have to face the possibility that the real Roy Harper is dead.”

Harrier dropped his head and rubbed his forehead. This was unreal. It had to be.

“The clone Roy. The Team will find him,” Aqualad announced.

“Negative. Red Arrow is a member of the Justice League now. Leave him to us,” Batman ordered. “I’m needed on the Watchtower. Tornado, stay with the kids.”

“Clone or no clone, Red Arrow is one of us. We will go after him,” Aqualad broadcasted across Miss Martian’s mental link.

Just as he said that, Red Tornado stepped up behind Aqualad and froze, shutting down.

“Tornado!”

“What happened to him?”

“He’s totally powered down.”

“All functions offline.” Robin activated his wrist-mounted computer and began running diagnostics.

Zatanna placed her fingertips at her temples and closed her eyes. “Guys, I’m sensing a low level mystic force at play here. I don’t know if it caused his shutdown… but now that I think about it, I was getting the same buzz off Batman.”

Harrier’s eyes widened. He hadn’t picked that up at all. Even looking for it, he couldn’t feel it.

“Batman, he called us kids,” Robin mused. “He never does that.”

If Batman was being controlled somehow… Harrier didn’t want to think about it.

“Look! One of those biotech chips we confiscated off Cheshire.” Kid Flash grabbed a triangular chip from Red Tornado’s hand.

“Something is not right,” Aqualad announced. “Robin, Kid, Zatanna, Rocket, see if you can get Tornado back online. The rest with me, to find Ro- Red Arrow.”

0oOo0

The trip from Happy Harbor to Washington D.C. was a tense one. Nobody felt like talking, and what little conversation there was, Harrier blocked out. He was more concerned about Batman possibly being taken over. What if they couldn’t free him? What if he was gone for good? Harrier wasn’t sure he could fight Batman, not after all Bruce had done for him.

As they slowed to a stop above a generic brownstone apartment building, Aqualad gave them their orders. “Zeta Tube records indicate that Red Arrow traveled from the Watchtower to Washington D.C. This is his closest equipment cache and safe house. With luck, he will be here. Artemis, Superboy, maintain watch from the roof. Miss Martian, stay in the Bioship, we may need to leave quickly. Harrier, you will enter opposite from me. I do not wish to believe Red Arrow is guilty, but if he is, the faces of his friends may give him pause.”

0oOo0

Harrier heard Aqualad kick in the door of the bare apartment, and took that as his cue to drop down through the broken window.

He landed on his feet, and Red Arrow had his back to him, an arrow drawn and pointed straight at Aqualad’s heart.

“I have not come to harm or apprehend you, but the Team requires answers.”

“Me first. Tell me something you haven’t told anyone else. Tell me who broke your heart?” Red Arrow demanded, not relaxing for a second.

Aqualad sighed. “Tula. The girl I loved chose my best friend Garth over me, while my best friend on the surface world aims an arrow at my chest.”

Red Arrow whirled around on Harrier. “And you?”

Harrier held up a slip of paper. “Coupon for free admittance to an R-rated movie of my choice. You gave it to me for my birthday. Which you didn’t attend, by the way. Jerk.”

Red Arrow relaxed the tension on his bow. “Sorry for the suspicion. I’ve spent the last few hours evading the League. And you need to come up with something better, shorty. Other people were at the party, they could have leaked the information somehow.”

“Really? Really. You’re afraid someone would leak information about my birthday party. Yeah, you’re definitely for real.”

0oOo0

Once back on the Bioship, Red Arrow explained everything he knew about what was happening. He was a sleeper agent for the Light, and the mole passing information on the Team. He had been mentally programmed to follow the Light’s orders unconsciously, so he didn’t suspect himself until he reached the end of his programming and his mind cleared.

But worse than that, he was able to explain that Batman hadn’t stopped Savage’s plan. Red Arrow had infected the League with Starro-Tech, a combination of magic, technology, and alien biology, all for one purpose.

The entire League was under the Light’s control.

Some material lifted directly from Young Justice episode 26, Auld Acquaintance. Apologies to those who have seen it, but I need to have a base for those who haven't seen it. For those unfamiliar with the Young Justice, is everything clear enough? I don't want to do a full rehash of canon, but I don't want to leave you out in the cold either.

MrRigger

EDIT: Edited.

[MrRigger2]

Part Thirty-Four!

Spoiler: show

“Robin.”

“Hm?”

“I don’t know if I can do this.”

Robin looked up from where he was hacking the Batcomputer and stared at Harrier. “Don’t know if you can do what? Take on the Justice League and the Light simultaneously, saving the world in the process? Stay traught. It’ll be a piece of cake. Queen Mera and Doctors Vulko, Roquette, and Spence are already devising a cure for Starro-tech.”

Harrier shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I mean… I don’t know if I can fight Batman. He’s the guy who saved me. The guy who took me in when the Penguin killed my family. Sure, the Dursleys were a crap family, but they were still family, and he made sure I had a place to go. You and him and Alfred made sure I wasn’t alone, and taught me how to be who I am today. I just… I don’t know if I can fight him after all he’s done for me.”

“Batman would do it for you, if you were in this position.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think I can be that cold.”

Robin fell silent for a moment. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Isn’t that what I’m here for? You can tell me anything.”

“I’m serious. You can’t tell Batman.”

Harrier nodded. “Alright. Mum’s the word.”

“I don’t know if I can do it either. Fighting the Justice League… fighting the people who have been heroes since before I left Haly’s Circus… fighting Batman… I don’t know if I can be that cold. I don’t know if I can be cold like that. I don’t know if I can be cold like him. I told you about that training mission, right? The one that went wrong?”

“Yeah, it was supposed to train you for a no-win scenario, only Miss Martian accidentally made everyone forget it wasn’t real.”

“After Aqualad ‘died’, I was the one in charge. I was the one sending my friends to their deaths. And… I can’t do that. Not for real. I can’t be the kind of leader who sacrifices everything for the mission. I can’t be Batman.”

Harrier didn’t know what to say. It had always been obvious to both of them that Robin would eventually become Batman. But now? Robin was saying that was never going to happen?

“But you know what I’ve realized since then? That even if I can’t be that kind of hero, that I can’t be Batman someday… I can still be my own kind of hero. And that’s what you and me are gonna do. We’re gonna save the Justice League from the Light, kick Vandal Savage’s ass, and make sure nothing like this ever happens again. And we’re going to do it our way. With me?”

Harrier grabbed Robin’s outstretched hand and squeezed. “Yeah, I’m with you. All the way.”

“Good. Now let’s get that Kryptonite.”

0oOo0

Harrier followed Superboy off the Bioship, stepping onto the Watchtower for the first time. He couldn’t believe Batman and Robin had never told him about this place! Seriously, this was awesome, a base in outer space? Harrier would tell everybody he could, it was so cool.

“Alright, RT did it. He bypassed security for us as soon as he arrived. Savage shouldn’t know we’re here.”

“Good. Move out.”

Harrier ran along behind Rocket and Aqualad as they split up and drove deeper into the Watchtower. They had targets to cure.

0oOo0

They were lucky to find Captain Atom alone. He was a serious heavy hitter all by himself; with backup, there was no telling what kind of damage he could do.

“Harrier, Rocket, you two distract and contain. I shall apply the cure-tech.”

Harrier waited until Captain Atom rounded the corner before attacking. He was wedged into the corner of the ceiling, and wanted no parts of hand to hand with one of the strongest superbeings on the planet.

He threw the smoke bombs right at Captain Atom’s feet, filling the air with smoke. Rocket deployed her force bubble around the cloud, trapping Captain Atom inside.

The mind controlled hero let loose with a burst of energy that burned off all the smoke in the bubble, but didn’t even crack the shield. Aqualad dropped down behind Captain Atom as Rocket dropped the bubble and tagged him with the cure-tech.

“Captain Atom down. Everyone else?” Aqualad asked.

“That’s it for the lower floors, according to the security systems,” Robin advised. “Superboy and I are heading upstairs, we’re closest. Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Flash are in the cargo bay. Still no sign of Captain Marvel, Doctor Fate, or Icon.”

“Zatanna, Miss Martian, head for the Zeta Tubes. Rocket, Harrier, and I will be there shortly to help set an ambush for anyone incoming. Artemis, Kid Flash, take the cargo bay.”

0oOo0

Harrier watched as Miss Martian tagged Doctor Fate as he arrived via Zeta Tube and Rocket catch her mentor Icon with the cure-tech. Captain Marvel proved too fast for Miss Martian, and rushed Zatanna.

Harrier jumped for Captain Marvel, but he hadn’t needed to. Zatanna was more than prepared. “Trulb tuo mazahs!”

“Shazam!” The spell forced Captain Marvel to transform against his will, and all Harrier was able to do was end up on top of the dog pile including Zatanna and Billy Batson.

“Too bad cure-tech doesn’t work as fast as Starro-tech. We could really use these guys!” Rocket complained.

“It’s a miracle we were able to synthesize an antidote at all,” Aqualad answered.

“Hey, if you guys aren’t busy?!” Kid Flash’s mental voice interrupted.

“On my way. Harrier, with me. You three, rendezvous with Robin and Superboy.”

0oOo0

Harrier heard the fight before he saw it. Green Arrow and Artemis must have been exchanging explosive arrows.

“I’m amazed we’re still alive,” Artemis’s voice filled Harrier’s head.

“It’s because they’re being controlled,” Kid Flash said. “They’re limited by whoever’s pulling their strings. The very thing putting us in danger? It’s the only thing giving us a chance.”

Aqualad beat him to the cargo bay by inches. “Artemis! Kid! Now! Hold on!”

Harrier sealed the door shut as Aqualad slammed his fist into the airlock button, causing klaxons to sound throughout the bay. “Warning, Cargo Bay, venting atmosphere.”

Harrier clung desperately to his grapple as the suction started pulling everything out into space. A big yellow canister with “Do Not Drop” printed across the side caught his eye as he swung wildly.

“Worth a shot,” he muttered and threw an explosive disc at it.

The explosion rocked the room and blew the mind-controlled heroes off their feet, sending them careening towards the vacuum of space.

Aqualad barely got the airlock closed in time, and Harrier hit the floor, hard. Kid Flash zoomed towards the adults before they had time to recover, tagging all three in under a second.

They all took a moment to look at the unconscious heroes. “Apologies, my king.”

Harrier clapped Aqualad on the back in a show of solidarity, then the quartet went for the stairs. Savage was going to pay.

0oOo0

Harrier burst into the main room of the Watchtower just after Kid Flash. Vandal Savage and Klarion were standing next to the unconscious forms of Red Arrow and Black Canary, and the dismembered body of Red Tornado.

“Klarion! You’re gonna pay!” Harrier shouted, but it was too late. Klarion formed a portal and pulled it across Savage and himself. They were gone.

They ran in and checked the League members. Bumps and bruises, but nothing more serious for Red Arrow and Black Canary. Red Tornado, on the other hand, had had both his arms and legs torn off.

“Congratulations, Team. You have won the day,” Tornado said as if he wasn’t currently in five separate pieces.

Harrier sighed as Superboy, Robin, Rocket, and Miss Martian flew in. It was finally over.

A holographic display appeared directly in front of Harrier’s face, and he stumbled backwards in shock. It showed the date and time. “Happy New Year, Justice League,” a computerized voice announced, and Auld Lang Syne began to play.

The Team paired off for New Year’s kisses, Kid Flash with Artemis in his arms, Superboy and Miss Martian embracing, Zatanna pulling Robin in for an aggressive kiss, and Rocket snuck a kiss off the corner of Aqualad’s mouth, and Red Tornado spoke up. “Human customs still elude me,” he said mechanically.

Harrier crouched down beside him. “Well, once I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”

So much! So fast!

(It's easier when you're basing it off an episode.)

MrRigger

[DIT_grue]

What's with the sudden shift to present tense for this segment? And even if it was intentional, there's at least one isolated sentence in past tense.

I think he should have reacted less 'maturely' rather than less 'mature'.

It seems clear enough to me - it does have that flavour of summarised canon, but I wasn't confused about what was going on.

Stay traught. - taut? tight? tough?

by himself - repeated too close together. How about using 'alone' for the first one?

miracle - Do you really need to repeat all the names, since they were already listed off early in the segment? (The only justification I can think of for keeping it is if that's the speaker's verbal tic.)

[MrRigger2]

What's with the sudden shift to present tense for this segment? And even if it was intentional, there's at least one isolated sentence in past tense.

I think I fixed all the present tense stuff. If you see me using present tense, no, it's not intentional, it's because I'm putting these segments up without a beta.

I think he should have reacted less 'maturely' rather than less 'mature'.

Fixed.

Stay traught. - taut? tight? tough?

This is actually from the show. One of Robin's quirks is to play with the structure of words. At one point, Artemis mentions being distraught, so Robin tells her to get traught, or she's going to get dead. Other favorites include being whelmed (because you can be overwhelmed, or underwhelmed, but never just whelmed) and aster (opposite of disaster).

by himself - repeated too close together. How about using 'alone' for the first one?

Fixed.

miracle - Do you really need to repeat all the names, since they were already listed off early in the segment? (The only justification I can think of for keeping it is if that's the speaker's verbal tic.)

I was actually quoting from the episode, but you're right, it doesn't flow very well. Aqualad is, however, a very precise speaker, in general.

Thanks for pointing those out.

MrRigger

[MrRigger2]

Part Thirty-Five!

Spoiler: show

Harrier walked up beside Robin in the main viewing room of the Watchtower. They were silent for a moment, just looking out over the Earth, watching it turn.

“You asked Kaldur to keep me from fighting Batman, didn’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“Why?”

“You said you didn’t know if you could do it, so I kept it from being an issue.” Robin ran a hand through his hair. “And we’re heroes. Our job is never going to be confused with anything resembling safe or healthy. But you’re basically my little brother. I figured if I could keep you from something like that, I would.”

“I can take care of myself, Robin. I don’t need you to dictate who I fight.” Harrier paused. “But thanks. It was the right choice. Just warn me if you’re going to do something like it in the future.”

Robin nodded. “So, are we feeling the aster?”

Harrier thought about it. Gotham was safe, Hogwarts was fun, the Light was defeated, and he’d just been a part of the group that saved the Justice League from mind-control. He looked out the window again and saw the sun break the horizon. It was a new day. “Yeah. Definitely feeling the aster.”

0oOo0

“So, what’s going on? I do have to catch my Portkey back across the Atlantic, you know.”

“Then you’d better hurry up, shouldn’t you?” Robin snarked as he activated the Batcave Zeta Tube.

They arrived at Mount Justice an instant later, and the entire Team was assembled there. Aqualad stepped forward.

“Harrier, your actions on the mission to save the Justice League were immensely helpful, and proved you have what it takes to be a full member of the Team. We would like you to officially join the Team.”

“Wait, I thought Batman said-”

“Batman gives the Team missions, but I am the Team’s leader. You have already joined us on missions in the past, and all of us agree on your abilities. Say yes, and membership is yours.”

Harrier’s thoughts were racing. “You know I’m going to be at school for most of the year, and there’s no Zeta where I am. I’ve got no easy way to join you.”

“We are working on that problem now, but your schooling will not be an obstacle to you remaining on the Team. We all have lives outside of the Team, and make allowances for such.”

“Wow, you guys thought this one out, didn’t you?”

“We would not ask you to join if we were not prepared for objections.”

“Well, then I guess there isn’t anything else to say… but yes.”

Aqualad nodded, and the others smiled. “Welcome to the Team.”

“Oh, this is so nice,” Miss Martian squeaked. “Everybody come on, I made a cake to celebrate and to welcome Harrier to the Team! And Rocket too, since we never got a chance to actually welcome her, because hello Megan, we went on a mission five minutes after she joined! Wait a second, where’s Wally?”

“He ran off the second you said cake,” Artemis said.

Wally’s voice echoed from down the hall. “Too slow, suckers! Harrier, I’m eating your share!”

“You better not!”

0oOo0

Harry braced himself as he landed amidst hundreds of people. International Portkeys weren’t easy, and being immediately assaulted by the hustle and bustle of everyone trying to head back to school and their parents seeing them off certainly didn’t help matters.

Harry pulled his trunk along behind him, and spied Justin speaking with a man in a well-appointed suit. Not the same quality as Bruce’s suits, but few people in the world could afford that.

“Hey Justin,” he called.

“Hey Harry! Come meet my dad,” Justin said.

Harry walked over and set his trunk down. “Harry Potter. Nice to meet you, sir.”

“Brian Finch-Fletchley. Justin’s said good things about you.” He held his hand out and Harry took it. The man had a good handshake. Nice and firm, but not overbearing and he didn’t try to crush Harry’s hand out of dominance. Knew just how long to hold it too, long enough to make a connection, not so long that it got awkward.

“So, Justin told me something interesting about your living arrangements, Harry. Do you really live with Bruce Wayne?”

Harry nodded. “Yes sir. He took me in after my aunt and uncle were killed in Gotham on a business trip.”

Mr. Finch-Fletchley’s eyes widened. “Remind me not to visit. No offense.”

“None taken, Mr. Finch-Fletchley. The Batman has made Gotham a lot safer over the years, and it’s nowhere as bad as it used to be, but Gotham’s not the safest travel destination. If you don’t mind my asking, what do you do for a living?”

“Justin hasn’t mentioned?”

“He mentioned you were in business a few times, but we usually spend more time talking about magic or what’s going on around school. He’s a good student.”

“Glad to hear it. And yes, I’m in business, though I suspect you’d hardly think so compared to Wayne Enterprises. I’m president of Paradigm Software, here in London. Brought the company up from a hobby in my basement, and I couldn’t be more proud of how we’re doing. It’s too bad your guardian isn’t here today. I would have loved to meet him.”

“Maybe at the end of term, Mr. Finch-Fletchley. He had some business to take care of and couldn’t make it.”

“Well, I hope he makes it. Now, why don’t I help you two get your trunks on the train while we still have plenty of time?”

MrRigger

[Ristridin]

I think I fixed all the present tense stuff. If you see me using present tense, no, it's not intentional, it's because I'm putting these segments up without a beta.

Present tense in part 33:

Spoiler: show

"The Invisibility Cloak sees plenty of use as Harry works to find out any limitations, mostly by sneaking around Mount Justice. Hide and Seek is a lot more fun when you’re invisible and have seven people to avoid instead of just one."
"The only day he isn’t able to have fun with Dick and the Team is the thirtieth."
"Batman and Red Tornado are already there, waiting as the rest of the Team arrived."

One part I disliked was the following conversation in part 33:

Spoiler: show

“We have reason to feel proud of yesterday’s victories, but one thing has not changed,” Aqualad said.

“Somehow the bad guys are still getting inside intel about us,” Robin added.

“Yeah, but at least we know none of us are the mole,” Kid Flash piped up.

“That’s correct,” Batman agreed. “The mole was Red Arrow.”

“Roy?” Robin blurted out.

“No way!” Kid Flash interjected.

“Batman, that cannot be. He was Green Arrow’s protégé and we have all known him for years,” Aqualad explained.

“Look, he might have been a jerk sometimes, but he was a hero, through and through,” Harrier added.

“Unfortunately, the Roy Harper we have known for the last three years is another Project Cadmus clone,” Red Tornado explained.

The structure of almost all sentences here is identical: "..." <person> <verb to denote talking>.

I am unfamiliar with Young Justice, and there are two things that are unclear to me: How did they find Red Arrow and how did Red Arrow break free from his mental programming?

Robin nodded. “So, are we feeling the aster?”

I like the fact you keep the character quirks in mind. I wouldn't have understood the sentence without knowledge of the fact that Robin has a quirk though.

[MrRigger2]

One part I disliked was the following conversation in part 33:

Spoiler: show

“We have reason to feel proud of yesterday’s victories, but one thing has not changed,” Aqualad said.

“Somehow the bad guys are still getting inside intel about us,” Robin added.

“Yeah, but at least we know none of us are the mole,” Kid Flash piped up.

“That’s correct,” Batman agreed. “The mole was Red Arrow.”

“Roy?” Robin blurted out.

“No way!” Kid Flash interjected.

“Batman, that cannot be. He was Green Arrow’s protégé and we have all known him for years,” Aqualad explained.

“Look, he might have been a jerk sometimes, but he was a hero, through and through,” Harrier added.

“Unfortunately, the Roy Harper we have known for the last three years is another Project Cadmus clone,” Red Tornado explained.

The structure of almost all sentences here is identical: "..." <person> <verb to denote talking>.

Yeah, I know what you're talking about, but I'm not sure how to fix it. For reference, this scene is one that I lifted from the show. Any suggestions on how to make it flow better?

I am unfamiliar with Young Justice, and there are two things that are unclear to me: How did they find Red Arrow and how did Red Arrow break free from his mental programming?

In this scene, Batman and Red Tornado have already been taken over by the Light via Starro-Tech. They know about Red Arrow being the mole because they are directly controlled by Klarion, who is feeding the Team misinformation. Or are you talking about the Team finding Red Arrow?

Red Arrow broke free of his mental control because he was never under the influence of Starro-tech, just preprogrammed mental instructions to infiltrate the Justice League and infect them with Starro-tech. Once he had done so, his programming was done, and he took that opportunity to escape. Do I need to edit again?

I like the fact you keep the character quirks in mind. I wouldn't have understood the sentence without knowledge of the fact that Robin has a quirk though.

I'll try to make sure quirks like that are better explained in-story in the future. However, I generally assume readers of a fan-fiction have a certain level of base knowledge with regards to the fandom. A dangerous thing to do with crossovers, I know, and I'll try to avoid doing so in the future.

MrRigger

[MrRigger2]

Part Thirty-Six!

Spoiler: show

Muggle Donates Brooms to Hogwarts!

You read that right, faithful readers. In an unprecedented move, a muggle has donated a full fleet of brooms to replace the school brooms at Hogwarts.

Bruce Wayne, an American muggle businessman, donated forty brand new Bluebottle brooms to Hogwarts over the winter holiday for reasons currently unexplained. For those of you wondering how a muggle even knew about Hogwarts, never fear, for the Daily Prophet has the facts.

Through methods currently unexplained, Bruce Wayne has become the guardian of Harry Potter, better known as The Boy-Who-Lived. Is Bruce Wayne related to Harry Potter through his Muggleborn mother? Is he some the descendent of a squib Potter line? Did he possibly steal The Boy-Who-Lived from his rightful guardians?

The answers to these questions are currently unknown, as Bruce Wayne was unavailable for comment at the time of this printing, but Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, was able to provide information.

“Bruce Wayne sent along a note with his credit slip for the brooms explaining his reasons for the donation, and Hogwarts happily accepts his gracious gesture. The school brooms have needed replacing for several years, but as much of the economy has been funneled towards repairing after the war with [He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named], donations have slipped, necessitating certain budgetary restrictions.”

The note Albus Dumbledore refers to has been replicated below.

Harry mentioned that your school’s flying equipment was out of date and showing its age, so I thought I’d try to change that. I want Harry to have the best education possible, so I’ve enclosed a check so that your school can purchase new brooms. Whatever’s left over, feel free to use it as you best see fit. If there’s anything else I can do for you, please feel free to contact me. Merry Christmas.

Is this muggle trying to buy his way into our world? Or is he what he claims to be, just a concerned parent? Only time will tell.

0oOo0

Joan Western eyed the man sitting in the waiting room carefully. He looked older than anyone she had ever seen before, but hardly seemed decrepit. In fact, he seemed downright sprightly for his apparent age. Not that that was what stuck out.

No, what stuck out was the fact that he looked like Gandalf, if Gandalf ever wore a canary yellow suit. In fact, with his long hair and beard down past his waist, you could put him in a pointed hat and grey robes and he wouldn’t stick out on the set of the Lord of the Rings at all. It was eerie.

Granted, he was hardly the most eerie figure to grace her waiting room, and she hadn’t gotten her position as Bruce Wayne’s head secretary by commenting on people’s eccentricities.

She pressed a button on her intercom and spoke clearly, like she did everything. “Mr. Wayne, a Mr. Albus Dumbledore to see you.”

There was a brief pause, then an answer. “Send him in, Ms. Western. I’m expecting him.”

The old man thanked her and walked into Mr. Wayne’s office.

0oOo0

Albus Dumbledore looked around the office as he walked in. It was very big, professional, and intimidating, all mahogany and leather, with plush carpets. He decided it looked very good, but he could never work in an office like this. Not personal enough. No books from old friends, no pictures of old students, no mish-mash of items collected over years of service.

Yes, it was good office, but just to visit.

“Mr. Dumbledore, it’s good to meet you.” The man greeting him was much like the office. Neat, professional, and expensive. Though he also exuded an air of casual disregard and carefree geniality.

“You as well, Mr. Wayne. I’m glad that you could meet with me on such short notice.”

Mr. Wayne smiled. “I just appreciate that you called ahead to schedule a meeting. You’d be astonished by how many people believe they can just barge into my office and demand a meeting.”

“Alas, I know that feeling all too well. Some people seem entirely unaware of the demands on my time. But I didn’t come here to commiserate over our colleagues lack of courtesy, so shall we get down to business?”

“Of course.” Mr. Wayne gestured to one of the chairs. “Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you. Now, I wanted to speak to you about your recent donation to the school.”

Mr. Wayne raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Is it not enough? Harry felt sure it would be enough, but if you need more…”

Albus raised his hand. “No, your donation was more than generous. In fact, I believe your donation may be enough to shame some of our former donors into helping out again, if only to avoid being shown up by someone without magic. Rather, I just wanted to make sure you were aware that the story was picked up in the media.”

Mr. Wayne waved his hand negligently. “I’m always in the media. I appreciate the warning, but I’m sure it’s nothing I haven’t heard before.”

“I see. Nonetheless, I felt I should warn you that since the story has been made public, there may be those who wish to remove young Mr. Potter from your care.”

Mr. Wayne’s eyes flashed, and Albus realized just how this man became so successful. “That would be a bad idea, Mr. Dumbledore. I’ve had people try and claim I’m unfit to take care of Dick and Harry, and I proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am entirely fit to be their guardian.”

“Please, don’t misunderstand. If he is happy and safe with you, I see no reason to move him, but others will not see it that way. However, Mr. Potter is a celebrity in our world, and some of the more traditional factions will wish to see him placed with a wizarding family, rather than a muggle like yourself. When he was placed with his immediate family, his aunt and uncle, the argument didn’t hold, as family is very important in our world. But where you are not related to Mr. Potter, there are those who will likely try to claim guardianship.”

“Like I said, that would be an exceedingly poor idea. As I said, I’m always in the media. Every aspect of my life gets reported in some way or another. That scrutiny extends to the children in my care. If one were to suddenly be taken away, I would be forced to explain where he went, and who took him.”

The carefree tone was still there, but Albus knew a threat when he heard it. However, he’d been in politics for years, and this wasn’t the first time he’d been threatened. Not even close. “I will do my best to make sure nothing comes of their claims, of course. I do have a fair bit of influence when it comes to these matters. I just wanted to make sure you were aware, and wished to see if I could count on your cooperation.”

“Cooperation in keeping Harry happy? Of course.”

“I appreciate your understanding. That said, with your recent donation, I’m sure that you’ve earned a great deal of goodwill among the common wizard. With it, I hope that I can help foster a new age of cooperation between the magical and muggle worlds.”

The bait was set, but Mr. Wayne was a crafty one. “Let’s see how this works out for now. There’s time for cooperation later. But if you’ll excuse me, I have another meeting waiting for me. The research department wants to go over the budget with me again.”

Albus smiled. “Ah, the budget. It’s a conversation that will never end. I have three major budgets I have to help set each year. I don’t think I’ve ever come close to satisfying everyone, ever. I wish you luck, and well, I’m glad it’s not me. Good day, Mr. Wayne.”

“You as well, Mr. Dumbledore.”

Running house lights for the circus means I have lots of time to write.

MrRigger

[MrRigger2]

Part Thirty-Seven!

Spoiler: show

Sally was upset, and Harry didn’t know why. She had been upset on the train, and she was still upset two days later. Worse, nobody else seemed to have picked up on it yet. This was annoying because Harry had been trained to understand people’s emotions and motivations, as they were often as crucial as what people actually did.

It was also annoying because Harry disliked seeing his friends upset.

“Has Sally seemed quiet lately to anyone else?” he asked early the next morning at breakfast.

Ernie shook his head. “I haven’t noticed anything. She hasn’t said anything about it as far as I know.”

“Well, she wouldn’t would she?” Susan asked, as if it was obvious. She lowered her voice to a whisper and bent across the table. “I think I heard her crying the other night after she went to bed. I didn’t want to say anything in case I was wrong, but I’ll ask her later.”

“Right,” Hannah agreed. “No need for you boys to go mucking something up.”

0oOo0

When confronted later that night, Sally promptly burst into tears. Susan sent Harry out to the kitchens to get some ice cream, as he was the only one who had actually been in them. Only after he delivered the sweet treats did he get the full story.

Sally was still red-faced and sniffling, but mostly understandable by the time Harry returned. “I’m not going to be able to come back here next year,” she moaned. “It’s so much fun and I’m learning so much and I can’t come back!”

“What happened? Did you parents change their minds about you attending?” Susan asked. It wasn’t unheard of for the parents of Muggleborn to pull their children out of school, but it was definitely uncommon.

Sally shook her head and her bottom lip wobbled. “My mom was fired over the break, so we won’t be able to afford the tuition.”

“Oh, Sally,” Hannah whispered as she hugged her friend. “It’ll be alright. Your mom will get a new job and you’ll be able to come back next year. You’ll see.”

Fresh tears spilled out. “No, it won’t be alright. I heard my mom talking to my dad after they thought I had gone to sleep, and she said that her boss told her that she wouldn’t be able to get an interview digging ditches after he was done with her. She didn’t even do anything wrong, either. She just found something strange, and asked her boss about it, and that was it!”

Sally sniffed and rubbed the tears away. “I heard mom and dad say we’d probably have to move to a smaller place, too. Dad’s an accountant, so we’re not going to starve, but if Mom is right and she’s not going to be able to get a job somewhere else, there’s no way I’ll be coming back.”

Harry listened and nodded as Sally, Susan, and Hannah continued to commiserate, but there wasn’t much more he could do for her. He excused himself as soon as was polite and headed for his dorm.

0oOo0

Bruce’s face filled the mirror as Harry reclined on his bed. “I had a meeting with your Headmaster today,” he said in lieu of greeting.

“I haven’t blown anything up, so what did he want?”

“He was warning me about certain parties trying to remove you from my care.”

Harry laughed. “I’d like to see them try.”

“That’s what I told him. It seems the traditionalists are the mostly likely to try something, if anything comes of it. Dumbledore seemed to feel that he would be able to put a stop to whatever they tried, but I’m not going to count on the word of a politician.”

“Seems smart. How’d you know that Dumbledore was a politician?”

“Alfred’s stayed in contact with your Professor McGonagall. She helped him get a subscription to the most common periodicals and I ordered a few history books to familiarize myself with the background.”

Harry knew that meant Batman wanted every scrap of up-to-date information possible, and a few history books meant a copy of every one on the shelf, but decided not to point that out. His heart wasn’t in it at the moment. “So I should be on alert? Like how I’m always supposed to be on alert?”

“Yes. And you’re distracted. What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Harry.”

“I’m serious, nothing happened to me.”

“Which means something happened to someone else, and you’re concerned. What happened?”

It wasn’t really a question anymore, and Harry knew better than to try to weasel out of it. It isn’t like Bruce wouldn’t figure it out. Figuring it out was what he did.

“One of the girls in my year, Sally-Anne Perks, her mom got fired over break. She doesn’t think she’ll be able to come back to Hogwarts because of it. Since her mom worked at LexTech, I’m guessing she found out about one of Lex’s projects when she wasn’t supposed to.”

“Likely.”

“I’m just trying to figure out if there’s anything I can do to fix it. I also have schoolwork to think about, Alfred’s homework to think about, and two or three other irons in the fire at the moment. So yes, I’m a bit distracted. How are things going on your end?”

“One of the psychiatrists at Arkham thinks they’ve cured the Ventriloquist, so I’m expecting Scarface to spring back up anytime now. Other than that, things are quiet.”

Harry nodded, and from there, the conversation devolved into small talk.

MrRigger

[Ristridin]

Yeah, I know what you're talking about, but I'm not sure how to fix it. For reference, this scene is one that I lifted from the show. Any suggestions on how to make it flow better?

Hmm... Maybe add some non-verbal interaction and/or mix up the order of the sentences? You use similar tricks in the second part of the conversation.

Here's my shot at mixing things up a bit (at least part of the scene). I didn't alter the words being said; hopefully this still fits in with the show.

Spoiler: show

“That’s correct,” Batman agreed. “The mole was Red Arrow.”
For a moment, all members of the Team bar Red Tornado looked wide-eyed at Batman. The silence was broken by Robin and Kid Flash reacting simultaneously. "Roy?" "No way!"

Aqualad was a bit more elaborate in his reaction. “Batman, that cannot be! He was Green Arrow’s protégé and we have all known him for years!”

“Look, he might have been a jerk sometimes, but he was a hero, through and through,” Harrier added, while Robin and Kid Flash nodded emphatically at Aqualad's words.

Before things could get out of hand, Red Tornado called the teens to order. “Unfortunately, the Roy Harper we have known for the last three years is another Project Cadmus clone. We’ve learned that the real Speedy was abducted and replaced immediately after becoming Green Arrow’s sidekick. The clone was preprogrammed with a drive to join the Justice League.”

Or are you talking about the Team finding Red Arrow?

Yeah, that's what I meant. I got the fact that Batman and Red Tornado were already taken over by the Light.

Red Arrow broke free of his mental control because he was never under the influence of Starro-tech, just preprogrammed mental instructions to infiltrate the Justice League and infect them with Starro-tech. Once he had done so, his programming was done, and he took that opportunity to escape. Do I need to edit again?

The mental conditioning being broken isn't pointed out explicitly; an off-hand command explaining the fact that he broke free would be good enough I guess. Right now, it reads as if the Team hears his explanation about being mentally programmed without hearing he was ever released from that programming. Feels like a break in continuity, especially since you might expect Red Arrow to be programmed to infect himself with Starro-Tech after infecting the rest of the League.

I'll try to make sure quirks like that are better explained in-story in the future. However, I generally assume readers of a fan-fiction have a certain level of base knowledge with regards to the fandom. A dangerous thing to do with crossovers, I know, and I'll try to avoid doing so in the future.

I guess that's indeed the risk of crossovers; a fan of one series might not know the other series. It's fine this way though; at some point the reader can find out about these quirks themselves even if they don't know one of the series. It's just that using words like 'traught' and 'aster' without clarification might cause one to believe you made some weird typo. My mind doesn't connect 'aster' to 'disaster'.

Robin nodded. “So, are we feeling the aster?”

Harrier thought about it. Gotham was safe, Hogwarts was fun, the Light was defeated, and he’d just been a part of the group that saved the Justice League from mind-control. He looked out the window again and saw the sun break the horizon. It was a new day. “Yeah. Definitely feeling the aster.”

Try reading this without knowing what aster is. Only positive things are mentioned, so it's not easy to think of the word disaster in this setting.

[DIT_grue]

Re: Robin's quirk

The thing is that that sort of wordplay usually takes advantage of context to improve clarity and thus make it a successful joke. Does he ever reuse these with people who didn't hear them the first time? Especially in this case, since there are at least a couple of common phrases that might have been rendered like this by mistake, I think my reaction is more likely than, "Assuming he meant to say precisely that, what does it mean?" Maybe a habitual punster would get it?

(Incidentally, 'whelm' is apparently a word, even if a dictionary is likely to tag it as archaic and/or poetic. Meaning: "engulf, crush with weight". So that one's more likely to be identified - it helps that there's nothing it can easily be confused with - but may be a case of, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.")

It would probably help to indicate that there's something intentionally odd going on. Probably as simple as adding an apostrophe to indicate that Robin has omitted part of the usual word ("Stay ’traught." "So, are we feeling the ’aster?"). To highlight that it is a character quirk rather than an author typo, the first time it comes up, try having Harry think about it. Or possibly quip back, or make a complaint in a long-suffering tone about him mangling words again, something like that.

[MrRigger2]

Part Thirty-Eight!

Spoiler: show

Harry had decided over break that his best bet for staying in halfway decent shape while at school would be to try and involve himself with a Dueling Club. He reasoned that even if duels weren’t as hectic or as life threatening as fighting against the Rogues or criminals, it would at least allow him to keep his fighting instincts sharp, or something close to it.

The main problem with this decision was that Hogwarts didn’t have a Dueling Club.

After a bit of research and a consultation with Hermione, who had been doing her own research (very private research, as she wouldn’t let him see what she was studying) in the Library with Neville Longbottom, Harry found out that Hogwarts hadn’t had a Dueling Club since Voldemort was vanquished.

Dueling, like many things, fell in and out of favor over the years, sometimes possessing a wild popularity, sometimes being a social stigma. After Voldemort was vanquished and his Death Eaters were either acquitted or imprisoned, people were ready for the fighting to be over and done with, and so Dueling Club was canceled. Harry understood the rationale behind it, but it did mean he had to get it reestablished.

Harry started small, checking books on dueling out of the Library and making sure his friends saw him reading them around the Common Room or at meals. From there, he asked the upper years to explain certain concepts or rules from the books to plant the seed in their minds. After finding out that Professor Flitwick had been a Dueling Champion in his youth, Harry made sure that fact made the rounds around school.

After only a week, the buzz had taken on a life of its own. Fifth Year Oliver Wood was actually the one who finally petitioned Professor Flitwick to start up a new Dueling Club, which startled many, given Wood’s famously Quidditch mad tendencies. Given how often the older boy simply couldn’t sit still, Harry expected he would have jumped at the potential for any new physical sport.

When the announcement for the Dueling Club went up, Harry was ecstatic, and so was the rest of the student body. Professor Flitwick had agreed to be faculty advisor and consultant, and there were rumors that Professor Snape had consented to work with the Sixth and Seventh Years who joined. Unconfirmed, obviously, as no one wanted to be the one to approach him to find out the truth.

“Welcome to the inaugural session of the Hogwarts Dueling Club!” Professor Flitwick squeaked. “It’s good to see there’s such a strong interest, that’s very encouraging. Since we have so many people interested in joining, I’ve set up schedules on the back wall for different age groups, since it would hardly be fair for First Years and Seventh Years to be in the same sessions.”

Separate schedules were definitely needed, Harry thought. Half the school had turned out for the first meeting. Fifth and Seventh Years were the least represented, probably because they didn’t want anything new to interfere with their O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. preparations, and nearly every First Year was in attendance, all of them overeager at the thought of learning to duel.

Not that Harry could blame them, he was one of those overeager First years.

With half the school there, there wasn’t nearly enough room to actively practice new spells, but Professor Flitwick did go over the expected goals of the club, as well as elect club officials for each Year.

There was a hard fought five minute campaign for First Year Dueling Club President, during which time names were called, names were dropped, and mud was slung, but in the end, Zacharias was elected President, with Draco Malfoy becoming his Vice-President.

Draco looked positively venomous at the thought of losing to a Hufflepuff, but bit his tongue and accepted his position. Harry did make a note to remind Zacharias to watch his back, as Draco was doubtlessly looking to move up in the hierarchy, given the glares he was shooting at Zacharias’s back.

0oOo0

The next session of the Dueling Club was solely populated by First Years. Apparently, Sixth and Seventh Years had been paired together, as had Fourth and Fifth Years, due to the lower numbers involved, but First, Second, and Third Years all had separate meetings.

“Now then, who can tell me the winning conditions for most official duels?” Professor Flitwick asked once the meeting was underway. “Yes, Mr. Malfoy.”

“Your opponent is incapacitated.”

“Yes, that is one way. Be warned, however, that I will have no patience for anyone who attempts to incapacitate through injury. Neither will most professional judges. Who can tell me another? Yes, Mr. Weasley.”

“You lose your wand.”

“Excellent. Yes, if you lose your wand, you have almost assuredly lost. It is possible to drop your wand and recover it before you opponent either summons your wand or stuns you, but you shouldn’t expect to be able to do such a thing in a serious duel. So, you should always take care to hold on to your wand. Good advice for life, actually. Let’s hear one more. You, Ms. Granger.”

“You break the rules too many times.”

“Correct. Typically, you forfeit the duel if you receive three warnings, though there are tournaments with more or less restrictive rulings. However, I don’t believe that will be a problem with that in this group, as we are here to learn how to duel honorably, not how to cheat at winning. My name is still spoken of on the dueling circuit, and I’ll not have any of my students besmirching my name, do we understand?” Flitwick clapped his hands. “Good. Now, we’re going to be focusing on the second method of winning right now, disarming your opponent. The Stunning Hex is likely beyond most of you at the moment, but I think you all should be able to manage the Disarming Charm. Watch me and follow along.”

Harry quickly picked up the charm, as had a few others. Both Zacharias and Draco had the charm working, and as club officers, they had moved on to help those who were having trouble. Neville, in fact, had managed to miscast so badly that he missed the wall, hit Professor Flitwick, and set the teacher’s sleeves on fire.

MrRigger

[MrRigger2]

Part Thirty-Nine!

Spoiler: show

Mary Perks wrung her hands and fidgeted as she waited to be called in. She could scarcely believe she was even granted the interview, and now that she was here, she was incredibly nervous.

Her last job had been in Accounting at LexTech, and she had been fired when she had come across numbers that simply didn’t add up. They didn’t add up in a very interesting way.

She had gone to her immediate supervisor, who had told her to drop it, but Mary liked to think that she was a good person, and she couldn’t do that. So she had gone over the numbers again, detailing her calculations and where exactly things didn’t add up, and gone to her supervisor’s supervisor.

Rather than a ferocious and intense revelation of facts, Mary found herself the target of a ferocious and intense interrogation. Instead of concentrating on what she had found, Mary was made out to be some sort of criminal, delving into corporate secrets and there were even accusations of corporate espionage thrown around! It was despicable.

Mary had known about the rumors surrounding LexTech and its parent company, LexCorp, but she had never paid them any mind. She knew that people said downright terrible things about the owner and president, Lex Luthor. But Mary knew better. She worked for LexTech, and knew they hadn’t done any of the despicable things the media accused them of. There may have been a few scientists who cracked, who couldn’t take the pressure, who went crazy and unleashed engines of destruction in an effort to destroy Superman, but they weren’t representative of the company.

After her inquisition and subsequent firing, Mary knew the truth. Those lies in the media were hardly lies at all. If the numbers she found were true, the media underrepresented the evil LexCorp did.

But she couldn’t tell anyone. Didn’t dare tell anyone, for the sake of her family. She knew that if she went to media with what she had found, she would disappear. Mary may have had a better head for numbers than people, but even she was able to pick up on the promise she had been given upon her departure.

Even without that threat looming over her head, she had been told that the only job she’d ever have from then on was that of a stay-at-home mom. And she’d believed it. She knew the numbers behind LexTech, and those numbers translated to influence. Blacklisting her wouldn’t be hard.

All of which didn’t explain why she was here. She had been reviewing their finances when she received the call. A call for a job interview. An interview at Wayne Enterprises.

0oOo0

Dueling Club was an excellent idea in principle, but in execution, Harry was exasperated.

First and Second Years had half the meetings of the upper years, which Harry could understand the logic behind, objectively. They weren’t as advanced as the upper years, didn’t know as many spells as the upper years, and it was safer to keep them from delving too deeply into dueling, lest they have eleven-year-olds filling the halls with hexes. Harry even understood that many of the First Years simply couldn’t cast some of the traditional dueling spells yet, that the concepts were beyond them until they got older.

That didn’t make it any less annoying.

It was even worse, as the older Hufflepuffs who had joined wouldn’t stop talking about what they were learning. Advanced spells, professional tactics, concepts that never even came close to being mentioned in the First Year meetings…

It was all very infuriating. Especially since whenever Harry tried to get someone to actually explain the concepts to him, they clammed up, told him he was too young, that they didn’t want him to hurt himself.

He was able to get some information out of the Seventh Years when he probed into what they were doing. One of the most advanced tactics they were covering was the use of something called Legilimency to read your opponent’s surface thoughts and guess their next moves. The counter was Occlumency, to protect your thoughts.

But with none of them willing to discuss it further, and no books on the subject in the regular Library, Harry was going to have to come up with a different plan.

0oOo0

Mary Perks snapped her mouth shut when there was a knock on the door. She had been rambling, she knew, and she was thankful for the interruption.

“I’m in the middle of an interview, could you come back-” The door opened anyway, and a black-haired man in an expensive suit stood there. “Mr. Wayne, I’m sorry, what can I do for you?” the interviewer stammered.

“Am I interrupting something? My meeting was pushed back because of something to do with the presentation software, so I thought I’d show myself around the building. See what people are up to, you know.”

“Well, I’m in the middle of an interview at the moment, sir, but I-”

“An interview? That sounds like fun, let’s see what we have here,” he said jovially, and Mary couldn’t believe what was happening. She was having enough trouble interviewing with the HR Manager, now she had to speak with Bruce Wayne himself? This couldn’t be happening.

“So, Mrs. Perks, is it?” Mr. Wayne said, standing behind the desk and scanning her resume. “It says here you were fired from LexTech just over a month ago. Could you explain that?”

Mary was so nervous she forgot to censor herself. “I found some evidence of something they were doing, and it was enough to get me fired on trumped up accusations.”

“Really? What did you find?”

Mary realized what she had said and paled. “I-I’m really not sure how much more I should say.”

The billionaire nodded. “Don’t worry, I know Lex. I’m pretty sure I can make a few guesses. Well, I hope we can find a place for you here at Wayne Enterprises. A company can never have too many honest accountants running around.”

He held his hand out and they shook hands – she shook Bruce Wayne’s hand! – and he left, leaving both her and her interviewer flabbergasted.

MrRigger

[bookwurm290]

I'm really enjoying this story, I did like how Harry manipulated the dueling club into existance.

I wanted to bring up something about part 33 sorry this is a bit late but I just caught up. Regarding how easy it is to find Harry under the invisibility cloak, I'm just wondering if you're planning on not including the Deathly Hallows in this story, if that's so I have no objection and please disregard.

If you are planning on incorporating the Hallows, and I should really go back and double check the books to confirm this, but I'm just raising the issue right now and if it turns out you did this intentionally I don't want to have wasted my time. Didn't she say something about the user of the Deathly Hallows cloak not being detectable at all? If you're not planning on including the Hallows, or you can recall a time when she ignores it, or your just going to say that the legend is untrue that's fine, I just wanted to bring it up because if you do plan on using the Deathly Hallows this could come up again.

Anyway, if you are planning on using the Deathly Hallows and that the cloak is undetectable I'm not saying you should make him completely impossible to find him, people can obviously still touch and hear him, so the water, heartbeat, and probably mind sensing should still work, the only one I'm having a problem with is Zatarra using magic to find him, that really shouldn't work if it's the Deathly Hallow.

Again, whether or not your planning on the Deathly Hallow, Master of Death thing it makes no sense to bring it up here, I was just thinking about the "indetectable" cloak and that at least magic shouldn't effect it, and wanted to bring it to your attention if you hadn't already thought of it.