"…it!" Harry finished arriving on the other side. Before him stood a tall, dark man with golden armour and the strangest eyes. Heimdall was looking at Harry. "Hi. I'm sorry, would you excuse me for a second?" Harry turned around and looked at Loki. "You should not have done that." His hand moved in Loki's direction. Loki, prince of Asgard, Trickster god of legend, was suddenly a turtle. "Now I feel better."
"Long have I watched you, Warrior Wizard. Your exploits on Midgard speak well of your intent and skills. Odin, Allfather, has expressed an interest in meeting you as well." Heimdall said. "My name is Heimdall. Thor has told you of me, I know."
Thor just chuckled. "You might as well come with me and spare me the temptation of keeping it for myself."
"And the fact that I'm now stuck in Asgard has neither of you worried?" Harry said suddenly realizing the perilous nature of his situation. He didn't know that Odin would allow him back to Earth using the Tesseract.
"The Allfather is not so unjust, that he would punish you for the misdeeds of his wayward son, Wizard." Heimdall said sincerely, a small smile on his face. Turning to Thor, he said, "Make haste, though. When you made your plans to return this day, I informed your father, King Odin, as such. He awaits your arrival even now."
Harry was startled by a feeling in one of the pockets of his dragon-hide armour. He had elected to wear it, in case any cameras found them in the park and made the connection between him and the Avengers. Hurriedly, Harry took out his book only to see Tony's face in it. "Oh, thank science! I was worried I wouldn't get the next book!" Tony said. Harry knew he meant well, so ignored the insincere statement.
"I love you too, Tony." Harry joked. "I have been told that I won't be stuck here, so I'll see what I can find out and call back in two hours if I'm not able to get back by then. Unfortunately Prince Thor, Loki and I need to go. Apparently the Allfather is waiting and nobody keeps him waiting." Harry had been moving the book around to show the people he indicated.
"Wait, was that a turtle? Wait! Was that Loki!?" Tony said, before Harry closed the book.
"Good to know that works!" Harry exclaimed in relief. He picked up the Turtle and activated his flight capabilities. "Are we going?" Harry asked, just slightly off the ground. Thor smiled, twirled his hammer and took off in the direction of the royal citadel with Harry following closely behind. Loki, on the other hand was not so pleased. The turtle just wanted to eat and rest. Harry had thoroughly locked his mind in its form. He couldn't even counter the magic in this state.
When they arrived at the gate, where armed guards stood by the sides of the doors, they were met by three men and a woman of exquisite beauty. They all looked strong and were dressed as warriors. Harry recognized them from their night of viewing memories and decided to greet them without being introduced. He handed the Turtle to Thor and held out his hand to them one at a time. "Volstagg, Fandral, Hogun. And you must be the lovely Lady Sif. My name is Harry Potter. It is my genuine pleasure to meet all of you. Thor speaks of you fondly and with respect."
They stood there stunned until Volstagg, the biggest of the three, stepped forward and asked, "And what is it that Prince Thor has told you? I assure you, most of what he said not true, I do not eat nearly as much, Fandral has some control around the ladies and Hogun does more than grunt." he joked. "Your estimation of Lady Sif is quite accurate however."
Harry instantly liked the man. He was like Santa, but more deadly. He seemed to have a jovial spirit and a good solid sense of self. "Prince Thor has showed me memories of your battles and I have seen for myself both your strength and valour. You have nothing to fear, I hold you in the greatest of regard." At this they all smiled, except for Sif who had a calculating look.
"Showed you memories, you say? That sounds like magic." She then turned to Thor. "Prince Thor, how certain are you that this person is not your brother Loki in disguise?"
"What you say is true, it was indeed magic that helped me share my memories, but Harry Potter is one of my new comrades." Thor said. He held up the turtle, "This is Loki. Harry Potter is a wizard of greatest skill and when Loki caused mischief to bring Harry here with us, I'm afraid he attracted the ire of a Wizard. I would suggest you avoid that."
"Don't fear me, I am not so fickle as to harm another living being for simply inconveniencing me. The transformation will be removed, but not before we present Loki to his father. I dare say, the trickster will be mortified to realised he had been so thoroughly thwarted and overpowered by someone he considers his lesser." Harry said with a wicked grin.
Fandral looked at him appraisingly, "He speaks with the same silver tongue as Loki, but his words have no bite." he noted. "Well met Harry, of the Potters. We thank you for assisting our Prince with his duty and bringing back the lost Prince." He finished with a bow.
"It was no hardship, as your Prince is a wonderful companion. But please, we must present ourselves to the King. I am told he is waiting." Harry apologised.
"Yes, let us go see my father." Without waiting, Thor stepped forward still holding the Turtle, who had yet to leave his shell since Harry had first picked him up. They were allowed in and Harry marvelled at the beautifully decorated arched ceilings and ornaments. They were followed by the Warriors Three and Sif. They reached the Entrance to the throne room and waited to be announced. Once they were, the doors opened and Harry saw the Throne upon which sat the King of Asgard, Odin Borson, Allfather.
"Welcome back, my son!" Odin exclaimed a smile on his face at seeing his progeny return. "Were you successful in your mission?" He obviously knew, but wanted those present to hear for themselves. The throne room wasn't packed per-se, but there were quite a few in attendance. Obviously they had been waiting.
"Indeed Father. We were able to stop the invasion of the Chitauri on Midgard and have brought Loki and the Tesseract to you as you commanded." Thor intoned taking a knee in front of his father. He held out the Turtle with one hand and the Tesseract in the other.
"What's this?" Odin asked, looking at the turtle.
"It is Loki, father. He had thought to inconvenience one of my new companions by dragging them along when we made preparations to leave Midgard. My companion is a Wizard of great strength and he turned Loki into this creature." Thor said a smile on his face.
Odin then looked up and spotted Harry. "I can sense your power, Wizard. You are more than you claim it seems." Odin said with a knowing look. "But that is not for now. If you would, please return my son to his rightful form so that we may get this unpleasantness out of the way?"
"Of course, Majesty." Harry walked closer, took the Turtle from Thor's hand, placed him on the floor and cancelled the transformation. Loki reverted to his true form and lunged at Harry instantly. Harry locked him in place and turned him about to face his father. "Face your father and answer for your crimes." he said lowly. He kept the stream of magic up, so Loki couldn't flush it from his system. He made sure that everyone could see his hand was up, holding him in place.
Guards soon came in to secure Loki and the Tesseract and Harry was able to step back to where he had been. They argued for a bit and Loki was taken away. Harry felt bad for the would-be king. Loki had always lived in Thor's shadow it seemed. Harry wondered if he had any friends of his own.
"Come forth Wizard, tell me your name so that I may greet you to my halls." Odin intoned.
"Of course, Majesty. My name is Harry Potter." Harry said as he stepped forward and bowed deeply.
"He has good manners for a Midgardian." The queen stated with a smile.
"He is not strictly from Midgard, my Queen. He has a power about him that is not just magic." Odin said. "What are you, Harry Potter?" He asked.
"I am not certain, Majesty, but I can only assume you are referring to the powers assigned to me when I was chosen by… a higher entity… to bear its power." Harry said solemnly.
Odin's intense eye never left Harry. "You are holding something back. Is there a term from where you come that describes one such as you?" Odin asked.
"There is, your Majesty, but I am loathe to speak it in front of so many. I have kept this knowledge to myself since I came to this reality. I cannot bear to have it spoken in the streets as children point and stare at me." Harry said with downcast eyes.
"Is it so terrible, that its mere utterance causes you shame?" Odin asked.
"Father, please. If Harry wants to keep it from the people, maybe we can discuss this in private?" Thor pleaded. "He is a good man. He has earned at least that."
Odin seemed to think about it. "As you wish." he finally nodded at his son. "Harry Potter, please follow us to the family chamber where we can speak of things freely." Odin said as he got up looking now at the crowd of people. "We will return in a short while. You may begin the feast." As he said this a band somewhere started playing and people started whispering.
Odin led them out of the hall and into a smaller, more comfortable room, with benches, pillows and couches. Harry unobtrusively cast cushioning charms on the seats, before they sat down. Frigga seemed shocked, but pleased. Odin looked up and said, "So, what can you tell us?"
Harry informed them of the world he came from, about being the only survivor and then of the Hallows. He told the tale in its entirety for the first time since entering this reality. Mentioning his suspicion that he had stopped aging and his ability to summon the dead.
"So the term for you is the Master of Death?" Odin asked, thinking he could understand the hesitation at saying the name. Death seldom had good connotations.
"I believe so, Majesty." Harry sad sadly. Remembering himself being the only survivor always saddened him. And then there was a burst of flame and Fawkes appeared and lightly landed on his shoulders singing an angry tune that still lifted his spirit. He was being reprimanded for forgetting that he wasn't alone. "Oh, did I mention that Fawkes here recently decided to join me from my home universe?" Harry chuckled as he scratched the phoenix and his spirits started soaring.
"You have a phoenix?" Odin whispered in awe. "And it chose to follow you willingly?"
"Well, yes. Is there another way to choose friends?" Harry asked unconcerned.
"May I see it?" Odin asked.
Harry wanted to say that he could already see it, but thought better of it. Damn Tony for rubbing off on him. "He is a free bird and goes where he wishes. I'll bring him to you and he can choose if he wishes to come to you. That is all I can promise, Majesty." he said. Trying to be respectful and reproaching at the same time was difficult.
Harry walked over and lifted his other arm to the Phoenix, who jumped to it. He offered said arm to Odin, who lifted his arm in return. The phoenix looked him straight in the eye for a moment and then jumped across onto Odin's arm. His other hand reached up but hesitated, until Harry nodded, followed by Fawkes, and he pet the bird's magnificent plumage. "He's intelligent," Odin noted.
"Well yes, Majesty. He did follow my voice from an alternate reality and appeared when he felt my despair. Fawkes prefers to be scratched on the head, thought." Harry said nonchalantly. The bird let out a soft song as he was being petted, one of contentment.
"To judge you negatively after a phoenix has vouched for you would be the act of a fool. Welcome to Asgard, Harry Potter." Odin said, sincerely.
"Harry has asked me to deliver this to you, when he was still going to stay on Midgard." Thor said delivering a bottle shaped gift to the Allfather. Fawkes burst into flame and re-appeared on Harry's shoulder to free Odin's hands. Odin looked shocked, but only for a moment.
Then he looked sternly at Thor. "Did you need to interrupt that moment?" he asked exasperatedly, but took the gift and opened it anyway. "What is this?" Odin asked in interest.
"It is a magical drink from Harry's home-world. It is infused with fire magic and that of peace. It is quite strong too, when compared to other drink on Midgard. I really enjoyed it and knew you would, so I asked for a bottle." Thor explained looking at the bottle himself.
"Then, what you are saying is, I should keep it for a special occasion?" Odin said moving it from hand to hand watching as his son's head moved side to side.
"By all means father! Perhaps the return of your son from a victory defending an entire planet will suffice." Thor said, with some humour, as he finally broke his gaze from the bottle, watching his father's bemused expression.
"Perhaps." Odin said.
"Don't hold it as too precious, Majesty. I do intend to figure out how to make it at some point, but the way I keep on giving it away, I might run out of stock. So I'll ensure to keep you in mind if you find it to your liking." Harry explained.
"Very well. We shall leave what we have discussed, in this room. With a phoenix companion, nobody can argue that he has nefarious purposes." Odin said.
"That reminds me, if Fawkes can get here, that means he can take me home, so if it's all the same to you, I'll just be on my way…" Harry began.
"You will do no such thing!" Frigga suddenly burst out. "You have just arrived bringing gifts and our sons. We welcomed you to our halls and you will stay so that I have the opportunity to have a conversation with you!"
"Of course, Queen Frigga." Harry said bowing. "If I may please have a moment to update my companions on Midgard that that is what I am doing?" He asked. "I am expected to take a couple of friends for a ride on my magic carpet in about an hour and a half. Will that work for you?"
"Much better than leaving now, yes." Frigga replied sternly.
After Harry informed them of the situation, they went back to the throne room where it seemed a party was brewing. There were dancing couples, tables laden with foods of all sorts that Harry didn't recognize, but smelled delicious. He refused to spoil his appetite, though. He followed Thor and seated himself near, but not next to the royal family, not knowing what was appropriate.
Odin stood up and waited for quiet, "Citizens of Asgard, I have come bearing good tidings. Our Prince Thor has, in his attempts to save Midgard, made a companion of great value. Where he is from he was called Wizard. Our people would call him a Sorcerer or Seidr. He will be welcomed by you as one of us as he is a warrior of great strength and repute." Odin said, broking no argument. "I believe his tale as he is joined by his companion phoenix, Fawkes. A creature of utter purity, who would not align themselves with anyone that has ill intent." There were gasps among the occupants of the hall, people looking around to try and spot the man and phoenix. "Please rise, Harry Potter, and be known as our guest of honour. You have earned our hospitality and we welcome you to Asgard!"
Harry wanted to go invisible, but knew he'd only offend his hosts if he did that. So in lieu of standing on his feet, he activated his armour to levitate him six feet into the air. There were more gasps and muttering and then Fawkes flared his wings and let out a song of welcome and joy. Suddenly there was loud applause and cheering from around the hall. People banged their cups on their tables and people stared at the phoenix with some ladies examining Harry with hunger in their eyes. Harry allowed himself to float back to his seat, but Fawkes took off and flew around the hall, small embers flying behind him in his path as he sang the most beautiful song of hope and strength imaginable.
Harry was soon joined by the Warriors Three and Sif. "So, I hear you are a powerful wizard." Volstagg said sarcastically.
"Lies, all of them," Harry responded jokingly.
There was silence until Volstagg roared with laughter, those around them soon following suite. "You have wit! I always enjoy humour when I'm in my cups." he said as he slapped Harry on the back hard enough to almost throw him off his chair. "Tell me of the food of your world. Do you have anything as good as you can find on these tables?" he said pointing around, seemingly indicating the best food any world has to offer, which it very well might be, Harry thought.
Not wanting to be outdone he said, "Well, from what I've seen it is entirely possible that the food here is remarkably well prepared and much more variable than you would find on my tables, however, there is one food I enjoy that I've yet to see. Midgard contains hundreds of cultures and over the years they have created some marvellous dishes. One of them, I can show you if you are interested?"
"How would you do that if the food you are thinking of cannot be found here?" Sif asked. "Surely you can't just make it appear from thin air?"
"Actually I could, but it would not contain any nutrition as it disappears after a couple of hours. What I'm going to do is take ingredients from the tables you have here and combine them using magic to create the food I'm thinking of." With this, Harry pointed at a couple of items and summoned them onto the table in front of him. "The best thing about this type of food is that you can modify it for flavour. What is your preference in food normally, Volstagg?"
"Meat, of course! Nothing quite sates my hunger like a big piece of meat!" Volstagg enthused.
Ignoring his inner Tony, Harry went about transfiguring the bread and tomatoes, then he took the sausage he found and transfigured it to it to pepperoni. He then added some salami, which he transfigured from another cut of meat and lastly crispy bacon bits. He then took a bit of cheese, had it grate itself over the food he already had and held his hands over the whole bunch to bake it. Once the cheese was the right colour, he removed his hands, pointed his fingers to cut the now finished pizza into eight slices and slid the whole thing over to Volstagg. "Buon Appetito." he said with as much of an Italian accent he could.
Volstagg looked at the food and reached for a fork.
Harry interrupted him, "No, no, no! This is called finger food. You eat it with your hands. Like this," and Harry took a slice, folded it in half, put the point of it in his mouth and bit it off. It wasn't bad, though he'd have to remember to spice it better next time. "See?" he asked around his mouth-full. A light snack would probably not ruin his appetite later.
Thor had noticed what Harry was doing and had walked over. Once Harry had finished his demonstration, he took a slice for himself and said, "Thank you." and walked away.
Volstagg followed suite and took his first bite. "This is delicious! Hey that's mine!" he said as the other three each took a slice. Harry just smirked. Volstagg took the plate the rest of the Pizza was on and escaped, before anyone else could eat any of his food.
After finishing her slice, Sif spoke up, "You may have just made a life-long friend. Volstagg's heart might actually be in his stomach." she laughed. "He'll be back in a couple of minutes demanding more, however, so you better be ready…"
"Then I'll just distract him with this," Harry said as he conjured a glass jug, filled it with water and made Butterbeer.
Thor, having known this would happen at some point was instantly there, picked up the jug and said, "Thank you." and was off again to go give his mother a glass of the butterbeer.
Harry just laughed and repeated the process, telling the three remaining people at the table to help themselves after pouring himself a cup. When Volstagg came back loaded down with more ingredients for Pizza, Harry obliged him and made three. This time he remembered the extra spices and changed the variation some. There was a vegetarian, a Hawaiian and meaty pizza again.
Thor once again showed up with two plates and took a slice of each on both plates. Apparently Frigga was interested in the food, having tasted the butterbeer. The other was for his father, who was curious himself. Sif seemed to enjoy the Hawaiian and Fandral the vegetarian, strangely. Hogan apparently having decided that he liked the meat pizza, stuck with it. Volstagg soon disappeared with the rest, sounding injured that people kept stealing his food, having taken two cups of Butterbeer with him. So the legends of him were true.
Harry was summoned to the head table and asked to sit next to the queen, so that they may converse. Harry politely accepted the seat and they were soon chatting about the food and drink, spices and processes involved with making them normally.
"Why do you say you dislike cooking, when you are obviously a great cook?" Frigga asked, having tasted some of the spices he had mentioned, but didn't know. Harry had created them for her, warning that they were only temporary.
"My childhood affected my love of the craft, but magic makes everything easier. You still end up consuming what the base ingredients were, but if you don't have a lot, you sometimes need to change things up a little. My farms produced eggs and wheat and I was able to salvage some other ingredients. Cheese was hard to come by after a while, so I had to make it from other ingredients. At least it lasted long enough to enjoy the food." Harry explained.
"And the butterbeer?" she asked.
"It was once my favourite drink, so I took the time to perfect transfiguring it." Harry replied.
"Well I quite enjoy this beverage. Thor told me that it returns to water once consumed, which is beneficial. I think the Warriors Three will discover soon that they don't need to go to bed as drunk as they normally tend to." she said.
"I may have forgotten to tell them that as well. They've been drinking a lot of water tonight and are none the wiser." Harry snickered.
Next to Frigga, sat Odin enjoying another glass of firewhiskey. He seemed very pleased with it and made eye contact with Harry and raised his glass. "Thor was right! This is quite enjoyable. You will have to come back with more once you have perfected the process! I have not felt so light in decades." He complimented.
"It is my pleasure, Majesty." Harry returned.
"Is it just my imagination, my Queen, or is our Wizard friend attracting quite a few gazes from the maidens in attendance?"
"I do believe you are correct, husband. Harry here seems to have gained the attention of quite a few maidens and some of the not so virtuous ones." Apparently, Harry was getting some spoken-for ladies' attention as well. Their significant others were jealously scowling at Harry.
"Do I need to be worried?" Harry asked.
"Not as long as you don't act on their advances. Admiration is not frowned upon. Using said admiration to your advantage, would be." Frigga warned with a smile. "You seem to have caught the eye of our dear Lady Sif as well, it seems." She said with a raised eyebrow, looking sideways at him.
Harry got a bad feeling. He cast a tempus and said, "Would you look at the time? I am due back home in five minutes."
"You will not escape this conversation so easily. My aspects are love and marriage. I always look out for the ladies in my circles. They will want to know about your skills and virtues. What will I say when they hear you are not yet attached, powerful and for all intents and purposes one of the Princes' inner circle of friends? Not to mention your culinary skills." Frigga asked, a sly smile on her face. "With just that you are already one of the most eligible bachelors currently around. Maidens will weep themselves to sleep when they find out you have no interest in them."
"Aren't your aspects those of beauty, love and marriage?" Harry tried to divert the conversation.
"Flattery will not get you out of this conversation either, Harry." Frigga countered.
"It was worth a try." Harry sighed. "To be honest, I've only been in this reality a little over six months. I have not made any plans for that kind of companionship in any way. I am also quite dense when it comes to the fairer sex, I am told. I had not realised Lady Sif saw me in that way. She just seemed friendly and companionable since we arrived at the feast." he said.
"Then you don't know the Lady well enough. She is normally cold to strangers. She once had her eye on Thor, but was sorely disappointed when he fell for the mortal, Jane, of Midgard." Frigga sighed. "That is a relationship I'm afraid will not last."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, worried for his friend.
"Besides our different lifespans, she is a woman of intellect. Far more so than Thor, I'm afraid. She will one day find a contemporary of hers and make a connection Thor could never hope to offer her. You, on the other hand will probably live for thousands of years. You could find a companion here that would last you all of your years." Frigga said with a smile.
"Could I have some time to think about it?" Harry asked hoping that he could end the conversation, at least for now.
"Time, is one thing you have plenty of. Please consider it at your leisure. We Asgardians are a patient people," She smiled, "but I will not give up on you. One day you may enrich Asgard with your presence in a more permanent way."
"Thank you." Harry said, not sure how to respond to that.
"I think our time is up. Thank you for your conversation. It was quite refreshing. I'll hold you to your promise for those cook books though. It seems I have many recipes yet to discover from your world that I do not possess."
Harry got up and bowed to Odin and then Frigga, "Thank you for the honour you have shown me. It was a privilege to feast and converse with you."
"The honour is ours. You have brought with you a ray of light which we will welcome seeing again." At this Odin looked up at the phoenix. "The phoenix is welcome too." Odin smiled. Did he just make a joke? Firewhiskey seemed to do him some good, if the smile on Frigga's face was anything to go by. Harry would have to start working on the formula and enchantments for Firewhiskey soon.
"Fawkes!" He called up and the phoenix floated down to him and landed on his shoulder. He bid them farewell and Fawkes flashed them to Stark tower.