Harry had been intending to get to the dwarves for a while and he had decided to get to it sooner rather than later, before Thor's coronation ceremony. That had come as no surprise to him, with how Odin had been subtly testing him, asking him for 'advice' on how to handle one situation or another. Harry didn't think Thor was unaware either. Either way, Harry wanted to make contact before that, so that with the new king, some past grievances could be addressed and resolved.
Harry was also no fool and knew the Island would soon see Odin and Frigga much more regularly. They had intimated their desire for some peace and quiet for a while now and Harry suspected Frigga wanted to spend some time with the Nymphs. What they were planning, he had no idea, but he would worry about that later.
For now he was focussing on his latest project. He was making a sword. The base weapon had an array of strengthening and sharpening runes on the toughened Gold-Titanium Alloy, which would make it nearly indestructible and as sharp as a razor. Then a layer of Adamantium was added and engraved by lasers with the same array of runes before the metal set completely.
Harry was happy with the result, but had thought that he could do better, so he added a layer of vibranium, over the Adamantium. He tried applying the runes again, but found that the nature of vibranium refused to take the magic for the runes and simply dispersed it over its surface. This was a snag he had not foreseen, but he should have, because they had been working with vibranium for a while now.
Yondu had worked a deal with some of the other Ravager factions, Vibranium for bottles of Firewhiskey. The stuff had made him a legend with the people that traded with him and they were falling over themselves to get their hands on the liquid gold. Yondu was smiling all the way to the bank these days, not to mention that he had been able to buy his way back into polite society when it came out that he had helped the Guardians protect the galaxy again.
Harry had set that weapon aside, after removing the vibranium, as he had an idea for whom it would be an ideal gift. Then he set to work again. He would have to skip the vibranium, but he had another idea, for which he needed to speak to Pym first. Doctor Pym was reluctant to help and because Harry didn't want to proceed without him, Harry had to reveal his plan to Pym.
"So you want to make a giant sword from Titanium, add magic runes that will make it sharp, indestructible and reduce its weight, and then you want to shrink it down, to add even more density to the resulting weapon, is that about right?" Hank asked.
"I'm hoping that it will also reduce the edge of the sword to be even sharper." Harry said honestly.
"Why do you want to do this?" Hank asked. "Even better, why should I let you use my particle for yet another weapon?"
"I do understand your hesitation, and if you decide it's off the table I'll respect your decision and simply use magic. I was just hoping to try it, even if just once." Harry pleaded.
Hank looked at him for a couple of seconds while contemplating, then sagged. "While your idea has merit, there are some things that you don't know. Are you familiar with what happens when metal is tempered?" he asked.
"Metal is made stronger by adding elements and using different heating and cooling methods, right?" Harry half-answered.
"That's part of it." Hank allowed. "What you need to know, is that when an item already has a very rigid molecular structure and it is further tempered, it can become brittle. I have a suspicion that my particle might have a similar effect. I honestly think that your method will suit you better in this case."
Harry nodded with a smile, "Thanks Doctor Pym."
"Call me Hank." He said with his own smile. "You're technically the boss here."
"I'm nobody's boss." Harry denied. "As long as we're all working towards the betterment of mankind, we're all partners, in my opinion. I'll take you up on the offer to call you by your first name, though." Harry had a thought, then, "Have you decided if you'd be interested in studying any of the fields of magic my people are researching?"
"Janet has shown some interest in Alchemy." Hank said. "She said it reminds her of some of the things she saw during her time in the Quantum Realm."
"So you're not interested?" Harry asked.
"I'm more interested in finishing my work, so that we can get to the Quantum Realm and study the energies there." Hank said. "Currently, the study of Occlumency and my research are taking up all of my time."
"Oh, right." Harry said lamely. He'd forgotten about that. "Well, it was nice to see you again. Is there anything that you need help with?"
"Actually there is." Hank said. "Could you please invent some sort of energy drink that doesn't shoot steam out of people's ears?"
"They've been giving you pepper-up potions?" Harry asked. The potion was meant to cure the common cold, warm you up when cold and give you enough of a boost to make it through the day. Repetitive use could lessen its effectiveness. Harry told this to Hank, who coughed.
"Really? I've been drinking the cure for the common cold as an energy drink?" Hank asked, somehow finding the situation less than funny.
"It seems that way." Harry answered. "Here, try this." Harry said as he hit Hank with an enervate.
Hank instantly stood more upright and smiled, "Now that's what I'm talking about! Bottle that and you're set."
"That's actually not a bad idea, though I have another idea." Harry said as he got a look on his face. "I'll set you up with something for that, though you really should rest when you get tired. No amount of magic will make up for a good night's rest."
"Oh, I know it. Janet has been on my case about taking care of myself, but I'm just excited to be back and doing what I love, with people who listen and don't make demands." Hank said. He indicated at Harry, "Case in point. Who will make demands of me when the Harry Potter doesn't try to force my hand?" He stepped away for a second, before returning with a small red vial.
"Don't tell people I gave you this, okay? You can use it for your test, but please don't use it for the final product. I'd rather not have my work be used for weapons. Not again. Maybe seeing what happens gives you an idea of what can be done?" Harry took the precious vial and slipped it into his pouch. "What's that?" Hank asked.
"What, this?" Harry said indicating the pouch. "It's an expanded bag. I can make one that has a pocket dimension, but that takes way longer and can't hold as much unless I use runes, but I don't like doing that these days."
"Expanded bag?" Hank asked.
"I expand the space in the bag till it can hold many times the volume of the outside of the bag." Harry said.
"Now that would be some interesting magic to research." Hank said looking at the bag with interest. "Could you make one big enough for a person to enter?"
"How don't you know this? I could have sworn you and your wife have been to the island?" Harry asked.
"We have been." Hank said confused.
"The guest house has many expansion charms to accommodate many times the amount of rooms that the outside would allow." Harry said. "Sometimes it holds as many as twenty-five different apartments, though that is pressing the limits of the enchantment."
"I didn't think of that at the time. I just thought it was magic and let it go." Hank had a thoughtful look, "It's like you took what I did and decided to do the exact opposite. I make things small and everything else gets bigger by comparison. You make everything bigger while keeping everything at the same size. It's strange that you would come to me to request my help when you obviously already have the means to do what I do and much more."
"Ah, but my magic doesn't make things stronger and more durable when they shrink." Harry countered.
"That has to do with the way molecules work. I have a suspicion your way would achieve the same thing." Hank said. "Could you not use the runes you normally use to manipulate gravity in some way?"
"How would affecting gravity help?" Harry asked.
"When something has more mass, it's affected by gravity more, right?" Hank asked. "So depending on how your magic works, you might be able to make something that has an unstoppable momentum, like Thor's hammer, if done right."
"I'm hoping to find out more about that when I finish this project." Harry said. Odin had added some of the enchantments, but the Dwarves had made the magic hammer first. Thor had called the metal Uru, which was obviously not something he could just pick up at the local hardware store.
Harry added another project to his list; find a way to bottle spells. Then he went back to work on the sword. He conjured a giant knife this time, not wanting to use that many raw materials. He also knew the scale he'd need to work on and his workshop was not big enough. He then proceeded to apply the same runes as before and adding a feather light rune cluster as well. Because of the size of the knife, he'd had to have the runes written onto it in regular intervals, until the effect was achieved throughout the entire knife.
Even with the weight reduced, he couldn't move it by hand. That was fine, because he intended to use the particle at this stage anyway. He first scanned the knife with his magic to confirm there were no weaknesses in it and when that was done, he retrieved the vial from his pocket. Hank had not given him the counter particle to grow it again, so he only had one chance at this. He decided not to try and conjure Adamantium over the conjured Gold-Titanium Alloy. He would rather just get on with the test.
Harry braced himself and let a drop fall on the giant knife. When the entire thing shrunk down to a normal sized knife, Harry picked it up from the floor. It was still a bit on the heavy side, but he could wield it easily enough and he wasn't done testing it, either. He walked to a wall where a reinforced steel plate was mounted for testing purposes. He lifted the knife to it and stabbed at the steel. The knife went through the inch of steel easily.
"Wow." he said to himself. "I thought it would be brittle." It had gone right through, without resistance. "This could be dangerous." Harry said as he pulled the blade to get it out of the plate. He had to use his Asgardian blessed enhanced strength, only to hear a 'cling!' sound as the blade snapped off of the handle.
Harry looked at the handle in surprise. When he considered it, he couldn't find an answer, so he decided to ask the expert. He took out his mirror and contacted Pym again. "Hey Hank. Could I pop over for a quick chat?"
"Sure thing. I've just finished a pot of tea." Hank confirmed.
Harry quickly vanished the remnants of the knife, before opening a portal and stepping through. The first thing Harry did was hand Hank the vial back. They sat and talked, with Harry showing him the memory and explaining the steps as he went. In the end Hank could confirm that his theory had been correct. The amount of mass was the problem. Harry would have better luck enlarging something that was normal sized, before sharpening it and then making it small again after adding the runes.
Harry had felt quite stupid at this point. After all, hadn't he done exactly that with his personal MSC Shell? He thanked Hank for his help and went back to work.
Two weeks later, Harry had finally perfected the sword. It had a thin inner core of vibranium to internalize shock and remove the possibility of snapping the blade due to shock. Then there was the Gold-Titanium Alloy outer core, which would take the first set of runes for added durability. It would protect the blade from being overheated and frozen into becoming brittle too.
Finally the outer layer of Adamantium was runed by multiple lasers for sharpness and even more durability. While the lasers were doing its work, Harry was applying his own intent-based magic to the sword. Once everything was set, Harry looked at his latest creation in pride. Learning how to do everything that went into the creation of a sword, which was shaped like the sword of Gryffindor, had taken quite a while. He had considered making a katana, but he suspected it would disappear with Deadpool if he made it. As if to emphasize the thought, he heard Wade's voice whisper, "If you build it, he will come." Harry shuddered and ensured he was still safely in his workshop on Svartalfheim.
Each layer had its own purpose and applying some more modern techniques had left Harry needing to learn a whole new trade, but he had enjoyed the process quite a bit.
The enchantments he had made were for the sword to be able to be directed by focussing his will through the hilt or the scabbard, which it was bonded to. That way the sword could be maneuverer by your will alone, whether it was floating or in your hand. The scabbard would make the heavy sword as light as the wielder needed it to be, to be carried comfortably. Another enchantment added weight to swings by increasing its size by applied magic and will. The last ability was for the sword to intercept incoming attacks, should the intent behind them be malicious in nature. That last one had taken some doing as the metal had almost completely set by that point, but he had focussed his will and the magic had finally settled into the Adamantium.
A little known fact was that Adamantium could be enchanted only while it was setting, pretty much at the same time as the runes were applied, which was why he needed multiple lasers to do that while he did his enchanting. It failed the first few times, until Harry had tapped his ring and forced the process to happen faster.
It had cost a large chunk of his saved up energy from his battery, but it was worth it. He shrunk the sword back to its original size from its formidable hundred and fifty feet and picked up the sword for the first time after the magic had settled into it. Something felt off, until he realised the runes weren't active yet, so he ran his finger along the edge, but not touching it and added magic to the runes to activate them. Immediately he knew he had done something right, when he heard a soft hum coming from the edge for a couple of seconds before it settled.
He held the sword out in front of him while holding its scabbard in his other hand. He felt it pull at his hand and let go, to watch as the sword started moving about the room as he willed it. As he got used to its movements, he started moving it faster and faster, fighting imaginary bad-guys around his workshop. When he got to the target again, he slashed at it and had to suppress a shudder when it cut clean through the middle of it and didn't even slow at the impact.
His smile was huge as he opened a portal to Hank's workshop without calling and walked through, "Hank, I'm finally finished!" he enthused, before looking around. Hank was having lunch with Janet and had his sandwich raised to his mouth, where it had stopped. Janet just smiled and shook her head.
"Hello, Mister Potter." she greeted him, knowing he preferred Harry, but having heard Jarvis calling him that every now and then, apparently to tease him.
Harry knew exactly where that had come from and made a note to discuss his displeasure with Jarvis at some future date. "Hello, Miss van Dyne." he replied in kind. She had asked him to call her Janet after all.
"What's so urgent that you couldn't call first?" Hank asked having placed the sandwich back on the plate.
"I'm sorry, Hank. I finally finished that project I told you about." Harry said evasively.
"Is that the sword?" Janet asked pointing to his hip.
"You told her?" Harry asked.
"She's my wife. I tell her everything." Hank shrugged. "My contract allows for it, as long as she knows she can't tell anyone else."
"Except for Hope, not that I have." Janet assured him. "I know you like surprising people."
"Speaking of which." Hank said with a gleam in his eye as he eyed the sword at Harry's hip. "Mind if I take a look?"
Harry smirked and took hold of the scabbard. He willed the sword out of its sheath and slowly, but deliberately had it place itself in the table, point first. "I present to you my currently unnamed sword."
"You didn't say it would be a singing sword!" Hank said with just a bit of child-like excitement.
"It's not. It's an enchanted sword." Harry said.
"A self-propelled or flying sword is usually what fiction refers to as a singing sword." Hank argued.
"Let's hope Loki doesn't find out about that." Harry mumbled, before he lifted his hand that was not holding the scabbard and directing the sword to lift out of the table. "This one is not self-propelled, though. I direct it with the scabbard it's bonded to." he said indicating to his other hand. "The sword has a vibranium core, to protect it from shock and an Adamantium coating to protect the edge. Every level that can be has been runed to make the blade as unbreakable as possible and the blade has a security feature that protects the wielder automatically from attacks delivered with ill intent.
"Lastly," Harry said as he lifted his hand again and allowed the blade to align itself horizontally between them, before it started to grow, "it can adjust its size and weight to the point where I don't even think Thor's hammer would be able to push it aside."
Hank was looking at the giant floating sword and asked, "What happens if someone steals the scabbard?"
Harry shrunk the sword and willed it to enter the scabbard again as he walked over to the counter, where he placed the sword and scabbard on the counter. "The sword will always return to the scabbard, much like Thor's hammer always returns to his hand, but the scabbard is bonded to me by means of blood magic. It's also how the sword knows that I am to be protected from attacks that mean me harm. Only I can draw this weapon. Its scabbard and hilt are enchanted to only respond to my touch or those I designate."
Hank walked over and tried to lift the sword. It was heavy, since it was a large piece of metal, so it didn't surprise him. He tried removing the sword from the scabbard, but it didn't budge. Upon closer inspection it looked like the hand guard and scabbard were bonded as one. "So it's not like Thor's hammer, then?"
"It can be lifted, but you couldn't wield it properly." Harry said.
"Well, it is a little heavy for me, but someone like Thor…" Hank trailed off.
"To Thor it would feel as unwieldy as it does to you." Harry said. "It's how the blood and control magic works. Without my will directing it, you'd never get it to work like it should. Also," he said holding out his hand and the sword and scabbard ripped out of Hank's grip and returned to his hand, "I don't need to have the hilt to summon the whole thing to me."
"Impressive." Hank said. "Now that you have this weapon bonded to yourself, how do you intend to gift it to the Dwarves?"
"This one is not meant for them." Harry said. "It's an example of what I'm capable of. Hopefully my enchantments speak for themselves. If I can get them to ask me to enchant something for them, then I'll have the window I need."
"So you're betting on your magic?" Janet asked, nodding along. It seemed like a safe bet.
"I am." Harry confirmed.
"How long until the coronation?" Hank asked.
"Two months." Harry said. "I'm hoping to have at least made contact by then."
"Will it take you that long? Can't you just open a portal?" Hank asked.
"I can go to the planet, but the dwarves live on a station that's near their sun, so I'll need to travel there the old fashioned way." Harry said.
"Can't you go anywhere you can see or have seen?" Janet asked. When Harry nodded, she shook her head. "Why not just look then?"
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, but before she could answer he already understood. "You mean like with my observation decks?" She nodded. Harry thought about it before smiling, "You may have just jump started our deep space exploration program." Tony was going to freak out.
"Glad I could help." Janet said with a smile. "Now, I can see you want to leave, so go ahead and tell Stark I'll see him at the next alchemy meeting."
"How did you… Never mind. See you later." Harry said before apparating to his office.
"Hello Mister Potter." Jarvis said from his office, which now had another mirror set up. Jarvis' mirror had been hidden from normal view and only he could hear anything from Harry's side. Jarvis' office was not hidden after all.
"Hello, Jarvis." Harry replied.
"Is that a sword?" Tony asked from his side. "Is that what you've been working on for the last couple of weeks?"
Harry smiled, but turned to Jarvis and changed the subject, "I'm going to need a small spaceship with a large window in the front, preferably circular."
"I'll get started on manufacturing." Jarvis said easily. "Could you give me dimensions and general purpose please?"
"Big enough for two people. Myself as the power-source and operator and another as the pilot." Harry said.
"Where are we going?" Tony asked. He wouldn't be left out of this project if he had any say in the matter.
"We're going to visit the Dwarves." Harry said with a smile.
"And that's what the sword is for?" Tony asked, really hoping to find out what the sword was about.
"You'll find out, if you're coming." Harry said with a smile.
"Do I need to add extra protections?" Jarvis asked. "I ask because I believe there may be an issue with gravity that close to a sun." He had also heard Thor describe the dwarves' home.
"I don't know, but it might be a good idea." Harry said. He had a suspicion the blessings of Asgard would protect him, but Tony might not fare so well if the gravity was too much.
"I have started production of one of our standard scout vessels with your requirements in place and some added protections, while some unnecessary features are left out." Jarvis said. "I'm assuming this will be a peaceful venture?"
"That's the plan. If necessary, I'll be the weapons system." Harry said.
The next day was spent enchanting the small craft with what he had planned. It was going to be fun if it worked and he was not telling Tony until the time came. It turned out he needed to spend another day on it, since he needed to modify the inside of the ship a bit and to create an enchanted interface.
When the next morning arrived, Harry was excited to get going on his mission. He was shocked to see a couple of people he had not thought would be there. Natasha was in her armour and looking ready to kick ass, which was strange because Harry was certain she had other appointments that day. She'd even left earlier than normal.
Rocket was there too, chatting with Tony. "Hey, what are all of you doing here?" Harry asked.
"I invited them." Tony said. "Natasha opened her schedule and Rocket and I were talking runes, when Nidavellir came up."
"Why would you keep something like that to yourself?" Rocket asked. "Nidavellir is legendary. They make the most powerful horrific weapons to ever torment the universe. I would very much like to go there, please." he asked with a smile that Harry didn't know to trust. It looked like a cross between a kid at Christmas and a psychopath finding his first murder weapon.
"And you?" Harry asked Natasha.
"You forgot to mention what your mission today was, so I assumed it was dangerous and that it would be better if I showed up to help." Natasha replied easily.
"What about your division?" Harry asked.
"Hill is handling it." Natasha said. Hill had been moved from Human Resources once everything was in place and people were trained to do the job. She felt she could be more useful in other departments, so Fury had suggested she be the head of interdepartmental coordination and cooperation. Basically he was tired of dealing with Brand and wanted someone to handle all the niceties he didn't have time for. Hill had no issue with that, as it was what she used to do.
When Natasha had offered her access to her division and explained her project, Hill had decided that she would base her office out of Natasha's division from then on. She really wanted in on the project as it would see one of the biggest plagues on the planet wiped out within the next twenty years.
And so it was that she had come to know Natasha's operation inside and out. Natasha had loved being able to hand certain things over to someone who was, probably, even better than herself at handling them. Specifically seeing when she didn't need to step in. Natasha was always a hands-on type of person.
"I'm not objecting." Harry said. "Just be aware that I'm trying something new in this ship. Once we get to Nidavellir, I'll be speaking to whoever comes to see us. After that I want to try something fun."
"When you say fun and look like you've got no idea if it will work, I worry." Tony said.
"I'm almost certain it will work, but just in case, make sure you have your portkeys available, please?" Harry said. Everyone nodded and Harry led them into the mostly tube-shaped craft. Inside there were two seats in front of two spherical windows. One of the seats were in front of the pilot's chair and the other was for the operator. Only Harry knew how that would work, so that was his seat. Since there wasn't any other seats, Harry conjured two seats slightly behind and above the main two.
"Didn't this thing only have one window?" Tony asked. He had seen the plans and the front of the ship. There was definitely only one large spherical window there.
"It's part of my enchantment Tony." Harry said. "Once we get to space and I start doing my thing, you'll only be able to go backwards and forwards. Anything else and we might die. Also, I incorporated some MSC Shells for propulsion. I can't have my magic tied up if we need it for something else."
"How many?" Rocket asked.
"Five." Harry said.
"Five?! Why would you need that much power?" Tony asked. He knew how much that was.
"We won't need that much." Harry said. "It's in case of emergency. Better safe than sorry." He decided not to tell them about the magical self-destruct. If it came to that he expected them to portkey out first and then he'd activate the function. He really hoped he wouldn't need it, though. He hadn't tested the implosion enchantment yet, but knew giving it such a large power-source to pull from before activation, could make for a devastating effect.
Everyone settled in and Harry waited for Tony to run a systems check. It wasn't strictly necessary, but he'd insisted they take every precaution. It didn't even cross his mind that he had only thought to do that after Natasha had decided to join them.
When they were ready, Harry opened a portal to the planet and they flew through. Then they went up at a decent clip. Tony was taking things slowly since he knew they had all day for the trip. He also activated the IRDR and sound systems. They were soon streaming music directly from home. Rocket, apparently never having heard Rock and Roll like this, took a few minutes to get used to it, but soon was bobbing his head to the music.
"This is so much better than Quill's music." Rocket said.
"Everybody has their own tastes." Harry said. "There is no such thing as better music, only music you appreciate more than other music."
"There's definitely such a thing as bad music, though." Tony disagreed. "Not everybody is as talented as the next person after all."
"Fair enough. Fortunately we don't have to worry about listening to bad music." Harry said.
Once they reached space, Harry asked Tony to stop them and then he engaged his new enchantment. It functioned a lot like a combination between the enchantment that allowed blind people to see and the observation decks on the Midnight. He closed his eyes and instantly saw the outside of the ship. Next, he focussed on the star he could see closest to them. Since it was magical sight, he could adjust what he saw and there was no chance of him burning his retina.
As with the observation deck on Midnight, when Harry focussed his 'sight', his perception changed and suddenly he was closer. This was where the new idea came in. He had built some of Tony's rune induced field generators into the ship. As per the original type they had to be specifically attuned to the purpose Harry intended them for, which he had done. He put his hands down on the armrests, which was connected to two separate systems and powered the first Portal Projector.
This projector worked by connecting just in front of the ship with what was being seen. The best part about this was that once the portal was projected in front of you, you could suddenly see further ahead of you, allowing you to make the portal twice as far away with the second portal projector. Cancel the first portal and do it again and your magnification went three times as far, etcetera, etcetera.
"Did you just create a new kind of jump ship?" Rocket asked as he watched the portals flash in and out of existence as the view in front of the ship moved closer and closer to the star, very quickly.
"I'm still the only one that can actually generate this specific kind of portal, but I'm told Jane Foster and Eric Selvig are getting close to trial runs." Harry said.
"We set them up on the moon base." Tony said. "They've got access to the quantum computer there. It's apparently been a great help in processing the permanent portal we have set up for them to test with."
"Last I heard they were months away from successful testing." Natasha put in.
"You mean to say that you've got people working on making magic portals?" Rocket asked. "I really need to start spending more time on Earth. You guys keep on coming up with more and more interesting things."
"I thought you were only interested in weapons?" Tony asked.
Rocket smirked, "What would happen if Harry decided to open up a portal in someone's ship? Specifically one that opens to the heart of a supernova?"
Tony shuddered, "You've really got a mind for destruction don't you?"
"You have no idea." Rocket said. "I once made a hand-held plasma weapon that could blow up small moons. Back then I only had spare parts to work with, too. Imagine what I'll be able to do with knowledge from Nidavellir and Runes? Combine that with superior technology from across the universe and then you'll have a small idea of what I'm working with." Rocket sounded like he was salivating at the idea.
"He's still under contract right?" Tony asked Harry worriedly.
"Yup." Harry said. He wasn't worried. Chances were that Rocket would end up being the biggest contributor to Earth's defences in the future.
While the conversation had carried on, Harry had magnified his view a couple more times and now they were staring at what appeared to be the Space station Thor had talked about. "Take us through, Tony. The portal feels right."
"Wait, this is your first test of this kind of portal?" Rocket asked with worry, and a bit of excitement, in his voice.
"I can make a normal one now, but where would be the adventure in that?" Harry smirked. He knew it would work, but hearing Rocket worry was completely worth it. He stayed connected to the observation enchantment while they flew through and looked for appropriate landing coordinates. He couldn't see anything, so he turned on the primary function on his window.
Suddenly Harry's window showed what he was looking at, "Does anybody see a landing bay here?"
Harry looked around until Rocket said, "There. Follow to where those rings go. That would be where they harness the power of their sun. There would always be someone there."
Tony followed where Rocket indicated and pretty soon they landed inside the station. Tony had not detected any kind of field, but his systems detected normal gravity and breathable air. When he told them, Harry said, "It must be part of the magic I feel here. There's a lot I don't know, but I can tell it is magic."
"Your welcoming party has arrived." Rocket said looking out the window. "Those are some big swords they're carrying."
"And they are all enchanted as far as I can tell. It's likely that they can be used as energy projectors too, so be careful." Harry said. "I'll go greet the guards and find out if we can arrange a meeting with the man in charge."
"Better not call him a man, when you meet him. He might consider it an insult." Rocket said.
"Good point. Thanks." Harry said, before he got up and left the ship. Natasha following him invisibly. He didn't even care. He knew she could take care of herself.
When he was outside and approaching the Dwarves one of them raised his weapon and called, "Halt! Who enters the domain of Eitri?"
"Good day. My name is Harry Potter Odinson. I come in peace with the hope of trading with the legendary Dwarves of Nidavellir." Harry said.
"Odinson?" one of the Dwarves asked. "You bare no semblance to the Allfather. I call you a liar and a fraud. Present your arms and defend your honour!"
"What?" Harry asked, but before he could speak again, the dwarf had started advancing on him quickly. "Don't interfere." Harry said to Natasha, when he felt her moving off. She did not respond, but he knew she heard him.
Harry waited until the dwarf was almost on him, before he apparated behind the dwarf. "I will only warn you one time. I do not take attacks upon my person lightly. If I have caused offense in some unknown way, I will apologise, but if you attack me again I will respond with equal force."
The dwarf seemed to consider it for only a split-second before rushing at him again. Harry took hold of the scabbard and willed his sword to defend him. It was out of the scabbard instantly and blocked the enemy strike with the flat of the blade. "Do you not know how a sword works magician?!" the Dwarf shouted.
"I had hoped to spare you your weapon, as I can tell it was crafted with skill." Harry said. When the dwarf smirked, Harry shrugged and willed the sword to grow. Soon the dwarf was looking at a blade that made him look like the one facing down a giant, reversing the field of battle nicely.
"Behind you." came Natasha's whisper and Harry turned quickly and activated his ring, making himself intangible. The other dwarf had approached and was about to cut him in half. It turns out it was completely unnecessary as the giant floating sword suddenly moved to block the strike.
"Interesting." Harry said as he decided to see what his blade could do. He remained intangible and allowed the blade to take over protective duty. Without his will on it the blade shrunk back to its original size, but that didn't mean it was any less effective. The two dwarves were soon fighting a losing battle to try and hit Harry. Every hit was blocked and soon one of the dwarves' swords lost its blade as Harry's sword cut clean through it. "I did warn you about that."
"Are you a coward that hides behind your sorcery, magician?" the dwarf with the broken sword asked.
"I am a wizard." Harry said. "Call me a magician or a coward again and I will take offense and if I was here to kill, I'd look like this." As he finished the statement, his armour appeared and he let his magic free from its control, allowing it to roll off him in waves.
"Stop!" came a great voice from the entranceway. "Spare my guards and we may speak." A wild looking Dwarf said as he walked up to them. He seemed no different than the other two, but Harry could feel a sense of power coming from the Dwarf.
"Are you the one they call Eitri?" Harry asked.
"I am he." Eitri confirmed. "If you could please ask your assassin to remove himself from behind me, I would greatly appreciate it. I can feel your power radiating through him and do not wish for bloodshed this day." He left unsaid who he thought would be bleeding, but Harry was certain he hadn't meant himself.
"She is not an assassin, but a bodyguard." Harry said. "Had one of your guards actually posed a threat she would have ended them.
"She?" Eitri asked in shock. "You allow a woman to enter battle?"
"I would trust her with my life over any man." Harry said. Eitri did not respond, but Harry saw a twinkle of hidden intelligence in his eyes. Harry suspected that these dwarves didn't look down on women as much as they wanted to protect them. "When I met her, she was considered the most deadly assassin on my planet. She has since only gained in power. I believe she can take care of herself."
Eitri nodded when he saw Natasha appear behind Harry. The sword was still hovering between Harry and the guard with the sword. "It is customary to disarm yourself in the presence of the king." he said.
"Then your guards should not have attacked Harry." Natasha said. "He may be a prince of Asgard, but he is also the king of New Atlantis and your men attacked him without cause. I should kill them where they stand for their insult." She said this with a calm tone in her voice, no threat in her posture, except for a certain readiness, that promised consequences for any further trouble.
Eitri was shocked. He had not heard of any new sons of the royalty of Asgard, but these people were not lying. He could sense the blessings of Asgard on the man and knew he needed to respond correctly. "My apologies, King Harry. We had not been informed that you even existed."
"It is not your fault." Harry said. "You were not informed, so you could not know. That does not excuse the attack upon my person, but I dare say your guard has paid enough with the loss of his sword."
"My King!" Natasha objected, knowing she was playing the role of a devoted follower and bodyguard.
"Your guard is right to object." Eitri said. "He should be punished, but if you see fit to forgive him, I too feel the loss of his sword is punishment enough. It took him many years to perfect its' design."
Harry nodded. "May we speak in a more comfortable locale? I believe we have much to discuss. I also have two others who wished to meet the legendary Dwarves of Nidavellir for themselves."
Eitri nodded first to the other guard, who sheathed his sword, and then at Harry. "We may adjourn to my council chambers, where I can provide you with something to drink while we speak."
Harry nodded, "I will be but a moment." As Harry walked past the guard with the broken sword he took pity on the man who looked like someone who had lost a favourite pet. "If you promise to be more respectful to me and mine, I will try to fix your weapon for you."
"It is beyond repair." the guard mourned.
"But if I was able, would you promise?" Harry asked.
The guard looked up and saw only honesty in Harry's eyes. "I swear it!" he said instantly.
Harry nodded and focussed his magic on the sword. He levitated the two parts up and held them together. Whatever the sword was made of was very strong, as it resisted his magic, so he forced more power into the repair and ended up having to tap into his battery. A full minute later, the sword lowered itself into the guard's waiting hands. "Remember your oath, master dwarf, and you will find that my people will treat you with similar respect."
The guard nodded in stunned silence. He had just witnessed a miracle! Who commanded such magics that they could bend the very essence of magical metal, which is Uru, with their power alone? When he looked up there was a look of respect having replaced the belligerence that was there before. "I will keep my oath, King Harry, but you have earned my respect this day." he said as he slammed a fist against his breastplate.
Harry nodded and walked back to the ship, where Tony and Rocket were waiting. "You just couldn't help yourself could you?" Tony asked. "You just had to get into a fight and then be magnanimous in victory."
"Do you know a better way to make friends?" Harry asked.
Tony just shook his head and made his way out of the ship. "Nice sword by the way. I didn't know you knew how to do that."
"I have only the barest knowledge of sword fighting, but the sword is enchanted to protect me and I was out of phase the entire time." Harry scoffed. "They couldn't hurt me if they tried."
"I like you more every time I learn something new." Rocket said. That sword was a beauty. If he thought it was possible, he might just attempt to steal it, but chances were it would simply cut his hand off if he tried. Still, it might be worth having a prosthetic to own a sentient blade that could defend you from any incoming attack.
"What if the magic of their blades could hurt you even while you were out of phase?" Tony asked.
Harry tried not to let the panic that flashed through him show. He had not thought of that. Good thing the sword was good enough to protect him. "We'll have to look into that in the future." he whispered as they approached the waiting King Eitri.
"Your magic is formidable." Eitri said as he led them to the council room. "I have never seen anyone fix a blade that was completely broken and restore its enchantments at the same time."
"It is one of my specialities." Harry said. "I am an enchanter by nature, though honesty does compel me to tell you that I did not know I was restoring an enchantment. It does explain why it took so much power, though."
"I can see your magic takes the form of creational forces. It is something that I have seen very rarely in my thousand years. Only twice, in fact." Eitri said. "The other time was a couple hundred years ago, when we went to Midgard with the forces of Asgard. The man's name then was Myrddin Emrys, I believe."
Harry stopped dead in his tracks, "Did you just say Myrddin Emrys? Like Merlin?!"
"Is that what they call him, now?" Eitri asked, continuing his walk. "I only heard his name later, but his magic was much like yours. I saw it from a distance as he caused a volcano to erupt and engulf half the forces of the frost Giants. He simply vanished after that."
Harry caught up and put the thoughts aside for now. Something to research later. "How does your enchantments work?" he asked.
Eitri laughed, "You have yet to speak to me properly and you already want my secrets? I think not young wizard." He seemed to consider something for a moment, "If you are willing to share your secrets with me, I might be willing to share some of mine with you, though." He indicated the sword on Harry's hip, "That is a fierce weapon. What is its name?"
"It doesn't have one." Harry said.
This seemed to insult the dwarf. "Such a mighty weapon should have a name. It will be sung of in legend, certainly! To cut through a dwarven blade like it did is a mighty feat."
"I'll share a little secret with you." Harry said with a smile. "The smaller it is, the sharper it becomes. When it was big I was trying to save your guards' weapons."
Eitri's eyes widened, and then he laughed, "Truly? The men shall be devastated to know you were merely toying with them."
"I was not toying." Harry said honestly. "If they were trying to actually kill me, I'd have cut them down with my magic while the sword protected me." He looked up at the dwarf who was considering his words, "Since they were testing me, I decided to test them back." Eitri had been waiting just outside of view for a reason after all. It was also why Harry restored the sword. It wasn't the guard's fault. He was simply following orders.
Eitri didn't show any shock at having been found out, but nodded at Harry. "You are an observant one." he said as he opened a large door for them. Then he pointed to the large chairs as he took a seat opposite them. Harry applied some magic to make things more comfortable for his friends and himself, after floating everyone up to their seats. The man wasn't an actual giant, but he was somewhere between Hagrid and a Giant's size, so the chairs left something to be desired.
Then Eitri pulled out a bottle of something strong smelling. "I hope you don't mind. We don't have much to offer when it comes to drink, except for strong and plenty." He poured them each what amounted to a shot glass, but were more than enough in their hands. Then he lifted the glass, "To a peaceful discussion."
"A peaceful discussion." Harry repeated and took a sip. It did not surprize him when his taste buds immediately objected to both the strength of the flavour and the alcohol content. "Wow, that's strong."
Eitri laughed, "It is what we have, unless you want water?"
Tony decided to step in at this point, "Harry, if you wanted, there is still the stock standing at the brewery for the next order from Asgard. I know you're not allowed to sell the Odin's Brew, but maybe a barrel of fifty year-old Asgardian Firewhiskey will work for Eitri?"
Harry nodded, "It's a good idea." He lifted a hand and turned a portal. Then he levitated a barrel and a bottle of the normal Firewhiskey through the portal. He put the bottle in front of himself and vanished the contents of their glasses, while placing the barrel in front of Eitri. "King Eitri, please keep this a secret from Asgard? They wouldn't like to know that I'm giving their drink to other people."
"Technically, they haven't paid for it yet, so it's ours to do with as we please." Tony said.
Harry nodded in acceptance. "Please, King Eitri. Help yourself." Harry conjured a large tap in the barrel and levitated it so that it would be easier for the dwarf to access.
Eitri downed his own cup before refilling from the barrel. While he was doing this Tony was pouring for the three of them. "To new experiences." Tony toasted. He hoped for a lot to come from this contact. Maybe they can work a deal for Adamantite in the future, when they finally figure out the formula.
"New experiences." Eitri said and took a sip. His eyes bulged, before he lifted the cup higher and downed the entire contents. "This is a miracle!" he said as he looked at the barrel. "It is replenishing my own power and I can feel the calming effect."
"Nothing about the fire?" Tony asked. He liked seeing people cough.
"Fire is something I am very familiar with." Eitri smiled as he poured himself another drink. "This though," he indicated the barrel, "this is something worth coming to the negotiation table for."
"Just our luck." Tony laughed. "You come to this table willing to discuss magic and buying supplies, but the beverage you serve ends up stealing the spotlight."
"King Eitri," Harry started. "We came here today to discuss your relationship with Asgard."
Eitri looked at Harry through narrowed eyes, "Which one?"
"There's more than one?" Harry asked.
"Tell me what you know first, if you would, King Harry." Eitri said.
"Please, call me Harry." Harry said. "I don't know much. All I know is that there is tension between yourselves and Asgard. I was hoping to find out the cause."
"You are young." Eitri said, looking at the drink contemplatively. "You would not know the full history here." Then he looked at Harry. "What do you know of Hela?"