"Harry Potter," he said, automatically sticking out his hand and instantly feeling foolish for doing so.
Surprisingly, though, the man clasped his hand unerringly.
"Matt Murdock. I'm your lawyer," the man introduced himself.
"Lawyer?" Harry echoed. He looked at Hermione for an explanation.
"Don't look at me, I only just met Mister Murdock in the foyer of the building," she said. "He'd been hired for you before then."
"O-kay," Harry said slowly. "Mind telling me who hired you to be my lawyer?"
"Nick Fury on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Matt replied. "And I've actually got to thank you. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s put me on retainer, a nice big fat retainer at that."
"No problem?" Harry replied, not quite sure how he was supposed to respond to that. "I mean, I only met Fury the once, just before the aurors turned up, and that was only for a few minutes. I don't quite understand why he'd go to all that trouble for me."
"You, Mister Potter, are now known to the world as one of the Avengers, the group of extraordinary people responsible for saving the world," Matt smiled.
"The world knows who I am?" Harry asked panickily. "I mean, I know I screwed up leaving my cloak out for the Avengers to find, but I honestly thought that the whole neighbourhood was deserted. I never pegged them for telling the world who I am."
"The world does not know your true identity," Matt reassured him, "just that someone was there with extraordinary powers wearing a very distinctive cloak. The press seems to be having a field day trying to find information about you, information that your fellow Avengers are being very careful with. Don't be surprised if the press or the public have given you a moniker by the time we get the charges dropped. Speaking of, I take it that you are aware of the charges against you and you even have the basics of a defence in mind?"
"Well, obviously, Harry's been charged with breaking the International Statute of Secrecy," Hermione began, a fact that Harry nodded his agreement with.
"Stop," Matt commanded, holding up one hand. "I haven't had time to learn the laws of the Wizarding World. Miss Granger, you've just been hired as my assistant. Now, tell me the basics of this Statute so that I know what we're dealing with."
"The Statute has been in effect since sixteen ninety-two and decrees that all aspects of the wizarding world – our magic, the way we dress, magical plants and creatures – must be hidden from the non-magical world at all costs," Hermione replied.
"Okay, basically everything to make sure that your world and culture stay hidden," Matt mused. "I can understand how breaking it would be a big deal. I can also see how Harry's actions would have blown that right out of the water. Tell me about the defence that you believe would work in this instance."
"Clause Seven," Harry stated. "I'm sure that Hermione knows the exact wording, but it basically says that magic may be used in front of mugg… er, non-magicals if there is an imminent threat to life."
"Which I would think an alien invasion definitely qualifies as," Matt nodded. "The fact that the world does not know your identity or where your abilities came from, plus the fact that you were working in conjunction with others with superhuman abilities, will also be useful to us."
Matt moved unerringly to the table and took a seat, laying his briefcase on the table.
"Let's get to work," he said. "The first thing that I'm going to need is the exact wording of the laws – the Statute and any relevant Clauses."
ooo00ooo
"Alright, Jarvis, what have you got for me?" Tony asked as he entered the great glass room filled with every scientific device imaginable.
This wasn't Tony's first choice of places to hang out and work, but Malibu was too far away and his main workshop in the Tower was partially still under construction and the parts that had been ready had been damaged in the battle.
"New York is a warzone, Sir," the cultured voice replied. "Every building within a five-block radius of Stark Tower has been damaged in some way, many will need to be demolished and rebuilt. The streets within that zone have also been heavily damaged keeping emergency services from even entering. There is a lot of debris, both of Earth origin and Chitauri origin, throughout this zone.
"Damage is much more limited between blocks six and eleven, once again using the Tower as an epicentre. There is no report of damage further out than that."
"Well, that's something," Tony deadpanned. "Who's cleaning up the mess?"
"The army and S.H.I.E.L.D. are both on site, each claiming jurisdiction for the alien technology," Jarvis replied. "Emergency services are doing what they can and building contractors, including those from Stark Industries, have begun the clean-up effort."
"Good. Good. Now, the important bit. What about the Avengers?" Tony asked, his hands busy as he flicked through holographic displays showing footage of not just the battle, but the clean-up work as well.
"As instructed, I have made sure that that name has been spread widely throughout social media and with the press," Jarvis stated.
"Excellent, can't have the press coming up with their own names," Tony commented. "Their choices would be sure to be atrocious. I mean, Iron Man is kinds cool, not terribly accurate, but cool. What about the others?"
"The alias' of Miss Romanov and Mister Barton have been made known. Thor retains his name. The presence of Captain America has caused some wide-spread interest. And Mister Banner's nickname of the 'Hulk' was decided upon during his last outing in Harlem," Jarvis replied.
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