Agent Morse nodded and made additional notes on her form. "And after that?"
"After that I went into auror training."
"Auror? I'm sorry, I don't know that term," Agent Morse said, shaking her head.
"'Auror' is the name for magical police; actually, it's a little more than that," Hermione explained. "Think of it more as a combination of policework and special forces."
"Okay. And how long did this training last?" she asked.
"Three years," Harry replied. "And then I did the job for nearly another three years before it got too much – the fame thing is atrocious over there, people always gawking at me and wanting to shake my hand and expecting more and more and greater and greater things from me. Made doing the job near impossible. So, I got out. The only other job I've had is here, owning and running the Marauder's Den."
"If my maths is right, that leaves a gap of five, nearly six years," Agent Morse pointed out.
"Yes," Hermione said sourly. "Harry decided that it'd be nice to leave everything and everyone behind and go on a world tour."
"Hey! I asked you to go with me!" an indignant Harry protested.
"And you know why I couldn't," she retorted.
"So you travelled the world before settling down here?" Agent Morse neatly cut off the impending argument.
"Yeah, that's about the gist of it," Harry replied.
"Abilities. We'll leave that as simply 'magic' for now, unless you have something else?" Agent Morse asked.
Harry's slight pause was enough to have Hermione narrowing her eyes at him. "No, nothing else."
"Have you got a suit? Obviously, that blue-grey cloak would be a part of it, but something specific to go under it?" Agent Morse asked.
"A suit?" Harry asked flatly.
"Indeed. Having an outfit will help identify you as an Avenger. The cloak is a good start, but something more would be good."
Harry's eyes flicked towards his bedroom.
"I might have something. Let me think on it," he answered.
"And obviously, your code-name is 'Mage'," Agent Morse stated.
"Code-name? Mage? What?" Harry blustered.
"Ah, yes, you've been held incommunicado from the media the last few days," Agent Morse realised. "The public with, we suspect, input from Stark, have decided that you are 'Mage', obviously because of your magic. All of the Avengers have one: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow."
"Aren't those last two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents? Do all agents get a code-name?" Harry asked.
"Not all, just the best of us," Agent Morse smiled.
"I take it you have one?" Hermione asked.
"Mockingbird," she replied. "Because of the way I like to 'play' with my opponents by mocking them. But it is only used in combat situations. It helps keep our identities secret."
"Fine. I can see the benefits in it then. Guess I'm now 'Mage'. Great, another silly name to go with all the rest," Harry groused.
Agent Morse pulled out a black business card and passed it over. If it was held in just the right angle, the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo could be seen on it. On the back was a single phone number.
"If you ever need me, ring that. Better yet, put that number into your phone and destroy the card," Agent Morse stated.
"Will do," Harry nodded. "And if you need me?"
"We'll be in touch," Agent Morse smiled secretively as she stood. "Thank you for your time, Mister Potter, Miss Granger."
"It was nice meeting you," Hermione called as Harry escorted her to the door.
Then, after one last nod at each other, Harry closed the door behind her.
"Well, that was interesting," Harry said sarcastically.
"Oh, I don't know, 'Mage', I'd say that the 'interesting' is just getting started," Hermione replied with a mischievous smile.
ooo00ooo
An insistent knocking on his door had Harry stumbling out of bed the next morning. In his still half-asleep mode, somehow, he managed to snag his bathrobe as he left his bedroom, although getting said robe on was a whole other cauldron of potion and took until he was finally standing in front of his door to accomplish.
Just as the infernal knocking started again, Harry yanked the door open to find a startled Gwen Stacy standing there, one hand still raised in the act of knocking.
"Gwen? What are you doing here? Do you have any idea what time it is?" Harry asked.
"Eight o'clock," she replied easily. "Ordinarily we'd be opening up about now."
Harry shook his head at her. "We're not going to open today; not much point really." Which led Harry's brain to start thinking a bit clearer. "Hang on, how'd you get here, anyway? I wouldn't think it was exactly safe crossing through everything out on the streets at the moment."
"Dad brought me," Gwen answered easily as she entered the apartment at Harry's gesture. "The police have set up roadblocks all around the area so that only construction crews and official people are allowed in. Luckily for me, my dad's one of those official people."
"Is he waiting downstairs?" Harry asked, half expecting to the police captain standing in his doorway when he looked.
"No, he'll be back in a bit, he's doing a drive around to make sure no one's snuck in to do some looting or something," Gwen replied.
"Okay. Now, are you going to tell me what you're doing here?" Harry asked.
"Well, there's a number of reasons, really," Gwen replied. "Firstly, I had to see for myself whether the Den had been damaged or not; wanted to make sure that I'd still have a job to come back to when the streets reopen."
"You'll always have a job here, Gwen, as long as you want it. There's no way I'm letting my best employee go," Harry smiled.
Gwen ducked her head slightly, her bright blue eyes shining and her cheeks gaining a dash of pink.
.
.
.
📖For everyone who wants to read it in full📖
👇🏼It will be available on my Ko-Fi and my Patreon👇🏼
🅿️patreon.com/FantasyWorldric/shop🅿️
‼️ko-fi.com/skyarc/shop‼️
—————————————————————
✅Subscribe now if you want to get all the PDFs available on my page.✅