It was early December and there was snow on the ground. Harry had learned that winters in New York were very variable. Sometimes there was a lot of snow, sometimes there was almost none. It looked like this winter was going to be a snowy one if the snowfall the previous day was any indication. A white Christmas in New York City and its outlying suburbs was not a very frequent occurrence but it looked like this year it just might happen. Harry had Christmas on his mind, mainly what he should get for his friends both here at Xavier's School and back at Hogwarts.
Dumbledore had sent him several more letters. The ones from Hermione and Ron both mentioned how Sirius Black had been cleared of the charges against him and Pettigrew had been tried and sentenced to life in Azkaban. Hermione wrote how Pettigrew had named other Death Eaters during his trial, some of whom were very prominent and well connected purebloods. They were, in fact, many of the same people who had been suspected of being Death Eaters back during the previous war but afterwards had said they were imperiused to do what they had. Unfortunately for wizarding Britain the minister at the time had accepted that plea and had granted them all pardons. They couldn't be arrested and tried again. At least now everyone knew who they were and if Voldemort ever came back they would be closely watched by law enforcement. One of them had been Lucius Malfoy. Harry wondered how Draco was taking it. He was a little sorry he wasn't at Hogwarts to see the fallout to the revelations. He wondered what Lucius Malfoy and the others who had been named by Pettigrew would do now that it was confirmed that they were Death Eaters. Maybe it wouldn't make any difference after all of these years. Lucius Malfoy was so well connected that it probably wouldn't do much to his standing. He didn't know about the others though.
In his letter Ron spent time venting his ire over Scabbers really being an animagus. It disturbed him that he'd been unknowingly sharing his bed with a Death Eater. Harry couldn't blame him. Hagrid talked about how his classes were going. He was the new professor for Care of Magical Creatures and he was loving it. There had been one incident in his first class where Draco Malfoy had insulted a hippogriff but Hagrid had been standing right next to him at the time and was able to stop the creature from attacking Malfoy. Of course Malfoy had threatened that his father would have the hippogriff killed but, with the exception of Malfoy getting a detention, nothing came of this because there were too many witnesses that were able to say that Malfoy had provoked the creature after Hagrid had clearly warned the class not do so. Harry just shook his head. That was typical of Malfoy he thought.
There was a letter from Sirius Black to him along with the others. It seemed Black was very good friends with Remus Lupin and the latter had urged him to write to Harry first to introduce himself. Harry read Black's letter with interest. Black had been very close to his father, practically brothers and he would never have even thought of betraying him or his family. When Harry was a baby Black had doted on him quite a bit.
I'm sure you don't remember this the letter said but I'm an animagus. I can turn into a big black shaggy dog. You used to ride on my back from time to time and you called me "Unca Pafoo" for "Uncle Padfoot." Padfoot was my Marauder name. We all had them. Your father was Prongs and Remus is Moony. Peter was Wormtail but we've officially kicked him out of the club. Remind me some time to tell you about us and the mischief we got up to at Hogwarts.
By now you've probably been told that I'm your godfather and that I was the first person your parents named as a potential guardian for you in the event of their deaths. If I hadn't been an idiot on that night and gone after Pettigrew instead of looking after you then you would have grown up with me. That was the worst mistake I ever made and I will always regret it. I can't change the past but hopefully I can make it up to you now in some way. I don't know where you are yet. Dumbledore hasn't told me because he says he has to get permission from certain people before he can do that (where are you? In some secret base with Unspeakables or something?). He has indicated, however, that you like where you are. If that's true and you're happy there then I have no intention of taking you away from it. I just want to be a part of your life in some way so I can get to know my godson again. If that means just visiting you now and then I'll be fine with that. Remus feels the same way and if I can visit you I hope you'll allow him to come with me. In any case I look forward to seeing you again.
Harry put down Black's letter with a sigh. He was relieved that he wouldn't have to leave Xavier's school and the X-Men. Now he had to decide if he wanted to meet Sirius Black. Actually he didn't have to think about it very much. Black and Lupin were the closest people he had left to his family and he did want to meet them. There was just the question of what kind of arrangements would be made and that depended on how much they were going to be told about his situation.
With all of that in mind Harry went in search of Professor Xavier and found him, as usual, in his office. After the usual pleasantries were exchanged Harry handed the professor Black's letter. The professor read it and then looked at Harry.
"What do you want to do?" he asked Harry.
"It's a problem" said Harry, "I would like to meet both of them, but I don't want to compromise the X-Men."
"Of course" said the professor, "and remember I told you that this is where I can help. But first I think we need to have a team meeting. Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin can only visit you here at the school if they can keep our secrets and if everyone on the team is fine with it." Harry agreed with. It was a reasonable condition after all.
Fortunately for Harry everyone on the team was very understanding and they all agreed that if Lupin and Black could keep knowledge of the X-Men secret there was no reason they couldn't come visit Harry. They were family after all, or as close to one as Harry had. It helped that they were British magicals and were stricter about secrecy than American magicals. It also helped that Lupin was a werewolf which was another thing that needed to be kept secret from the public. Following the meeting Xavier contacted Dumbledore, explained things to him, and arranged to meet with the two men at Hogwarts.
A few days later Dumbledore summoned Black and Lupin to his office to discuss Harry. Naturally Sirius came to Hogwarts at once where he met Remus in the entrance hall and the two of them went to see the headmaster together. Sirius had just been discharged from St. Mungo's and still looked very pale but he was definitely better than he was a month ago. When they arrived in Dumbledore's office they saw that he wasn't alone. With him was a stern looking bald man in a wheelchair.
"Sirius, Remus please come in" said Dumbledore smiling at the two men, "please sit down and make yourselves comfortable." He began pouring tea from a tea service on his desk that a house elf had brought just before the two men arrived.
"I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine" said Dumbledore gesturing at his guest, "this is Professor Charles Xavier from the colonies. Charles, I would like to introduce you to Sirius Black and his friend Remus Lupin who is also my Defense Professor this year."
"How do you do?" Professor Xavier said holding out his hand to the two men who both shook it.
"How do you do?" said Sirius before turning to Dumbledore, "not to be rude sir but I thought we would be discussing my godson?"
"That is indeed why we're here" said Dumbledore, "and why Charles is here."
"You know where Harry is?" Sirius turned to Xavier who looked at him for a long moment. For a second Sirius thought he felt something touch his mind but it was gone before he was sure it was there.
"I do" said Xavier finally.
"Well where is he?" Sirius finally asked when Xavier didn't elaborate.
"Before he tells you that" said Dumbledore, "I have to ask if the two of you are willing to give a magical oath never to reveal what you're about to learn to anyone unless Professor Xavier or Harry himself gives you permission to do so."
"I don't think that will be necessary Albus" said Xavier who then added telepathically to Dumbledore "I've examined both of them and they're both trustworthy." Dumbledore nodded at that. He'd suspected that his friend had done that and both men had passed his test. It had taken less than an instant for Xavier to thoroughly examine both men. It might have seemed to outsiders that he couldn't possibly have done so in such a short time but it was done at the speed of thought which is almost infinitely faster than anything else.
"If it's for Harry" Sirius was now saying, "I'll give the oath anyway."
"So will I" said Remus.
"The choice is yours" said Xavier, "But I don't insist that you do."
"Well – " Sirius began but Dumbledore stopped him.
"If Charles says you don't need to give an oath then you don't need to" he said, "Harry would say the same." That settled things. Sirius and Remus both nodded as they finally sat down and Dumbledore handed them both cups of tea.
"Now then" said Dumbledore as he sat back in his chair, "thank you both for coming. Charles, if you would begin?"
"Certainly" said Xavier and he turned to Sirius and Remus, "tell me gentlemen, what do you know about mutants?"
Later that same afternoon both Sirius and Remus were talking things over in Remus' private quarters in the castle. Both of them were still coming to terms with learning about Harry being a mutant and being part of the X-Men. They were quite willing to accept what they had heard, they just needed some time to get used to it.
"You're quiet Padfoot" said Remus to his friend when Sirius had sat in silence not saying anything for several minutes. Sirius looked up at him.
"It's just a lot to take in" Sirius said, "I've never heard of anyone having powers like what the professor said. I wasn't even sure I believed it at first until he used his telepathy on us."
"It wasn't legilimency either" said Remus, "I know what that's like."
"So do I" said Sirius, "and now to find out that Harry has such powers too and that he's actively using them to help take down bad guys as part of a team. And he's only 13."
"I know what you mean" said Remus, "James and Lily would be proud."
"They would be" agreed Sirius, "but they would also worry, Lily especially. I feel like I should worry too but both Dumbledore and Professor Xavier say that Harry's happy. I can't get in the way of that. Not now."
"It's okay to worry" said Remus, "I'm sure Professor Xavier worries quite a bit about his X-Men but he didn't force any of them to join his team. And from what Albus told us about his two years at Hogwarts it isn't the first time Harry's faced danger."
"That stuff shouldn't have happened" said Sirius.
"You're right" said Remus, "but Dumbledore's not infallible."
"I know" said Sirius, "and he admits it."
"Well" said Remus, "it's clear that despite your worries you don't intend to remove Harry from there."
"No, no" said Sirius, "if he's happy that's what matters the most to me. I wasn't there for him when he really needed me and I spent almost twelve years in Azkaban because of that. I don't have the right to dictate his life now."
"Technically you do" pointed out Remus.
"No" said Sirius firmly, "I don't. I want to be a part of his life but I'm not going to try to control him."
"That's very mature of you Padfoot" said Remus.
"Thank you Moony" said Sirius, "I do have my moments."
"Maybe we can help Harry" said Remus, "you were a good auror and I teach Defense."
"I'd like that" said Sirius, "I'm looking forward to seeing him during the holidays."
"What should we get him for Christmas?" asked Remus.
"That's a very good question" said Sirius, "I have over a decade's worth of presents to make up for. I was thinking of getting him a Firebolt broom but he doesn't need one now since he can fly under his own power. I really want to see that."
"So do I" said Remus.
Before he left Hogwarts to return to his school Xavier made arrangements for Sirius and Remus to come visit Harry during the Christmas Holidays. After all of the students who were going home for the holidays had left on the last day of the term (hardly anyone was staying at Hogwarts this year, not even the Weasley kids) Sirius and Remus flooed to the ministry where they caught an international portkey to New York City. Once they got there they had to hire a muggle car to take them the rest of the way (although the driver was a wizard – one of several kept on hand by the American Ministry to help out travelers when needed) as there was no equivalent to Britain's Knight Bus in the U. S. and neither of them could apparate to Xavier's school having never been there before or seen any pictures of it. They were both fine with this as it gave them a chance to see some of New York City first. Both of them were very impressed.
"I've never seen so many tall buildings" said Sirius as they drove north through Manhattan, "how do they get them to stay up?" The "without magic" part was left unsaid.
"Muggles know a lot more than many of us give them credit for" said Remus.
As they were looking out the car windows Remus suddenly saw something flying above the buildings
"Sirius look at that" he said. Sirius turned to look out Remus' window.
"Is that a person?" he said in amazement,"on fire? Flying?" It certainly looked like a burning man was flying up above the buildings. Hearing them, the driver glanced up at where they were looking.
"Oh that's the Human Torch" he said in offhand manner, "you can often see him flying around."
"The Human Torch?" asked Remus blankly.
"Yeah" said the Driver, "he's one of the Fantastic Four."
"The Fantastic Four?" Sirius said to Remus having no idea who they were. The driver just grinned. This happened sometimes with foreigners arriving in New York City for the first time.
"He's not the only one you'll see flying around here" said the driver, "there's Iron Man and Thor – they're two of the Avengers. Also I hear that some of the X-Men can fly although I haven't seen any of them yet. Probably only a matter of time though."
"Wow" said Sirius, not knowing what else to say.
"Gentlemen, welcome to New York" said the driver, "I hope you enjoy your stay."
"Well it won't be dull" said Remus.
It was about an hour later when the car finally drew up in front of Xavier's School and came to a stop. After paying and tipping the driver Sirius Black and Remus Lupin both got out of the car and had a look at the building.
"This is a nice looking place" said Sirius.
"Yes it is" said Remus, "there are definitely worse places Harry could be than here."
The two of them went up to the front door and rang the bell. A second later the door opened on its own. Both Sirius and Remus looked at this in surprise.
"How did it do that?" asked Sirius.
"The door can be worked by remote control" Professor Xavier spoke to both of them telepathically, "I find it to be very useful at times. Welcome to my school. Please come in." The two men entered the school and the door closed behind them.
"You're earlier than we expected" said Xavier.
"An earlier portkey to New York was available" said Remus, "we decided to take it. I hope that's not a problem."
"It's not" said Xavier, "however right now the X-Men are in a training session and I am with them."
"Oh" said Sirius sounding curious, "may we come watch? I'd really like to see what my godson is learning."
"You may" said Xavier who directed the two of them down the left hand hallway to the Danger Room but told them not to enter just yet.
"I must caution you" he said, "not to interfere with the training session. No matter what you see, no matter how dangerous or even deadly it may look don't interfere. My X-Men know what they're doing and I don't want them to be distracted."
"We understand" said Remus, "right Sirius?"
"Right" said Sirius, "we'll be good."
"Then please come in" said Xavier. Remus opened the door to the Danger Room and he and Sirius went in. Professor Xavier was in his chair just inside the door. Sirius and Remus and went and stood near him and got their first looks at the X-Men. Even though they been prepared beforehand and knew what to expect the actual sight of the X-Men in action still shocked them. With the exception of when Xavier had demonstrated his telepathy to them in Dumbledore's office before today neither Sirius nor Remus had ever seen anyone use powers like these and to know that the different abilities the various X-Men had were not magical in nature was equally shocking to them.
"Wow" Sirius whispered to Remus as they watched Cyclops blast several large wooden blocks to smithereens, "I never knew anyone could do stuff like that."
"Me neither" Remus whispered back as Beast traveled through a trapped obstacle course while flipping regularly between his hands and feet.
"Actually this reminds me a little of auror training" said Sirius as he watched Iceman firing ice spears at targets on one of the walls while Marvel Girl was assembling and disassembling several pieces of equipment while simultaneously floating several feet in the air in a seated position.
"Albus said something similar when he was here in August" said the professor, "do either of you know a man named Alastor Moody?"
"I do" said Sirius, "he helped train me when I was at the auror academy. He'd love this room of yours."
"So Albus said" the professor replied, "maybe someday he'll even get to see it." The professor said nothing after that and the two guests watched the training session in silence.
"Where's Harry?" Sirius finally asked Remus who looked around the room. When he looked upward he saw Angel and Lightning engaging in their daily game of aerial tag.
"At a guess?" Remus finally said before pointing out Lightning to Sirius, "I'd say that's him there. He's clearly the youngest and to judge by his physical size he'd be the right age." Sirius watched Lightning for a while.
"You're probably right" Sirius finally whispered back to Remus, "look at him fly. Even without a broom he reminds me of how talented Harry was at flying when he was only a year old. I wish Lily and James could see this."
Angel and Lightning finished their game and both landed in front of the professor. Neither of them acknowledged Sirius or Remus beyond a simple glance in their direction before turning to the professor. The two X-Men were currently all business and that meant no distractions.
"Very good" Professor Xavier sent to his two students but he sent to Sirius and Remus too so they would know what was happening, "Angel you may take a break. Lightning let's see how you're coming along with firing multiple lightning bolts at once."
"Yes professor" said Lightning who turned away and walked over to a part of the room that wasn't being used by anyone else. The professor touched a button on his control box and a bunch of training dummies arranged in a circle rose up out of the floor and surrounded Lightning.
"Gentlemen" the professor said to Sirius and Remus, "I think you'll find this exercise to be very interesting. Lightning you may proceed whenever you're ready."
Lightning remained still for a moment as he gathered his power and concentrated. Little bursts of electricity began to appear around his hands but they didn't stay there. They moved up his arms and onto his body until the lightning began circling around him. Then suddenly blasts of lightning shot from his body in all horizontal directions and hit all of the training dummies at once. Both Sirius and Remus felt their jaws drop in amazement.
"Merlin!" Sirius whispered to Remus, "that was incredible." Remus nodded.
"Lightning is a very good name for him" he whispered back to Sirius.
"Well done Lightning" said the professor who sounded very pleased, "that was very good."
"Thank you" said Lightning in reply, "I think that's the first time I've managed to hit all of the dummies at once."
"Indeed" said the professor, "now do it again."
Lightning took a breath and then let fly with more electricity, once again hitting all of the dummies. The professor then touched a control and the dummies began to move in a circle around Lightning. The young mutant took a few moments to concentrate to get in sync with how fast the dummies were moving before once again releasing electricity at them. This time he hit about half of them with the bolts that missed dying out past the edge of the circle.
"Keep trying" said the professor, "the exercise will end when you hit all of them three times" Lightning nodded and again focused on his task. On his second attempt he hit a few more than before. On the third he improved to three quarters of them. It took two more attempts before he finally hit all of them at once. It took three more tries before he got them all a second time but he hit them all for the third time immediately after that. The dummies stopped moving and sank back down through the floor. Sirius and Remus both watched the exercise in silence, even more impressed than before.
"Good work" said the professor, "you're really coming along."
"Thanks professor" said Lightning. The professor now turned his attention to the whole class. He pressed another control and all of the machines and equipment turned off and retracted back into the walls and floor.
"That's enough for now my X-Men" he called to the team. The X-Men all gathered in front of the professor.
"You all continue to do very well" the professor said, "I'm pleased with all of your progress. Now I'd like you to meet our guests. These are Sirius Black and Remus Lupin from Britain."
"They're here early" said Cyclops.
"They are" said Professor X speaking aloud now, "so I invited them in to watch as they would be doing that soon anyway. Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, allow me to introduce you to the X-Men: Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Lightning, Beast, and Marvel Girl." As the professor said their names each member of the team raised a hand to let the two guests know who was who.
"Thank you" said Remus, "it's a pleasure to meet all of you."
"It is" said Sirius, "that was amazing. I've never seen anything like it." Each of the team nodded or thanked Sirius in some way.
"Now that we've all met" said Sirius, "we're looking for my godson Harry Potter."
"Are you?" said Lightning as he reached up and pulled his mask off so that they could see his full face, "well you've found him Mr. Black."