Harry surfed down the sea of hands until he came to the barricade where security grabbed him, pulled him over it and sent him off to one side where he returned to the crowd. It was April 1st and he, Warren, and Bobby were attending a Ramones concert at Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan. Warren had told Harry that the show would be just the thing to get his mind off of his breakdown and he was right. Harry spent almost all of the Ramones' set in the mosh pit releasing his emotions over everything that had happened to him recently. He crowd surfed several times. It was easier for him to get up on top of the crowd due to his smaller size and subtle use of his telekinesis to make him easier for people to push him upwards.
The Ramones played a packed set of over 30 songs. Unlike other bands they didn't stop very much between songs. As soon as one song ended one of the band would yell "1, 2, 3, 4!" and they would immediately start another. They would stop for applause only after several songs were played in a row and they did this for the whole show.
The crowd for this show was mostly similar to the one at the Nirvana show but there were some differences. That had been more of a Grunge crowd, as Bobby had put it, with long hair and flannel, whereas this one was more of an Old School Punk crowd. T-shirts and jeans and a lot of people were wearing black leather biker jackets, many of them decorated with patches, buttons, studs, paint, what have you. It took Harry a little time to get used to the crowd but he quickly decided that it actually was pretty cool and he started thinking about getting a leather jacket for himself at some point in the future. Now that he had bulked up somewhat and was no longer the scrawny kid he used to be he thought he might be able to pull off wearing one.
"Hey ho! Let's go!" Harry yelled along with the crowd when the Ramones tore into the "Blitzkrieg Bop." That was a favorite song of his having been the second song he'd heard on the radio on the way back from meeting Tony Stark on his birthday. He had listened to their first two records many times since Warren had given them to him at Christmas and he knew all of the words to many of the songs by now, especially this one.
"They're forming in a straight line
They're going through a tight wind
The kids are losing their minds
The Blitzkrieg Bop"
So went the first verse. Harry didn't see anyone forming a straight line but it did look like everyone in the pit was losing their minds to the music as they got into it.
"They're piling in the back seat
They're generating steam heat
Pulsating to the back beat
The Blitzkrieg Bop"
'This song must have foreseen shows like this' thought Harry to himself. He didn't know much about Punk history or he would have known that the Ramones were actually the ones who invented the mosh tempo back in the mid-70s, so yes, one could say they did foresee shows like this.
"Hey ho! Let's go!
Shoot 'em in the back now
What they want I don't know
They're all revved up and ready to go!"
'That I am' thought Harry as he was pushed up on top of the crowd again and began riding the hands down toward the front, 'very revved up and here I go!'
"You really enjoyed the show tonight" said Warren as they were on their way back to Harry's penthouse where they would spend the night before returning to the school in the morning.
"Yeah, you were ruling that mosh pit" said Bobby.
"Thanks" said Harry with a grin, "but now we need to get home so we can all dry off!"
"No kidding" said Warren, "my jeans will probably be able to stand up on their own after this. Thank God it's not cold tonight."
Harry agreed but also thought that even if it had been freezing out he wouldn't have cared much. He felt a lot better tonight. The show really had been good for him.
In the weeks since Sirius had confided to Professor Xavier about his desire to help the X-Men more directly he had started exercising more rigorously. Scott had given him a new regular routine similar to the one he had originally given Harry and told him to increase it when he felt he was ready but not to push himself too much too soon. He soon fell into his own exercise and training routine. He continued to work out in the gym in the early mornings before breakfast with Harry. Later on while Harry and the X-Men were training in the Danger Room he worked on building up his magic again, whether that meant practicing spells (usually behind the mansion – or back in the gym if it was raining or too cold) or brushing up on magical theory. Some afternoons he went with Harry to Ilvermorny to use the school's library while other days he stayed at the mansion managing the Black estate which was not a small job.
After a few weeks of this he began to try doing wandless magic. It was a lot harder for him than it had been for Harry. The professor suggested it was because Sirius was much older and therefore more used to doing magic with a wand than Harry was. Sirius agreed. After so many years it was hard to try to learn a different way of doing magic than the way he had always done it. His time in Azkaban hadn't helped either. It took him a week before he was able to successfully cast the lumos charm without his wand for the first time. He was very pleased when he finally managed it.
As far as his wanded magic went he had picked that back up much more quickly. He didn't know if he'd be able to get back to his former level as a fighter but he did think he could defend himself fairly well again by now. Professor Xavier thought so too because a few days into April he asked Sirius if he felt ready to test himself in the Danger Room. Sirius agreed and soon the two of them were there. Having seen the Danger Room in use before Sirius knew he would probably wind up moving around a lot so at Professor Xavier's direction he wore sweats for the session.
"I spoke to Albus about what you're trying to do" said Xavier, "and he suggested we first measure your strength and skill. We'll start with shielding. Please go to the center of the room and face me."
"All right" said Sirius and he did so. The professor touched a control and a panel in one of the walls opened.
"I don't have magic spells to throw at you" said Xavier, "so the room will be throwing other things instead. We'll start with projectiles and move on from there. Now create a normal shield."
"Protego" said Sirius as he waved his wand. The shield sprang up in front of him.
"Good" said Xavier.
"I'm not sure it'll hold up to muggle attacks" said Sirius, "that isn't something that most magical shields are designed to do for obvious reasons."
"We'll soon see" said Xavier as he touched another control, "we'll start with something small and harmless." A panel in the wall opened up and a tube slid out pointing at Sirius. After a second a ping pong ball was fired out of it straight at Sirius. It hit the shield and bounced back from it.
"Hmm" said Sirius, "I guess it can stop non-magical objects."
"So far" said Xavier, "let's turn it up a bit." A steady stream of ping pong balls came out of the tube / gun now and bounced off of Sirius' shield one right after the other. That soon gave way to tennis balls, then baseballs, then basketballs. Sirius' shield held but the wizard was starting to show the strain of maintaining it.
Then they returned to ping pong balls but this time they were fired at ever faster speeds. The force each one exerted when it hit the shield was ever greater as the speed of the balls kept going up. Sirius was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain that shield. Eventually one of the balls hit the shield with enough force that it broke through it completely.
"Wow" said Sirius when this happened.
"Interesting" said Xavier, "you can stop physical objects but with limitations. That ball was going fast but it was nowhere near the speed of a bullet fired from your average gun. Was that a normal shield you used?"
"Yes" said Sirius, "most magicals can make one. There are stronger shields but they take more power."
"Well" said Xavier, "to go by the test we just did I think that Voldemort and his death eaters should be careful about attacking armed muggles. If they were to fight the British military they would lose badly."
"I agree" said Sirius, "I'm not the most knowledgeable about the muggle world but I do know it takes less time to fire a gun than to cast a spell. But many pureblood supremacists at home don't realize that or refuse to believe it."
"More fool they" said Xavier, "now let's see how you handle some Danger Room obstacles."
Sirius spent the rest of the session facing off against different Danger Room challenges. Some he was able to beat using magic. Some he had to physically avoid getting hit by. When the session ended he was covered in sweat.
"Well done Sirius" said Xavier when they finished the last exercise.
"Thank you" said Sirius, breathing hard, "how do the X-Men do this almost every day? I feel almost ready to drop now."
"Practice" was the one word answer, "you'll rebuild your stamina soon enough. Now I think you should go see Harry. He's quite angry about something and you can help him better than anyone else."
"What?" asked Sirius caught off guard, "did he just tell you this?"
"No" said Xavier, "he's broadcasting and I heard him."
"Oh" said Sirius, "I'll go right away – well as soon as I dry myself off."
Not long afterwards a dryer Sirius was standing outside of Harry's room. The door was open and Sirius could see Harry sitting on his bed staring at a letter of some sort. Sirius knocked and Harry looked up. One look at Harry and Sirius could immediately tell that Xavier was right. Harry looked furious.
"Hey pup" said Sirius in a quiet voice, "the professor said you were broadcasting and I should come see you. What's happened?" Without a word Harry held out the letter. Sirius came into the room and took it from Harry. It proved to be from Sharpshard regarding transactions made on the Potter account. As Sirius looked it over one paragraph leaped out at him.
Your parents' wills wrote Sharpshard provided that whoever raised you following their deaths would receive either 1,000 pounds sterling in muggle money or the equivalent amount in galleons every month until you turned 17. As such Vernon and Petunia Dursley have been receiving these payments since November of 1981.
"Oh" said Sirius looking from the letter to Harry.
"The Dursleys always complained about how much I was costing them" said Harry in a deadly quiet voice, "they were always telling me that I should be grateful that they even let me stay at all considering that I was practically bankrupting them. And all the time they were getting a nice sum from my family estate specifically to help them raise me. I can guarantee that they never used any of that money on me. They never bought me new clothes, or let me have toys to play with, or, or anything really. They even skimped on feeding me when they could. But they always had plenty of money to spoil Dudley rotten and to have nice things for themselves and plenty for them to eat."
Harry looked up at Sirius and his eyes were blazing.
"I want to kill them" he said in the same quiet voice that was all the more chilling because it was so quiet, "I want to completely destroy them, all three of them – well maybe not Dudley so much, he's just a kid – but Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia? Definitely."
"Harry calm down" said Sirius as he sat next to Harry on the bed.
"I am calm" said Harry, "I've never been so calm. You know what the worst part is? They're still getting that money even though I haven't been anywhere near them in over a year and a half."
"Well then pup" said Sirius, "I think it's time we get you a really good lawyer."
"Okay" said Harry, "but before we do that you need a shower. What have you been doing?"
"Working with the professor in the Danger Room" said Sirius.
"Ah" said Harry wrinkling his nose, "that would explain it."
When Harry entered the kitchen for breakfast on the morning of Saturday, April 9th he knew at once that something was wrong. Warren, Bobby, Hank and the professor were all sitting at the kitchen table. The three teens were intently poring over the news while Professor Xavier looked on with a solemn expression.
"Good morning" said Harry letting them all know he was there, "what's going on?"
"Good morning Harry" said the professor, "the news isn't good today."
"So what else is new?" quipped Harry but no one laughed or even smiled, "seriously what's wrong? You all look as if someone just died."
"An astute observation" said Hank, "and unfortunately quite correct."
"What?" asked Harry, surprised, "who? Is it someone we know?"
"We've met him" said Bobby, "but only once so I wouldn't say we know him, although we certainly know of him."
"Who is it?" asked Harry starting to get impatient. Warren sighed as he looked at Harry.
"Kurt Cobain" he said quietly and held out a newspaper for Harry to take.
"What?!" sputtered Harry in disbelief as he took the paper, "you can't be serious."
"I'm afraid he is" said Xavier as he gestured for Harry to read the paper he was holding. Harry looked at the headline and it said "Lead Singer of Nirvana Found Dead of Gunshot Wound, Suicide Suspected."
"No, no, no" said Harry in denial as he started reading the article, "why would he do something like that?"
"Why indeed?" said the professor, "without being able to examine his mind I couldn't tell you. People are people Harry. Everyone is different and we all have our own issues. I have a pretty good idea what you're thinking right now without reading your mind. You're wondering why someone who's a big star like him with a successful career and millions of fans all over the world would even think about doing something like that. Am I right?"
"It did cross my mind" said Harry.
"But you" said the professor, "more than any of us here at the mansion know some of the hard truths about fame – doubly so as the Boy-Who-Lived and Lightning the X-Man. Does it bring you happiness?"
"As the Boy-Who-Lived?" said Harry, "I would say no. Every time I hear that phrase it reminds me that my parents died. I also find it annoying and creepy to be put on a pedestal by the wizarding world for something I can barely remember while my parents are often all but forgotten. I would gladly give all of that up to have them back."
"And as an X-Man?" asked Xavier.
"That's different" said Harry, "I chose to be one of your X-Men. I didn't do it for fame, that's just a byproduct. You might say that my fame as the Boy-Who-Lived is also a byproduct but it's different there. Being the Boy-Who-Lived just happened. As Lightning I remember doing the things that have made me famous and I freely chose do them. I like being one of the X-Men and if fame is part of the price we have to pay to keep people safe then I'm okay with that."
"It also helps that you can take off your mask and no one knows you're Lightning" said Warren.
"Same for us" said Bobby.
"That's a big plus" said Harry, "I won't deny it."
"That's a big difference between you and most celebrities" said Professor X, "it's true that Kurt Cobain and his fellow band members got famous from their own efforts but unlike the X-Men they can't take off masks and go out without being recognized. They can't turn off their fame while you can. We don't really know what Mr. Cobain's personal life was like. He may very well have had problems that no one knew about. Maybe everything got to be too much for him. We just can't know until all of the facts are in from the investigation – but you should take it for the warning that it is."
"Most assuredly" said Hank.
Lightning flew over lower Manhattan late the following afternoon. He was heading to the Tompkins Square Park area. Word had gone out that fans of Nirvana were going to hold a vigil to remember Kurt Cobain there and he wanted to go. When he got there he intended to find a secluded area and change back to Harry Potter. He had recently learned the switching spell and had been practicing it a lot just for situations like this. He didn't want to call attention to himself by attending the vigil as Lightning but it was a good way for him to get there fairly quickly. Warren and Bobby would be going too but since Bobby couldn't fly Warren would be driving the two of them. All three of them would drive back together.
When Lightning arrived at his destination he looked down and saw that a large crowd of fans had already gathered in the park. He circled the area looking for a place to set down and change out of his uniform. As he passed one of the buildings overlooking the park he spotted someone on the roof watching the crowd. A quick glance at the unmistakable red and blue outfit the watcher was wearing told Lightning that he wasn't the only superhero on the scene. Spider-Man was here too. Lightning circled around again and headed in his direction waving a greeting to the wall crawler as he approached. Spider-Man raised a hand in reply and Lightning landed next to him on the building roof.
"Hello Spider-Man" Lightning said as he landed.
"Hello Lightning" was the reply. It didn't surprise Lightning anymore that someone like Spider-Man knew who he was even if they'd never met before. They were both well known after all and the superhero community wasn't that big.
"Nice to finally meet you" said Lightning holding out his hand.
"Thanks, you too" said Spider-Man shaking it.
"Mind if I join you for a bit?"
"Join me?" snarked Spider-Man, "am I coming apart?"
"Hah" said Lightning, "that's so funny my laughter is too high pitched for human ears to hear."
"Good one" said Spider-Man, "what brings you here today?"
"I'm a Nirvana fan" said Lightning with a sigh, "I was looking for a place to set down and change before joining the crowd when I saw you and thought I should say 'hi.'"
"I appreciate that" said Spider-Man, "I don't mind the company. I'm here for the same reason you are. Did you ever see them play live?"
"Last November" said Lightning, "at the Coliseum. Great show."
"You've got one up on me" said Spider-Man, "I never saw them live."
"That's too bad" said Lightning.
"Yes, it is" said Spider-Man.
"Are you staying up here?" asked Lightning as he looked down at the park, "or going down there to join the crowd?"
"Once I'm sure things are safe I'll probably join the crowd" said Spider-Man.
"Oh?" asked Lightning turning to look at him, "are you expecting something to happen?"
"Not really" was the reply, "but you can never be too careful." Lightning nodded before looking back at the crowd.
"Since yesterday I've been trying to figure out why he killed himself" said Lightning as he remembered his talk with Professor X and the others from the day before, "something must have been very wrong that we don't know about."
"There was a note" said Spider-Man, "although it hasn't been released to the public yet."
"I didn't know that" said Lightning, "it's a shame. Everyone thinks he had it all: fame, money and the rest but that doesn't necessarily make you happy – something I'm sure we both know well."
"Lord knows that's true" said Spider-Man, "often I would be glad to give up any fame I have if it meant the Daily Bugle would stop attacking me."
"Yeah, why do they do that?" asked Lightning, "to read that paper you're the biggest criminal menace in the city but we both know that's not true. Every time they've attacked you they've had to publish a retraction very soon afterwards. What's the deal?"
"The publisher hates me for some reason" said Spider-Man but didn't elaborate further.
"I don't know how you deal with it" said Lightning, "I wouldn't like being attacked like that."
"I doubt you need to worry" said Spider-Man, "you X-Men saved a military base and the commanding general endorsed you in the press – uh-oh."
"What?" asked Lightning at Spider-Man's sudden mood change. He turned to look at where Spider-Man was pointing. Over on the roof of a nearby building which was lower than the one they were on Lightning saw a man looking down at the park like they were. He was a big man wearing a striped sweater. Lightning could tell that Spider-Man recognized him.
"Who's he?" asked Lightning.
"That's Sandman" was the answer, "what's he doing here?" Lightning had heard of Sandman and understood Spider-Man's wariness but at the moment Sandman wasn't doing anything except looking down at the crowd.
"Maybe he's here for the vigil too" said Lightning in a flippant manner. Spider-Man turned to look at him and Lightning had the distinct impression that if he could see the face of the person under Spider-Man's mask it would be wearing an incredulous expression.
"Are you serious?" he asked Lightning.
"Not really" said Lightning, "but you never know."
"You want to ask him?"
"Eh" said Lightning with a shrug then pointed back to where Sandman was. The man's body was starting to shrink down into a sand pile.
"Time to see what he's up to" said Spider-Man who shot out some webbing from his wrist to the building where Sandman was and began sliding down it. Lightning took off and flew over to the new roof. He landed just as Spider-Man arrived there. Sandman reformed himself and faced the two superheroes.
"Spider-Man" he said, "and – who are you?" This was said to Lightning.
"Lightning of the X-Men at your service" said Lightning giving a mock bow, "what brings you here today? Are you here for the vigil?"
"You could say that" said Sandman with a smirk on his face.
"Oh?" said Lightning, "you're a Nirvana fan too?"
"Dear Lord no" said Sandman with a frown before he starting smirking again, "but I am a fan of lots of people gathering in one place like this."
"Why's that?" asked Lightning, quite sure he wouldn't like the answer.
"Easy pickings" said Sandman.
"I knew it" said Spider-Man taking a more aggressive posture.
"Oh come on, don't do that" said Lightning to Sandman, "that's not a party down there. Let those people mourn in peace. Haven't you ever lost someone important to you?"
"That's none of your business" said Sandman, "I suppose the two of you are going to try to stop me – for all the good it will do you."
"What else would we do?" replied Spider-Man, "I've beaten you before and I can do it again."
"You've been lucky" snarled Sandman, "you think I'm afraid of you? "
"No" said Spider-Man, "but I'm not the one you should be afraid of right now. He is." To Lightning's surprise Spider-Man gestured at him.
"Me?" asked Lightning, "what are you talking about?"
"Yeah web-head" said Sandman, "what can he do that should be so scary to me?"
"Don't either of you know what happens when lightning strikes sand?" asked Spider-Man, "it turns it into glass."
"Is that right?" asked Lightning as a grin appeared on his face, "I didn't know that. That sounds brilliant actually. What do you say Mr. Sandman? Shall we try it out?" As Lightning spoke he held up a hand and began generating small bolts of electricity around it. That made Sandman pause. He could deal with a lot of things without taking any harm. Scattering himself? No problem. Getting wet? It might slow him down but it wouldn't stop him. Being turned into glass? He didn't know what that might do to him and he didn't want to find out.
"If you leave now" Spider-Man was saying to Sandman, "we'll let you go since you haven't done anything yet."
"Fine" snarled Sandman backing off, "you win again Spider-Man. But next time – " Sandman reduced himself to a pile of flowing sand and disappeared from the roof of the building.
"That was interesting" said Lightning as he watched Sandman leave.
"That's one way of putting it" said Spider-Man, "thanks for being here. It got us out of a fight."
"Could I really have turned him into glass?"
"Yes" said Spider-Man.
"I'm going to have to research that" said Lightning, "there still seem to be many things about my powers that I don't know."
"Electro could have done it too" said Spider-Man, "not that he'd help me."
"I heard about him" said Lightning, "you beat him by spraying him with water, right?"
"Right. I guess you could say it caused him to short circuit." (See Amazing Spider-Man #9)
"For some reason that doesn't work on me" said Lightning looking thoughtful, "I don't know why but if I get wet nothing happens. A few weeks ago I actually stepped into the shower while playing with my electricity. I was fine."
"I have two things to say about that" said Spider-Man, "first, you're lucky you don't have that weakness. Second, that was a very stupid thing to do."
"Yeah, I know" said Lightning rubbing the back of his head, "I didn't do it on purpose. I just wasn't thinking at the time. It wasn't until later that I realized what could have happened."
"Just don't do something like that again" said Spider-Man.
"I'll try not to" said Lightning, "no guarantees though. Are you going down to the vigil now?"
"Maybe" said Spider-Man, "that was good what you said to Sandman about letting the crowd mourn in peace. Would I be wrong to assume you've lost someone close to you?"
"No you wouldn't be" said Lightning, "my parents were killed when I was a baby. I was sent to live with my aunt and uncle. I hardly remember anything about my parents."
"That happened to me too" said Spider-Man in surprise, "what a coincidence. My parents died when I was very young so my aunt and uncle raised me. I only have vague memories of my parents but my aunt and uncle were great to me."
"You're lucky" said Lightning with a tinge of bitterness in his voice, "my aunt and uncle hated me and they made bloody well sure that I knew it."
"I'm sorry to hear that" said Spider-Man, "I hope you're out of their care now."
"I am" was the reply, "and I'm never going back. Well, I'm going down to join the vigil. It was nice to meet you Spider-Man."
"Likewise Lightning" said Spider-Man, "I'll probably do the same." They shook hands again and Lightning took off from the roof. He soon found a secluded area where he could change back to Harry Potter. Once he did that he went into the park and joined the vigil. After searching through the crowd for a little while he found Warren and Bobby.
"There you are" said Bobby, "we thought you'd be here ahead of us. What happened?"
"I saw Spider-Man on the roof of the building over there" said Harry as he pointed to where he'd been, "so I stopped off to meet him. Had a rather interesting encounter with his enemy Sandman too. I'll tell you all about it later."
The vigil lasted all evening. There wasn't any real plan or structure to it. A few speakers spoke on a makeshift stage, a few local artists performed Nirvana covers. As it got dark people started lighting candles or holding up lighters in memoriam until the area was aglow with gentle firelight. One thing that was clear to Harry was just how much the fans had loved Cobain and how sad they were that he was gone now. He would remember the event for a long time.
So April wore on and Harry's life continued on much as it had for the last nine to ten months. Often he wondered how his friends at Hogwarts were doing beyond the letters that they exchanged every month. He also wondered what he'd do in the future with the school. Would he take an active role in running it? Or would he stay in the shadows and let it continue on as it had until now? Either way he didn't expect to see Hogwarts again for a long time.
In this he was very wrong. He didn't know it but his return to Hogwarts would happen very soon, and it would come about in a way that no one, least of all Harry himself, expected.