Chapter 3: Adaptation

Harry Potter sat with his legs crossed, deep in thought. He was currently sitting in the living room, after a few hours of sleep. He found it rather hard to come by. The past day had been a revelation for him. He was a long way from where he was yesterday. Not only a long way, but a long time, with the fact that it had been over four years since the moment he had stepped through the veil. He had gone over it in his mind time and time again.

What exactly happened when he stepped through the veil? Did he pass out for what seemed like four years? Or was there something else that happened? Harry knew there had to be an explanation about what happened. The weird amount of time that passed really bothered him. He still felt like he was fifteen years old, nearly sixteen years old.

Another explanation crossed his mind. Did Sirius make it? He had no indication what happened to his godfather, if he was here or not. Harry only half heard Remus's yells that he was all gone, but Harry paid him no mind about anything. He managed a deep breath. All he knew was that he was here, at this place. The Xavier Institute for the Gifted as it was called, and Harry tried to figure out what he needed to do next.

What should he do? Should he try and return to the magical world? Did he even want to return? He had friends, but Harry wondered if they were even alive after four years that might have passed. Given the state some of them were when he left them in the Department of Mysteries, he wondered. Or if they were alive, did they move on?

Life did move on eventually. That was the most depressing reality of them all. They had likely gotten on with their lives by now without him. The entire time thing seemed to strike him a bit odd, given the fact that he still had nearly the same appearance that he did when he left at fifteen, or sixteen years old. The only difference was that his glasses were gone, and his scar had vanished. It was almost as if he was frozen in time until the moment he woke up.

Oddly enough his mind was far clearer than it was not. It struck him odd how no magical officials had descended upon the scene. Surely they would not want to have the Muggles get any hint of what was going on?

"So, you couldn't sleep?"

Harry's eyes turned around. He had been a bit jumpy, but he had seen Jean Grey standing there. She looked at Harry with a curious expression.

"Oh, hey, Jean," Harry said to her. Jean walked over, and sat down next to Harry.

"Something's bothering you, isn't it?"

"I've had a long day," Harry admitted to her. "A really long day. Really, after everything that happened. I wasn't expecting to wake up in a strange place, and get chased."

"Professor Xavier is trying to sort out everything that happened," Jean told him. "It isn't really your fault. You were scared and without help, but that's what we're here to do, we're here to help."

Harry's jaw just remained set, and he nodded. He found himself unable to properly relax properly. He was half tempted to say that he just wanted to go home, but he realized how childish that sounded in the back of his head. He remained calm, and cool.

"So, do you want to talk about what happened?" Jean asked in a tentative voice.

"No," Harry replied in a swift voice. "Sorry, but I'm trying to figure it out myself"

Jean frowned. He seemed to be very guarded. He seemed to be one of those people who was unwilling to confide in others, unless he absolutely had to. Curiosity filled her that she tried to squash. She could almost tell that he had been through some kind of ordeal recently. Professor Xavier had hinted about that much.

"Okay," Jean said. "So when did you discover your powers?"

"Depending on what ones you're talking about," Harry retorted, and he took a deep calming breath. "Strange things have always happened around me I guess."

'And trouble seems to happen everywhere I go,' Harry added to himself mentally.

"Professor Xavier knows about the magical aspect of your powers," Jean said. "But he wouldn't have picked you up on Cerebro if you didn't have an X-Gene."

Harry just nodded. He was still deep in thought.

"I wonder what that particular um mutant power might be," Harry said, and he shook his head for a moment. This was going to be a long and hard road. "Just something else I have to figure out while I'm here."

"Well, that's what the Institute is for, to help young mutants figure out their gifts and how to learn them," Jean told him. She turned towards Harry to see him a bit better. She asked him in a honest voice. "Have you given any consideration about whether or not you want to join the Institute?"

"I've thought about it but…I don' t know," Harry said. And this was the honest truth; he was trying to figure out what his purpose was here. "I have a feeling that I'm going to have to give an answer one way or another."

"You can take as much time as you need," Jean said. She smiled at Harry. "I wasn't sure about joining at first, I don't think anyone is. It's a life changing experience. But I realized that I needed help understanding my powers, because if I got upset I could hurt someone else or even myself."

Harry just nodded. Mutant gifts were not too different from magic. They could help or hurt people depending on how they were used. There were differences, but power was power no matter how you sliced it.

"So, what are your powers?" Harry asked before he could help himself. He quickly amended. "Sorry but…"

"No, you're curious," Jean said, and she took a deep breath and sighed. She looked over at nearby table, and lifted it up into the air.

Harry watched the progress with the table.

"Telekinesis," Jean said to Harry. Harry nodded, he had heard of the power. Even if pretty much anyone in the magical world could mimic it through the proper levitation spells. "I can lift up to ten times my body weight, but I don't think I've tried too much. The larger the object, the harder it is to control and guide properly."

Harry responded with a nod. He watched Jean demonstrate her powers. "Very nice."

"And that's not all I can do," Jean told him, but she took a deep breath. This one might cause some problems. "I'm also a telepath."

Harry paused, and he shifted his gaze away from Jean at that moment. He tried to act casual, and not accusatory. It was just that he had bad experiences with mind reading gifts.

"So, you can interpret the thoughts of people and understand them on a conceptual level," Harry said.

Jean blinked before she responded. "That's really a wordy way of saying that I can read minds."

"Sorry, a Professor at my old boarding school wasn't fond of the term mind reading," Harry said, and after several lessons, he had that pounded into his head. As the headache pounded his head from when Snape attacked him mentally. "He said that thoughts are complex, the human mind is not a book to be read at will, and most thoughts are in complex patterns."

'At least most minds are,' Harry thought, frustrated that he had never been able to learn what Snape had taught him. Then again, the instruction of "clear your mind" had been very vague, and unhelpful.

"You've had a very bad experience with someone who could read minds," Jean said knowingly.

Harry blinked once again. He shook his head.

"How do you figure that?" Harry asked suspiciously.

Jean caught onto what he was implying right away. "Well it's just obvious on your face. People don't have to always read minds to know what a person is thinking. Professor Xavier is a telepath as well, and he's sworn never to use his powers unless given permission. I've tried to do that as well."

"What do you mean try?" Harry asked her.

Jean had a feeling that this was going to be an awkward conversation. "Well, Professor Xavier's telepathy works slightly different than mine. He has to prod his way into the mind to read thoughts. His is more active. Mine is more passive, like a radar picking up thoughts, although it could become active with time I guess. I had to work hard to shut it off, because…"

Jean paused at that moment, before she continued with a smile crossing her face.

"Let's face it, there's nothing more awkward than reading people's thoughts, and realizing that when they are looking at you, they're really picturing you naked."

Harry laughed in spite the situation.

"I swear, I'll try to keep out of your thoughts, because I know they should remain private and sacred," Jean told him, and Harry relaxed slightly.

'At least people here seem to be a bit more respectful of that fact,' Harry thought to himself. He was sure that there were times where Snape and Dumbledore used their powers to gain information, and he was sure they used their gifts on him a few times. They would have claimed that they had their reasons, and many would have agreed with them.

Jean and Harry sat for another couple of moments, until Scott Summers turned up, yawning.

"Oh, hello, Jean…and Harry," Scott said, fixing his gaze on the newest prospect of the Xavier Institute. "How are you enjoying your stay so far?"

"Everyone seems to be rather accommodating, and it's been nice to have a place to be until I can figure out what happened," Harry said.

"Do you have any idea?" Scott asked.

"A few, but many of them are outlandish and defy all logic," Harry said, shaking his head immediately at the thought.

"The Professor is trying to figure that one out as well," Scott informed him. "He has a couple of theories. When you arrived, he couldn't pick up any information on you. Which is strange, given that Cerebro is normally able to pick up any information on new mutants, even the slightest scrap of it."

Harry looked confused. "Cerebro?"

"Right, that's the machine that helps Professor Xavier find and locate new mutants," Scott explained. "When their powers manifest, and I guess the moment that you arrived, your mutant power manifested, alongside your other powers. Normally that's a bit clearer what the mutant power is. But there's something that is hiding it."

Harry wondered if his magic had been masking what this mutant ability was. At this point, he had no idea. He tried to rack his brain to think about what he did differently. Sure he did magic without a wand, but somehow he doubted that was it. He was able to Apparate despite never doing so previously, but that was something that all witches and wizards were capable of.

He needed to go back over his day, mentally, and figure out what happened. Retracing his steps were important.

"So are you planning to make the Institute a more permanent form of residence?" Scott asked him.

Harry paused, and he shrugged at this point.

"I have to figure out some things first," Harry said.

"The Professor will be ready for your answer when you're ready," Scott said, surveying Harry after a moment.

Both Jean and Scott had a sense that there was something that Harry was keeping private. He might not speak much, but his emotions tended to be rather vivid on his face at times. Harry noticed them frowning, and had a good idea what they had figured out about him.

He resolved to keep his face more blank.

They spent the rest of the time before breakfast making light conversation, with Harry carefully avoiding the subject of his past and where he came from.

To close the book on one chapter of his life, Harry needed to be sure what exactly happened. He knew that after his ordeal the previous day, he would be risking a lot sneaking off to verify what happened. The truth would set him free, and hopefully allow him to make a clearer decision on what was going on with his life right now.

He had stretched his powers to their limits by making the trip over here. He took a deep breath, and rehydrated himself with the water he had brought along. The actual apparation was getting a bit easier as time passed. All he had to do was keep a clear head, and concentration, while visualizing where he wanted to be. And he was there.

That was the one huge limitation to the skill. He could not go anywhere that he had not already been. A picture would not do with making the trip. He had to get not only the sights correct, but the sounds and the smells as well. Getting in the entire atmosphere was important for this particular magical skill.

King's Cross Station still stood, but that fact was not something Harry was concerned with. He needed to make sure that one simple part of King's Cross station was here. He took a step forward, and saw Platform Nine and Platform Ten. They did not look too different. He took another step forward, and drew in his breath.

He nudged the barrier in between the two platforms with his shoulder.

It was solid. There was no give, and there was no way for him to step through.

Harry tried to push the barrier, but there was nothing once again.

The barrier remained solid once again. It all sank in for Harry at the moment, and it was something that he should have realized straight away.

The barrier did not exist because his world did not exist. The veil had not technically transported him in time, but rather it transported him to an entirely different world. A world where the hidden and secret world of witches and wizards he had known for the past several years did not exist.

Did anyone from his world exist?

It was possible that they did, but they did not know him if they did. They would be different, with different experiences that did not involve magic.

The more pressing question was, did an alternate version of him exist?

Harry really had no idea. He was leaning towards no, given what he found out about Professor Xavier not finding out one bit of information about him in this universe. He was in an entirely different world, where Harry Potter did not exist until now. The names and the faces have changed entirely, and no one he knew could help him, simply because they did not exist.

It was a crushing reality, but one that Harry felt like he had to accept to move on. He did wonder if there was any way to return home. He wished he had studied more about magic when he had the chance. He had just done the necessary work for the classes, and that was it. The only times where he truly applied himself was when he prepared for the Triwizard Tournament and then when he lead the D.A.

He had a feeling that magic did exist in this world, but it was not as he or anyone else from his world knew it. That would be an aspect that he would have to explore.

'So much to do to figure out how I fit in in this new world,' Harry said.

He did wonder if any of his friends had tried to find him after the events of the Department of Mysteries. Or even, and Harry shuddered to think about this, any of his enemies tried to locate them. Or if they just all assumed that he was dead.

Harry hoped for the sake of his friends that they did not try and go through the veil. The journey was a vicious one, and one Harry thought that he was lucky to survive.

He broke out of his thoughts when he heard a dog barking. He turned around, and in the distance he saw a familiar looking dog running off into the distance. He thought he had found a familiar face, but then his heart sank when reality returned to him.

This dog was with a family, on a leash. He was just a normal dog, who had gotten away when he had become too excited. He was barking at a squirrel in the distance.

Harry thought for a moment that Sirius had managed to survive the journey as well. Those hopes were dashed immediately. Harry took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. He returned back to the Institute before he was missed.

If he was missed, no one stayed anything. He was certainly not going to.

The next few days, Harry stayed at the Institute and ran over everything he found out throughout his time. . He knew that there would come a time where he would have to make a decision whether he should stay, or should be go. Right now, he was trying to figure out his options, not that there were many. To be honest, if he had left, it was not like he could go anywhere else.

Everyone at the Institute seemed to be patient with him, and it did have a certain welcoming feeling that made a part of Harry smile. He did consider the possibilities of being here.

"Hello, Harry."

Harry turned around, a bit tense, but relaxed. Charles Xavier wheeled towards him in his wheelchair. There was a moment of silence.

"Professor Xavier," Harry said in a respectful voice, inclining his head as he looked at Xavier.

There was a moment before Xavier had broken the silence.

"Have you made a decision of whether or not you wish to stay?" Xavier asked, and he could tell by Harry's body language that he had not made that decision. He suspected as much, and he did not even need to reach the young man's mind. "Very well, I feel that it is prudent to give you information that might help you make your decision a bit clearer. You have been around the grounds, and have seen glimpses of what we have to offer."

"Yes, I have," Harry agreed.

Xavier nodded.

"Very good, but should you choose to join you will receive training of your gifts. We can understand how they work, and how to use them an optimal level. We do most of our training in the Danger Room, a high class facility to allow young mutants to better train their powers, and be more in tune with how they work."

For some reason, Harry had thought that the Danger Room might be a rather accurate name. If he stayed, he would find that out for sure.

"We offer lessons to put our training to the test," Xavier said. "Most of the exercises are put together by Logan, and I can assure you that while his methods may seem extreme, he does tend to get results."

Harry could tell by his brief glimpses of Logan that he was intense. Right now he had left the grounds on his bike. No one else seemed to be concerned about this, so Harry speculated that this was something that was just another part of life at the Institute.

"In addition to the training at the school, we feel that it is prudent for your conventional studies not to slack," Xavier said. "All students at the Xavier Institute for the Gifted are required to attend Bayville High School to get a standard education. A strong body is not something that can stand alone, not without the help of a strong mind."

Conventional education, well that could be a problem. He recalled what he knew from his Muggle school days. The last time Harry had a regular non-magical class he was ten years old. He had no idea how much that would help him. He figured that he would have to voice these concerns to Professor Xavier.

"You remember my other non-mutant gifts," Harry told Xavier. Xavier nodded. "Yes, well I attended a school to help learn about them. I learned a fair bit about how they worked, but one thing that they were lacking is that they did not offer a more conventional education."

Being the brilliant man he was, Charles Xavier caught onto this immediately.

"So they arranged for a magical education, but no grounding in the standardized subjects?" Xavier asked him. This was not an accusation, just merely an inquiry.

"We studied magic, and that was essentially it," Harry said. "The last time I took a M…normal class was about when I was ten years old."

"You would be about fifteen, sixteen right now?" Xavier asked, and Harry nodded. "So the American equivalent for your education would be if you skipped all of your classes from the fifth grade all the way to your Sophomore year of high school."

Harry had no idea, but he had a feeling that he missed a lot of Muggle education. He just never thought that he would return to that point in his life. Xavier pondered the problem for a minute.

"It could be difficult, but doable," Xavier said. "Along with the assessment of your abilities, we will need to have you take some standardized tests to see how much you remember, and where you would place in your knowledge Tutors may need to be assigned to get you up to speed. It may be some hard work, but I feel confident you will not let yourself down."

Harry was a bit shocked to see that Professor Xavier had such confidence in him. Then again, he did seem like the type of man who seemed to want the best from his pupils, and commanded a certain deal of respect.

"That will be a bridge we shall cross when you make your decision, although I do encourage you to pursue a standard education no matter what path you choose," Xavier said. "I'm arranging for papers to be put together so you can attend Bayville High School, and not raise any questions."

Harry had no idea how this was being done, so he just nodded. He was going to go with the flow, and see what happened. He decided to give Xavier his most honest answer.

"I'll give you my answer, tomorrow," Harry told him. "I just need a bit more time to think about it."

"Very well," Xavier said, and he could sense that Harry was on the edge of joining up at the Institute. He seemed to be curious to learn about the nature of these true powers, and Xavier was rather intrigued about them himself, if he had to be honest.

At that moment, Xavier left, and Harry remained in solitude. He was almost sure that he was going to join. He found himself unable to come up with any compelling reason not to. He would have to sleep on it as the saying went.

A grey hair man dressed in black stood with a surly expression on his face. He wore an eye patch, and he stared down a group of government agents. The agents backed up from him, and they appeared to be a bit nervous. Despite being hardened agents of a secret government organization, they knew when they were about to be chewed out. The man was someone who commanded a great deal of respect from everyone around him. He was as tough as nails.

The floating government base was high above everyone, hidden to everyone whether they would be friendly or otherwise. There were very few in the various governments in the world who knew of its existence. It was a super-secret government base, and organization. This flying fortress was called Helicarrier. It was the headquarters of Strategic Homeland Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, or SHIELD as it was most commonly known as.

The man in the eyepatch stared them down. He was Nick Fury, and he was not someone to be messed with.

"Let me get his straight," Fury said, and his tone left no room for argument. "Some of my best government agents were tripped up by a teenage boy. And then you lost him, and have no further information about him or how he arrived here!"

The Director of SHIELD snarled those last words. The agents understood that this was the time to keep their mouths shut. Fury breathed in and out. He took out a cigar, and took a puff on it. He stared down at his agents through a narrowed eye.

"Powers or not, that kind of performance is inexcusable," Fury told them in a gruff tone of voice. "I expected something like this from some wet behind the ears rookie, but not from hardened government agents. And Magneto's interference is even more troubling. He has interest in the boy."

"Our intelligence indicates that he left with Xavier's two associates," one of the agents reported.

"Yes, Xavier and his institute, I do have that under close surveillance," Fury said, and there was a moment of silence. The grizzled government agent took another puff on his cigar. "I've been at this game since before most of you were just a twitch in your Daddy's trousers. I've seen everything that you can believe, and many things that you would not believe. Yet, this new arrival, the readings that we scanned from this crater in Vegas…well you read the reports."

The government agents responded with swift nods. There was a moment of silence and Fury continued to speak with them.

"We know little about this new arrival, where he came from, and how," Fury said. "All we know is that he is capable of great power. That could make him a potentially dangerous situation. We must keep a close eye on him, and be prepared to strike in case he becomes too much of a problem."

SHIELD was in the business of protecting every single person in the world from a variety of threats. Fury himself knew first had that was far from an easy battle. Each and every day there were situations where everything that he knew would be questioned. This was one of those situations. He tried to punch up the satellite photos, and slow them down. There was a brief flash of light.

One minute their mysterious visitor was there, and the next minute he was not there. And Fury was at a loss for words as to understand how.

"Information is our game, and when we don't have information, you know that could be a problem," Fury said, and he turned around. "Once we gather the intelligence we need, this may require further invention from SHIELD. For now, we sit back, and we gather everything we can find."

Fury turned to his agents.

"Is that clear?" he barked. The agents of SHIELD nodded, and they took a few steps back. "Good to see that we're on a common ground. And remember, your training will double after what happened. We're not going to repeat another mistake like you've done with your last mission. I don't need the cream of the crop be embarrassed. If word gets out, SHIELD will be a laughing stock."

There were no protests about the fact that Magneto's involvement may have tipped the odds. SHIELD would be waiting and watching. Fury looked at his men, a swift grin spreading on his face as he stared them down. He was pretty sure that they had gotten the message.

Now it was time to wait for the next move. He continued to study the latest reports. Fury realized that if Magneto knew about this new player, other less than friendly parties would be more than interested about finding out more. Doctor Doom and HYDRA would be two of the potential players to worry about, and Fury had his eye firmly on them. They were among the most dangerous threats that SHIELD had on their radar.

Harry leaned against the wall, the next day. He had a good idea what his decision was going to be when he had promised Xavier that he would give it. The truth of the matter was that he just needed a bit more time. It was not like he had many options to consider. If someone was going to come for him from the other side, then there was a chance that they would be stranded here as well. Providing that they would make it, and Harry seriously had his doubts that anyone could make it from the other side. He had thought that there was a chance that Sirius somehow was here, but this was a one in a million fluke.

He still wanted answers about where he was, and how exactly he got here. Something happened to him after he stepped through that veil. He suspected that there had to be someone, somewhere that could shed some light. For now, he decided that joining these X-Men was the best possible idea for him.

Harry paused, and then turned. With a swift knock, he announced his presence outside the study.

"Yes, come in, Harry," Xavier said.

Harry did so. Xavier, along with Ororo, Jean, and Scott were standing there. They all acknowledged him with polite nods and smiles. It was Scott who was the first one to speak up, and address Harry.

"So, I heard that you were going to make a decision about whether or not you were going to stick around."

"No matter what you decide, we will respect it," Ororo said, and Xavier responded with a nod.

Harry sighed. He shifted himself, and took a deep breath. Now it was time to speak up, and to tell them what he decided to do.

"You know what, I thought about it long and hard," Harry said. "I'm sure you understand that I didn't want to make a decision that I would regret."

"Quite understandable, yes," Xavier agreed. He waved his hand and motioned for him to continue. "Go on, Harry."

Harry did in fact go on.

"So, first of all, let me thank you for everything that you've done for me so far here, and all of the questions that you've answered, I think I had a few of them," Harry said.

"No problem, that's how we learn,' Jean said. "You should never be afraid to ask questions."

Harry understood that, at least now he did.

"Well, I've decided that after thinking about it, there is only one thing that I can do that's the best for me," Harry said. "And that is, I agree with to join the school, and to learn what I can about whatever mutant gift I could have."

"I may be biased, but that's a wise choice, Harry," Xavier said.

"You won't regret it," Scott said.

"Yeah, you can learn a lot here," Jean said. "Welcome to the Institute Harry."

"We are all confident that it's a decision that you did not make lightly, and it was for the bests," Xavier said. "Logan, I'm sure, will agree once he returns from his excursion."

Harry looked at them.

"What now?" Harry asked them.

"Well, I believe we have a number of tests to determine what your levels are, both from an academic standpoint, and from a standpoint of where your gifts are," Xavier said. "We can begin them as soon as you are ready."

"If it's alright with you, Professor, I'm ready right now," Harry said.

Xavier nodded, and he turned around. Professor Xavier hoped that Harry would be up for the challenge. He could sense that he seemed rather determined to understand what his powers would be. Perhaps that could shed some light onto how he mysteriously arrived her less than a week ago.

"And to make things authentic for those papers, my last name is Potter," Harry told them, almost as an afterthought. "Harry James Potter, that's my full name."

Now that he knew that he was in a different universe where his world did not exist, there would likely be no one tracking him down. So, really there was no reason not to give Xavier and the rest of the X-Men the information about his full name.

"I will make a note of that, thank you for that information," Xavier said. "And I welcome you to the Institute."

Harry nodded, hopeful he would enjoy his stay.

While the X-Men welcomed their newest member, the helmeted form of the Master of Magnetism stood, and pondered everything. He did wonder what might have happened if the X-Men had been a few seconds slower in arriving. It would not matter if they were too much slower. It would just be a period of five minutes at least. He could see that the new young mutant who arrived was considering the merits of joining him.

He would have questions, but Magneto could tell that he was considering what he had to say. It was just a minor setback that he had chosen to go with Xavier. It was always a shame when those with optimism had been blinded by Xavier's ideals. Yet it was not something that was unexpected. Xavier had believed in his dream.

He turned around, and saw the arrival. A woman stood before him. She was dressed in white. Her skin was blue, and she had red hair. Her name was Raven Darkholme, but she was better known as the shapeshifting mutant known as Mystique.

"So, the new mutant slipped through your fingers," Mystique said. She tried to keep her tone calm.

"A minor setback," Magneto said. His voice was calm and crisp. Someone of his power learned all they needed to know about control, and more importantly patience. "A war is brewing, and we will need able bodies. The people we recruit might not be the most skilled. However they will be useful. There is a new age dawning, and humanity will try and bring us down to their level."

Mystique nodded. The fact she was a shapeshifter meant that there were many that mistrusted her on sheer principal. Magneto had silently reminded her of the debt that she owed him from all of those years ago. She was thus drafted into his service.

"But what about this boy?" Mystique said. "What is so special about him?"

Magneto pulled out a set of pictures. He handed them to Mystique.

"I was able to liberate these images of our young friend," Magneto said. "His powers are unlike anything that I have ever seen previously, and I think you would agree once you have looked at them."

Mystique was handed the figures. She looked at them. The young man was an interesting marvel. Yet, she failed to see exactly how this young man fit into her employer's plans. She studied every single little bit of the photos intently. The energy blasts could barely be caught in a photo. The more his powers were displayed, the more unfocused the photos had become.

"The government already has made much of these photos,' Magneto said. He turned around, and stepped back. "As has Xavier, and no doubt they have their own theories. Yet, he may be the one to bring upon a new age for mutants, and allow our brothers and sisters to finally gain the standing that they deserve."

Mystique's look seemed doubtful.

"He does have power. As raw as it might be, but I fail to see how he is anything completely special."

Magneto folded his arms. There was a long moment of silence between her and Magneto. The shapeshifter experienced the eerie silence, and it was a moment before Magneto decided to indulge her in a response.

"The potential he has may be unlimited. I do hope that it is not squandered underneath Xavier's thumb. I do see that a free spirit such as this young man might find himself at odds with Xavier and his disciples in due time. We will wait and watch. We'll continue to monitor this situation, and I trust you will report back to me on your mission."

Mystique nodded. Posing as the principal at Bayville High School would allow her to get a bird's eye view of potential new recruits.

"I expect regular updates on any progress you have made," Magneto said, and he turned around. There was no more correspondence between him and Mystique. They had their conversation, and the pair of them worked together out of necessity.

The war would occur soon, and all mutants would have to make a choice where their loyalty lied.