Chapter Sixty-Six

Harry had refused to tell her more before they went to bed, but she had made him promise not to leave before they could make plans and plan contingencies.

When they woke the next day, Natasha joined him instantly and refused to leave his side again. She knew he would keep his promise, but with Harry, a walk by the beach led to meetings with super-omniversal beings of infinite power, so she planned to stick by his side until she felt he wouldn't disappear on her.

This was instantly noticed when they walked to the bar and when Frigga asked, Natasha said, "Harry had another meeting with his benefactor."

Odin and Frigga had been told about his previous meeting with Death and knew it was supposed to be secret. Luna, however, didn't think about it as she said, "Ooh, you met with Death? Was he wearing a cloak? Did he have extra appendages? Was he human or some anthropomorphised animal?"

Harry thought about it for a moment as he started on making breakfast, before replying, "Yes, no, no, kind of and he could be if he felt like it, I suppose. Respectively, I think."

Luna nodded like she had followed that and had expected the answers. Hela, on the other hand was shocked. "Did you just say you met Death?" she asked.

"It's a long story, but yes." Harry said.

"Harry's Death's representative in the universe so that he doesn't get forced to incarnate." Luna said offhandedly.

"How do you know these things?" Harry asked, his hands stopping as he focussed on her.

Luna just shrugged. "I couldn't explain it to you." she said.

"Anyway," Harry said, hoping to get back on subject, "I have been given some information that will help me save our old world."

Luna looked up sharply and asked, "Did he warn you not to be seen?"

"Yes." Harry answered. He was about to ask again how she knew, but then just dropped the subject. "Kind of. There will be loopholes." he admitted.

"Oh, good. That will make things easier." Luna said.

"What are you two talking about?" Hela asked.

"It's still a long story." Harry said. When Luna made to answer, Harry said, "Don't."

"Okay." Luna smiled and took another sip of tea.

"I really can't share too many details." Harry apologised. "Some things are not allowed."

Odin and Frigga didn't look happy about this, and Frigga asked, "Will you come back?" She looked like she was fearing the worst.

Harry smiled at her. "Of course I'm coming back, mother. This is my home and I'd miss you too much if I didn't come back." he assured her as he walked around the bar to hug her.

"You better!" Frigga insisted. "I'll not miss one day with my grandchildren!"

"I'll make sure he keeps his promise." Natasha insisted as he walked back to the bar to continue on breakfast.

"Yes, she will." Harry said.

"Harry, don't… Wait, what?" Natasha asked, after his words sank in.

"Did you think I'd leave you behind?" Harry chuckled at her shocked expression. "I'm going to need you there. We're not pressed for time either. It's not like my world will get more destroyed in the meanwhile."

"Oh." Natasha said. "Well, good." she finished lamely. It had been something she dreaded he'd insist on doing alone.

"You're not leaving me behind either." Tony's voice said over the sound system. Harry had forgotten that it was hooked up and that Friday was still connected. Tony must have been listening.

"How long were you eavesdropping?" Harry asked the ceiling.

"The whole time." Tony said. "After Amora took you I set up a monitoring protocol. Friday lets me know the moment it seems like there's a mission being discussed. Since you left the rest of the team behind that time, I didn't have much of a choice." Harry wasn't certain, but Tony sounded upset to him.

"Get over here." Harry said. "I'm not talking to a ceiling."

Tony soon walked out of his house, where the arrival point for his portkey was, with Pepper. He kept Pepper between them and didn't make eye-contact with Harry. "What are you doing?" Natasha asked, knowing full well what he was doing.

"I don't want him to hit me with the memory mojo." Tony said, still not looking.

"I'm not going to obliviate you, Tony." Harry sighed. "It's against our contracts anyway."

This seemed to put Tony at ease and he finally looked up and walked next to Pepper. "I knew that." he lied.

When they were seated, Tony asked, "So, how are we saving your world? Did Death give you a new superpower?"

"Actually, he did tell me about something I didn't think of, that will be useful." Harry smirked. "Remember your idea for using magic to make real physical food?"

"Like a replicator, yes." Tony said, referring to popular science-fiction.

"Well, I know how to replicate things permanently now." Harry said with a grin. To prove his point, he put one plate of the breakfast he had been preparing on the table and duplicated it with magic. Then he focussed his magic on each plate and overloaded the plate with magic, until it glowed with the power, before he retracted his power, until there was none remaining in the, now real, duplicates.

Odin had been following the power and had shied away when the power became too much, thinking it might explode, but when Harry retracted his power, the physical objects remained. "How did you do this?" he asked as he took a replicated sausage off the plate and bit into it. It was still warm, from when Harry had cooked it and he could tell it was real.

"You know how I conjure water?" Harry asked. Odin nodded. "Well, it turns out that was actually quite scientific. It is easier for the hydrogen and oxygen molecules to stay together and would take more power to separate than it does to combine."

"So you force the magic to permanently stay in the configuration like how you normally change things but add more power to stay in that shape longer?" Tony asked.

"Almost." Harry said. "In those cases I'd leave the power in the conjuration or transfiguration and when the magic ran out, it would dissipate the effect, changing it back, since the molecules want to reclaim their original configuration, unless the substance stays the same, in which case the change is permanent. What I just did was force a lot of power into the conjuration, which is a transfiguration of air molecules, to keep their shape, then I used the knowledge Odin gave me to make the molecules 'want' to stay in their current configuration, making that their new default state they want to return to. So when I removed all the magic from the object…"

"It stays in the new configuration and becomes real!" Tony exclaimed. "That's awesome! Do you think you could put that in an enchantment factory?"

"I'd have to make a sentient enchantment that can use Aesir magic to do that." Harry said apologetically.

"Which would be very difficult indeed." Odin said as he nodded along, finally understanding what he had felt. "A truly ingenious application of both sets of powers. Well done!"

"Wait, does this mean you can copy anything?" Tony asked. "Even people?"

"No, fortunately there is still the matter of the soul and life-force that living beings possess." Harry said.

"Harry's magic can emulate life, though." Odin said. "So he could potentially give a copy of a person temporary life, but not a soul or real intelligence." He saw Tony's relief, "Don't worry, friend Tony, for my son may be able to do many things, but he cannot replace his friends with magic."

"Organs!" Natasha exclaimed. "He could duplicate donor organs! Eyes, livers, hearts, lungs!"

"That would actually be possible." Odin agreed. "Good idea, Natasha."

"We'll need to handle that as the need arises, when the time comes." Harry said. He didn't want to stand in a hospital and copy parts of the human body all day.

"No!" Natasha exclaimed again. "You could copy an organ from a donor and he'd not need to lose the original!"

"That does sound like it could work." Harry agreed. "Good point."

"What does this have to do with your old world, though?" Tony then asked.

"I'll need to show you when the time comes." Harry said evasively. "It's personal."

"Fine." Tony conceded with a smile. Harry seemed to have accepted his help. Changing the subject quickly he asked, "What about diamonds? Can you copy them?"

"I'll not be copying precious metals or stones for you, Tony." Harry said. "It's unethical."

"Spoilsport." Tony said as he dug into his plate of breakfast food.

"I might decide to start producing adamantite wiring, though." Harry thought out loud. "I imagine we could use that in our prosthetics to give people sensation in their limbs again."

"So replicating one precious metal is fine as long as it's used for other people?" Tony asked, not really wanting to argue, but still wanting to win the point.

"To increase their quality of life, yes." Harry said easily.

"Drop it Tony." Pepper said. She was still reeling at the idea that Harry had made contact with Death. "Harry is right. If everything is free, what does it leave for anyone to work for and achieve?"

"You are very wise." Frigga said with an approving nod.

Hela, who had been quiet the entire time, decided to ask, "Could I join you, on your journey?"

"If you want to, I don't see why not." Harry confirmed. He'd not have any difficulty. Death had given him the perfect way to facilitate this. "You have to realise, though, that there won't be a whole lot for people that go with me to do."

"How are you getting there?" Tony asked, wondering just how he was planning on traversing the route that only Fawkes had been able to till this point. "Are you taking Fawkes?"

"No, he won't be able to go where we are going." Harry said. "I'm actually planning on walking there." he answered with a mysterious smile.

"You're not going to tell us are you?" Pepper asked for Tony.

"Trade secret I'm afraid. Only two beings in this universe knows the secret and I'm apparently the only one that can speak to one of them." Harry said smugly.

"The other being you." Natasha nodded. "It's at least good to know you have that part planned."

"That and I still need to figure out one of the steps. It has to do with storing things in a pocket dimension that's tied to my magical core." Harry said looking at Odin.

"So you'll be speaking with Loki, then?" Odin asked with a smirk.

"I was thinking of pranking him until he relents." Harry said with a bit of an evil smirk.

"Or you could just ask me." Loki said as he became visible. Luna was the only person that didn't jump or act surprised at his presence.

"How long have you been here?" Harry asked.

"I never left." Loki admitted. "I was still on the Island last night, when I felt your magic in the forest."

Harry's face became impassive. "And what were you doing at the time?" he asked. He knew Loki and Luna spent a lot of time together, but he'd not allow him to use her like one of his conquests.

Loki lifted his hands and said, "I was reading in my room, honest."

"Loki has a very nice bedroom." Luna said with a smile.

"And when did you show Luna your bedroom?" Natasha asked, with a hint of steel in her tone.

Loki had gone as white as a sheet. "I don't remember ever showing her my room, I promise!" he defended himself. He knew Luna was dear to Harry. He would never push things with her. Luna then burst out laughing. When Loki realised she had pranked him, he let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. "That's not fair." he said after righting himself. "I'm not allowed to prank you back."

"Who said that?" Luna asked cocking her head to the side.

"Everyone in my family." Loki admitted. It was true. He had been approached on multiple occasions, by each member of the family and warned against making the new addition to the island feel unwelcome.

"Oh. Well I give you permission, as long as it's not too mean." Luna said. She hadn't known the people had been warning him off and while she appreciated the thought, she wasn't a child. She still wasn't sure what he expected to happen between them, as she simply enjoyed his way of seeing the world, much like he did with her, but he was a good friend, in her mind at least.

"You might end up regretting that." Natasha warned.

"I'll be fine." Luna scoffed. "I can always just use one of the spells Harry taught me if he goes too far."

"What spell were you thinking?" Odin asked in interest.

"Harry mostly taught us defensive magic when our teacher refused to do her job," Luna shuddered at the memory of Delores Umbridge, "but I seem to recall a nifty inversion hex. I forget what it does, though." She looked at Harry, "Does it turn people inside out or does it reflect a spell?"

Harry smirked. He knew that she actually remembered. "If Loki ever deserves it, cast it at him and find out." he suggested.

Loki paled a little more, he had seen the shudder and misread its meaning. "I think I'd rather stay on your good side." he said to Luna. Then he turned to Harry, "If you're done with your big brother routine, let's discuss this pocket dimension."

That was the end of that discussion and soon Loki was teaching Harry about one of his niftiest tools. It took Harry the whole day to start making progress, but he couldn't master it by the time he went to bed that night, since the magic was the Aesir sort. He made some more progress the next day, though and he had the theory down. It was just another form of manipulation of dimensions, like when he made something insubstantial. The difficulty for him, was tying the pocket to his magical core, which was just as insubstantial. It would take him a few more days before he could trust the small pocket he had created with his limited knowledge of the power.

The next day was Thanos' trial. He was expected to be there as he was the only one that could move the man and his cell. The Avengers assembled and Harry opened a portal for them to the designated area. Then they went down to the cell. When they arrived, Harry noted something he found funny, despite himself. They had brought food and water for the big man, but he had been unable to touch any of it. The guards didn't seem to mind and left the food there to spoil, right inside his cell.

"Getting a bit thirsty there, Thanos?" Harry asked.

The man opened his eyes, and sat up. They noticed his arms had fully regrown. "Harry Potter. Are you here to release me?" he asked.

"Why would we release you?" Tony, in his Iron Man suit asked. A moment of frustration crossed Thanos' face. "Oh, you had backup plans? Hopefully they weren't on your ship, because as you might remember, it got sucked into a black hole." Tony was smirking.

"Why are you here?" Thanos asked.

"We're here for your trial." Harry said. Levitating a large glass of water he had conjured through the bars. Thanos ignored it until it made contact with him. He didn't even show shock as he quickly grabbed it and drank from it slowly. When he was done, he tossed the glass back through the bars, where it passed right through Harry's head. "Not really getting this out of phase thing, is he?" Harry asked the others as he levitated the cell up and turned his back on the man, walking in front of the cell as it followed him.

"I think he gets it." Natasha said. "He's just showing his displeasure, or testing the range of the phase, maybe? He's supposed to be smart."

"Why?" Thanos asked as they walked.

"Why what?" Harry asked.

"Why did you stop me?" Thanos asked. "I would have saved so many from suffering."

"Until enough time has passed and you have to do it again?" Harry asked back. "We've discussed what you were doing and I see the logic in it, but there is something missing from your plan."

"What's that?" Thanos asked.

Harry stopped, turned around and lifted his hand. Then he flipped it and Thanos' cage upturned itself. "Magic." Then Harry turned again and walked on. "Everywhere I go, I spread what I can to help the people. You said I stole power? I also invested it. Have you ever been to Sakaar? They used to have the sort of problems you are talking about.

"I'm told that the laws changed some over the last couple of hundred years. Bearing children is now something you need a license for and parents are only allowed a certain amount, before control is implemented. It's a little barbaric for my tastes, but apparently it's worked and the populace have become stable. Everyone is working together to live in harmony. If you had tried something like that, I could maybe have even understood, but you decided to kill half of the universe.

"I only mention Sakaar, because I went there for a short while and helped build up the lower cast of their society. Once civilization took root, and with able leadership, anything was possible." Harry finished.

"But you are only one man. In the infinity of space, you cannot hope to bring stability to all." Thanos argued. "You won't even live long enough to see the whole of the universe. Your dream is impossible, but mine was attainable."

"No. It really wasn't." Harry said as he stopped again. He cast a silencing spell around them. "Do you know why?" he then asked.

"Why?" Thanos sneered back.

"Because the Avengers would have stopped you, whether I was here or not." Harry said. "I asked someone who knows the future. Your destiny was always to disappear and despair your failure. But the damage you would have done before you could be stopped would have been incalculable. That would have been the cost of your poisonous dream."

"You lie." Thanos grinned.

"You will soon find out that I'm not a liar." Harry said as he cancelled his spell and proceeded to the chamber where the court was gathered. Harry placed the cell on the floor before the judges. There were many of them. It was symbolic of the many races Thanos had attacked throughout his campaign.

The verdict had already been given, since Thanos admitted his guilt freely. The only part that remained was sentencing.

Nova Prime, in her position as the Prime, spoke after all the crimes had been read. It took a long time. "Thanos, you have committed crimes against many worlds and you attempted the destruction of half of all life throughout the universe. For your crimes you are sentenced to death."

There were bloodthirsty cheers around the courtroom and Prime had to wait for them to calm themselves before she continued. "Harry Potter, as the man that imprisoned you and who is the only one that can safely control your imprisonment and destruction, has agreed to be the one to carry out your sentence." She turned to Harry and nodded, "If you please, Commander Potter?"

"Understood." Harry said. He turned on the Mad Titan and made eye-contact and focussed a message Death had for him into his mind. It was not easy. Harry had been warned that he had a formidable mind and that he should not attempt to read it, but that he could safely send the message along.

In Thanos' mind, he saw the image of a woman with a skeletal face, the same image Thanos had always thought of as Death. "Thanos, for the sin of trying to force me on half the universe, I sentence you to embrace me. You, who has lived for thousands of years and may have even lived to see the end, will now be made to taste my gift. My Avatar, Harry Potter, will carry out your sentence in my stead, since for me to claim you myself, I'd doom the world. Harry Potter, I, Death, sentence the Mad Titan Thanos, to be burned by the living flame till he is no more."

Harry withdrew his power and saw real fear in Thanos' face. "You have been sentenced. Your end will come from the living flame. Fiendfyre." As Harry said the word a tongue of dark red flame appeared in his hand.

"If you truly are the Avatar of Death, then you will finish what I started, when you realise there is no other choice." Thanos said, even though he was looking at Harry in fear. There was the sound of many people reacting in shock, but Harry's eyes never left the man. He could do damage control later.

"Goodbye Thanos. I hope you find justice and clarity in whatever afterlife you believe in." Harry said as he blew on the flame he held such tight control over. The Flame engulfed him and he screamed in pain as the dark fire started eating at him. He covered his face with his hands as he tried to protect it, but soon enough, he stopped being able to breath and fell to the floor. The fire formed into the body of a snake, which coiled around the body, until it could not be seen.

A minute later the snake bit its own tail and started eating itself and then started to diminish, until it was no more. Nothing was left, not even dust on the floor. Some of the bars on the cage had started to warp and bend as the heat had increased as Thanos' body was consumed. Harry was just standing there until his duty had been carried out, the heat never touching him, and then he sagged in relief as the last of the fire died. When he looked up, he saw a lot of scared faces looking at him.

Natasha, having heard everything, decided to put Harry and everyone else's minds at ease, so she walked up to him and took his hand. When he looked at her, she smiled at him. "Don't listen to the ravings of a madman, Harry. He didn't know what he was talking about. He didn't know you."

Harry smiled a sad smile at her, before he realised what she was doing. "Of course, love." Harry said. "I'm more inclined to just spend time on my island and having a bit of fun with you, than starting a quest of killing innocents, anyway."

"Here, here." Nova Prime agreed. She didn't necessarily believe their words, but she knew Harry well enough to know his character. While she knew that Thanos was not a raving lunatic, she also didn't believe what he had said. "Thank you, Commander Potter. You have done your duty and we thank you for your assistance."

Slowly the people in attendance relaxed as they chose to believe that Thanos was just as mad as was always believed. Many of them had heard the rumours about Harry Potter and all he was doing to help his world and any world he came to. It was easier to believe he was a force for good than imagine him being an even stronger force of evil.

As the Avengers made their way to exit the courtroom, while many still looked at them in awe, one of the people in the isle next to them walked out and offered Harry a hand. It chittered and bowed, but Harry couldn't understand, so he looked at Thor.

"She is saying thank you, for avenging her family. She said that she will pray to her deity to bless you and keep you safe, always." Thor translated.

"Can you tell her that her thanks is enough?" Harry said back as he took the hand and placed his other on it, then bowed as she had.

Thor seemed to say what he said verbatim, and Harry understood it, but the apparent woman seemed to also understand him. When she let go of his hand, it was like a floodgate had been opened as everyone present seemed to want to get in on the act. Harry looked around and saw Nova Prime waiting patiently, not seeming bothered by the disturbance in her courtroom.

It took two hours for everyone to say their thanks in their various languages and Thor dutifully translated when it was not understandable, which it mostly was. Apparently the translation implant that Brand had gotten through the Nova Corps simply couldn't understand all languages, even though Allspeak could understand the intent behind all intelligent speech.

Harry didn't trust the implant until Peter Quill had confessed to having one as well and it had proven useful to him. They had needed to protect it with runes, but it ended up being a benefit, especially when he worked in other countries. That didn't mean Harry didn't still have Allspeak on his list of things to learn, though.

When they finally left, Harry made a snap decision and pulled out his mirror, to arrange quick transport for the people back to their planets with Heimdall. He'd arrange a Pensieve for him to use for the purpose. He supposed it was a good idea for him to have one anyway. It would make his life a little simpler if he ever needed to report on something he saw.

That done, they returned to the island, where Fury was taking an off day and chatting with Xera, Odin and Frigga as he lay on a deck chair, sipping on a tropical drink. He didn't take off often, but at EPI he actually had the ability to trust his people to do their jobs, now that contracts protected everything. It wasn't often, but after the storm, which was Thanos, it had been suggested that he get some rest. There was a theory going around that he hadn't slept since the first attack had happened on Xandar.

Harry sat down at the bar with his friends, after greeting them, and they got exactly four minutes of peace, before Tony spoke up. "So, when are we leaving to go save your world?" he asked, knowing full well that the other Avengers could hear. Harry should have expected it, honestly. Tony wouldn't let him leave without backup and the team were all his friends.

As expected, everyone was looking at Harry with different questions on their faces. Steve, however, looked ready to simply get up and start packing. Harry really appreciated the way Steve didn't even need to hear what the plan was to decide to join and support him. "We've got time." Harry said simply.

"What's the plan, though?" Tony persisted.

"Can I at least get drunk first?" Harry asked. "Talking about time-travel always gives me a headache."

This got even Steve's eyebrows to rise, in question. "Time-travel?" he asked.

"Kind of." Harry said, evasively.

"What kind?" Bruce asked. "Because playing with time is a dangerous thing, theoretically."

"Indeed." the voice of The Ancient One said, as she appeared on the other side of the bar, like she had been sitting there all along.

Tony, who had jumped in surprise, asked, "Where have you been? We haven't seen you in months!"

"I've been here, on the island." Yao lied with a smile. She'd been following everything that was going on from the mirror dimension, in case she was needed, but they didn't need to know that. "I keep busy. There's so much to catch up on, when you've spent as long as I did, protecting the world."

Tony was about to ask why she didn't help, why she hadn't been there, but couldn't really say that after a statement like that. "Fair enough." he relented.

"Indeed." she said again. Then she turned to Harry, "I'd also like to know the plan. I am uniquely qualified to help, after all."

Harry sighed. "Fine." he said as he made to order a shot of Asgardian Firewhiskey, to help with the coming headache, only for it to already be in front of him. "Here's the plan." he started, while nodding at Eldrin in thanks, before downing the shot and starting to inform them of his plan. That conversation lasted the entirety of the rest of the day as they started planning the trip and he gave what information he could. Hela and Loki insisted on going with him, even though they knew there was a high likelihood that they would be cut off from Asgard's people, and thus the power they represented. Harry couldn't take the island with him after all.

Steve was instantly on board, as well. As was Tony, Bruce and Wanda. The rest would stay behind to cover for them, in case any emergencies occurred in what Harry suspected would only take a few days here. The fact that Natasha was going wasn't even discussed. Luna, strangely opted out with one of her knowing smiles, saying that she had other things to do. Harry had thought she'd want to see her father again, but didn't bring it up.

By the next morning, Tony was already busy with one of a couple of projects he wanted to complete before he left and Jarvis was busy on another project for Harry, who had his own plans to make. He had had an idea that was tickling him and he wanted to try at it for the next couple of days, while the others were still preparing. He had told Natasha of his plans, obviously, and then went to work.

His power ring was connected to a remote MSC Shell, which was on Svartalfheim. It, in turn, had a pocket dimension, unlike the others, which was packed with physical power storage rune-covered metallic discs. They, in turn, were connected to the runes, through adamantite wiring, which measured the power and connected his ring to the power stored within.

He had also created a conjuration and enchantment factory, which could produce MSC Shells on demand. The only problem with them was that they would slowly drain their power until the shells disappeared, until they had figured out how to use runes to cycle the escaping energy back into the shell, which made them last much longer.

His work with his personal pocket dimension was still ongoing, but it had given him an insight about how to expand the pocket using nothing but his own power. He was going to attempt something similar now. He wanted to test his theory by dedicating the power that came in, once the device was full, to extent the pocket and then conjure temporary MSC Shells and wiring. They wouldn't last forever, but they should be able to sustain themselves on the incoming energy until they reach a point where the loss of energy over all the conjured shells was the same as the incoming power. At that point it would reach a balance of loss and gain.

Harry entered the pocket via apparition, leaving his power ring outside in the workshop, just in case it caused problems being so close to its source. Harry then went to the edge of the pocket and inscribed another set of runes, the same ones that maintained the current pocket, but left it in a state where it was malleable, which was how he normally expanded a pocket, before setting the runes back to maintain the current shape, at least.

This specific one, though, would be maintained by the incoming power, so the rune set could be left in this malleable state. Then he tried expanding the pocket and letting it close back to normal, which worked fine. He next started on the conjuration enchantment, which would create the discs and temporary wiring. Having done this before, made it much simpler now. He did have to modify the enchantment to create the discs and wiring as the space available increased.

When that was done, he tested the pocket again. Increasing the pocket, he noted that the discs and wiring were being conjured, but when the pocket shrank, it started pressing them back, so he had to manually vanish them. He realised with some regret that he'd have to have the entire enchantment done before he could test the expansion again and he'd have to be ready to vanish the discs if it became necessary.

Over the next couple of days, he worked at incorporating all the features his latest project might need, including, but not limited to, conjuring breathable air, so that it didn't become a vacuum that he couldn't apparate into. When he was done, all he had to do was connect the wiring after manually expanding the pocket and ensuring that the discs were removed as the pocket shrank back. He did that first, though, not wanting to power his enchantment yet, in case something went horribly wrong.

When he expanded the pocket, the discs and wiring were conjured, all connected as it should, except for where the pocket began. He specifically left that disconnected, for the moment. When he let the pocket shrink, he did so slowly, but found that the discs were being removed as necessary. Perfect. Next he expanded it again and confirmed that the discs were enchanted as they should be, but found that they had not. It was with frustration that he realised that the enchantment factory would need to be connected for that feature to work.

He could have just stopped there, but decided that he had spent enough time on this. If it didn't work, that would be fine. He could try again another time, after all. He gripped his emergency portkey, just in case, and conjured the missing wiring to power the factories and enchantments.

Instantly he noted that the pocket started to extend away from himself, conjuring discs as it went, and the discs started to glow, until they were fully loaded. Then the pocket extended again. Grinning to himself, he vanished the connections he had just conjured and the process stopped, but the new dimensions were maintained by the power in the conjured discs, as it should.

Crowing in delight for his victory, Harry conjured the connections again and watched as the pocket expanded again. Then he just needed to test the last thing. Harry apparated outside, put his ring back on and went outside. He proceeded to cast spells using power directly from the ring. He overpowered every draining spell he could think of and cast until he was sure the pocket should have decreased in size again.

When he went to check, he was pleased to see it had, in fact, removed the additional discs and the extended pocket was now missing, while the physical discs were being powered up again. He watched and waited until they were charged and then the pocket started to grow again. Two hours later, the pocket was twice the size it normally was and showed no signs of slowing down. Harry grinned and apparated out again. He mounted a spare mirror in front of the monitoring runes, which displayed the charge of the battery and connected it to his wrist-mounted Mirror. He'd be able to call the display up at will, now.

Then he went back to the island. He was excited to see Jarvis sitting there with Wanda. Those two had been spending a lot of time together, since Jarvis would be staying and she'd be leaving with Harry. He walked up to them and said, "Hi guys!"

"You're in a good mood today, Harry." Jarvis said with a smile. "Anything I should know?" Harry smirked and showed him the mirror. "Is this the display on your MSC Shell?" Jarvis asked before his smile vanished. "This can't be right. It's at more than twice capacity and still climbing."

"I know! Isn't it cool?" Harry asked. Then he reached into his personal pocket dimension and removed another MSC Shell. "See, this one even still has power!"

"What are you planning Harry?" Wanda asked. "How are those two things connected?"

"Ah." Jarvis said, having figured it out. "Your new knowledge about pocket dimensions has given you the ability to build some new enchantments, I presume? And considering the state of your MSC Shell, I'm assuming you intend to take it with you?"

"Yup." Harry said smugly. "I'm going to let it suck up as much power as it can and then I'm going to take it with me!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Wanda asked. "What if the pocket doesn't go with you?"

"That's why I've been working on tying it to my magical core." Harry explained. "Where I go, so does my magical core and it will bring the pocket with me. I was also given a very good reason to need this. It will help me save more people."

"You intend to keep people in your pocket dimension?" Jarvis asked.

"Don't be silly." Harry denied. "I'm taking backup plan. It's going in the pocket dimension."

"Why not just use your pouch?" Jarvis asked.

"I can't take the pouch." Harry said. "Its magics are regulated. The goblins would be able to find me in minutes if I arrive with it."

"Thus the need for the alternative." Jarvis nodded along. "And now you'll be going with more power than anyone alive and all the toys you've worked on since coming here."

"Will we be bringing anyone back?" Wanda asked.

"I… I don't know." Harry said honestly. There were people he'd like to bring, but they had lives. If he could pull off what he was going to attempt, he'd need to wait for certain things to happen as well. Fortunately he already knew when the events would happen.

Six days later, all of their plans were completed. Harry had already had meetings with the directors and managers of EPI and Jarvis had a necklace that would allow him to look like Harry, should the need arise. He called a final meeting to discuss what they were going to do.

Assembled were Harry, Natasha, Steve, Loki, Hela, Tony, Bruce and Wanda.

"So, are you all ready?" Harry asked.

"All of your items have been returned to Backup Plan and Fawkes has decided to spend the time, while we're gone, in Asgard." Bruce confirmed. "He also donated some tears and I've brought some potions, in case we need them, along with the one you asked for."

"Everything is being handled at Stark Industries and PI. You also had the storage device you had me build." Tony confirmed. "I may have also brought a surprise or two." he said with a grin.

"You didn't give me any homework." Steve groused. "I trained a bit more with the belt, though and the gear you wanted me to have."

"Us." Hela corrected. "We've all got the equipment my brother made for us, I believe. I have also trained in their use. I might decide to keep some of it, if I may?"

"Sure thing Hela. Consider it yours." Harry allowed. "Loki, Wanda, are you guys ready for this?" he asked the last two who hadn't spoken. He and Natasha had had a final night with Xera and she was still recovering from that. They hoped it would tide her over.

"I am looking forward to it." Loki said eagerly. He very seldom had the opportunity to have an adventure without Thor there. He was hoping to come back with some stories that will make Thor jealous.

"It would be nice to see other natural spell-casters." Wanda admitted. "I'm actually more worried that I'm considered underpowered, when compared to normal witches."

Harry had not told her how strong she was in comparison to normal witches and wizards. He wanted her to strive to become better on her own and she had succeeded marvellously. "You don't have to worry." Harry told her. "You'll do fine." She was already up to seventh-year in all her basic classes and she'd even taken the time to study some potions and Arithmancy with Jarvis. She was still hoping to one day become an enchanter, like Harry, but she was also very interested in spell creation.

"So, how are you going to be travelling?" Tony tried a final time. Harry had never told them. He was so curious he could burst.

"I told you Tony. I can't discuss it." Harry said.

"Drop it, Tony." Natasha warned dangerously. She'd been getting more moody, the closer the mission came to the starting time. Harry had discussed what he could with her and once gotten a headache in warning. "If he tells you something he's not allowed to, you're putting him at risk. Trust me I know."

Tony saw the look in her eyes and relented. "Okay." He said. He knew there was something about information Death gave Harry that made discussing things difficult. He had wondered if it was a magical oath or something, but discounted it, since Harry had once told him he'd never make any more of those. Magical oaths were permanent. You couldn't break them like you could tear up a contract.

"Okay then." Harry said giving them all one last look over and nodding. He retrieved Backup Plan from his storage and opened it for them. They'd added a couple more bedrooms so that people could have their privacy and Tony had brought a shrunken super-computer, thanks to the Pym Particle and they even had their own cellular and comm system.

There was a big-screen in Harry's room and they would be able to watch what he was doing, once he allowed them to. Other than that, they had an unhealthy amount of movies, series, food and alcohol. They'd be able to entertain themselves. Hela even had her Room of Requirement pendent and Natasha wouldn't be missing out on her training sessions with Sensei.

They all climbed into Backup Plan and Natasha gave Harry one last kiss before she climbed in and closed the lid. Harry shrunk it down and placed it in storage. He'd decided to call it that, instead of Pocket Dimension. It was simpler and would not give away its nature when spoken of in mixed company.

When he was certain he was ready, he went to the Room of Requirement in the Avengers Manor. He cast a new Fidelius, so that nobody could find what he was about to make. Then he stood in front of the space where the door should be and concentrated his magic through his ring. A couple of minutes later, he paced in front of the door while focusing both his will and his power on the door he wished to summon.

When the door appeared, Harry shuddered. It was a veil. The Veil. He placed his ring in storage and took a couple of breaths to steady himself and walked through the dreaded Veil of Death.