Chapter Sixty-Seven

It was difficult to move. It was much like when he used his time dilation. It was like walking on the bottom of a lake filled with molasses. He pressed on though, even though he could not see or feel his body. There was just a sense of movement and he knew he had to press on. He knew he was pressing through a barrier that separated the different realities. None but the entities that exist throughout all realities could do this… And him.

He knew he was back in his home world, when he could suddenly move more easily and he became aware of his senses again. Around him there was the moaning of spirits he had heard so long ago, but they weren't speaking to him anymore. They were focussed on a man who lay just inside the veil, through which Harry could see a fight he had not witnessed for many, many years.

He rushed up to the man and placed a disc on his chest, which encased him in a glowing cocoon of power and ported him to the special reception area in Backup Plan. He had not looked at the man, just in case his emotions got the better of him. It was Sirius. The reason he could come to this time, was because this was the last time the veil had been activated. Death had power on this side of the Veil, so he had arranged it so that Harry could come here and now.

He looked through the veil as Remus tried to hold onto his younger self, before he ripped away and ran after Bellatrix. Harry knew the aftermath of that fight. He knew his younger self blamed himself for Sirius' death. Just like he had. He'd have to let himself continue as he had, otherwise he'd be making a new timeline and basically diverging this one. If that happened he'd have to start all over again, when Death made him go to the original time-line to try again. Harry would not doom a whole new timeline and all the people therein, just so he could give himself a pep-talk.

Harry activated his invisibility and walked out of the veil. He tried his phasing capability and almost fell through the floor, but he quickly remembered to activate his flight and flew after the younger Harry. Harry put on the special glasses and activated their ability to broadcast to Backup Plan. Then he watched as Dumbledore fought Voldemort.

Harry was able to contain himself through the whole thing. He knew he came out on top at the end. When the fight was over and the minister appeared and saw Voldemort, Harry decided to leave. He didn't need to get angry at idiots right now. He had other things to do. Harry tried opening a portal and found it didn't work. Apparently tapping Yggdrasil only works where you have one, or if there was one here, it worked differently. Instead, Harry flew to the Burrow. He remembered it getting blown up during the next Christmas, but Mrs Weasley should still be staying at Headquarters at this point.

Harry took a moment to cast a Fidelius and then he copied the entirety of the house. It instantly started falling apart, when he was done, as the magic that was holding the original up wasn't copied. Harry had to repair and enchant the house after that. When he was done, he focussed his power on it and then he used his Aesir magic to make it permanent. Satisfied with his work, Harry shrunk the house, not having more of Pym's technology with him, he had to do it the old-fashioned way.

Once it was shrunk, he took out a snow-globe. It was one of the storage devices Tony had made for him. It had inertial dampening runes, so the house wouldn't break if people decided to play with the globe, and placed the house in it, with an illusion to make it look like it was permanently snowing, just because he could. That done, he removed the Fidelius and flew to London, where he put the Penthouse of a hotel under Fidelius as well. They were saving the world. They could have a nice place to stay, while they did so, at least.

Once he was certain everything had worked like it should and he had hidden the button to their floor on the elevators, he went to retrieve Backup Plan. The moment it was out, Natasha opened the lid and jumped out at him, hugging him hard. "Seeing you suffer like that wasn't easy on her." Bruce said as he followed her out.

"You knew I would make it through, though, didn't you?" Harry asked, hugging her back. "I mean, I'm still here, after all."

Natasha looked up at him and asked, "Was he there? Were you able to put him in stasis, before he died?"

"I haven't checked." Harry admitted honestly. "I've been a little busy."

"But that Headmaster of yours!" Tony said in awe as he followed them out. "He's got so much style with his magic! You just point at things and they blow up or change. He makes it look like magic should!"

"Thanks, Tony." Harry said with a bit of a grin. He knew Dumbledore had a flair for these things. "I'll try and look cool, when I prank you next time."

"I'm not saying you do a bad job." Tony carried on. "It's just so much more impressive. Even the bad guy used more movement and flair."

"Harry was a spy, if you'll recall." Loki interjected. "He was probably trained for minimalistic movements and getting as little attention as he could."

"Hitwizard." Harry corrected. "But he's not wrong. We operated in and out of the mundane world. We needed to do things subtly."

Tony, meanwhile was looking around the penthouse. "Man, what year is this again? Look at the size of that TV!" he said pointing at a reasonably large, but equally bulky TV, sitting in the lounge.

"June 18, 1996." Harry said instantly. It was hard to forget the day you caused your only remaining family's death.

Natasha hugged him again. "Bring him out." she insisted. "You don't have to wake him, but you do have to know."

Harry sighed, but nodded. He clicked his fingers and Sirius re-appeared next to him. Harry finally looked down at the man. It didn't look good. Sirius' eyes were open and he didn't look like he was breathing, but then, he was in stasis. Harry hit his prone form with a stunner and then removed the disk. His eyes were still open and Harry froze.

Bruce was instantly on him, though, doing chest compressions. He'd resuscitated people before. Harry was white as a sheet, but he just watched as they tried to save the man, who had once given him hope for the future, even though it was short-lived.

"We need paddles!" Bruce demanded. The man was still warm. He felt they had a good chance of saving him, but they needed to get his heart started.

Tony tapped his chest-plate, since his bag was at home, and Iron Man was soon in the house. He kneeled over the body and positioned his hands over the man's chest. "Clear!" he demanded and Bruce made sure he didn't have contact. There was a jolt as Tony allowed the Nanites to take power directly from his remote source, which was currently in Backup Plan. Nothing happened. "Upping voltage and, Clear!" he said again. Sirius' body stiffened again, but the next moment his eyes closed and he started breathing.

Bruce quickly checked his vitals. "We've got a steady pulse." he confirmed with a sigh. Then he smiled up at Harry. "You can put him in stasis again." he suggested. Everyone knew that if they saved anyone, they couldn't chance them apparating away, so they had to stay in stasis.

Harry was too stunned to respond, so Natasha took the disc from his unmoving fingers and placed it on the man. Sirius was soon in the stasis field again, but he wasn't transported away, as Harry had manually summoned him. "You saved him, Harry!" she said to him, with a glowing smile as she saw a look in his eyes that she had never seen before. It was like he was a boy again and being told he hadn't just killed his first father-figure.

Harry was quiet for a long moment, before he looked between Bruce and Tony. "You saved him!" he quickly stepped to Bruce and hugged him unashamedly. "Thank you." he said, before he turned to Tony and approached him, too.

Tony had sent the suit back, but took a step back and held his hand up. "Thanks is enough." he said, but he smiled. He'd seen the shock and the same look Natasha had. He was very happy he had been able to help. Harry had done so much for them, he'd never be able to thank him. This was something small in his mind, even if it seemed it meant the world to Harry.

"Thanks will never be enough." Harry swore as he closed the distance anyway and hugged his best friend. "You're the best friend anyone could ever have."

"And don't you forget it." Tony said as he hugged him back for a moment, before he shoved him away. "That's enough." he grumbled good-naturedly.

Harry chuckled and allowed it. Then he went to Sirius' prone form and sent him back to storage. It really was the safest place he had, besides Backup Plan's hidden rooms, but he wasn't chancing that either, since someone may have one of those pesky clocks that tells people if someone is alive or dead. He wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to have something like that without anyone's knowledge.

Deciding to get his emotions back under control, Harry asked Tony, "So, did any of your tricks work?"

Tony suddenly looked disappointed. "No. None of the rune or science based communications worked. It was always a long shot, anyway." Tony denied.

"On the bright side, we won't be gone all that long. I bet Pepper is already planning a party." Harry said.

"I know she is." Natasha said. "She asked me if they could plan it for the Island. I bet Sirius will love that."

Harry's smile broadened. "I bet he would." He agreed. "We'll have to give him a bit of time to adjust though. Chances are, he'll be reeling at the knowledge that he's in a new reality."

Hela was just standing on one side watching everything going on. She didn't fully understand what was going on, but she knew they had brought a man back from the brink of death. She knew also, that they would be playing minimalistic roles, while Harry did most of the work. These people, who had banned together to support her brother, were the type of comrades she had wished she could have had as a child. Not subservient followers, but peers in the eyes of their comrade. Everyone brought their own part. Hela felt great joy at the knowledge that he had instantly agreed and welcomed her to join them. She just hoped there'd be something to do for her to be useful and show her own support.

Wanda was also quiet. She knew Harry would be giving them a tour of the magical world at some point. He planned on taking them to a place in America, though, so that there would be no chance of it affecting the time-line. Harry still had all his family's millions and he planned on expanding on his library and adding to his island as well if possible. There were some magical creatures and plants here that had never been seen in their home reality. Not that that had stopped Bruce, but still…

Tony knew they had been set up in the Hotel for the foreseeable future, so he asked Harry to help him set up his room. When he informed Tony that Portals weren't working here, he was disappointed, but it had been expected that some things would work differently here. He had no doubt Harry would find another way to make his portals if there was enough need. In the meanwhile, Harry apparated things around for them to set up their rooms.

"So, what's on the list, first?" Steve asked. He knew that there would be attacks from the Death Eaters and that many people would die at their hands. They knew they couldn't save everyone. If they made the people that Harry remembered hearing about disappearing before, vanish before the Death Eaters could attack, the Death Eaters would know something was going on. He hated it, but he understood they simply couldn't afford to change the timeline before a certain point.

"We have the school holiday to get all the resources that we want to take with us." Harry said. They would need to set up a duplicate Backup Plan first, with all the resources it currently held. Bruce and Wanda would be handling the potions ingredients and books. Only once their mission was past a certain point, which they called the divergence point, would they be able to start making a difference.

"What is your younger self doing this school holiday?" Natasha asked. They were all gathered in the dining room, where Bruce had put together a meal for them with ingredients they had brought along.

"I believe I was going through a bit of a rebellious stage, avoiding my minders and sneaking away from where they were watching me. I seem to recall a girl I fancied at a diner in the London underground." Harry said with a bit of humour.

"Was she pretty?" Loki asked, watching Natasha's reaction. It didn't even phase her. She knew people had pasts.

"As I recall." Harry nodded. "Unfortunately, by the time I had worked up the courage to speak to her, Dumbledore showed up to take me to the Burrow, where my attention was soon on Ginny." he said.

"Teenagers." Natasha scoffed.

"You're telling me." Harry laughed. "I recall this time of my life as some of the most emotionally scarring and confusing times. I had nightmares every night, seeing Sirius die over and over and then when I woke up there were just other things to worry about."

"Well, if we succeed, you'll finally be able to put that behind you." Bruce said.

Harry just nodded and continued his meal. A couple of minutes later, he said, "Let's make our way to America tomorrow and go visit one of their magical districts. You all remember the plan right?"

Many people rolled their eyes, but Hela answered, "We will speak to nobody unnecessarily and try to remain inconspicuous."

"Yes." Harry agreed. "I doubt anything we do there could cause a major splash that the Prophet would write about, so we'll have relative freedom. You'll be able to explore, but the Americans have strict laws about mundane people never finding out about magic, so if you get caught, you may get in trouble. If you're ever taken, or you think you're being followed, you activate your portkeys and come here. We can't afford to take chances."

"But portkeys into and out of the country are tracked, aren't they?" Tony asked.

"Doesn't matter." Harry said. "The Fidelius is still unbreakable. They'll know our general location then, but I can just relocate us if that happens. Let's try to avoid needing to use the portkeys though."

Everyone agreed and after dinner, they all went to their pastimes. Bruce was busy going over the full list of books, since Harry had finally given him access to the whole library. He was gleefully making a separate list of things he'd like to read as well, for when they had time and were back home.

Harry, Natasha, Tony, Wanda, Hela, Loki and Steve were busy trying to work on a plan to track the Death Eaters after the final attack on Hogwarts which would occur a little under two years from their current time. Harry didn't plan for them to wait, though. Jarvis' project was a stasis field with a rune-based control that was connected to a magical touch-screen tablet. Harry would set up the field around the penthouse, enter it and activate it, which would then slow their time so that they could move more quickly through time to do what they planned.

The next day, they all entered Backup Plan again and Harry activated his glasses, so that they could watch the flight. Harry now had a communicator in his ear as well, so they could stay in contact. He lifted up and started flying in the direction Tony indicated for him. Harry was surprised that he could still attain his maximum speed, but attributed it to the fact that he had enchanted the flight capability while he was in the other world.

At top speed, Harry reached New York in little over two and a half hours. He had flown through a couple of spots of bad weather, but being out of phase saved him the discomfort of getting wet. When he landed, Harry was stiff, but he walked to the park across from the magical shopping district and cast a couple of security spells, before removing backup plan.

"You all have your wands?" Harry asked, once they were all out again. He had enchanted a couple of wands with some simple spells and bound them to each person, so that it couldn't be used by anyone else. It should read as magical and pass any tests, should someone decide to inspect them.

They all took out their wands, Tony's extending from inside his sleeve, so he could grasp it, by some mechanical means. Harry assumed he'd dedicated some of his nanites to the task. They were just so damn versatile that he could simply design something and have them take that shape.

"Good." Harry nodded and turned to the entrance, leading them in. He knew this would take long, as they wouldn't be going shopping again until after the divergence point.

Everyone had purchased things of interest, while they looked out for things that might be useful. They went into every store imaginable and purchased many items. Clothing to fit in. Tools of the various trades. Tony had even purchased a clock like the Weasleys owned. Harry didn't know how everything was done, after all, and that was one of the things he never could quite figure out. Now that he had an example, though, he'd be able to do so.

Tony had purchased a whole crate of every-flavour beans and many other magical sweets from the sweet shop. If they could figure out the processes and enchantments, they might just be able to open another sort of shop.

Wanda had gone to look inside a wand shop and had talked shop with the owner for a bit. He even had her tested for a wand, just as curious as herself if there was a better fit for her, but it turned out none of the wands reacted well for her. There were other focuses as well, like rings with gemstones and a staff or two, but nothing really worked for her. She did purchase a couple of cores though, which the other wandmaker sold to her with a smile. He only sold her the stuff that were too difficult for himself to find a resonance with. He had refused to tell her how the rings and staffs worked, stating it was a family secret. She decided that that would be her next project. They had something similar, but it was limited in range.

Hela had seen a magical armament shop. It was really just a shop for display weapons, but the armour section had real dragon-hide clothes, which were both beautifully made and expensive. She had found a dark green full-length dragon-leather coat with a hood that could be pulled over it, which she simply had to have. It was made from the belly of a dragon, so it was soft and flexible, but she was assured that it was still very durable and completely fireproof. That it was lined with a magical silk from an Acromantula with an enchantment for comfort was just a bonus that made it twice as expensive.

Natasha had found some things she liked there as well and had Harry try on some new boots, most of which she ended up getting, knowing that he was limited in options and had mentioned it. Natasha had even purchased a new dark red dragon leather cloak for Wanda. It would be a surprise for later, though. Harry had found a couple of Goblin made daggers, which he purchased and haggled with the owner a bit and bought as much already processed dragon-leather as he was willing to part with. The Acromantula silk was an expensive commodity and the man refused to sell him any of his, but referred him to his supplier.

That led them to a clothing store, where the owner had been kind enough to sell them a reel of the stuff, but it, too, was very expensive. It didn't stop there, though. They all purchased something to wear that would suit them better and many reels of different weaves of fabric, which Harry thought he could give to Frigga as a gift. That, in turn, inspired Natasha to buy many different kinds of clothes in different styles, which she could also offer Frigga, since she loved to see the different styles of clothing Harry had made on occasion and had expressed an interest in their design.

Loki had delighted in finding a joke shop and had disappeared into it on his own. Harry understood the need. It wouldn't be any fun if everyone knew what he purchased. He'd warn Natasha to take her own soap to the bathroom, though, because he didn't doubt she'd shoot Loki if tadpoles started spawning on her body if she accidentally used Frog Spawn Soap.

Their next stop was a second-hand book store. Bruce had finally found his heaven. He started piling up books on every subject, since he knew what Harry had already, and by the end of his mission, they had spent another large pile of gold. They didn't need to buy books they already owned, because Harry would replicate what he needed to put in the other Backup Plan. That was until Bruce had found another book store, down a dark alley. It reminded Harry of Knockturn Alley, with the shifty people he saw hanging around in it.

They kept on finding more and more interesting things, including a pair of vanishing cabinets. Harry had to have those, so he got them too. All manner of dark enchantments and books on forgotten rituals and magics from ages past soon joined the collection. There was also an apothecary in the dark part of the alley, but Harry convinced Bruce to give it a skip. He'd heard stories about what ingredients one could find in such places and didn't want to expose his friends to things like werewolf saliva or bottled Banshee's cry. Accidents that might happen while handling vampire blood were not unheard of, either. Instead they went to a normal apothecary and Bruce purchased a lot of ingredients he either knew they needed or were new to him.

Steve had found and entered a store that sold magic paint, which would allow a person to paint pictures that move. He asked Harry nicely, but Harry just laughed and told him to go nuts. He'd not found anything for himself yet, except for a very comfortable and sturdy pair of boots.

Harry had also popped into a jeweller, to look at what enchantments one could have put on jewellery. There he found a pair of amulets that, when worn by two people, would allow them to feel each other's emotions. He purchased them and a couple of other nifty items, which he thought he could reverse-engineer to make new magic items himself.

The last place they found, made Tony very happy. It was a liquor store. They found that there really weren't many different magical drinks. Mostly just things that looked strange or had potions in them. Tony had asked the sales person about things like what they had been making and he was just pointed towards the Firewhiskey. In the end they didn't get much from the shop, but Harry had seen and purchased a pipe made from the tooth of a dragon. It was carved exquisitely with a moving image of a wolf running around the head of the pipe. He was told that it would howl when smoked and one would see the shape of a wolf at hunt in the smoke.

Nine hours after entering, they exited again. Tony was talking excitedly, even after the disappointment of the liquor store, and Harry was laughing, while Natasha rolled her eyes at Tony's insistence that Quadpot was perfect for Asgardians, considering how the ball explodes. Nobody else was carrying anything. Harry had simply brought out Backup Plan and levitated the purchases down to the first room. Trunks with rooms were not unheard of. It was rare, sure enough, but not enough to really draw attention. Harry's storage, however, had caught the eye of one old Wizard who simply had to know how he did that. Harry had lied and said it was an illusion, to protect where he kept his trunk. The old man had nodded in understanding and walked away with a smile after congratulating him on his ingenuity.

They found a quiet place and Harry performed his security magic again, so that everyone could enter Backup Plan. Harry had no doubt that Bruce would be sorting through the books and ingredients instantly. He'd probably not even come out when they landed, if he had his nose in a book when they did so. Fortunately Harry had remembered to move the darker artefacts to a space that he'd sectioned off. Everyone knew to leave those items alone anyway.

When they were all in, Harry flew back to London and their temporary home.

They had time still, so Harry went about the duplication of Backup Plan. It took him a week to create the entire inside as it had been when he arrived in the new reality. Then he and Bruce went about putting what they knew were in there into their proper places. The magical plants they needed would have to be put in later, but by the time the second week was done, they had recreated most of everything. Harry had had to make a couple of trips to museums to make copies of the paintings they had sold at auction, but that was a simple task for him now.

He copied his vault room and his stores of stored food and enchanted everything that had been there before. By the time a month had ended, they had finally finished the job. The only thing that needed to still be done, was the magical plants and the Fidelius to hide the entrance. That would be done later, though.

Once everything was as prepared as they could get it, Harry and Tony set up the rune induced field generator poles and went back to the lounge. They had spent a couple of hours going through Harry's memories and found a point where they could make a difference, using Harry's new capabilities.

They activated the Time Dilation and watched as the sun rose and set every ten seconds, until the correct date was reached. Then they all got in Backup Plan again and Harry activated his Invisibility and Phased out, before flying to Bones Manor.

"So, do we know what time of the day this Bones woman died?" Natasha asked over the comms and monitoring Harry from her personal terminal. She had wanted to be by his side, but knew only he could do this. Tony had insisted on upping his security, though, so everyone now had a seat on a swivel chair, through which they could turn to see all around Harry. The enchanting work didn't take a lot of effort, but the illusionary display had taken him a bit longer for the full display feed.

"No." Harry denied. "We do know that the Dark Mark was seen first and then she was found, so I need to get in there and start my part."

"Go." Steve said. "We've got your back."

"You really should work on setting up some defences we can trigger though. Just in case someone sneaks up on you." Tony said. He could just imagine Harry stepping into battle and not lifting a finger as all six of them used a targeting system combined with the illusionary displays to attack all the foes in his area, even people behind him.

"We can try and work something out sometime, but we've just stepped into the beginning of the war and I think we'll be a little busy from now on." Harry said as he floated to the manor house. It wasn't a bad idea, honestly. Maybe they should adapt something like that for the Ghost Squads.

It was late evening and the sun had only just set, so Harry was careful. He needed to avoid the wards, which he knew were in place. Fortunately, with him out of phase, he moved past the ward without it even detecting him. He found Amelia Bones sitting down to dinner. If the reports were to be believed, she was found in her nightgown, so Harry knew he'd have to wait for her to go to bed. His friends were talking to him, but he didn't respond, since he couldn't even silence his location without the magic being detected by the wards.

He followed her around the house, giving her some privacy while she finished some paperwork, by staying in the corner on the far side of her home office and outside the bathroom when she went about her evening ablutions. Once she was in bed, Harry went out through the window to look out at what he could see. Nothing happened for many hours and Harry kept his silent vigil. He was worried that he had somehow changed something already, or gotten the date wrong, but shortly before 3AM, there was a flash from the wards and Harry felt them go down instantly, followed quickly by another ward going up, which would stop apparition and portkeys. He knew those wards well.

He hurried back inside and found Amelia having awoken to the ward dropping. She cast a couple of quick detection charms and swore as she realised she had been blocked from escape. Squaring her shoulders she marched out of the room, having thrown something on over her sleepwear. When she reached the stairs, there was a crash as her front door was obliterated. When the splinters cleared, Voldemort himself stood in the door.

Harry quickly activated his time dilation and started his plan. First he focussed his magic on Amelia and then produced a copy of her, clothes and all, off to the side, where neither of them could see it. It was just a conjuration, but Harry soon fixed that, with his intent magic. It took him a while, but he was able to complete the job in under a minute, his time. He instantly turned the body invisible and had it hover next to himself.

Then he slowly allowed time to speed up. He needed to know the exact moment the woman would die so that he could replace her with the copy. This was the only way to keep the time-line intact. If people died originally, they'd have to 'die' again. One way or the other, they needed to be taken out of the fight, so she'd be joining Sirius in stasis, if Harry was able to do what he had planned.

In slow motion, the confrontation seemed to drag forever. At first they talked and Amelia proved her worth by not once showing fear to the monster. Then they started exchanging spells. Harry watched in fascination as they acted and reacted to each other. He noticed, for the first time, that Tom was using multiple spells at once. While he let one spell fly, he was already preparing to cast the next and its power was visibly gathering as he did so, but if it was in real-time, you'd have to look very hard and you couldn't notice it while you were fighting him, because you were focussed on what he was already doing to you. That explained why he was so flashy as well. Like a magician, he drew your attention from what he was doing, by making a show of it.

Harry was still watching the fight, modifying the body he had waiting, as Amelia received wounds for her resistance, when he noticed a familiar build-up of green energy. Apparently Amelia had taken enough of his valuable time and he was preparing to end it. Harry stood at the ready and awaited the spell as he slowed time to his maximum capability.

When the killing curse left Voldemort's wand, Harry looked at Amelia's current position and moved the body to take a similar stance. He watched as the unblockable spell moved right through her shield and just before it hit her body, he performed a switching spell, bringing her out of phase and making her invisible and placing the replica in her place. She was still slow from his perspective, so the stunning spell he touched her with left her looking like she was still awake, even as the killing curse hit the copy and started falling back. Harry allowed time to regain speed as he watched Tom smile for his success.

Voldemort had been tired of the Aurors trying to find his people and wanted their spirit broken, so he decided to pay the Head of the DMLE a visit. Her wards were simple for him to break and he had already trapped her, so he walked, casually, to her door and blasted it to pieces. Amelia Bones looked down at him from her second-floor landing and he smirked up at her.

Then the usual conversation happened. Why did they always say he would never win? He had returned from the dead, after all. Obviously he'd win. He couldn't be stopped. When the fight started, he was surprised she could keep up with him, but for every attack she threw at him, she had to block three times. When he had enough entertainment, having seen several broken bones and cuts on her face and body, he sent a killing curse and finished the job he had set out for.

She fell to the floor, anticlimactically and lay there, dead. He walked up to her body and saw the vacant eyes he had seen so many times. Her face was all wrong though. He had hoped it would show shock or fear, but it was just blank, almost peaceful. He sighed, turned around and left. Such a waste of a Pureblood.

With that done, Harry put the real woman in stasis and moved her into storage. He decided to stay to ensure the Aurors though her dead and watched as they came upon the body minutes later, noting the wand in her hand, which Harry had also switched.

Harry lifted out of the house and went back to their place. Once there, he took out Backup Plan and Natasha was the first one out, hugging him instantly.

"How did they know she was attacked?" Tony asked.

"Her house was probably watched by Aurors that work for the other side." Harry said, with closed eyes as he hugged his wife.

"The enemy has infiltrated the protecting authorities?" Hela asked, next out. "That does not bode well for the people, but it does explain why they showed up so quickly."

Harry nodded as the last few people got out, before he put Backup Plan away again.

"Are you sure we can't just go look for these horcrux things?" Steve asked. He really didn't want to wait for all the damage these people were going to cause.

"We've discussed this Steve." Tony said. "If we interfere in certain things, it would affect the timeline and we'd not be able to follow our knowledge anymore. Doing the things we're doing now ensures our ability to act on our knowledge when the time comes."

"It's not easy for us either, you know." Bruce said.

Steve nodded after a moment. He knew what was coming would only get worse. He looked at Harry as he was once again hugging Natasha. How could he even bare it, knowing what these people would do?

"I like to think of it as us saving an entire world." Harry said. "It's not easy to watch people die. We'll save as many as we can, but we won't be able to save everyone."

It was a sombre group of people, who went for a bit of food and a rest. They'd be activating the stasis again soon, but after the long wait, through the night, many of them were quite tired.

The next day, they had their next target to save and time was moved forward again. Hannah Abbott's mother had refused to help the Death Eaters and were killed for it. Harry went, with his team supporting him again, and saved the woman as well. The process was much the same, except that there was a torture session the woman had to endure first. It was torturous for Harry to stand there and let it happen. Everyone was quiet, as well. The Death Eaters had exposed their identities and a list was being made of people who would have to pay for their sins, before they would be allowed to die. Harry was considering building a new prison on Niflheim, just for them.

When they returned that night, they went to rest again, but the next morning a new plan was formed. They would not be able to sit through something like that again. Fortunately the next person on their list was not going to be all that difficult. Albus Dumbledore.

They moved forward again and Harry had them all in Backup Plan again. This time, they apparated to Hogsmeade and Harry was able to fly them through the wards at Hogwarts. They were quite comprehensive and, for a moment, it felt like they would resist him, but he was allowed to pass through after a moment. Harry knew that his younger self had the marauders map, but fortunately he was not in Hogwarts at the time. He couldn't remember if he checked the map after they returned from the cave, but didn't want to be caught, so he resolved to make his way out as soon as possible, once his job was complete.

They watched as Harry and Dumbledore appeared and Dumbledore ordered him to hide. Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore and Snape sent his killing curse at his mentor and closest friend. This time, Harry did notice a flicker of regret crossing Snape's face. He wasn't a nice man, but he wasn't a bad guy.

Harry did his thing and had to spend an extra couple of moments studying Dumbledore's arm, to emulate the effects of the curse. It was a nasty one, but he had no doubt he'd be able to save the old man, with an overuse of power, or possibly a replacement arm. Harry then fled the scene, without waiting for the body to hit the base of the tower, and returned them home again.

The next time they would be stepping into was the day Harry was rescued from his home, just before Bill and Fleur's wedding and Harry's birthday.

They arrived in Privet drive and watched as Harry's family drove off, to go into hiding.

"So those are the people who should have cared for you?" Loki asked.

"That's them." Harry agreed.

"Did you ever see them after this again?" Tony asked.

"No. I didn't need to go back. The protections on the house soon disappeared anyway." Harry said.

"Do me a favour and place a tracking charm on their car." Loki insisted.

"Can't." Harry denied. "Any magic I do right now, before I reach 17, will be tracked. They'll think it was my younger self."

"Then put one of mine on the car." Tony insisted. "If you never see any of these people again, you won't have to worry about us paying them a visit later."

Harry smirked at the idea. It made sense, but he'd have to just find out where they went for now. Rather not tempt fate. "Fine, but leave Dudley alone. At least he was trying to be nice to me in the last couple of weeks."

"I see no problem with that." Loki said. "It is admirable that he came to his senses on his own, too."

"I agree." Hela said. "It shows he's got character and that there's a little of you in him. Perhaps the last good thing from your mother's line that made it to the boy."

Harry had to agree to that. Dudley would never be the sharpest knife in the drawer. No, he'd more likely be a spoon, but at least he had tried. Considering his parents' persistent attitude and the way they raised him, it was quite admirable that he'd go against their wishes to try and be nice to him.

Harry placed the tracker and returned to his younger incarnation's side. Then they waited. Just after dark, the order turned up. Harry watched as his friends arrived and he couldn't help his smile at seeing them alive again. He had one priority today and someone he'd like to try and save. Alastor Moody was the priority. Hedwig would be nice, but he'd shed all his tears for his old owl. If he could save her after Alastor, it would be a nice bonus though.

So they followed Moody as he flew off on his specialized broom. Tony mentioned that it looked cool, the way the old man sat back in reasonable comfort. Harry had no doubt he'd need to make Tony a new broom at some point. When the attack came, Mundungus Fletcher, the coward that he was, didn't even wait to see the enemy. He simply apparated out.

Harry had to wait for a spell to almost hit Moody from the back, when he proved too difficult for the enemy to face directly. The man was full of piss and vinegar as he grinned an evil grin and happily took on all comers. Harry's respect for the man, which had always been high, went up just a notch. When the spell came, Harry replaced him and flew off directly after where he knew his younger self and Hagrid would be.

He arrived just in time to see the killing curse inch its way to Hedwig as she flew in its path to save Harry. Harry quickly replaced her as well and a little part of his childhood was safe. He knew that some of the others would be hurt, but he couldn't help them, so he left again.

This was what they did for several days, knowing that Harry's younger self was desperately trying to find and destroy every horcrux. When the final battle came, they were there was well.

By this point, they had saved quite a few people, including Rufus Scrimgeour, Ted Tonks and Dobby, but Harry knew the final battle would be difficult. So many people died there, but he was concerned with a few of them specifically and he didn't know exactly when they died, so he'd be living through the whole thing in slow motion, as he tried to save them all.

They took a couple of days to prepare and Harry spent most of his time in meditation to steady himself. He knew he couldn't save them all, but he needed to wait until a certain point, when he could act. The younger Harry had to fulfil the prophecy first.

When the time came, Harry went to Hogwarts and started on his mission. Everyone was at their stations and ready. There were seven more people on Harry's list to save and he'd need to stay on mission.

Twenty gruelling hours of slowed time and Harry was tired as hell. He'd finally gotten them all, ending with Snape. That was a bit more tricky as the man had been bitten several times by Nagini, but Harry had administered a couple of phoenix tears and stored the man away, as he had with Fred, Remus, Tonks and even Lavender Brown. He'd almost decided not to save Colin Creevey, but had relented, when Steve informed him that under no circumstances could he doom an innocent boy to death, no matter how annoying he was.

When the younger Harry snuck out of the castle to go to his death, Harry went with him. The younger Harry would be summoning his parents and Remus and Sirius with the resurrection stone. Harry had to emulate what he remembered them doing and saying. While younger Harry was looking at Sirius, Harry noted his parents both looking at him, where he was flying invisibly and James winked at him. Of course they could see him.

When the younger Harry dropped the resurrection stone, Harry levitated it up and, without touching it, dropped it into a pocket. That would be useful later. Then he went to set up a little 'trap'. With it in place, they could start on the next part of the plan as soon as the necessary happened.

Harry waited invisibly, as Voldemort and his troops entered the school one last time an hour later. Hagrid was carrying the younger Harry's 'lifeless' body and the crowd gathered while Harry waited for the duel. There were some touching words and a bit of defiance and then the younger Harry made his move. It was a short while later, when Neville had destroyed the final horcrux, when Harry's younger incarnation finally ended the fight, with a disarming charm of all things.

The Death Eaters that saw his fall, apparated and ported out instantly, never even noticing the magical field that they moved through to escape. Finally, Harry let out a sigh of relief. "It's finally time." he whispered to himself, knowing that his friends could hear him.

"We've still got some work to do." Steve said sternly over his comm.

"Of course," Loki interjected, "but now we can start being useful." He was specifically thinking about Harry's aunt and uncle. He had not yet been allowed to do anything about them.

"Do we need to do anything here, anymore?" Natasha asked.

"Not that I can think of." Harry said, just as the younger Harry and Ginny kissed as passionately as a young couple could, while in front of her parents. He knew that didn't last. Unfortunately it didn't stop him from feeling sad for the girl. He remembered her dying defiantly, still holding out hope that Harry would win and come for her when he was done.

Harry took off and went back to their place, where he would finally let the team out. They didn't stay there long, however. They Apparated to the Albanian Forest, where Harry had once tracked Voldemort's latest and final horcrux. Voldemort was already being reborn again, he knew, but he was weak. Harry knew he needed a Death Eater nearby to call his remaining followers, so he would not be calling on them anytime soon.

Voldemort could not believe he had lost to that brat. Again! This time, when he had his strength, he'd get his vengeance on the world. He couldn't come out of the shadows again, not with only one Horcrux. He had made Charity Burbage's skull into his last horcrux. The muggle-loving idiot would never know the honour he had bestowed on her. It wasn't easy, with how many pieces of his soul he'd already split off, but he'd finally managed and then he set up a return plan. He would not spend years as a wraith again, while his followers did nothing.

He lay on the ground, recovering from his rebirth, breathing heavily. When he was mostly recovered he felt something. He was not alone. Nobody should be able to be here, not with his protections up. He calmed himself and slowly stood up.

"Cover yourself, man. There are ladies present." a voice said from off to the side. As whoever it was conjured some grey robes on him.

Voldemort looked up instantly and was shocked to see eight profiles. Most of them looked strange. There was some sort of metal construct with glowing eyes, two women with green and red cloaks, a man with long black hair and a black cloak, a muggle-looking fellow with casual clothing and brown hair, a man dressed all in blue with a shield baring a star, another red-headed woman wearing black body armour with a jacket and a belt and finally a man in full dragon-hide armour, with a hood and mask, coming to just under his eyes.

The one with the hood had spoken, but he could see no wand in his hand. The woman in red carried two, but none of the others had any out. The brunette man had one in his pocket though, which he could see sticking out.

"Why are you here?" Voldemort asked as he slowly started walking to where he had left a spare wand. Nobody impeded his movement. "Who are you?"

"We're here to kill you, Tom." Harry said, dropping his hood and mask.

"You aren't him." Voldemort denied, even though his eyes showed shock.

"Actually, he is." Natasha said as she smirked at the man. "Not the one you know, but still."

"What are you talking about, muggle?" Voldemort spat, having spotted her guns, mere toys in his mind. "Harry Potter is nothing more than a child who won by luck, when he faced me earlier today."

"He's not wrong." Harry said conversationally. "I was kind of prone to trust in my luck at that age."

"You're not that boy anymore." Hela assured. "You are now a god and king of incredible power. To compare you to this tainted creature would be impossible."

"You have better taste now, too." Natasha said with a smirk.

"I don't know about being a god, but he is powerful." Steve conceded. "Though I still think I could beat you in a fair fight." he added with a smirk.

Voldemort had finally reached his wand and quickly aimed it at them. "You should have taken your chance, while you had it." he sneered at them, quickly casting a killing curse at the man in the armour. It didn't reach him, as the man with the shield moved quickly and blocked it. "Impossible! The killing curse cannot be blocked!"

"Yet our companion just did so." Hela said. She turned to Harry, "Would you mind if I teach him to respect his betters, brother?"

"Just don't kill him." Harry nodded. "I can't finish him off if his soul escapes."

Hela smiled at him. "Of course, brother. I would not take your chance from you." she assured him as she walked to the man, who cast another killing curse, only for it to be caught in her bare hand, when she moved faster than he could see. She held the spell and looked at it, its power arching and sparking, trying to actually touch her. "Interesting." she said, before making the spell disappear. Then she closed the last of the distance and started beating the shit out of him.

"Are you sure we cannot take him back with us?" Loki asked with a smile. "Our father would love to have a word or two with him."

"I'd love to see him fed water from your island's pool of eternity, just to have him banished from the island for all time." Hela said as she continued punching the man, while holding him aloft with one arm.

"No greater torture could exist." Loki agreed. "Appropriate. Good plan Hela."

"I'm afraid I cannot claim to have thought of it." Hela said as she dropped the man, only to drop-kick him into a wall, where he lost consciousness and fell to the floor. "Logan once threatened me thus."

"Is that when you started sniffing around him?" Natasha asked with a bit of a smile as Harry went to heal the man, so that Loki could pin him up for them. Harry didn't like torture, but with the cave sealed off and all magical means of escape blocked, he could enjoy what they were doing to the man who had sentenced him to a life of hell, just for a bit.

"I wouldn't describe it thus." Hela disagreed. "Though, I do envy May Parker for the time he makes for her, even though I respect her too."

Harry pointed at Loki and then Voldemort, enervating the monster with the point. Loki caught on instantly. "Oh, this is going to be fun." he said with an evil smirk. He summoned two daggers and drove them through his shoulders and pinned him to the cave of the wall. A little application of intent and he stayed there.

"What are you people!?" Voldemort asked after he had yelled in pain and tried to escape, with nothing happening.

Everyone looked at Harry, who shrugged. "Maybe we should introduce ourselves." Harry suggested. "He really should know who took him out. Though, I don't want to make this a habit. Bad guys like to talk and they tend to lose because of it." He looked at Tom suddenly and realised he was channelling magic, even though he'd lost his wand while Hela had beat on him.

Tom lifted his hand and blew over it. A gout of flame spewed forth as Fiendfyre was unleashed on the interlopers. When he was certain they must be dead, he forced his will on the living flame to snuff it. When it was gone, he realised he had miscalculated. They were all just standing there looking at him. "How are you doing that!?" he demanded.

"Magic." Harry said with a smile. "Though, you just cost yourself an introduction." He turned to his friends, "What do you think? Kill him here, or take him with us?"

Most of his friends wanted to present him to Odin, for the justice he deserved. Steve and Bruce wanted him to die, so that it could just be over. Harry wanted him dead as well, but he remembered his father's fervour when he spoke of the punishment he'd bestow on the man who cost Harry everything. In the end, Harry decided to place him in stasis and then storage, along with his horcrux. He made sure he was knocked out first though. No chance of him waking up and somehow breaking stasis in the meanwhile.

The cave was barren of any kind of magical knowledge, so they knew they'd need to continue looking, since they still needed to find the ritual Voldemort had originally planned to use after he had destroyed the world.

They went back home, after that. They still had the clean-up to do, after all, but first, Harry needed to rest again. Natasha put him to bed, but told him she'd be going over the globe, which Harry had enchanted to track the Death Eaters. Harry nodded, but was already asleep, by the end of the action.

He'd never been out of phase, invisible and using time dilation as much as he had that day and he was physically and mentally exhausted. Having been on guard for the entirety of their encounter with Tom, while being so tired, and acting casual, was very stressful for him too. Logically he had known that the man could still pose a threat to his friends, but he had worked with the Avengers long enough to know how to break an opponent's spirit.

He slept for a long time and by the time he woke up, he felt hungry and thirsty. He got up and made his way to the living room. Imagine his surprise, when he found the team, sitting around the living room and chatting with thirty-odd people in stasis fields, lying on the floor.

"What the hell happened while I was sleeping?!" Harry exclaimed.

Tony smirked at him, "You were sleeping and we've been itching to do something. Seriously it's been weeks since I've been able to break out my suit."

"Were you careful?" Harry asked. When Tony winced and looked up at the screen, Harry saw a picture of the Iron Man suit that had been taken by what appeared to be a novice.

"Fortunately people are calling it a hoax." Natasha said as she got up to hug her husband. "The technology of this time period simply doesn't allow for better quality."

"Are these all Death Eaters?" Harry asked as he looked between the people and noticed a couple of faces he knew.

"They were all on your tracking artefact." Hela confirmed, pointing off to the side where an enchanted Earth-ball floated and turned slightly with little pin-pricks of light scattered throughout Europe.

"How did you sleep?" Bruce asked. "I know you spent a lot of power yesterday."

"I'm actually feeling pretty damn good." Harry said with a smile. It was true. He'd slept very well, knowing the madman was finally stopped. His world was finally safe.

"Now we just need to round up the rest." Tony said with a grin of his own.

And that's what they did for the next two days. Most of the team were frustrated that there wasn't much to do, but Natasha was able to help him as she was the stealthiest of them all. Harry could take out a lot of people at once, and had to set up the wards to prevent escape, but sometimes he needed an extra person to help pick off the stragglers.

When they were done, only one family remained. The Malfoys. Cowards that they were, they never left their mansion and it was protected by a Fidelius. Harry had no doubt that they had a stockpile of food and possibly a new house elf. He was loathe to do what he was about to, but he had no choice, so he brought out Dobby.

When Dobby awoke, he saw that he was surrounded by people, all looking at him. "Who is you being?" he asked. That's when he focussed on the one who felt familiar to him. It took him a moment, but finally realised who it was. "Harry Potter, sir!"

"Hi Dobby." Harry said with a smile. "It's been a long time." he said.

"Has it?" Dobby asked.

"It's been a couple of years." Harry confirmed. "For me at least."

"Hello Dobby." Natasha said. "Harry always says good things about you." The others all nodded. It was true. Harry hadn't talked about the little guy much, but when he did it was always with a fond smile and just a bit of sadness.

Dobby cocked his head to the side and asked, "Who is you miss?"

"I'm Natasha Potter. Harry's wife." Natasha said.

"But, I though…" Dobby trailed off.

"Many things happened, Dobby. And we'd love to discuss it, but for now, we need your help." Harry said.

"What can Dobby do for the great Harry Potter, sir?" Dobby asked.

"We need you to take us into Malfoy Manor." Harry said.

"You can't!" Dobby said, shaking his head. "The Dark Lord goes there!"

"Don't worry about Voldemort." Harry said with a smile. "He's never going to bother anyone ever again."

"Harry already defeated him." Bruce said. "I'm Bruce Banner, by the way. It really is nice to meet one of Harry's friends."

"Thank you, sir. You are kind to a House Elf, to call him a friend of the great Harry Potter." Dobby said with some tears spilling down his face. "I'll take you, but you must promise not to get hurt!" Dobby demanded.

After that, it was a simple process to bring in the last of the Death Eaters. Once everyone was captured, Harry left interrogation to the others. He really wasn't too keen on hearing all the horrible things they had done. With their home secure, Loki and Hela led the interrogations, with Tony having his AI transcribe their confessions and Bruce supplying the Veritaserum. Wanda was off procuring the needed magical plants and Harry and Natasha was planning on a gathering for a couple of reunions.

Loki and Hela knew to ask about ritual magic and to ask for any information that may be useful. If Loki had any say in it, Harry's restricted section would grow twice over. With the Death Eaters giving all their secrets, there was no doubt that that would happen. Dobby was thanked for his help and asked if he would like to work for Harry. They'd needed to give him some more information after Dobby noticed that the Malfoys looked the same as he remembered, but he had the standard reaction of instantly promising to keep the great Harry Potter's secrets, when he proved that he was who he said he was.

With that sorted, Harry and Natasha went to Australia, to look for Wendell and Monica Wilkins, aka, Hermione's parents, who she had obliviated and memory charmed. In their original time, Hermione had never gone to retrieve them, when the Death Eaters started attacking again. Harry still didn't know if that was under the orders of Voldemort or if they had acted on their own after they had crippled the British wizarding world, but he wouldn't let that happen again.

It didn't take them long to find the couple and Harry's skills helped him recover their memories quickly. That was all they had planned, but they did offer transport to the couple back home. They weren't allowed too far into Backup Plan, but a couple of hours later, Harry had dropped them off at home. They had promised to keep Harry's secret, since they were both indebted to him and he had mentioned time-travel. They were intelligent people and understood there could be consequences, even if they didn't know what they were.

Harry didn't stick around for the reunion. Instead he Apparated himself and Natasha back to the apartment, where the interviews were still ongoing. The idea was to hand the people over to the DMLE in secret. Only the head of the DMLE would know where they came from. Their signed confessions were the only thing standing between them and Hela's blade. It was necessary. Those who refused, signed their own death warrant.