[A/N: And here's your lovely 10,000+ word chapter for you!! Average word count for most chapters in a standard book is 5,000, so it's like I'm giving you two chapters for every one!!]
"Vis?" Wanda said a little worried, Vision wasn't the type to just space out considering he was an android, so she could only assume something was wrong.
Vision blinked as he reoriented himself with his surroundings, "I'm fine," he replied quickly but was still coming to terms with the curious information he was rereading, "I-... I seem to have a message from JARVIS."
"I thought he was destroyed.... Well, you know what I mean. How can he still be active?"
"He's not, its an old message, but more along the lines of a last will and testament," Vision looked at the now black TV screen with a baffled expression, Wanda had turned it off moments ago.
She shifted so she was sitting up with her legs crossed as she looked at Vision, "What did it say?"
"It was a protocol that was set as a priority among all others, but from the looks of the artifacting code around it, it was designed to be JARVIS' primary function, what he was created for. But the way it was hidden and what it suggests, I'm not even sure Mr. Stark was aware of it. It seemed to have been designed to be undetected until activated. When Mr. Stark gained custody of Peter Parker, it triggered the activation... the protocol has listed instructions," Vision frowned.
"What is it? Instructions for what?"
"There's a package I must recover, I'm sorry Wanda," he sighed sadly, "I know we rarely get time together nowadays but I feel I must fulfill JARVIS' final request, especially with how much effort he put into securing it," Vision had stood up and Wanda followed, he took her hands gently in his before kissing them lightly. "I'll finish this as soon as I can but I'm unsure about the time frame."
"It's ok, Vis, you do what you need to. You know where to find me."
******
Peter tapped his pencil against the edge of his book One Thousand Herbs and Magical Fungi. He was working on notes for an upcoming quiz. Though most of the work was hands on, there were the few rare written quizzes and Peter still liked to be ready. Herbology wasn't his best class so he had to put in a little extra studying.
He was sitting in the library where he could usually be found during the few hours of break between classes. He settled into the little nook at the far end between the spell books and curse reversal guides, usually no one ventures that far into the library at this time and if they did, they left Peter to work in peace.
After making a note of the common properties of toadstools, Peter heard the familiar flutter of wings. He looked up to find both his owls perched on the chair across from him.
"What's up guys?" He greeted with a smile, he briefly pondered giving them an owl treat but remembered he left them back in his dorm.
'Vader and I are having an argument!' Leia pouted, if that were even possible for an owl, but she somehow pulled it off flawlessly.
Peter was a bit taken back by this and set his pencil down on the notebook he was using to give them his attention. "Um, ok?" he had never seen Vader and Leia argue, maybe his owls didn't get along as well as he thought they did. "So, what's the problem?"
'Well,' Vader said as he glared at Leia, 'She insisted that 'library' is spelt with a 'ei' and two 'B's, obviously that's wrong, right?'
"Well-" Peter started, but was interrupted by the fiery voice of Leia.
'HE said it was spelt with two 'E's on the end!'
'Which is it Peter?' Vader asked.
Peter just blinked at them, he never considered the idea that owls knew how to spell, it wasn't like they needed to, either way it looked like they weren't good at it.
"It's actually neither," He said slowly, hoping not to upset the already wound up owls.
'What?' they both said in unison with wide eyes.
'Prove it, write it down, let me see,' Vader said as he hopped over to Peter's notebook.
Peter turned to a new page and spelt out 'Library' in the top margin of the notebook paper. Both owls now leaned over to look at the word.
'That's not at all how I thought it was spelt,' Leia said surprised.
'Wait, how does one spell 'Peter' then?' Vader asked looking up at the very confused Slytherin.
"Like... this?" Peter said hesitantly as he spelt his own name just below 'Library' on the first line of the page.
'What about question marks?' Vader asked. 'Leia said they go before the word.'
Both owls looked down at the paper expectantly as they waited for Peter to demonstrate.
Peter was still baffled with what was going on, "The, um, question mark would go there..." he said as he wrote it just after 'Library.'
'Hmm... that'll have to do, what do you think V?' Liea asked looking up at the larger owl as he leaned down to inspect the written words.
"Wait a sec.." Peter said suspiciously as he now realized what he was just tricked into writing.
Library?
Peter
'Yoink!' Leia ripped the note from the sheet of paper it was on and Vader immediately grabbed it from her beak with his own before taking off in a flash of feathers.
"Vader! Get back here!" Peter said quickly standing up, but there was no way to catch the owl without accidentally hurting him.
His thoughts about his owls not getting along immediately vanished.
They got along with each other too well.
'Your welcome!' Leia said as she fluttered off, he could just hear the cheeky grin in her tone.
Peter sat down with a heavy sigh, he couldn't believe he was just outsmarted by his own owls!
It was hard to be mad because of the ridiculousness of it all, guess he'd just have to wait and see who they wanted to invite to the library.
He went back to his work.
He was scratching down a sketch of a blooming bitter root flower. Usually drawing out schematics helped him understand designs he was working on so maybe sketching flowers and plants will help him identify them for class. He suddenly felt relaxed, and the usual tension he had a habit of keeping in his shoulders practically melted away.
"That's very good, do you draw often?" Said the familiar sweet voice he'd only heard once before.
Peter looked up and spotted Luna as she took a seat across from him. In her hand was the folded notebook paper that Leia and Vader stole from him.
"Oh, um, not really. I usually only draw when making blueprints. Thought I'd try it to help with identifying plants for herbology," Peter shrugged as he pushed his notebook over to show her the handful of herbs he sketched out. They were a little stiff and almost too symmetrical since Peter wasn't used to drawing something so organic.
"What's this?" she asked as she ran her finger down the edge of the paper where Peter mindlessly doodled equations.
"Those are equations used in muggles science. Specifically a portion called Physics. It helps us understand the world. There are actually fundamental laws of the universe that even wizards are required to follow, muggles just took the time to further understand those rules."
"What's this? 'C equals 299,792,458 meters per second,' It looks important, judging by how specific it is, but that is very fast," She sounded intrigued but still kept her distant tone.
Peter could feel his chest swell with excitement, discussing science was always a rush, especially after having that portion practically suppressed in a school that wasn't even aware of basic physics. "That is the speed of light, literally the fastest thing known to, well, everyone! Nothing can travel faster than light, not even magic! Magic produces light more often than not but the energy of spells will always lag behind the light tremendously. Think of it as lightning, you always see the flash before hearing the bang."
"If light can have a quantifiable speed than does that mean light also has a physical presence and isn't just passive energy?" Luna's tone grew focused with thought but still remained soft. Peter wasn't actually expecting to have a legit scientific conversation with her but he wasn't going to complain.
"Light is made of these particles called photons.They are extremely tiny but at that size and with some of their more complicated properties it falls into quantum mechanics, but that's a whole different category all together!"
Peter started to ramble on about the basic properties of lights, eventually dabbled in quantum mechanics, but after that and with Luna's questioning Peter discussed all sorts of science.
"... Now don't even get me started on the possibility of a multiverse, if we could get the smallest proof of their existence then it would completely change how we view the singularity, but that's not even covering the prospects of an infinite number of realities. Just think... out there, somewhere, there's a version of you who was never born a witch, or you were born in a different time, OR! You become the first British American president. I have no idea how that would work but with a multiverse literally everything is possible!"
"There could be a universe out there where the wizarding world doesn't exist. Where it's just the muggles living their lives but with the existence of the Avengers and heroes still a constant. Or what if..." Luna thought for a moment, "This was all just a story. Characters being narrated and read as though we are living and breathing, but little do they know that we are real, just.. In a different plane of existence that they can only look at through words."
"Yeah, I think about that sometimes too. It's kinda hard not to with all the crazy stuff happening in my life, I think it'd be cool if I were a comic book or something. Like the old hero stories that muggles wrote, they'd get a kick out of me," Peter smiled down at his notebook as he doodles a little spider at the corner of the page.
"Is it because Tony Stark's your adoptive father?" she asked innocently, "Or would it have something to do with jumping out of that tree from so high up?"
"Uh... probably a bit of both? I've kinda got abilities," He looked up at her before glancing at the spider again, it was so weird discussing this stuff. When he thought of not being so secretive about his abilities, he didn't imagine coming straight out with it.
This whole thing was just giving him a headache, how was he supposed to judge something like this?
"Are you Spider-Man?" Luna asked.
The question made Peter tense up, but even that was almost impossible with the calmness radiating off of Luna. "How'd you figure that out so fast?" He asked as he looked back at her with wide eyes.
"Ever since the Battle of New York, my father and I have been interested in keeping track of all the new heroes that show up. Do you know what the Quibbler is?"
Still shocked by the fact that a witch was aware of Spider-Man despite the fact that he's only made appearances in New York, he almost couldn't answer her question, "Er, no?"
"It's a tabloid my father writes, he's written an article of you a few years back."
"Oh! That- That's actually pretty awesome!" Peter finally got his voice back.
"Are you a spider that was bitten by a man?" She asked wide eyed.
Once again, he was thrown off by Luna, "I-... uh.... No. I was bitten by a spider."
She seemed to ponder this for a moment, "Interesting," she spoke as if the idea had never occurred to her. Soon she got up and started walking towards the exit.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"Time for class, Peter," She said with a faint wispy smile.
"Alrighty, time really flew by, but I guess I'll see you later," He said as he quickly started to gather his things.
"Bye Peter, I really enjoyed talking about muggle science with you," She gave a small wave before disappearing behind one of the bookshelves as she found her way out of the library.
After his Care of Magical Creatures class with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Peter quickly wrote a letter during lunch.
Tony,
For once this isn't magic related, but I REALLY need you to send some text books on basic physics, some kind of intro to quantum mechanics, and something on the multiverse theory.
Please? If you could that'd be awesome!
-Peter
******
Tony read the letter he received from Peter as he sat in his workshop below his house in London.
"Heartstring!" He called.
"Yes, sir?" The assistant said looking up from dragging his wand across the wall, they found a spell that would conceal simple magic but anything advanced would set off alarms. It was similar to the one Richard Jones explained when they were visiting Peter's friends. It wasn't exactly what he was hoping for but it was the best they could do for now.
"Tomorrow I need you to get some books for Peter, I'll give you a list. There are a few I know he'll definitely like," Tony folded up the paper and put it in one of the drawers of his workshop desk that he put aside for all the letters he got from Peter. "Also could you find anything involving magic repulsing spells? Or something to nullify it?"
"No there's nothing in the libraries that I could find other than standard shield spells, but I don't think that caliber of a spell would be something that would be readily available to the public. Even then there should have been some kind of mention of it, none of which I could find," Heartstring said as he went back to drawing symbols.
"Hmm..." Tony put a pen to his lips as he leaned back in his chair, thinking. "What about other magic?" He muttered to himself.
"Sir?"
"There's this guy I know of in New York, Dr. Strange, he's a sorcerer. They might have something."
"A-... a sorcerer, sir?" Heartstring said with wide eyes.
"What, something wrong?" Tony asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Well, it's just... wizards aren't really supposed to interact with them," the assistant swallowed nervously as he tried to get back to drawing the spell on the wall.
"Good thing I'm a muggle then," Tony smirked. He pulled a piece of paper out of the notepad he'd been using to respond to Peter's letters. With the age of technology he never thought he'd need to use stationary again, but he couldn't exactly account for adopting a wizard.
Doctor Stephen Strange,
As you can see from my use of an owl, we need to talk. I'm sure you have a way to get into contact.
Tony Stark
******
Tony wasn't sure what he was expecting when he proposed he and Strange get in contact but a sparking portal in his kitchen at 10pm wasn't it. Vader was the first to fly through, he darted towards the handful of books tied together on the table. He sat on top of them waiting for Tony to open the back door so he could deliver Peter's books.
"So, the great Tony Stark is a part of the wizarding world," Spoke a familiar, yet slightly annoying, voice. "I expected to see you of all people having a mental break down about the whole ordeal, but it seems you've been busy. Quite the influence you've made in the wizarding community."
"Usually, the polite thing to say when magically appearing in someone else's house is good evening," Tony said dryly as he continued to pour himself a cup of coffee, he was in the kitchen for a reason after all.
"You're the one who sent me the owl," The portal closed behind the sorcerer as he walked over to the kitchen island.
"I expected a letter back with a time and place, not a house call, Doctor."
"I'm here now, what did you want to talk about?" Strange sighed.
Tony took a long drink of his coffee before finally facing Strange as he leaned forward against the kitchen island. Of course the guy was in his full wizard- sorry -sorcerer outfit.
"I'm not sure how much you know about the wizarding world, but I imagine you heard about the incident at the World Cup?" Tony absentmindedly squeezed his left wrist after setting his coffee cup down, he flexed his hand in his grip remembering the unnatural burns that once decorated his skin.
"Yes, the Dark Mark was cast into the sky, and I heard you were there. Four Death Eaters against you and your adopted son. I'm glad you both were able to handle it."
"We were lucky," Tony practically spat out the words, "The magic interferes with my suit, I almost couldn't use it near the end. I... I shouldn't have been there."
"No, you're just a man. Someone like you isn't supposed to be involved in this world. I suggest you start getting some distance before you're noticed by the wrong wizards," Strange suggested.
"Probably too late for that, Doc. Even if I could, I wouldn't, this is Peter's world and I'll be damned if I let him face it alone," Tony glared up at Strange. How dare he think he abandoned Peter like that?
"I didn't think so," Strange pulled a bundle of ancient looking scrolls out of his cloak and set them on the island between. "I believe these will help you in this endeavor you're pursuing. There was a group of scholars back in ancient Greece, no-majs, sorcerers, and wizards were all part of it for the soul purpose of learning and discovering the potential of hybrid magic. They disbanded after the Library of Alexandria burned down, the events were probably connected."
"What do I owe you? I hear doctors visits cost an arm and a leg nowadays," Tony joked as he pulled over one of the scrolls to examine the parchment. There were some burn marks at the edge. At the mention of Alexandria, Tony couldn't help but wonder if maybe this scroll was saved from the fire.
"I'm only saving your life," Strange said dryly, "But nothing, I know you won't stop and if you continue as you are you won't find something significant enough to fight against wizards. It wouldn't be smart to let one of the Avengers fall like that. Especially in the state they're in now."
"Guess I should say thanks," Tony put the scroll down and picked up his coffee.
"That will do," Strange smirked as he turned and summoned another portal. Stepping through it he looked back at Tony "I'm hoping that will keep you from sending that owl to me again. It was very persistent about getting in, went so far as to smash through my glass window," Strange was caught between amusement and frustration at the last comment. He glanced at the owl in question and Vader responded with what Tony could only describe as an indifferent shrug.
Before Tony could say anything the portal shrank and fizzled out. He wondered if the sparks were flammable or just remnants of the magic, maybe both. He wished he could run some tests, but that would have to wait.
He turned to Vader, "Right, Darth, gotta scratch out a letter for Peter before you can go. Relax for a bit, I put water and food by your perch at the door."
Vader looked over at the tall silver bird stand, it was built sturdy enough for Vader but with enough room for both owls whenever they were here. Usually Leia rested on it but Tony had the foresight to make sure it was comfortable for Vader as well.
Vader looked over before silently fluttering over to the stand, he started nibbling at the food and drinking the water.
P,
Got those books you wanted, but more importantly I've made some progress in finding a way to magic proof armor. Not sure what it is yet, I'll need to learn a dead language first, Ancient Greek to be exact, but this is definitely progress.
Like always, usually parent stuff. Stay in school. Don't do drugs or mysterious unidentifiable potions. And don't start magic fights, but if someone else does make sure you finish them. You got good instincts and a good heart, don't doubt yourself.
-T
******
"What are you reading?" Luna asked as she walked over to Peter who was sitting on the stair steps outside the Ravenclaw Tower entrance.
Peter had left dinner early despite Draco's protest, he was hardly hungry with his attention absorbed in the books Tony got him. Peter glanced up at Luna, he didn't even notice her approach he was so drawn in by the text, "It's called..." Peter turned it over to look at the front, there was a depiction of an ant colony with particles and arcs decorated around it, "Size of Relevance: Breakthroughs of Quantum Technology by Hank Pym. Tony got it for me when I asked for some books, I thought you might learn more from them than me since I only know the basics," Peter quickly stood up using one of Vader's feathers as a bookmark.
Peter had started reading earlier that day but had to rush out of lunch almost being late to his next class because of it. Not willing to dog-ear the page, Vader happily provided one of his loose tail feathers for Peter to use. The black feathers glistened a faint purple in the flickering firelight.
Luna tilted her head in interest, they were spending their breaks together in the library all that week and Peter was slowly learning some of her mannerisms, "I may not know much about muggle science, but that seems too advanced for someone at my level of understanding," Peter enjoyed how her tone never sounded undermining, it was always a gentle reminder of the truth, or a statement of a fact without the 'know it all' tone.
"Oh! right, well yeah of course," Peter said awkwardly, he quickly set the book on the step before digging in his bag, he pulled out a book labeled 'Physics 101,' he stood up before handing it out to her. "This is what you should start on. Sorta covers all the basics in most areas and teaches you terms as well as the math- oh shit! I forgot to ask, do you know what algebra is?" He asked quickly.
He couldn't believe he forgot to ask her about algebra of all things! It was essentially the cornerstones to pretty much any science dealing with some equation or another and that was literally all of physics.
"I know a little bit, but if I have any questions I'm sure you can explain things to me." She took the Physics book from his hand as she examined the cover. There was a muggle kicking a soccer ball with the predicted trajectory shown by an arc and some rudimentary equations with a random triangle added. "Thank you for the book," She smiled at him before starting her way up the large spiral staircase that lead up into the Ravenclaw tower.
Peter stood there a moment as he watched her disappear, but the pleasant sense of calmness that usually lingered after she left was interrupted by a small group of 5th year Ravenclaws.
"What's a snake like you doing up here," spoke a tall dark haired boy.
"You're kind don't belong here, back into the dank dungeons where you belong," Sneered the girl next to him.
The group shoved Peter into the wall as they pushed passed him to get into the towers.
"Jerks," Peter mumbled as he watched them pass. He was quick to leave the entrance to the tower after that. He wasn't keen on meeting anymore territorial Ravenclaws.
Walking through the halls back towards the Slytherin dungeons, Peter took the long way to avoid people and to just enjoy the walk before having to deal with the unsavory Slytherins waiting in the dorm.
That was just one of the many instances where Peter was mocked or hated just because of the house he was in. Never was there anything like that back at Ilvermorny, sure there were house rivalries in Quidditch, but it was all friendly. Peter had friends in all the other houses of the schools as did most students. That was a rarity here.
He wondered if it had something to do with the division of dorms.
At Ilvermorny they were divided by years, not houses. Usually a single dorm holding five students had at least two or three different houses in it. Ilvermorny was unified as one school, which was a sharp contrast to Hogwarts being divided within itself, and don't even get him started on the disaster that is the Slytherin house.
Peter just shook his head remembering back to the request he put into that hat when first getting sorted.
'Put me somewhere I can do the most.'
The young hero would have used the next moment debating what exactly 'the most' meant, but that was all interrupted when his spidey sense spiked.
Danger approaching!
Peter quickly looked up and around, he could hear the frantic steps of someone running down the halls, and was a little surprised to see Draco turn the corner. He worried for a moment that it was Draco that might be in trouble as the other teen looked over his shoulder with a startled expression. He seemed relieved when he spotted Peter.
"Peter! I don't know what you did but you've really pissed Zabini off," Draco huffed as he got the words out. "Come on! Get out of here. He knows I'm trying to warn you, no doubt he's followed," He tried to push Peter down the hall but Peter had firmly stuck his feet to the ground.
"No, I can't, he'd go after you next," Peter said quickly.
There was a moment of panic on Draco's face at the realization, he looked back down the dark hallway before he returned his gaze to Peter, "Shit, you're right."
"Get out of here, let him find me," Peter offered a he lightly pushed Draco away as he continued down the hall where he assumed Zabini was.
He could sense Draco was seriously considering leaving Peter there, so Peter was surprised at Draco's next words, "Fuck it, I'm staying with you. He's got a gang of Slytherins with him... And I don't think a friend would let you face them alone."
Peter looked back at Draco with a smile, "You're right about that, but I won't hold it against you if you wanted to leave."
"Zabini has it out for me anyways," Draco shrugged. Peter didn't need to use his ability to tell it was because he was hanging out with him.
Peter's spider sense spiked and in an instant Peter lifted his hand up casting a wandless shield spell to block a jinx he didn't even see. He saw a clash of blue light shatter against the stone wall to his left.
Peter quickly turned to see Zabini standing across the hall, with his wand drawn and the flickering firelight casting angry shadows over his eerily calm face. Three other Slytherins stood behind him.
"Stark," he said coldly, Peter could sense the faintest surprise at the fact that Peter was able to block against his first attack.
"What do you want Zabini," Pete replied, he slipped his own wand out of his robes pointing it towards them in a defensive position. From the corner of his eye he could see Draco do the same.
"You disgraceful little creatent," Zabini kept his tone calm, but it was laced with venom. "Do you have any idea what your actions are doing to the house? First you start hanging out with a Gryffindor mudblood, Potter, and that blood traitor Weasley, then you start manipulating Malfoy into being friends with you, and now," he let out a disgusted laugh, "Now your hanging out with that crackpot Lovegood? Have you ever noticed the first years getting acquainted with the Gryffindors because of your influence?" Zabini's eye twitched with contained rage. His grip tightened on his wand wand.
"I'm not doing that on purpose," Peter held his wand crossways in front of himself. True he had planned to maybe change a little bit of how Slytherin worked but he hadn't even started trying yet, all he was doing was offering some help on homework to some of the younger students and being nice to those who weren't immediately jerks to him, even if they were rude he tried to be civil. "What's so wrong with that anyways!"
"I wouldn't suspect an outsider like you to understand, but after we're done with you, you won't need to."
The other's with Zabini held their wands out, a cocky grin plastered one of the boy's faces and the girl closest to Zabini held a smug smirk.
"You really don't need to do this," Peter warned, he glanced back at Draco giving him one last chance to make a run for it. They were widely outnumbered and he doubted any of the teachers would get there anytime soon.
Draco held his wand up and Peter could see it tremble slightly in his grip, but the steely glance he gave back to Peter told him he was true to his word about staying.
"No, we do," Zabini was the first to fire, the others followed shortly after.
The two boys were immediately on defense as they blocked the attacks best they could, sparks and balls of magic bounced around the corridor as the spells dissipated against the walls.
Zabini and the girl focused on Peter, while the other two boys covered Draco.
"Shit, I think they might actually be trying to kill us!" Draco shouted over the barrage of magic. "I don't-" before he was finished Draco was knocked back after the boys cast a spell in unison. Peter could hear the faint crack as Draco's head hit the wall.
He winced.
The distraction cause Peter to ignore his spidey sense and the same technique was used on him by Zabini and the girl. The results just the same. Peter's vision blurred as the back of the head contacted the wall, he could already tell by the pain that he would have been knocked out if it weren't for his unnatural durability. So that only meant he'd be facing the four by himself after all, no way Draco would be conscious after that.
"Fuck..." Peter muttered as he slowly got up.
"Still standing, Stark?" Zabini spat out. Once again Peter could sense his surprise.
Peter shifted so he was kneeling next to Draco, just as he thought, out cold. From his own injury he could tell that it wasn't enough force to break anything, but he could see the red gently drip down Draco's blond hair. He cursed himself for putting Draco in harm's way like that. He knew the Slytherin's were hostile at times but he never thought they'd go this far, if he'd known that he wouldn't have tried to make friends with Draco in the first place.
Everyone around him always ended up in danger, he was getting real sick and tired of it.
"Unfortunately for you" Peter finally spoke, "because now you've pissed me off," Peter growled as he took his wand and gently curled it into the grip of Draco's hand. He could only hope that it would do the same thing to Draco that it did for Tony back at the World Cup. Either way, he'd rather fight without a wand then risk his friend getting more injured from collateral damage.
But thanks to MJ, he was confident enough in his wandless ability to fight the four Slytherins who probably hadn't had nearly as much experience in dueling as Peter. Even without his webbing, he knew he could protect his friend as Spider-Man.
Peter stood up to face them as he took a few steps away from Draco to further reduce the chance of stray spells hitting him.
"He's mad if he thinks he can take us without a wand," Scoffed the girl, though she seemed unsettled by the fact and Peter could sense the bad feeling she was getting from it.
'Good instincts' He thought as he slowly crouched down in a position he'd usually only hold when on the streets fighting criminals. One hand lightly touched the ground while the other stretched out behind him as a counterbalance for whatever move he needed to make next.
"Doesn't matter, we end this," Zabini said coldly, once again he was the first to raise his wand.
"This bastard's definitely mad, let's get this over with," Said one of the boys.
The four fired a jinx at him simultaneously, within the instant before the spells even left the tips of the wand, Peter sprang towards the corridor wall next to him before kicking off it towards the two boys on the end.
Flipping midair, they were both close enough together for Peter to nail them in the chest with each foot. They hit the ground with a painful 'oof!' and they both had the air knocked out of them.
Peter rolled to stop his fall and used his diagonal trajectory to land right behind Zabini. With one sweeping kick at his legs, Zabini was on his back with a thud. The girl panicked casting a spell towards Peter that would have hit Zabini if he chose to dodge, instead Peter held up his hand, thankful for his inhuman reaction time, he casted the wandless shield spell causing it to deflect the point blank magic onto the ground.
He quickly stood up and snatched the wand out of her hand. She practically squeaked as she backed herself against the wall behind her.
"Accio!" Peter said and the other three students wand flew into his outstretched hand. He looked back at Zabini with a scowl, "It's one thing to attack me, but don't you ever hurt one of my friends again."
Zabini just looked at him with an air of disgust, unfortunately he was smart, and a few things Peter did wasn't humanly possible. "You're one of those freaks, aren't you!" He gasped as he caught his breath. "You're blood isn't even mud, it's putrid! How dare you call yourself a wizard!"
Peter backed away from them edging towards Draco. He didn't sense their want to attack anymore, so he tossed their wands to the ground in front of him, but wasn't exactly happy with the fear and disgust that came from them.
The two boys were the first to scramble to grab their wands as they retreated, each clutching their chest as he ran around the corner down the hall. The girl was next.
Zabini had made it to his feet, just standing there his fists clenched and raging fire flickering in his eyes. He took a step towards Peter before only going so far to pick up his wand, "I will make sure you pay for this, Stark."
With that Zabini turned to walk calmly away, but Peter could sense his unrelenting rage.
He made sure to hold his ground until he couldn't hear footsteps anymore, that was when Peter let out a groan, "Fuuuck, I think I just made mortal enemies with my roommate," He grumbled as he pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. "Goodbye peaceful sleep," he muttered as he turned to walk back towards Draco.
Finding Draco's wand on the ground beside the young wizard, he took it along with his own wand, tucking them into his robs.
"Draco?" Peter said nervously as he tried to lightly shake the boy awake.
Draco mumbled as he shifted slightly.
Peter let out a small sigh of relief, the good thing about head wounds were they usually look worse than they actually were, due to excessive bleeding, but he still thought it was a good idea to take him to the infirmary to get it checked out. He might have a concussion.
"The hell happened.." Draco mumbled as he tried to stand. He rubbed the back of his head only to freeze when he felt the warm blood on his fingers.
Peter put a hand under his elbow to help him stand on his feet. If he could walk there was no reason to carry him, even if it would be faster.
"I'm pretty sure you need some dueling lessons," Peter said lightly.
"Not really a huge focus here, last dueling club we had ended in second year," Draco winced as he stood up straight, Peter could see him sway slightly and quickly wrapped an arm around his waist to steady him.
"Remind me to give you some lessons later, I'd hate for you to be unprepared," Peter sighed, he had a feeling that wasn't the last duel Draco would find himself in because of his relations to Peter.
Peter started leading the other Slytherin towards the Hospital Wing, luckily they weren't far from it.
"Yeah... Wait , where'd Zabini go?" Draco asked looking over his shoulder.
"Disarmed them then scared them off," Peter sighed, he really hoped they weren't planning to come back, but from the looks of it, it seemed like they were done fighting for the night.
"You couldn't have at least jinxed them? Make it even?" Draco complained.
Peter just laughed, "You know I don't work like that."
"Well you should!" Draco winced at his headache, "If I have to go to the Hospital Wing, the least you could have done was sent one of them with me."
"I think they had their egos pretty bruised by the fact I defeated them wandless," Peter smirked.
"Now you're just showing off," Draco scoffed.
"What? You were unconscious and my wand has the same desire to protect people. Luckily I didn't need it, it can only do so much."
"You're going to have to explain that wand thing to me later because it makes no sense and frankly I don't have the capacity to understand it right now," Draco groaned, he was suddenly taken over by a wave of nausea and almost stumbled to the ground. Peter helped keep him up.
"You ok?" Peter asked quickly.
"Yeah... probably.. I just feel really sick."
"Crap, I think you might have a concussion. We should really get you to the healers," Peter supported more of Draco's weight so it wouldn't be as much of a strain for him to walk.
Only a few more corridors before they were at the Hospital Wing.
***
"So who would like to explain this," Snape practically hissed as he stood in front of the bed Draco laid in.
Draco had bandages around his head and his arm in a sling. When he hit the wall, his arm hit a pillar causing it to fracture.
Peter was standing next to Draco's bed with a guilty look. He knew he wasn't directly the cause of Draco's injuries, but he still felt responsible.
"Zabini, well, he's ticked off about me being friends with Luna, Harry, Hermione, and Ron," Peter winced getting ready for the 'I told you so' from the Professor.
Snape just looked at Peter with something between apathy and disappointment, he took in a deep breath before speaking, "Might I remind you of the warning I gave about associating with those three, Mr. Stark?"
Yup, just as Peter thought, there's the 'I told you so' more or less.
"So what, huh? I can be friends with who I want, that's none of their business. None of yours either," Peter said bitterly.
"It is when one of my students ends up in the Hospital Wing because of your ignorance," Snape said sternly. "But seeing as you were attacked first you'll only get two days of detention."
"What!" Draco butted in, "They're the ones that started it, ask anyone in the common room, Zabini wouldn't shut up about attacking Peter," Draco huffed.
"You are not getting detention, Malfoy. Only Stark and Zabini's accomplices will be receiving punishment, seeing as you were only caught in the crossfire," Snape replied.
Draco mumbled something about favoritism as he glanced towards Peter apologetically.
"Attacking another student will not be tolerated, despite who started it and who the winner was both parties will be punished. Be happy you don't have a full week," Snape continued.
Peter just crossed his arms before looking away with a sign, "Yes, sir.." Peter muttered.
******
Tony had been on his feet all day, with meetings between the UN and wiggling his way into the politics of the Wizarding world, Tony's usual workload was practically doubled.
It didn't help that he received a letter from Hogwarts telling him that Peter got into another fight. Now he'd just wait till Peter's next letter, hopefully it will explain the situation.
He probably was fine, the kid was good at dodging and he'd seen a glimpse of what that kid could do in a duel.
Still, Tony couldn't help but worry.
"Heartstring, please tell me that was the last thing on our todo list today," Tony sighed as he casually walked through Diagon Alley away from Gringotts bank. He had to slowly grow his bank account there since taking out large amounts of money in cash would be too suspicious to the no-man banks so they had to grow his wizard funds relatively small portions at a time.
The wizarding street was already accustomed to the occasional no-maj walking through the streets, but after the reporter Ritta Skeeter published her article about Iron Man he'd been getting a lot more stares. He was enjoying the anonymity in the wizarding world, but with the article, that was quickly fading. At least it wasn't to the same extent that it was in the no-maj world. They were more familiar with his armor then his face.
"The UN is calling for a debrief on the international human trafficking you assisted with the other day, but that's not for another few house. After that Miss Potts wants you to look over the schematics for the newest StarkPhone and the assisting device for emergency responders," Heartstring named off.
"Have they come up with a name for that yet?"
"Not to my knowledge, sir."
"Shame they didn't want to call it the bloodhound," Tony sighed, he could feel the effects of standing all day start to wear on his feet and back. He definitely wasn't getting any younger.
He rolled his shoulders to release some of the tension when he almost ran over some small creatures scurry past him into a dark alleyway. Caught off guard and off balance, Tony almost tripped on an uneven brick in the path. Heartstring quickly caught his arm allowing him to regain his balance.
"What the hell was that," Tony said looking off towards the direction the creature ran. He didn't get a good look at it.
"I believe it was a house elf, sir," Heartstring said looking in the same direction.
"What did I tell ya, ye filthy worm! No job! Do I have ta spell it out for ya?" Slurred a witch who was probably drunk.
Tony and Heartstring watched as a small house elf was tossed out of a doorway by the arm, the witch didn't seem concerned with the well being of the elf as she gripped it's arm shoving it down a set of short stairs. It fell on its back, splashing into a puddle.
The door slammed shut and the little elf looked down at the ground with a quivering lip and shiny eyes as it slowly got up. It wore a dirty blue tie around its head.
"Heartstring," Tony spoke not taking his eyes off the little creature.
"Sir?"
"If a house elf wears clothes it means it's been freed, right?"
"Technically, yeah, but fired is more accurate. Rarely does someone free a house elf out of the good of their heart. It's sorta the end of their world when their fired. They enjoy work but house elves that are freed can't really find any afterwards," Heartstring answered hesitantly.
"Yeah, one of Peter's friends was explaining house elves to me when I visited. She wanted them to be free and paid for their work but I never asked what was happening to those who were already free," Tony started walking towards the little elf who now had it's back to them and it was dragging its feet down the alleyway. There was a small limp in it's step and it held its arms around itself as if it were cold.
"Well," Heartstring said grimly, "a lot of times they just wither away. No work to do, no food, sometimes not even a will to keep going, they just disappear."
Tony hated the sound of that.
They were living beings, with intelligence that matched humans. If he was willing to argue for Vision's rights, who was an android, then shouldn't that extend to other beings?
"Mr. Stark? What are you thinking?" Heartstring asked nervously.
Tony didn't answer him as he caught up to the small creature.
"Hey, house elf," he felt rude calling it that, but he wasn't sure how else to get it's attention.
The elf quickly turned around practically glaring at him. The distrust on her face was easily read so Tony stopped before he got too close so as not to frighten her.
At least he thought it was a she. What he thought was ragged cloth around her torso and waist were actually clothes. It looked like an old blouse and skirt.
"It sounded like you're looking for a job. I'd pay you of course," Tony continued.
She just looked at him with big dark eyes. Even in the shadows of the alley way Tony could tell her skin was more of an ash color than usual skin tone, that with a stringy mop of hair on her head if he'd seen her before he'd known the wizarding world, he would have described her as some kind of creature from under the bed.
"You're a muggle," She spoke firmly, which was surprising for her meek size and hunched over look.
"I can still pay you in galleons."
"Why?" She asked wearily.
"I've got too much wizard stuff going on at my house, can't higher muggle maids, too busy to do the housework myself. Would you be interested?"
Again she just watched him.
"Good pay, a bed to sleep in, plenty of food, and clothes if you want them," For someone looking for a job he was surprised she wasn't jumping at the idea, though to be fair, it wasn't common for a no-maj to hire a house elf.
"Books?" She asked, despite not showing the trait before she seemed shy in the request.
"If you'd like."
"Ok," She said immediately.
Tony was suspecting another long pause before she gave an answer, so that sudden answer was definitely interesting, she must really like books.
Looking down at the small eager looking elf, Tony realized that it would draw a lot of attention traveling through the city with her.
"We'll discuss payment when we get back to the house. Heartstring, apparate her over there, I'll take the car."
"Yes, sir," Heartstring nodded.
On the way back Tony already started basic plans for the elf's living quarters, and what he'd pay her. He was also reminded that he didn't know the elf's name. Did they even have names? He didn't remember if the house elves at Mj and Ned's house had names.
Pulling up to the driveway, Tony got out making his way up the steps and into the house. Heartstring was waiting patiently. It was about time for his lunch break and he usually spent it visiting his mother.
"Will you need me here?" the PA asked.
"No, you can head out."
Heartstring gave a quick goodbye before disappearing with a faint pop.
The house elf didn't seem to notice the quick exchange as she looked wide eyed at the bookshelf in the living room.
"I never asked you name," Tony spoke up.
She quickly looked back towards him, she played with the loose end of the tie but she didn't seem nervous. "My name is Ruffle."
Tony walked over to her, "Well, it's good to meet you," he crouched down and held out his hand, "My name is Tony Stark."
She still looked worried at first, but after a moment of consideration, she took his hand and looked at him with a bright smile he wasn't expecting.
******
If Peter was being completely honest, he kinda forgot about the whole Triwizard Tournament thing.
It was the day before Halloween, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were scheduled to arrive that evening at six with a large welcoming feast to follow. With it being Sunday, school was off for Halloween on Monday, and it was the day eligible students could start signing up for the Tournament.
Peter was excited about the whole thing. It had been a couple centuries since the last one was held and he couldn't believe his luck that the year he was Hogwarts first transfer student was the same year they were starting the tradition back up again, which was odd since usually his luck was pretty horrible.
Though, he was under the care of Tony, and despite the physical distance that school was putting between them, he could still feel the bond between them grow. It left Peter feeling happy, and wanted. Something he thought was lost when he walked through the doors of the hospital over four months ago.
God, was it really that long ago?
With everything that's been happening it's felt like years since that night, but the pain wasn't any less because of it. He was still happy to say he was getting better.
He was sure May would be proud.
"So, Peter, um..." Gregory Goyle stood nervously at the edge of the table Peter was sitting at. It was tucked in the far corner of the common room and with Vader perched on one of the chairs shooting anyone who stepped close enough with a purposeful death glare that even the nastiest Slytherins felt uncomfortable with, no one ever bothered him.
But the first years who would ask Peter for help didn't mind the owl too much, since they knew Peter they suspected he wouldn't let the angry creature do anything to them, and of course they were right.
"What's up Greg?" Peter asked looking up from one of the other books Tony sent him: Out of sight: Realities Around Us, The Hidden Worlds by Janet van Dyne.
Greg wasn't a first year, obviously, but he had been seeking Peter's help out for some of the homework after Peter found him struggling one day. Pride was an unstated house trait of Slytherin and with that stubbornness, but it didn't take long for Greg to warm up to the idea of getting help from him, especially after his grades started improving.
"Could you help me study for that potions test Thursday? I'm pretty sure Snape's gonna kill me if I bomb another one," he glanced nervously at Vader. Peter could sense Greg's wave of relief when he noticed the owl's gaze wasn't trained on him anymore.
"Course! Let me just finish this page real quick, Janet van Dyne just started a topic about Einstein–Rosen bridges not only being a tool to bypass the need for light speed but also allowing us to venture into different realities! Though the ones she's talking about have to be extremely tiny considering the stability of a reality bridge would be constantly fluctuating. Did you know it would probably act more like a black hole then what we'd think a portal would be like? If you were to shrink to that size, it would just suck you right in then collapse within the next instant, of course you'd already be on the other side by that point but it would be one hell of a trip. Makes you wonder what's really inside those gigantic black holes in space. Could they possibly be stable bridges that are one way? Or are they just a galactic garbage disposal trying to eat everything up," Peter hadn't realized he started rambling until he caught the sense of confusion radiating from Greg.
He was already sitting down with his notes out and book ready just waiting for Peter to finish up. Peter had been talking so much he kinda forgot to finish the page, he could just save it for later anyways. Peter started searching around for the corner scrap of paper he tore from his notebook he was using as a bookmark, before he restored to ripping another scrap out, Leia poked her head out of the hood of his hoodie. 'Here,' She handed him one of her loose feathers. It shined bronze in the common room light.
"Thank you," Peter said, giving her a small pat on the head before she nestled down into the hood again.
The moment she discovered how comfortable it was to nest in his hoods instead of perching on his shoulder, she practically never left his side. There were a few instances where she slept in his hood all day without the teachers seeming to notice. He could feel Vader's jealousy as he began stalking Peter after that, taking every opportunity to be in his vicinity.
Peter grinned at the fact, his owls were so weird, but he loved them.
"Right," Peter finally said after closing his book and setting it near Vader, "I could use some studying for it too. No better way to learn than to teach, so win win!"
Greg was kind of a slow learner, but he wasn't as dumb at most people thought him to be. Usually once he got something down he never forgot it, like seriously, occasionally something might slip Peter's mind but Greg would pull up the answer before Peter could even glance over at his book, so long as the other Slytherin was already familiar with the information.
A few hours passed. The two decided to wrap it up since they'd already gone over most of the notes they had. "If Snape actually makes us test our own antidotes I can confidently say we can survive long enough to make it to the hospital," Peter joked.
"Speak for yourself, all this studying is giving me a headache. We're probably better off framing Snape for poisoning us. You think we'll automatically pass?" Greg sighed.
Peter just chuckled as he started cleaning up his notes and placing them in his messenger bag. With the expansion spell place on it he wondered if Vader would enjoy sitting in it.
The owl in question was now sitting on Peter's lap, eyes alert like a watchdog as he scanned the surrounding room. Peter scratched the top of the owls head before leaning back in his chair.
"I doubt that, he'd just give us a zero and blame it on our stupidity," Peter stretched his arms out behind his head. "But seriously, I bet you'll do fine."
Before Greg could say anything other than a shrug, Draco landed himself in the chair on the other side of Peter, the one Vader was occupying when they first started to study. "Studying again, Peter? I swear, just watching you gives me a migraine."
"Offer is always on the table if you need some tutoring, Draco," Peter shrug.
Draco just rolled his eyes, "Like I need help, I've got top marks in all my classes."
"Your care for magical creatures grade is looking kinda neglected," Peter remarked.
"That's only because the oaf that teaches it doesn't even know how to use a quill," Draco scoffed.
Peter just shot him a glare, Draco's malice faltered and he looked a little guilty, "If I remember correctly, you tried to get him fired last year, and you're not exactly kind to Hagrid."
Draco just crossed his arms and muttered, "It's not my fault he shows favoritism towards those Gryffindorks."
Peter just looked at him it at 'really?' look.
"Fine, ok? Whatever, I'll try to be nicer," Draco huffed, he kept his eyes away from Peter as he pouted slightly.
"Guys," Greg finally spoke up, "It's almost six, didn't Snape want us all in uniform for when the other school showed up."
Peter glanced down at his digital watch, he'd improved it some with the help of Tony so instead of losing 2.4 hours a day from magical interference it only lost an hour and a half. He'd probably be able to cut that down to thirty minutes if he weren't so bogged down with homework all the time.
"Um," Peter had looked up at Greg only to realize he hadn't actually looked at the time on his watch, he glanced again, "Yeah, we should get ready. Last thing I want to do is keep Snape waiting."
"Agreed," Draco said as he started to get up.
Vader hopped onto the table and Peter fished a reluctant Leia out of his hood.
"Probably better you guys don't go with me tonight, we're supposed to make a good impression on the other schools," Peter pet both birds affectionately. Leia leaned into his touch while Vader aggressively nuzzled his hand.
'Night Petey,' Leia gently nibbled Peter's thumb before fluttering off.
'Why must we part so soon?' Vader sighed, 'I eagerly await the moment I can see you again. Enjoy dinner and sleep well, my Peter.'
"You're owls have attachment issues, especially Vader," Draco said as he watched the scary black owl(?) fly up into the shadows of the common room.
"You're just jealous you don't have awesome owls like that," Peter said smugly.
Greg had already gone ahead of them and Peter walked just behind Draco as they headed off to their dorm to change.
Zabini pushed out of their dorm room already in his uniform, he knocked shoulders with Peter, practically shoving him against the other wall "Disgusting amalgamite," the other boy practically snarled the words.
"Freak." Said another boy following just behind Zabini.
Peter just sighed as he let them pass, shifted himself away from the wall and into the dorm. Draco gave him an apologetic look despite the fact that none of it was his fault.
Ever since the fight, Zabini had been spreading the word of Peter's unnatural abilities. Even if he only saw a fraction of what Peter could do, it was enough. A mutant, they called him, inhuman, and soon the word amalgamite started springing up.
It didn't have a set definition, but from what Peter could tell it was worse the mudblood. A freak of nature, not muggle, not human, just something unnatural created from impure science that needed to be destroyed. With that word other students also started calling him an 'it.'
Here he thought school couldn't get worse, he didn't realize Zabini was so influential.
"It's fine," Peter muttered to Draco.
Peter usually didn't let words get to him, but for some reason the new insult did.
Despite gaining a habit of telling Tony everything, he wasn't willing to talk about that. He knew his adopted father would be pissed, and might make an unplanned visit to the school in an attempt to thwart the bullying, but Peter could already tell that would only make things worse. He didn't need Iron Man fighting all his battles for him.
Peter pulled on his robes with the ease of having done it countless times before. Soon he was leading Draco and Greg out of the dorms and into the common room.
"Ew, get that thing away from me," Greengass complained loudly after Peter found himself walking near her on the way out of the common room. A group of boys shoved Peter back, causing him to fall into Draco, who was able to catch him by the shoulders before they both stumbled to the ground.
Of course he could have dodged it, but it would have looked unnatural. He didn't want to feed their rumors.
"Did she always have a small army following her?" Peter muttered as he straightened his robes. Peter watched as some of the younger students he used to tutor avoided eye contact.
"Come on, let's just get to the Entrance Hall before someone gets brave," Draco started pushing Peter out of the dungeons following the small stream of students that merged with the rest of the school congregating in the Entrance Hall.
Peter just huffed in annoyance.
The Heads of house started ordering students into lines, first years in front with the other years finding their places behind them.
"Weasley straighten your hat," Professor Mcgonagall snapped at Ron, "Mr. Creevey, if I see that camera one more time!"
"Straight lines, surely you're old enough to understand that," Snape walked down the line that consisted of the Slytherin house. He paused as he approached Peter and Draco. He stood next to Peter as the teen faced forward, his eyes gave him a suspicious sideways gaze. Peter couldn't read it and he didn't dare look into the professor's mind since it gave him a headache last time.
He glanced at Draco, who shifted uncomfortably under the look, before returning his gaze to Peter. "Seems your... incident the other day has granted you a few rumors. Am I to believe there's any truth behind them?"
"Don't know sir, what do you think?" Peter said shying away from the man's line of sight. He's never felt so self conscious about what he was, but with how everyone's been acting towards him he worried Snape might feel the same.
There was a long moment where Snape just narrowed his eyes before speaking again, "I think the muggle world is becoming complicated, considering who you are associated with it wouldn't surprise me."
Peter was pretty sure it didn't sound judgmental, but he couldn't really get any more answers since Snape decided the conversation was over, he continued down the line. He scolded one of the older students for being faced the wrong way, then told another to fold their hood right side out.
"What just happened?" Peter whispered back to Draco.
"I have no idea," He replied, just as perplexed.
Soon the lines started moving, the whole student body was lead out of the hall and down the front steps before lining up in front of the castle. The evening was cold as the fall weather already moved in, but the sky was clear of clouds causing the beautiful gradient of color from the setting sun to be unobstructed. Peter personally preferred clouds at sunset, the twilight shining off them reflected dazzling fiery hues. They almost rivaled the colors of a phoenix.
He felt a little homesick for the sunsets back at Ilvermorny, the western common room had the best view. The lush forest, bright green and thrumming with magic, was a striking contrast against the orange red skies. Peter would lay across the wide stone railing of the balcony as he worked on his assignments for the day. The relaxing lull of a small stream below helping him focus.
Peter let out a quiet unsteady breath from his nose. Hogwarts was starting to feel so foreign to him, he was missing his second home at Ilvermorny more than he originally thought.
"Nearly six," Peter heard someone whisper, he noticed the younger students start to get impatient and complain about the chill. Even Draco muttered something about the temperature.
Peter wasn't as affected by the bite in the air but he crossed his arms and snuggled into his warm robes anyways, before he could wonder how the schools planned on arriving, Dumbledore spoke up.
"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
Confused questions broke out among the students as they wondered, but one young Ravenclaw in the front shouted out, "There! Over the trees!"
Peter caught sight of a dark mass flying towards them, "Are those...?"
"Flying horses, gigantic, flying horses," Draco said in aw.
The students watched as the flock of horses glided closer, they landed on the grass in front of them with a loud thud, the carriage they pulled rolled to a slow stop. The anticipation swelled as they held their breath wondering who would be the first to step out of the Beauxbatons' carriage.
A boy in pale blue robes was the first to jump out, he fumbled with something on the carriage floor and soon a set of golden steps unfolded, landing on the grass. He stepped back respectfully then the largest woman Peter had ever seen gracefully stepped down into the grass.
Peter wondered if she was half giant like Hagrid, he could tell Draco was wondering the same thing, but that was put in the back ground as he prepared a comment about her.
"Draco," Peter said warningly.
"Right, yeah. That was probably rude wasn't it," Draco said sheepishly.
"Yeah," Peter laughed gently, "But I don't have to warn you as much, so you're getting better," He said before Dumbledore lead the students of Hogwarts in an applause for the spectacular entrance.
The woman walked up the steps towards the Headmaster, they spoke and Peter caught her name. Madame Maxime. After their greeting she waved towards the carriage, nearly a dozen students in the same pale blue robes as the first boy, stood with a sense of elegance despite their shivers from the cold air. It didn't help that their robes looked to be made of silk, and were in no way the proper attire for the chilly climate. Some had the foresight to bring scarves but even those didn't seem to do much against the cold.
With her thick accent, Madame Maxime asked if someone named Karkaroff had arrived yet, Peter could only assume it to be the Durmstrang headmaster.
Madame Maxime waved for her students to follow and they soon found their way into the Entrance Hall out of the cold.
"Lucky," Draco shivered, "It's cold, can we get this over with already?"
"I wonder how the other school is going to arrive?" Peter glanced up at the sky wondering if another carriage was going to soar down from above.
"Probably some over dramatic way because everyone like to show off and take too fucking long with their stupid dramatic timing," Draco hissed through chattering teeth.
Peter laughed quietly at Draco's struggle with the cold, "You alright there? Do you need my scarf?"
"Of course you're weird enough to bring a scarf and not need it... wait, please don't tell me you actually have some kind of cold immunity. I might jinx you out of jealousy."
"Not an immunity, per say, but definitely a resistance," Peter couldn't hold back a smug grin.
"I'd say fuck you, but I really want that scarf."
Peter just smiled and shook his head as he pulled the green and silver scarf from his neck, handing it to Draco who was quick to put it on.
Soon a muffled rumble could be heard, the eerie tone reminded Peter of a vacuum seal being slowly released. Someone shouted something about the lake, and soon all eyes watched as the still black water produced ripples from a hidden source. The ripples grew larger until the waves crashed against the lake shore, a whirlpool appeared in the center.
A long black pool rose up from the center of the whirlpool, soon revealing itself as the mast to a large ship.
"Standing out here in the cold and all we get is a bloody boat," Draco mumbled as he tucked his arms closely around himself.
Peter watched as the ship rose out of the water, it's dark hull gleamed against the moonlight, but the whole ship reminded him of the Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean. He wouldn't be surprised if the ship sailed straight from Davy Jones' locker.
"Sike, the Drumstrages are secretly pirates," Peter commented.
This got a chuckle from Draco, and Peter could hear a few snickers from the Slytherin's around them.
Snape hissed at them to be quiet.
The ship slowly drifted towards the shore, the anchor was released with a heavy splash and a long plank clonked against the rocks allowing for the passengers to get off.
As the Durmstrang students got off, Draco let out a hiss of envy as he spotted their thick fur coats. The headmaster of the school walked up to Dumbledore giving him a friendly greeting, but Peter was immediately distracted by the sudden excitement radiating off of Draco.
"Damn, I didn't know Victor Krum was going with them!" He whispered excitedly. He could hear Ron making similar excited comment to Harry.
As the Hogwarts students followed behind the Durmstrang into the entrance hall, he noticed Ron and Draco weren't the only ones excited about Krum's appearance. One girl wondered aloud if the Quidditch player would be willing to sign her hat in lipstick.
Draco and Peter eventually found their usual seats at the Slytherin table, the Beauxbaton settled at the Ravenclaw table, and despite Ron's best efforts to get Krum's attention, the Drumstrang students sat at the Slytherin table.
Ron crossed his arms in a pout, Peter was able to catch his eye and mouthed, 'Do you want an autograph?'
Ron nodded excitedly, he turned back to face Harry probably telling the other boy.
Before Peter could wonder how exactly he was going to approach Krum about the autograph, but the Quidditch star in question decided to sit right between Peter and Draco so at least it was a little easier now. Draco went wide eyed before quickly composing himself into his usual self confident ways.
At first Peter expected Krum to start talking with Draco since he had no doubt the Malfoys had some kind of connection to them. Peter was immediately surprised when Krum addressed him first.
"You are Peter Stark, yes?" The older teen asked in a thick accent. (He wanted to call it a Russian accent but knew he was probably wrong)
"Y-yes? I mean, yeah, 'course!" Peter didn't feel any hostility from Krum, in fact he could sense some kind of gratitude.
"If you vould be so kind, extend my gratitude to your father and the Avengerz. My cousins live in Sokovia, zey vere one of the lucky ones that escaped with their help," He gave Peter a small smile that was more genuine than Peter expected. He thought someone like Krum would be distant and cold, but now that he's near enough to sense his character it was the opposite.
"I'll remember to tell my dad that," Peter replied, hardly noticing how easy it was to consider Tony his father nowadays, "I don't know about the rest of the Avengers... some are kind of... well.. outlaws now. I don't see them much."
"Ah, yes, I do remember hearing of ze conflict between them. It saddens me to know that circumstances have caused them to split," Krum sighed.
"Yeah," Peter sighed thinking back to all the moments he sensed Tony thinking of his old team with longing.
Dumbledore stood up calling the rooms attention, silence fell over the Great Hall.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and- most particularly -guests," The headmaster's eyes scanned over the room with his usual friendly smile. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable. The Tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast, I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"
Dumbledore sat down as Peter spotted the Durmstrang headmaster, who was confirmed to be Karkaroff, lean over and pull Dumbledore into a conversation.
The food appeared on the plates as usual but Peter could see the variety was drastically different, probably to accommodate to the foreign students.
Peter was quick to dig in, he was excited to try new dishes, but was mostly just excited to eat. With all the excitement that night, he didn't notice how hungry he was. Despite the Tournament being the main event, it was the furthest thing from his mind that night as he quickly made friends with Victor Krum.
[A/N: Lots of stuff in this chapter! I do hoped you payed attention, and sorry for taking so long to update again but I'm putting myself on a schedule to help put aside time to write. Fingers crossed that it works]