"Mister Potter," Phil nodded. "I understand that you wanted to talk to us?"
"I did," Harry confirmed. "Thanks for getting back to me."
The two scientists gave him a smile; Skye a friendly wave from where she sat cross-legged on the desk at the side of the image.
"What's the nature of the problem?" Phil asked.
"A number of the Dark Elves that invaded London managed to either escape or were captured by … um," Harry paused, suddenly realising that he had a problem.
"I am aware of the nature of the other party involved," Phil said and Harry nodded at the implied message: the other three weren't and he needed to choose his words carefully in order to protect the Statute of Secrecy.
"I understand that your team deals with the extraordinary," Harry said, glossing over the magical aspect of the problem. "And, as such, I was wondering if you had any way of tracking the Dark Elves?"
"And interesting idea," Simmons said, her eyes blazing to life.
"Not one that we've considered before," Fitz added, rubbing his chin, "tracking extra-terrestrial lifeforms."
"But possible; after all, we've encountered a number of Asgardian artefacts now," Simmons countered.
"Not that the Dark Elves are from Asgard," Fitz pointed out.
It seemed that the two had all but forgotten that there were others involved in the conversation.
"No. Still, the principle should still be useful, considering that we can get a sample to work with," Simmons stated.
"The pieces of the alien ship that we've analysed! It'll have all of the data that we need," Fitz exclaimed, snapping his fingers.
Harry stared at the two as they bounced back and forth. It was very disconcerting and dragged up a whole host of memories; he was incredibly glad that George wasn't in the room for that conversation.
"So, you're saying that it's possible?" Coulson broke in.
"Possible, yes; probable, though, that could be a whole other kettle of fish," Simmons stated.
"How long would it take to make?" Harry asked.
Fitz and Simmons shared a look, a look that seemed to convey an entire conversation.
"Weeks, possibly months," Fitz stated after the two faced the screen once more.
Harry shook his head. "Unfortunately, we don't have that long. Thanks, anyway."
"Sorry that we couldn't be of any help," Coulson said. "You're sure that there's nothing else that we could do? Provide some back-up perhaps?"
"A group of Avengers arrived today," Harry informed them. "Between us, we should be able to handle the situation."
His eyes drifted to Skye then, and he had a thought.
"Actually, though, if you're in the neighbourhood, I'd love to get together with Skye, if that's alright," he said.
"It's fine with me," Skye said quickly, a brilliant smile on her face.
Phil, he noted, frowned, causing Harry to elaborate.
"I'd like to conduct a few magic tests with Skye, to try to work out what happened the last time in Greenwich Library."
"I think that we can arrange something," Phil smiled.
"Brilliant! Thanks, Agent Coulson," Harry said.
Then, after a nod from Phil, Simmons and Fitz, and a wave from Skye, the screen blanked out.
Harry made sure to store the phone number that Coulson had rung from before turning off the phone, after all, it might prove to be useful to have.
ooo00ooo
"Those are thoughts in there?" Doreen asked, disgust written all over her face as she stared at the rune-lined stone bowl on the table.
"There's gotta be some health violation or something about that," Tony added.
"Tony's right," Clint added. "You pulled that stuff out of your head! And now you want us to touch it?"
"For once, I'm glad that I'm blind," Matt commented from the side of the room where he sat comfortably in a lounge chair.
"Are you sure that it's safe for the rest of us?" Peter asked apprehensively. "None of us are magical, like you."
Harry sighed. They'd been over this.
"Yes, it's perfectly safe," he said. "You'll be drawn into the memory and be able to see and hear everything that I experienced. And yes, unfortunately, I don't think it'd translate into Matt's way of experiencing the world. Just remember, there's nothing in there that can hurt you, nor can you interact with any of it; you'll simply be observers."
"Like watching a three-D TV, only from the inside," Peter said, staring into the swirling silver liquid.
"Essentially," Harry replied after a moment's thought.
Harry reached out, his finger hovering just above the surface of the pensieve. Unfortunately, he was the only one to do so; not a muscle had moved on any of the others.
"I thought you lot were Avengers, able to face even the most terrifying situations without flinching," Harry goaded.
"Yeah, but that stuff came out of your head," Tony repeated.
"Head, not nose or mouth," Harry emphasised. "It's simply two memories – the battle of Greenwich and then the skirmish in Hogsmeade, barely an hour's worth of memories between them."
"The Son of Odin is afraid of nothing. And seeing and understanding how the enemy operates in battle is an immensely useful tool," Thor boasted before thrusting his hand forward, touching the silvery liquid and going instantly still as he was drawn into the memories.
"Nat's never going to let me live this down," Clint muttered, before he became the second to reach forward.
Then, one by one, each of the others joined them until, Harry too, joined his comrades in reviewing the memories of battling the Dark Elves, with and without magical support.
ooo00ooo
The racket of someone bounding down the stairs like a herd of hippogriffs had Harry staring at the loungeroom door in interest. The fact that the rest of the males currently staying at Grimmauld Place and also currently in the same room did the same, spoke volumes as to who was responsible for the noise.
The fact that Doreen appeared in the doorway, her legs slightly apart, hands balled on her hips and her head cocked to the side and slightly upwards caused all the men to look at each other and snicker slightly.
"If you're expecting pictures, you've come to the wrong place," Clint commented.
"And just out of interest's sake, exactly what are you wearing?" Tony asked, leaning forward.
"My costume, of course," an affronted-sounding Doreen replied.
"Costume?" Harry repeated flatly, looking the girl over.
For the most part, what Doreen had chosen as her costume was rather normal-looking. Her old, dark brown bomber jacket with the fur lining was something that she wore quite often, as were the black, fingerless gloves. The grey cargo pants were new, although modified to allow her large, bushy tail to be seen, and the light brown shirt wasn't one that Harry remembered seeing her wearing before. Her leather boots topped with fur that laced up to mid-calf also looked new. No, the most unexpected part of her 'costume' was the dark brown domino mask that she wore around her eyes and over her nose.
"What's with the mask?" Tony asked.
"I thought that it'd help me keep my secret identity," she replied, then, seeing the smirks, she forcefully continued. "What? Peter wears a full cowl. And Matt covers his face. Not to mention Harry has a hood with a bunch of spells on it to keep his identity secret."
"She's got you there," Clint remarked.
"Fine, fine," Tony waved the previous comment away. "I'm guessing you've got a bunch of useful gadgets in the pockets of your belt, too?"
Doreen looked down at the black belt with half a dozen
bags tied to it.
"Oh, them. They're my nut sacks," she said.
"WHAT!" Peter blurted.
"My nut sacks," Doreen repeated. "Sacks. Full of nuts. For Monkey Joe and any other squirrels I happen to meet."
"Of course, why didn't I think of that," Tony muttered, with a shake of his head.
"Lady Doreen, you seem to have given this much thought," Thor commented. "Have you acquired a new name to go along with your suit?"
Once again, Doreen struck her 'heroic' pose.
"You can call me … Squirrel Girl!"
"Squirrel Girl! What sort of name is that?" Tony mocked.
Doreen scowled at him. "You call yourself 'Iron Man'. He calls himself 'Spider-man'. Why can't I be 'Squirrel Girl'?"
"She makes a compelling argument," Matt commented.
"Stay out of this, lawyer-boy," Tony said offhandedly. "I'm sure that we can come up with a better name than that."
"No!" Doreen said, stamping her foot. "I've thought about it a lot, and I want to be 'Squirrel Girl'."
"Fine. Fine. Have it your way," Tony conceded.
With a nod, Doreen looked around at the guys still seated in their chairs.
"Well, are we going or not?" she asked.
Harry glanced at his watch before nodding and standing.
"Come on, if we go now, we can get there just after the last class finishes. And we won't stay long at Hogwarts, just long enough so that Teddy can meet you all – I'd never hear the end of it if he didn't. Besides we don't want to interrupt the school too much, my old Headmistress isn't particularly fond of the unexpected," Harry stated.
"Are we supposed to be wearing our suits, too?" Peter asked, half-raising his hand.
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