A Broader World (Harry Potter/DC Universe)

The fighting, as anticipated, is fierce. They’re lucky that Morgaine is so quick to dismiss and look down on them, because the ancient Arthurian Sorceress probably could have swatted them away like a bunch of gnats long before Circe’s arrival if she’d really tried. Well, most of them anyways.

The Themyscirians are definitely their heaviest hitters. Between Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, and Troia they have three of the strongest heroines in the world on their side. On top of that, the Birds of Prey were an aerial menace with Lady Blackhawk in her jet, and the ground team was well protected by Ivy’s control over plant life.
 
Harry was no slouch either, but as they fight against Morgaine’s forces, as the minutes drag on and he finds himself calling upon more and more of his magic… something feels missing, admittedly. He finds that he’s much better with water-based magic than before, and a simple Auguamenti could create a jet of water so fast and powerful that it would blow holes right through their enemies.
 
But for all that he’d begun life as a Wizard, he was a Paladin of the Secret Sea now. And Paladins were not commonly known as ranged, backline fighters. Still, what was Harry supposed to do? It wasn’t like he had armor or-
 
Blinking, Harry looks down at himself as, between one moment and the next, he finds his situation changing dramatically. Where before he’d been clad in little more than his robes, all of the sudden he’s dressed in resplendent plate armor from neck to toe. He half-expects to topple over, but the weight he anticipates settling onto his frame at any moment never comes. Instead, the armor feels light as a feather and Harry instinctively understands it to be the Regalia of the Secret Sea, a suit of armor that has sat dormant without use for quite a long time now.
 
He’s not sure how he’s proven himself worthy of it so swiftly, truth be told. But it fits him like a glove and doesn’t impede his movement in any way, so without hesitation, he begins stomping forward, making his way to the frontline of the ground team that Harley has been mostly holding all by her lonesome.
 
Fighting trolls, manticores, chimera, and a number of other magical creatures has left the beautiful crazed clown a little battered, bruised, and bloodied at this point, but her trusty hammer is still somehow intact and she’s got a big wide toothy grin on her face all the same. A big wide toothy grin that’s more than a little bloody as well, Harry notices.
 
With a grasping of Harley’s shoulder, Harry intuitively sends a pulse of healing through the harlequin, watching as she gasps and heals up from the injuries she’s taken right before his and everyone else’s eyes. Harley gasps, her eyes widening as she stares at him and his new armor in wonder for a moment before grinning lecherously.
 
“Lookin’ good, Mistah H!”
 
Harry snorts in amusement at Harley’s leer. Seriously, he’s covered in plate armor and she’s still acting like a lustful wench? Huh, did he just refer to Harley as a wench in his mind’s eye? The armor might be influencing him a bit… he’d have to watch out for that.
 
Still, if nothing else it allows Harry to step up to the plate and reinforce Harley, which in turn allows Ivy to continue focusing on defense with her massive plant creations while Hermione and the others fling spells from the backline.
 
At the same time though, Harry can’t help but feel like he’s still missing something. It feels right to be facing off against Morgaine’s magical creatures head on, of course. There’s something viscerally satisfying about stuffing his wand directly up a troll’s nose and blowing the beast’s head off with an overpowered Auguamenti.
 
But at the same time, even now Harry feels like he’s missing something. Unfortunately, when he reaches out to the Secret Sea again, he gets back both an answer and a rejection of sorts.
 
What he’s missing is a proper weapon. His wand is great and all, but it’s not a Paladin’s weapon. Paladins wielded martial weapons such as swords, maces, axes, or spears just to name a few. His wand was a poor substitute for the power that Harry could have really called upon if he had proper armaments.
 
Unfortunately, while the Regalia of the Secret Sea had come to him immediately, there was no such luck regarding a weapon. Through his connection to his patron, Harry comes to understand exactly why this is, even as the fighting continues around him. Put bluntly… the Secret Sea has nothing to give him at this time. There is only one weapon in the Secret Sea, a weapon entrusted to Vivienne many, many years ago.
 
Harry doesn’t take it personally. Excalibur isn’t meant for just anyone, it’s meant for King Arthur himself whenever the mythological monarch returns from Avalon. Giving it to Harry now, even if it would be used in the fight against the woman who plotted Arthur’s original death… no, it wouldn’t be right.
 
Instead, Paladins of the Secret Sea were expected to procure their own weapons. Harry just hadn’t had time yet. He’d been too busy with a bunch of other shit, plus he hadn’t even known he was supposed to go weapon shopping in the first place.
 
Although… an idea does come to mind. There’s only one weapon that Harry has wielded at this point. A weapon that came to his call when he needed it most. Would it come again? Would it recognize his need as great enough?
 
Gritting his teeth, Harry thrusts out a plated gauntlet in midair and pulls with all of his considerably metaphysical might.
 
“Harry?! What are you doing?!”
 
Harley has to jump in front of him to protect him, even as Zatanna calls out to him in confusion. But Harry doesn’t answer, he just continues to concentrate. He feels something and if he stops now, if he lets go now, he’ll lose his tenuous grasp on whatever this is. Pulling with all his strength, focusing on the feeling of holding it in his hand… Harry grits his teeth.
 
And then, it’s there. No Sorting Hat necessary this time around. The Sword of Godric Gryffindor shines in the sunlight overhead, even as Harry feels a sense of rightness wash over him. This blade was his. It was meant for him, even if one day he would pass on from this world and it would in turn pass to another.
 
But he knows now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that so long as he draws breath the Sword of Gryffindor will answer his call. Grinning now, Harry finally answers Zatanna’s question.
 
“Getting properly armed!”
 
And at the same time, he lunges forward past Harley, thrusting his new weapon into the heart of the magical monster trying to take her head off.
 
Harley squeaks and then cackles in excitement, while Harry notices as he pulls the sword free from the beast that the wound he leaves behind immediately begins to necrotize. As the monster falls dead, Harry looks at Gryffindor’s Sword and sees the faintest sheen of green along the blade, causing him to wince.
 
Back in his Second Year, he’d used the Sword of Gryffindor to kill Slytherin’s Basilisk down in the Chamber of Secrets. He’d done so by shoving the sword right up through the roof of the massive fucking snake’s mouth, up through his brain. He hadn’t really thought much about it at the time… really, he hadn’t been thinking about much of anything except for the fact that he’d impaled his arm on one of the Basilisk’s fangs in the process. Only intervention from the phoenix Fawkes’s tears had saved his life from the Basilisk’s insanely potent venom.
 
However, there was no phoenix here on the battlefield today. And the Sword of Gryffindor was a magical goblin-forged sword made of pure silver with a hilt inset with egg-sized rubies. To say it was… good at absorbing enchants and other magical effects would be an understatement. A twelve year old Harry Potter had unknowingly bathed the Sword of Gryffindor in Basilisk Venom back in his Second Year, turning an already powerful sword into something all the more deadly.
 
From there, with Harry armed in the Regalia of the Secret Sea and wielding the Sword of Gryffindor in one hand and his holly wand in his other, the battle actually starts to turn in their favor. Up above, Diana, Donna, and Cassie have already been dominating the skies over Morgaine’s Castle with their own magical might and the help of Lady Blackhawk and her jet.
 
But they’d been hampered by their need to protect the ground team from the numerous threats facing them. Poison Ivy could do a lot with her powers, but she couldn’t split her attention a hundred different ways and be everywhere at once. However, Harry was now more than just another backline or frontline fighter for the ground team. He’d become a full-blown one-man army and he wasn’t holding back even a single iota of his strength anymore.
 
The battle becomes even more pitched at that, as their forces manage to actually decimate the enemies that Morgaine has sent to deal with them a little faster than anticipated. They reach the base of Morgaine’s Castle all on their own with Circe still nowhere to be found, prompting another reaction from their true enemy, the sorceress herself.
 
“YOU DARE, MORTALS?!”
 
The gates of the castle open up, but none of them have the chance at taking advantage of this fact. Not when a multitude of monsters even more fearsome than the last batch come forth. And over the Castle’s Ramparts come even more creatures… this time creatures that can fly. Harry’s eyes widen as the winged monsters, dragons and wyverns and others among them, all swoop towards the aerial team.
 
Meanwhile, down below, things are also getting rapidly more strained. As strong as Harry is now, he’s just one man with one blade and one wand. He can’t be everywhere at once and while he himself can still stand his ground against Morgaine’s latest wave; his allies are not quite as powerful.
 
Fortunately, just as he’s beginning to wonder if they’ll need to retreat… an animalistic cry comes from the other direction. Circe and her own forces have arrived. Monsters straight out of Greek Mythology suddenly rush across the battlefield. Minotaurs, harpies, three-headed hellhounds. Even a Hydra and a Cyclops take to the field, towering titans who fill the space with their immense bulk.
 
All at the command of their goddess as Circe, demigoddess of magic, cackles in the air above them all.
 
“MORGAINE LE FEY! I HAVE COME FOR YOUR HEAD!”
 
 “I WILL MAKE YOU CHOKE ON YOUR OWN BLOOD, CIRCE!”
 
As the two women shout at each other from across the battlefield, Harry and his allies find their spirits buoyed for a moment… until that is, they realize something. Circe is supposed to be on their side. They were here to help her after all, having spent the last thirty minutes distracting Morgaine so that she would be unprepared when Circe finally arrived.
 
Unfortunately, while Circe ignores them, her monsters clearly didn’t get the memo. The Hydra and Cyclops in particular can’t seem to keep to themselves, with the Cyclops growling and swatting at Lady Blackhawk’s Jet as it buzzes past his head, and a couple of the Hydra’s many, many heads snapping at them instead of Morgaine’s forces.
 
Gritting his teeth, Harry calls out to Circe.
 
“Circe! Keep your monsters on task!”
 
But the Greek Demigoddess just looks down at him disdainfully with a sneer.
 
“Keep out of their way then!”
 
With that, she goes right back to assailing Morgaine’s fortress with magic, while the other sorceress defends with shields and wards. Gritting his teeth, Harry decides to follow Circe’s advice. It takes a second, but Zatanna is ultimately able to call down the aerial team to meet up with the ground team, with them all moving off to the side of the battlefield to create their own pocket of protected space with Ivy’s plants and some magic from Harry with the help of Hermione and the other witches.
 
When everyone is finally together, they look out over the battlefield to find things truly in full swing by this point. It’s just frustrating because they can’t really do anything so long as both sides can’t be trusted to care about things like friendly fire.
 
“… What do we do now? Do we retreat and let Circe finish this?”
 
Hermione’s suggestion causes everyone to pause and consider. But Harry finds himself shaking his head before anyone else can respond.
 
“No. Morgaine le Fey is mine.”
 
His very soul resonates with those words and Harry realizes that it’s because of his Oath to the Secret Sea. The Lady of the Lake had given Harry his mission. He needed to stop Morgaine le Fey. He needed to lay the ancient sorceress low. Letting Circe handle it for him… it went against every fiber of his being, and Harry could feel his Oath straining at the very idea. Turning his back on the battle here and now wouldn’t necessarily shatter his Oath or anything like that, but it would definitely cause cracks to form.
 
His allies share concerned glances at that, but Harry is already considering the situation at hand. Even with their early arrival, even with their efforts, Morgaine le Fey is quite entrenched in her castle. Circe’s monsters, pound for pound, definitely have Morgaine’s beat. The mostly British magical creatures that Morgaine can call upon are being chewed up and spit back out by the mostly Greek monsters Circe has brought with her.
 
However, the creatures on Morgaine’s side are being replenished just as rapidly as they’re being destroyed, and the castle itself is still protected by all of the sorceress’ considerable magic.
 
“… We need to make a hole. Need to get in there and stop Morgaine directly. Only then will this finally be over.”
 
They’d moved off of the main battlefield in order to avoid being sandwiched between the two sides of the massive monster brawl, but they didn’t completely give up the gains they’d made after Harry got ahold of his armor and sword. They’re still close to the walls of the castle, and now it’s Circe who’s providing a distraction.
 
Looking to Diana and Zatanna, recognizing them as the two biggest powerhouses in the group alongside himself, Harry tilts his head to the side.
 
“Think we can make something happen.”
 
There’s a pause, but finally the two heroines nod, resolve and determination spreading across their faces.
 
They quickly move closer to the castle walls, with Harry explaining the properties of his sword as they go. Once they know about the Basilisk Venom, they quickly devise a plan. Put bluntly, Zatanna casts a spell that will amplify the sword’s venomous qualities a hundredfold, allowing him to use it to eat through not just enemies, but also magic and castle stone at the same time.
 
There’s just one problem… Harry is very strong now, but he’s not the strongest person on the battlefield. That’s why, as much as it pains him to do it, he hands the Sword of Gryffindor over to Diana, who takes it with a solemn nod as Zatanna casts the spell. Then, wasting no time so that Morgaine doesn’t catch wind of what they’re up to, the Princess of Themyscira lunges forward, swinging the sword with all her might.
 
She strikes the castle’s words… and busts right through them with her strength and the magical sword’s venom combined. Then she keeps going, the sword plowing through magically enchanted castle stone as well and chewing it up like tissue paper.
 
This is Morgaine le Fey’s innermost stronghold. This is her place of power, her fortress where she’s grown stronger and stronger over the centuries. But they came prepared, and soon enough they have the hole they were looking for.
 
Diana is quick to hand Harry back his sword, something that gratifies and amazes him. Truly, the two of them have come a long way since they first met as enemies a while back. Giving her a nod of thanks, Harry leads the charge into Morgaine’s Castle, with the strongest of his allies at his heels. Diana and her two proteges, as well as Zatanna, all follow him into the castle proper while everyone else holds up the rear, preparing to defend their exit strategy if they need to beat a hasty retreat.
 
Unfortunately, those left behind fail to notice a shadow follow them in. Even as an illusion of Circe continues to fly in the sky up above, throwing insults at Morgaine and seemingly commanding her monsters in battle, the actual Circe quietly follows along after Harry and the heroines, sneaking in behind them and letting them expend their energy for her own purposes.
 
-x-X-x-
 
Reaching Morgaine’s Inner Sanctum once they breach the castle’s defenses is actually surprisingly easy. In the end, so much of her focus is on the outside of the castle that she doesn’t even see them coming. When they finally burst into the room where Morgaine is directing her forces into battle, Harry doesn’t hesitate.
 
“Expelliarmus!”
 
Morgaine doesn’t necessarily need a casting implement for most magic. But today is not most days. For this battle, she’s brought out an ancient-looking staff, one that’s glowing with power when they finally come to face her. Harry’s disarming spell smacks into the unsuspecting sorceress with ease, causing her staff to go flying through the air.
 
That alone would not have been enough to beat her, but Diana and her proteges rush in, attacking her from all angles while Zatanna casts a spell that trips Morgaine up. Before she knows it, the ancient sorceress is on her back, having actually been taken down by the small five person team. Harry stands over her and points the Sword of Gryffindor at her face.
 
“Yield, Morgaine le Fey. It’s over.”
 
Silence falls for a moment… before Morgaine sneers in response.
 
“Look at you. A fool just like Merlin, in the end. No… more fool than even Merlin was. Making deals with the Fae… and with no concept of the consequences. You should have given me the girl when I first asked for her. At least then you would be free with no strings attached.”
 
Harry frowns. Yes, he was well aware that as a Paladin of the Secret Sea he had certain obligations. But he had known about those going in and he had still accepted the deal with both eyes wide open. He would not sacrifice others when he could sacrifice himself instead.
 
“Go on then. Do it, wizard. Kill me.”
 
Morgaine’s tone has become mocking now and she grins when Harry’s frown only deepens. He doesn’t want to kill her, to be fair. But he will if he must. Except… he can’t. Only then does he realize it. His sword arm won’t let him cut her. Not even a little bit. The Sword of Gryffindor is too deadly for him to even try to strike at her… because he’s not allowed to kill her.
 
Vivienne had entrusted him with STOPPING Morgaine le Fey… and though she’d acted like she didn’t much care what he did with Morgaine afterwards, Harry now realizes that the love of a sister runs deeper than that. Conquering Morgaine in bed, that was apparently a-okay. But killing her? That was a step too far.
 
Just as Harry is contemplating what to do next… a new complication introduces itself. Or rather, herself.
 
“Hmph. If you are too weak to finish the job, step aside and I shall do it for you.”
 
Circe makes her presence known, causing Harry and his allies to turn to face her as she saunters forward, a wicked grin on her lips. Without waiting a single moment, the demigoddess points a finger at the downed form of Morgaine le Fey. A bead of power grows on her fingertip… and then a beam of magic lances out, prepared to end the ancient sorceress’ life.
 
Only, Harry is there before it can do so. The Sword of Gryffindor comes up and absorbs Circe’s magic cleanly, leaving no trace of the powerful beam behind… save for the angry scowl that his actions cause to form on Circe’s beautiful features.
 
“What do you think you’re doing, standing in my way?”
 
His connection to the Secret Sea churns as Harry realizes that not only is he not allowed to kill Morgaine, he’s also not allowed to let anyone else kill her either. Clenching his jaw and narrowing his eyes, Harry nevertheless refuses to back down.
 
“Morgaine le Fey is now my prisoner. Leave her in my custody and consider this matter settled, Circe. We’ve won. YOU’VE won. It’s over.”
 
The demigoddess’ face grows darker at his words, but Harry stands resolute. Just when he thinks she might back down however…
 
“Your prisoner? Foolish boy. I am NO ONE’S prisoner while still in the heart of my power!”
 
A sudden wave of energy blasts them all back from Morgaine, and by the time they right themselves, she’s on her feet wielding her staff once more. This time though, she’s not distracted or unprepared. She’s ready for them and Harry can tell he’s not going to so easily get the drop on her again. Not to mention.
 
“Foolish boy indeed! You had your enemy at your mercy and refused to finish her off. But far worse a crime was standing between me and MY enemy!”
 
Circe looks as wrathful as he’s ever seen her and Harry doesn’t really have to ask to know that their alliance, as tentative as it always was, has just come to an abrupt end. Both women are still clearly very angry with each other, but they’re also equally angry at him. In the end, Harry realizes there’s really only one thing he can do in this situation. Try not to die.
 
-x-X-x-
 
If not for Circe’s interference, they might have been able to restrain Morgaine le Fey and take her into their custody. But then the demigoddess had shown up and ruined everything. As Zatanna Zatara desperately cast spell after spell to protect herself and her allies from the magical titans in their midst, she has to admit… shit has officially hit the fan.
 
They’re not even really targeting her, Diana, Donna, or Cassie. The four of them are almost like an afterthought as they just try to avoid being wiped out by the clash between Circe and Morgaine. Harry is a little less lucky, as he seems to have attracted the scorn of both women at this point. More than that, while he’s still trying to take Morgaine down, it seems he’s also compelled to protect her from certain death, causing him to fight with Circe just as much as their shared opponent.
 
The situation is untenable, that much Zatanna knows for sure. As Morgaine said, so long as they’re in the heart of her power, she’s unbeatable. Even Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, and Troia all taking measures to try and curtail Circe for a few moments so that Harry can face off with Morgaine alone aren’t enough to help, not really. Now that she’s no longer distracted, Morgaine is facing Harry with her full might and it’s all that he can do to stay alive in their fight.
 
In the end, the Themyscirian heroines are forced to disengage from Circe again, both because they’re hard pressed to deal with the demigoddess and also because they need her to distract Morgaine so Harry can catch a break once more.
 
It’s a fucking mess no matter how Zatanna looks at it. And from what Morgaine had said and how Harry was acting, it was a mess created by Harry’s new patron, the Lady of the Lake. She was Morgaine’s sister after all, and so long as the Lady of the Lake had a hold on Harry, he was forced to keep the ancient sorceress alive.
 
On the one hand, she was grateful to the Lady of the Lake for saving Harry’s life. As well, she understood full well how strong the bonds of family could be. Besides, as heroes, they tried to avoid killing whenever possible anyways.
 
But this whole mess… it was as much the Lady of the Lake’s fault as it was Circe or Morgaine’s, wasn’t it? So maybe… maybe they should leave this in the Lady of the Lake’s hands.
 
“Diana!”
 
Hissing Diana’s name, Zatanna grabs the Princess’ attention and pulls her over to her side.
 
“Zatanna, what is it? Harry needs our help.”
 
“Yes, and that’s what I’m trying to coordinate with you for. I have a plan to help Harry, but I need your assistance.”
 
Diana’s eyes widen before narrowing in resolve as she nods determinedly.
 
“Tell me what to do.”
 
Zatanna tells her, and a moment later Diana ropes her two proteges into things as well. While the three way clash between Harry, Morgaine, and Circe continues, the foursome gets all of the details worked out. Then… they get into position.
 
Waiting for the right moment is critical. But finally… Zatanna sees it.
 
“NOW!”
 
Donna and Cassandra both lunge forward from either side of Circe, grabbing hold of the demigoddess to take her out of the fight for a split second. She’ll blast them away in a moment, but a moment is all they will hopefully need.
 
“Eb Dezilibommi!”
 
The spell goes to work on Morgaine despite her incredible magical defenses, locking her in place for a split second as well. Like with Circe, Zatanna knows that Morgaine will break free in a moment… but again, it will hopefully be all they need. Especially since Diana lunges forward and lassos Morgaine in the same moment that Zatanna freezes her, looping the Golden Lasso of Truth around Morgaine’s midsection and binding her with it.
 
Finally…
 
“HARRY! Portal!”
 
This is the most important part of their plan. Unfortunately, because Circe and Morgaine were both as focused on making Harry pay for his perceived transgressions as they were on fighting one another, Zatanna and the others hadn’t been able to loop Harry into things even if they wanted to.
 
Fortunately, Harry is very quick on his feet. Eyes widening in understanding, he forms a portal right behind Morgaine and without missing a beat, rears back a plated leg and kicks the ancient sorceress in the stomach, throwing her back through the portal. Then, sword and wand still in his hands, he follows after her.
 
“YOU DARE?!”
 
Circe breaks through a moment later, causing Zatanna to squeak.
 
“EVERYONE THROUGH THE PORTAL BEFORE IT CLOSES!”
 
Zatanna races forward, reaching the portal at the same time as Cassie and Donna. They all go tumbling through, with Diana following closely behind them. Unfortunately, the portal does not close before Circe makes her way in as well.
 
All five women wind up exactly where Zatanna had hoped Harry would take them. The Lady of the Lake’s Realm.

There, over a vast body of water, the Lady of the Lake herself hovers… with Morgaine le Fey bound in her power, the Golden Lasso of Truth discarded on the shore itself. As Diana goes to retrieve the lasso, everyone feels the Lady of the Lake’s presence push down on them.
 
“Welcome my Champion… and my Champion’s guests. Welcome to the Secret Sea.”
 
They’ve left Morgaine le Fey’s place of power… and entered her sister’s. And judging by the cold look on the Lady of the Lake’s face, they might not be entirely welcome.

-x-X-x-

Also shameless plug time: Just started a new Free Write and it would mean the world to me if you guys checked it out!

An Iron Resolve (Marvel)(Time Travel)

Summary: Tony Stark travels back in time after the Snap determined to get things right this time. Even if he has to take over the world to make sure everyone actually works together against the threat that Thanos poses. He's not going to let everyone down. Not ever again.