Doom Days (Harry Potter/MCU Crossover)

Pre-Chapter A/N: Happy Holidays Everyone. Here's this week's chapter right on time for your enjoyment. The next two chapters are up on pa-treon (www.patreon.com/Oghenevwogaga) as always. There's a handy little December discount on both monthly and annual plans. If you just want to read complete chapters and not my work in real-time then feel free to purchase this story as a collection on my pa-treon page- nice way to support this story, and me while you're at it. Enjoy! 

He beat me to the punch again and sent two silvery lances of magic at me. I moved my wand away from the spell I'd been about to cast and called forth my intent before batting both spells in opposite directions. They hit the wall and did nothing further. I conjured a massive snake that reared its head up and slammed down at him. A piercing curse left his wand, shooting through the snake, and then he vanished it, taking away the chance to use it for further transfigurations. With a heave, I dragged my wand upwards, creating a wall that took the next barrage of spells. I tapped my wand on the wall to make it see through, and that was the only thing that gave me enough warning to roll out of the way. 

The wall exploded behind me, and I barely managed to come up from my roll in time to banish the debris right at him. The rocks slowed in midair, and he sent them flying right back at me. I flicked my wand again, turning the rocks into birds that flew around me before turning around and hurling themselves at the half goblin. He set them on fire in one motion, but I continued on- turning their skin into metal and banishing them the rest of the distance. 

He was forced to conjure a physical shield that took the steel, bird-shaped projectiles. The circular metal shield rebuffed the birds, and then it shifted on its axis before he banished it at me like a spinning disc. I wrenched my wand to the side, sending the disc flying to the other side, and had to drop to my knees to let the next salvo of spells fly over me. Looking at him, Flitwick still remained in the same position he'd been standing in. Nothing I was doing seemed to be working, but that was no reason to give up. I just had to dial things up a little bit. 

I flashed through wand motions, sending spells as quickly as I could, and almost like he wanted to make a fucking point, Flitwick mimicked every single one of my motions, sending his own spells to slam into mine and send them awry. We kept that up for what felt like minutes and I could already feel myself beginning to tire. I stopped, gritting my teeth at the smug smile on his face and thrust my wand forward in a stab- "Fulgur" I spoke the first incantation of the match. 

Flitwick's expression did not even shift at having one of the most dangerous forms of elemental magic hurled at him. He just twirled his wrist in a circle, shooting out what looked to be a bronze spear from his wand that landed right in front of him. Against my will, the lightning bolt from my wand rerouted to slam into the spear. I cut off the spell after trying to force it to follow my will. 

"Lightning, the most powerful of the elements. Also, the most difficult to control. You think lightning is not a common sight in the duelling fields?" He asked with a chuckle. 

I scowled at having my most powerful spell countered with such ease. When I moved my wand to cast my next spell, the half goblin chuckled again and then said, "I think I have seen enough. My turn now" He turned his wand to me and I felt the hairs on my body all rise as one. Danger. My whole body was screaming it at me. I waved my wand and several chairs and desks flew at the Charms Master, but with a gesture, they came right back at me with double the force. I slashed my wand through the air casting an impedimenta that forced them to begin moving in slow motion. I moved to transfigure them but had to bat a piercing curse out of the way. 

And then another. A jellylegs jinx and a flipping hex came afterward, and I deflected those as well. The next spell was a disarmer that I also deflected, but the spell that followed was a light pink that flew through the air slower than the others. I lifted a shield to block the unfamiliar spell, and it hit the shield before exploding like a series of fireworks, searing my retinas and forcing me to blink the blur off my eyes. I dropped the shield and felt a spell slam into my rips and knock the air out of me. 

I still couldn't see my opponent. I called up a massive protego and channelled as much power as I could into it. I felt it as it took spell after spell, and then it was only a matter of time. I was still blinking out spots in my vision when I was sent flying into the wall and felt my wand wrenched from my hand as I was then covered in ropes that held me tight to the wall. Some sort of sticking charm, I figured. My vision finally cleared, and I stared down at Flitwick's position and smiled as bright as the sun. 

The half goblin was staring down at his feet. He'd taken a step out of the circle he'd drawn. From the look on his face, he'd done it unconsciously. Most likely when he'd broken through my shield with the barrage of spells. 

"I guess you win, Mr. Potter" He said, and I scowled. 

"The terms were that I'd force you out of the circle. You stepped out of your own accord." 

"No. That was purely unconscious. I didn't intend to step out, and I did so. That means you had me so invested in this duel that I moved forward against my desire to remain in the circle and win. It is your victory, Mr. Potter. Let's hope you don't regret it" He said finally before waving his wand to release me from the bindings. 

On leaving Flitwick's office, I began making my way back to the Chamber and right before I rattled off the usual series of spells to cloak myself, I sighed aloud. It has been going on for so long now that I might as well actually just confront her and be over and done with it. While I'd had a bit of fun with it initially, using her to test my sneaking around skills and even trying a bit of mind arts experimentation which hadn't given me the ability I used to sense her bow, I still found it annoying. Was that the whole truth\> Hell no. The part of me that had once been Harry James Potter had loved his friends. He'd loved them dearly. The other two halves that made up this whole didn't know or care much for love so that made the feelings an outlier. 

What I still felt for Hermione Granger was not love by any means, but I still could not bear to continue to ignore her so. Besides, I was in a good enough mood. Flitwick's acceptance of me as a student was going to give me the next big thing I needed for my development. With the way he'd dismantled me in my duel, I had no doubts that I had plenty to learn. I stood to gain much from serving under him. 

"I know you're there, Hermione" I called out. No answer. 

"That's a nice disillusionment charm, but It's not even close to perfect. It shimmers when you move even slightly like when your chest rises and falls with every breath for example" I felt her mind grind to a halt as she blared out panic. I wasn't using legilimency on her, of course, just stretching out my senses in my environment. Tom Riddle had been a legilimens with little in the way of equals, one a step behind a true natural legilimens like Queenie Goldstein, and all that talent was mine to develop as I saw fit. This sense was like a form of echolocation. I got the idea from a piece of Naruto fan fiction where the MC spread his chakra out like a sonar. I was doing the same here, except with my wand. It allowed me to feel those near me and sometimes gave hints as to what they felt when those feelings were especially "loud". 

"Well, if you still aren't going to answer me, then I might as well leave. Don't be offended if this turns out to have been your last chance, however" I said next. 

"Wait. Harry" Her voice called out as I rose my wand to begin casting my spells. Her disillusionment fell as she moved, showing that her hold over the spell was just as precarious as it seemed. 

"I just wanted to know where you've been staying since you left the tower, and maybe get to talk to you. You've been avoiding me" She said. 

"And you decided the best way to solve that was to follow me to my residence and then confront me in a place I couldn't escape from, while simultaneously giving yourself the upper hand in the conversation. How very Slytherin of you" I said with a whistle. 

She blushed at the words. 

"I just wanted to talk, Harry. I just wanted to talk to my best friend" She said, and I nodded at her. 

"Alright then, Hermione. Let's talk." I replied. 

"Really? Here?" She asked, gesturing to our immediate surroundings. I gave them a look as well. The charms classroom was on the Third floor. It wasn't exactly an area of the castle that saw much in the way of foot traffic except for Flitwick's occasional classes, and considering he had about fourteen of those, there was some measure of traffic here. 

"Alright then. Follow me" I said to her. The third floor did not have a lot to its name, but it did have a deserted East Corridor. A deserted East Corridor that would be familiar to both of us. She noticed after we made the second turn. Of course, she did. She would not be the brightest witch of our age without that outstanding memory of hers. 

We arrived at the door, and I opened it with a wave of my wand before we walked in. Just like expected, it was empty. The trap door was still there, but I had no interested in going down that peculiar rabbit hole. I waved my wand to lock the door and place a basic privacy ward. 

"Take a seat, Hermione" I told her, and just as she was about to comment on the sparse furnishings the room enjoyed, I waved my hand and conjured a one-to-one replica of the armchair that sat next to the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room. It was the same one that had the direct view to the Male dorm stairwell. It was where Hermione had sat on many a morning waiting for Ron and I to get down so we could go down for breakfast together. I hoped the gesture was not lost on her, but the way her eyes lingered on my wand and not the chair did not give me much hope for that. 

I waved my wand again and conjured a comparatively simpler but much more plush version of the chair she sat in. "H-how?" She finally found her voice. "Conjuration is NEWT-level magic. We're not supposed to cover the conjugation of large objects until the Second Semester of our Sixth year". 

"Well, with someone after my life, I had more than enough motivation to get strong and to do so quickly" I said, beginning to manipulate her without even trying. 

"Oh Harry" She suddenly looked extremely saddened, before the looks turned into one of censure. 

"But you told the Daily Prophet that you entered the Tournament of your own accord. You can't say that there, and now expect me to believe that you were entered because someone is out to kill you" She said. 

"Yes I do. Use your head, Hermione. Something in this castle tried to kill me every year since I enrolled. The only reason I'm in the tournament is that someone wants to use it to either kill or discredit me. By taking the credit for answering, I hope whoever planned the attack takes that as a sign that we aren't on their tail so they let their guard down." I said next, and she stared at me for what felt like hours before she nodded, still not looking convinced. 

"Or you just figured that no one would believe you and decided to get ahead of things so that you looked like a rebel bad boy to the public, and not the spoiled liar that Malfoy's been trying to paint you as" She said, and I just smiled at her. 

"You're good at this" 

"Oh Harry. Of course, I am. I am your best friend. No one knows you as well as I do" I smiled even wider at the statement she'd just made. She had to be fooling herself if she thought that was even vaguely true. Anyone who knew Potter so well should have been able to tell that his body had been taken over and that he was only a third of the personality captaining this ship. 

"Best friend, huh?" I asked with a self-depreciating chuckle. Acting was so easy, I was coming to learn. Definitely easier than duelling Flitwick, for sure. 

"Oh Harry. Ron will come around. He just needs a bit of time, you know?" She said with a sigh. Harry's memories made it clear that the secret to speaking to Hermione was not to speak. In complete sentences. Just lead her towards whatever answer you wanted her to get, and she would come the other half of the way. It was how her brain worked. 

"Does he? I've heard the things he goes around saying. Those don't sound like the words of someone who just needs some time." I said next, lying with the charming ease that had made Tom Riddle so dangerous in his youth. The truth was hadn't paid any attention to either Hermione or Ron in the last month, but I did have years of experience with knowing them. Maybe it came from being the youngest of Six boys, but Ron never knew how to quietly hold a grudge. He had to make sure everyone around him knew about his problems. Perhaps it was his own ay of begging for attention. Harry had found it quirky. I found it pathetic. 

"Well, you did tell everyone that you cheated your way into the tournament. While I can tell that isn't the case, Ron has never really been…" 

"Particularly bright?" She chuckled at that, reaching out to swat my arm. I saw it coming, and allowed it happen. 

"No. Well, yes. But no. He's still our friend, Harry". 

"He's yours. I'm not particularly forgiving these days". 

"But you've forgiven me?" She asked. 

"I abandoned you just as much as you abandoned me. Don't think I didn't notice you trying to follow me around all this time" I said. Even during the time I was preparing for the first task, she'd made a few attempts to follow me to the chamber. 

"Part of me wants to be angry. Part of me wants to hold what the House did against you, but to be perfectly honest, I don't particularly care. It's been a month I've had time and space away from all that. Not living in the dorms gives me more freedom to train and practice my magic as needed. Not having to abide by a school schedule means I get to do what I want, when I want. Things like curfew don't matter to me. Even Pince lets me stay in the library for as long as I want, and I basically breeze in and out of the restricted section at will. This castle is so much more fun when you are unshackled, and I have Gryffindor house and the abandonment of my friends to thank for that. So while I could be angry and hold a grudge, what's the point of that?" I said with an airy tone. I was being presented with an opportunity here. I could feel it. 

There was a Fanon theory that Dumbledore had used Harry's friends as Spies, and while I doubted Ron had the subtlety or the intellect to be a competent spy, Hermione, I was less sure about. She seemed genuine in the memories I had of her. But then what good would a spy be if they couldn't manage to seem genuine. What I was taking the risk here with was the fact that even if she wasn't the spy, then it was likely that Dumbledore would legilimens his way into her mind. At least, I felt like it was likely. So that meant that everything I told her was likely to make its way to him one way or another. I needed to avert his fears of me being some sort of dark wizard in training to prevent him turning against me the same way he'd turned against Riddle, and to do that I needed to offer an alternate explanation for the changes that he would have noticed. 

An explanation that didn't include Riddle's horcrux taking me over. That's if he even suspected me of having the horcrux in my forehead already. Something told me that the happenings of Harry's fifth year went a long way to confirming that theory. But then Dumbledore had known to avoid Harry right from the beginning of the year so he had some inclination about it from earlier on. 

"So that's why you seem so different now? Just coming to terms with freedom?" 

"Exactly. First it was the Dursleys, and then being a student here. This is the first time in my life that I feel in charge of my own life. Agency has a way of changing the way you view things." I told her finally. 

A/N; Yeah, he lost to Flitwick, but surely no one expected otherwise. I have some rough power scaling for this verse down and right now; it goes something like Voldemort-Dumbledore-Bellatrix-Moody-Dolohov-Flitwick-Snape-Shacklebolt-Rookwood-Mcgonagall- and so on. It's rough and obviously doesn't account for OCs or AU characters, but I can pretty comprehensively back up this ranking when pushed on it. Next chapter will be the end of the duel. Was supposed to have Mad-Eye's class, but I ended up moving that to the chapter after. As always, the next two chapters are up on patreon(www.patreon.com/Oghenevwogaga). There's a handy little December discount on both monthly and annual plans. If you just want to read complete chapters and not my work in real-time, then feel free to purchase this story as a collection on my pa-treon page- nice way to support this story, and me while you're at it. Enjoy!