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A moment later, Professor McGonagall looked down at Coulson.
"Dumbledore has spoken."
Coulson's eyes lit up. Hope flickered across his face.
"Since Hermione is on good terms with all of you, we have no wish for her to think we would stand by and watch her friends die."
"The three of us will not leave the spatial node."
Professor McGonagall paused. Her tone shifted.
"However, we will send some... helpers to assist you in holding back the Dark Elves."
Coulson went still.
"Helpers? Other wizards from Hogwarts?"
The thought had barely formed when a roar split the sky.
"ROAARRR—!"
He looked up on instinct, and then he couldn't breathe, knowing he would never forget what he was seeing for as long as he lived.
A colossal creature came soaring out from the direction of Hogwarts castle.
Its head was savage and enormous. Its entire body was armored in hard scales with a cold metallic sheen. Its wings were vast enough to blot out the sky, and every beat sent gale-force winds crashing down that staggered the people below.
"Th-this... this is..."
Coulson's voice came out in pieces. He couldn't pull a full sentence together.
Someone nearby screamed:
"A dragon! It's an actual dragon!"
"Oh my God — am I dreaming?!"
"Mom, look — there's a dragon!"
The creature circled high overhead and let out another roar that shook the air down to the bones. Then it opened its jaws wide.
"WHOOOM,!"
A torrent of fire erupted into the sky. Several Dark Elf aircraft were swallowed whole in an instant, no chance to dodge, no chance to struggle. They simply exploded.
Its claws were no gentler. Every strike tore through Dark Elves like they were paper.
And that was just the beginning.
More creatures came pouring out of Hogwarts behind it. Winged horses. Giant spiders. Eagle-headed, lion-bodied beasts. Each one enormous, each one terrifying, and each one immediately joining the fight the moment it arrived, hunting the Dark Elves with raw power and magic alike.
The Dark Elf army was formidable. Against these creatures, they fell apart.
At S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Fury watched every second of it, and felt something vast and cold turn over in his chest.
These were creatures kept by wizards. Pets. And they were doing what S.H.I.E.L.D.'s entire arsenal couldn't, tearing through alien invaders with brutal ease. He didn't even want to think about what else the wizarding world was sitting on. How deep that well went. How old. How dangerous.
And this was a school.
Not the Ministry of Magic. A school.
In the sky above the battlefield, space buckled.
"Hah, "
A soft exhale. And Hermione materialized out of thin air.
"Oh for the love of, MOTHERFUCKER!"
She hit the ground and immediately looked like she was about to commit a crime.
"DAMN IT. ASSHOLE. WHAT THE HELL. SHIT. SON OF A, BUG YELLOW!"
"Damned Convergence, damned Dark Elves, damned Aether, I finally found my way back!"
She spun around, took in the Hogwarts professors and the carnage unfolding across the battlefield, and looked completely and utterly lost.
Hermione Apparated to the professors' side instantly.
"Professors! I'm back!"
"The Convergence disrupted the spatial fabric, I got thrown across the Nine Realms and completely lost. Took me forever to find my way home."
Professor McGonagall looked at her steadily, voice serious. "The Dark Elves obtained the Aether. Hogwarts was nearly affected."
Hermione's expression collapsed into guilt.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, this is my fault. I had no idea the Aether would be this much trouble. I can't believe I let Malekith actually get away with it."
Professor McGonagall shook her head.
"It couldn't be helped. It is an Infinity Stone, and the most weaponized of them all. You can't take all the blame for this."
Hermione's eyes moved quickly. Then she put on her most cooperative expression.
"Professors, could I ask you to seal off the surrounding space? It would stop the Aether from spreading, and cut off Malekith's escape route if he tries to use it again."
Professor McGonagall nodded. "We can do that. But we will not allow it to breach Hogwarts."
"Understood, leave the rest to me."
Hermione pressed a hand to her chest with full conviction.
"I'm not giving Malekith another opening. I'm ending this."
Across the field, Coulson and Fury both felt the tension leave their shoulders the moment they saw her. Neither of them could keep the relief off their face.
Coulson glanced at Skye, who was standing next to him with her mouth hanging open.
"Skye. You've been asking about Miss Wizard this whole time. Now you know."
Skye was staring up at Hermione, at Hermione, flying, with her eyes stretched wide and an expression that had completely stopped functioning.
"She... Hermione... she's Miss Wizard?!"
Her voice came out fractured. Dreamlike.
She tried to think back. Memories flickered through her mind, rapid and disorienting.
On the Bus. The girl who'd joked around with her, played cards with her, stolen her snacks. That Hermione, was the legendary, untouchable Miss Wizard?
The gap was too large. Her brain just sat there, stalled.
It explained everything, though. Why Coulson, Ward, and the others acted so strangely around her. Why Hermione moved through S.H.I.E.L.D. like she owned the place.
Skye's heart started pounding. A wild, giddy rush of something she couldn't name swept through her.
She'd been sitting next to Miss Wizard. Eating snacks with Miss Wizard.
"Well, well. Malekith." Hermione looked at him with her arms folded, every word dripping with contempt. "A few hours apart, and you've already fallen this far?"
"What's the matter, finished fusing with the Aether? Not running anymore? I figured you'd need more time than that."
Malekith's face had gone the color of stone. The veins at his temples were standing out sharply.
He fixed his gaze on her, jaw tight. "Witch of Midgard. You have finally shown yourself."
"I underestimated you before. But now, things are different."
He thrust both arms wide. Black-red Aether churned around him in violent, roiling currents.
"I should thank you, in fact. You gave me time to complete the fusion. The Aether is fully mine now. I am invincible."
His voice was swollen with it, that absolute, ringing certainty that he had already won.
"I had planned to return the Nine Realms to darkness first. I've changed my mind."
His gaze swept across Hermione and the three professors. Something cruel moved behind his eyes.
"I'll slaughter every last one of you interfering pests first. Then I'll enjoy my victory at my leisure."
"With the Aether, I am a god. You are insects. Die quietly."
"Everything in this dimension will be consumed by darkness, beginning with you!"
He threw his head back and howled, his voice splitting apart at the edges with madness.
Snape's mouth twitched.
"Professor McGonagall," he said, in a tone of mild professional interest, "I wasn't aware that the Aether had delusions of grandeur as a listed side effect."
Professor McGonagall studied Malekith with a furrowed brow.
"It shouldn't. The Aether enhances power and warps reality, but affecting the mind was never documented."
"I am the GOD of the Dark World, you dare ignore me?!"
Malekith's roar tore across the field.
The three professors looked at one another.
Then, in perfect unison, they arrived at the same conclusion.
"Unhinged."
➤ Next: The Convergence Ends
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