It's Strange But Who Am I To Judge?

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The building was obviously old, but then, a lot of buildings in New York City were, the Den and Harry's own building, among them. This one in the middle of Greenwich Village definitely qualified not only as old but also as something ... else. There was an air to it that, unless one was looking, really looking for it, would be missed. Even by magicals.

But it was there. Harry could almost taste it. Or perhaps feel it. Something like a prickling under his skin perhaps, or more accurately, his magic recognising something ancient, something powerful, resonating with it. Hogwarts gave off a similar vibe; the castle, however, was over a thousand years old. This place was no where near that age. Still ...

From across the street, it wasn't so much the brownstone walls or the green slate roof that caught the eyes. No, it was the large convex window set into the middle of the second floor. It was easily at least seven feet across and was decorated with four black lines set in two pairs of somewhat parallel lines. It was a symbol; Harry'd seen enough of them over the years to recognise that much, even if he wasn't sure what the symbol itself meant.

Tearing his eyes away, he quickly crossed the street, mounted the three steps and, not seeing a bell, knocked firmly on the door.

Harry's eyebrow rose at the style of clothing that the bald, serious-looking Asian man that opened the door wore. The long, dark-red tunic and wide tan cloth belt that looked like it wrapped around him at least three times simply screamed to Harry that he was in the right place.

"Hi, I'm looking for the Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj."

While Harry hadn't been expecting to be welcomed, turning up on their doorstep the way he was, he hadn't been expecting ... nothing. But that's precisely what he was getting from the man standing in front of him. Not a change of facial expression, not a tightening of the eyes, not a tic, nothing.

"The Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj," Harry repeated. "I understand she is known as the Ancient One."

This time there was something. It wasn't much, just a slight pursing of his lips. Enough, though, to tell Harry that the man at least understood English.

A dark shadow that appeared over the man's shoulder resolved itself into a taller, Caucasian man with a moustache and goatee that Harry thought Tony would be proud of. The hand that this new man laid on the Asian man's shoulder was enough to have him turning sidewards, giving Harry a good view of him.

If Harry's own 'Mage' uniform – not that he was wearing it today, being in simple, 'civvies' – told the world that he was a wizard, then this man's outfit screamed 'sorcerer'. His tunic was a mixture of dark blues accented by the numerous leather belts around his waist, cloth strips that would around his forearms, dark pants and sturdy boots. And then there was his cloak. It was red with a high collar that curved up around his neck and seemed to have an interesting movement to it that shouldn't be there considering that there was no real breeze at all that day.

"This one is looking for the Sorcerer Supreme," the Asian guardian of the door stated with an inflection that Harry couldn't quite identify.

"Why are you asking to see the Sorcerer Supreme?" the new man asked with a distinctively British accent. "Have you been to Kamar-Taj in the past?"

"No, I haven't," Harry replied. "Look, can we discuss this inside ... Mister?"

"Doctor," the man said before squeezing his eyes closed and raising a hand. "My name is Doctor Stephen Strange. And you are?"

"Harry Potter."

Doctor Strange and his companion shared a look, a look that told Harry that his name was known.

"You better come in," Doctor Strange said, stepping back from the doorway.

The entrance was huge with a long staircase directly ahead. Harry, though, was directed to a sitting room to the left.

"Harry Potter. The-Boy-Who-Lived. The-Man-Who-Conquered," Doctor Strange stated once they were seated.

"You've heard of me," Harry replied flatly.

"We know more than you realise, wizard."

"Wong," Doctor Strange admonished his companion and inadvertently telling Harry the man's name. "I'm surprised that you're here to be honest. From what I understand, wizards and sorcerers have always kept well away from each other."

"Can't argue with that," Harry replied. "To be honest, I didn't know about sorcerers and Kamar-Taj until I was briefed and asked to come here."

"Briefed by the International Confederation of Wizardry," Doctor Strange nodded.

"How'd you know that?" Harry asked, his eyes narrowed.

"It was elementary really," Doctor Strange replied off-handedly.

Harry decided to ignore that comment. It seemed that both groups had been keeping tabs on each other over the years.

"Would it be possible for me to speak to the Sorcerer Supreme?" he asked instead.

Again, Doctor Strange and Wong shared a look.

"The Ancient One didn't survive the conflict," Doctor Strange stated quietly.

"My condolences. But I have to ask. Conflict?" Harry asked. "Here, London and Hong Kong?"

"The ICW detected the magic?" Wong asked.

"They did," Harry confirmed. "Thus, why I was sent. Is there a new Sorcerer Supreme that I can talk to?"

"One has yet to be decided upon by the Masters," Wong stated. "Although, Stephen is most likely to assume the position."

Doctor Strange looked across sharply at him before turning back to Harry.

"What do you know of Kamar-Taj?" he asked.

"To be honest not much," Harry replied.

For a few minutes, Doctor Strange tapped his index fingers in front of his face, obviously deep in thought.

"I best the easiest way to answer your questions about recent events is to explain it the way the Ancient One explained it to me. Sorcerers and wizards are similar in the fact that they all hide from the rest of the world. Where we differ is in the fact that we will come out of the shadows if needed. We, the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj are tasked with the protection of the Earth from attacks from other dimensions."

"Other dimensions?" Harry asked, trying and failing to keep the note of skepticism out of his voice.

"Exactly other dimensions. Just as there are physical dangers that threaten the world that the Avengers need to deal with, there are other things that they are simply not equipped to handle," Doctor Strange replied.

"I think you'd be surprised," Harry replied with a smirk.

Suddenly, Wong leant forward in his chair.

"Mage," he stated.

"What?" Doctor Strange asked.

"He is Mage of the Avengers," Wong stated, with an accompanied pointed finger. "There is no one else the International Confederation of Wizards would send."

"Well?" Doctor Strange asked after a minute of complete silence from everyone in the room.

Harry knew he had to make a decision. On the one hand, his identity was something that he protected. On the other, these sorcerers seemed to be good at keeping secrets – even most witches and wizards knew nothing of them. There was also the fact that he was supposed to be trying to bridge the gap between the two groups of magicals.

"You're right, I am," he finally said. "And if it's true that you are protecting the Earth, the same as the Avengers ..."

"Not the same," Doctor Strange interrupted sharply. "You have no idea what we've just faced, what was at stake. And believe me, there was nothing that any of 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' could have done to help."

"Then tell me about it, prove to me that there's no way that we couldn't help each other," Harry insisted.

"What we just prevented was the destruction of Earth by Dormammu," Doctor Strange replied.

"Dormammu?" Harry asked, working to wrap his tongue around the unfamiliar word.

"He is the Cosmic Conqueror, the Destroyer of Worlds," Wong explained. "A being of infinite power and endless hunger on a quest to invade every universe and bring all worlds into his Dark Dimension. And he hungers for Earth most of all."

"This Dormammu is still a threat?" Harry asked.

"Not any more," Doctor Strange replied with an ironic grin.

"No? You destroyed him?" Harry asked intently.

"I struck a bargain with him," Doctor Strange corrected. "Believe me, he won't be coming back. He knows the alternative."

Harry stared at the sorcerer. It was obvious that the man was incredibly confident in what he was saying. The fact that the Earth was still here did tend to say that he was right. He guessed that he had no choice but to trust him.

"In that case, on behalf of the entire world, thank you," Harry said.

Doctor Strange simply gave a simple nod of acknowledgement.

"You can go back to your Wizard Council and tell them not to worry. The world is safe; no one knows about sorcerers or wizards and we have no intension of changing the status quo," Doctor Strange said.

Harry knew a cue to leave when he heard one and thus, stood.

"Would it be okay for me to come back?" he asked. "I suspect that there's a lot that we could learn from each other."

"Stephen say no to learning something? I'd like to see that!" Wong laughed, an action that to Harry, even not knowing the guy, seemed almost out-of-character.

Both Harry and Doctor Strange stared at him before turning back to each other. A nod was enough for Harry to understand that yes, he was welcome back any time.

ooo00ooo


"Captain America. Avengers, this is a surprise," the dark-skinned female detective sporting a large afro greeted them.

"Ma'am," Cap replied. "We heard that you've got a lead on a couple of terrorists with enhanced abilities."

"Hobgoblin and Vulture," the other, nodded. "I'm Detective Brett Mahoney. My partner in this operation: Detective Misty Knight."

"Detectives," Cap greeted and was echoed by the rest of his team.

"Well, if you're here to help, come on over and let's get you briefed," Detective Knight said.

The seven of them followed the two detectives to a large situation table where a map of one part of the city showing an area covering ten city blocks had been rolled out and weighted down. The crowd around the table parted to give them room and Cap nodded to those closest.

"Hmm, this won't work," Mage stated. "Allow me."

Cap watched as Mage's wand briefly appeared. A few seconds later, the map had been enlarged to four times its original size and was now floating in mid air in front of one wall beside some overhead monitors so that all could see it easily.

"You're handy to have around," Detective Knight said, adding a nod of thanks.

"Right, everyone, listen up," Detective Mahoney said, clicking a device in his hand. "Our objective is these two gentlemen, and I use that term extremely loosely."

On a screen off to the side, two images appeared side by side: the hobgoblin mid-air on his board and the Vulture, a darker image that made it hard to make out the man attached to his large mechanical wings apart from his glowing yellow eyes.

"Roderick Kingsley and Adrian Toomes," the Vision stated.

"Now how do you know that?" Detective Knight asked. "We've been trying to work that out for weeks."

"I have access to the Stark Network and processors that are much faster than anything the NYPD possess," the Vision replied. "No disrespect intended."

"None taken. We're under no illusions here about how sub-par some of the equipment that we have is," Detective Knight replied.

The Vision gave a half-nod, half-bow before continuing.

"It was then a matter of compiling a composite of all images of the two and using the various databases at my disposal to narrow possibilities down to the names that I just mentioned."

"Thankyou, that's actually a big help," Detective Mahoney replied. "We know that Vulture and Hobgoblin are based somewhere within this area. The problem is that we're not sure exactly where."

"Not to mention that they've tied our hands with where they've set up shops," Detective Knight said as she stepped forward and began pointing out landmarks on the map. "Orphanage. School. School. Hospital. Day care centre. Retirement Home."

"Obviously the aim is to prevent the civilians from getting hurt," Cap stated.

"Everything that I've heard tells me that both these guys have a lot of people in their crews?" Hawkeye said.

"That's true," Detective Mahoney said. "Unfortunately, our info's skechy at best on the actual numbers. Could be as few as a couple of dozen although more likely closer to a hundred. And as for where they are?"

His question ended in a shrug.

"That's the aim of this strategy meeting, to see if we could work out a way to get their precise location and then to formulate a plan to go in and put a stop to their terrorising our city," Detective Knight stated.

"I think we can help you there," Mage stated. "I know the area. Marauder?"

Cap watched the senior wizard place his hand on the younger's shoulder before, with a quiet pop the two disappeared.

ooo00ooo

"Where are we?" Marauder asked as they appeared in the middle of a deserted street.

The area was dark and deserted, only lit by the occasional street light. A number of cars were parked on the side of the road but all were empty. And what light there was came from the surrounding buildings, albeit muted by drawn curtains.

"Just outside the area on the map, on the south-eastern side," Mage replied.

"Outside? How are we supposed to get intel from here?" Marauder frowned.

"Obviously, by going closer," Mage replied. "And we don't have time to waste. Into your other form, Camo."

Marauder's eyes widened, not that Mage would be able to see it through the obscuris spell on his face under his hood. That sentence was enough to tell him the plan. In minute detail. His protest, though, died on his lips as Mage's arms folded across his chest. With a sigh, he changed.

The world grew bigger almost instantly as Marauder took on his Animagus form. One eye turned to watch as Mage also transformed, leaving a chameleon and a sparrowhawk standing in the middle of the street.

And then, horror of horrors, Ged flapped his wings, rising above the ground before swooping back down to snare Camo in his sharp talons. Even now, after they'd practiced this move dozens of times on the island, Camo felt his muscles bunch up as he fought the instinct to run from the approaching predator.

Seconds later, he opened his eyes to see the ground rapidly retreating. Wind buffeted at his face and he used his long tongue to lick his eyeballs. Ged, he could tell, was being incredibly careful; not a single talon felt like it was even likely to pierce his skin.

Buildings and streets flashed by below him, some more than once as Ged circled the area. Finally, he sensed a shift in their flight and he watched as they descended.

As soon as he felt his feet touch the ground, the talons holding him released. Camo waited a breath, two, and then morphed back, retaking his human form. His instinct was to ask Mage what he'd seen but after so many sessions with both Mockingbird and Black Widow, he knew the value of complete silence when in the middle of a reconnaissance mission.

A sharp rap to his head preceded the feeling of something like egg running down from his head, to his face, shoulders and then the rest of his body.

Disillusionment spell, Marauder realised.

A faint golden outline showed him exactly where Mage was – a variation of the spell that Mage had apparently discovered somewhere on his travels around the world that allowed people under disillusionment spells to see each other, provided, of course, that they'd been cast by the same individual.

Following Mage's lead, he ghosted down the alley that they'd landed in before a brief glow unlocked a side door, giving them access to a warehouse.

As one would expect, the warehouse was huge. Easily three stories tall but most of that space was open from the floor all the way to the roof. Deep shadows permeated everywhere as, at this time of night, there were hardly any of the great industrial lights lit. Catwalks in a great square overlooked the open floor with extra rooms backed off from them against the walls of the warehouse itself.

It only took half a dozen steps for Marauder to realise that his footsteps were echoing in the vast space. Pausing, he looked down at his feet with a frown. A wave of his wand and a murmured spell later and he began walking again, this time on silenced feet.

A deep red wave of magic that he knew muggles wouldn't see, feel or notice in any way flashed out from Mage's wand, washing over the entire building. But that wasn't what held Marauder's attention. No, what had him moving from pillar to pillar across the floor was the large platform in the middle of the otherwise empty floor.

On one end was a large, curved metal board that Marauder knew could fly with a person standing on top of it. And at the other end, attached to a stand, was the largest pair of wings he'd ever seen – much bigger than Falcon's – with great turbines in the middle of them to power them.

The soft rise and fall of voices caught his attention and his head turned to find three me, two standing in front of a large workbench covered in a myriad of mechanical parts, the other seated behind it. Stealing that way, he listened in, staying close just long enough to hear each of their names, then, with a silent nod to himself, he backtracked, finding Mage waiting for him

A second later, a hand landed on his shoulder and he felt the pull of apparition.

ooo00ooo

"Here!" Mage stated, pointing to one warehouse on the map that he'd left floating in the air, as he reappeared in the room, his disillusionment spell dropping from him at the same time.

"Damnit, man, don't do that!" Falcon snapped, startling backwards and bumping heavily into a table. "And you can wipe that grin off your face! I know it's there. I may not be able to see it, but it's there."

"This is our target?" Cap asked, cutting in even as the rest of the team and all of the police gathered closer.

"Correct," Mage replied. "A warehouse jammed pack full of bad guys. They're heavily armed, including with weapons that I've never seen before."

"How many we looking at?" Hawkeye asked.

"One hundred and twelve," Mage replied.

"How'd you get that number so quickly?" Detective Mahoney asked.

"Magic," Mage replied.

"You know I hate that answer," Falcon stated in a voice just loud enough for all to hear.

"What about our primary targets? Toomes and Kingsley?" Detective Knight asked.

"They're there," Marauder stated. "I saw them. They were with another guy, Mason. My guess is that he's the brain behind a lot of the new tech."

"What's their status?" Cap asked. "Are they prepared for an attack?"

"No," Mage replied. "Most are either asleep or relaxing."

"Then now's our chance," Cap stated. "Detectives, with your permission? Everyone, listen up this is what we're going to do ..."

ooo00ooo

"We've got a bogie!" Hawkeye announced.

"I see it," Cap replied. "Hobgoblin. Where'd he come from? I thought we had them contained."

"The roof retracts," Hawkeye replied. "I can see it from here. And looks like there's movement from inside!"

"Wanda and I are working on it," the Vision

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