After his battle with the basilisk (and Tom Riddle), Harry Potter finds himself (along with Fawkes the phoenix and the Sorting Hat) zapped out of the Wizarding World by a mysterious device known as the Tesseract. Before he has time to think, he ends up helping a team of heroes known as the Avengers defend New York City from a magic-user named Loki.
This is a Crossover fanfic between Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and The Avengers (2012) by SummerChildWinterFury. It's an ongoing fic, and was last updated in May 2023. It can be found on Archive of Our Own here
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Tropes found in this fic include:
- Action Dad: Hawkeye counts. While none of the other Avengers (aside from Widow) know it, he's actually a dad. Once he's snapped out of Loki's control, he's shown to be fairly protective of Harry (such as when he gets mad at Thor for allowing Harry to fight, even if he can do magic).
- Actually Pretty Funny: Harry, for obvious reasons, has never heard of Stark Industries. So he thinks that STARK is an abbreviation for something instead of someone's name. When he meets Tony, he asks what it stands for. Both Stark and Banner are floored by the fact that he doesn't know... but Tony is clearly amused as he introduces himself.
- Adaptational Explanation: The fic states that the people of the Wizarding world are technically a different species from human called wixen, although they are still basically human. The only thing differentiating the two is the presence of magic in wixen note . Thor and Tony later come up with the theory that the wixen of Harry's world are seidrs who escaped Asgard by going to another dimension and starting a civilization. The Sorting Hat says that it isn't impossible.
- The author (both in the text and notes posted at the end of chapters) also goes to the trouble of expanding the worlds of both the MCU and the Wizarding World.
- All-Loving Hero: Harry knows that SHIELD likely won't let him go and that they are keeping him to figure out who he is and what he knows about Loki. That doesn't stop him from saving Agent Coulson or doing all he can to help the Avengers during the Battle for New York. Just like in canon, he's also polite and tries to be helpful throughout the fic.
- And the Adventure Continues: For now, Harry will stay in New York with the now baby Fawkes and the Sorting Hat, working with the Avengers whilst living with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. The story ends with the Avengers working to find a way to get Harry, Fawkes, and the Hat home.
- Animal Lover: Thor quickly becomes fond of Fawkes, as well as the snake Harry conjures during his fight with Loki. He names him Kevin.
- Awesome by Analysis: Black Widow is able to deduce a lot of shockingly accurate information about Harry (such as his status as an orphan, his mistrust of authority figures, that he's been abused, etc) from his mannerisms alone.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Harry's thoughts on why he's so tired:While you couldn’t actually see the circles under his eyes, Harry still felt the weight of the last few days. That and all that had happened before here. Hermione petrified, along with Colin Creevey and the other muggleborns (and Mrs Norris and Nearly-Headless Nick), Ron and his brothers dealing with their sister taken into the depths of Slytherin’s Chambers, Lockhart proving himself a phony stealing people’s memories, Tom Riddle and the basilisk, the Hat and the sword, Fawkes... Oh, and exams to revise for amidst everything else.
- Badass in Distress: Happens when Loki kidnaps Harry.
- Badass Normal: More than half of the adults in this fic apply, although Widow, Tony, and Fury get the most chances to shine.
- Bag of Holding: The Sorting Hat acts as one of these. Along with being able to give Harry knowledge and advice, it can hold an infinite number of items (the most notable being the sword of Gryffindor and the Invisibility Cloak). Tony ends up grumbling whenever he sees Harry put something inside it, wondering how it's possible.
- Big Brother Instinct: All of the Avengers have this for Harry by the end, and actively try to keep him away from SHIELD. For example:
- From the moment they meet, Thor is nothing but kind and supportive to Harry, goes out of his way to keep him safe, and is easily the most horrified when the kid is knocked out and abducted by Loki. He's infuriated when Tony implies that SHIELD kidnapped Harry, and gets angrier still when he sees Harry's scar, assuming someone hurt him. Then, later, when Tony jokes about how SHIELD will probably try to perform experiments on Harry to see how his magic works, Thor all but threatens everyone in the room note .
- Bruce/Hulk. While he's wary of the kid at first, he quickly becomes fond of Harry and Fawkes. When he confronts Loki after he kidnapped Harry, he's so mad at the villain that he becomes the Hulk and beats him to a pulp.
- Tony. While he initially treats Harry the same as everyone else, he quickly makes it clear (even before Harry reveals that he can do magic) that he cares about the kid's safety. He decides to take him in at the end of the fic.
- Cap, Widow, and Hawkeye all show this, too, with all of them taking the kid's safety very seriously. Cap even begins to wonder if sending Harry back to Hogwarts would be a good idea, as it sounds like the school is an incredibly dangerous place run by incompetent people (and he doesn't even consider trying to send him back to his relatives, who he and several others Avengers would like to have a talk with.)
- Bilingual Bonus: When Widow's still trying to figure out who/what Harry is, she speaks to him in untranslated Russian. note . It's heavily implied that the Sorting Hat translated for Harry, as he waits a second before thanking her in English.
- Blood Magic: A huge taboo for wizards and Asgardians, since it's mainly used for very nasty curses. Tony accidentally unsettles Loki when joking about SHIELD wanting blood samples from him and Harry, and Thor almost goes ballistic as he swears he won't let anyone do that.
- Brick Joke: When Tony first confronts Loki in Stark Tower after he kidnapped Harry, he walks up to the bar and offers him a drink. Later, when he's been captured and is sitting on the couch tied up in magical chains, Loki says that he'll take a drink now. Tony even laughs a little.
- Child Soldier: Harry. By the time he ends up in New York, he's fought Voldemort (twice), along with a three-headed dog, a forest of giant spiders, and a giant killer snake. After these experiences, he's able to hold his own in the Battle for New York, easily dual wielding his wand and the sword of Gryffindor. Despite this, the Avengers still watch his back throughout the battle. Cap and Hawkeye even yell at Thor and Hulk for letting a twelve-year-old fight.
- Closest Thing We Got: The reason why Fury takes Harry aboard the Helicarrier, as the boy's magic abilities and knowledge of Norse myths means he's basically the best expert SHIELD can find at a moment's notice to help against Loki.
- Commonality Connection:
- When Harry gets his first good look at Loki, he's reminded of Lucius Malfoy and concludes that the trickster is equally bad news (he's soon proven right).
- Harry's refusal to leave the fight reminds Cap heavily of when Bucky had to pull him out of fights as a kid.
- Thor's lack of knowledge of Muggle technology and Tony's interest in magic/the Wizarding World reminds Harry of Mr. Weasley. He even ends up explaining technology and magic to them as he would to his best friend's father. Pepper Potts also reminds Harry of Mrs. Weasley, as he believes that she too could wrangle several wizarding boys and one girl without breaking a sweat (she handles Tony, after all).
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: After everything Harry's faced in his first two years at Hogwarts, he isn't as freaked out about Loki suddenly appearing/attacking as most people would be (nor does he seem too fazed (at first) about being zapped into another dimension). He focuses only on protecting Nick Fury and using Fawkes to get them both out safely. During her analysis of him, Widow even lampshades this.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: When Harry first confronts Loki, he has on his invisibility cloak. He does pretty well until he accidentally reveals himself. Then Loki knocks him out in half a minute, takes his wand, puts on his cloak, and abducts him.
- Deadpan Snarker: Tony. Every other sentence is a jab at somebody in the room.
- Death Glare: Loki keeps giving Harry these, which make the young wixen fairly uncomfortable.
- Distressed Dude: Coulson (stabbed), Clint (brainwashed), and Harry (abducted by Loki). They get out okay, though.
- Dude, Not Funny!: This is the general reaction to some of Tony's more insensitive comments.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- While he generally ignores Steve's dislike of swearing and says whatever he wants, Tony noticeably tones down his language whenever Harry is around.
- While a majority of SHIELD's agents are suspicious of Harry (and Fawkes), mostly because he was transported there via the Tesseract and showed up with his sword and clothes covered in basilisk blood. Still, none of SHIELD's higher ups (especially Fury and Agent Coulson) do anything to hurt Harry, nor do they ever imply that they intend to do so. Still, the Avengers are very wary about what SHIELD does intend to do with the kid and bird.
- Even Loki is disturbed by the practice of Blood Magic. To the point that he looks incredibly uncomfortable when Tony jokingly suggests that SHIELD will want to take blood samples of the Asgardian and Harry to figure out how their magic works.
- Exact Words: Harry, who can't tell the whole truth about who he is (due to the rules of the Wizarding World) but doesn't want to lie, has to use this a few times. It's implied that Widow uses this fairly often.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Or, uncle. Vernon evidently banned anything even vaguely "abnormal" from the house, to the point that he didn't even let Dudley watch superhero TV shows.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Steve, like in the movie, is still struggling with adjusting to life in the 21st century. Harry qualifies a bit, too, as the MCU has much more advanced technology than he's used to (which makes sense, given that it's 1993 in his world and 2012 in the MCU).
- Fun with Acronyms: When Harry first sees the Stark Industries logo, not knowing that it's based on a name, he assumes that it's an acronym, and spends some time with the Hat thinking of possibilities for what it means. His favorite is Super Team Army of Robot Killers.
- After the Avengers meet the Sorting Hat and start learning more about wizarding culture from it, Tony starts referring to it as Helpful Animated Tech, at least partially so that he can mention the Hat around other people without breaking his vow to keep Harry's secret.
- Gentle Giant: Behind Hulk, Thor is the most physically intimidating member of the Avengers. He's also a kind person who will go out of his way to protect others, refuses to give up on his brother (even though said brother is planning to level New York City), and loses it when kids or animals are being threatened. After Harry's fight with Loki, Tony finds Thor cuddling with a four-foot python like it's a puppy, complimenting it for surviving battle with Loki.
- Glamour
- The Sorting Hat can make itself and its wearer an Unusually Uninteresting Sight to anyone without magic or other powers, allowing Harry to walk all over the Helicarrier until Banner sees them.
- When Banner is reading a book on magical creatures, its cover is disguised as a book on knitting. Tony teases him for it before the Sorting Hat reveals that it's actually Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: After Harry appears, Fury tries to question him in his usual manner (to no avail, as Harry has grown up surrounded by adults like that). The next day, Agent Coulson talks to him, bringing Harry breakfast and making pleasant conversation with him (though still trying to get information from him). Coulson's approach works better, as Harry is willing to discuss Norse mythology with him (as it was a subject he's studied that year).
- Heroes Gone Fishing:
- As in canon, the Avengers go out for shawarma after the Battle of New York. Here, they are joined by Harry (who quickly develops a liking for it) and Fawkes.
- In the time following the Battle, several Avengers are staying at Tony's father's mansion. During that time, Tony has started having Avenger dinner-and-movie nights. Harry's internal monologue states that he really enjoyed pizza night.
- Heroic Sacrifice: To save New York, the Hat gives Harry a ritual that he can perform to end Loki's invasion. However, the plan requires that Fawkes channel a large amount of magical energy to destroy the Tesseract and Loki's staff. The plan succeeds, destroying the staff, the Tesseract, and Fawkes' body. Downplayed due to the fact that Fawkes is an immortal phoenix, and is reborn shortly after.
- Heroic Second Wind: Phoenix song is known for inspiring these, as their singing inspires courage in the hearts of the pure. When things are starting to look rough during the Battle for New York, Fawkes starts flying overhead and singing. It inspires the heroes to keep fighting, despite being outnumbered.
- Hero-Worshipper: Harry very much admires the mythic Loki for being a Trickster God (alongside many Hogwarts students) and feels rather offended about an obvious imposter laying claim to the name.
- Hidden Depths:
- Due to his studies at Hogwarts, Harry is very knowledgeable of Norse mythology (to the point that he knows things even Thor doesn't).
- Along with being able to decide which House a wizard belongs in, the Sorting Hat also holds a lot of knowledge (including spells/rituals), has numerous charms on it that can protect its wearer, and is able to hold an infinite number of items. These traits help Harry numerous times.
- Hold Your Hippogriffs: Harry and Bruce have a brief discussion about Wizarding World terminology, with Harry explaining what wixen mean when they use phrases such as "Merlin's pants!"
- I Can Still Fight!: Coulson's recovery period is torture for him not because he's in pain, but because he wants to be on duty and helping out, especially after the Battle for New York.
- Impossibly Delicious Food: Dumbledore keeps a bag of lemon drops in the Sorting Hat, which not only contain a mild calming potion but are also incredibly tasty. By the end of the fic, Harry and all of the Avengers have developed a taste for them (especially Bruce, who found out that they help him calm down).
- I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: Tony (after seeing some of Harry's magic up close) decides to take temporary custody of Harry. Thor tries to do the same thing, but everyone sees Tony as the slightly better option because at least Pepper can keep her boyfriend in check.
- Internal Reveal:
- Banner transforming into the Hulk when he comes to save the kid from Loki acts as this to Harry. He takes it pretty well, though.
- The Avengers' revelation that Harry can do magic. Thor calls him a Seidr, although Harry later corrects him and tells them he's a wizard.
- Tony invokes this when he has Cap, Harry, and Thor watch the Star Wars movies for the first time (as he realizes that they're possibly the only people in the room who don't know about many famous movie reveals).
- Invisibility Cloak: Harry brought his with him to New York. It's essential in his first fight with Loki. Tony is not allowed to touch it.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tony. For all of his snarky comments and narcissism, he is genuinely concerned for Harry's and the team's safety. He even decides to adopt Harry by the end.
- Kid Hero: Harry. Despite the Avengers' worry for the kid (as he's a twelve-year-old from another dimension who literally popped in out of thin air), he's capable of handling himself in battle.
- Kindhearted Simpleton: Thor is far from stupid, but his sheer lack of knowledge about Earth and Midgardians (as well as his kind and emotional nature) makes him this trope.
- Last of His Kind: The reason for the title of the fanfic is that Thor believes that Harry is the last of a race of Asgardians known as the Seidr, and is partially why he's so protective of the boy. It is ultimately averted, as Harry has no idea what a Seidr is and eventually reveals that he's a wizard.
- Lazy Alias: When he's being questioned by Fury, Harry says that his name is Salazar Slytherin, simply because it's the first name to pop into his head. No one believes him for a second.
- Lesser of Two Evils: Both Thor and Tony want to take Harry in after the Battle for New York. While everyone is unsure about Tony's ability to take care of a child, they all agree that Thor's plan (taking Harry to Asgard) would be much worse.
- Literal-Minded: Played for Laughs; Thor's knowledge of Earth figures of speech is notably limited.
- Loved by All: Everyone who meets Fawkes instantly likes him. Especially after he helps Harry save New York and is reborn into an adorable baby version of himself.
- Magic Versus Science: SHIELD has a really hard time trying to figure out how Harry is doing some of the things he's accomplished, as well as exactly what type of bird Fawkes is. This isn't helped by the revelation that magic inadvertently messes with technology. Tony and Bruce, on the other hand, are enthusiastic to learn everything they can from Harry and the Sorting Hat about their magical world.
- Mentor Archetype: The Sorting Hat becomes a mentor and advisor to Harry, giving him advice and encouragement as well as feeding him spells in various scenarios (such as the spells he uses to save Coulson's life and the ritual that closes the portal and destroys Loki's staff).
- Mistaken for an Imposter: Harry first refuses to believe Marvel Loki actually is the real deal and insists he must be a wizard who doesn't know his folklore at all. That's because the Norse mythos is extremely different from Marvel canon, meaning Loki accidentally gave the wrong answers when he unveiled himself to SHIELD. May also be a subtle Take That! at Marvel for not bothering to make sure they get their Norse mythology right when adapting Thor and Loki for the big screen.
- Mundane Utility:
- After the battle, Harry uses the Reparo Charm to fix up some of the damage to Stark Tower. It's right after this that Tony decides to have Harry stay with him.
- Several of the items in the Sorting Hat (namely the fire whiskey, Veritaserum, and various books) show that Godric Gryffindor (the Hat's original owner) used it as a personal storage unit.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Harry's unwillingness to stay hidden during Loki's attack on the Helicarrier both helped him save Coulson's life and got him kidnapped by Loki. It also earned him the respect of the Avengers and Agent Coulson.
- No-Sell: Harry manages to throw off Loki's attempt to brainwash him with the Mind Stone.
- Noodle Incident: Harry, when Cap tells him he shouldn't be fighting in the Battle for New York, replies that this isn't his first time dealing with dangerous people or animals. While those who've read the book series or watched the movies know what he's talking about, Cap isn't given further information.
- Not in Front of the Kid: The Avengers all noticeably tone down their language when Harry (who's twelve) is nearby. Banner also has to remind Tony not to talk about more...adult topics in front of him.
- Odd Friendship: The Sorting Hat and J.A.R.V.I.S. regularly play Wizard's chess together. They are evenly matched in both intellect and snark.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Several scenes from the film are only referenced or mentioned in the fic (except for the Battle of New York), and thus become this trope.
- Oh, No... Not Again!: This is Fury's reaction after Hawkeye tells him that baby Fawkes ate the Mind Stone. Apparently Fury is remembering a similar situation with a cat...
- The Only One I Like: The Hulk doesn't completely like anyone... except Fawkes and Harry. The phoenix is apparently able to calm both Bruce and the Hulk, so both sides like him (and, by extension, Harry).
- Our Phoenixes Are Awesome: Phoenixes in the Wizarding World, though we only see Fawkes. He not only has the ability to be reborn from his own ashes, but can carry incredible weights (to the point that he can carry multiple people through the air at once), Apparate through fire, is highly intelligent, can sing a song that inspires courage in the hearts of the pure, and is incredibly fond of lemon drops.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Harry doesn't know who "Gandalf" or "Superman" are. He does barely recognize "Clark Kent" from The Adventures of Superboy (and that, only because Dudley mentioned it). The Hat does know about Gandalf, and explains it to Harry.
- Protector Behind Bars: Or, in this case, glass. Thor is trapped in a glass cage by Loki, and is forced to watch a twelve-year-old fight a malicious adult one-on-one... and lose once Loki figures out Harry's tricks.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Fury. While he has no idea exactly what Harry and Fawkes are or where the Tesseract pulled them from, he trusts Widow's judgement that they aren't dangerous and allows the duo to walk around the Helicarrier freely (although he does later give Harry a Death Glare when he reveals delicate information to the Avengers). He also later promises Clint that he'll do what he can to keep Harry and Fawkes safe from the more ambitious SHIELD agents (especially after what Fawkes did to the Mind Stone).
- Replacement Familiar: Harry and Fawkes are this to each other, as the boy is separated from his owl and the phoenix is separated from Dumbledore. Considering how Harry is basically alone in another dimension, he is grateful to have the bird by his side. Unlike this trope, however, the two genuinely like each other as they are (with Fawkes having formed a genuine bond with Harry).
- Sadly Mythtaken: Since the Marvel interpretation of the Norse gods veers quite far from the actual mythology, Harry refuses to believe that Loki is the genuine article — everyone knows Loki is Odin's blood-adopted brother and a jotun, not Odin's Asgardian son, after all.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: After Harry told the Avengers about his abusive relatives and his time at Hogwarts (the "safest place in the Wizarding World"), several of the adults (namely Cap) start to wonder if Harry should go back to the Wizarding World. What's more, they all do what they can to keep Harry, Fawkes, the Hat, and Dr. Banner away from SHIELD (the closest Fury's come to seeing him since after the Battle is when he personally brought over Kevin the snake, and even then, he was closely guarded).
- Secret-Keeper: In order to keep the Statute of Secrecy (and to protect himself, the Hat, and Fawkes), Harry has the Avengers swear a Vow to never tell anyone about his world without his permission, in exchange for his complete honesty with them. By the end, only the Avengers, War Machine, J.A.R.V.I.S., and Pepper Potts know about Harry's wizarding heritage.
- Shout-Out:
- Tony keeps calling Harry "Gandalf" (later "Gandalf's Apprentice") and "Kal-El" (due to his admitting to coming from another world). Both are obvious references to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and DC's Superman.
- When Hawkeye (due to a concerned Thor) requests that Kevin the snake (that Harry summoned to fight Loki) be taken off the Helicarrier, Fury responds with a vulgar statement about getting the "snake off [his] plane."
- Shown Their Work: The author visibly put a lot of effort into making sure that they got their facts right when it came to British '90s pop culture/technology, American 2012 pop culture, Norse mythology, Wizarding world spells, and much more.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Agent Coulson. Loki still stabs him, but this time Harry was able to throw his aim off so that the wound wasn't fatal, and perform magical first aid. He isn't seen for the rest of the fic, but Fury later confirms that he would make a full recovery (with there later being a remark about how he's going stir crazy about not being on duty). It's their united concern for Harry's safety, as well as defending New York, that gets the Avengers to act as a team.
- Speaks Fluent Snake: Harry is a Parselmouth, a skill he uses to talk to Kevin the snake during his fight with Loki.
- Take That!: Steve, after learning about the abuse Harry suffered from the Dursleys and just how dangerous Hogwarts is even without a killer snake in the basement, wonders if Harry would be safer staying in the MCU.note
- Technologically Blind Young Men: Steve is from the '40s, Thor is from Asgard, and Harry is from another dimension where magic is preferred over technology. Tony gives the three crash courses on modern day Earth tech. Harry notably picks it up faster than the other two (likely because he's at least somewhat familiar with some of what Tony shows him).
- They Would Cut You Up: Zig-zagged; the SHIELD agents did return Kevin the snake to Harry without hurting him, but Kevin (via a Parseltongue conversation with Harry and Thor) reveals that they performed numerous tests on him, and were not gentle. He goes so far as to declare the SHIELD scientists as enemies of serpent kind.
- Trapped in Another World: Harry, Fawkes, and the Sorting Hat are transported via the Tesseract to the MCU, with no real way to get home. The fic ends before they do, but implies that the Avengers will help them use the Tesseract to return home.
- Unskilled, but Strong: While Harry's magic catches Loki off-guard and saves Agent Coulson's life, he's only gotten basic magic training and is largely being helped by the Hat. Loki, in contrast, has a few hundred years of fighting, magic, and strategic experience under his belt. Once he knows where Harry is, he defeats him in about thirty seconds.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Justified when Harry and Fawkes are exploring the Helicarrier. The Sorting Hat has a charm that allows it, along with its wearer, to walk around completely unnoticed, regardless of who or where they are. The only ones that can see through the charm are those with either magic or special powers. This is how Harry is able to explore the Helicarrier until Bruce sees him.
- We Can Rule Together: Downplayed with Loki who's very much intrigued by Harry's ability to wield magic in spite of being a Midgardian and is apparently open to take him as his apprentice. However, when the boy rejects the offer, Loki has no qualms trying to Mind Rape him.
- What If?: Harry and Fawkes change a lot of things due to them showing up.
- Harry saves Fury from getting shot by a brainwashed Clint.
- Fawkes' presence helps calm Hulk down, meaning that Thor doesn't have to fight him and the Helicarrier suffers less damage.
- Hulk knocks Loki out sooner into the battle.
- As Harry is the one that closes the portal, Tony doesn't have to nearly kill himself guiding the nuclear missile into it preventing him from developing the PTSD that led to him creating Ultron.
- Fawkes eats the Mind Stone, derailing HYDRA's experiments with it that, among other things, created Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Apparently, a majority of SHIELD agents (including Sitwell) are terrified of snakes.
- Would Hurt a Child: Loki.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Thor and Loki end up believing that Harry is a Seidr from Asgard. They also believe that Fawkes is a Haybok (although they're not too far off...).
- You Can't Go Home Again: The Avengers are starting to believe this about Harry. They have no idea how or why the Tesseract brought him, the Hat, and Fawkes to their universe, nor do they have any definite way to send him back.
