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Through the widening spatial rift, a towering ancient castle burst into view.
It soared into the clouds, its spires sharp enough to pierce the heavens, its stone walls weathered by centuries yet still radiating an oppressive, bone-deep weight that made the chest tighten.
Coulson's pupils snapped tight. The calm he was famous for shattered in an instant.
"Hogwarts — this is the entrance to Hogwarts!"
"The Wizarding World is right there!"
His voice came out shrill. He sounded nothing like himself.
Skye stood beside him looking completely lost. She'd never heard of any "Wizarding World." She had no idea what Hogwarts even was.
But Ward had gone completely still. He stared at the castle with wide, unblinking eyes, like he was afraid it might disappear if he looked away.
Skye caught it immediately, the way both of them reacted. She looked at Coulson, then at Ward, her confusion ballooning into something she couldn't contain.
Jemma, Fitz, and May were shaken too, but equally in the dark. All three turned to Coulson.
"Coulson." Skye asked what everyone was thinking. "What's the Wizarding World?"
Coulson drew a slow breath and made a visible effort to pull himself together.
"Miss Witch — she came from the Wizarding World."
"There are others like her. Many others. They just don't show themselves to ordinary people."
"They live in pocket dimensions that exist beyond ordinary reality, all interconnected. Those dimensions, taken together, are called the Wizarding World."
"Hogwarts, right in front of us, is one of the most powerful institutions in that world. It's also where Miss Witch is from."
He couldn't keep the reverence out of his voice.
And it wasn't just the people in the room. Thousands of miles away, at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Triskelion headquarters, Fury had been watching. When space tore open and Hogwarts appeared, whatever composure he'd been holding onto evaporated. His full attention locked onto that half-visible castle. The Dark Elves barely registered anymore.
Skye's jaw had dropped. Her expression said everything: You're joking.
"So... behind that rift, there are more wizards? Like Miss Witch?"
She was trying to absorb it. She could feel her entire understanding of the world quietly rearranging itself.
Coulson nodded. His eyes were bright.
"If the Wizarding World has magical power reinforcing it, it might be able to block the Aether's erosion. Maybe..." He looked toward the castle. "Maybe we have a chance."
As if the castle had heard him, a wave of strange energy pulsed outward from Hogwarts.
It was invisible, but the air rolled with it, a shockwave expanding like a tsunami. The black-red torrent of Aether churned violently in its wake. Even the Dark Elves were thrown off their feet, scattered and scrambling.
"Whoa," Skye breathed. "Cool."
No blockbuster she'd ever seen came close to this.
"Who dares invade Hogwarts!"
The voice cracked through the sky like a thunderclap.
The air warped. Above the spatial node, an elderly woman appeared from nothing, long wizard robes, pointed hat, a wand already in hand. Her face was composed, even kind. But her eyes burned with focus, and the light flickering at the tip of her wand made everyone's stomach drop.
That bearing. That presence.
One look was enough. This woman was dangerous.
Skye swallowed.
The old woman's eyes swept the scene and caught the Aether. Her brow furrowed.
"Protego Maxima."
She raised her wand and spoke quietly.
A transparent spherical shield expanded outward from the node, fast and certain. The black-red Aether crashed against it and stopped. Couldn't push through. Couldn't advance an inch.
Space gleamed again. Two more figures materialized at her sides.
One wore black robes, expression dark and closed-off. The other was short, fine-boned, dressed in a precise tailcoat with glasses perched on his nose.
"Professor McGonagall." The man in black scanned the sky, brow creased. "What's happened?"
"Professor Snape. Professor Flitwick."
Professor McGonagall kept it brief. "From the look of things, the Convergence has started. Someone triggered Hogwarts' defensive wards. I've been so occupied with the students' end-of-term exams that I nearly forgot this was coming."
Snape's gaze tracked upward until it landed on the Dark Elf warship dominating the sky. His tone sharpened with distaste.
"Dark Elves. Why aren't they in Svartalfheim where they belong?"
"It appears they've reacquired the Aether." Professor Flitwick adjusted his glasses. His voice was perfectly level. "And they still intend to carry out that absurd plan of theirs. Drown everything in darkness."
"On the subject of the Aether," McGonagall said, something shifting in her voice, "I've just remembered — Hermione reported to Dumbledore some time ago. She said the Aether had resurfaced and that she was planning to bring the Reality Stone back to Hogwarts."
She paused.
"Hermione is missing. The Aether is in the hands of these creatures." Her voice went quiet. "Could something have happened to her?"
The magical energy that erupted from McGonagall in the next moment was immediate and crushing. Killing intent flooded the air. Below, every person on the ground felt it, a suffocating pressure, like the atmosphere itself had turned hostile.
"That girl?" Snape raised an eyebrow. "She's far too clever for her own good, and her magical strength rivals any of us. Who would be capable of endangering her?"
He considered it for a moment. "More likely the Convergence is destabilizing space, and the Aether's reality distortion has sent her wandering off somewhere. Lost, not harmed."
The iron set of McGonagall's expression loosened, just slightly.
Flitwick pushed his glasses up. "What do we do now? Should we contact Dumbledore?"
Snape gave a cold snort. "For Dark Elves? You think we need the headmaster for this? That's a rather low opinion of the three of us."
Contempt moved briefly through his eyes. The Dark Elves might as well have been an annoyance.
The three professors looked at each other. They nodded once, in unison, and raised their wands.
Light gathered at each tip.
Near the spatial node, the zones consumed by darkness began to pull back. Slowly, steadily, as if some unseen hand were pressing against the tide and winning. And then something even more impossible: the darkness that had already transformed the world around it started to reverse. The corrupted areas were returning to what they had been.
Below, Coulson hadn't even finished processing the professors' conversation when the sight in front of him wiped every thought from his head.
Malekith watched his Aether stopped cold, his assimilation reversed, and he roared.
"Who are you? How does a pocket dimension node exist on Midgard? What is behind that rift!"
Jane blinked at him, then turned to Thor with a completely blank expression.
"Pocket dimension node. What does that mean?"
➤ Next: The Professors' Attitude
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