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The white haired teen gave the area a look over before asking in a rapid voice, "Was that the guy Mystique? How strong was he?"

The blue skinned woman answered smoothly, "For someone who looked no older than yourself, very. I did not believe Pyro and Avalanche at first but it seems they were not lying after all."

"Heard that, couldn't see much though without the X-Nobodies spotting me. What do you think?"

"He seemed to use tools but fought Wolverine well enough without them. The fact that Xavier sent his children implies this new arrival is one of us. It seems the boyscout's temper has certainly worked in our advantage this time. Look around Pietro. Very few teleportation abilities can take someone very far. If he is nearby I want him found. He must join the Brotherhood."

"You got it boss." With that the man sped away faster than a blur. Harry watched the scene from above and noticed this white haired teen, Pietro, had a concentration of time energy on his body. Harry figured he could increase time's frame of reference for himself while in motion and move several fold faster than others while watching the world in slow motion. Harry had no simple way of countering such a person. Some of the Anti-Magic spells he could once use may have had a dampening effect against the teen's access to Time Energy but Harry hadn't had any luck in making another Anti-Magic spell and he couldn't make more binding equipment that used Anti-Magic until he could cast such spells.

Before Harry could consider further ramifications, the blue skinned woman, Mystique, shifted back into the form of a raven and took flight. Harry considered following her or getting close and placing a tracking charm on her but if it turned out she was just flying around looking for him, he'd feel pretty silly following her around.

Once she left the area Harry apparated into the sky above a more populated section of North Salem and flew down into an empty alleyway before shifting back to human form and removing the concealing spells he placed on himself. Harry walked around for a few minutes and eventually spotted the speedy mutant down the street. He allowed himself to be followed into a hotel and walked up to the counter.

Harry sensed the bearer of time energy follow him inside and walk over to a coach. Harry visibly took the last Quartz crystal from the pouch at his side and kept it in his hand while talking to the woman at the front desk. She stated that Harry wasn't old enough to order a room and Harry used Lumos on the crystal held below the desk out of her line of sight, but in Pietro's. He placed it into his inventory and used a simple form of Telepathy to make the woman think that an adult was standing next to Harry, showing the right ID and everything needed for a room. She accepted the cash payment and gave Harry a room card, even saying the room number out loud and thanking the man for his time, even though anyone looking would see she was talking to empty space. Thankfully the only one paying attention was the white haired teen on the couch.

Harry thought to himself if these guys needed more hints than that they weren't worth his time.

Not long after arriving in his room, Harry took an empty pet carrier out of his inventory. It had a two way portkey that would send itself to Harry's London Home and a few minutes later, return to the same spot. Harry used a charm while saying, "Goose, get in and sit tight and this will bring you to me." The charm would make the pet carrier repeat the message upon arrival and with that Harry activated the portkey.

A few moments later the pet carrier returned and Goose casually walked out. Goose conveyed a question though their link, 'What are you getting yourself into this time?'

Harry answered the sassy Flerken back, "I'm going to attend a boarding school filled with mutants. Please don't eat any of them."

Goose turned her head up at that and conveyed back, 'I don't eat junk food except for special occasions.' She jumped up on the bed and got comfortable before sending another question at him, 'What kind of mutants?'

Harry wondered how many types of mutants Goose was aware of. Goose seemed to know lots about earth, about magics, and all kinds of things and it wasn't like she had access to the internet. Or did she? Though Harry couldn't imagine his familiar using a computer.

He answered, "The human kind who have awakened their X-Gene," hoping they weren't tastier than other kinds of mutants. He would never know however since Goose didn't say anything after that.

While waiting for the carrier to return, Harry had been setting up several traps and relics. He couldn't make more until he had more spells to use, but the amount he made before that was still in the hundreds, even if they were all prototypes. Harry could also use Wizard Magic to create things to his heart's content, but doing so would fry the tv inside the room. Harry decided to proceed anyways and compensate the hotel for the TV afterwards.

One thing Harry did was place a overpowered diagnostic charm on the door frame turning it into a scanning type artifact. Since wooden door frames were not an ideal material for such artifacts it would burn out after a single use but would give Harry a detailed report of the next fellows who entered.

*Knock Knock*

Harry answered the door and unsurprisingly the white haired teen was standing there with a stern looking thirty something looking woman wearing no nonsense business attire and glasses.

Harry asked, "Yes? Can I help you?"

The woman spoke up, "Actually it is I who can help you. Do you mind if we come in? I would like a moment to speak with you."

Harry shrugged and said with his clipped British accent, "Well I certainly have a moment. Come on in I suppose. Make yourself comfortable."

Harry pulled out the chairs near the desk and dragged them near the bed and sat himself down.

Pietro walked into the room first but turned every which way to make sure there was nothing there that could be dangerous. Harry internally laughed at this as the teen completely ignored the Flerken lying on the bed. The traps and relics scattered about all looked like trash so he didn't pay attention to that either. A moment later the woman entered and closed the door behind her. She turned from the door to face Harry while the surface of her body rolled over in waves revealing her blue form while her business attire shifted into something simpler that looked like a white one piece dress.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her and smiled back, "You did say to get comfortable."

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging once more and not paying it any more mind.

Neither sat down in the provided chairs, preferring to lean on them while they remained standing. The shapeshifter said, "My name is Mystique and this is Pietro, we are from the Brotherhood of Mutants."

Harry answered back, "Acquaintances of the fellows from before? Well I'm Harry Potter. I don't suppose you're here to fight are you?"

Mystique quickly shook her head in the negative and said, "No, I'm here to offer you a place in the Brotherhood. A chance to rise above the humans and take your rightful place in the world."

Harry suddenly felt another presence within his mind, a telepath had come knocking and entered when he found the front door was open. Harry's mind was available to anyone who wanted to come in but would only allow others to see what he wanted. This person seemed to be borrowing his senses and trying to discern his thoughts on the conversation, but it wasn't from either of the mutants in the room.

Harry said, "Even if that held any interest to me, what could your Brotherhood offer that would help me accomplish it?"

He had no interest in such a thing but he was curious about the resources these mutants had to make such an offer.

Mystique answered, "Strength, we will make you stronger."

"Eh?" Harry thought, that's it? He looked over at Pietro and asked, "And how exactly do you gain strength."

The speedster quickly answered, "Combat training mostly. The more you fight the better you get at fighting."

Harry had a lot to say about that but simply asked, "How many times in the last few months have you fought someone or something that was willing to kill you if you lost?"

Harry waited five seconds but there was no reply as the teen seemed to still be thinking it over. Harry asked, "Then in the last few months, how many different people have you fought who are stronger than you?"

This time he quickly answered, "Six."

And lastly Harry asked, "And were at least half or more than half of these six members of the Brotherhood?"

He looked like he wanted to answer but a glance from Mystique rendered him silent as it wasn't an answer they were proud to announce.

Harry gave a flat look to Mystique and asked in monotone, "So in conclusion, your Brotherhood doesn't have anyone strong enough for you to improve yourself sparring against and you either challenge others merciful enough not to kill you when you lose or those weaker than you. And you're saying I'll get stronger if I join you. Did I miss anything?"

Mystique looked rather angry at the logical conclusion and said, "Yes, do you want to die?"

Harry gave a knowing smirk to her and confidently said, "If you think you have a chance feel free to try. But there will be no turning back once you do. I'll have you know there isn't a single soul in this world who has tried to kill me and lived to tell about it. I don't give second chances to those who come at me with lethal force, regardless of the fact that it never takes."

Harry gave Mystique the same stare he gives to the creatures that spawned during Battle Meditation. Harry was not a killer, he was a warrior. In combat against someone seeking his life, he would end his opponents. He wouldn't make them suffer of course. He'd never make someone suffer before killing them. It was that efficiency that made him even more dangerous.

Pietro, who wasn't on the receiving end of Harry's hard gaze said, "What the hell? You're immortal?"

Harry answered, "I didn't say that. My power has a lot of applications and with some prior preparation, there is a lot I can do."

Mystique realized that her own bluff wasn't going to do anything and understood from his gaze he was not bluffing. Changing the subject she said, "The Brotherhood is not weak, but neither are the humans. We must stand together for when the time comes that they turn on us."

Harry said, "You're making a lot of assumptions there. However, let's skip over all of that for now. I assume you must have seen me fight or heard about my little scuffle with your acquaintances. What did you learn about my power?"

Pietro answered before she could speak up, "Let's see, you're strong, pretty fast, though not as fast as me, you can make fire not burn, make chains, make illusions, and teleport. But besides your strength, you need to use rocks for your other powers."

Harry said, "Close enough. I call my power Upgrade. I can absorb pure metals or pure gemstones and get short term boosts, long term boosts, or momentary access to certain forms of energy. I can also absorb food and use energy from it to recover. If I absorb food in advance, I gain the ability to recover until it has been digested. I'm strong because not long ago I absorbed a lot of platinum and a few hours ago I absorbed a lot of steel. Absorbing gemstones at least the size of an egg give me a moment's worth of access to the other abilities."

Both mutants were stunned as neither expected Harry to directly tell them the details of his powers. Harry also thought to himself, fully knowing there was a listener in his head, that he could also absorb books and know their contents perfectly for a few days.

Pietro shook his head and once he processed the information he shouted, "You're a goddamn Premium Gamer!"

Harry froze complete at the term and barely was able to ask, "What?"

Mystique said with annoyance, "What are you talking about Pietro?"

The speedster pointed at Harry and said, "In online games there are bastards who spend lots of real money to get stronger than anyone else! Not because they're better, but because they're richer! They're always topping the leader boards and leave guys who play with just their skill in the dust! This guy's power is just like that, he can spend money on stuff to unfairly make himself stronger without working for it!"

Harry sat frozen for three full seconds before he burst out into hysterical laughter. He thought Pietro had somehow figured out his true power but it was that of all things. He could easily keep laughing for a few minutes but that would be rude to his guests so he took a few deep breaths to calm himself, though he still had a large smile plastered across his face.

Harry said, "Premium. I like that. I hope you don't mind if I use it in the future . Anyways, if I joined you guys, I'd wouldn't be able to keep my own source of income and your Brotherhood would have to spend its funds upgrading me. If I go too long without absorbing anything, I'm no different from a very skilled human."

Mystique frowned and said, "If it is just metals, we can easily grant you with an unlimited supply."

Harry noticed Pietro's eyes seemed to widen in some sort of realization. Harry figured he just thought of someone with a mutant ability that could guarantee such a promise.

Harry said, "Well, tabling that for now, there is one last point. Are you confident in the future that there will be no one stronger than the Brotherhood?"

Mystique said with firm resolution, "Yes. We are already gathering the strongest mutant-"

"Stop," Harry interrupted her. He said, "Just mutants?"

She was irked at the interruption and said, "Yes, we are the Brotherhood of Mutants after all."

Harry shook his head and said, "Then you are wasting your time. If you're only recruiting mutants then you are just looking for a strong mutant. That is because the only way your group could win is if you found a single unbeatable mutant. But even if you actually found such a mutant who shared the same goals, they'd never listen to you, you would have to follow them. I'm sure whoever you currently follow is very powerful, but unless he cannot be defeated by anyone, your goal is meaningless. Strength that is not absolute is not strength. Unless an undefeatable mutant is already a part of the Brotherhood, you can't claim you have strength which means that in the end, you have nothing."

Pietro said, "Now hold it right there! No one can beat Magneto!"

Mystique shouted, "Silence Pietro!"

Harry shrugged and said, "Let's end this here. You don't have any means for me to get stronger that I can't use myself. You don't have a source of the resources I need superior to my own. And since your leader isn't already the leader of the world, then he obviously is not undefeatable which means your goals cannot be achieved without luck. I will not be joining the Brotherhood, so you can show yourselves out."

Mystique had watched Harry's fight with the X-Men nearly from start to finish and had heard from Pyro exactly how quick to fight Harry had been. She thought just giving him a chance to fight more would do it, the easiest recruitment ever had by anyone. Instead, he used calm and dispassionate logic to break down her offer piece by piece and show her how worthless it was. She couldn't even counter it because she knew that her boss was not in fact undefeatable and she was in fact looking for unstoppable mutants.

She gave him one last glare that seemed about as effective against him as a gentle breeze and said, "You're making a great mistake. If you stand in our way, you won't live to regret it."

She had been used to threatening people for so long she had forgotten their earlier conversation so Harry's response was unexpected for her.

Harry smiled and innocently said, "Oh? Is that a promise? Something to look forward to then. I hope you won't disappoint me."

Pietro muttered to himself, "Bastard probably paid for extra lives," before saying aloud, "Let's get out of here Mystique. Without 'Pay to Play,' this guy's just a loser and he's even crazier than my sister."

With that the pair left and Harry felt the presence eavesdropping on his awareness leave as well. He checked the door to see what the diagnostic charm revealed and was more than a little surprised.

Pietro was pretty much what he expected. The teen's nerves seemed to channel time energy which increased his relative perspective of timespace. From a standard point of view, he could think fast, react fast, and move fast. The time energy likely spread out to his muscles allowing him to move while the world would be slowly moving around him.

Mystique was different. Her power existed in every single cell. They could divide and even merge at will. Every cell could practically shift into another cell. She could take the form of any human of any age and likely even take the form of most animals, though he suspected it would be harder for her to take the form of larger animals.

What was interesting about her power was the similarities it bore to his own. Harry's cells were all made up of the same energy and if injured, the excess energy of nearby cells could be used to make cells to replace damaged ones. Mystique's cells were similar in that each cell could potentially turn into any other cells, though it was obvious she had limits. He doubted if her head was removed, she could turn her hand into a head and survive. The similarities however were enough to make him wonder though.

Harry's mutant power was basically the ability that kept his Magic Obscurus Particles together in the shape of Harry Potter. But, was that all his mutant power could do? Both the Phoenix Force and Chthon had told him he was capable of far more than just what he knew. The Sorceress Supreme of the future did in fact tell him that he had to start practicing his mutant powers. That meant there was in fact more to his powers than just keeping his form and repairing his form.

*Knock Knock*

His musings were interrupted by his next visitor. Visitors as it were. Moreover, one of the people behind the door felt like a powerful Sorcerer saturated not with Eldritch Dimensional Energy, but Natural Energy, as if Mother Nature herself was standing there.

Harry answered the door once more and first noticed the one warrior he fought before called Logan standing to the side of a bald middle aged man in a wheelchair and a African goddess of a woman behind him. She looked to be in her mid to late twenties but Harry knew that level of saturation of Natural Energy would inhibit signs of age until she was in her late sixties so she was likely closer to fifty than she was twenty. Harry wasn't interested in older women but he could appreciate beauty.

Harry first turned to Logan and said, "We meet again. I'm sorry if you want a rematch but I'll have to disappoint. I'm kinda low on strength at the moment unless you have a few pounds of steel laying around."

He said, "Maybe later, I'm here because Charles wants a word."

Harry said, "Ah, the peeper, so what can I do for you?"

The bald man and the woman behind him were both startled at Harry's address of Xavier.

The wheelchair bound man asked, "I'm sorry, but what do you mean by that?"

Harry said, "Well, you were the one peeping on my thoughts during my earlier conversation right? I'm a pretty open guy so I don't mind, but since you didn't ask permission to borrow my senses, you were peeping, thus, you are a peeper."

Logan chuckled which caused the woman to slap his shoulder. This caused him to chuckle more.

The bald man sighed and said, "I apologize for intruding on your mind. When I learned we were not the first to arrive and speak with you I was very concerned. Mystique's unique physiology prevents me from reading her thoughts and young Maximoff's thoughts run at a speed that is difficult to comprehend. I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me and I ask your forgiveness, it won't happen again."

Harry shrugged, "If you say so. You probably already know this but I'm Harry Potter, come on in. That's Goose by the way," he motioned at the Flerken who had been amused by the previous guests and seemed to hope the next ones would be just as amusing.

Harry wasn't worried about telepaths. When Harry had the Darkhold and Book of Vishanti in his Inventory after getting his Psionic Path and had paused, he reformatted his mind completely and then sealed the memories and knowledge of how he did it. He had no idea how long he must have spent using Psionics and whatever he found in those books combined with Occlumency to do it, but his mind had several nearly flawless defenses. If a telepath entered the mental plane that was Harry's mind, they would find a massive library. Thought's Harry allowed to do so would echo through the halls allowing those within to hear the thoughts he allowed them to hear. All of Harry's knowledge was organized into the book so someone looking for something specific would have trouble finding it as they would have to find the specific book. It wasn't possible to just enter his mind and find his memories or knowledge. And the books numbered in the thousands.

That however was nothing compared to the mental attacks Harry somehow prepared during that time. When needed, Harry could cause perfect replicas of the thousands of different monsters Harry had encountered through his Battle Meditation to fill his Library. He could send them to attack the minds of other Telepaths or have them destroy weaker intruders or harass stronger ones, preventing them from finding the book and page containing the knowledge they wanted from Harry. There was even an Automated Security function that would automatically dispatch the hordes of monsters within Harry's mind if a book was taken from the shelf and not read in a designated reading area. That way if someone did sneak inside without him knowing or if he was incapacitated and unable to activate his defense, it would activate anyways.

And last, the super secret knowledge such as the dangerous magic from the Master's section of Kamar-Taj's library and stuff he found in the magic tomes of Hogwarts, the Black Library, and Salazar's private study were all hidden in folded space within Harry's mind. Should the space be unfolded, the library would become a massive maze and the monsters would automatically fill the maze. As for the knowledge of the Darkhold and Book of Vishanti, even Harry had no idea where it was and he knew better than to try and look for it. The knowledge of what he did to his mind and how he did it was also locked up with those books as well.

A moment after the trio entered, the telepath said, "I am Professor Charles Xavier. This is Logan and Ororo Munroe, also known as Wolverine and Storm."

Harry recognized the name as the teacher of Illyana Rasputin and took another look at her.

Harry said, "Storm huh. I'm guessing weather powers. You wouldn't happen to be descended from a long line of Kenyan Priestesses with white hair going back thousands of years would you?"

Shocked recognition flashed before her eyes before she asked, "How could you possibly know that?"

The curtains moved in the room despite the window being closed as the Natural Energy passively radiating off the woman reacted to her emotion.

Harry looked back at the curtains to make it clear he noticed this and said, "Many aspects of my abilities revolve around what can be considered magic. I've learned more about magic than anyone you'll likely ever meet and have read a staggering number of books on the subject. One such book was written by a powerful Sorceress who was once a priestess of a tribe and well known for their white hair priestesses which had only a single line. You are likely her descendant. The book contained her own experiences with magic, especially weather magic, and everything she learned about it. I remember the book describing how easily passive emotions affected her power when casting but it also described a practice she used to separate her emotions from her magic."

Charles and Ororo were both shocked at this and Logan asked, "Where is that book? If it can help Ororo, I'll do whatever it takes to get it."

Ororo looked sweetly back at Logan and Harry could tell there was something between the two. Harry answered, "The one who owns the book is very reasonable. As her descendant, the book should go to Ms. Munroe anyways so I should be able to get it. I can request it be shipped here and get it to you within a week."

The book Harry referred to was indeed what he claimed and in fact had been written by someone who was likely this woman's ancestor. She was also a former Sorcerer Supreme and her book was in the Master's section of Kamar-Taj's Library. It was one of the better ones on experiences dealing with Natural Energy and wind and weather magic. It also came with a caveat that it could be reclaimed by the tribe it originated from at any time. Though they had likely forgotten about it.

Xavier was startled at the easy admission of the existence of magic. He said, "If it isn't too much trouble, would you mind displaying some magic?"

Harry took out his last Smoky Quartz from the pouch at his side and had it glow for a moment before sliding it into his inventory. He then turned an unused chair into a large pig. The group stared at the pig who stared back and oinked. A moment later it turned back into a chair since Harry didn't use much magic on the spell.

Xavier recovered from his shock the quickest and said, "Thank you Harry, that was most enlightening. If you do know the location of such a book that can help Ororo, it would mean a great deal to us for her to obtain it. Now, although you've heard it before, I'd like to make you an offer as well. I was hoping you could join my Institute. It is a boarding school for young mutants such as yourself."

"Exactly how much about me do you know? You were in my head after all."

"Yes, but other than surface thoughts, there wasn't a single stray memory or idea out of place. I can easily admit your is the most organized mind I have ever seen. As the information wasn't needed to view your conversation with Mystique, I didn't access it so I know next to nothing about you that you yourself have told us or told Mystique."

Harry knew that of course as his mind's defenses hadn't activated meaning Charles hadn't taken a book off the shelf and tried to read it. He said, "Alright then, I'll give you the basics. I was born in the U.K. and I turn fifteen on July 31st. My mutation awoke a week before my tenth birthday when an accident happened which killed my relatives and I wouldn't be alive if it hadn't awoken at the time. I spent the next several months and years traveling and learning much about my power. I am very smart and paid some people to make it look like I've been in school all this time though I can test out if needed whenever I want to. I moved to New York today and got my U.S. citizenship properly. I'm also rich, but that's another story."

Xavier said, "I'm sorry about your relatives. So you've been alone this whole time?"

Harry blankly said, "Don't be sorry about them." He got out a Quartz crystal from his pocket, though it was from his inventory. He used up the three he put in his pouch but they didn't know that so it didn't matter. He made it glow for a moment before setting back into his inventory. He then took the book from his mind that had his memories of growing up with the Dursleys and copied it before sending the highlights to Xavier. Unlike Jean, the experienced Telepath could have blocked the incoming transmission but he did not. A moment later he wished he did.

Charles went over the details however as it was something a teacher like himself needed in order to help his student. What he stood out the most was their hatred of him for what he was, their obvious lies about his parents, and the fact that they only called him freak or boy.

Charles said, "Harry, I believe your mother might have been a mutant."

Harry pretended to be shocked while inwardly snickering. There was no good way to fake memories even for magic users so he could only show him real ones. He already guessed that the Professor would make that conclusion and it was logical considering the facts he knew and his prior experience. He said thoughtfully, "Maybe. Well, in answer to your other question, for the last three years I've had a teacher who was basically a mystic monk. I learned many things including how to fight properly and it was only a few months ago I was told there was nothing more I could learn without leaving on my own."

"And you decided to move to New York? Well, I do hope I can help you achieve your goals. If you are not against such an idea, I'd like to invite you over to the Institute tomorrow and give you a tour. For many mutants, the Institute is their only home, but although that does not seem to be the case for you, I still think you can find yourself a home there with others such as yourself."

Harry smiled and said, "Your pitch certainly sounds nicer than Mystique's did. Alright, you have a deal. I'll show up tomorrow and if I like what I see, I'll stay."

Goose meowed from the bed.

Harry said, "Ah, is there anyone allergic to cats there? If Goose can't come with me, that's kind of a deal breaker."

Logan chuckled, "No, we've got stranger things than cats at the mansion."

Harry wondered about that. Something to look forward to. The trio said their goodbyes and left the hotel. Harry figured that was a pretty good display of magic along with psionics so all he had to do was accept the invite. He wondered what he would get for a quest reward this time.

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Harry Potter the Mutant Obscurus Gamer by GnomeBob

Harry Potter & Avengers Xover Rated: T, English, Adventure & Humor, Harry P., Words: 693k+, Favs: 11k+, Follows: 11k+, Published: Apr 25, 2020 Updated: May 17, 2023

8,403Chapter 31 Welcome to the X-Men

*Author's Note*

With this chapter, the story is now at the 150k word mark.

Chapter 31 Welcome to the X-Men

Harry didn't bother sleeping that night since his location was known by non friendlies and getting caught napping would just be too embarrassing for him. Instead, he spent the night chilling with Goose on his lap and going over the information he had on the X-Men and his own future plans.

He had three main goals for this venture. First priority was to remove the blocks on the Phoenix's Avatar, the one called Jean. He did promise the Phoenix Force he'd do it after all. He already spent a large amount of time inside his own mind testing how blocking and unblocking mental abilities with Psionics would work and he wasn't going to do anything until he had a safe way to do remove them. It was obvious who was responsible for the blocks and he figured the man probably had reasons he thought were good, but Harry doubted Xavier would remove those blocks on Harry's word, even if he gave the man his memory of the conversation with the Phoenix.

The second goal was to get practical experience in a few of the branches he was working with. Harry was skilled in engineering and programming but had little experience in chemistry and biology. One of the listed Professors at the Institute was Doctor Hank McCoy and he was an expert geneticist Harry was eager to work with.

Harry's final goal was to see if he could figure out other means of using his mutant power. He was hoping for an ability like that of Mystique's which was similar to a wizard talent called metamorphmagus. However Harry had a feeling simply looking like someone else was not the limit of his mutant power. Thankfully the Phoenix Force had given him a clue, she said that his mind wasn't strong enough so Harry had been practicing advanced visualization techniques and mental landscaping. Harry had a very large imagination from all the things he'd seen and read and even from the games he played so he put a lot of time and effort into creating different mental landscapes with as much detail as possible as a mental exercise.

Eventually morning came and Harry collected the various relics and traps scattered about his room. Even if Mystique and Pietro had attacked him last night, he could have used them to fight back without giving himself away but thankfully it wasn't needed. That did mean that he broke the TV in the room without reason, but it was a worthwhile sacrifice for peace of mind. Harry set $300 in cash beneath the TV with a note saying he accidentally broke it and set the keycard for the room on the bed before apparating out.

The grounds of Xavier's Institute of Gifted Youngsters were completely enclosed by a ten foot steel fence leading up to an older style stone entryway with a brass plaque showing the school's name. It looked quaint from the exterior but that was only if you didn't pay attention to the overlapping field of vision of the security cameras and motion sensors hidden in plain sight around the premises. Harry even spotted several places that appeared to be hidden panels and he wouldn't be surprised if turrets popped out of them to welcome uninvited guests.

The gate to the Institute was opened and Harry casually walked in with a suitcase, his backpack, and his pet carrier. The moment Harry approached he felt the Phoenix Flames within him reach out which wasn't surprising. He wondered if the one at the other end felt the same thing.

Further up the path Harry saw a basketball court to his left with several kids playing around. What was funny was that one team was composed of various kids while the other team seemed to be a set of five of the same kid. A few of the spectators of the game saw him walking up the road with a suitcase and pet carrier and put two and two together so a couple of them smiled and waved at Harry who smiled and waved back. This place certainly did have a warm atmosphere.

Harry reached the entrance but before he could knock the door opened and a familiar green-eyed red head was staring him down. Harry smiled and said, "Hello again. I'm here for a tour. Would I be lucky enough to have you as a tour guide?"

The redhead blushed for a moment and said, "No, I, uh, I was just coming to check on something."

Harry said, "Well, if that something is me you may check it out as long as you wish."

She tried to frown in disapproval but was fighting a smirk to do so and said, "You're a pervert aren't you?"

Harry answered back, "If you mean a bearer of uncommon inclinations, I am not, or at least I don't think I am. If you mean open about who I am in general, then perhaps. Besides, having uncommon inclinations isn't something to look down on. Aren't you already inside my head, peeping on my thoughts?"

Harry felt the telepath's presence but it was different compared to Xavier's. It was not that she was actually intruding, it was more that her mind didn't seem to just fit inside her own head and ended up entering the minds of those within a specific range.

She blushed once more and said, "I'm sorry. I'm still having difficulties controlling my powers."

Harry smiled back and said, "Don't worry. You can enter my mind anytime you wish to look around but don't try to read any of the books without asking me for a library card. I happen to know a thing or two about the mind and if you want someone to bounce ideas off or a different perspective, I'd be happy to lend an ear and maybe a nose."

She rolled her eyes and said with a smirk, "I thought you hadn't decided to join yet."

"Well I've already found an excellent reason to stick around so there isn't much of a point to pretending otherwise."

The telepath narrowed her eyes and said, "Is that so?"

Harry thought to himself, 'Yes, I found out how much of a genius Dr Hank McCoy was and that he teaches here.'

She blinked at that thought and said, "Oh."

Harry smiled and said, "What did you think I was thinking of?"

She sighed and said, "Nevermind. I'm Jean Grey by the way."

Harry held out a hand and said, "Harry Potter, again, it's a pleasure."

She shook it and said, "I'll take you to the Professor. He's expecting you."

Several other kids of various ages were walking around which was something that did somewhat surprise Harry. This was a boarding school but this was also summer meaning no classes which meant most kids would be back home with their parents.

Jean didn't seem to be able to turn off her telepathic eavesdropping and said, "A lot of kids don't come from families that are accepting of mutants. My own parents for example are the epitome of normal and are uncomfortable with me around so I stay here full time."

Harry knew she was sharing stuff about herself to make up for the fact that she was unable to stop herself from violating his privacy even though he already said it was fine. Harry said back, "Then it sounds like you dodged a bullet. I have nothing against those comfortable with living black and white lives but personally I prefer a little color."

He also thought 'to himself,' he wished he inherited his mother's vibrant red head instead of his father's messy black hair.

"Your hair is fine Harry," Jean easily said. She wasn't sure what to think about Harry. When someone knew they were with a telepath, their minds often became darker and their fears came to the surface which made them awkward to be around. She wasn't used to someone so at ease with others invading their mind and treating it just like a normal conversation. That and the fact that somehow, when she purposely entered Harry's mind, the sound of others thoughts went away. There was something about his mind that felt warm and comfortable to her. She was even tempted to ask for a library card.

Harry said aloud, "Ah, if that is your opinion on the matter than I am greatly relieved. If you thought I was boring I might have ended up dying my hair blue or something."

Jean tried to imagine Harry with blue hair and started giggling.

Harry thought if it was funny to her, at least that meant he would have successfully gotten her attention which would have made it worth it.

They arrived at an office and Jean knocked twice before a moment of silence passed and she opened the door. Xavier, Logan, and Ms. Munroe were together once more having a discussion.

Xavier said, "Ah, welcome Harry. And thank you Jean for escorting Harry to my office."

She said, "You're welcome Professor. See you later Harry." She left and moments later her presence was gone from Harry's mind.

Xavier waited for the door to close and said, "Now Harry, before the tour, I'd like to inform you a little about us and the beginnings of the X-Men."

Harry pulled up a seat and patiently waited. He did love a good story.

"The X-Men were founded twenty-five years ago and Logan and Ororo were founding members. At the time there was a powerful psionic entity who called itself the Shadow King and he was using his vast influence to gather mutants and start a war in the middle east that would encompass the whole of the world. With the help of an old friend of mine, I was able to gather an opposing team and lead them against the Shadow King's forces and defeat them. With the help of others I was able to beat back the Shadow King on the Astral Plane and win the day, though the cost of victory was not low. Many of those who fought with me agreed to join me here to open a school as both a home for mutants and a place they could safely train the use of their powers. The X-Men are dispatched to areas where mutants are causing conflict to rescue those who need it and facilitate peace if possible."

Harry was rather surprised the Shadow King had been beaten as a few of the books of Kamar-Taj had mentioned him. He was very, very old. Usually the Sorcerer Supreme would handle him, but it seemed rather than make himself powerful, he hid under the radar and gathered a powerful force on the mortal plane to do his bidding. Keeping himself weak enough to avoid detection by the Ancient One worked out but it seemed but he ended up losing to a mortal telepath because of it. Still, it was very impressive.

Harry brought up the main point which came to mind, "You're not exactly on the telly a lot for all the things you say you do."

Xavier nodded and said, "We do try to keep a low profile and there are those in the government aware of us who do not restrict our cause or impede our actions as the government itself cannot afford to take one side or the other on the mutant issue."

Harry understood, he certainly knew a thing or two about the value of maintaining a low profile until the time was right. He said, "If you're asking me to join the X-Men permanently, I cannot give you an answer as my life may take me in other directions further down the line. However if I decide to attend your Institute, I would love to go if invited to any party your X-Men decide to throw."

Logan smiled a bit and Ororo rolled her eyes behind a small smirk. Xavier nodded and said, "I'm glad to hear you'll give it some thought. Now, onto the tour."

Xavier's automated wheelchair moved quite fast and Harry followed with Wolverine next to the Professor and Storm following behind them. Harry approved of this. Harry was, for all intents and purposes, an unknown. Outwardly they were escorting him, but it was more likely that they were acting as guard to subdue him should he try anything or perhaps go out of control. A Weather Sorceress together with an unstoppable metal clawed Warrior could cover most ranges and even if Harry went all out, fighting them would be difficult. Especially if Charles tried to attack his mind. Harry's defenses and attacks were probably good, but he still wasn't interested in matching them against someone the Ancient Once considered 'Perhaps the most powerful telepath I've ever encountered.' The only reason Harry could even sense someone on that level in his mind was because he had placed several magic triggers in his mind which were invisible to anyone trying to sense them. Those triggers would tag the intruder which was why Harry recognized Xavier as the Peeper when he first saw him. Those triggers however weren't foolproof though so Harry had several other failsafes to work with.

Xavier first showed Harry the rooms. The mansion had over thirty rooms and only fifty students but during the summer many had their own room while during the school year students usually had roommates.

Harry sensed the space in front of him cave-in slightly and paused. He was a fast thinker but pausing was really too good of a cheat not to abuse so when something unexpected happened he would often pause to determine his options. The indented space was closer to Harry than it was to Logan so the clawed warrior wouldn't be able to attack it faster than Harry could. There was also the chance it was a prank. Of course if that was the case, Harry had to respond in kind.

Harry unpaused and a blue skinned teenager with a tail entered the space from the indentation. Harry paused again so he could get a good look at the new arrival and the smile of mischief on his face told Harry everything he needed to know.

Harry unpaused and moved his hand to flick the forehead of the teleporter just as he landed. The smell of brimstone that came from the smoke which followed the mutant through his indentation in space which told Harry a great deal about his method of travel.

The new arrival recoiled at the finger flick and said with a German accent, "Ow, why'd you do that?"

Harry deadpanned, "It's a reflex. Happens every time a teleporter invades my personal space."

Xavier turned back and smiled, "Ah, I see you've met Kurt. Kurt, this is Harry Potter. We're showing him around today in the hopes he may join us."

Kurt gave a fake thoughtful expression and said, "I don't know Professor. Such strange reflexes are sure to cause trouble."

Harry put Goose down, took off his backpack, zipped it open and pulled out a Smoky Quartz. Harry then cast a Lumos inside it and made it vanish into his inventory. Once the act was finished he said, "Flexibility is important, you should be able to handle every situation that gets thrown at you."

The lights in the hallway flickered just a bit as the blue demon's vivid blue hair grew to his hips in length and then turned vibrant pink. Harry was cheating a bit since that was two spells, but he doubted there was anyone there who'd be able to call him out on it. Thankfully the spell had only affected the electricity a little and did nothing else to the hall.

The spell only took a second to reach full effect and Kurt grabbed his now long, pink hair through his three fingered gloves and stared at it in absolute horror. His hands were trembling and a moment later he fell to his knees and theatrically cried out, "Nooooooooo!"

Harry immediately liked him.

Several doors opened in the hallway and they all saw the now pink haired demon on his knees before a newcomer.

Kurt got up and took Harry's shoulders and said, "Please! You must change it back! Pink is not my color!" He emphasized the last sentence most of all.

Harry shook his head and said, "It will wear off on its own later. I don't know when though. Probably before summer ends. Now, would you like anything else to become pink or was there something else I could help you with?"

Kurt recoiled back a step and vanished away in another burst of brimstone smoke.

Logan was the first to respond, "How'd you flick him so fast?"

Harry said, "One aspect of my abilities lets me sense energy. I've honed my senses for many years and can sense the change of space prior to a teleporter's arrival."

Logan grunted, "That explains how you dodged Scott's optics last night."

Xavier asked, "Are you experienced with teleporters?"

Harry answered, "Very. I even learned how to do it myself when accessing the right kind of energy."

The Professor said, "Fascinating. I'd like to hear more on the subject when you have the time."

After the dorms were the classrooms and introductions on various subjects taught during the school year. Next came the kitchen, the library, the lounge, and the home theater. Harry wondered if they would be willing to watch another universe's version of Star Wars that had different actors playing the same parts. He'd ask them later.

Next they headed underground. According to Xavier, his great grandfather had a massive fallout shelter constructed beneath the property and it had been remodeled over the course of the last few decades.

The first room they entered had a gorilla sized man completely covered in blue fur wearing glasses and an unbuttoned lab coat with nothing but black shorts and a yellow belt beneath it. Harry shouted, "Oh my god!" And after a pause for dramatic effect continued, "Is that a Oscillating Frequency Transmission Electron Spectrometer?!"

Harry then walked over to the massive piece of equipment in the lab, completely ignoring the giant blue glasses wearing monster currently staring at him.

From behind him Harry heard in a dignified voice, "Why yes it is. How did you recognize it?"

The idea of the machine itself was postulated in a science magazine a few months back but the actual construction was easier said than done. It was a very useful machine despite the fact that one could technically do the same thing it could do using six other machines which were cheaper to make. However doing several processes separately couldn't compare to the precision achieved by a single machine doing them all.

Harry answered, "I figured I could build one myself if I overclocked a good enough processor but even the minimum requirement for that kind of tech can only be found in restricted military grade equipment and I don't have any facilities to make something better at the moment."

Xavier rolled in watching Harry examine the theoretical machine like a child looking at a shiny toy. He said, "It seems you already have a rather strong foundation in science Harry. This was built by Forge, a man who I'm certain you'll enjoy meeting." He then gestured to the monster and said, "And this is Dr. Hank McCoy, our resident Geneticist."

Harry stopped playing around and went over to Doctor and said, "I'm Harry Potter, it is a pleasure to meet you Dr. McCoy."

Harry took a few more looks around the lab and recognized all but a few of the machines. He doubted Area 51 had toys this nice and it certainly brought up the quality of this place by another level in his mind.

Dr McCoy saw a complete and utter lack of fear in Harry's eyes at his appearance despite his earlier jest. He smiled down at Harry and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you too Mr. Potter. Perhaps you can assist me with a few projects I have in the future. Another pair of hands that knows how to use this equipment would be greatly appreciated."

Harry smiled and said, "I'd love to help. I may even have a project or two in mind I'd like a second opinion on as well."

"Is that right? Well I'd certainly love to take a look at any project someone with a mind such as yours has come up with. Perhaps later this week."

"Thank you, I'll organize and submit them to you later."

Harry walked back over to his escorts who were still a bit dazed. They knew how intelligent Dr. McCoy was. They also knew that several of the more clever students had tried to be his assistant at one point or another but most were unable to continue working with the high standard of equipment or the precision needed for lab work. There was something about the situation that worried them, but they couldn't quite place it.

The end of the hall had a set of stairs going up past a sliding steel door. At the end of the stairs was a lanky man wearing goggles sitting in front of what appeared to be a control system. There was a large pane of glass on the wall behind the control system and once he got closer Harry could see there was a massive room beyond it where six teens wearing different uniforms were running around facing mechanical obstacles.

Xavier, whose chair somehow had no issue with stairs, said, "Harry, this is Forge. And this is the Danger Room," he continued, motioning to the room beyond the glass. The man himself seemed to be immersed in something and Harry didn't want to bug him.

Logan said, "This is where most of our combat exercises and sparring happens. Wanna join them?"

Harry said, "Maybe later. I absorbed a few pounds of pure steel before our fight yesterday and the effect of it already wore off. I'll have a big crate of materials delivered by the end of the week so I can take part in the training."

Ororo said with a smirk, "So that means you're interested in joining?"

"Absolutely. Did the Professor tell you about my power?"

Logan smirked and said, "You absorb metal for a boost in strength and gems for magic tricks."

"Close enough. I can also absorb food before a fight to grant limited healing and books. If I absorb a book it is gone forever but I will have the content memorized for a few days before that effect wears off. If I go over it enough I can retain it though which is why I'm a lot smarter than those of my age. I bought pretty much every College and University textbook around."

The Professor set his hands together pensively and said, "If that is the case, practical experience is more valuable than classwork. Once we've assessed your comprehension level, I'll arrange for you to spend time with Dr. McCoy and Forge to gain experience. Both of them are the best in their fields."

"Thank you Professor." The fact that he was going to make sure Harry was taught at the proper level made Harry respect him as a teacher, despite the man's obvious flaws.

*Ping*

[Quest Complete: Get Drafted with Style.

Reward: Multiplayer Unlocked.]

Harry thought to himself, 'Huh, so that's a thing.'

Xavier gave Harry a key to an empty room where he would be staying and he headed over to unpack his things. What surprised him however was that the door wasn't locked. Harry entered the room and saw two beds, one of which already had a teen laying down, reading from a book.

He looked about two years older than Harry with black hair styled back and said, "Hi, guess you're my new room mate."

Harry frowned and said, "Maybe? I was told this room was empty."

The teen sighed and said, "Not surprising. Hey, there is a piece of paper on the nightstand with a pencil. Write down what I look like on it and you'll figure out what's going on."

Harry set Goose down and did as instructed. He wrote the description of the teen on the paper and said, "Ok, now what?"

"Now don't look at me for two minutes," he went back to reading his book.

Harry had no idea what that meant so he set the paper down and let Goose out before he started unpacking his things.

Several alarms in Harry's mind suddenly went off. Knowledge he had gained was being erased. He isolated the knowledge and determined it to be his most recent memory. Harry turned to face his roommate who noticed it and said, "You remember me?"

Harry Paused and went back into his mind to look through what just happened. Covert Obliviations were a real threat in the magical world so Harry had a few defenses and alarms against memory and knowledge removal or modification, even though it never worked on him before. He determined that the quality of the memory of his new roommate was erasing itself and would be gone in a few hours. The only reason it would even take that long was because of the quality of Harry's mind. A normal mind would probably forget this person's existence moments after being seen, if they could even perceive him at all.

Harry unpaused and said, "Mostly. Though my memory of you seems to erase itself when I'm not looking at you. Is that your power?"

"Indeed it is my impressive friend, indeed it is. You can call me ForgetMeNot. My power is Imperceptibility. Most completely forget I exist the moment they look away. Even if they remind themselves with a note, they still forget me moments after reading it. The Professor said he put some mental timers inside his own head to remind himself I exist, but I guess I can't be too surprised they forgot me too."

Harry couldn't hide the horror on his face. The teen noticed this and said, "Don't feel sad for me dude. You'll forget me too every time you leave here."

Now Harry almost wanted to cry. That wasn't something a person should just accept! It was the words of someone who had his hopes crushed too many times to ever get them back up.

He wasn't going to let things stay that way, that was for sure. Harry paused again and went over the possibilities.

After unpausing, Harry looked up and said, "Can I have one of your hairs?"

"Um. Sure?" He plucked a hair and handed it to Harry who set it inside his inventory and turned around.

Harry's inventory was a part of him and also time locked. He innately knew every aspect of every item in his inventory and he knew that the item he just placed in there was the hair of the guy sitting in the chair behind him. Harry focused on the memory and determined that it wasn't degrading. Harry wasn't sure which aspect of that idea caused it to work but it did in fact work.

After two minutes Harry turned around and said with a smile, "Ok, it worked. I'm now immune to your power. My name is Harry Potter."

ForgetMeNot stared at him and weakly said, "What?"

It took about two hours of tests for ForgetMeNot to believe Harry would not in fact forget him. Harry then turned to Goose and said, "Hey Goose, do the things inside your pocket dimension get absorbed, digested, or get stored?"

ForgetMeNot said, "Wait, are you talking to the cat?"

Goose conveyed back through their familiar link, 'Just give me a lock of his hair. It will do for your purposes and I'm not comfortable meeting someone for the first time over and over.'

Harry looked over to ForgetMeNot and said, "Goose can do something similar with a pinch of your hair. Give me a second, I'll get some scissors."

ForgetMeNot said, "At this rate won't I go bald?"

Harry got a pair of scissors from his 'backpack' and went over to snip a band of hair from his scalp while saying, "If one day you have a girlfriend who complains about you being bald, you can say something to me then."

Harry then said, "You may want to turn around for this. It isn't for those with a weak stomach."

"Umm. I think I'll be fine," he responded back. "I don't know how watching a cat eat my-"

Goose's mouth ejected out a mass of purple flesh covered in serrated teeth and wiggling tentacles. From within the void at the center of the flesh came a snake-like appendage of a tongue with its own set of razor sharp teeth that approached Harry's hand and quicker than a snake strike grabbed the lock of hair before retreating in the pit, followed shortly after by the remaining mass of indescribable flesh that vanished into the Flerken's mouth.

After a moment of silence ForgetMeNot said, "Harry?"

"Yes ForgetMeNot?"

"What is that?"

"That's Goose, my familiar. Don't worry, I've already asked her not to eat anyone."

"Is.. Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Harry considered it and said, "I'm not sure. At least this way, she won't forget you either."

"Umm. I'm not sure how to feel about that."

Harry and ForgetMeNot spent another hour chatting before they both headed out for lunch. So far they were becoming good friends, though ForgetMeNot wouldn't give Harry his original name claiming 'Everyone who knew it has forgotten it,' so that person was already gone. Harry didn't say it out loud to get his new friend's hopes up, but he was going to work on a way of allowing others to remember him. Harry and Goose both had internal pocket dimensions though Goose never told Harry how her own worked and Harry had refrained from asking out of politeness. He couldn't expect others to have the same ability but at least it proved that FrgetMeNot's power had a loophole and if there was one, they may be more.

Although Harry could have skipped lunch or taken something out from his inventory, he didn't want to turtle up on his first day. According to ForgetMeNot, there was a rotating roster of kids or adults who would stay in the kitchen for two hours cooking during lunch and dinner time. Today's lunch would be served by Jubilee which meant the soda would soon run out to get the taste out of the recipient's mouths. He said she once set her cereal on fire.

The kitchen had three kids at the table with a petite girl of Asian decent wearing a yellow long coat standing over a stove making what Harry smelled to be burnt grilled cheese sandwiches. Harry sat down one seat away from the others and ForgetMeNot sat down on his opposite side.

The one called Jubilee turned around and said, "Hiya, will you be having the rib-eye, the fresh Italian pasta, the baby lamb, or the lobster?"

ForgetMeNot said, "I'll be having the rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes." He pointed at Harry and said, "Today's his first day here so he'll be having the special of the day."

Jubilee turned back around and said, "Two specials of the day, coming up!"

The trio sitting at the table looked over from their discussion and one said, "You're new here? Hi. I'm Danielle. That's Rahne and Brian." The others she pointed at smiled back at Harry who said, "Hello and nice to meet you, I'm Harry."

The redhead named Rahne asked, "Yer British?" Harry recognized her clearly Scottish accent that reminded him a little of Professor McGonagall.

He answered back, 'That's right. I was born in Godric's Hollow near Suffolk."

She nodded, "Born in Ullapool myself."

"In the Highlands? I have a house up there. I actually went to a boarding school in a big ol' castle built at the base of the Highlands Mountains. Had to leave though because people kept trying to kill me."

Rahne looked shocked, sad, and a little understanding about that last part.

Danielle, who seemed to be of Native American descent said, "A good reason to leave. So what's your power?"

Harry answered, "I can turn into an owl."

Rahne and Danielle both said, "Really?"

Harry shrugged, "Maybe, I don't know. I probably could."

Brian said, "Be careful there Harry, these two love animals and toying with them like that will end badly."

Harry pulled a piece of Smoky Quartz out of his pocket and said, "In that case, I can grant one wish, but only one wish and then I can never grant wishes again. What would you two wish for?"

Brian quickly said, "I wish for actual food that will stay in my stomach."

Both girls turned to glare at him and Harry Paused. He was half joking but since that was the request, he might as well go with it. Plus, this was an opportunity to empty some of the food in his inventory.

Harry picked up the Smoky Quartz and said, "Your wish is my command."

He cast a Lumos inside the gem to make it glow which attracted everyone's attention, even Jubilee who was letting the sandwich on the stove burn for way too long. Harry then cast a wordless Immobulus Maxima on the room which had everyone frozen in place. Every electronic in the room would fry, but wishes had consequences so he'd blame Brain for it.

First he used telekinesis to lift the burning bread off the pan so it wouldn't catch fire while he was working. Next, while everyone was frozen, he took out dish after dish from his inventory and set it on the table. Harry couldn't put food or water into his inventory unless it was on a plate or in a container so he had hundreds of plates, cups, bowls, and ect, in his inventory. Each plate even had the proper utensils for the dish. This did make Harry feel a little bad for whoever would be doing the dishes today.

When the table had no more room for dishes, Harry cast some preservation and warming charms that would last until the dishes were picked up and he sat back down in the same position but with the gem placed in his inventory and he put the burnt bread back on the pan. Last, he cast a large Finite Incantatem which unfroze everyone who lacked awareness of time while frozen and now saw the table filled with food. Harry wanted to stack another layer of food on top but his Telepathy sensed someone else on their way to the kitchen and he couldn't have them walk in while everyone was frozen. Thankfully that teleporter wasn't likely to show due to the pink hair though Harry was unsure how many teleporters the Institute had.

From their perspective, the Smoky Quartz in Harry's hand was glowing and now it was gone and the table was filled with food.

Jubilee was the first to break out of her stupor and said, "Oh hell yeah!" and grabbed a plate and started chowing down. She didn't bother turning off the stove, almost like she had forgotten she was making food for someone.

Danielle said, "What? Is this an illusion?"

Jubilee said between bites, "Best. Tasting. Illusion. Ever."

Harry said, "It's all real so please help yourself to a plate."

Each of the three picked up a plate and took a bite. Rahne then quickly glared at Brian and slowly said, "Ye stole our wish!"

Danielle quickly turned to Brian who realized his joke could now be taken as a declaration of war.

He took his plate and ran around the table and was quickly followed by the pair of angry teenage girls. On the first circle he touched the two chairs they were sitting in and then he ran at them who weren't expecting a turn around and touched each of them. A moment later they both were pulled out of the air into their chairs and Brian ran away.

Rahne shouted at the running mutant, "Dinna think ye can hide from me! I know yuir scent!"

Danielle placed her shoulder on the angry Scotswoman which calmed her down. Danielle said, "Forget about it. More for us."

Harry wondered if anyone would remember the burning grilled cheese on the pan which was now on fire. ForgetMeNot sighed.

!-Smoke Alarm Blares-!

Rahne shouted over the alarm, "Jub'lee, ye forgot to turn off te bloody stove!"

"Opps, sorry." She went back over to the stove and put it and the flaming sandwich into the sink, taking a moment to soak them both with water before taking a nearby cutting board and waving it at the smoke alarm until it went silent.

The student Harry sensed earlier had arrived in the kitchen and said, "Anything not on fire?"

Harry said, "A few things, Jubilee really outdid herself today."

When the table was in sight the newcomer said, "What? No way Jubilee did this."

Harry said, "I think Brian did it then."

Two more students came in, though Harry figured they came more to witness the carnage than they came to eat as the Smoke Alarm was quite loud.

Harry saw that ForgetMeNot had taken his chair over to the wall and was calmly watching the new arrivals drop their jaws at the table of assorted food while holding the bowl of mashed potatoes Harry had originally set in front of him.

Harry pulled his own chair over to sit next to ForgetMeNot and said, "So you like people watching?"

He shrugged, "I guess. Not much else to do. If I tell someone something they'll either forget what I told them or forget where they learned it at some point during the conversation. Long conversations don't happen often for me."

Several of the students started calling dibs on specific plates such as the meat plates or pasta plates. Some were just admiring it and trying to figure out where it came from since it was Jubilee's turn to cook. The noise coming from the kitchen seemed to attract more students which in turn created more noise.

One of the students who grabbed a plate, an African American teen with a crew cut hair noticed Harry sitting in the corner with a plate and walked over. "Hey, you're the new guy who turned Kurt pink right?"

Harry was tempted to point out that his name was not Hey, but he couldn't expect everyone to have manners so he said, "I'm pretty sure that's me, or at least someone going around looking like me. I'm Harry, it's nice to meet you."

"Cool to meet you too Harry. I'm Evan. You play any sports?"

Harry shook his head, "Can't say I do. I'm a nerd who spends his days in books and messing with the laws of reality."

Evan looked slightly disappointed but still said, "That's cool too. I think our nerds have a study group in the library after dinner so you should totally meet up with them."

Harry smiled and said, "Thanks, I'll definitely show up."

Even nodded and said, "So are you gonna try out for the team?"

Harry gave a confused look which caused Evan to continue, "The 3rd X-Men Team. Lots of those here want to be an X-Men so we train a whole bunch to see who will make the final cut for the 3rd Team."

Harry said, "If you don't mind me asking, what about the first and second teams?"

"Well, the first team is my Auntie Storm, Wolverine, Angel, Beast, Colossus, Gambit, and Domino. There were others but they either left or.. didn't make it out of the battle with the Shadow King. The Second Team is made from the best of the first batch of recruits. Bishop, Shadowcat, Pixie, Marrow, and Blink. They actually got captured by aliens last year and ended up getting dragged into a battle where they defeated a swarm of alien insects and saved a planet. They got an alien ship they used to fly back to the mansion. There was this guy called Warpath too, but he stayed behind. The current roster for the 3rd team is myself, and I'm called Spike by the way, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Rogue, and Nightcrawler, who you turned pink."

"So all these kids are trying out for a single team?"

"Well not exactly. No one is allowed to go on missions until you're at least sixteen and most of us third gen recruits are sixteen or younger. To be honest the current team is just the guys who are sixteen or the guys closest to sixteen. I'm turning sixteen next year."

"Ah, me too. Never fought with a team before so I'll probably try it out.

"Oh, you've fought before?"

"That's right. I've had a few crazy adventures up to this point."

"No way dude."

"It's true. You know the red laser eye guy?"

"Cyclops?"

"That's his name? Well, I kicked his ass yesterday."

"No way. Seriously? Dude's been spending all day in the Danger Room like someone set a fire under his butt. Guess that explains why. Well, I'll see you later then, I'm gonna get a second plate."

Harry wondered what would happen if he used his new Multiplayer feature on any of these teens. Unfortunately, it would not be that easy.

According to the FAQ on adding a new player, it was basically Harry directly injected his own Obscurus Particles into someone else's body and then having the Particles mimic the cells of that person to directly boost their physiology. Doing so would permanently cost him some Obscurus Particles and lower his level, forcing him to regain those levels. The weaker someone was, the less he needed to inject to grant them Player status. So someone like ForgetMeNot would probably cost Harry five to ten levels. Someone like Logan could cost Harry over a hundred levels. Moreover, the person had to have absolute trust in Harry or they would reject the Particles and the process would fail. The only person he might be able to get to trust him that much was the Ancient One, but she would probably cost more Obscurus Particles than Harry actually had to convert her which would take Harry to level zero and permanently kill him. The process for both parties would also be indescribably painful.

Turning someone into a New Player would apply some of the benefits of Harry's abilities, but not all. Such a person would be able to absorb the energy of defeated foes and the Obscurus Particles would use that energy to replicate and further strengthen the body, allowing levels ups. If injured, the Particles could also take the place of damaged cells, giving the Player a limited Healing factor dependent on the amount of Particles they had. Harry's Path System and Menu would be applied, so the cells would apply Autocorrect to skills they used that were a part of Paths they practiced often. They would also be able to choose what Stats increased with each level up. There was even a way for them to use Battle Meditation through Harry to generate monsters matching their level they could fight, but Harry had to be present and couldn't deal any damage himself or else he would get the experience instead of the other Player.

What they would not be able to gain was the Inventory, Settings, Pause Function, or Respawn features. Those were tied to Harry's soul and existence and features like Respawn only worked because Harry was 100% Obscurus Particles while players would still have real flesh and blood. However though they were not be able to Respawn, increasing their level would increase the amount of Obscurus Particles which would raise the amount of damage they could recover from which was not a bad consolation prize.

Besides the pain, loss of levels, and high trust requirements, another reason Harry wasn't going to just give everyone this ability was because it would permanently connect them to Harry for the rest of their lives.

ForgetMeNot finished his mashed potatoes and said, "Thanks man. I'm heading back to the room. You should spend the day wandering around and meet more of the guys. Later."

Harry wanted to say something but his roommate was already off. He couldn't help but notice that when Evan listed off the members of the first X-Men team, there were a lot, but the second X-Men team had so few and seemed to be the same age group as ForgetMeNot. He'd ask him about that later.

It didn't take long for details about the Lunch Miracle to spread around and much of the Mansion showed up. However that only amounted to about twenty or so as it was still summer and more than half the students had returned to their families who lived further out. Evan apparently had a nice family, but they lived nearby so he would stay at the mansion during the summer anyways to train and play with friends while still going to see his parents pretty often.

Since Harry was fully moving in, he had a lot of paperwork to do himself so he headed over to the library with a large stack of sheets and got to work. Forms for permanent address change were among the easier ones he needed while forms for further correspondence between himself and the Goblins was harder. He would basically teleport to a warehouse they had and give them a large batch of gems and metals and they would manually ship it to Xavier's institute twice a month. It would take some time before they had the mundane machinery required for the mass production of large gemstones so Harry would need to make them himself for now.

One upside was that in the last few months before Harry moved to the states, the Goblins had come up with a nearly perfect means of shielding electronics from Exotic energy up to a specific range. It couldn't withstand direct apparition, but could survive indefinitely in a magic rich environment without issue. The shielding itself was an inlay of specific metal alloys in specific configurations similar to runes, but in appearance more closely resembled circuitry. The technical term would be metamaterial as it was a material that had properties outside the properties of the materials that it was constructed from. In addition to shielding the equipment from Exotic energy, it also shielded from nearly every other type of energy except for heat. Radiation, Radio Waves, and even a few forms of extradimensional energy could not pass easily through this shielding. The shielding against Radio Waves meant that it could not transmit or receive signals but that could be gotten around with a hard line connection or building in a paired set of quantum entanglement transmitters within. A massive benefit for this that Harry saw was that preventing energy coming in or out of the equipment meant it could not be wirelessly hacked, even using technopathy and wouldn't need to be magically charged.

Harry and the Goblins however agreed this shielding would not be sold to the general public. It was perfectly acceptable to make their own equipment unhackable through any means, but quite a few Goblins had become very good with computers and enjoyed the art of hacking others. It was a new battlefield and though there was far less blood then they would have liked, the battles won in the field of hacking could still grant considerable wealth to the Goblin who achieved it. Harry rented out his Hack Boxes to them to make sure they didn't get traced though they weren't allowed to hack from important locations regardless.

Once finished with his final sheet of paperwork he made sure no one was around and set it all into his inventory. He'd send it via portkey to the Goblins from his room and give the Goblins the magical coordinates of his room so they had a location they could send portkey mail back to him at their convenience.

Harry felt the Phoenix Flame within him act up and turned to see Jean enter the library and spot him. "Hey Harry. So how's your first day been?"

"Well, everyone is certainly very friendly which is a welcome change. Not that the temple or my last school was cruel, but most everyone there was more or less indifferent to others."

"Yeah, we really try to be one big family here. Where'd you go before here?"

"Well, I spent the last two years in a temple in Tibet training in martial arts and the more mystical aspects of my abilities. Before that I attended a boarding school in Scotland for a year. Apparently it was the same one my parents went to but I got targeted by a terrorist and though he was dealt with, I decided the school wasn't for me."

Harry thought out as well that he memorized the school's library and knew more than many of the teachers so he had nothing left to learn there.

Jean looked like she wanted to ask something so Harry just said aloud, "I can absorb books so I ordered a copy of pretty much every textbook the school had which is how I got all that knowledge."

Having her question answered she said, "Oh, that's convenient. I wish I could do something like that but I can only read people who are usually not comfortable with being read."

Harry considered it and said, "Well, you're still welcome in my head when you wish and every book I've memorized is within. Would you like a library card?"

"Umm, what happens if I take a book without a library card?"

"Nothing. The library card will allow you to find specific pieces of knowledge without having to look for it. However if you take a book out and open it outside of the little reading area in my head, automated defenses will activate so be careful. So would you like a library card or not?"

Jean looked as if she was mulling it over and said, "I'm not sure it's such a good idea to spend so long in a boy's head."

Harry thought wryly to himself that he didn't know she was already considering spending long amounts of time in his head which caused her to blush when she heard the thought. She quickly said, "I didn't mean it that way, it's just, well. When I'm inside your head, the thoughts of others are gone. I can usually hear everyone's thoughts around me but for some reason when I specifically go inside your head, the thoughts of others are silent." She had no intention of telling him it also felt warm and comfortable in there, like relaxing in front of a fireplace after a long day.

Harry said, "That should be an effect of some of the mental practices I use. I can channel Psionic energy like a telepath when I absorb a Quartz Crystal and I've used that combined with some esoteric practices I've learned to create a very sturdy mind."

Jean thought about that for a moment and asked, "Do you think I can learn that then? I would love to not have to listen to the thoughts of others day in and day out."

Harry held out his hand in a gesture for Jean to take it which she did after a moment of hesitation. Within the library of Harry's mind a small card appeared in front of Jean's mental avatar which she picked up. It vanished and Harry said, "Library card acquired. Just think about the knowledge you want and the books will appear. Just remember that you can only read them in the reading area."

Jean frowned and said, "I can't accept that Harry. I mean we've only just met and I feel like I'm taking advantage of you."

Harry considered it and said, "In that case there is something you can do for me." Within Harry's mind Harry gave a book to Jean who went over to the reading area and opened it. She gasped, "ForgetMeNot! Oh, no." The book contained Harry's knowledge on the imperceptible mutant.

Harry asked, "You remember him?"

She sighed, "Not completely. I think I told him I'd try not to forget him but even then. Oh, he must hate me."

Harry shook his head, "No, I doubt that very much. Professor Xavier gave me an 'empty' room with him so he's my new roommate. I absorbed a lock of his hair the same way I can books and now I won't forget him."

"Really? That's great!"

"Indeed. However I want to see if I can figure out a way for others to remember him."

"I see. That won't be easy. Even his thoughts are practically invisible. I'm not sure if I can't hear his thoughts or if I simply forget them when I can no longer hear them. And, oh no. I won't even remember talking about him later will I?"

Harry said, "Probably. But that's what I'd like to test. With your permission, I'd like to look inside your head as you are forgetting him and try a few different ways to see if I can get people to remember him."

Jean thought it was a bit hypocritical that she could see into other people's minds so easily yet was uncomfortable with someone else going through her mind. That being said, it was for a good cause, she didn't want to owe Harry for letting her use his knowledge and head, and she also wanted to help ForgetMeNot.

"Alright, but don't judge me for what you see and keep anything you find to yourself, ok?"

"No problem. Plus I can help you arrange your mind if you want after you learn a few things."

Harry had to purposefully allow thoughts to be heard when he wanted them to be heard by visiting telepaths so many of his thoughts were not in fact heard by Jean. He was pretty satisfied with his idea and that it actually worked. With this, he would be able to get a closer look at the mental blocks within Jean and figure out a way to safely remove them. He could also test a few means to help ForgetMeNot so it was a case of the proverbial two birds with one stone.

Plus he really did want to get to know Jean and didn't mind her looking through his head. She'd find a lot of things that didn't make sense but in doing so would slowly acclimate herself to Harry's secrets and when she knew him well enough, he hoped she would trust him to remove the mental blocks once he found a means to do it safely.