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Through the spatial tear, a majestic, ancient castle burst into view, hovering like a mirage over the London skyline.
Its spires pierced the clouds, defying gravity and architecture. The ancient stone walls, weathered by a thousand years of magic, exuded a chilling aura of power that felt older than the city below.
Coulson's pupils contracted. His usual mask of calm shattered.
"Hogwarts..." he gasped, his voice tight. "This is the entrance to Hogwarts! Inside is the Wizarding World!"
He was visibly shaken. This was the holy grail of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s paranormal division—a direct line to a hidden civilization.
Skye looked blank. "Hog-what? Is that a code name?"
But Grant Ward, standing beside her, froze. He stared intently at the castle, his eyes wide, his Hydra training warring with sheer disbelief. He didn't want to miss a single detail.
Skye sensed the shift. She looked between Coulson and Ward. They know something, she realized. Something big.
"Coulson," Skye demanded, grabbing his arm. "What is the Wizarding World? Stop speaking in riddles!"
Coulson took a deep breath, forcing himself to focus.
"The Witch," he explained rapidly. "Hermione Granger. She comes from a hidden society. There are thousands of them, living in interconnected pocket dimensions folded into reality. We call it the 'Wizarding World'."
He pointed a shaking finger at the castle. "That is Hogwarts. It's a school. A fortress. And it's one of the most powerful concentrations of magic on Earth."
Thousands of miles away, in the Triskelion, Nick Fury watched the satellite feed. His one eye was fixed on the castle emerging from the mist. He ignored the Dark Elves entirely.
Finally, Fury thought. The neighbors are coming out to play.
"Are you kidding me?" Skye's mouth dropped open. "So... this space is full of wizards like her? Like... Harry Potter stuff?"
"Exactly," Coulson nodded, hope gleaming in his eyes. "And if anyone can stop an Infinity Stone, it's them. Perhaps... we are saved!"
As if answering his prayer, a strange, resonant hum emanated from the castle.
BOOM.
An invisible wave of magical pressure surged forth, sweeping across Greenwich like a tsunami.
The black and red torrent of the Aether—which had been unstoppable moments ago—slammed into this new force. It churned wildy, thrown off balance. The disintegration stopped.
"Wow. Cool!" Skye exclaimed. "Better than IMAX."
"WHO DARES TO INVADE HOGWARTS?!"
A furious roar exploded in the sky, amplified by magic to sound like a thunderclap.
The air distorted above the Royal Naval College. Three figures popped into existence, floating in the sky with casual defiance.
Leading them was an elderly woman. She wore emerald green robes and a pointed hat. Her face was stern, her spectacles reflecting the chaotic red light of the Aether.
Minerva McGonagall.
Though she looked like a strict grandmother, her aura was terrifying. The air around her crackled with Transfiguration magic.
Skye swallowed hard. She looks like a ruthless character! Like the final boss of a library!
McGonagall frowned at the encroaching red mist.
"Protego Maxima! Fianto Duri! Repello Inimicum!"
She waved her wand in a complex, fluid pattern.
A transparent, shimmering spherical shield expanded rapidly from the spatial node. It slammed into the Aether. The black and red particles hissed, blocked by the ancient wards.
Space fluctuated again. Two more figures flanked her.
To her right, a man in billowing black robes with a hooked nose and a face like thunder. Severus Snape.
To her left, a tiny man in a tailcoat, standing on a conjured platform. Filius Flitwick.
"Professor McGonagall," Snape drawled, his voice cutting through the wind. "What is going on? I was in the middle of grading potions."
"Professor Snape, Professor Flitwick," McGonagall replied crisply. "It seems the Celestial Convergence has begun. Someone triggered the castle's external defense wards. I've been so busy with N.E.W.T. preparation I almost forgot the planets were aligning."
Snape's cold gaze swept the sky, landing on the massive Dark Elf Ark. He sneered in disgust.
"Dark Elves?" he scoffed. "Why aren't they rotting in Svartalfheim? What are they doing here?"
"They have the Aether," Flitwick squeaked, adjusting his glasses. He pointed his wand at the red mist. "They must be attempting the Great Darkness again. Ridiculous conspiracy."
"Speaking of the Aether," McGonagall's eyes narrowed. "Hermione reported to Dumbledore that she was retrieving the Reality Stone. She is missing now, but the Aether is with these... creatures."
Her aura flared. The air around her temperature dropped ten degrees. The sky darkened.
"Could she be in danger?"
Below, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents felt a terrifying oppression crush their chests. It was the Killing Intent of a protective Head of House.
"That little devil?" Snape raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "She is shrewd, and her magical core rivals ours. Who can put her in danger? Certainly not these pale relics."
"I suspect," Snape continued, analyzing the magical signature, "that the Convergence caused spatial instability. The Aether's reality-warping properties likely displaced her. She's probably eating snacks in another dimension."
McGonagall's tense expression eased slightly. "True. She is resilient."
"What do we do now?" Flitwick asked, twirling his wand. "Notify Dumbledore?"
Snape scoffed. A look of supreme arrogance crossed his face.
"For mere Dark Elves? Bother the Headmaster?"
He looked at the alien army with the disdain one reserves for a flobberworm.
"Aren't you underestimating us, Filius?"
The three professors exchanged a glance. They nodded.
Simultaneously, they raised their wands.
"Finite Incantatem!"
Three beams of pure white light shot out. They didn't just hit the Aether; they pushed it.
Near the spatial node, the area eroded by darkness began to recede. The disintegrated matter—stone, glass, metal—didn't just stop dissolving. It reversed.
It was Transfiguration on a massive scale. They were rewriting the reality the Aether tried to break.
Below, Coulson watched with his mouth open. "They're... they're fixing the city."
"WHO ARE YOU?!"
Malekith roared from the deck of his ship. He was furious. His unstoppable weapon was being held back by three humans in funny clothes.
"HOW CAN THERE BE A POCKET DIMENSION IN MIDGARD?! WHAT IS BEHIND THIS?!"
Jane Foster, leaning on Thor for support, looked bewildered. "Pocket dimension node? What's that?"
Thor grinned, wiping blood from his mouth. He recognized the magic.
"That," Thor laughed, "is the Cavalry."