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A slightly pointless doodle
A man crossed the threshold. He wore a costume made mostly of chain mail, which jingled slightly as he walked, in a simple design of red, white and blue, with a white star on his chest. His face was partly covered by a blue helmet with a great letter A inlaid in white metal, and wings on each side. He carried no aggressive weapon, and none were in his belt, but most of his left arm was covered by a round, massive shield of solid metal.
There was something about this man. At first glance, he looked absolutely enormous, as if anyone else would have to look up to him. But as he strode into the entrance hall, it became clear that he was only an ordinary kind of tall – six foot four, possibly; certainly not the giant he had seemed. Not physically. But the impression he made did not diminish; everyone kept looking at him, even as he walked up quietly; and when he looked at Dumbledore for the first time, and Dumbledore looked back, it was as though they recognized each other.
The stranger removed the shield from his left arm and raised his right in a sign of peace. Dumbledore answered the salute. “Sir,” said the man in a polite voice with an obvious American accent, “are you in charge of this place?”
“I am,” answered the old wizard. “My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I am the Headmaster of this school. And as you have made it thus far, I have to take it that you are also a wizard of some sort, sir?”
“A wizard?” said the tall man wonderingly. “That is why we were dragged to this place, then. I see…”
“Well, Headmaster, I am not exactly a wizard,” he went on, “but I and my companions do have powers beyond the ordinary. You can call me Captain, if you like. I’m a soldier. I take it you are magical yourselves?”
“This is the School of Magic for this country, sir,” answered a rather bewildered Dumbledore.
“Well, that’s good – it will make it easier to explain our situation. I’m afraid I come from somewhere else – you might call it another world. My friends and I were in transit between worlds, when our ship… it had taken a lot of blows … suddenly lost control. We had to stop here, or be destroyed between the worlds.”
“I see. Where are your companions?”
“They stayed with the ship, some three miles south-east of here. I volunteered to scout the land – see why we had been dragged to this spot.”
Dumbledore was thinking. “Captain… I do have to tell you that our place here is rather secret. For compelling reasons, magical schools like to be private and discourage Muggle visitors. Have you done anything that might lead outsiders to us?”
After a second’s thought, Captain America answered. “I am pretty sure not, sir. Of course I did not realize that I might be making trouble for anyone… but it gets to be a habit to look for pursuers and witnesses, and I am sure there weren’t any.” Suddenly a grin flashed across his face: “Tell me,” he asked, “is this secrecy of yours the reason why I had to fight all sorts of impulses to turn back all the way here?’
“It… is indeed,” said Dumbledore, startled. “Actually, if you could feel them, I am very surprised that you made it here.”
“I am trained to fight mental control – trained by experts. As soon as I realized what was being done to me, I set my mind to going exactly where they did not want me to go. That’s another habit a soldier gets.”
“I hope you did not get the wrong impression, Captain. The wards aren’t there to do anyone any mischief. They are here to protect us… and indeed, to protect outsiders from us. A Muggle without powers, falling among wizard children in an enchanted castle, might be harmed by sheer chance.”
“Well, sir, I will admit that I was on guard. But I’m not really worried about you or your intentions. I am just here to find out where we are… to ask if we can stay… and to see whether anyone here would be willing to do something to help us go home.”
There was something about this man. At first glance, he looked absolutely enormous, as if anyone else would have to look up to him. But as he strode into the entrance hall, it became clear that he was only an ordinary kind of tall – six foot four, possibly; certainly not the giant he had seemed. Not physically. But the impression he made did not diminish; everyone kept looking at him, even as he walked up quietly; and when he looked at Dumbledore for the first time, and Dumbledore looked back, it was as though they recognized each other.
The stranger removed the shield from his left arm and raised his right in a sign of peace. Dumbledore answered the salute. “Sir,” said the man in a polite voice with an obvious American accent, “are you in charge of this place?”
“I am,” answered the old wizard. “My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I am the Headmaster of this school. And as you have made it thus far, I have to take it that you are also a wizard of some sort, sir?”
“A wizard?” said the tall man wonderingly. “That is why we were dragged to this place, then. I see…”
“Well, Headmaster, I am not exactly a wizard,” he went on, “but I and my companions do have powers beyond the ordinary. You can call me Captain, if you like. I’m a soldier. I take it you are magical yourselves?”
“This is the School of Magic for this country, sir,” answered a rather bewildered Dumbledore.
“Well, that’s good – it will make it easier to explain our situation. I’m afraid I come from somewhere else – you might call it another world. My friends and I were in transit between worlds, when our ship… it had taken a lot of blows … suddenly lost control. We had to stop here, or be destroyed between the worlds.”
“I see. Where are your companions?”
“They stayed with the ship, some three miles south-east of here. I volunteered to scout the land – see why we had been dragged to this spot.”
Dumbledore was thinking. “Captain… I do have to tell you that our place here is rather secret. For compelling reasons, magical schools like to be private and discourage Muggle visitors. Have you done anything that might lead outsiders to us?”
After a second’s thought, Captain America answered. “I am pretty sure not, sir. Of course I did not realize that I might be making trouble for anyone… but it gets to be a habit to look for pursuers and witnesses, and I am sure there weren’t any.” Suddenly a grin flashed across his face: “Tell me,” he asked, “is this secrecy of yours the reason why I had to fight all sorts of impulses to turn back all the way here?’
“It… is indeed,” said Dumbledore, startled. “Actually, if you could feel them, I am very surprised that you made it here.”
“I am trained to fight mental control – trained by experts. As soon as I realized what was being done to me, I set my mind to going exactly where they did not want me to go. That’s another habit a soldier gets.”
“I hope you did not get the wrong impression, Captain. The wards aren’t there to do anyone any mischief. They are here to protect us… and indeed, to protect outsiders from us. A Muggle without powers, falling among wizard children in an enchanted castle, might be harmed by sheer chance.”
“Well, sir, I will admit that I was on guard. But I’m not really worried about you or your intentions. I am just here to find out where we are… to ask if we can stay… and to see whether anyone here would be willing to do something to help us go home.”
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Incidentally, you have probably heard of Harry Potter and the Invincible TechnoMage (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3933832/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Invincible_TechnoMage)? It's a Harry Potter/Marvel crossover where Harry was raised by Tony Stark before coming to Hogwarts.
It has its moments, but it fails for the reason that most cross-overs fail: when you have two contradictory universes colliding, one of them must yield, and in the aforementioned story, naturally it's the wizarding world that ends up looking lame and silly. (How impressive can Voldemort be in a world where you have mutants, aliens, and gods running around?)
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I do admit that I have tended to increase the powers of wizards in line with superhero universes. In my The First Nymphadora, the central duel is definitely a superhero clash with the heroine and Voldemort ripping the landscape apart and calling on cosmic fires. But I do think that JKR has left space for this sort of thing; the duel between AD and Voldemort in the Ministry is no joke, either.
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Incredibly cool.
(Anonymous) 2009-12-01 01:47 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Incredibly cool.
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My exposure to comics in general is quite limited, but you'd have to grow up under at least five rocks not to recognize Captain America when you see him. Or, possibly, in Wizarding Britain.
(This raises fascinating questions in my mind about American wizarding attitudes toward superheroes. In a real life/Heroes crossover fanfiction I once read, the world-hopping Sylar remarked that our world had an almost ridiculous proliferation of media and literature; everyone read different books, watched numerous TV shows, and was constantly inundated with advertising. The "real" character replied that the Heroes universe was more or less created by the imaginations of people who hadn't bothered to put in a vast body of literature, a wide variety of media, or any more advertising than they were being paid for. This idea has stuck in my head like a rock in my shoe.)
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