Chapter Text
Hogwarts. The day when they would receive their letters was something every magically raised child dreamed of. That their children might not receive a letter was something that worried their parents. At least that was how things were when she was a child. Prospects for a squib or weak magicked individual had gotten better in the new century but in the past it was considered a great tragedy should a child be born without the magical might to qualify them for an education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Despite the many decades that had past Peggy could still viscerally recall how the joy in their household transformed to grief as the day wore on and her brother’s letter didn’t arrive. Having not qualified to attend Hogwarts their parents took him the next day to be tested so they might know what other options were be available to him. The tests revealed her brother to be a squib. What accidental magic they had attributed to him was revealed to have come from cousins, playmates, and possibly Peggy. The chance that none of it had come from Peggy plagued her parents in the following years.
With no access to his magic Michael and their parents were forced to reimagine what the future would hold for him. It was decided that they would move to the outskirts of a muggle village so Michael might receive an education there which would prepare him for a future where he could never wield a wand.
Later when Peggy’s own momentous birthday approached the tension built to oppressive levels as her parents dreaded another Hogwarts letter not to come and their children resented them for their fear. The day itself was spent solemnly waiting for that which did indeed never come.
The next day, as Michael had been before her, Peggy was taken to be tested. Her results revealed that while she would be able to wield a wand it was unlikely she would ever advance beyond the most basic of spellwork with a first year’s Hogwarts’ curriculum being the furthest she could hope to reach. The one bit of ‘good news’ the tests provided her parents was that she would be able to brew potions and if she had enough of a talent could possibly find gainful employment in the magical world. It was also found she had a slight affinity for divination but given the value their society placed on the subject this was dismissed by the couple.
Her parents intended to send Peggy to one of Britain’s less prestigious magical schools where she could receive social and magical training. They expected despite lacking any passion for the field that she would dedicated herself to potions so one day she might become a potioneer successful enough to find a Wizard to marry who would not be concerned with her status. Disappointingly for them, Peggy was entirely against this plan. With her usual stubbornness and her brother’s support she insisted to instead be sent to a muggle school where she might pursue her future in that world as Michael intended to. Her parents were disappointed but allowed her what she wanted.
Peggy attended one of the oldest schools for girls in Britain, St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls to receive her muggle education while private tutors saw to teaching her what little magic she was capable of. She received a wand and when the time came, thanks to subjects which did not require casting she managed enough OWLs to keep it. For the most part she left it in storage though as using it among the muggles with which she lived seemed too great a risk of exposure for Peggy as she could do so little with it.
When the war began Peggy got work as a codebreaker. Later, she was recommended by Michael who had become a Captain for the Special Operations Executive. Peggy became a Field Agent and in doing so caught the interest of the ICW. Normally with her minimal talent in divination she would never have qualified as an Investigator but with the war on ‘needs must.’ With so many different elements at play on both the magical and muggle side of the war there was a great concern that secrecy would fail. It was the hope of the ICW that Peggy would be able to work her way up the ranks and in time be in a prime position to help keep secrecy in tact and the ICW informed as to what was happening regarding muggle side of the war.
After the war both the ICW and the Muggle governments suddenly saw little value in Peggy. With the muggles, she was dismissed as just the woman who Steve Rogers had cared for. With the magicals, she was once again only a witch barely worthy of the name. But Peggy would not take that lying down. She forced others to remember her true worth and was rewarded for it. She became a co-founder of Shield and in doing so regained the ICW’s attention.
For decades Peggy worked through Shield to keep the muggle and magical worlds safe while seeing to it that secrecy prevailed. However as time passed a new form of prejudice came to work against her. In the magical world age was respected but in the muggle world? With a female leader no less? It was not. Peggy for the sake of secrecy had to appear to age as a muggle would. As her hair seemingly went grey and lines appeared on her face questions were being raised about whether she was still fit to be in charge despite many of the men who worked with her being her equal in age if not older. That Howard supported her kept those questions whispered but after his assassination those against Peggy no longer felt the need to stay quiet.
Then a short time later, too short to be a coincidence, an assassination attempt was made on Peggy as well. She managed to survive it but unfortunately before she could receive magical healing she was seen by the doctors of Shield who declared that she would never walk again. Forced in the name of secrecy to pretend to be bound to a wheelchair and dealing with a slow recovery Peggy lost the fight. She was pushed out of the very organization she had helped to build.
Once she was no longer a part of Shield the ICW decided they were no longer in need of her services. They dismissed her for a second time. And so, for some years Peggy was forced to enjoy a resentful retirement. There were some benefits to it though. It gave her time to spend with her aging brother, his wife, their children, and grandchildren. She may have never married or had children herself but she was not without those to love and dote on, being loved in return and kept busy when Peggy found she didn’t know what to do with herself.
When that wasn’t enough she tried dating. It wasn’t uncommon in the wizarding world for those who spent their lives focused on a craft or career to go looking to find someone to share your last years with once they retired. Finding the right man However proved more arduous than Peggy felt the companionship was worth. She was a woman accustomed to living in multiple worlds; Magical, muggle, and those of secrecy and spies. While the men she met could relate to her life in one they were often at a loss to connect to the other sides of her. That even after all this time Steve was always at the back of her mind did not help matters.
It wasn’t long at all before Peggy gave up on dating.
Then came a change in the old guard. Swinton who had headed the ICW’s Investigators since Peggy’s recruitment was forced to bow into retirement with less shine to his legacy than Peggy had left hers with. From what she was able to learn the man’s second had been abusing his position in some very serious ways without Swinton realizing. As his job was to see problems like these and he’d missed it, his time was up.
A month or so later Peggy received a visit from his replacement. Hauata was not a man Peggy had worked with regularly but he was by far her favorite to work with. She’d never known the man to show any form of prejudice, he was resourceful, and he was compassionate. With him was the then Agent Smith. Quickly Peggy realized that Agent Smith was not there as a glorified assistant and bodyguard but was in fact being groomed by Hauata as his successor.
They played no games during this visit which was refreshing for Peggy after her many years working with spies and politicians. As they were all perspective by natural with Peggy being a seasoned agent and the two in front of her talented Seers everything was simply laid bare in a frank manner. Peggy wanted out of retirement and they wanted her to take up the seat representing magical interests on the World Security Council. Naturally, Peggy accepted.
Finding out about her appointment caused some stir up at Shield with a divide between the dissatisfied and pleased. Her contacts both magical and muggle within her former organization were happy to pass on word of these reactions to her. She was pleasantly surprised when Agent Smith took the time to report the information the ICW had on Shield’s reaction to her appointment as well. It was this consideration which set the tone for their working relationship.
In the years since the two of them had become respected compatriots to one another. Peggy still did not know who the woman was outside of her work but Peggy found she did not mind to terribly being in the dark. In the muggle world such ignorance would have been unacceptable but in the magical world she could rely on the fact that Smith was bound heavily by vows to keep her true. With Smith having sacrificed her freedom for the work Peggy did not worry over the Head’s secrets.
“Madam Smith,” Peggy greeted the woman who was her junior in years but still her boss.
“Councilwoman Carter,” Smith returned with a polite bowing of her head. “I assume you’ve receive our news.”
“I have,” Peggy reported with a frown. “What do you need me to do?”
“Most of the Security Council may be permitted to retain knowledge of magicals during their time appointed but not all. As such we can’t warn them as a whole as to what is coming. Be on alert. Keep them from over reacting when the time comes.”
Peggy nodded. Despite the purpose of the council many of the appointed were prone to forming opinions quickly and were eager to take action which was rarely conducive with peace. Unfortunately magicals were banned from interfering with who was appointed to these seats. The only council member they had any say in was their own.
Madam Smith continued, “I would also appreciate it if you prepared yourself for the possibility of returning to the field. I need people out there I can trust. Of that number you are one of the few with experience of an active war zone.”
Peggy would deny it but her heart kicked up at the idea of leaving the office to return to the work that made her feel the most alive. “Yes ma’am.”
“There is also the issue of Captain Rogers.”
Peggy couldn’t help but to frown at the name as her heart went from flying to plummeting. Despite Steve refusing her apologies for not finding him, insisting it was not her fault, the crushing guilt Peggy felt was not absolved. She had worked with Howard until his death on finding ‘the body’ and it was a body she expected to find. The ICW had assured her when Steve went down that all their Seers had come to the same conclusion, that he was dead. She’d begged and bartered with her boss for assistance in retrieving Steve for a proper burial but the man was firm in telling her that the organization had Seen it was best the matter was not interfered with by them. He ordered Peggy that she was not to use magical aid or means in the search nor retrieval.
She disobeyed. How could she not? But her efforts at divining answers regarding Steve’s status produced less than clear answers. She had put that down to her skills being piddling compared to others. The same lack of talent which kept her from finding the body on her own. Now she knew the uncertainty of her results had been due to Steve’s soul remaining with his body despite its frozen state.
Since Steve was recovered Smith had investigated the matter on Peggy’s behalf and learnt the Investigators were at the time very much aware that if found he could easily have been revived. It was their choice to leave him in the ice as their visions of the future should he return to service were not to their liking. With Steve there and out fighting the good fight experiments to duplicate the effect of the serum and make more super soldiers would have run a muck. The results of which for good and bad would have been cropping up all over year after year changing life on Earth in ways that would have made it impossible for the magical world to hide as they were.
Secrecy was the prime objective of the ICW’s Investigators. Rather than thinking around the problem as Madam Smith would have, as Peggy would have, they chose to leave a hero to languish in the ice as people mourned him and the years passed by. Now Steve was still a young man while Peggy was an old woman who’d lived out the majority of her life. Thanks to the magic running through her veins and the cures available on their side of the divide she was still extremely healthy and spry. Ninety-one was rather different for a witch than a muggle, even a witch of little power like Peggy, but it did not change the fact that she was even by magical standards being seen as old. She didn’t have to fake all her grey hairs any longer when going out into the muggle world, like when she visited Steve.
When around the magically unaware Peggy needed to show herself to have aged as they expected. While she couldn’t do the magic herself the ICW provided her with the means. Had she been casting the illusions herself she might have gone for a different look but those in charge of her disguise had gone heavy handed in their efforts with her alter. They made her look so very old and frail. Peggy hated for the people who used to look at her with respect, as a force to be reckoned with, to see her like that. The World Security Council, Pierce, Fury, and Shield members were bad enough but with Steve it was heartbreaking. She could tell it was heartbreaking for him as well.
Despite the pain being reminded of what they’d lost caused they still talked daily and arranged visits. At first Fury had tried keeping her away from Steve but Peggy hadn’t let that happen. She may have to appear old but she did not have to appear to have lost her edge. She made certain she could be there for Steve even if she was expected to appear to him for the first time in almost seventy years being pushed along in her wheelchair looking ancient.
Due to the fact that all of Shield knew she was declared paralyzed from the waist down she and Steve hadn’t had their dance yet, but Peggy was hopeful. Smith was working on getting clearance for Steve to be allowed knowledge of the magical world and when Smith set her mind to something it usually happened. Until then Peggy kept her chin up and carried on empowered by the hope that soon she would be able to drop the lies. Walking on her own two feet she would take Steve dancing in the magical world where she could wear her own face and talk openly without Shield listening in on every word.
Peggy didn’t expect that even once Steve knew the truth that they might try at the romance they could have had before but a dance and a friendship was more than she’d let herself dream of for decades. She’d happily take what she could and perhaps finally be able to finish mourning for what was lost.
“To stand at the side of the Shield and their heroes,” Smith quoted. “You know we suspect this to mean Fury’s Avengers initiative.”
Peggy nodded. “And you expect Steve will be included in the rally?”
Smiths lips shifted down ever so slightly. Her mouth was usually set downward. Peggy could say with absolute certainty that she had never seen the woman smile. Smith’s amusement and pleasure only ever showed in her eyes and that was rare. Usually she presented herself to the world as glacier.
“Reports say that while Fury has not updated the Initiative’s public files since it was shut down by the World Security Council his own personal records have been altered to add Captain Rogers to the roster. Even without the initiative, it is being spoken of as a forgone conclusion that Rogers will work for Shield after having some time to acclimate to his circumstances.”
Peggy frowned. Steve was a soldier with very clear opinions of right and wrong. She knew he couldn’t be happy long term working under the authority of Shield with the methods and compromises they would expect him to make. Even Peggy had grown unhappy in the last decades with what was being deemed necessary by the organization.
“What is it you want from me,” Peggy asked.
Before Smith could answer something Peggy could not see pulled the Head’s attention away.
“I’m sorry Councilwoman but I have to go,” she apologized before quickly cutting off the feed.
There was more Harriet had intended to speak with Carter about but with Voldemort waiting outside her doorway wearing an expression she had never before seen on his face she knew there was not time. The expression he wore was one of fear. Not worry or concern but primal fear.
“What is it,” she asked.
“We’ve received word from our people in SHIELD. The Tesseract is acting up without any involvement from them. For now they are being cautious-”
“But the situation will continue to move outside their control… An evacuation will be called and Fury will go to the facility himself,” Harriet declared Seeing it for herself as she cast her Sight out through time to the reports she would be getting shortly. Putting the extra effort in she tried following their Agents at the compound and then Fury through their night. She only just managed to stick with them until everything became obscured.
The Tesseract always interfered with the Sight of Seers or at least every seer to work for the ICW since Johann Schmidt recovered it from where it was entombed. Very little of the magic that was applied on or near the Tesseract went as it should.
Whenever the Sighted tried to divine the Tesseract’s secrets their vision would be redirected out to seemingly random places in the universe. As traditional recon had proven fruitless one Investigator tried to examine the Tesseract while in his astral form. This was back in the days when it was in Hydra hands. The Investigator’s goal had been simple. He meant to distinguish whether the Tesseract was a magical or scientific artifact. Upon getting within three feet of the cube his astral form was transported off across the universe. He was projected so many miles away that it took him three years to get back to his body on Earth and report what had happened.
While they couldn’t See the Tesseract itself they could See what was around it. Through diligent work planning and ordering experiments to be carried out the Investigators were able to see what the results would be. What they saw caused most of those experiments to be canceled. Magic simply didn’t work right around the Tesseract. All were advised to avoid casting any spells around the device, to at all costs avoid casting magic on it, and unless you wanted to risk a journey to anyone’s guess where apparition and portkeying within sight of the device were a no go.
Looking ahead to the future of the compound and those present at it, the block Harriet was presented with in some hours time was not that of the Tesseract. Nor was this the interference she received from the presence of a Wakandan. This block had the same feel as what she had been coming up against for the last month in trying to divine information about the prophesied war that was to come. This was the blizzard from her vision earlier that night.
Focusing back through her physical eyes Harriet looked to Voldemort. “I’m not certain, but I believe that is the way he will come. I can’t tell you a time. I can’t tell you if the army will come with him or follow after. But I believe his means of coming here will be the Tesseract.”
For better or worse her belief was all Voldemort needed. Nodding he asked, “What would you have us do?”
Leaning back Harriet searched herself. What did she want? What felt right? Even if she couldn’t See or consciously know as a Seer her mind was connected to the very fabric of the universe. Her subconscious knew more secrets then she may ever fully realize. All the truths of existence were hers to know if she just parceled out how best to look for them.
“Call on the Seers, every last one of them. Tell them to focus on the Tesseract, the facility, and those there. Our sight may be interfered with but we can still infer some guidance from what we can’t see in relation to what we can. In the meantime send out word to those already on site. They are to be prepared to evacuate at a moments notice avoiding magical transport except for truly dire circumstances. Preservation of life is their priority. Contact MACUSA let them know we have a suspicion that New Mexico may be the epicenter for what is happening but don’t be specific as to the location. They won’t like it but it will get them in the area as backup while keeping them from showing up at the scene trying to pull rank and interfere. Contact Neville and Luna. Put them in charge of setting up the layers of containment around the facility. Tell them to have a focus on preparing to drain the power output we may get from the Tesseract and move on from there. Give them preemptive approval for whatever requisitions they’ll want for resources or manpower to get it done even if that means recruiting from the outside. Then prepare a team for the possibility we’ll end up needing to enter the facility. You’ll be in lead.”
Harriet’s series of instructions went on from there with Voldemort listening attentively, retaining every word while working off her instructions to flush out his plan for what he and the others would need to do to get what she wanted done. When she’d finished with her orders Harriet left it to him to take charge while she focused her Sight on the future ahead, locked away in a room modeled after that which the Room of Requirement used to provide her with when she went there looking for answers as a student.
Despite all the gifts Harriet’s blood and companionship had given Voldemort the Sight was not one of them. While his gift for divination was better then some it was by no means up to the challenge upcoming events posed, but taking charge while Harriet was indisposed was something Voldemort was more than capable of carrying out. With so many having reported in already due to the alarm Harriet raised on her arrival he was able to quickly set things in motion.
Neville and Luna were dispatched requesting Ron to come with and lead security while they focused on the magic which needed doing. With Ron went Voldemort’s top choice for his own team and a good number of the rest of their best. Still from those left Voldemort was able to put together a capable group that would enter the facility with him if so ordered. Once his chosen were preparing Voldemort headed over to Hermione or as she was known when in uniform, Metis.
Back before Harriet got a say in things Agents of the ICW crafted their own disguises if they were capable and if not someone else would do it for them. Every detail of the face and body which they would wear when walking through the world as their alter persona was a choice. By the time Hermione got on the scene Harriet had changed that.
Those who entered service now had very little control over these things. A set of appearances were crafted for them using the alters of the person who recruited them and the person who seconded their recruiting as well as their true face. The three were blended together in much the same way the looks of actual parents decided a child’s features. Dominate and recessive genes fell into their natural place while the occasional mutation brought something new to the fore.
Of the options that were presented the new Agent would pick which they liked best. For those who unlike Harriet might choose poorly when crafting a disguise the temptation to indulge in vanity or another vice was removed. This way it was also easier for some agents to pass as family when undercover given the resemblance so many of them had to one another. This further benefited them in that it made outsiders less likely to think those in the organization would turn on each other as they believed many were recruited thanks to nepotism.
Voldemort’s ‘uniform’ as many of the new blood had taken to calling alters, had been the first to be crafted in this way. His appearance was a combination of his own human form, Harriet’s Smith appearance, and that of her former boss Hauata, one of the few men to have had authority over her and still treated Harriet as she deserved. Voldemort was… proud to carry on the man’s legacy in this small way.
Hauata was one of a very limited number Voldemort would honestly admit to respecting without it being a manipulation. He’d been a good boss, a good mentor and follower giving Harriet the guidance and the lessons she needed while listening to her wisdom in return and helping to implement it. He also had been kind and careful with her when she had been most in need of it.
Voldemort’s alter stood as tall as Harriet’s with her blonde hair but he had brown eye as well as the more delicate and androgynous features Haunta had chosen for himself allowing him to present as male or female as was needed for the occasion which is why Voldemort had chosen it over the other options available too him.
Hermione’s uniform had been a blending of Smith, his, and her own natural appearance. The result was an alter that was slightly taller in height then was average for a woman with short straight blonde hair, brown eyes similar in color to Hermione’s though framed by a differently shaped lid, Smith’s more stern features, and skin which was mostly the same as Hermione’s everyday in shade but with completely different scars and freckles, moles, and birthmarks.
Along with changing how alters were made Haunta and Harriet changed how agents were assigned their codenames. In the old days it was the most common and generic names but when you had a Smith, Williams, and Johnson together it sounded like a bad joke so instead they now chose names with meaning, just not personal meaning to them. ‘My parents named me after…’ type of names. Names which for being unique were less likely to be written off as fake because if you were faking an identity why draw attention to yourself?
Voldemort was Cal for meaning devotion so chosen by Haunta due to his devotion to Harriet.
Metis had been so chosen by Harriet for Hermione after the Titaness of Greek mythology.
Much as was the case with her roll in Harriet Potter’s business as Hermione Granger, Metis was in charge of being the one to keep track of records and sorting through their intelligence. With the current emergency she had set herself up in a work room with her underlings. Hermione was so involved in her work that she did not notice him enter. Voldemort left it to one of her assistants to alert her to his presence while he looked over some of the notes pinned on the wall.
Hermione’s current assignment was to take the reports coming in from their Seers and compare them against one another, using logic and Arithmancy to map out the common data points to see what was coming out to be the better and worse options to take moving forward. With time ticking on they were rushed but with a mind like Hermione’s and so many Seers able to offer their skills trends were already firmly revealing themselves as was made clear by the many graphs and notes that were spread over the walls of the work room. They weren’t encouraging. They spoke mostly of death and failure and what couldn’t be seen.
“We can’t act. Not yet and not while he’s at the facility,” Hermione declared from behind him.
With a frown on his face at the news Voldemort turned to her.
Not sparing him a glance Hermione moved past to make changes and add to the notes he’d just been looking at. Around them the rest of the displays were being altered by the others.
“Smith’s findings support this,” Hermione said starting on the defensive, knowing ‘John’ would trust Harriet’s word and judgment over all others. “If we enter now all we’ll get are funerals and this General using the Tesseract to run and run where to we have no idea. If we don’t go at him and leave it to Shield there will still be funerals… but not ours.”
In years past such a concession would have been scorned by Hermione but since joining the ICW she’d lost that naivety. Hard choices needed to be made even if neither result was palatable.
Taking a deep breath Hermione continued on, “And not as many. And while they are working on it our Seers still can’t figure out where he’ll go once he leaves the facility. Trying to follow after something you can’t see which is actively discouraging you from looking at it is proving near impossible but if we let him leave there may be a physical or magical trail we can follow through means other than divination. And given past experience once we are firmly decided not to interfere that should cut down on the number of variables in the immediate future to let our people See more clearly.”
Hermione had come a far way in understanding and accepting the validity of divination for a girl who once sneered at the subject. However unlike the rest of them she never became overly attached to it which was good. She was there to recognize other methods of doing things and advise them which was best.
“Overwhelmingly we’re finding that we shouldn’t enter a confrontation while this General has the Tesseract. It isn’t just because of the deaths. We’re also getting reports that it would mean we ‘loose’ people. They aren’t dead but they aren’t ours anymore. Now that could mean the Tesseract sending them off across the universe-”
Voldemort interrupted, “Or it could mean mind control or another form of corruption.” Causing them to loose people in the same way that the Dark lost him when Harriet became his priority over himself and his ambitions.
Looking disturbed Hermione nodded. “Smith thinks it's a bit of both. Some lost to the Tesseract and some lost to something else. Even with her skill she can’t see it much more clearly.”
But Harriet was better at finding different angles to come at the problem so she might find the best perspective yet and shed some light on events going forward. If they waited to act it could give her the time she needed to unearth some useful revelation. Where others might simply declare their Sight blocked Harriet would push until she knew the exact extent of what she could not see and piece out truths from that silhouette and the picture around it. Her instincts in putting the pieces together were unrivaled as well. Hauata was the only one close that Voldemort had ever personally met with Luna not far behind him. While Luna was not able to see far into the past or future with much detail she had an innate understanding much as Harriet did which made her very good at making instinctive leaps of logic to get her to the right answer. Sometimes she leapt so far it seemed to others she had gone off to the moon. Unfortunately for Luna she was not as adept at translating what she found obviously sensible to others in the way Haunta and Harriet were capable of.
“What about our people on the ground there,” Voldemort asked. “Do we pull them back?”
“Its still unclear. We don’t see trouble coming to those working containment so long as they steer clear and do not engage. For those in the facility everything is obscured once this General arrives. For now their orders stand to keep to their covers unless their life or the life of another is in mortal peril, help with the evacuation when the time comes, and do not engage.”
Voldemort considered this. “Is that Smith’s word?”
Hermione went a bit stiff. “No, mine,” she said confrontationally.
“Then I would make a minor suggestion.”
Finally looking away from her work to face him Hermione met Voldemort’s gaze with an expression of ‘I’m listening but ready to argue.’
“An evacuation may provide opportunity to gather supplies, intel, and assets. Our people might want to keep an eye out for such opportunities.”
Hermione made a face at the mention of assets as it was not a practice that sat well with her, but it was effective so she had given up arguing against it. “Very well. I’ll send the suggestion on but I don’t feel it should be a priority.”
“Agreed,” Voldemort submitted gracefully.
Looking back at the notes gathered he saw what Hermione’s latest adjustments revealed. A timeline.
The majority favored the general arriving in approximately three hours time.
Three hours until they would be at war.