Here's a question for you Roar. You mention that Harry knows -heard- that he's being traced through the phone. Why the hell is he keeping it then, after he found out where Banner is?

You said that he just beat SHIELD to Banner, but unless SHIELD was planning on fetching Banner right this instant, I don't see how it makes any sort of sense for Harry to knowingly let them know that he's going to Banner. If anything, it will only make his relationship with them worse.

 

SHIELD wasn't going after Banner - at this point in time they have nothing that could beat the guy, as is pointed out among other places in the Pre-Avengers comic and chapter 7. Letting Fury know that he's now with someone that is beyond his control should probably give the guy pause.

Yes, he's actually planning things now.

 

Or make him an even bigger target, and a priority one at that, for SHIELD.

From their point of view, they have an unknown. An superpowered unknown, who taunts them and even goes as far to infilrtate their main base and steal from their boss in a (for them) obvious show of strength. Then he goes ahead and seeks one of the only other people who SHIELD can't control and is insanely dangerous.
See, that might make SHIELD just a tad bit more aggressive.

That's how I see it, anyhow. Obviously, Harry and I disagree.

 

Honestly, I think you guys are forgetting that this Harry really doesn't seem to give many fucks. He obviously has some issues coming from his previous world (and when he arrived he basically said "whatever" and moved on with his life) and doesn't really think SHIELD is very threatening - that may not be the truth, but it is Harry's opinion at the moment.

I mean, this is the guy who went on a holiday to Afghanistan. He is the King of not giving any fucks. It's likely that he doesn't care very much if SHIELD becomes extremely aggressive towards him. He probably sees it as an inconvenience, not a threat.

 

I still maintain what I told Roarian earlier: Harry should wander around with ah at that says Wizzard, then deny it when shield asks him about.

 

Precisely what I was thinking.

There's no reason for Harry to know what causes Banner to transform into the Hulk unless...

1. Banner actually takes enough of a liking to him to tell him before he transforms.
2. Harry uses Legilimency on him and finds out... before he transforms.
3. Banner actually says "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." as he's about to 'Hulk out', and Harry is slick enough to realize what's going on and slap a cheering charm on him.
4. Harry avoids getting turned into wallpaper paste by the Hulk long/often enough to realize anger is the key.

In theory, any magic that calms or cheers... or basically defuses anger in any way, whatsoever, could neuter the Hulk pretty efficiently.

As long as Harry maintains a nonthreatening demeanor and his luck is good enough that the military doesn't show up to bag Banner while Harry's trying to talk to him (and at "94 days since last incident." Harry is way ahead of the army), Bruce should react favorably, if warily.

After all, Harry will no doubt offer up the information that not only is SHIELD keeping tabs on him, but they are also aware that the military is too, and are closing in on him. Plus, if Harry is feeling generous, he could offer to transport Bruce damn near anywhere, damn near instantly, which would really throw the army (if not SHIELD) off his scent.

That's a pretty hefty olive branch.


Am I the only one who thinks it's funny that Banner/Hulk eventually ends up working with a guy named Fury? :awesome

The real mind scrambler is, since this is an Avengers story, I have Mark Ruffalo's Banner in my mind's eye... then I realize that who Harry is meeting right now is Ed Norton's Banner.

For the record: I'm slapping Ruffalo's face on him.

 

Or we could have in story explanation that later on Harry gave him a magical plastic surgery.

But, yeah, as far as I'm concerned Ruffalo is Banner.

 

Actually, I just mentioned the cheering charm because I thought it would be funny. I'm surprised it has been discussed this much.

As for Harry being a target for SHIELD, he doesn't see them as a threat for a variety of reasons. The biggest being magic. Even if SHIELD knew he was a wizard, they could do jack all about it because technology has roughly zero chance of stopping magic.

On a completely random note, does anyone else think of Grawp when the Hulk is mentioned?

 

Nope. Had not done that.

But, now I'm trying to imagine a Hulk under an overpowered cheering charm. Would he revert to Banner? Is the Hulk even capable of feeling happy and stay in form?

 

What? This isn't FFnet, stop spouting bullshit.
In this story, so far Harry has been tagged twice, both times without his knowledge. As Barton cleverly points out, if these tags were designed to do anything more aggressive than keeping tabs on him, he'd have no chance to even use his magic.

 

"Hulk happy when Hulk smash."

Also, don't forget that it's not just anger that makes Banner turn into Hulk. If I remember right he couldn't even have sex with Betty without risking his transformation.

EDIT:

But he's right - technology can do nothing against magic itself. The only way for SHIELD to take Harry down is to catch him unaware and that possibility mostly passed already with him spying on them.

 

If someone poisons him or drugs him, Harry can still be taken down.
Take away his wand and thats most of his magic gone.
Remember in canon even Dumbledore and Voldemort didnt do much magic without their wands. Mostly just small stuff.

Yes he will have abilities like "teleportation" but that`s a lot different than a Wizard with full access to his spells.

Make no mistake. Magic or no Magic, he is relying on one of a kind tool. If that`s stolen or broken, he is basically stuffed.

And between Hulk and Harry. The person who gets the first hit wins.
Avada Kedava kills Hulk. Or Hulk just smashes Harry.
It wont last over 5 seconds either way.

 

The transformation is triggered by a rapid pulse. Since his Hulk is likened to a Giant of the HP world, I'd imagine most magic would have little to no effect.

 

And if worst comes to worst, Harry can even try an Imperius while Hulk is still human.
Just give him the command not to get angry. Sure it might get overridden, but if the command and Doctors will is the same, it should be worth a try.

I mean in HP world even a Wizard who knew he is being cursed had to really work hard to fight against the curse. Stands to reason it will work on Banner, though not sure how long it will last.

 

Harry may frustrate and annoy Banner, but he's not likely to drive him into the kind of primal rage that brings on the Other Guy. That lies more along the lines of an adrenaline pumping, blood rushing, fight-or-spite reflex.

Being totally honest to the characters would, imo, lead to Banner saying something along the lines of "Please go away" or "Leave me alone" way before getting angry. And Harry would likely do so, at least at first, unless something happened or was said to ramp up his curiosity. He's much more like Loki than any of the Avengers or members of SHIELDon. Misdirection and espionage are his playstyle. He doesn't need to pack a punch, because he doesn't need to throw one.

That's probably my favourite part of this story so far. Harry isn't running around like a magical Rambo. He's acting the aloof, mysterious figure of a wizard.

As far as the threat SHIELD poses goes, I'd agree that they could incapacitate or overcome Harry fairly easily, but only after gaining knowledge of how he operates. I don't mean learning about magic, but things like spying by bugging items - the listening charm. Get an assassin with a sniper rifle and he's the same as anybody else unless he knows about it beforehand.

I just don't see why the idea of SHIELD as an antogonist needs to be pushed. Roarian is doing well to portray the organization for what it is; investigative and reactionary. They're not the kneejerk reaction of riot police or military counter-terrorism. They study what the encounter and search for alliances wherever possible. Exactly as the story shows. Nothing is blown out of proportions to create conflict like in most bad fanfiction - in fact, there's no conflict at all from Harry's relatively benign side, and the tension on SHIELD's side comes from misunderstanding. The irony of them flustered and afraid that Harry is a threat is hilarious.

Keep it up, Roarian. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you do with Harry/Banner/Stark encounters. You've almost definitely already seen it, but if you haven't, check out the post in the Avengers thread which linked to an epic blog post about the Stark/Banner bromance.

 

I have absolutely no clue why people insist that the Hulk has some kind of inherent magical resistance. The Hulk was created due to gamma radiation and therefore his transformation is based in the realm of comic book pseudo-physics. As has been stated numerous times, magic completely rapes the laws of physics, completely bypassing them. To be honest, it could be argued that Harry would be the most effective combatant against the Hulk out of all the Avengers. Cutting spells, blasting curses, all forms of direct spell attacks should effect the Hulk just like any ordinary person. The only difference with the Hulk is that once he is cut or blasted, he will simply heal ridiculously fast, thereby making Harry's successful direct attack moot and pissing him off even more. While Harry is perfectly capable of hurting the Hulk easily, killing him would only be possible with a Killing Curse.

 

Actually, I don't think Roarian has likened him to HP giants yet. It's entirely open as to whether or not the Hulk has innate resistance to magic. It could be that the simplest spells work easily on him, or that nothing short of an AK could put him down. We'll have to wait and see.

 

Many offensive spells are designed to work on humans. The foreign nature of the Hulk's body would cause problems and prevent many of the simpler jinxes and hexes from working. This is the kind of schoolyard fight spells we see the likes of Ron and Draco fling back and forth.

This is a nice, rational reason why the Hulk can't be taken down with a slug-vomiting hex or leg-locker curse. Alohamora will open a lock, not turn the handle and open the door.

He'd also be more resistant to, say, a stunner because he's in a state of accelerated wakefulness, the cruciatus curse because anger clouds his tactile sense, and the imperius because of the brutal singlemindedness of a beast's fury.

There's no resistance to magic. The Hulk is just on a different scale to a person, and notices the effects less.

All it means is that Harry will have to be clever if they ever fight, rather than going through the point and shoot motions.

 

Ehehehe, you've been reading ahead, haven't you? Naughty.

 

Well, that's ominous.