Preventing Peril by Causing Chaos

Even the Mistress knows Sentiment

So far, Altheda had been quite satisfied with the changes she had made to the timeline. Over the few weeks since she and Natasha had visited the bank, the "young" heiress had made several trips back. 

Although already having bought her school supplies would be too suspicious when Hagrid eventually showed up, Altheda was quite happy to make some visits to some shops that wouldn't be considered standard.

A wand shop was unnecessary, as she had the Elder Wand, and her own wandless magic, but she was missing some of her favored weapons from the last timeline. So sue her, having a master spy/assassin for a soulmate had rubbed off on the woman a bit. 

Altheda tended to train in the more obscure martial arts: although she was just as good at hand to hand as her wife, and in illusionary tactics as Loki, she had found that bringing out a weapon or technique that was lesser known ended up being more of a surprise, or harder for their opponents to combat.

One example of this was her fan blades: in the future, Tony had even invented a few with some positively wicked tricks. Magic was easily enough imbued within them, giving them a few surprise functions, and making them lighter and easier to conceal and near impossible to detect. Her Bo staff was given much the same treatment, as well as her baton, knives, daggers, and one of her particular favorites, a whip that could extend to wrap around and restrain targets, lightly burning them the more they struggled. It didn't leave any physical wounds, but was almost impossible to escape, and could also be used as a weapon, releasing something similar to a forcefield or electrical shock. 

Her "Avenger Outfit" also needed a few upgrades, as she was the only member of the team, (bar Peter, who Tony had apparently dubbed an Avenger in space) who was still masked. The few people who did know her identity outside of her family were bound by magical contracts. This was because Altheda was a very public figure: although her image wasn't necessarily positive in Magical Britain, the rest of the magicals still hailed her as their savior, and in the Muggle world, she was a billionaire at Tony's level, ergo a very private one. 

Phoenix Incorporated was partnered with Stark Industries, and no matter how the press tried, they couldn't seem to figure out what made their inventions so amazing. Altheda was perfectly happy to to let Stark Industries be the main face on the box: most of the newer tech products were also Tony's ideas, she had just improved, tweaked, and integrated them with magic. (However, any journalist worth their degree noticed that many of the most pioneering and in demand Stark products also had the name Phoenix Inc. on them in gold script.) That didn't bother Altheda at all: as long as she received the proper amount of credit, and was helping people, it did her a favor: if she was in the public eye, eventually her marriage would get out, and in the long run her superhero identity.

 And although the majority of Wizarding Britain were mindless sheep who would never think to pick up a muggle newspaper, if Granger got wind of her, it would not be good.

She had also made sure to get some robes and outfits for herself: dragon hide, acromantula silk, and leather, most prominently. she was not limiting her wardrobe to those school robes all year.

The bookshop was visited briefly: she didn't need much, having studied extensively almost every branch of magic she thought would be helpful in the last timeline. 

She repurchased a magical trunk of the highest quality, similar to her old/future one, that was basically a mansion inside of a trunk, but she mainly used for storage. After all, Altheda had no need to live there unless on the run or doing extensive research and not wanting to b bothered. Her many properties ensured that.

(And  if she had happened to stop by multiple candy stores to stock a room full of hundreds of types of magical candy, well, what the men of her family don't know won't hurt them. (In this case, anyways.))

Once Altheda considered herself prepared for Hogwarts, she returned to the Dursleys, who of course had not noticed her absence. All was well.

———————

It was two days later when her "family" came back to themselves—they seemed almost determined to ignore the events of Dudley's birthday. It must have just been a coincidence: in their minds, there was no way that their precious Dudders would be freaky. (And they were right. However, Altheda would definitely never define the Dursley Family as normal.)

It was almost melancholy, Altheda had thought to her wife in the early hours of the morning. These people had been her tormentors, the bane of her existence for so many years, but now that she had been given a chance to live, watching them and their cruelty seemed saddening. To hear history repeat right in front of her eyes.

The spouses had decided to let Hagrid deliver her letter: Altheda had pushed hard to at least give him a chance to form  his own opinions away from Dumbledore's influence. And if all else failed, he was a wonderfully unknowing source of possible information.

So it was no surprise when, over the course of the week, the inevitable flood of letters graced the walls of #4 Privet Drive. She watched her relatives grow more and more desperate, and could bring herself to only feel the  slightest bit of pity. Originally, she herself had been so desperate to find out who was contacting her after 11  years of radio silence, that she threw her common sense out the window in her haste.

The letters would always hold a special place in her heart, but Altheda was no longer that love-starved, abused little girl, no matter what her glamours would show the old goat.

Nonetheless, when Hagrid came to take her away, to bring magic to her soul, she made sure to keep her letter, storing it safely away. 

(Natasha was on a S.H.I.E.L.D. mission at the moment, or she surely would have teased her wife, lovingly but mercilessly.)

After all, whoever said that the Mistress of Death couldn't be a little sentimental?