Tony looked at Pepper in surprise.
"Tony, you can't handle everything on your own," Pepper said earnestly. "The Iron Man Armor may be powerful, but you aren't your armor. You make mistakes and overlook things. If something like the Obadiah incident happens again, we might not be able to save you in time."
Pepper wanted him to have a group of people like him to rely on, rather than fighting alone.
That would both keep him safer and ease his loneliness.
Tony fell silent.
In truth, he had already realized something last night.
The Iron Man Armor could utterly crush ordinary people, such as terrorists, but once his enemies became supernatural beings or possessed comparable powers, it became woefully inadequate.
Iron Monger was a perfect example.
"Miss Potts is right."
Fury said, "The world is much bigger than you imagine. There are many unknown beings lurking beneath the surface. We need to unite."
"Take our young wizard here. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't even know magic existed, much less anything about the mystical side or the Wizarding World. I have a feeling something is waiting for us in the future. That's why forming the Avengers is necessary."
As Hermione listened, she couldn't help marveling that, underhanded as Black Egghead was, his instincts and keen judgment had practically reached the limits of what an ordinary person could achieve.
That held true whether it was forming the Avengers, being the first to notice something wrong with Project Insight and within S.H.I.E.L.D., or secretly recovering a Helicarrier, which resolved the urgent need to rescue people in Sokovia during the Ultron Incident.
"I need to think about it."
After a moment of silence, Tony spoke again, though he was no longer as resistant as before.
Fury nodded.
He hadn't expected to achieve his goal outright anyway. Today was merely about laying the groundwork.
"Besides that, there's one more thing." Fury settled for his fallback option. "S.H.I.E.L.D. would sincerely like to invite you to become our technology consultant."
Tony gave a light snort. "You couldn't afford my salary."
But he immediately changed tack. "Still, since you clearly recognize talent when you see it, I suppose I could help out as a favor."
Then he added another remark.
"Don't read too much into it. I'm only agreeing because you protected Pepper last night and helped with the search and rescue."
Although he kept emphasizing that reason, he somehow gave the impression that he was trying to hide how much he cared.
Having won Tony over, Black Egghead turned to Hermione.
"As for the Avengers, young wizard..."
Before he could finish, Tony immediately went on guard, his gaze turning hostile.
"What, S.H.I.E.L.D. won't even leave children alone now? Are we adults incapable of protecting the world, so you need a kid to risk her life for you?"
I'd like to, Fury thought, but with all of you guarding Hermione so closely, how would I ever get the chance?
In truth, he had only brought it up in passing. Aside from how embarrassing it would be for the adults to ask Hermione for help with everything, even if it were possible, Natasha and Coulson would never agree.
No matter how powerful Hermione was, she was still only a twelve-year-old girl. Many people simply couldn't stomach sending her onto a battlefield to fight for her life.
They still had some conscience left, even if there wasn't much of it.
"You misunderstand, Mr. Stark," Fury corrected himself. "I only wanted to invite our young wizard to serve as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. as well. Unlike your role in technology, hers would be in the occult."
"Huh? You want me involved too?"
Hermione pointed at herself, looking a little surprised.
"That's right," Fury said. "You come from the Wizarding World, and your knowledge of the mystical side is crucial to global security. With your help, S.H.I.E.L.D. would certainly have an easier time protecting the public, fighting evil, and upholding justice."
Whatever happened, he would butter her up first.
"Just a consultant?"
Suspicion filled Tony's eyes.
"I guarantee that she'll have a great deal of freedom after joining, and her only responsibility will be teaching."
Hermione suddenly grew interested. "So I could teach people, just like the professors at Hogwarts?"
She rubbed her hands together, an odd gleam in her eyes.
She looked very much like a child thrilled to finally have a chance to be someone else's teacher.
Fury nodded. "Of course."
"Can I use corporal punishment on stupid students?"
Hermione wore a devilish expression.
Fury: "..."
He suddenly felt that recruiting Hermione might not be the right choice.
"As long as you don't torment our agents to death..." Fury hesitated, a rare occurrence, his voice uncertain.
He ventured, "It would be even better if you were willing to teach them a spell or two."
His true intentions were finally laid bare.
Hermione shook her head. "It's not that I'm unwilling to teach them. It's just that people with magic are incredibly rare. Besides, the Ministry of Magic has special means of monitoring the world. Once children who meet the criteria are discovered, the various magical schools recruit them straightaway."
Although he had already suspected as much, Fury still wasn't willing to give up.
"Isn't there some other way to give people magic?"
"No," Hermione answered bluntly. "Though it is possible to let Muggles cast spells. It's just very troublesome, and the results aren't good."
Fury's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Can you do it?"
"No, and even if I could, I wouldn't." Hermione glared at him. "Do you want Aurors from the Ministry of Magic barging into S.H.I.E.L.D. to arrest your agents?"
Fury fell silent.
Tony suddenly interjected, "You really want to be their mystical side consultant?"
Hermione turned her beautiful, wide eyes toward Tony. "Yes. I think it sounds pretty interesting."
That was the truth.
In her plans, the existence of wizards was meant to become known to the world anyway. She might as well use this opportunity to reveal a little first.
Tony nodded and looked at Fury. "How much are you planning to pay her?"
Fury: "?"
Tony narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me S.H.I.E.L.D. intends to employ child labor without even paying her?"
Fury's expression darkened. That was indeed what he had been thinking.
But with Tony spelling it out so plainly, he could hardly trot out lines about doing it for the world or for justice.
"Given Hermione's value, how much do you think you should pay her?" Tony pressed.
"A million?" Fury asked tentatively.
Tony sneered.
"How about this? I'll pay her ten million a month to work as a consultant for Stark Industries. What do you say?"
Fury's expression darkened further, and all he could do was look to Hermione for help.
Hermione poked her cheek with one finger and gazed at the ceiling, lost in thought.
After a long while, something suddenly occurred to her. "How about this? TV shows always say organizations like yours have lots of fun things. Why don't you give me enough clearance to access those interesting items and files of yours, Nick Fury? What do you think?"
Hearing that request, Fury was startled.
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