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Magically Marvelous
Chapter 6
Harry felt dead inside after getting the news. His wife and children … gone. Dead at the hands of the organization that he had been tasked with investigating. He heard his friends talking and crying behind him, but he couldn't really bother to listen properly. After the day was nearly done, and he was told to get some rest, he nodded. What they didn't know was that he had no plan to get some rest.
Apparating away to an open field somewhere in the north of England, he walked up to a specific tree and waved his wand at the ground. A metal box erupted from the soft, wet soil. Kneeling down, Harry opened up the box. He reached in and grabbed a wand. It was just one of many inside the box. Over the years, he had confiscated many wands while working as an Auror. Any that he found suitable were placed in the hidden box just in case he would ever need one. He needed one then, but it wasn't just any wand. It was THE wand … The Elder Wand. Harry rolled the Deathstick between his fingers. Since taking it from Voldemort, many had been after it. Harry left a lot of clues as to where it might be. All of them were wrong, of course. Little did they know that it was sitting in a metal tin in the middle of a Muggle's sheep farm. He took a moment to silently beg his departed family for forgiveness. He should have known that playing the hero would come back to haunt him one day. After a moment of silence, he disappeared.
Finding the hideout of those responsible wasn't hard. He had, after all, been investigating them for months. Walking up to the front, he heard the laughter of a group partying. They were celebrating their victory over him. Little did they know that when they burned his house and family, he wasn't in there with them. They probably should have checked.
With a swipe of the Elder Wand, a giant lash of fire erupted from the tip. He swung downward and watched the massive whip of fire strike the roof. He immediately felt all of the cheaply placed wards disintegrate. The whip hit the roof and cut the house in half with the crack of a sonic boom. Within an instant, the house was completely in flames. Harry waited. Only a second later, the first ran out of the house, his hair and clothes on fire. A Cutter had his head rolling on the ground. Another came out. A hole through the chest finished him. Another screamed as he ran from the blaze, dropping to the ground and rolling around while attempting to snuff out the flames. A flick of the wand had him flying back into the fire to roast. After another few minutes, Harry was positive that no one survived. He stood there and watched the dance of the flames before walking away.
Everyone suspected that it was he who killed the men, but no one had any proof. Even so, Harry resigned from the Aurors. He no longer had any desire to play the hero. He was no hero. He was no savior of the wizarding world. He was Harry Potter, a man who had lost everything.
Magically Marvelous
"I did say there might be a shootout," she reminded him while checking her handgun. All Harry could do was chuckle as he checked his own.
Militants were repelling down from the hovering chopper. Another set was about to join them when Harry flicked out his wand. With a twist of his wand, a flaming whip lashed out and cut the tail off of the chopper. Sparks exploded outward with a screech of wrenched metal as the helicopter began spinning out of control. He watched with grim satisfaction as militants jumped from the doomed flight. They hit the ground and screamed in pain as their legs and backs snapped. The chopper flew several hundred meters away before hitting the ground and bursting into flames. Shots were fired beside him as Natasha wasted no time. Following her lead, Harry conjured a chest-high metal barricade for them to take cover behind. Almost immediately, the barricade began pinging loudly as bullets ricochet off of it. Popping up, Harry pulled the trigger and double-tapped one militant in the chest. He quickly dropped back down to avoid fire.
"They're getting closer," Natasha told him when she quickly fired over the barricade. Harry pointed his wand up in the air and gave it a complicated wave. Almost instantly, the wind in their area began to pick up. Within seconds, a sandstorm was whipping past them. Harry placed Bubblehead Charms on himself and Natasha. Telling her what he was about to do, she nodded and held on. They disappeared and reappeared behind a large boulder on a different ridge. Taking aim, they started firing at any person that they could see. Harry caught something out of the corner of his eye and was barely able to toss up a magical shield as the Rhino rammed right into him. The impact of the hit made Harry tumble backward, head-over-heels.
"Damn," Harry groaned, getting to his feet. Looking up, he saw Natasha rolling on the ground, desperately trying to avoid getting stomped on by Sytsevich's big, Rhino feet. One of the militants was running up behind them and was quickly dropped by Harry. The mist of blood spraying out of the back of his neck was a sight to see. He then took aim at the Rhino. Firing one bullet after another, they pinged off of his thick, armored skin. Sytsevich then turned his attention to him. This gave his partner time to roll away.
"You'll have to do better than that, Runt!" he laughed in thickly accented English. He picked up a very large rock above his head, ready to lob it at Harry.
"Sectumsempra!" Harry called out. The Rhino screamed in pain as a chunk of his gray flesh was shorn away. He dropped the rock that he was holding high in the air, and it bounced off the top of his head, making him wobble momentarily. He then bellowed in rage and charged Harry again. With a wave of his wand, the dirt beneath his feet turned into jelly.
"Whoa!" he cried out in surprise, sinking waist deep into the sludge. Another wave of Harry's wand and the sludge turned into stone. Off to the side, Natasha was still firing at the militants through the sandstorm.
Sytsevich pushed as hard as possible, pulling himself from his stone prison inch by inch. Cracks began forming in the stone, and he was nearly free. He never saw the magically banished boulder until it hit him directly in the face. He slumped forward unconscious. Waving his wand, he made the sandstorm calm until it completely vanished. Scattered about was a scene of devastation. Dead bodies, two flaming wreckages, and an unconscious mutant were what the backup team saw when they first arrived. In the distance, he saw their initial target trying to sneak away. One more wave of his wand later, and the man was pulled back to him screaming. As he reached them, Natasha pistol-whipped him in the back of his head, cutting his girlish screams short. Harry let him flop onto the ground ungracefully.
"You alright?" he asked Natasha, grabbing her arm and checking the multiple scrapes and shallow cuts.
"I've been worse," she smiled as her Bubblehead Charm was removed. "I'm definitely looking forward to that shower now."
Sadly, her shower would have to wait. No doubt Fury would want a detailed report about everything that went down.
Magically Marvelous
As much as he enjoyed perving on Natasha at the beach, he was glad to be home in the dirty and grimy city of New York. There was something about the smell of garbage and the sounds of scurrying rats that made him smile.
After their fight with the Mexican arms dealer, Harry decided that it would be a good idea to develop a few more gadgets to keep himself safe. First though, he wanted to get his bike going. The following few days were spent applying enchantments, testing them, and removing them when they didn't work. The Dragonfire Booster was a pain in the ass to figure out. He then removed the tires and enchanted them to be way more sturdy than the average tire. Harry spent a lot of time working on the seat. He even mixed his magic with the stone's power to place an incredibly powerful Cushioning Charm on the seat. Once he sat down on it, he smiled, liking the comfort. Although, it wasn't all about comfort. It would keep his spine from snapping if he ever had to land harder than he would like. As night fell, Harry decided to test it out.
Harry was nervous. Sure, he had already tested each individual enchantment, but the final test was the most dangerous. With nothing left to do, he rolled it out of his garage and kickstarted it. It rumbled to life before settling into a purr. Like Sirius's old bike, Harry's didn't need fuel. The tank was enchanted with a Refilling Charm, so only a tiny bit of gas was needed to keep it going. Revving the engine, he listened as it roared loudly. Smiling, he kicked it into gear and took off.
Keeping it slow at first, Harry tested out one of the major enchantments. With a hammering heart, he pulled his bike to the side and aimed right for a car parked on the side of the street. His asshole puckered when he was only a few feet away. Holding steady, he breathed a sigh of relief when the street stretched sideways and the car jumped out of his way. With that one confirmed, Harry steered back into the center of the street and hit the gas. Faster and faster he went until everything was nearly a blur. Cars, buses, and even people moved out of his way as if by magic. Harry yelled out in glee as he neared a dead end. Pulling a hidden lever, the bike's front tire lifted off of the ground quickly followed by the back wheel. He skimmed right over the top of the building and took to the sky. He gained some altitude before looking down. A sea of lights stretched out before him in every direction. Harry then turned the handlebars and was happy to see the bike follow his directions. He spent a while just casually flying around the city before he banked left and headed toward the ocean. With only water beneath him, he hit a button on the front console. A belch of flames burst from the back, and his enchantments struggled to keep him steady. Now everything really was a blur. The roaring flames left a trail of fire behind him.
"Woooooohoooooo!" he cheered, punching the sky. His bike suddenly bucked wildly as something nearly sideswiped him. Looking to the side, his eyes widened dramatically. "Oh, shit!" he called out as a fighter jet banked. Swiveling his head, he saw another jet closing in. Turning the handlebars, he added even more speed. Up and down he rose and dipped. Tight turns and even corkscrews couldn't keep the fighters from his tail. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!
Streaks of bright lights whizzed past him. Harry yelped and looked back, glaring as the fighters began firing warning shots from their cannons. Ducking low, he lowered the nose of the bike and dipped down until the tires were nearly touching the ocean's surface. The jets followed, but even they weren't crazy enough to fly so low. Even so, they were only ten to fifteen feet above him. Pressing a button on his bike, a massive cloud of black smoke coughed out of the tailpipe. Putrid, black smoke poured out of his bike, blocking the jet's view of him. Pulling left, he flew back toward the city. The fighters dodged and weaved, trying to follow him while trying to avoid the smoke. Once he was at the city's edge, he cut the smoke and turned off the flying enchantments. The bike's wheels hit the ground with a squeal. Looking back, he smiled when the jets were forced to peel off. He quickly pulled into a hidden alley. Checking over the bike, he wondered why he was being spotted. Harry suddenly remembered something and winced. He reached down and turned on the Anti-Muggle Charms. Feeling like an idiot, he drove back home.
At home, a headache was waiting for him. Harry pinched the area between his eyes as the voice over the phone relentlessly called him a dumbass. Harry looked up when he heard the door unlock. In came Natasha, who had used her emergency key to let herself in. She walked over to him and dropped down onto the couch next to him. She leaned over and snatched a piece of his pizza before sitting back. She happily munched on it while Harry was being berated. Ten minutes later, Harry got off the phone. Natasha chuckled.
"I don't think I've ever seen Fury that annoyed," she laughed. Harry rolled his eyes. He sourly grabbed some of his now cold pizza and ate it. He got up and went to the fridge and grabbed a couple of beers. Handing one to his partner, he opened his and drained half of it in one go.
"One little run-in with the United States military and he goes completely to shit," Harry said, annoyed. Her phone beeped, and she looked at the screen. Smirking at Harry, she grabbed the TV remote.
"Not just the military," she said gleefully. Natasha was always happy when he fucked up. She pressed the button and changed the channel. He saw BREAKING NEWS across the screen. Above the text was video of him driving through parked traffic with the cars moving out of his way before flying over the building.
"God dammit! I hate camera phones!" Harry glared and crossed his arms. His phone began ringing, and he checked the number.
"Fury?" asked Natasha.
Harry nodded sullenly.
"Well … Since you have your night planned, I'll just be going," she snickered as Harry gave her the finger.
As it turned out, Fury was none too happy about the public seeing someone who seemed to defy the natural order of things. He didn't think that they were ready to hear about metahumans, even though he knew that he couldn't keep a lid on it for much longer. Eventually, something big would happen, and everyone would find out. Thankfully, the video was recorded on a phone at night, so there was no chance that they could pin all of this on him. Fury smoothed things over with the military, but the general public was still looking for answers. Fury had no intention of providing them. As annoying as all of this was, Harry actually found it amusing. He didn't plan on outing himself any time soon, but he would always do whatever he wanted, regardless of anyone's orders. Though the next time, he would definitely remember the Anti-Muggle button.
Magically Marvelous
Harry had his SHIELD-issued handgun sitting on his kitchen table in pieces. Like with his bike, he was giving it a complete magical overhaul. The hardest part was trying to carve Runes on the inside of the barrel. He managed to figure that out with a nifty Charm that he remembered from way back. It would turn something inside out for a short period of time before reverting back to normal. He would have to use the Charm, quickly carve a Rune, then do it all over again. In the end, he made the barrel stronger and more heat resistant. The best part was that it had a series of Runes at the very end of the barrel that would strip away any Charms that passed it. Harry would magically lighten his bullet tips to weigh practically nothing. The explosion from the gunpowder would send the tip down the barrel at a much faster velocity. Once it reached the end, the Runes would strip away the Featherweight Charms thereby preserving the kinetic force. Now he just needed to make modified bullets.
Unfortunately, he couldn't just replicate the bullets to have a never-ending clip. Each bullet would need to be Charmed. He was very relieved that he could Charm them in bunches, instead of being forced to do it one bullet at a time. He couldn't magically strengthen them since the Runes would strip it away. He'd have to find a material that was very hard to make custom bullet tips out of. He'd think more on that later though. The news anchor on his TV suddenly caught his attention though.
"Breaking news!" the anchorman said. Harry turned and looked at the TV while continuing to work on his gun. "Illustrious billionaire and playboy, Tony Stark of Stark Industries was ambushed outside of Kabul, Afghanistan. He was in Afghanistan to display a new type of missile to the US Military. From what little we know, the convoy was attacked, and Tony Stark is considered missing in action. We will now take you to a press conference given by Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes of the United States Air Force and the military's liaison to Stark Industries."
The screen switched from the anchormen to a dark-skinned man in a crisp, dark blue uniform who was standing behind a podium. Harry listened to him, but he gave no new information regarding the status of Tony Stark. Harry didn't care all that much. He was just another rich guy who thought that he was invincible. Suddenly, Harry's phone rang. Sighing, he put down the gun piece that he was holding and answered. After listening for a couple of minutes, he nodded. "Understood," he said before hanging up. It looked like he was going to Afghanistan.
Natasha was already on another top-secret mission, so Harry would be flying solo this time. Quickly finishing up with his gun, he put it back together and packed a quick bag. With that done, he locked up and rode his bike down to the meeting point.
