Chapter Six: "Let Them Have Cake."
A portal opens up to the Shadow Realm. As per usual, there were the usual taunts directed at one Harry Potter. They were even stronger and more prominent now that Harry had all of his memories unloacted. But, Harry could not be focused on that now. He was a man on a mission and nothing would stop him.
A second passed, with Harry located the area he needed and began to open a portal to Hell, using a very powerful locating spell.
"You!"
Harry ripped a demon straight out of Hell. The demon's eyes widened when he came face to face with the Dragon, who is about to spit fire.
"Let me go," the demon grunted.
Harry slammed the demon down onto the ground and conjured several spiked belts to hold him into place.
"Hello, Nergal, you and I need to have a chat."
"I don't know what we have to speak about."
"Playing dumb with me isn't going to work,demon," Harry told him. "You were the one who took Astra down to Hell."
"Yes, I took the child, but I don't have hold of her anymore," Nergal said. "It was ages ago to me, and she was one of many. A young girl, innocent, is valuable currency. And I had debts to pay myself so I passed her on."
Harry's eyes glowed with pure power and Nergal quivered for a second.
"But, no one regrets bringing her there more than I do. She's fallen under the wing of an extremely powerful power broker. The Coin Maker. And she's making moves which have drawn your attention. Do you really think any of us want the Dragon's focus to be on us?"
Harry said nothing.
"I don't know why you would bother. She's beyond corrupted. Any humanity she has, is very slim. There's no hope for her."
"If there isn't any hope, it will be your own head."
"Blame Constantine for this," Nergal gasped. "He's the one who…in his vain arrogance dabbled in magic that was beyond his comprehension. I just merely collected payment."
Harry conjured a blade made of purple fire and sliced the demon to ribbons before sending what remained back to Hell.
Ten seconds later, once Harry regained his composure and activated a portal which brought him back into the Waverider. He almost ran headlong into Mick.
"So, did you get the Encore?" Harry asked, adopting a mask of chilling calmness.
"Yeah, turns out the serial killer we were after was really the guy's mother, and we stopped her from dying and thus becoming the Encore, lots of timey whimy shit going on there," Mick summarized. "Oh, and I banged my old high school girlfriend in a broom closet, when I traveled back in time to my high school reunion."
"Well played," Harry said.
"Not really," Mick said. "I've got this funny feeling this morning. Must be an STD or something."
"Oh, that's not an STD, Mr. Rory," Gideon popped in. "It's what humans call developing a crush."
"That's not what's happening."
Harry gave a strained smile.
"Everyone report for briefing, because we have another Encore."
Well, Harry figured he better join them. If anything, it would keep his mind off lf all of the many ways he would have liked to mangle John Constantine.
"Damn it, why can't a future time ship get a decent Wi-Fi connection."
Harry bumped into Zari 2.0, who was trying to get her phone work, to limited success.
"I think that's a security feature, actually," Harry said. "Why do you want to go on your phone?"
"I want to let my boyfriend know that I'm not dead," Zari 2.0 said. Harry just raised an eyebrow. "My boyfriend, internationally famous DJ S'More Money."
Harry just blinked when hearing this name.
"Well, dating is good for his social media profile and mine, but it's not good for anyone's profile if they think I'm dead."
"Well, good luck with the Marshmallow man," Harry said.
Honestly, it was days like this where Harry would fully embrace being a Boomer. He had been spared a few brain cells by Ava turning up.
"Alright, Sara's off in Star City, so I'm going to be in charge," Ava said. "That's totally okay with everyone, right?"
The rest of the Legends nodded and she looked straight at Harry. Harry just responded by giving her the international sign to go for it, while taking out a pair of sunglasses, sitting in the nearest chair and leaning back to listen.
"Well, we're going to tackle this from a different method," Ava said. "Something we did at the Time Bureau."
Every one of the Legends just groaned.
"I know, the Time Bureau could be a bunch of squares at times," Ava said.
"Well, except for Taco Thursdays, that was pretty good," Nate chimed in.
"Right, that was pretty good," Ava said. "But, we're going to use the ALOHA method. Which stands for…Asess, Listen, Observe, Hydrate, and finally, attack."
Ava took out a big manual which describes the entire method. Harry just hummed, glad he was wearing sunglasses, so no one could see him rolling his eyes.
"We're much better at working off of the cuff," Behrad said.
"I think Harry said it best, no plan survives contact with the Legends," Nate said.
"Actually, that was Kara and I was just agreeing," Harry said nonchalantly.
"Well, we should try the method," Ray said. "You never know when these things are going to work out."
"Harry, what do you think of this?" Ava asked.
"I think Sara put you in charge," Harry said. "I trust Sara with my life. And if Sara trusts you, then we should trust that you know you know what's necessary to lead th eteam. And besides, you lot did fine with that Last Encore, didn't you?"
"Um, define fine," Behrad said.
Harry did not want to know. He just sat back and chilled.
"Harry, is everything alright?" Ava asked.
"Oh, it's all cool, I'm cool, everything's just fine," Harry said.
"Are you sure?"
Harry just gave a smile.
"Ava, it's fine. Well, not fine. There's the fact that I recently found out a lot of my childhood memories were erased. And I now remember seeing my first friend dragged down to Hell after a botched resurrection ritual on her mother, who was like my second mother, I should note. And my godmother. And my memories were wiped and I was sent back to my hateful relatives for another seven years, despite nearly escaping. And than John Bloody Constantine did not have the decency to let me on this after Dumbledore was dead and buried. And now my friend is this person sending these Encores up, and I might have to make a tough decision, that I don't want to make."
Harry took in a deep breath and swept his gaze over the rest of the group.
"But, other than that, I'm perfectly fine."
There was a long, still silence.
"Ava, could you tell us more about the mission, please?" Harry asked in a very calm tone of voice.
"Are you sure you're going to be up for this one?" Ava asked.
"Well, it's better than me sitting here with the thoughts about how many ways I want to creatively disembowel John Constantine," Harry casually remarked.
"Okay, maybe it's a good thing to keep you occupied," Ava said. "Now, let's see…"
"Interim Captain Sharpe, I've located a ripple through the time scream, in Bastile, 1793," Gideon said. "The latest Encore has caused the French Revolution to collapse."
Well that demanded Harry's notice.
"He's going to be okay, right?" Zari asked in a low voice.
"Oh, I've never seen him like this," Ray said. "Not good."
"Well, I think it's healthier for when Harry goes into full Capslock rage mode," Behrad said. "It's terrifying when he starts, but he burns out quickly and forgives quiver. He's really, really, angry when he's calm and collected and chilly and all of the other Cs…."
"Oh, there's no need to worry, I'm not angry with anyone here," Harry said with a small smile. "So, we're doing this Encore thing and…I guess Zari's coming along with us?"
"Yeah, why not?" Zari asked. "This entire high society party thing might be fun."
"But, we don't…we don't do ridealongs," Ava said when turning to Harry.
"Don't look at me, you're the Interim Captain," Harry said.
"And you're kind of stuffy and you need some perking up," Zari said in a chipper voice. "Here try my new perfume. It's called Dragonness, and it really…really gives you that added kick."
Ava wrinkled her nose at the smell as Zari sprayed it on her.
"Oh, I don't know if this is such a good idea," Nate said.
"Hey relax, I'll keep an eye on Zari, and the Encore," Harry said. "You're supposed to be a chill dude, right? So chill, okay, man?"
"I swear you're high, if I didn't know you can't get high," Nate said.
Harry just shrugged and as the group arrived outside of a palace where the Encore would be holding court.
"Excuse me, but where do you think you're going?" the guard asked.
"Obviously, you must be new," Zari said. "We're the most important of guests and…."
"My name is Hadrian Peverell," Harry said nonchalantly. "And they're with me."
"Oooh, the Dragon, my apologies," the guard said. "Right this way, good sir…please don't chop my head off."
"Not today," Harry said. "Maybe later."
The guard bowed before him, almost stammering.
"Good thing we brought you along," Ava said.
"I could have gotten us in with a little more time," Zari protested.
"Maybe, but you have to admit, Harry's way was quicker and more efficient," Behrad said.
The group ran in and there were, boisterous sounds coming from the room . But, Harry sensed something else in the air.
"Stay sharp," Harry warned them. "I'm sensing an allure, stronger than anything I've ever felt in my life."
"We should stay sharp," Nate said. "Like the guillotines. This is during the Reign of Terror and there's….a pretty wild party?"
Sure enough there was a party going on. A raucous party and everyone was having a wild time Including Napoleon who should have been in the process of conquering France, but he was just partying his heart out.
"Assessment time," Harry said. "Scope out the situation."
"Oh, you were listening," Ava said.
"Not really," Harry said. "All of this Time Bureau stuff is based off of old Ministry of Magic protocols. And since I was an Auror pre-crisis, I know this like the back of my hand. Ol' Wilkie Tycross and his "watching paint dry is more stimulating" lectures. That guy was around for years and never once bothered to get interesting. But, I've got stuff burned into the back of the ground."
"Wait, the British Ministry came up with these methods?"
Ava's confidence dipped a little when she realized the Ministry of Magic came up with the Time Bureau methods.
"And there's the Encore," Harry said.
"The Encoe is….Nora?" Ray asked.
"Don't be ridiculous, Raymond," Harry said. "That's Marie Antoinette, who should most certainly be minus one head."
"She looks like Nora though, surely you can see it," Ray said.
"Coincidence," Harry said.
"Don't look now, but they have the guillotine," Nate said. "And they're using it to cut…cake?"
Sure enough a large cake had been chopped up by the guillotine. The party guests went after the cake like ravenous animals. Zari pulled a face.
"Please tell me they cleaned that," Zari said.
Harry nodded grimly when locking onto the Encore who was encouraging them.
"Yes, yes, party until you drop dead!"
"She doesn't mean that literally, does she?" Ray asked.
"We should move onto phase three," Ava said.
"Right," Harry said. "And…she does mean that literally."
Harry could feel the life strings cut out from several of the guests when they dropped dead from overexertion. They would all rather die and leave, because this is a happening place.
"We have to move quickly," Harry said. "I've got an idea. You two aren't affected for some reason."
"Well, I'm not about to eat any cake that guillotine touches," Zari said.
"Please keep an eye on these three," Harry said pointing to Ray, Nate, and Behrad. "Because they've been mind-whammied by Marie's allure."
"So what's your plan?" Ava asked.
"I'm going to honey trap her," Harry said.
"What?" Zari asked.
"Shh, just watch," Ava told Zari.
Harry casually walked over and stopped when he saw a familiar face.
"Hey, Napoleon," Harry said.
"Monsieur Peverell," Napoleon said with a respectful nod.
Harry caught a glimpse of what appeared to be Nicholas Flamel getting down and partying.
"The Dragon? In the flesh?"
Marie rose up to her feet and assessed him.
"What brings you to my party?" Marie asked.
"Well, I've heard of this party," Harry said. "And while it's quite the happening place, I know of a much better and wilder party."
"But, that's impossible," Marie said. "No party is lively without me."
"Well, it's a party where we can get to know each other a bit better," Harry said.
Marie's eyes widened and Harry grabbed her hands and pulled her in close.
"Mmm, I've heard rumors about how skilled you are. I wish to know how true it is."
Marie motioned for people to clear the area. She pulled Harry over and kissed him. Harry returned the kiss and things started to heat up. Harry's kisses grew even more intense, as he ran his hands down Marie's leg.
"Mmm, do I resemble someone that you have suppressed feelings for?" Marie asked. "Because, you're really getting into this."
Harry's fingers slipped down her neck and kissed her which unfortunately caused her head to pop up. Marie's head fell straight on the floor with Harry's hands on her dismembered neck still.
"Well, that's a mood killer," Marie's head said.
Mass panic had caused.
"Party's over!" Harry yelled. "Get her head!"
Marie's head coming off caused the trance everyone in the party was in had been broken. Behrad, Ray, and Nate shook things off. Harry guided Marie to the door, with Ava picking up her head.
"Return me to my body at once," Marie said. "I am the Queen of France and…you will not treat me like this."
The Legends rushed out of the party and back onto the ship with Marie's head and body. Ava turned to Harry.
"Did you know that was going to happen?" Ava asked.
"No," Harry said.
"And how far were you willing to go?" Ava asked.
"As far as I needed to go to get her to come with us," Harry said.
Ava nodded. Harry did not have to say any more.
They were back on the Waverider. Marie's head was completely secured. Harry made sure her body was secured, although the magic around these Encores were pretty tricky and without a Hell weapon, it was going to be hard.
"I swear, Nora, she looks exactly like you," Ray said.
"Ray, that's not…that's not right," Nora said.
"Harry, you saw her up close and personal," Ray said. "Would you say she looked like Nora's doppelganger?"
"Nora has a lot better head on her shoulders, mate," Harry said.
Harry and Nora laughed.
"Oooh, too soon," Nora murmured.
"Guess that's true," Ray said.
"Talk to you later, Ray," Nora said.
Harry moved out and Nora switched calls to him.
"So, you were really making out with her and her head fell off?" Nora asked.
"Yes," Harry said.
"Well, that gives a new meaning to the term giving head," Nora said. "So, what's up?"
Harry gave Nora a summary about the entire Astra situation.
"I might have to put a stop to her, but I don't think I can, after what we were before," Harry said.
"That's a tough one," Nora admitted to him. "I trust you'll do the right thing. You must think there's still some of the Astra you knew left inside of her if you're having your doubts."
Nora just smiled.
"Most of you would have written me off and if I could change from being the vehicle of a demon, what's to say there's no hope for Astra as well?" Nora asked.
"Did you talk to Ray about…"
"Oh, I've been meaning to, but the timing was never right," Nora said.
"It never is," Harry said. "I haven't told him, but I think you should."
"Right, talk to you later and you'll figure out something about Astra, I know you will," Nora said.
Harry heard a muffled sound coming from the holding area. Harry had a bad feeling about this and he came across the gagged form head of Marie Antoinette Harry removed the gag.
"The Party Girl, the one with the fancy outfit, she took my perfume," Marie said. "It's what makes me the life of the party."
Harry facepalmed and sighed.
"Gideon," Harry said.
"It appears that Miss Tarazi found a way to access information regarding her future," Gideon said. "And her Dragoness perfume caused people to lose their sense of smell and taste, permanently. It ruined her entire brand. And I guess she's going back to stop it."
"Of course," Harry said.
Ava stepped in.
"So, we got the Encore…."
"Mission's not done," Harry informed her. "Zari took Marie's perfume. That's what gave her allure. Because her Dragoness brand was a disaster, I think she intends to switch it out with Marie's brand. Which would be a problem.."
"Oh, we got to stop her, that will be a disaster," Ava said.
Putting it mildly, Harry thought.
"Get the rest of the Legends, I'm heading there myself," Harry said. "With any luck, I can snag the perfume ahead of her."
It was a big gala event, for the big launch of Dragoness, and the Legends, along with Harry, showed up.
"Oh, there he is," Behrad said.
"Who?" Harry asked. "Another Encore?"
"Worse," Behrad said. "That's Zari's boyfriend. You know, the world famous DJ S'more Money."
Sure enough, a pimped out fellow, wearing a S'More head arrived.
"Yes, Harry Potter, you are officially a Boomer," Harry murmured. "What the actually hell is this douchebag?"
"I think I'll join you on the Boomer Bus," Nate said.
"He's a really popular guy," Behrad said.
"So is Logan Paul," Harry said.
"That's WWE Universal Undisputed Champion Logan Paul to you," Nate said.
Harry just groaned.
"He's very popular with the youth of the future," Behrad explained.
"So, does any of you people have any compelling arguments against me going back in time and preventing social media from ever existing?" Harry asked.
"Well, I understand, but you really shouldn't," Nate said. "There's some good things that come from it…"
"Name one," Harry said.
"Well, people are more aware, of things," Behrad said, but there was uncertainty in his voice.
"Guys, I think we can have this conversation later," Ava said.
"Right," Harry said.
"Oh, you want to know the secret to my success."
Harry watched and made his way over.
"Hey, is that Harry Potter?"
The crowd had been startled and suddenly, the perfume in Zari's hand had been jostled and some of it spilled all over her.
"Oooh, no," Harry groaned.
The crowd turned their attention to Zari and tried to get a piece of her. Literally, trying to get a piece of her. The squabbling over the woman had put her in danger.
"Okay, what do we do?" Ava asked.
"ALOHA?" Harry asked.
"No, that's a stupid idea, and I was stupid for even suggesting it," Ava said.
"No, I think it might work," Harry said. "Keep that crowd at bay and I'll get Zari out of there."
"Right," Nate said. "Time to steel up."
Harry decided to take a running start and propelled himself over the heads of all of the thirsty for Zari onlookers.
Harry sprung into action quickly, with the Legends causing the crowd to part like the Red Sea. Harry jumped in and on accident caused S'mores to fly into the pool.
"I've made a mistake," Zari admitted.
"Yeah, this stuff is strong," Harry said.
"Too strong," Zari said.
Harry shielded them, but they were ramrodding his magical shield, in an attempt to get free. Harry was thinking fast, but thankfully under these high pressure situations, Harry was able to function the strongest.
"Hydrate," Harry murmurs. "Zari, forgive me for what I'm about to do."
"What?"
Harry jumped into the pool, along with Zari. Zari landed, with her dress completely soaked from head to toe.
The crowd, still in a daze, shook their heads.
"Alright, people, let's go," Nate said.
"Shows over, people," Ava said.
Harry levitated himself and Zari out of the pool, while also knocking S'mores into the pool for a second time.
"There's easier ways to get me wet," Zari told him.
Harry left her in Ava's rather capable hands and his watch started beeping.
"Just one second."
Harry blipped off and came across a headless Marie in the process of strangling Mick. Harry casually disabled Marie's body with one finger and put both her body and head to sleep.
Mick gagged as Harry offered him a hand up.
"What took you?" Mick asked.
"Well, I was busy getting Zari wet."
The rest of the team returned, with Zari changing her clothes and sitting down on the table.
"Encore's taken care of," Harry said.
"Yeah, I lost followers over that stunt," Zari said. "And DJ S'more Money broke up with me."
"Oh no, that's terrible," Harry said in complete deadpan.
"Not really," Zari said. "I've been doing a lot of thinking. And going viral at such a young age, really messed me up. I was obsessed with followers and likes and all that stuff is superficial."
Harry just nodded.
"It made me one of the youngest billionaires in the world," Zari said. "I mean, I was more popular than Kylie Jenner."
Harry nodded in response. He would pretend that he knew who that was.
"Money can't buy friendship, love, happiness," Zari said. "And the true thing is, I've never had any real friends due to my fame."
"I've been down that road," Harry said. "And there's always a doubt in your mind, that anyone nice of you, is because you're known."
"Yeah, I know," Zari said.
"Fame is a fickle fiend," Harry said.
"Did you just quote Gilderoy Lockhart?" Nate asked.
"Well, a broken clock is right twice a day," Harry said. "The point is, that stuff can give you a rush. But, you just crave more, don't you?"
Zari nodded in response
"And you have friends now," Ava said. "Sure you messed up…."
"Welcome to the club," Behrad told his sister. "We have t-shirts. And cookies. Lots of cookies."
"So, are they gluten free?"
Harry looked out into the distance.
"Well, on the subject of friends, there's something I have to do," Harry said. "Let me know if you need anything."
Harry walked past Mick who was grumbling.
"Some asshole left a troll review on my novel," Mick grumbled. "Nasty ones too."
"Oh, don't sweat that," Harry said. "You should see some of the things on the Internet about me. It's full of people saying things that they would get punched for if they said it to someone's face."
"Yeah, but…it just seemed like they wanted to get real personal," Mick said.
"That's a troll for you," Harry said.
Harry walked in, lost in his thoughts.
The potion had been finished and this should allow Harry to astral project into Hell, undetected. To assess, listen, and observe.
"What's your end game, Astra?" Harry asked.
Harry could not physically stand being in Hell for long thanks to his bond with the Deathly Hallows, but thankfully there were ways along that. Harry drank the potion and slipped into a trance.
He traveled through, as an undetected spectral. A few shuddered, almost detecting his presence as he swooped on down.
Harry came across Astra who entered a very grimy looking shop. He followed her, having a bad feeling about this. Astra was in the process of meeting with a dark-haired woman.
Was this the Coin Maker that Nergal mentioned? Harry suspected it was. And something else about her was familiar. Harry did not like it at all.
"The demon who brought you here in the first place has been found, mangled," the Coin Maker said to Astra.
"Good," Astra said coldly.
"And you've been making some very big plays," the Coin Maker said. "And it's getting the wrong kind of attention. Your past with Harry Potter, it gets in the way of your future ambitions. And the type of game you're playing, you're either all in or not at all."
"You've told me this before," Astra said.
"It bears repeating, my dear," The Coin Maker said.
"And I'm not here for Harry Potter."
"Good, because that is the one coin that I can't give her at any price," the Coin Maker said. "You should know, the boy you knew long ago is long gone. Dumbledore polluted Mr. Potter's mind with his ideology, and he was forever corrupted by that twisted ideology."
"If he was, John Constantine made it happen," Astra said. "Which is one reason I brought you this."
And Harry flashed out of Hell before he could get a good look at what Astra brought the Coin Maker. Although he suspected it was nothing good.
To Be Continued.