Hey Ya'll, Welcome Back to another installment of the Wizard of Brockton Bay. A big thanks to everyone for giving this fic a chance. I won't delay any longer. Make sure to check the bottom for a longer A/N. Let's Go!
Last time:
Doing his best to maintain his balance, he made the first step over the ledge before slowly descending into the case.
Jack wouldn't know it, but the case thankfully shut closed right behind him as he made his way deeper into his new dwelling; a small button having clicked seemingly by itself with the display upon it saying, 'Muggle Ready'.
Unknown to Jack as he began to peruse his new case and powers before starting to attempt to plan out the how's, why's, and what's, he'd encounter on his journey into magic; something else was happening.
His arrival had not gone unchecked, and a resident of Earth Bet was going to look into said arrival.
Moments before Jackson Alan's arrival on Earth Bet:
NEW YORK CITY- PROTECTORATE HEADQUARTERS
September 6th, 1998. EST
Hero's POV:
Their base was a relatively large skyscraper, a large square glass and metal made monstrosity only a little under half of the full height of the famed Chrysler building right down the road.
You'd think that his armored boots would make a lot of noise as he walked across the white speckled tile floor, but his built-in kinetic energy absorption buffers left his footsteps at a decibel of noise just barely above being perfectly silent; even when taking the full weight of his costume into account.
The suite for their main conference room was on the five hundred and tenth floor of the building, leaving only a few floors above them…the vast majority of said floors being comprised of his interconnected 'Tinker' workshop before settling on the landing pad they had for the roof.
'At the very least, I didn't have to come too far down to attend this most recent meeting.' Hero thought, slightly detached as his thoughts were still considering some of his planned projects.
As he approached the large set of double paned high plex office doors, the automated function saw them slide open at his approach.
The thing that drew in and dominated his sight upon entering the room first and foremost, was the blue skied backdrop of the city they were in.
Upon turning his focus to the inside of the room, Hero laid his eyes upon the other occupants.
His three main compatriots Alexandria, Legend, and Eidolon made up the gathered Cape presence; while they were joined by one other…William Manton.
Between the four of the gathered capes, they were considered to be the strongest capes in North America.
'And as far as some of the whispers go, Earth Bet as a whole.' Hero thought to himself as he sat down while nodding a greeting to each of the other gathered people at the long black rectangular conference table that dominated the room.
'Though why Manton is here for this, is beyond me. I'm surprised he's even allowed out of his lab most days, let alone that he willingly chose to be out of it for what's probably going to amount to be another budget meeting.' Hero thought, briefly turning his line of consideration to the only none cape present.
Even eight months after the passing of NEPA-5's bill to help manage and prevent Parahuman's from abusing and using their abilities to make money, they would still find themselves coming back to discuss the fallout of said bill and how it was effecting the now former members of 'Uppermost'.
'But of course we're now dealing with that little problem because of the fallout from that.' Hero thought to himself as Alexandria began to outline how the west coast was now seeing the newest power bloc develop; said bloc having dubbed themselves 'The Elite'.
Some of the members of the former organization 'Uppermost' had apparently found independent backers and brokers, and were now all already creating individual yet interconnected cells again so that they could move forward without being a part of the PRT.
'The sheer number is honestly staggering.'
By the time any of them had put any serious resources into looking at the small conglomerate of Parahumans and their associates that hadn't joined up, the bloc had already solidified with new leaders having already come to the forefront.
'What Manton could be interested in beyond said capes abilities is anyone's guess.'
Though the newly developed groups overall movements were currently seeming as something closer to being benign, Hero felt a small bit of worry rise up over the issue again; as he didn't want to turn a blind eye only for them to find that they had a far greater enemy then any they'd faced thus far on the cape scene.
'As not all fights take place on a physical battlefield…and the last thing we need is to be facing a deeply entrenched political enemy. There are still those in the higher echelons of the American government that don't trust us. It'll either be that…or a knife in the back.' Hero thought as he turned his visored face down to his right arm before bringing up a minor holo display on the gauntlet there. Thankfully the conversation's flow didn't slow any as he made a note for himself to take a closer look at the new leaders of the 'Elite' in a more in-depth examination when the chance arose as he listened to the words being spoken.
Looking at the available data from the files provided on the table brought his attention on the one member, that at the very least filled him with some minor semblance of hope.
'He may be charging a small fortune per system, but Uppercrust and his people are certainly making headway with the sale of his coastal defense platforms he's advertising. If they do as advertised they'll help with the developing inclement weather problem and may even help protect our coasts if Leviathan decides to make an appearance. Though even I doubt the validity of the second part. I wish I could say that my interest was purely professional…but perhaps this Uppercrust would like to have a meeting? Consider a collaboration? It would certainly be interesting. Maybe the time will come when we can peel back the politics and really talk about working together to building towards a sustainable future. Not just the typical damage control measures we talk about here.' Hero finished thinking as he closed the top vanilla folder in front of him before bringing his gaze up to his gathered compatriots.
Their meeting was dragging on…again.
Alexandria had already shifted gears and moved onto the next issue to cover, but as it tended to do in Hero's own opinion it was putting all the others and himself to sleep; if the way the other three men looked was any indication to go by.
Alexandria was either too invested in her talking points…or just didn't care about whether or not the other three of them had any input for the plans.
'Cauldron's plans. Not that they're any good if I'm being honest. We should be planning to try and make some real improvements…not planning for what the worst-case scenario is likely to be. If we take the proactive approach, we can hopefully make some real headway.' Hero thought to himself as he ran his right hand through his close-cropped blonde hair, being careful not to jostle the visor portion that remained affixed to his face while the rest of his golden 'super' alloy helmet sat on the black glossy mirror table before him next to the vanilla folders he'd been going through.
His focus hadn't fully been invested in the meeting from the get-go, and while he had been trying to be respectful of his colleagues; his attention was fully pulled from the meeting as his right gauntlet beeped and flashed a bit before another light blue holo display lit up above his arm.
This time however his gauntlet going off had attracted everyone else's attention, as it wasn't every day that his personal computer from upstairs would send him an emergency signal.
Alexandria out of all of the others had to turn slightly, and as such her long and straight dark hair danced slightly as her tan face brought her dark eyes to lock with his bright blue one's behind his visor.
"Hero, what's happened?" Alexandria asked, her tone still as professional as ever; but softening slightly as it only did for him or one of the other two capes in the room.
Hero brought his left hand up in a brief 'One moment' gesture, before pressing a button on his right gauntlet; allowing him to bring the holo display up a bit more so that he could manipulate it.
Said display brought up a series of readings from the satellite that he'd been given access too that was stationed over the eastern seaboard.
There weren't many of them to begin with, but after the founding of the Protectorate and the PRT back in 1993; Hero had gotten unfettered access citing that it would give him the ability to help keep people safer.
Right now said usage was paying a dividend, as an incredible burst of a Tachyon field had bloomed to life over Brockton Bay Massachusetts; and Hero intended to check it out.
"I have to go. Now."
His tone had been insistent and while he said the words he stood to his feet, bringing the rest of his helm up to attach and connect to his visor.
All three of his cape colleagues immediately took his reaction as a warning and each of them expressed so.
"What's Wrong?" –Alexandria
"Is Everything Alright? Do you need back up?" -Legend
"Is there a threat?" –Eidolon
Slowly bringing both hands up palms facing out, Hero did his best to put a genial smile on his face while shaking his head slightly; his tone coming out in half placating half joking tone.
"No. It's nothing serious, there's no threat. But there's some serious 'Tinker' stuff I've gotta deal with. Some new data just came in, and I wanna get a look at it. I'll explain everything later when I have a better idea of what I'm looking at."
'That and I need out of this snooze fest of a meeting. Thank you to whoever gave me this golden opportunity.'
His words didn't necessarily seem to placate his fellow capes, but a slight bit of interference helped speed things along.
"If it's all the same to anyone this is the perfect opportunity for me. I can be sent back to my lab before Hero takes off. Some of us have real work to do." William said as he stood up from his chair, lightly wiping his hands down the front of his body as if to dust himself off.
Alexandria looked as though she had some choice things to say to Manton, but simply set her jaw before looking at Hero again and nodding.
"If you're sure. Pick up in your lab?"
Hero threw his best winning smile at his only female teammate before starting to walk out of the room, Manton trailing next to him slightly.
"You know it. You're the best Rebecca. I'm headed to Brockton Bay, so wish me luck. I'll try to check back in within the hour."
He watched the ghost of a smile level on the woman's face while she shook her head, Legends slight chuckles over his jaunty attitude sounding off as he departed the room.
"Just be careful. If you need us, call. Immediately." Alexandria said, her voice coming out with that authoritative tinge that only she could seemingly pull off.
"Okay Mom." Hero shouted while smiling as he threw a backwards wave over his shoulder before ducking around the corner.
"HAH!"
…
"OW! Geeze! I'm Sorry ok- "Echoed out behind Hero as he and Manton walked towards the nearest elevator, Legends voice having been the one to laugh- and then apologize.
'Alexandria clearly didn't think that was so funny.' Hero thought as he chuckled in his own head while boarding the elevator.
Said trip was only up seven floors before it opened into the wide open space of his tech workshop; that held all the tools, components, and other necessary things for his average every day work.
'Another thing that's paid dividends from getting approved by the government…the grants. Enough money to keep me flush in my projects for a good long time.' Hero thought to himself before glancing at his companion that had come with him.
William Manton was undoubtedly a brilliant man, an unbelievably gifted scientist. The only person more knowledgeable about Parahumans being Doctor Mother.
But the man was a bit on the rude side for Hero's taste, often coming off as crass and downright rude with his manner and tone of speaking.
Since taking the vial that had given him his powers and fixing his ailing health Hero could stand at his full height of 6'1 with no problem, and said height allowed him to stand quite a few inches over the 5'9 Manton.
The man's dark hair was slightly shaggy, matching that of his growing beard.
He had clearly noticeable dark circles under his eyes, a clear cut sign that he wasn't getting the amount of sleep he obviously needed.
'The guy is way too invested in his work. But then again, who am I to talk?' Hero asked himself rhetorically.
Hero wouldn't classify the man as fit or fat, he simply sat somewhere in the middle of the spectrum; as he had a slight paunch but overall did not show any signs of being overweight.
Manton hadn't said a word since they had left the conference room, as he'd been engrossed in some file before him, and as Hero went to initiate a conversation with the man; a purple and black portal bloomed to life in his workshop right near Manton a mere moment after they'd exited the elevator.
The scientist didn't even mutter a goodbye; his eyes firmly set upon the files before him as he stepped through the generated doorway.
Hero could only shake his head slightly at the other man's lack of decorum, before he quickly gathered some of his extra gear in preparation for his own doorway.
'Scanner, check. Jet-pack, check. Sonic disruption pulsar, and ray gun. Just in case. That should just about do it…and the weapons are literally for just in case.' Hero thought, before a second portal doorway bloomed to life.
Wasting no time Hero stepped through, and found himself standing outside of Brockton Bay's city limits.
After ensuring that the rest of his gear was properly secured, Hero pulled his wavelength scanner into his right hand and then triggered his jet-pack; backing it up with his jet boots for direction before taking to the air.
'I can't fly nearly as fast as any of the others, but at least I can fly.' Hero thought to himself as he cruised over wooded areas, homes, some industrial complexes, and then again back over a large residential area before having the downtown coast come into view on his heads up display.
His scanner was connected to his visor, and his visor was also recording real time footage as he controlled his descent so that he could alight upon a small strip of sidewalk just off of a local beach.
The sun was still burning relatively brightly in the sky, and the beeping emanating from his scanner was at a pitched pace which only doubled upon his arrival on the ground.
After a few moments Hero walked further onto the beach, drawn by the sound of his scanner; and eventually it put itself into shut down mode having brought him not to far from the crashing waves of the ocean to where the bloom of Tachyons was the strongest.
Out in the ocean before him was the island that he knew would house the local Protectorate branch that would help govern the area, giving the local capes somewhere to work out of in a far more official capacity than they did at the moment.
Bringing himself out of his distracted observation of the up and coming PRT facility, Hero took in the readings of his scanner before glancing down at the sand.
Upon taking a closer look at the readings and the very sand beneath him, he blanched a bit.
'Oh shit. There really was a breech. And from the look of it…someone or possibly something got through.' Hero thought as he quickly spun around, readjusting his scanner to follow any possible lingering Tachyon particles; taking in the set of foot prints lining the sand below him.
After his scanner adhered to his adjustments it took him on a path back up the beach, and to the road right in front of said beach.
After getting up onto the sidewalk Hero glanced around while powering down his scanner, as already the trail was practically nonexistent; the particles having already degraded leaving almost no further trail to follow.
'The trace particles have already degraded too heavily…I won't be able to follow beyond this point. This could be really bad.'
After another few moments of examining the area, Hero decided that he'd do what more he could do while he was here. He'd stop in and check on the progress of the building of 'The Rig', and then from there he'd connect to his primary computer and record the findings he did have.
'And while I'm at it I'll go ahead and make a notation to keep a closer eye on this area. Anything strange that starts to show up, and I'll at least have a basis to go with to begin a proper investigation of it. That…and bringing the others up to speed about it couldn't hurt. Just in case we have a serious fight on our hands in the near future. I'll have to let the local forces know what's going on while I'm at it.'
Jackson's POV same time:
Coming down the six slightly creaky but solid wood steps on the inside of the case allowed Jack to settle his gaze upon the place that would now be solely his…
'And I stand completely corrected. This is nothing like Newts case thus far outside of the expansion charm.' Jack thought as he took in the space of his new portable dwelling.
The immediate inside of Newt's case had been nothing more than a tightly cramped work shed; filled to the brim with a Hodge podge collection of drawers, tools, ingredients, and other scattered containers and odds and ends.
The stairs after reaching the bottom three had a matching cherry red bannister that brought you down to the relatively open floor plan of his case. The entire space looked to be over hundreds of square feet, firmly displaying the set up that Jack had read about in the 'Mote' description.
The wooden floor was solid and colored a dark brown lacquer kind of color.
Different patterned throw rugs of varying size and earthy colors existed throughout the vast majority of the open area at different intervals, the only bit that was clearly different being right before the clearly shuttered off area directly in front of him, which Jack determined he'd examine last after familiarizing himself with the rest of his new travel sized home.
Upon coming around the stairwell Jack was able to get a better look at everything, and at once found himself having to fight his own brain as it quickly attempted to bring up his 'alters' memories.
'That's going to be useful for most of everything, but supremely difficult and distracting for some things too.'
After taking a deep breath and focusing his thoughts for a few moments, he found himself able to breathe; having controlled the flow of the memories to then taper them off. After that he finished taking in the rest of his accommodations.
The kitchenette was small, with a tiny one-person sink, five overhanging cabinets, six underset cabinets, and a wooden topped island for food preparation. A much older style single door fridge sat next to the cabinet assembly on the left, and next to that was a very old kind of oven/stovetop combo that sat right up against a divider wall that you would have to walk around to clearly be in the bedroom.
The connector walls existed on both sides, and across the floor sat the strip that revealed how the closing double brown doors would close off his bedroom when he wanted to sleep; seeming very much like the shuttered off portion for his work room.
Outside of that the vast majority of the space was what would be the living/dining room, both of which were fully open and connected.
He had a singular love seat, full length couch, and one recliner looking chair, all a part of a matching set; all appearing to be made of the same kind of dark grey leather. The dining set was large enough to seat up to five people and was as lightly colored as the adjacent cabinet and island set of the kitchen.
In the center between the living room set sat a darkly colored coffee table, and across from that sat an unlit fireplace that seemingly blended its brick assembly into the very wall it sat against; a small rack with small chopped bits of wood sitting next to it.
'Where does the smoke go I wonder…gotta love magic I guess.' Jack thought with a shrug as he walked around still taking in all the colors and other little odds and ends.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, this case had belonged to Jacks alter; the one he'd gotten his magical memories from.
'It's clear because he's apparently a minimalist like me. Shocker.' Jack thought as he continued to look around.
There wasn't much more to take in outside of any of the basics as far as Jack could tell, only a couple different book cases that were at different parts of the dwelling.
'That and of course the animated wallpaper that looks dope.' Jack thought as he brought his gaze to the primarily beige colored wallpaper that was adorned with different depictions of all manner of magical beasts.
After finishing his inspection of the open common area Jack moved into the bedroom, laying his eyes upon the king sized four poster bed, large wardrobe, medium sized desk with dark wood rolling chair, and two matching dark wood nightstands that sat on either side of his bed with matching glass lanterns sitting atop them.
Stood beside the large dark wood wardrobe was a lighter brown door with a brass curved handle, and after inspecting the black, gold, and blue color scheme of the room Jack moved towards said door and opened it.
The bathroom was thankfully quite modern looking, and not only included two white porcelain sinks to go with the throne, but it also had a large stand in closed off shower and a bathtub.
Jack could only shake his head a bit once again; marveling at what could only be some truly advanced combination of Charms, Runes, and Arithmancy work that not only made the case possible in the first place but that it allowed for such amenities for its occupants.
Stepping back out Jack glanced around one final time before starting his way forward towards the giant dark wood shutter at the further opposite end of the case.
As he approached he noticed the large work desk on the right, and approached as the wooden handle to open the large shutter would sit on ones left side if they were sat at said desk.
The desk itself seemed to hold the most personality out of the entire set up inside of the case, as upon it sat all manner of items.
A Wizarding wireless sat on the highest part of the desk, and upon the main surface a multitude of papers, post it notes, pens, pencils, quills and inkwells…and even a singular dark blue rubber ball and a normal silver Slinkey.
'Apparently my alter had the same kind of nervous habits or thinking processes that I do.' Jack thought before looking at the largest book the desk had.
A large black leather bound journal that sat stacked on the middle of the desk atop a large copy of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'.
Jack reached down and actually found himself having to heft just a bit to raise the journal up.
Snapping the two brass clasps on the front of the book he then delicately opened the cover, and took in the very messy shorthand script of the writer.
'Another thing my alt and I have in common, our atrocious hand writing.' Jack thought as he shook his head while reading the first couple of pages.
Clearly the book had been his alts journal, and thus far it was the most personal thing he'd found in his examination of the inside of the case.
It was clearly a working or research journal, as the book was an utter treasure trove of information.
Not just about Magizoology, but on magic in general.
One page was first a list of his alters favorite potions to brew…
'Which apparently my alter was a daft hand at potions because holy cow look at the amount of pages!'
It took him a few moments to simply get through the pages of important theory alone before he finally found the pages that covered the potions.
Dozens of pages flipped later and then Jack finally came along to another page like the one that listed the potions, but the top of the page had an assembly of words with double lines underneath.
'Charms and Dark Charms.' Jack thought before taking a look at the first couple of new pages.
He couldn't say how long he'd done it for, but by the time he felt he needed a break he found that he was slightly hungry.
Putting the book down for a moment Jack made his way back into the kitchenette, and checked his stocks.
Fortunately, his alt's journal had been the best first thing for him to look at, as it had discussed some of the Charms that he'd used inside of the case.
The charms used in the kitchen were for keeping things fresh slightly longer than normal if maintained properly, and some very special charms that allowed for protection against cross contamination while preparing food as well.
'Simple household charms they may be, but still very helpful.' Jack thought before looking at his available stores and making himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with apple slices.
After quickly downing his snack and cleaning up, Jack moved back to the desk to again look at the journal.
The tome was truly massive for what amounted to a journal, and the book in of itself was an amazing piece of Charms work as it was not only seemingly protected against a lot of forms of possible damage but also allowed for the work of adding new pages into it as needed.
Jack looked at the book for a little bit longer, before deciding that he had put things off for long enough.
After closing the journal and setting it back on the desktop, he turned and faced the wooden shutter, before grabbing the handle with his right hand.
After pulling it open Jack took two steps forward before turning back slightly to close the shutter again.
He then brought his main focus back onto what amounted to be his personal workshop.
'Now this is more like Newts case.' Jack thought as he took in the area.
Six different cabinets with differing sized drawers, a following three cabinets of different assembly with large glass panes that showed they held crystal jars of ingredients, a butchers table, a table with an assembly for working on potions, and at the far-right hand side of the room nearest to the far front where a single wooden door led to the 'Enclosure' area of the case; was a hanging white netted hammock.
Again, Jack found himself taken aback.
The sheer volume of things on display threatened to overwhelm him at first, and that event once again triggered the memories he'd received from his alter; but fortunately, this time he felt it was a lot easier to clear and empty his mind after the episode began.
After repeating that previous process Jack once again set about going through what this new room entailed.
Stocks of dozens of different potions ingredients, tools for working in a garden or out in the wild, a few books in one of the lower cabinets along with what looked to be some magical cleaning supplies, and the final thing being a case more towards the front by the shutter that was quite large.
Upon opening that he realized that he may have to be slightly careful as he exited into the enclosure.
When Magus had info dumped him and explained his power's he had in fact covered the case…
And just what could and would be going into it over time.
The prospect was daunting to Jack…even with the memories of his alter to fall back on.
The version of Jack that he'd gained the memories from was a very accomplished Magizoologist in his own right, and had been on many adventures across the world rescuing and rehabilitating many different magical creatures.
'I mean the guy was even responsible for opening a new Dragon preserve in Maine for pete's sake…' Jack thought with a small shake of his head before a thought dawned on him.
'…wait. The supplies here aren't endless. What the hell am I gonna do once I start spending 'Mote points' and wind up with a collection of magical beasts in here that need to be managed? Some of which could possibly be XXXX or XXXXX class?!' Jack thought with some serious concern as he put his hands flat on the butchers table while closing his eyes for a moment to ward off the quickly mounting stress.
As he was taking another deep breath, he felt it.
Another thing that Magus had made clear to him when he'd given him his magic and 'Mote Tree', was just how his "Leveling" would work.
Over time alone he'd gain experience, though in relatively small increments. His main source of gaining experience to help him earn 'Mote Points' was his actual experiences, and not just magical ones.
Magus had made it clear with the info dump that Jack could simply pick up a mundane skill; and that with the right amount of effort, practice, and time he'd gain 'Mote Points' while doing simple things to better himself.
'Guy kind of cheated a little making it possible for it to happen that way for me not gonna lie…but who the hell am I to complain when I'm the one that's benefiting from it in the first place?' Jack thought with a snort of amusement.
Putting his thoughts aside for a moment Jack closed his eyes and focused on his tree, as apparently he'd somehow gained enough experience to gain another 'Mote Point'.
Finding himself standing before the mental representation of his tree filled him with a sense of warmth again, and after taking a small moment to revel in that warmth Jack focused harder and took himself to the next mote on the 'Items' branch.
Taking hold of the burning energy Jack focused and 'spent' the point while taking in the feeling of the description of the mote.
'Owl Order Obelisk: With your connection to magic you can purchase items from the Wizarding World! An Obelisk landing post and 'window' into the origin world of your magic has been added to your Case. You cannot go through it yourself, but through this with the help of your new feathered friend you've been granted an owl order system, a catalogue of available items for sale, and a bottomless and feather light Moleskin pouch that contains the majority of the contents of your former life's Gringott's Bank account. You will be able to correspond with those you order from, and even reach back out to Gringott's itself if you need to exchange any money or would care to reestablish a working account. Gringott's timing fee's May apply.'
. . .
After processing the thoughts and allowing the mote to settle, Jack pulled himself out of observing his 'Mote Tree' only to quickly pull an about face to open the large wooden shutter again.
Upon walking back into the main open floorplan of his case Jack laid eyes on his newest addition.
In the wall right next to his kitchenette was the listed window, that seemingly lead out into what looked like a beautiful countryside view with vast rolling hills as far as Jack could see.
'I wonder where that Actually is…I don't recognize the view.'
Beside said window was a pale stone obelisk with a dark branch of wood sticking out of it near the top, with a relatively large single shelf hallway down its four-foot height; a sizeable book siting on said shelf.
The book itself would have dominated his attention, if not for the set of bright amber eyes that were now watching him.
Sitting perched on the dark gnarled branch was a beautiful black Great Horned Owl.
Jack found himself taken in by the Owl's gaze and went to move forward but at the slight ruffling of the bird's feathers, he brought himself up short; reminding himself to move slowly so as not to startle his new companion.
Fortunately, that seemed to have been the correct course of action as the owl's body relaxed; before the beautiful creature let out a low toned hoot while maintaining its appraising gaze on Jack.
It took him a few moments, but he finally reached the beautiful bird and slowly brought his right hand up to stroke the bird across its chest.
A brief screech rent the air the first time he brought his hand close, but Jack wasn't going to be deterred.
"I would never hurt you. I promise."
The owl kept its gaze locked with his for a moment longer again, weighing his worth, before finally its eyes turned half lidded while looking at him.
Jack finished closing the gap with his right hand, and lightly brushed the back of said hand against the bird; eliciting what he took as a pleased little hoot from the bird after a moment.
'…so are you a boy or girl…I'm sure as heck not checking. Might get my face pecked off.'
"Soo…do you have a name or what?"
The owl simply opened its eyes fully at him at that and turned its head slightly at the question, as if to say "What do you think stupid? Even if I did how am I supposed to tell you?"
Feeling thoroughly embarrassed by the look from the owl Jack decided to throw caution to the wind.
"Well I'm gonna need something to call you, I'm not looking to call out Mr. Owl every time I wanna get your attention."
Another low hoot came out at that statement, seemingly agreeing with his remark.
'I want something clever…something that symbolizes who and what you are to me…hmm…'
After a few moments of thinking quietly to himself while still stroking the owl it hit him.
"Hermes. I'm gonna call you Hermes. He was the messenger of the gods, and while I'm certainly no god you'll be doing all my correspondence and stuff. How's that sound to you?" Jack asked as the owl locked gazes with him again.
. . .
For the briefest of moments Jack felt like an idiot…
'I'm sitting here talking to a bird. A magical bird yes, but still a bird. What's this owl gonna care for a name? Let alone where it comes from.'
Jack got a shock when the beautiful black bird hooted lightly again before slightly pecking his hand once. The action didn't hurt, and after a moment Jack decided that that was Hermes's way of saying yes to the name.
'Well…so far so good.'
"Alright! Hermes it is buddy. Now I've just gotta find this Moleskin pouch and I- "
Jack was cut off from saying anything as another light screech echoed out of Hermes, before he took flight briefly to only come to land on his desk next to his journal where the pouch now sat.
Seeing where his new companion had landed Jack could only shake his head before making his way over with a few quick strides, a slight grin on his face.
'Guess I'm just gonna have to get used to things possibly popping up.'
Jack reached forward, his left hand offering another small rub to Hermes while he took the pouch into his right hand.
After rubbing Hermes, a bit, he brought his left hand up and used both hands to open the pouch while turning it over…
The rushing of clanking metal banging against the wooden floor startled both man and bird alike, as Hermes quickly took flight back to his post while Jack quickly brought the bag back up the right way as he stared at the assortment of fallen coins on the ground.
After doing so for a moment he glanced back at Hermes.
"I don't suppose you'd be able to give me a hand would you."
The owl simply narrowed its eyes in a slightly crinkly way before waving both of its wings together without lifting off for a moment before settling in to clean himself.
'…did…did you really just…you little jerk.' Jack thought before barking out a small laugh at his new companion's apparent sarcastic nature.
'You and I are gonna get along.'
After that he focused himself on his task at hand.
Cleaning and sorting the mess he'd made.
. . .
"Tempus." Jack called out after gathering all the coins on the ground, pouring out the rest of his bag, and then sorting the entirety of the fallen contents.
His spell went off without a hitch and informed him that it was now '6:40 PM'.
Bringing his hands up to wipe at his face a bit, Jack did his best to wipe away at some of the accumulated tiredness he'd gained from his very mundane task.
Jack had fortunately been smart enough to first grab a piece of loose parchment he had available before counting his accumulated coins, this way he'd have an accurate set of what funds he could use for now.
'Won't be making that stupid mistake again. And quite frankly I'm shocked. Alter Me was either really smart (which all of the current evidence backs that up), he was slightly corrupt and selling rare animals or their parts on the side, or maybe it's just a bit of both; because I wouldn't think a simple Magizoologist would have this kind of money.' Jack thought as he looked at the final sum of the accumulated coins.
'5,550 Galleons, 2,120 Sickles, and 666 Knuts. As they'd say back there…Sweet Merlin.'
The money was more than enough to keep him quite comfortable for a long time…
'Or at least it would be if I wasn't worried not only about having to eventually take care of a swath of magical creatures, but also work on helping save the world among all things. Good gravy I could use a drink.' Jack thought before he was struck like a bolt of lightning, remembering that he actually had just the thing for that.
'There's a bottle of Giggle water in the fridge.'
A few moments later Jack was sat hunched over his coffee table with the bottle of Giggle water and a shot glass next to it as he scratched out the exact amount of money he'd have if he was to translate all of his current funds to muggle money.
'$138,750 in Galleons, $3,180 in Sickles, and $333 in Knuts. So, all total I'm sitting on something around $142,263…on the up or down side due to exchange rates and possible taxes and all that. Not too shabby.' Jack thought as he knocked back his fourth shot of Giggle water.
Taking a moment to allow the slightly warm feeling to settle in from the alcohol, Jack made a note that something he'd have to do going forward is see if he could invest in something; whether it be through Gringotts's (IF such a thing was even possible considering his situation) or if he could try and figure something out in the real world.
Looking down at his scratched parchment he already had the semi-beginnings of a plan drafted.
'Take a full inventory. Make a list of what purchases may need to be made sooner rather than later from the inventory. Get a Broom (Which was underlined twice). In lieu of getting myself killed, practice my magic and see how comfortable I feel, and just what spells I can accomplish from my overall knowledge. Expand said knowledge base. From there…one day at a time. Alright, I can work with this.' Jack thought before standing up slowly and then securing the Giggle water back in the fridge before making himself a turkey sandwich.
After thrashing his small meal (Which he was sure to share some with Hermes), he set about putting his funds back into his Moleskin bag so as not to misplace any of it for now.
He didn't think he'd be getting any more surprises today.
But as he finished his task and set the pouch on the corner of his desk and shut the full-length shutter, he felt it again.
'Another one?! Already...What the hell is going on here?'
Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Jack focused and came upon his tree again.
It took him a few moments, but after a bit he made a decidedly risky choice.
The branch had been taunting him.
He was now the only magical person in a world full of people with superpowers, granted by living flesh and crystal computers…
'I mean c'mon…how bad can it be... right?'
With just a small amount of hesitation he focused on the very first mote from the slightly darker branch before spending his newest point.
The other motes even without being lit gave off this strange ethereal kind of rainbow-like light.
When the new mote bloomed into existence it was still beautiful, hauntingly so.
The light was more that of a dark star, a swirling corona of purple, pink and black. All of it mixing together and yet somehow giving off a normal kind of glow like his other activated motes.
The beautiful sight wasn't what drew him in however…it was the description of what he'd attained with this most recent purchase.
'This is Not your grave. But you are Welcome in it: The inside of your Enclosure has been expanded. You now have a copy of the vast Baltic Sea, and at the end of said sea is your newest addition. Azkaban. Or at least… a cut down version of the legendary wizarding prison. This one-of-a-kind facility is now yours to own and operate as you see fit. It comes equipped with built in Runes along the base that ensures that only You can utilize any kind of abilities while on the premises of the island it is located on. The facility comes equipped with two hundred and fifty cells, two hundred and fifty sets of shackles for transport that are capable of replicating the facilities dampening effects, one house elf who manages the cleaning of the facility and the tending of whatever inmates you collect; and of course, a contingent of fifteen of your own Dementors. If you didn't have the strength to at least cast the 'Patronus' Charm, you now do…but when it comes to these dark creatures practice makes perfect. Unless your planning on being on the menu yourself. There are extra Runes inscribed that keep the Dementors enclosed on the island, so you have no need to fear them escaping, but all the same if you plan to ever utilize or inspect the facility; practice the spell. Remember: Think Happy thoughts!'
…
"…Fuck."
And FIN! Alright Ya'll, that is the end of the chapter! A big thanks to you for reading it. I hope that you have found it engaging so far. If you haven't done so, please fave, follow, and if it please you leave a review. I am happy to hear any thoughts you may have or answer any questions you may have as well. I hope that you are all doing well, and that you remain that way. Until next time stay safe, happy, and healthy! This is Sojiro, signing off! Laters Gators!