Okay, so, when I tried to go further with Xanadu's Shadow, it didn't quite work out, so I went back and tinkered with things a little. Hopefully this version, with a slightly different backstory and emphasis (Harry is a cursebreaker rather than a combat medic), and I hope it will work out. I also put the meeting with Hermione, Octavius and Peter in the next chapter, instead putting in a meeting with Dr Strange.
XOLOTL
CHAPTER 1:
A BRITISH WIZARD IN MANHATTAN
"…So you're leaving?"
The speaker was a woman in her thirties, beautiful, but with a hard beauty, framed by a short bob of silver hair. She was dressed in a steel grey bodysuit, one more militaristic than titillating, with a similarly coloured jacket over it. She was looking at the other occupant of the room as they both nursed cups of tea.
"Yeah. I mean…I appreciate you helping me find asylum here while the ICW cleared my name, at least enough for me to be able to leave the country. And there's all the training you gave me, which has helped with those cursebreaking jobs Gringotts sent me on after that fiasco, but…even if I can't go home, I want to go somewhere. It's not that I don't love Symkaria. I do. You and your people made me feel very welcome. But…I was trapped here because of what Malfoy did, and even after Gringotts sent me abroad from here…well, I just want to find another place to call home. Symkaria, as much as I love it, isn't my home, hercegnő."
"I told you not to call me that. And you were like a caged tiger, pacing around its prison," the woman said to her guest, a young man in his twenties with a messy mop of dark hair, emerald eyes, and a distinctive scar in the shape of a lightning bolt, snaking its way from beneath his fringe. "I understand. I feel the same way. It is why I renounced my claim to the throne in favour of my brother Stefan. Having fought against our cousin and her hired thugs for so long…I do not think I can simply go back to our life the way we were. Not that our family has been soft, not since the Second World War, or the Cold War…but we became complacent. We thought that Latveria would be our worst problem. But now…the war is over. I struggle for purpose, and many of those under me do so as well."
"That's why you established the PMC, Silvija," the young man said. "Symkaria's economy needs revitalising anyway. But…it's also the fame. Too many people are viewing me as their saviour here…again."
"I understand, barát," the woman said sadly. "I despise the adulation too. That you have undergone it twice over…in any case, I wish to remain in touch. Even if we are not lovers now, we are most definitely friends, allies and comrades in arms. Know then that I am deeply and fully grateful for your help in toppling my cousin's regime, and while your name may be a curse to many, others will see it as a blessing. Even though you came here mostly as a field medic. So, where do you intend to head?"
"…Gringotts is sending me to New York, and anyway, Hermione lives there now. Besides, it might be interesting. Grindlewald caused that incident in the Thirties, and then there's those so-called superheroes. The Avengers, the X-Men, Spider-Man…actually, Dr Strange was one of those who helped me get exonerated. I could at least say thanks in person."
The woman rolled her eyes. "Doamne…going willingly amongst those vigilantes and troublemakers…still…take care of yourself, Harry."
"Hey, I'll be fine, Silvija…"
New York. If there was a metropolis that embodied metropolises the world over, it would be this. Ask someone in the world about the American city they knew of most, and New York would be close to the top if not at the top.
Its towering skyscrapers, clawing at the sky, had impressed many. German filmmaker Fritz Lang, after seeing those skyscrapers and the night life of the city back in the Twenties, was inspired by the imagery on display for one of his own works, the famous science fiction film Metropolis. The Metropolis of Superman and the Gotham City of Batman were also inspired by this cityscape.
New York was by no means the centre of the world, but it was certainly a hub of politics, culture and history. In fact, the latter was seemingly steeped into the stones of the city. It was an old city in a relatively young country, young as far as European colonisation was concerned anyway. And it also seemed steeped in glamour, in a way not dissimilar and yet apart from the cultural hub squatting on the other side of the country in Los Angeles.
True, it wasn't without an underbelly. No city is without its dark side, and New York's was particularly infamous. Vice and virtue clashed on a daily basis on the streets. And even its symbolic nature as one of the most noteworthy cities in the United States of America ended up making it a prime target of the terrorist attacks on September 11 in 2001. The World Trade Centre, a pair of gleaming towers of commerce, were no more, brought down by fanaticism.
But New York was a resilient and tenacious entity. It embodied much of the US, both good and bad. And it was often the first port of call for those looking to make a fresh start, making the transition from the Old World to the New World.
One such emigrant had a chequered past. Hero, villain, pawn, messiah, saviour, destroyer, and so many more epithets could have been applied to him. But now, he just wanted, if not a quiet life, then at least one where he could live on his own terms.
More fool him…
The apartment in Greenwich Village was a good one. It reminded him somewhat of the one from Friends, and indeed, he was living in the general facility. Harry had to admit, Gringotts had actually gotten him some nice living space here. Of course, he could use his trunk to sleep in, and that was considerably more luxurious, but he needed the apartment to cover for any curious Muggles.
He'd just spent two days being all but interrogated by not just the mundane immigration authorities, but MACUSA. True, he could understand the increased paranoia after 9/11, but they kept asking him questions about his actions in Symkaria, despite the deposition he gave to the ICW, despite the statement he had written up for both the Muggles and the wizards. Both fucking idiots, he reckoned, obsessed with the infamous Xanadu. It took him several hours before he was finally shuffled onto someone relatively reasonable, Medea Graves, one of the New York DMLE's top Aurors.
Graves had a stick up her arse the size of the Chrysler Building, but she was at least reasonable. With her help, his entry into the US and a probationary residential visa was approved. It didn't hurt that he had quite a bit of money, not for bribes, but because it would help the local economy if he actually spent it.
He smiled sardonically to himself. Gringotts had him transferred here to act as their 'chief retrieval officer' for the East Coast of America. It was a culmination of the work he did for them before and during his exile in Symkaria. And even though Gringotts could have screwed him over after, well, breaking in to retrieve that Horcrux, the Goblins took it surprisingly well. They took it as a sign to improve security, and to better screen what was put into their vaults. Horcruxes were reviled by them, and the Lestranges hadn't shelled out for a more secure vault anyway.
Harry joining as a cursebreaker was something of a coup for Gringotts. He'd gone on a couple of missions with Bill Weasley to Egypt and Mexico (the latter of which gave Harry a joking nickname of 'Xolotl', for a few embarrassing reasons), but Symkaria was his first major job. Apparently some wizards had helped Countess Katarina Karkov gain the throne there, and they had stolen dark artifacts from a Gringotts funded dig in Romania to do so. Harry and some other Gringotts employees were sent in with peacekeepers working with the ICW, including Ron and Draco, to deal with it.
Only, it was a trap. Draco had been helping Karkov's backers the whole time, and set up an ambush, one Harry survived, barely. Draco then framed Harry for his own crimes, and Harry's exoneration wasn't helped when he killed Draco. Only the fact that Harry had already become friends with Princess Silvija Sablinova, one of the leaders of the resistance against Karkov, saved his life.
Harry went on an infamous rampage. By the end of it, Karkov and most of the wizards backing her were dead, and Silvija's family was back in power. This wasn't to say that Harry was singlehandedly responsible for bringing the Symkarian Civil War to an end. But he significantly reduced Karkov's powerbase enough for Silvija and the resistance, including the PMC Silvija founded, to finish the job.
Not that it helped too much. Thanks to the late Draco and his still alive and still ungrateful mother, Harry was branded a war criminal by the ICW, or at least by those parts of the ICW that followed Magical Britain's lead. He had to seek refuge in Symkaria, and only left it to take on jobs for Gringotts in countries who weren't following Magical Britain's lead. It was only recently that the ICW exonerated him. And even then, he couldn't go back to Britain. So when Gringotts made their offer, he decided to take it, partly because he knew Hermione had recently emigrated to New York herself.
As Harry finished unpacking the essentials out of the trunk to make the apartment look lived-in, he heard a knock on the door. With a sigh of annoyance, he went over, and checked the peephole. After a moment, he let the person he saw outside in.
The man in question was middle-aged, with bearded, saturnine features and a serious demeanour. He was dressed in a rather severe suit. "Good morning, Harry Potter. I am Dr Stephen Strange."
Harry nodded, taking the man's proffered hand. "I figured. I'd ask what the Sorcerer Supreme wants with me, but really, I'm grateful to you for helping me get exonerated with the ICW after that mess in Symkaria, even if I'm still persona non grata in Britain."
"Draco Malfoy's actions, as well as those of his mother, have certainly poisoned the well there," Strange said solemnly. "You weren't even in Symkaria to fight in the civil war, at least not until you and your cursebreakers were targeted, and yet, Malfoy set you up to be seen as aiding terrorists. An irony, considering that he himself was part of terrorist groups."
"Malfoys haven't got a single grateful bone in their body," Harry muttered, bitterly. "Then again, neither have most wizards."
"I do agree. The sorcerers and mages of the Kamar-Taj follow a different school of magic to the wizards you are more familiar with, more powerful, but more dangerous, and the wizards despise us. I am barely tolerated by MACUSA."
"So am I," Harry said, grimacing. "I just went through a few days of interrogation by the DMLE. Medea Graves is a hardarse, but at least she's decent. Some of those interrogators, though…"
"Indeed. MACUSA is worse than the British Ministry in some regards, and is better in others," Strange said. "In any case, I came to greet you, and to wish you well on your new endeavours. I was told you are continuing work as a cursebreaker for Gringotts."
"Yeah. This time, though, it won't be dealing with tombs and archaeological digs," Harry said. "Apparently, they have a cursebreaker in charge of tracking any magical artifacts that have been bought through illicit channels or stolen, and retrieving the especially dangerous ones."
"I'm aware of that, just as I am aware that this is what you'll be doing from now on," Strange said. "Just be warned that there are many such artifacts that should not be trifled with. I have a strong relationship with the Goblins, and there are times when they will consult with myself and the Kamar-Taj on matters outside wizarding magic. I am not saying this to be patronising, Harry. I'm sure there is much you can handle."
Harry nodded, though he couldn't help but feel irritated anyway. Then, curiosity struck him. "Dr Strange…why did you help exonerate me with the ICW? I thought there was a rift between the acolytes of the Kamar-Taj and normal wizards, from what I know."
"True. But I was asked to by a known associate. I have ties with Gringotts, particularly their cursebreakers, and there are many tomes at the Sanctum Sanctorum that the cursebreakers are welcome to consult. It was Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour who brought your case to my attention, and while I may not be particularly liked by the ICW or MACUSA, my word still has some weight, especially as I can call upon SHIELD and the Avengers to lend further weight. MACUSA may not like SHIELD or the Avengers, but they do respect them to a degree."
"I'm guessing the feeling is mutual?"
Strange gave a rather sardonic smile. "More than a few times, they've clashed with Aurors, as have I. I came to meet you partly because we may be collaborating. You've come here on a semi-permanent basis to act as a Gringotts cursebreaker and retrieval agent for dangerous magical artifacts, from what I have been told. It is highly likely that we will collaborate on occasion. You are welcome at the Sanctum Sanctorum."
"Thanks," Harry said. "Though I'm surprised Hermione hasn't been to pester you to let her look at the library there."
At this, Strange chuckled. "Actually, she has. Wong had a hard time ensuring she didn't touch any truly dangerous works. A little too eager for knowledge. She only came to New York recently, as I'm sure you know."
"Yeah…I know." Harry had kept up correspondence with Hermione, along with the few people who would speak to him. It was usually emails and letters (Gringotts never gave him a satellite phone, his communications mirror was shattered in Symkaria, and the international roaming charges on his mobile were ruinous, so when he went abroad for his work, he used international owl post whenever internet wasn't available).
"She lives and works close by. If I may offer some advice, Harry…I would ask that you help the ones she works with. I know the young man her employer hired as an intern. Peter Parker is a young man of considerable integrity and responsibility, even if he has a habit of tardiness. I know that sounds contradictory, but I know him well. And I think your influence can be for the better on both Parker and his employer and mentor, Dr Octavius."
"…Is this going to be a prophecy or a seer thing?" Harry asked suspiciously. "Because I'm not fond of those."
"While I can see the past with my artifacts, including the Eye of Agamotto, the future is another matter. But…let us just say I knew Octavius before I became the Sorcerer Supreme…"
They continued the conversation, as somewhat formal though it was, for some time, before Strange left. Apparently, the appearance of a known agent provocateur had gotten a number of people worried. Strange had been asked, for example, to pass on a message from SHIELD'S head, Nick Fury, that he was having an eye kept on him. That made him roll his eyes. He was sure Homeland Security had their eyes on him, what with being a British ex-pat with Symkarian citizenship.
Still, Strange had a point. He should really stop by and see Hermione. And with all the money he made with Gringotts, to say nothing of the Potter family fortune, maybe he could help out Octavius…
CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:
So, there you have it. Harry's been a reluctant hero again, and now he's an outcast from Magical Britain. Time will tell what effect he will have on the events of the game.
And it's perfectly possible that Doctor Strange knew Octavius back when he was a surgeon. Maybe they discussed the neuroscience and surgery needed for artificial limbs.
No numbered annotations this time.