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Metal and Magic

Chapter 2

The trip to Afghanistan was long and uneventful. He first had to sneak aboard a flight to India before transferring to another heading to Kabul. Though the city was very poor, it was in a picturesque area between the Hindu Kush mountains and the Kabul River. Upon arrival, the high altitude caused a headache to form. Harry winced and rubbed his temples. He needed a place to rest and relax. With no money, Harry did the only thing he could.

He made his way to Chicken Street, where most of the city's foreigners spent their time shopping, and found an antiquity shop that appeared to be somewhat high-end. With so few foreigners visiting the city, the shop was deserted. Only a single person was working, and when Harry entered, the man smiled happily. He had barely opened his mouth when Harry hit him in the chest with a Stunner. The man crumpled to the ground. Moving fast, Harry went behind the counter and found the man's money box. Harry pulled out all the Afghani, which was the name of the local currency, and placed it on the counter. With some quick wand work, Harry had made duplicates of the small pile until he had more than enough money to last his trip. The only problem was that all the serial numbers were duplicated as well, but he guessed that no one would take the time to study the numbers of each bill he paid with. He stuffed the counterfeit money into the bag he had taken from Voldemort before making one last duplicate pile. Harry then returned the man's money to the box and countered the Stunner. As the man's eyes fluttered open, and he got to his feet, Harry pointed the Elder Wand at him and said, "Obliviate."

Harry watched as his eyes momentarily glazed over. Harry slipped out of the shop unnoticed as the shop owner's memories of the last few minutes were being erased from his brain. He didn't need to go far to find a hotel. Most of the city's tourists stayed in this area, where shopping, dining, and lodgings were abundant. Harry walked into the first hotel he came upon.

"Do you speak English?" Harry asked hopefully. The man gave a short nod.

"A little," he responded with a heavy accent.

"One room," Harry simply stated, holding up one finger.

"Two hundred and fifty Afghani for one day. One thousand for week," he stated as a foreigner came down the creaky wooden steps from the rooms above. Harry couldn't tell his country of origin, but he thought maybe Indian or Nepalese. The other guest paid them no mind. He just nodded in their direction and left. Harry took the time to pull out a one thousand Afghani note from his small wad of cash and hand it to the hotel worker. He took the note and looked it over before nodding. He reached into his desk and pulled out a weathered key. "Room six," he said and handed Harry the key. Harry was glad they didn't seem to care about nonsensical things like asking for ID. Harry smiled kindly, took the key, and went up the rickety stairs.

The hotel was nothing special. In fact, it was the exact opposite of special. The hallway walls were covered with outdated wallpaper peeling away from the wood in a dozen spots. The wallpaper that was still firmly attached was stained or discolored. The hallway smelled musty, like some of the wood behind the walls was rotting away. Harry didn't mind all that much. He wasn't here for a vacation after all. Room six was hidden behind an old door that once was painted baby blue, but over time, the color had dulled and dirtied until it appeared light gray. Mounted on the wall next to the door was a small sign with the number six written in multiple languages. Harry had to jiggle the key to get it to slide in. Opening the door, he entered before closing and locking it.

Harry was glad to see that the room was in slightly better shape than the hall. The walls weren't rotting, and a faint smell of incense lingered in the air. There wasn't much in the way of amenities. There was no television, radio, mini fridge, and certainly no mint on the pillow. There was an old bed that didn't look too comfortable, a small table by the bed, and a stand-alone cupboard to store his things. This was good enough for him. Harry sat down on the bed and bounced a few times to test its level of comfort. The springs in the mattress squeaked in protest. It wasn't looking too promising. Digging into his bag, Harry found a pain-relieving potion and drank it. Within seconds, his headache dulled into a light throbbing that was manageable. Now that the basics were taken care of, Harry laid down, kicked off his shoes, and took a much-needed nap.

Metal and Magic

Nick Fury studied the photograph closely before setting it down on his desk. As the Director of SHIELD, it was his job to know everything going on in every part of the world. A single mistake could mean dire consequences for the country he was charged to protect. So, as one can imagine, it tended to peeve him when he didn't have all of the facts.

"Where exactly was this taken?" Fury asked, tapping his finger against the photo.

"It was pulled from a covert surveillance video captured by Agent Purja in Kabul. He's the Agent you assigned to the Zargona Hotel last month … Sir," the reporting Agent quickly added.

Fury didn't immediately respond. His mind was going a mile a minute. He had placed Agents in training at all of the tourist hotels in Kabul. Over the last few years, Afghanistan had become a hotspot for those wanting to make a quick buck off the rampant terrorist activities taking place in that part of the world. Two weeks ago, SHIELD had arrested an American Colonel selling landmines to a prominent member of the Ten Rings. Of course, news of the arrest was highly classified. The US government didn't want knowledge of the treason out in the open, and Fury didn't blame them. The black eye from this embarrassment would be far-reaching. This resulted in SHIELD being tasked with keeping tabs on the region. They wanted to know who was coming and going, what the military members were doing in their free time, and who the various foreigners and diplomats were interacting with. It was a tall order, but Fury had never shied away from a challenge. The good news was that SHIELD got a nice bump in its operating budget. This enabled Fury to place dozens of Agents in the ten largest cities in Afghanistan, with the most being in Kabul and Kandahar.

"Zargona?" Fury asked. He couldn't exactly remember all the names of the hotels in Kabul. Many of them sounded similar to his American ears.

"It's on Chicken Street, sir. Agent Purja was assigned to covertly place one of our surveillance nano-cameras in the lobby and remain disguised as a tourist," Fury's underling explained. "We've been able to identify all of the visitors except him. There's no documentation of him legally arriving in Afghanistan, and facial recognition software came up empty."

"What do you know about him?" Fury asked.

"Not much, sir. He arrived three days ago and paid in the local currency for a week upfront. The first day, he stayed in his room … Room Six, to be exact … all night and left at 9:23 in the morning. From what we can gather, he bought a few groceries, returned to his room, and didn't reappear until this morning. He spent the day walking around the local area before returning to his room roughly an hour and a half ago. He hasn't left his room since. He hasn't talked to anyone except a few local shop owners," the underling reported.

"Keep me informed," Fury ordered, and the man nodded. Understanding that he had just been dismissed, the man left Fury's office. Fury pulled out his phone and made a call. "Coulson … my office," was all he said before disconnecting. It wasn't long before Agent Coulson knocked on his door. "Enter," Fury called out.

Agent Phil Coulson was an unassuming man with a kind face. Anyone who met him would never believe he worked for one of the world's premiere spy agencies. Coulson entered and remained quiet. Fury wasn't one for small talk. "I want you to contact Agent Purja. I want him to gather intel on this man," Fury told him, holding up the photo of a handsome young man with messy, black hair. "And I want to know the purpose of his visit and how he got there."

Metal and Magic

It took a few days, but eventually, Harry's body became acclimated to the city's high elevation. With that problem taken care of, he could begin the task he went there for. Unfortunately, he didn't really know where to start. He didn't speak the language, and it wasn't like the terrorists were offering guided tours of their camp. The only thing he could think of was to find someone who had a starting point, and since Tony Stark was a big-time weapons manufacturer for the US military, Harry guessed that they were looking long and hard for the man. Harry had done his research before leaving London, and as luck would have it, a large US military base was not far from the city. That was his best bet for some answers. Of course, they wouldn't just give them to him. Before leaving his room, Harry grabbed his bag, which held all of his possessions, and added some magical protections to the room. It was a habit he had gained from his war with the Dark Lord. He pulled out a map he had purchased in London and found the small dot he had drawn on it. That was the approximate location of the base. It was northeast of Kabul, near the heavily mountainous region that bordered Pakistan. Apparently, that was where many of the terrorists had their base of operations. It was easy to hide in the caves and man-made tunnels that crisscrossed the mountains. This made it easy for them to sneak back and forth into Pakistan and evade capture. If Harry had to guess, he would say that this was the area where Stark and his party were ambushed. It would have been all too easy for the terrorists to ambush the convoy and take Stark into the nearby mountains.

Harry stepped out into the night and moved through an alley, out of sight. He then pulled a compass out of his pocket and ignited his wand. Harry turned his body until he was facing the northeast. Stuffing the compass and wand into his pocket, Harry transformed into his raven form and took off into the night sky. As much as he loved flying, he wasn't looking forward to a long night of flying, but sadly, there was nothing to be done about it.

Every half an hour or so, Harry would land and transform back to his normal self and check the heading on his compass to ensure he wasn't going off course. He traveled for seven hours, and the only saving grace was that because the region was so mountainous, plenty of updrafts allowed him to glide for long distances. Once he was in the correct area, it took another hour to find the military base. Powerful lights brightly illuminated the large complex of buildings and towers. Spotlights lit up the area surrounding the outer gates where armed guards were stationed. First, he landed a fair distance away and made a mental apparation point in case he needed to come back. With that done, he flew back into the sky. Harry wasn't going to risk landing outside the gates. He had no way of knowing whether the ground was laced with landmines or not. To play it safe, Harry landed on top of a light tower and studied the base from above. Though unsure if he was correct in his assumption, Harry figured the commanding officer would be somewhere in the middle of the base where it was safest. Flying down from the tower, Harry landed in a dark, shadowed area, transformed, and made himself invisible. Safe from visually being spotted, Harry began checking the buildings. He first explored the smallest ones since he didn't think a commander would live in one of the large warehouses.

The first one he entered was completely dark. Harry closed the door behind him as quietly as possible and ignited his wand. Finding the light switch, Harry flicked it on and cut the Lumos. Harry discovered it was an office, so he immediately went through the desk and filing cabinets. It took around fifteen minutes before he realized this wasn't the place. He slid the filing cabinet drawer closed just as the doorknob turned. Harry quickly got to his feet, his heart thumping in his chest. He looked at his hands to make sure he was still invisible and quietly moved to the corner of the room. The door opened, and an armed guard slowly stepped over the threshold. When he came in sight, Harry saw an assault rifle flat against his chest with a finger on the trigger. The soldier stopped and looked around the room with a confused expression. He then stepped further in and slowly turned. Harry didn't make a move and held his breath. As soon as the soldier's back was to him, Harry stunned him and caught his falling body before it could loudly hit the floor. Laying him down quietly, Harry quickly closed the door. 'He must have seen the light through the crack in the door,' Harry guessed. Harry exhaled deeply and tried to calm himself. It was a close call.

Harry was coming up with a plan when he suddenly thought of something else. He knelt by the man's head and pointed his wand at him. "Legilimens," Harry quietly encanted. He poured through the soldier's upper layers of his mind. Harry wasn't a pro regarding Legilimency, but he had practiced on several captured Death Eaters in the past. He had gotten good enough to pull useful information from the subject, but he still couldn't traverse the deeper levels of the mind where long-kept secrets and desires were usually hidden. Thankfully, that kind of expertise wasn't needed most of the time. Images flashed through Harry's mind, and he used his magic to slow them down. Manipulating the magic, Harry made the soldier focus on the layout of the military base. "Got it," Harry smiled happily as he discovered the location of the office and sleeping quarters of the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Morrison. Once he had the information, Harry ended the spell. He looked down at the unconscious soldier. Doing what he did to the shop owner would be too risky. Quite a few guards were constantly patrolling the base, so the chance of him being discovered was high. No, his best bet was to leave the man there, so that's what Harry did. He levitated the unconscious body to the corner of the room and rested it against the wall. The soldier would remain unconscious for at least several hours. On Harry's way out, he turned off the light.

Skulking his way to the C.O.'s office was a little more difficult than he would have liked. The patrols were heavier in that part of the base, but luckily, Harry made it through undiscovered. Upon trying to enter, Harry found the door locked. A quick Alohamora took care of that. Harry slipped in and refrained from turning on the light. A desk lamp was still on, which provided more than enough light to see. There was another door in the far corner of the room, and Harry could hear loud snoring from behind it. He tested the doorknob and found it locked as well. Harry unlocked it with another piece of magic and slowly pushed it open. The room inside was small but comfortable-looking. It had a dresser with a TV sitting on top. Another door was probably hiding a private bathroom, Harry wagered. A queen-sized bed was against the wall to Harry's right, with Morrison sleeping on it. The snoring suddenly stopped, and he mumbled something in his sleep. He rolled over, and Harry quickly stunned him as well. The man went silent. Harry left the door open and went back into the office area. It only took a quick glance to see a combination safe behind the desk. It was no match for Harry's magic. With a wave of his wand, the door creaked open. Inside were a dozen or so folders marked CLASSIFIED with large, red block letters printed across the side. Harry pulled them out and sat down at the desk.

The first four folders Harry looked over dealt with plans for upcoming attacks and a casualty report from an ambush they had experienced. It was the fifth folder that told him what he needed to know.

According to the report, Tony Stark had demonstrated his new Jericho missile to the United States Air Force. On his way back to Bagram Air Base, which was an Air Force base that was further to the west of his location, Stark's escort was attacked by terrorists. The higher-ups believe it was targeted specifically to kidnap Stark. The location of the ambush was detailed on a map. Harry studied it closer. The attack occurred in the Kunar Province near Asadabad. They believed that Stark was taken north into the mountains. With this new information in hand, Harry made magical copies of the folder and placed everything back as it was. He closed the door to the bedroom and apparated back to his room in Kabul.

Metal and Magic

The following day found Harry soaring through the sky while looking for the exact location of the ambush. The general location was marked on the map, but the exact spot took more work to find. Harry was very thankful he didn't have to make the entire trip again. He simply apparated just outside the Army base and made his way from there. When he finally did find the spot, it couldn't tell him much. There were small bits of twisted and scorched metal scattered throughout, and the ground was pockmarked from small explosions. Not seeing anything useful, Harry pulled out the classified report from his bag and reviewed it again. They had visited the site and did what was basically a crime scene investigation. The bodies of the servicemen were removed, as were the destroyed vehicles. One part of the report mentioned that Tony Stark's cell phone was found next to a large rock on the side of the dirt road. They thought that he might have hidden behind it to take cover from the attack. Blood samples were taken from the area. Harry looked around and found the only rock large enough to hide behind. He went over there and looked around.

There was a small crater nearby, and as Harry examined the area closer, he found the spot on the ground with patches of congealed blood mixed with dirt. Some of it was missing, likely having been dug up and collected by the investigators. Harry didn't know if this was Tony Stark's blood or not, but since it was so close to the spot where his phone was recovered, he thought there was a good chance it was.

"Brilliant!" Harry said, excited by the prospect. He shoved the folder back into his bag and pulled out a book he had read in London. It was all about Blood Magic. He flipped through the pages until he found the right one. "Blood Tracing," Harry read.

Blood Tracing was a form of magical tracking, though most of the time, it was fairly useless. The magic couldn't track anyone through wards, so most of the magical community was safe without even trying. Because of this, no one ever used it or even talked about it. Harry had never heard about it until he read the book. Stark, however, certainly wasn't hidden behind wards. Harry read everything in the book about it before pulling out the necessary items. Within minutes, he had a small fire going and set a very small copper cauldron above it. Into the cauldron, he poured water he had produced from his wand and waited for it to boil. Once the water was boiling, Harry dumped in a measured amount of powdered dragon claw and a squill bulb. Harry stirred the mixture until the bulb dissolved completely. The potion turned from clear to the color of gunpowder. Harry continued stirring until the gray liquid formed a purplish sheen on the surface. Harry then added some of the bloodied dirt he collected from the ground. He hoped the dirt wouldn't affect the potion too much. To help counter this, Harry added a small amount of octopus powder to help strengthen the effect. He was glad to hear that the liquid began producing a high-pitched keening sound right before purple bubbles formed on the surface. The last step was to drop in a small amount of Occamy egg shells. He pulled out a few small chunks of the pure silver shells and dropped them in. Now, he had to wait until the keening stopped. The book said it could take anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour and a half, depending on how fresh the blood sample was. Harry had to wait just over an hour before the sound stopped. Harry levitated the cauldron off the fire and dumped the contents onto the ground. As the liquid poured out, a small lump of silver fell onto the ground, slowly rolling away. Harry quickly grabbed it and held it in his palm. The silver lump moved on its own and tumbled end over end in the direction of the blood's owner. Checking his compass, Harry discovered the silver was moving north. From the report, Harry knew that the bodies of Stark's escort were taken back to Bagram, and that was to the west. Excitement filled him, and he quickly packed up his belongings. Harry checked again and got an exact heading before taking flight.

Metal and Magic

Harry had to stop dozens of times to make sure he was going in the right direction. He would place the piece of silver on the ground and carefully watch the direction it moved. Most of his journey was spent crossing the desert toward the mountains. When he reached the mountains, he didn't fly for more than half an hour before he spotted something. There was a large cave entrance, and around it were what appeared to be military crates covered in camouflage netting. Harry spotted seven men walking around. Each one was wearing clothes that were army green, but they weren't military uniforms. All of them had automatic rifles on their backs or in their hands. Harry flew past it and landed a short distance away. He checked the silver again and found it rolled back toward the cave. Nodding to himself, Harry took a short break and came up with a plan.

Sneaking in and out might be doable, but Harry wouldn't count on it. He didn't know how big the caves were, and there might be very little room to move around. To top it off, if Stark was being kept in there, there would probably be more than a few guards inside. Those crates outside the cave probably weren't toys for tots, either. These men were dangerous and had already killed an entire escort just to get to Stark. One wrong move on his part and they probably wouldn't hesitate to shoot first and ask questions later. In a small cave, the chances of him being hit by an errant bullet was high. Harry didn't like hurting people, but the war he lived through taught him never to hesitate to put a madman down. Hit them hard and fast and don't give them a chance to fire back, Moody had told him more than once. They were good words to live by, Harry had learned. He flew back to the cave entrance and landed behind a large boulder overlooking the small, rocky clearing. He changed back into a human and made himself invisible. What he needed was a distraction.

Four of the seven men were lounging together on one side of the clearing. Three were sitting on the crates, while another was smoking a few feet away. Harry took a deep breath and aimed his wand. Out of the tip erupted a stream of napalm that arched through the air and enveloped the men and crates. That was when the screams began. Harry moved a short distance away, just in case someone saw where the fire was coming from and blindly fired in that direction. Thankfully, he didn't need to worry. As the four men stumbled while being completely consumed with fire, the crates exploded so violently that Harry was knocked back several feet.

"Shit!" Harry groaned as he landed hard on a rock. His ass would be bruised tomorrow, he guessed. 'What the hell is in those crates?' he asked himself as he got back to his feet. He looked down at the devastated clearing. The fire had spread to the other side, and the netting that was covering the other crates was starting to burn. The three men who weren't outright killed were panicking and trying to move the remaining crates by hand. Men flooded from the entrance, confused as to what was going on. The three men were shouting in a language that Harry didn't understand, but the message was clear. They were on high alert and looking around for their attacker. Harry looked around and found a better vantage point that would offer him some protection. Apparating over to it, Harry fired a Blasting Curse at the crates and ducked behind a large rock. The explosion was just as big as the first. A fireball shot up into the sky, and Harry heard pieces of metal hitting the rock in front of him. He was nearly hit by a large chunk of metal plating that landed beside him. As it came to a rest, Harry read Stark Industries printed on the side in white script. Confused as to why these terrorists possessed Stark Industries weapons, Harry decided to collect the evidence and shot some water on it to cool it down. He grabbed the piece of metal and stuffed it into his bag.

When he looked back down at the clearing, most of it was covered in fire and debris. Everyone that was out there was gone. Harry couldn't spot a single body remaining. He slowly climbed down the uneven rocks and dropped down at the entrance. Harry peeked in and found two guards further down the entrance. They were both pointing their guns at the entrance and shaking badly. It was easy to see they were scared shitless. Harry silently summoned one of them with his wand. The man screamed in fright as his body was magically ripped from the safety of the cave. He flew through the air and even let off a few accidental rounds with his rifle that ricocheted off the cave wall. Harry flung his body into the fire and tried to ignore the man's agonizing screams. The other man cried out in terror and ran further into the cave. Harry followed after him. He moved slowly and quietly. The man was obviously scared and would shoot at the slightest sound or movement. When Harry heard the sound of a heavy metal door opening, Harry picked up the pace. He ran around the corner just in time to see the man letting go of the door to get inside. Harry flicked his wand and slammed the door shut just as he was entering the room. His body was crushed between the door and the frame. Harry heard several bones break with a sickening crunch. The man dropped to the floor and cried out pitifully. Harry summoned him, and his body slid painfully across the cave floor. Harry wasn't one to execute a man already down for the count. Besides, his injuries were severe, and the chance of his survival was slim at best, especially in this part of the country. Harry stunned him and vanished his gun.

With no one else in sight, Harry looked into the room and found two men standing together. Both looked a little worse for wear. He didn't recognize the first man, but the second was unmistakable. He had just found Tony Stark.