892LAST TIME
Something rang on the computer and Sharon twisted, turning the screen toward her, and picking up the phone. "This is Agent Thirteen. Aerial activity spotted over the Pacific, heading toward the US. Bogey at Mach one. Get word to the Air Force. Bogey is hazy on radar, and I cannot get a clear sat-view." She turned around. "Harry, do me a favor, go back home. Now."
"Good luck." Harry opened a portal and stepped through. "See you next time."
Ch.21 World's Getting Bigger
15th February 2008
The Outer Gates
The squares of white and brown gleamed under the flickering torchlight, the white and black marble pieces casting long shadows over the board. Dainty, gloved fingers plucked a dark knight from the board, placing it in the white square, lips curling into a smirk.
"Check," Archie sang. Harry rolled his eyes and moved away his king, and Archie played her bishop. "Where'd you learn the game?"
Ron's face flashed in front of his eyes, a slight triumphant smile curved on his lips, the freckles on his face slightly reddened.
"I had a friend." A fierce yearning tugged at Harry's heart and the amulet on his chest warmed. "He was great at this. I learned chess by playing with him. No one in my batch could defeat him at chess."
Fond memories of laughter and happiness rose in his mind, tugging at his heart. He relished in it for a moment, before looking back at Archie. "What 'bout you?"
"My grandfather taught me," Archie's lips curved into a slight smile. "He used to be a master in his day. You know? He always had a pawn in his pocket."
"A single pawn?"
Archie tugged up a necklace, a small, golden pawn gleaming at the end of the chain.
"He gave one to all of us. You see? It's supposed to be a reminder—that we're all pawns in someone else's game. Ready to be sacrificed at a moment's notice, all to protect something greater. To most, we seem insignificant." Her eyes sharpened and her smile broadened. "But without us, the game can never be won. And if we persist, if we fight through, we can even become queens."
"Not to mention, a pawn can even hold the king in check." Harry smiled, moving his pawn to stand diagonal to Archie's king. "And get him to move."
"The power and effect that even a common pawn can have." Archie shifted her king away and clasped her gloved fingers. "Your turn, Harry."
"Let me think," Harry mumbled. "I had hoped you would go in the other direction."
Archie laughed. "I think I can see that knight you've stationed there. Giving me a choice between my rook and my king? Not cool."
Harry snorted, his eyes trailing over the pieces. 'What would Ron do?'
A shrill, piercing noise rang through the walls and Archie shot to her feet while Harry winced, pushing his fingers in his ear. "What the hell's that?"
"Emergency alarm." Archie yanked open the door of the long cabinet behind her and removed a silver spear, its tip sparking with golden magic. "Take any weapon you need. We need to go."
Harry glanced over her shoulder to see gleaming swords and staves and a single bow stashed in the cabinet, with daggers and knives littering a small shelf.
"I think I'll stick with my magic."
Archie snapped the cabinet shut and ran down the corridor with Harry. The alarm continued to blare, drowning the thunder of their footsteps as they rushed past hexagonal windows, the scenery changing at every step. Harry's heart quickened as he caught a glimpse of red, which shone at the hedges of one of the hexagonal windows.
A huge storm brewed on the other side of it, the flash of lightning flitting between dark clouds.
"The Everstorm land," Archie grimaced. "Home of the wind spirits. Brace yourself."
She touched the bricks at the side of the window, moving her fingers in a quick pattern. The window opened, and a harsh gust of wind sent Harry stumbling, the winds whistling down the corridors.
"Come quick!" Archie pushed through, stumbling onto the other side, her hair spreading and fluttering in the wind. "The gateway will close in a few seconds!"
Harry leaped through the window, stumbling onto a rocky, uneven ground. The cold wind bit into his skin, and the faint whiff of ozone tingled his nose. The gateway behind him disappeared from view, and an anxious feeling clawed in his chest.
Storm winds tore at his robes, howling through his hair. Drops of rain fell across his face, sinking into the fabric, an uncomfortable chill seeping down his shoulders
"Bloody hell." He gathered magic in the palm of his hand and flicked his fingers, an umbrella of magic stretching over Archie and him. Rain pattered against the spell and the flash of lightning shone through the black clouds above as the clap of thunder echoed through the valley. "What are we up against?"
"Aside from the storm? I don't know!" Archie dug her spear into a fissure in the rocks and held herself steady. Lightning boomed in the sky, throwing a flash of blue across her worried face. "We need to get to the city and meet the council of wind-spirits. Only they could've sounded the alarm."
"Where's the city?"
"Just below the top of this hill," Archie yelled, her hand pointed to the cluster of dark hills in the distance, dark clouds rumbling over them.
Harry swirled his fingers in circles, opening a portal. Golden sparks blew in the wind and crashed against rocks below as the center cleared, a roar echoing through it.
Blurs of white and gray swirled around a giant stone golem, pushing it back. Lightning rained down on the golem, sinking into the creature, which glowed a brilliant blue hue. Its eye flashed white for a moment and Harry felt a fist clench around his heart as it roared.
A beam of blue energy burst from its eye, tearing through the building in front of it, the dust swirling in the wind.
"Fuck," Archie muttered, hurling her spear. "The Nixes of Vanheim!"
The spear bounced off the Nix's skin, releasing a small wave of white magic, sending it staggering. A second roar pierced through the howl of the wind and Harry twisted to see a Nix towering over a tall citadel. The monster lumbered forward, its sharp claws tearing through the top of the citadel's dome, debris falling onto the city below, sending little blurs of gray scrambling.
A bolt of lightning hit its hand, sinking into the Nix's skin, its eye flashing white. Its paw climbed up, crumbling more of the citadel's roof before it roared loud enough to send the winds buffeting their way.
"Is it me or are those monsters growing in size?" Harry held onto a rock, tracing golden lines in the air forming a huge disc of magic.
"They are going to grow bigger unless we stop them!" Archie's spear soared back into her hand, and she thrust it forward, a golden arc of magic hammering into the second Nix. "They feed on electricity. The more they feed, the bigger and badder they get. Once they reach a threshold, they'll be unstoppable!"
Harry felt the blood drain out of his face. "With all the lightning and the storm here, they'll lay ruin to the city."
"Exactly."
"Then let's kill them before it happens."
With a yell, he threw it at the Nix's throat, only for it to shatter, sending sparks of gold raining down the creature's body. Another bolt of lightning cracked in the sky and the Nix's eye flashed white, the spikes on its back elongating.
'Shit.'
His eyes flitted across the city watching the gray blurs flying circles around the Nixes. "Archie, if those are wind spirits, get them clear. I am going to take the bigger one down."
Archie nodded and sprinted past him as Harry drew on the magic around him, shaping it into runes of blue magic. "Whip of Faltine!"
A whip of reddish-orange magic cackled through the wind, striking the Nix's knee, and blowing it to pieces with a deafening crack. The monster collapsed, its claws tearing through the rocky ground, crushing small houses and buildings under its body.
Harry threw out his hand, his fingers glowing a crimson red. "By the power of the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, bind my foe!"
Ribbons of crimson magic twisted around the Nix, tying it to the ground. It screeched and roared, thrashing against the magic. Harry held out his crimson hand and clenched his fist, the ribbons glowing brighter, the movements of the Nix ceasing.
He drew a thin thread of magic and tied a knot, tugging at it and dropping it in the wind.
'It'll stay put now.' He turned to the remaining Nix, who howled as blurs of gray and white pushed it back.
A silver spear soared through the rain and wind, a wave of white magic erupting as it touched the Nix's chest, the boom of the spell drowning away the other sound. The wind spirits slipped around the Nix's flailing arms and kicking legs, the air buffeting toward it.
Lightning cracked in the sky and sunk into its skin, a roar rattling Harry's ear. A beam of energy shot from the creature's eye, tearing through a few wind spirits and blasting into the rocky ground below.
Harry's heart clenched. 'I need to kill it.' His eyes flitted to the silver blur soaring back toward Archie. 'Accio spear.'
The magic resisted for a moment, but Harry wrenched it away, tugging the spear toward him. The silver shaft slammed into his palm, the magic thrumming between his fingers.
'Interesting enchantments,' Harry noted. 'Time to make use of them.'
"GET AWAY!" Harry roared, taking aim as he pushed magic into the spear. "OUT OF MY WAY!"
Spirals of golden magic curled around the silver shaft, the spear thrumming in his hand.
Wind spirits scattered, seeing the spear and he took a breath, his grip tightening on the shaft.
"By the power of hoggoth, let this spear strike true— SPEAR OF HOGGOTH!"
He released the spear which hurtled through the wind in a golden trail, piercing through the Nix's chest and emerging from its back. Black blood splattered onto the buildings from the gaping hole in the Nix's chest as it staggered.
It glanced down with its eye, the brown iris rolling sideways before it fell, its arms smashing through buildings, sending dust rising in the wind. Harry coughed and waved his hand, a bubble of magic forming around his head, keeping the dust away. The wind tugged at his robes and gray blurs swirled around him.
Vaguely humanoid forms emerged, standing around him in a loose circle. Their bodies were made of white smoke, their eyes blue hollows.
"Sorcerer," A distorted voice spoke. "We gratitude you."
Harry blinked at them and nodded, glancing past the wind spirit to see Archie nearing.
"We were just doing our jobs, sir," Harry said. "Are there any injured?"
The wind spirits turned around and looked as one as Archie strode into the circle, frowning at him.
"No, Sorcerer. Our kin is tough to injure." The spirit in front of him bowed. "We gratitude for your concern."
"You're welcome, listen-to-the-wind-shear," Archie stepped in. "We'll take the other Nix too with us."
"We gratitude you deeply. Our kin will build again. But had Sorcerer not been here, trouble we would be in, deep. We gratitude you once more."
With that, the spirits vanished in the wind, flitting across the city, the debris rolling away, clearing the street.
"Their translation magic isn't the best," Archie commented, adjusting her gloves and brushing her hair out of her face. "Today, it was still less broken, thankfully. Sometimes you really have to put in effort to understand these guys."
"The message was conveyed, so I don't mind." Harry shrugged. "So, is this what you guys do? Go into realms when there's an attack?"
"Not exactly." Archie shook her head. "The worst we usually face is some errant idiot trying to get out onto Earth. Or a self-fancied conqueror, liberator, or the like. They are usually dealt with right here. The incursions, or whatever you call them, started only a couple of years back."
"That's because of the great convergence. The nine realms of the Ydggarsil will align soon. These incursions will grow more frequent."
"Yay. More trouble."
Harry's lips curved into a smile and his eyes flitted to the Nix tied down on the ground. "What do we do with this thing?"
"Kill it. Unless you've got a way to transport it back to Vanheim's jungles."
Heimdall's amber eyes flashed in his mind. "I could. But even if they're native to the place, they might not have seen one this big. Or this powerful."
"True. Want me to do the dirty work or you will do it yourself?"
Harry raised his hand, and a blur of silver slapped into his hand. He spun the spear before tossing it to Archie who arched an eyebrow. "I guess me it is."
24th February 2008
New York Sanctum
The light of the morning sun filtered through the thin curtains, falling across the broad, low table. A bronze sling ring glinted in the palm of his hand, little threads of golden and silver magic humming and spiraling into a pattern over the top of the ring.
A little smile flitted over Harry's lips as he picked it up, running his thumb over the warm metal.
'Relic creation. A step beyond enchantments.' He slid the ring onto his left hand, tiny golden symbols flashing in gold on the bronze. 'Time to see if it works. First, on something other than myself.' He pointed his fingers at the chair across the table and concentrated, feeling the magic snap into place. 'Now… up.'
The chair shot up through the air and shattered against the ceiling with a loud bang, splinters of wood raining down over the sanctum's floor.
"Blimey," Harry shielded his face with his arm, wincing as the blue cushion bounced off the table, onto the carpet littered with wood. "Bloody hell. Reparo. Reparo."
The chair flew back together, and the cracks vanished, restoring the chair to as it was. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head, holding the sling ring up.
'It works. But now I need to figure out how to control it.' Harry scowled. 'I can't shoot up like the chair if I ever want to fly with it.'
The ring thrummed and Harry slipped it back on, his eyes flitting across the room, landing on a round, blue pillow. He flicked his fingers and the pillow shot up, hovering several feet above, next to the second-floor landing.
The cloak of levitation turned in its glass case, tilting its collar before turning back around with a flourish of its cloth. Harry sighed and let go of the spell, the pillow falling straight into his hands.
'Wingardium Leviosa.' The pillow rose gently, levitating back to its spot on the couch and Harry ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head. 'How do I do that with the ring?'
Slight frustration bled through his veins and the furniture around him rattled, being pushed back.
"Bloody hell," Harry tugged the ring off and threw it on the table. "Bloody hell. How is it so reactive?"
He pulled his pouch off his belt and removed a thick, black leathered diary from it, flipping through the pages filled with untidy handwriting, scribbled notes, and diagrams until he found the sketch of the ring he was creating.
"The telekinetic ring," Harry traced his fingers over the diagrams and read through his notes. "There's a connection with the wielder, locked by blood— which I haven't done yet. But it shouldn't increase the power or sensitivity but rather decrease it. What am I missing?"
He bit his lips and frowned at his notes, reading through the scribbled words in the margin.
A chime rang through the sanctum, and he looked up sharply, his heart clenching. 'The last time this happened, it ended with Master Hamir sacrificing himself to save me.'
He put the book away and got up from his seat, his heart pounding, as he walked across the hall, toward the entrance.
'Best maintain my distance.' He pointed his hand at the door. 'Alohomora.'
The doors swung open to reveal a woman standing on the other side, wearing a beige trench coat and dark sunglasses, a shy smile on her lips.
"Wendy?"
"Hey, Harry." Wendy removed her sunglasses, revealing her fake glass eye. "Can I come in?"
"Of course," Harry slid to the side, taking her coat and hanging it by the door. "Come in. Make yourself comfortable."
Wendy smiled and tucked her hair behind her ears, walking past him to the seating area.
"Tea? Coffee?" Harry made a little movement with his finger, and a tray with white porcelain cups appeared. "I can even do a few juices now."
"Coffee, please." She shifted, watching with curious eyes as the cup was filled with coffee. "How do you do this? Make drinks, you know?"
"Well, there're two ways. The easier one is where you just make something you want and store it in stasis, summoning it as you wish. That way, it remains hot, fresh, and ready to serve. The other is a tiny bit more complicated where you turn the water, conjured or otherwise, into your desired drink. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on food."
"Shame, you could cure world hunger if it did." Wendy glanced outside the window, tugging at the curl of her hair, her foot bouncing.
"So, what brings you back here? I thought you left a week after being healed."
Wendy's head snapped toward him and a slight red flush crept over her cheeks. "I— I did. I came here to be healed. I was and I left. Got a nice job, celebrated, even tried dating… tried getting back to my normal life."
"That's wonderful."
"Not exactly. How can you live a normal life when you know there's… so much out there? A whole world of wonders and possibilities?" She raised her hand, a thin, golden line of magic stretching between her fingers and rotating, forming circles that turned into a disc of energy, golden sparks scattering over her jeans. "When there's a world of magic?"
"You want to return." Harry leaned back in his chair.
"I don't know." Wendy squirmed, looking away. "I… I don't want to fight eldrich horrors and demons. I want a normal life. But at the same time, I cannot live a normal life now that I know all of it exists. Does that make sense?"
"It does. You want to be a part of something bigger… but you cannot do it conventionally."
"Exactly. I don't want to fight monsters," she said. "Don't get me wrong. If it comes down to it, like a life-or-death situation, I will fight and protect. But only when it's absolutely necessary."
"Wendy, almost every fight we fight is necessary in some way or the other." Harry gave her an amused look. "But I understand."
"I can serve in some other role and help you all. Like a caretaker. Or a receptionist. There has to be more to sorcery than just fighting, right?"
"There definitely is," Harry agreed. "But to do any of that, you first need to first learn sorcery. You were only here for a few weeks before you left, if I remember correctly."
Wendy nodded, curling a stray strand of her hair around her finger. "I learned a few basics. Conjuring basic constructs, a shield or two… and I started on the portals."
She slid on a sling ring, which glowed with small, golden runes and Harry frowned as she held it out, her forehead scrunched.
"Wait, where did you get that ring?"
"It was right here, on the table," she said, turning her fingers in circles.
Multiple loud crashes tore through the sanctum, as furniture and relics flew off the ground and smashed onto the walls. Harry dove to the ground, throwing up a shimmering shield as a table flew over his head and splintered and crashed through the window.
"Wendy stop! That's not a sling ring!"
She backed away and tugged the ring off her fingers, chucking it to the ground. With it, the furniture and relics dropped, clattering onto the ground. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and slowly got back to his feet, glancing at Wendy who stared in horror, a hand over her mouth.
"I am so sorry! I— I didn't mean to—" Tears slipped down her cheek. "I thought it was a sling ring and—"
"It should've been, but I was altering it." Harry winced. "I should've put it away safely and not left it lying around."
"I always do this. First with those Shadowfiends and now I nearly tore the sanctum apart."
"A slight exaggeration." Harry waved his hand and the things which had broken repaired themselves, wood and glass flying back together, the cracks vanishing. With a flick of his fingers, he willed the things to go back to their place, reassembling the room as it was. "See? All done."
"I am so sorry. I am not meant for this." Wendy hung her head and turned away, running toward the sanctum door.
Harry wrenched the world past him and appeared in front of her with a pop, startling her.
"Hey, it's not your fault," He glanced at the ring and summoned it, dropping it in his pouch. "In fact, I would say that you're meant for this. You've a talent for using relics. The Gyre of Gateways is a tough relic to activate. And you did it by accident."
"I also caused so much destruction with it. That's like having an unnatural talent for safely crashing cars. It is still a crash!"
"Yes, we do need to have you more educated about the relics themselves." Harry sighed. "Once you are—"
A loud ring buzzed in his pocket, and he held up a finger, removing the phone out of his pocket and frowning at the screen. "I'm terribly sorry, Wendy. I have to take this. Don't go anywhere. It isn't your fault."
24th February 2008
Triskelion, Washington DC
Golden sparks burned in the center of the room, curving into a circular ring as Harry stepped through with a frown, coming face to face with the nozzles of two guns.
"Hello, Fury," Harry let the portal behind him vanish as Fury and Hill holstered their guns. "A little jumpy."
He waved at Coulson, whose face was on a big screen, the ruins of a building smoking behind him. He gave him a nod on the video call, glancing at Fury and Hill.
"It never hurts to be careful," Fury scowled. "And you just stepped onto the most secure room in the building even without so much as a knock."
"You invited me." Harry rolled his eyes. "Now, what has happened that caused all the destruction behind Coulson, which is why I assume you called me?"
"This." Hill pressed a button and the screen on which Coulson's video call was on, split, displaying the image of two robots— a giant gray one and a smaller, red and gold one in the middle of a fight with each other. The images changed, showing different snapshots of the fight.
"Robots, huh? I didn't know that the military tech had such sci-fi types of robots already."
"This isn't the military. This is Tony Stark's and Coulson is standing at the Stark Industries compound. And those things? They are two motherfucking suits of armor," Fury growled, glowering at the screen. "The suits shouldn't even work on the scale they did, according to my tech team downstairs."
"You want me to know if they are powered by magic, then?" Harry bit the bottom of his lips, staring at the red and gold suit of armor. "If Stark is delving into magic to make weapons, it'd be very concerning. And very dangerous." He glanced at Coulson. "But I thought he shut the weapon division down."
"He did," Coulson said quietly. "The man in the red suit is Stark, trying to save civilians, and Pepper Potts, his assistant from Obadiah Stane, the man in the gray suit. Stark saved a lot of lives a few hours ago."
"Right." Harry frowned. "So, what's the problem?"
"There's a significant chance that the suit Stane was using was not technology," Hill answered. "Stark, for all intents and purposes, is one of the smartest men on the planet and leaves his father behind when it comes to technology. He could've created such a suit. Stane though… We suspect his suit might be more than just metal. Either that or he stole Stark's design."
"We have Stane's dead body in custody." Fury added "We didn't get the suit— Stark and his assistant, Potts, were faster. We know that Stane was in bed with the terrorist organization, the Ten Rings. And if his suit had magic, we could be looking at a new generation of weapons, one in which the bad guys have a head start."
Harry felt his heart clench. "Right. It's unlikely that I can get anything without the suit itself, but I'll still check."
"We can get you to the suit," Coulson glanced at Fury. "You can sneak in with me. I'm on recon and press for this incident. And Stark would trust me enough to let me in since I helped his assistant earlier. I've got a way into the room. You can come with me and sneak in to check on the suit. Preferably, both their suits."
"Sounds like a plan."
AND… DONE! Hope you all liked the chapter!
So, yes. We got to see Wendy and Archie again, and yes, they'll be a presence in the story from time to time. Not big roles, but yet, a role to play. And no, I didn't have Harry go and interrupt Stane and Stark's fight. It was unneeded and frankly, tropey. Also, the fight was necessary to Tony's character arc.
I plan for them to meet properly in a different way than most fics. Not the one you're guessing, even considering the recent chapter.
As I've said before, I do plan to expand on the Sorcery part going forward. It has limitless possibilities and offers a better chance at worldbuilding. It is where the most powerful things are concentrated in the MCU. (Think about it. Most powerful monsters, demons, and at times, even villains have some connection to magic.)
If you want to read what happens next, the NEXT FOUR CHAPTERS are up on Pat-reon. If you become a patron, you'll receive extra chapters, short-pieces, lore compendiums, and even side-stories. So, if you want to (and can), please support me as an author. It'll mean a lot to me if you do.
Link: www . pat reon HPFanfictioner66 (Remove spaces)
.
FrozenColt: While I've given an indepth answer in your DM, no, I do not plan to bring any characters from HP into this story. The world is left behind and will stay that way. They'll be mentioned, of course, but you'll not see the characters themselves.
Arkthemagnificent: Perhaps, perhaps not.
Blaze1992: With the Eye of Power around his neck, Harry needs no other foci for anything. While the talons of Hedwig sounds like something Harry might do.
Jack T. Writer: Relics, to put it simply, are more than enchanted items. When the magic bonds with the material, a relic is created. The magic doesn't wane, nor can it be removed from the relic. But, yes, the material does affect the relic. Thor's hammer could, in a way, be considered a relic, yes. And… idk about Loki's horns. I would've to research about them, I'm afraid. But if they're made of Uru, Harry wouldn't be capable of just melting it, I feel. It takes the power of a dying star to get Uru into liquid form.
I recommend you come to discord or my PMs to have a longer discussion on relics. I cannot put everything here.
Dericof Diname: Technically, Rio has already appeared. She was Death, wasn't she? And Death appeared twice already.
Ulttoanova: The Endless are bound by rules. Their interference could be reality-shattering, which is not what anyone wants.
.
Thank you for all your reviews!
A huge thanks to Mughil and Zaby for betaing this chapter!
If you wish to have more detailed discussions, see character images, and stay in touch with me, join my discord server where you can chat directly with me.
Link: discord . gg / 4qfP3fxdQ4
.
Stay Happy! Stay Safe! Keep Smiling! Keep Reading!
HPfanfictioner66