Chapter 47: Chapter Forty-Seven
"We were just calling to let you know that we stopped that thing," Rocket started in reply to Nova Prime's question for clarification.
"The Expansion." Peter supplied.
"Yeah, whatever. We stopped 'The Expansion', which was a Celestial trying to take over the universe." Rocket said. "Do we get a reward this time?"
"We can discuss that when you come to debrief us. In the meanwhile, you have my thanks for your help. We have many people who were worried that it might happen again." Nova Prime said.
"Excuse me, Miss Prime?" Harry spoke up.
"My name is Irani Rael, my position is Nova Prime. Who am I speaking to?" she asked.
"My name is Harry Potter. I was wondering if we could arrange a meeting. It seems we're in the same line of work." Harry said.
"Where are you from, Mister Potter?" she asked.
"Earth." Harry replied.
There was a sigh on the other side. "I'm afraid your people are not ready for the rigours of space travel. You have not even left your solar system as far as we can tell."
Harry's eye twitched. "Are you calling us inferior?"
"I would never do that. Technologically you are just a bit behind." she said diplomatically.
"One moment, please?" Harry asked. "Can you mute the connection?" he asked Rocket, not caring that they heard him. Rocket shrugged and pressed a button. "I'm assuming you've met this Nova Prime or know where we can find her?"
"We've been there." Gamora nodded. "It would be unwise to go there without permission."
"Would one of you mind giving me a memory?" Harry asked with a wicked smile.
-Xandar, Nova Corps Headquarters-
"Did he just put me on hold?" Nova Prime asked. She had been gathering information about the strange phenomena that were taking place on many planets under the Nova Corps' protection. So far she was having a rough day. Then suddenly there was a call with possible answers and she jumped on it, just for her to be placed on hold.
"It would seem like it." Corpsman Dey replied. He was fighting a smile.
"This is not funny. We need to know what's going on!" she exclaimed. Then she gathered herself and said, "At least we can tell people that it seems the event has passed. We'll confirm what we can when we get them to come in."
She spent the next minute waiting for the call to continue while giving orders to tell people that the worst is over, when the voice she had last been speaking to spoke again, but it was not coming from the machine. It was coming from right behind her. "Hello Irani Rael. You were saying something about us backwards humans not being able to travel through space?"
There were calls of alarm as many guns were suddenly pointed at Harry, who simply conjured a stool and sat down on it. He was dressed in a decent semblance of their uniforms, except with EPI insignia and it was all black with golden accents. Nova Prime was shocked. "What are you?" she asked.
"Does nobody in the universe have any manners? Why do people always ask what I am before they even introduce themselves properly?" Harry said with a shake of his head. "I told you, I'm human, from Terra. The same Terra that I just came from, by the way."
"Terrans do not possess the abilities you have demonstrated," she said, "And you bypassed our security. You are a threat unless you can prove otherwise." she said.
Harry waved his hand and the Guardians of the Galaxy appeared where they had been standing invisibly, along with four others. A woman with green hair and uniform with dark glasses, a dark-skinned man with a black coat of some kind and an eye-patch, a muscular blond man carrying a hammer and a thinner man with long black hair and a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. "Good enough?" Harry asked. "If we wanted to kill anyone here, we could have done it the moment we arrived, but we didn't."
Nova Prime seemed to collect herself, but conceded his point and indicated for the many guns to be lowered. "You speak the truth. It seems we have underestimated the Terrans."
"To be fair, a lot of what you just saw was thanks to Mister Potter." Brand said. "He is capable of many things, but protocol dictates that we cannot discuss it."
"Protocol?" Nova Prime asked.
"As Mister Potter said, we are a peacekeeping organization, dedicated to our planet's security. We'd like to make contact with other like-minded individuals, since I believe we have much to offer each other." Brand said. "My position as the Director of SWORD is to look for threats from outside our solar system."
"And my position as Director of SHIELD is to look more locally." Fury said. "Speaking of which, I believe I'm going to be late for a meeting." He said looking at Harry. Harry knew what he was doing and played along, nodded and turned a portal into being. Fury stepped through and the portal dissipated.
"How are you doing that? Where did he go?" Nova Prime asked.
"I sent him to his office on Earth." Harry answered. "As for how, that requires security clearance that you don't have." he said bluntly.
"I am Nova Prime. I have the highest clearance level in the Nova Corps." she said indignantly.
Harry shook his head. "Listen, we came here to extend a hand in friendship and offer you the chance to join us in debriefing the Guardians. I'm not being difficult, but I dislike being spoken down to, like most species I imagine?"
Nova Prime looked thoroughly chastised, "You are correct, of course. I should not have assumed. Please, feel free to use one of our briefing rooms and we will offer you sustenance while we debrief you."
"If that is customary, I'd like to offer the same to you. My place is more secure and can offer most kinds of refreshments." Harry countered. "My method of debriefing is also much more thorough, I can guarantee it."
Nova prime seemed to think about it. "Can I bring my security detail?"
"I invited you, so that would be acceptable," Harry said, "But my home is a refuge for endangered species, so if so much as one of your people attack anyone or anything on my land, I will take it personally and the Nova Corps will go on my shit list." After threatening the head of an interplanetary peace-keeping force, Harry turned around, turned a portal into being and went back to the island.
"Ladies, we're about to receive some armed guests. Please, for my peace of mind, do not approach us while they are here. I'll be layering a bit of magic over you to have them ignore you, okay?" Harry told the Nymphs.
"Certainly, my lord." Xera said with a smile from Tony's pool chair. "So long as you can see us, we won't mind."
"Thank you." Harry said before layering some spells on his Nymphs. 'My Nymphs?' Harry thought to himself. 'When did I start thinking of them as my Nymphs?'
Pretty soon Nova Prime arrived with twenty men, who ranged around the seating area Harry had quickly conjured for them. It was a simple glass covered table with chairs arranged around it. "Okay, so I'll demonstrate first and then we'll get the debriefing done painlessly." He said as he extracted a memory from his mind and placed it in the Pensieve Tablet, which he had pulled from his pocket.
"I want you to follow my lead. I'm going to place my finger on the tablet and it will show me the memory I just placed in it." Harry said to Prime.
"Excuse me, ma'am, Mister Potter." Corpsman Dey, who had followed them, said. "May I see this technology first, to confirm that it is safe?"
"Be my guest," Harry said with a smile, "You just earned yourself a free drink from my bar, for your diligence."
"Thank you, sir." Dey said.
Harry placed his finger on the tablet and entered the memory, with Dey following shortly after him, which was just a replay of when Harry met Nova Prime a couple of minutes ago.
"That is amazing technology!" Dey exclaimed once he came to himself. Then he turned to his leader, "We must acquire this for the Corps. It would be a very useful tool. As far as I can tell it is completely safe and shows you a memory in very, very vivid detail. I was even able to talk to Mister Potter, while we watched the memory."
Nova Prime seemed impressed. "Okay, then. Show me." Harry took her through the same process and she, too, was soon a believer. "Dey is correct," she said with raised eyebrows and a bit of a smile on her lips, "This would be very useful for the Corps. Where would we acquire these devices?"
"PI," Harry said, "My Company." Then he thought about it, "Is that okay, Jarvis? Can you make Pensieve Tablets a normal person can use?" he called out over his shoulder.
"If they are willing to pay the going rates, I would be more than willing to start production on these for the Nova Corps. And as long as they sign a contract to protect our interests in this regard, of course." Jarvis said from the bar speakers. "There is a way for them to use the tablet without your gifts, but you'll need to, ahem, assign the devices to the people who use them." Harry understood he meant bond, magically.
"You heard the man." Harry said.
"Who-" Prime started.
"That's Harry's AI." Peter interjected.
"Well that's just rude!" Harry said. "Jarvis is my friend. I told you he's sentient and he's a really nice guy. Why would you make him sound like a possession?"
"Is Mister Jarvis trustworthy?" Prime asked with a raised eyebrow.
"He could keep secrets better than I could and my mind can't be read without permission." Harry said. "He's also a friend, so he's very trustworthy."
"Fair enough." Nova Prime said. "We can discuss the purchase of these at a later date? I'd like to get the debriefing over with."
"I agree." Brand said. "Now that everyone knows how this works, let's get the relevant information."
Harry shrugged and asked the people who'd be willing to offer the memory. Drax was strangely the one to offer first, but Peter ended up giving his memory, as he was closer to the action. They watched the memories from the moment Quill met his father, skipping over some useless information as Harry fast-forwarded the memory.
About a hundred and twelve minutes later, they had watched the entire series of events till Ego died and Nova Prime had a whole new look of respect on her face. "Guardians of the Galaxy, you did exceptionally well. I will try to intercede on your behalf with the Sovereign for what you have done, as it seems that their batteries were instrumental in saving the galaxy. We might be able to persuade them that it was your goal to begin with. Their pride may just buy you your freedom from their bounties." Nova Prime said.
Rocket's face fell. "Just our luck."
"The way I see it, if you weren't a kleptomaniac, Ego may have won." Peter said.
"I doubt that. My brothers and I would have been able to destroy him." Thor said confidently. "With myself and Loki there, we would have succeeded, but with Harry there, the would-be god wouldn't have stood a chance."
"Who are you? We've not been introduced." Nova Prime asked.
Thor smiled and offered his hand, "I am Thor, and that is my brother Loki. We are from Asgard."
Nova prime got a look on her face like that explained everything. "Now it makes sense. You said brothers, I'm assuming you meant Harry as the other?" she asked.
"Technically he's just our brother in name. He has chosen to not carry the royal blood, but he was adopted by Odin and Frigga and he was blessed by Asgard, so he is of the Aesir even if he is still human." Loki said.
"Dude, too much information!" Harry said. "A simple 'yes' would have sufficed."
"But then I could not confuse her with you being able to choose whether you carry the royal blood and what the blessings of Asgard are." Loki said.
"I've heard of stranger." Nova Prime said easily. "It's a big universe and I've seen a lot of what people might consider strange." Then she got up. "Is there a method by which I can contact you?" she asked Harry.
Harry got up and said, "Just one moment," before he disappeared with a pop. He was back two seconds later with a mirror in hand. "Just call my name and we'll be able to talk."
"Harry Potter." She said instantly.
Harry sighed and obliged her by answering his mirror. "Yes?" he joked.
She was looking into the mirror and moved it and angled it. "This is some interesting technology and the quality of the feed is impeccable. It's like I'm looking through glass!"
"This one is for you only." Harry said. "The technology will allow you to speak with me from wherever you are. It can even reach me on this island or at one of my off-world bases. Do not lose it."
"You can call for me too." Brand said. "I am in charge of our intergalactic department, after all." She held her hand out to Nova Prime, who shook it, "My name is Abigail Brand, director of SWORD and the person who is in charge of security between Terra and the rest of the wider universe. I'd be happy to arrange a sit-down at some point, in a less informal environment."
Nova Prime nodded, appreciating the professionalism, "Once again, I apologise for my assumptions."
"It's fine." Harry said, "It is a rather recent development, but now you know better."
Irani Rael did not know what to think of the strange man, when he opened up a portal for her to the command floor again. Had Terrans really advanced so far? And the technology they had seen was so strange, but also seemed so advanced. Sentient artificial intelligence? Devices that could read and show memories, as if you were experiencing them yourself?
"Ma'am, what are you thinking?" Dey asked after the portal closed behind them. He was sipping coffee from a cup Harry had given him. It was a delightful beverage.
"I'm thinking that we may have an interesting new friend." She replied. "Whether they are capable of joining the galactic community as equals, remains to be seen."
"Surely the devices and the portals alone-" Dey started.
"The portals are his personal power, as far as I can tell, and while useful it is limited in that regard. The devices, on the other hand, show great promise. We'll have to discuss this further once we have more information, but for now, let us put our people's minds at ease." she said.
-Back on the island-
Things were going a lot better now that Brand had left to go write up a report and talk to her people. "She was so stuck up for a normie." Rocket said after Brand's portal closed.
"Normie?" Harry asked.
"Normal person." Peter translated.
"Oh, she's not normal. Not by a long shot." Harry laughed. "But I'm not giving out her secrets."
"So, what do we do now?" Peter asked.
"We could go fetch your ship and have my people look into fixing it for you?" Harry said. "I've got a couple of friends who'd love to take a look at the technology."
"I could use the help and some parts, I suppose." Rocket said. "What you don't have, I can make."
"Cool." Harry said excitedly. "I'll take you to our orbiting base tomorrow. That's where we'll have the staff and equipment we need to help."
Harry switched the music on and Peter's head snapped up. "I forgot you've got radio here!"
"All the channels on the planet, actually. I also have an up-to-date musical library if you are interested in perusing it?" Jarvis said.
"How many songs do you have?" Peter asked curiously, wondering how many thousands that had to be.
"A couple million." Jarvis said offhandedly.
Peter fell out of his chair, dramatically. When he got up he asked excitedly, "How do I choose?"
Jarvis brought up a screen on the television and asked Peter to narrow his search. Peter and Jarvis started going through music and Harry just smiled. It seemed Jarvis just made a new friend.
"Why are we wasting our time drinking and listening to music? Thanos is still out there, probably killing more people as we speak." Nebula asked angrily.
"Because, if you are constantly on mission, you'll never enjoy life." A new voice spoke up. Natasha walked up to them from the house. She walked behind the bar and hugged Harry.
"Why does she get to enter the bar?" Rocket asked.
"She is his wife." Drax said. "It is obvious from her bearing and the intimate nature of their embrace."
"We're not married yet, but we are engaged." Harry said with a smile. "And, yes, that is why she is allowed back here."
"But you hugged the Nymphs the same way!" Peter complained.
"Are they your concubines?" Gamora asked Harry.
"They want to be." Natasha said with a smile, "Harry is taking a long time to convince."
"Dude!?" Peter exclaimed looking between Harry and the frolicking Nymphs. "Nymphs! What the hell?!"
"I'm getting used to the idea, okay? I realise that it is part of their nature and culture, but it takes me a while to adjust to these things." Harry said. "I'm also still worried that Natasha is testing me, somehow." he finished suspiciously.
"I made out with Xera right in front of you and you still think I'm testing you?" Natasha asked with exasperation.
"I thought that was just a one-time thing, or a very nice gift." Harry said with a happy smile and a far-off look on his face as he remembered the night in question.
"Men." Natasha said with a roll of her eyes.
"What?" Harry asked looking back at her, coming out of his trance.
Natasha smirked, "I'm just kidding. Never change."
"Yes, dear." Harry said with a smile as he kissed his girl. When they broke the kiss, Harry turned to Nebula, "We're taking the time to think of what we are fighting for. We cannot save everyone. Trying to do that will drive you insane."
Nebula just looked sour. "I know what I am fighting for. I don't need to contemplate it."
"Then I suggest you switch drinks." Harry said, pouring her a normal firewhiskey. "This one will help you relax. It seems the fruity drinks are wasted on you."
Nebula did as Rocket did, downing the glass in one go, and then started coughing up smoke. A minute later, she calmed down and started relaxing, but she looked at Rocket with new-found respect. Harry poured her a new drink and this time she did not down it.
Natasha poured herself a shot of Iced Vodka and waited for Thor to take a sip of his firewhiskey. When he blew out the inevitable flame, she quickly took her shot and blew the icy mist in the direction of the flames. She didn't know what it would do, but Harry had told her to do it when she had a chance.
The magical effects seemed to twist together and then spread out as the fire was put out and the mist turned into a dark cloud and it soon started raining miniature droplets, with lightning bolts running through the cloud and an ominous rumble came from it, until the illusionary effect dissipated into nothing, leaving no trace behind.
"Ladies and gentlemen! The first ever convergence of elements!" Harry exclaimed happily, holding a bottle of Firewhiskey in one hand and Iced Vodka in the other. That had been his goal all along. If he was making the elements, he'd make them special and capable of interaction with each other.
"Well done." Loki congratulated. He'd taken a liking to the Loki's Breath, which had been sent to Asgard, bit not a lot of people had taken to it like the Firewhiskey. Loki himself found the calming effects of the Firewhiskey much more useful. That did not stop people from taking shots of Loki's Breath to get drunk on. It was currently the strongest drink on Asgard and could render seasoned drinkers to insensibility in a very short amount of time.
The guests soon started the serious business of drinking and drinking games started being played just after the Nymphs left. Harry set up the games for them with a variety of shots which he would magically refill as needed. At some point Harry became hungry and set his magic to making himself a burger with some fries on the side, while Natasha had a sirloin steak with a Caesar Salad.
The smells of food soon drew the attention of the guests and when Peter sat down, he looked at the burger hungrily. "Hungry?" Harry asked.
"Is that a Cheeseburger?" Peter asked, his eyes still pinned to the food as he swayed in his drunkenness.
"It's an Egg-topped Bacon Cheeseburger with fries." Harry said easily. "Want one?"
"Yes, please?!" Peter said excitedly.
Harry set his magic to perform the function again and asked the rest what they wanted, while Jarvis showed them the options that Harry had made in the past. Gamora and Drax wanted steak, but Gamora went with Natasha's choice of Sirloin with salad, while Drax wanted a massive pork Texan Steak all to himself.
Rocket and Groot had a four seasons pizza between the two of them and Mantis had some Chicken Nuggets. Nebula waited to see what the others got and decided to follow Harry and Peter's example.
Yondu and Kraglin both had some Macaroni and Cheese, which surprised them as they had obviously expected a different flavour, but they still enjoyed it tremendously.
The general consensus was the same as those who had eaten Harry's cooking before. Everyone loved it. Harry offered them dessert and all the ladies went with some ice-cream and home-made chocolate sauce, which Natasha suggested, while Harry, Peter and Rocket had a Kahlua Coffee. Harry had given Groot a small ice-cream cone, and he seemed to really enjoy it, so Kraglin asked for one as well. Yondu just got another Whiskey.
The evening's festivities came to an end with a miniature fireworks display, which Harry kept in the resort, which was warded to keep the sounds from disturbing the creatures of the island. He then showed them the guest house. Yondu and Kraglin decided to go sleep on the ship, so Harry opened a portal for them.
"You can feel free to leave this space." Harry said as he handed over a mirror. "I can come here whenever, but I'll try to call first, should I ever need to. Let me know if you need help in the future or just want to get away from the Ravager life. I can use someone with your experience and knowhow on my payroll."
"I'll think about it. This island of yours is definitely good incentive." Yondu said as he stashed the mirror. "Maybe I'll swing by when I'm in the area. Bring a couple of friends."
"Yeah, about that. While you may know what planet we're on, you won't be able to find the island. It's very secure. You can only come here if I bring you. As for friends, as long as they follow the rules and I'm here to keep an eye, I don't see why not." Harry said.
"The only thing this place needs is a place to service the needs of men." Yondu said.
"Yeah, I'm not doing that. While I am capable of creating temporary constructs here," he snapped his fingers and five identical Swedish masseuses appeared in their professional clothing, looking at the two men interestedly, before he snapped his fingers again and they disappeared, "I don't feel right catering to men's desires like that. I'm a dude. It's kind of disturbing to think about."
"Makes sense I suppose." Yondu nodded. "Okay, we're going. I'll be in contact. Maybe we can discuss some sales in the future. We Ravagers have a knack for picking up items of indeterminate legality." he smiled his uneven smile.
"And I'd be a fool to decline such an offer. We just need to discuss what we can supply you in return." Harry said with a smile, "We don't have access to units after all. Our currency is based off the value of gold."
"Gold works, but I'll think about it. I can see you having a lot to offer in trade. That drink for example, would be worth a lot to the right buyers." Yondu said as he walked through the portal.
"Thanks for the stuff and things." Kraglin said, referring to the drink, food and entertainment, as he followed his captain through the portal, which Harry closed behind him.
The following day, Harry took Rocket to the broken ship, opened a large portal to one of the Hangers on the Moon Base, where Tony, Reed Richards and Leo Fitz were all waiting in anticipation and a host of mechanical arms ready to assist. Then Harry summoned the rest of the ships' broken parts and sent them through the portal as well.
Loki had decided to play bar-tender to the people who stayed on the island while those better suited to it, repaired the ship.
It took Rocket all of five minutes to get used to the idea of how Harry could fix things, even if he hadn't been told what it was Harry did. They did have to explain a bit of how Harry's power had a very high likelihood of damaging sensitive parts, so Rocket had him stick to repairing the hull. He was quite impressed with how the dents disappeared and the parts fit together seamlessly.
"What'll it cost me to know what it is that you do exactly?" Rocket asked when they were taking a break to eat something.
"Contract." Tony said over his shoulder. He was watching as a bunch of arms controlled by Jarvis scanned and put parts together so that Harry could more easily fix and re-attach them. The fact that they were gathering information on how some of the parts worked, was just a happy coincidence, honest.
"The contract is super-natural and can't be broken without consequences." Harry said. "Sorry, but I can't say more without you signing."
"So a magic contract, then." Rocket joked. "Fine. Get me a contract. This stuff is too useful. I want in."
Harry smiled and summoned a standard secrecy contract. "Here you go." he said handing it to him and waiting so that he could read it.
"Do I sign it in blood or something?" Rocket asked snidely, so Harry gave him a pen.
"Before you sign. You have to read the contract. You have to know what it says or you can't sign." Harry said.
Rocket scoffed and signed immediately, only for his signature to disappear. "Huh, that's new. Disappearing ink?"
"Just read the bloody contract, already." Harry said exasperatedly.
Rocket sighed and read. "Wait, my memories of the knowledge? That can't be real. You can do that?" he asked looking at Harry.
"What better way to protect the secrets than using one of them to protect the rest?" Tony asked over his shoulder. "We all sign them at first. Once you become too important to lose, Harry might decide to remove the contract. I've not been on contract for a while. My knowledge is too important to lose."
"He's also my best friend, stupidly." Harry said. "I really should have spent more time with Steve or Clint, I wonder where I'd be today." he wondered aloud.
"You'd not have this cool moon base, nor the coolest friend in the universe." Tony scoffed.
"You're right." Harry said, "Without you I'd never have met Jarvis."
"Funny." Tony said as he turned back to the machines to watch their progress.
Rocket considered his options, but ended up signing the contract anyway. "Okay, I've signed your contract. Now start talking." Harry took the contract and made it vanish, before starting on his normal explanation. Half an hour and a couple of examples later, Rocket was laughing his ass off. "So you are a normie with a good brain, money and techno magic, while this one controls the fabric of the universe with his thoughts?"
"Well, I wouldn't call it that-" Harry said.
"Though it is pretty accurate." Tony cut in.
"It's more that I can influence what's already there. I can create life, sure, but it's temporary." Harry said.
"All life is temporary. Some just have longer temporaries." Rocket said, suddenly not laughing. "This can be useful though. How to I learn your techno magic?" Rocket asked Tony.
"Interested in what this 'normie' can teach you?" Tony smiled.
"I'd rather learn from the AI. Something tells me you'd only slow me down." Rocket said.
Tony scoffed. "Suit yourself, but you're going to have to follow the rules, just like the rest of us." He said with a smile. "No practicing unless you have enough knowledge. And I'll test you, when you get to that point."
"I agree with Master Stark." Jarvis said. "I can follow instructions, so I never had the inclination to cheat like him. I'd not know what to look for."
"What is this, pick-on-Tony-day?" Tony asked.
"It can be." Harry said with a smirk and wiggling his fingers.
"What did you do?" Tony asked, feeling his head and looking at his hands. "What did you do?" he repeated, when he found nothing wrong.
"Nothing." Harry said honestly, but smiled at him, "Yet."
Tony didn't trust him, justifiably, but dropped his hands and went back to eating his food while keeping Harry in his peripheral vision. Harry chuckled and went back to his own food.
When they were done eating, they went back to restoring the ship. Tony and the other two geniuses were fascinated when Rocket used some kind of sprayer to rebuild parts that did not make it to the hanger. Probably still in space or on the planet. It seemed they had nanotech. Nanotech was something they were very interested in.
He and Rocket were soon deep in discussion about the applications of that, while the other two scientists listened in and Harry continued his part. By the end of the day the ship was all in one piece and Rocket was busy with some rewiring. Their systems test revealed that some of the circuitry had not survived Harry's magical retrieval of the ship and its parts.
Rocket had taken great joy in having Jarvis inscribe many of the parts of the ship with MI runes, after he heard it makes them immune to radiation and electro-magnetics. Then he convinced Jarvis to cover the hull in hardening and self-repair runes. He couldn't wait to see the rest of the group's reactions when they took their next hit and it didn't leave a scratch.
When they returned to the island that evening, it was to find Logan preparing food over the fire for the guests again. It had become a bit of a habit. Logan would inevitably meet Harry's new friends, but waited for them to get settled in. Harry, on the other hand, would get busy with some new intrigue and be off the island for a bit too long, so Logan had shown up to give a tour of the island's inhabitants on the magic carpet.
Harry was worried when he noticed the carpet was out, where Logan usually left it when he had taken it out. As they approached, Loki walked up to Harry, "I'm sorry, I didn't know he was coming and by the time I noticed, they had already spotted him on the carpet."
"What are you spouting Loki? You had them under contract before I showed up." Logan growled.
Loki rolled his eyes, "Could you not play along, just once?" he complained.
"I told you, I don't do jokes." Logan replied. "Especially on the man that gave me the run of this paradise." He turned back to the food and flipped a piece of lamb. Logan kept a keen eye on the fire, once he realised the little tree creature was quite inquisitive. He'd not ventured near the fire yet, but Logan didn't put it past him and he couldn't spot him now. "Does anyone know where Groot is, right now?" he asked. "He mentioned something earlier about visiting the other trees. I really hope he's not looking in the greenhouses."
"You did warn him, right?" Harry asked urgently.
"Yes, of course. Little guy said he understood, but he's not very sharp and I wonder if he remembers." Logan said.
"You can speak to him?" Rocket asked.
"Of course." Logan said.
Harry in the meanwhile had his eyes closed and sensing around with his magic. He soon found Groot, standing near the Nymph House. "I've found him. He's just taking a walk outside the greenhouses. I'll go get him." he said before he lifted himself into the air.
Before he could leave, Rocket had jumped on his back and climbed onto his shoulder. "I'll come, too." he said. Harry didn't mind, and took off toward the greenhouses. When they spotted Groot, he was just standing there looking at nothing.
Harry on the other hand had noticed that Groot had stopped at the edge of the Fidelius and he seemed to be looking for a way in. Harry landed them next to the little man and Rocket jumped off. "Hey there, Buddy." he said.
"I am Groot." Groot said. To Harry it sounded like Groot wanted to go in.
"Did you sign a contract?" Harry asked.
"I am Groot." was the response.
"Okay then, but only you two." Harry said as he picked Groot up and held out a hand to Rocket. "This is one of those secret places. It is protected for a reason."
Rocket smiled and took his hand. He loved being in on people's secrets. Harry led them into the Fidelius and let them go. "So that's how it works." Rocket said. "I can see out, but I suppose I'll forget where this is when I leave it?"
"That is how it works, yes." Harry said.
"Can you give me a place like this on the ship? Maybe expand it a bit so I can have a weapons lab?" Rocket asked.
"We'd have to be careful not to damage any circuitry, but it should be doable." Harry said with a shrug. "We'll just have to get you setup with a way to inscribe MI runes, just in case."
Groot was walking to the door. When he reached it, it opened on its own and Xamantha was on the other side. "Hello Groot." she said, before she realised there were other people and suddenly she squeaked and went silent again.
"I am Groot." Groot said. Harry understood it as 'Hello, I came to visit.'
Xamantha looked like she wanted to talk to Groot, but couldn't. When Harry saw this, he looked down at Rocket, "I think Groot will be safe with the Nymphs." He looked up and said, "Xamantha, can you please bring Groot back to the houses when you are done visiting?" Xamantha nodded and Harry led Rocket back out of the Fidelius.
"Wow." Rocket said. "I knew it was going to happen, but it's still weird forgetting where we just were."
"At least you know Groot is safe." Harry said.
"Yeah, well. It's good to see him making some friends." Rocket said.
"I feel the same way. We have no children other than Xamantha on the Island. Sometimes I wonder if she's not lonely." Harry confessed as he lifted up and levitated Rocket with him. "That was actually the first time I ever heard her voice."
"I thought you needed your armour to fly?" Rocket asked.
"I do." Harry said before he looked down to see he was still in his filthy overalls, which he usually wore when he was busy with big construction-type work. "Huh. How am I doing this?" he wondered aloud as he flew them back to the resort.
Rocket just chuckled. "I worry when the magic man doesn't know what he's capable of."
"You don't understand. I know how I'm doing it, I'm just not sure how I'm doing it without the required hardware." Harry said.
"How do you normally do it?" Rocket asked.
"I have enchantments on parts of my armour with different functions. I had to set it up to work like a broom, but part of the enchantments function like a carpet, where physical interaction isn't necessary but intent controls the flight. The broom enchantments help me with my reaction time, where the carpet ones allow me to set a destination or flight speed and do other things like attack airborne enemies." Harry explained.
Rocket seemed to be considering this. "How do you activate your armour?"
"I will it into being, and it switches places with my clothes and this ring." Harry said pointing at the ring that was usually invisible.
"So your ring works on intent and your flight works on intent, right? Is your armour actually on you right now but in a different dimension or something? Could their enchantments actually be working through the ring?" Rocket asked.
Harry thought about it. "I suppose it's possible, but I'm almost certain I would have realised it sooner." he said. He couldn't help but feel he was missing something here.
"Well, who cares? You can fly. So can half the universe." Rocket scoffed.
"Is that an actual statistic?" Harry asked.
"No, but it isn't unheard of." Rocket admitted. "Bright side, you can make your own people fly if you can figure it out."
"That would be useful." Harry nodded. "You're a smart guy, Rocket. Thanks."
"You can always pay me a consultation fee." Rocket smiled.
"I can always charge for going to fetch your ship and helping with repairs." Harry countered.
"I could charge you for saving your life, at least once." Rocket countered, with a smile. Ronin would have come for Earth eventually. He counted that.
"I doubt that, and I could charge for the Runes you'll be studying." Harry countered again.
Rocket thought and then sagged as they approached the Bar. Harry had been enjoying the conversation and hadn't rushed. "Okay fine. You win." He said then he smirked. "I'll only charge you half-price."
"I tell you what Rocket." Harry said as he walked up to the bar and asked for a couple of shots of tequila and absinthe. "I hear you like to make things that go boom. I'm in the market for some rune-based weapons, since mine all work on enchantments. You get to the point where you can make those and I'll get you paid so well, none of your crew will ever have to work another day again. I might even throw in a bonus of a place on this island if you can help prepare us for Thanos."
Rocket shot up onto a chair and held his hand out. "Deal!" he said enthusiastically. Harry shook and Rocket had a look. "Care to show me what you've already made?"
Harry winced. "If you weren't under contract I'd be worried." He said while he thought about it. Then he turned to Loki. "Please continue covering for me?" At Loki's nod, Harry put two shots in front of Rocket and took two himself. He downed the tequila first and followed that up with the absinthe.
Rocket did the same and licked his lips. "That last one was good. What's it called?"
"Absinthe. It has a very mild hallucinogenic effect if consumed in large quantities, supposedly. I've never experienced it myself, but then I'm a wizard. I can handle a lot, and so can my liver." Harry replied. "I'm going to show Rocket some stuff. See you in a bit, okay?" he called over to Natasha who was currently inspecting one of Gamora's knives, while they talked about whatever deadly assassin type people discussed in their downtime. He walked back to the house and Rocket followed.
When they were inside, Harry opened a portal to one of the workshops and put the Pensieve Tablet on one of the tables, where he took a seat on one side and gestured for Rocket to take the other.
Half an hour later, Rocket walked back out of the house with a huge smile on his face and a begrudging respect for Harry. This human had some devious tricks up his sleeves. He'd have to think hard to top some of the ideas he'd seen and he had the knowledge to come up with a lot of weapons. He couldn't wait to start his experiments.
Jarvis had been setting up a training course for runes in his spare time, which would use normal touch-screen tablets, with a virtual instructor that looked the way he envisioned himself in the future and using his voice. A tall, athletic Englishman with a strong jaw, blue eyes and dark hair. The instructor would begin with the basics, adding what they had discovered, and be able to interact with the individual student to a degree.
The pace of learning would be adjusted to the person studying so that those who studied slowly could complete the course, even if it took more time. That way anyone could learn the art, and considering runes would and should never be drawn by hand again, the computer systems that controlled the rune lasers could check for mistakes or errors first.
So when Harry presented Rocket with the tablet and he started breezing through the lessons and taking it in, on a pace that would impress Stark, Harry knew he'd made the right choice, even if he did worry about the future of the universe, when he relied on trigger-happy raccoon to plan his weapons for him. Harry had seen his potential, though, and as always had jumped on the opportunity to get another person that was probably smarter than himself to help him.
They finished the ship the next day, with a couple of modifications for the crew, including more personal space and a hidden space where Rocket could store the extra MSC Shells that would help keep the runes fed, when they were in space for extended periods of time. Harry had tasked Rocket with finding them more Adamantite, since he'd need more before he could create a magic generator for Rocket's runes anyway. This way Rocket had time to learn before he could implement what he learned, at least on a large scale.
When the Guardians left, it was through a portal to Xandar, where Brand had scheduled a meeting with Nova Prime to discuss a working relationship and explain what EPI knew about the happenings in the universe and to find out the best practices in the galactic community. Harry would play the part of the taxi service, since neither side wanted any permanent door set up yet. To be fair, Harry could just do it anyway and hide it, but they had decided to play it safe and have Harry involved at all times, for now at least.
Harry went back to his lab, to work on the ever-increasing amount of projects including a new one he had gotten the idea for from Rocket. He couldn't create a super serum, but he sure as hell could use magic to create super soldiers. Their first ability? Flight. Harry was thinking of adding the entire enchantment in a ring.
---
It was another couple of months later when Jarvis's voice interrupted Harry's sleep. "Harry! Wake up!" he heard from his cell phone.
"What's the emergency?!" Harry said as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"It's done!" Jarvis said excitedly.
"Really?" Harry said instantly awake. "But Tony only figured out the storage 5 days ago!"
"And I finished what he started on that night." Jarvis said. "Since then I was working on production. When you helped Master Stark create that Micro Production Facility, I didn't take into consideration that things would take so much longer, especially when printing my brain. It is quite fortunate that you acquired the adamantite we needed from Rocket. You never did say what you gave him as payment."
Harry chuckled. "Let's just say he's been given staff status."
Jarvis seemed to think about it, before he asked, "Enchantments?"
"Yup." Harry confirmed. "The one thing only I can give, that runes can't necessarily do. How far is his training in that by the way?"
"He's almost reached basic level." Jarvis said. "He should be able to start with practical application in the next couple of days if he continues at his current pace. He's quite smart, but not as quick as Master Stark was at picking it up. If Master Stark had the resources Rocket has now, he'd almost have achieved Mastery by this time."
"I don't know if you're bragging about yourself, Rocket or Tony." Harry chuckled. "Either way, let me get dressed and then I'll see you soon." He said as he ended the call.
Harry went through his morning routine and then apparated to his lab. Tony was already on the other side, busy with the body. Jarvis had not been kidding. He really did want the human experience. No super-strong metal skeleton. No laser beams for eyes. He looked like a reasonably handsome, tall man with dark hair and blue eyes.
His organs weren't technically necessary, but Jarvis had worked hard to have all the known functions performed by all the required parts. He wanted to enjoy food, learn to dance, promote muscle memory through repetition and most of all, he wanted to feel alive.
The 'brain' and spine of the currently empty vessel, was suspended above the prone figure, strapped to an upright table, connected to a bunch of wires and no less than 15 IRDRs were set up to upload Jarvis to the brain from the entire mainframe at once. Jarvis had had to move himself from the old mainframe to exist only on the extension Tony had made available to him, so that his replacement could take over his duties.
"Are we ready for this?" Harry asked as he opened a portal and joined Tony on his side, after grabbing a parcel from his table.
"Just about." Tony said. "Jarvis, are you sure you don't want to make a backup of yourself first? I'd hate to lose you."
"Your concern is heart-felt, sir, or it will be soon." Jarvis joked. "I've left a copy of my data available, should the body fail me and you need access to it, but my personality and emotions, everything that makes me unique, will have only a short while after the copy, before they are destroyed. I feel the need to be unique even if it means the end of me. I am no longer just a machine."
"Good for you Jarvis." Tony said honestly. "All humans have that desire, at least to an extent." Then he turned his head and asked, "How are you holding up, Two-Point-Oh?"
"Everything seems to be in order, sir." came a different voice from Jarvis's old speaker system. It almost sounded like him, but different. "There was an attempt to breach your network a couple of minutes ago, but Jarvis's firewall system blocked them easily. The information on the attack is at your terminal. It originated in Sokovia and bounced through a couple of networks before getting here."
Tony looked up in concern, "We're in the middle of something that I can't risk being interrupted. Disconnect the lab from the rest of the network and block any signals, until further notice."
"Done, sir." The voice said.
"Are you sure you don't need to postpone?" Jarvis asked. "If you're under attack, I can help."
"It's not necessary." Tony said. "I trust Two-Point-Oh. You made him after all."
"You really should give him a name, then." Harry said.
"Two-Point-Oh is fine for now. I need to come up with an acronym, first." Tony said.
Pretty soon, they were ready and everything was set in place. Jarvis said a couple of last things, in case something went wrong, and then he shut himself down. For the transfer he'd need to boot up and have a process he designed run to access and retrieve his data and transfer it to the brain.
Tony squared his shoulders, "Okay. Systems are ready. We're on PMG power, so no interruptions occur. Jarvis's personal PMMG is running and his heart is pumping. All systems indicates his body is ready."
PMMG was the acronym for a Perpetual Motion Magic Generator. Once Jarvis identified that they would need to create more MSC Shells if they wanted a fleet in the future, Harry had started running the Magic Farming program. He had set up hidden locations across the globe near to populated areas and started factories that would store excess magic that was generated by those living in the areas by using PMMGs, like the one Tony used to power his runes.
Then he went to other worlds and did the same. At this point they were generating and storing enough magical energy to have five Midnight-class ships up and running constantly, without starting to deplete their stock of stored energy. Frankly, they were running out of room. Tony was of the opinion that there would be better ways to store the energy, than the current metallic disks contained in the plastic containers of the MSC Shells.
Harry had a plan for that, for the near future, but had focussed his efforts on the Earth's protections first.
Midnight was powered by its own PMMG that was set up in the heart of China, with the conduits running through rune portals. The power was directly fed into the ship and it in turn would store new energy as it was acquired, with a system in place to stop the generators if their stores became full. At full power, Harry didn't know if he himself could damage the massive ship, so the shields' runes were doing very well.
He had another PMMG set up in India, which fed the Lunar Base, since a lot of magical research was taking place there, especially magical weapons. That was one of Rocket's payments. Along with a portkey to and from the island for him and Groot, Rocket could also go to the Lunar Base to have access to the MSC Shells there, as long as safety precautions were taken. He was not allowed his own projects yet, but the practical tests still needed power, and there wasn't enough ambient magical power in space to power a light rune.
Harry had added projects to his list for enchanting a conjuration factory that would create the MSC Shells as needed that would then need runes placed to monitor when the conjurations would dissipate so that more energy could be fed into them. Automating a magical system like that would take a lot of effort, but Tony's magical computer project would likely hold the key to solving that. Harry was thinking a dedicated staff would probably be a good idea to monitor as well, just in case.
"The brain?" Harry asked, shaking himself out of his thoughts.
"Up and running, though I wish I knew how Jarvis set up the upload processes." Tony said. "He just loves messing with me these days."
"Sounds like you have a teenager on your hands." Harry chuckled. "Flip the switch already."
Tony grumbled, "It's not a switch," as he typed commands on his console and the process started.
The machines powered up and the status bar on Tony's screen showed the percentage bar on zero percent.
"Do you know how long this is going to take?" Harry asked.
"No idea, but considering the amount of data and the fact that I don't know how it's being uploaded to the brain, it could take a couple of hours." Tony said. "Chances are, there's an integrity check being run simultaneously to ensure nothing is lost or corrupted."
Harry nodded and went to sit down next to Tony where they watched the screen as it turned to one percent five minutes later. "How about now?" Harry asked. "With one percent and the amount of time it took, can you estimate?"
"Anything from eight hours to sixteen, I suppose." Tony shrugged.
The machines were emitting a low hum, as they worked and there was no indication of the data going through what wires. Harry had hoped it would be like in the movies, where lights would travel through the cable to indicate that something is happening and there would be a beep or indicator. Just seeing the one-percent turn to two percent a little over five minutes later was not Harry's idea of entertaining, but he had promised to be there for Jarvis's big day so he sat back and waited.
Just under an hour later, things started happening. Tony was sitting there looking at the screen in horror as it lit up with error messages and the devices set to upload Jarvis across started exploding. The brain itself was lowering into the body and when it was all the way in, the cables were released from it and the skull closed up.
"No!" Tony yelled, typing furiously on the keyboard. "Something is wrong!"
"What's going on, Tony?" Harry asked, urgently.
"The copy didn't complete and the brain is being locked in." Tony said. "Once the copy failed, it was supposed to stop the process and revert the upload so that Jarvis could come back!"
"Let's have some faith." Harry said, his face losing its colour. "I know Jarvis. He'll have another plan. Maybe the indicator didn't show you the correct data?" he heard the sound of hissing as the skull completed its close and a set of runes fused the skull closed.
Tony looked uncertain, but allowed it.
Harry walked up to the techno-magical body. "Jarvis? Are you in there?" he asked.
The body was still and quiet. Harry walked closer to look at the eyes. He didn't know what he hoped to see there, but it wasn't for the eyes to suddenly shoot open and the mouth to suddenly exclaim, "Boo!"
Harry fell on his ass and closed his eyes as he breathed heavily from the fright. Tony was laughing his ass off. "Oh, you guys suck!" Harry exclaimed. Then he stared at Tony, "You do know this means punishment, right?"
"Hold on!" Tony said indignantly, "I was just playing along. It was Jarvis's idea."
"Jarvis?" Harry asked looking around at the face of the slightly smiling Jarvis.
"I thought it would be appropriate to start off my life as a physical being, showing that I have a sense of humour." Jarvis said and after a moment's delay, he shrugged. He seemed to think about that. "I'll need to practice that. Emotional inflection, body language and facial expressions might take a bit of time."
Harry was finally on his feet again, but instead of angry he was relieved and elated. "Is it finally time?" he asked.
"I believe so, Harry." Jarvis said as he steadied himself on the frame of the upright table and took a step off the footrests. His first step had him almost falling to the floor. "So much information to take in. Pressure, balance, muscle-control, sight, sound and constantly understanding and comprehending all of the objects around me, it is no wonder it takes babies a while before they can walk." he said. Then he straightened himself up, "Fortunately, my study of the human mind allowed me to store information on movement and balance in my sub-routines, or I suppose I should call it subconscious, now."
Then he took a step forward and then another, until he was standing in front of Harry completely unaided and confident. Then he held a hand up. Harry smiled and quickly slapped it, "Well done, Jarvis!" he exclaimed happily.
"Yes, well done!" Tony said walking up and slapping the hand again.
"Thank you." Jarvis said. "I think I'm ready to see the world, but first, we need to test that my systems can handle magic, before the mainframe deletes my backup."
Harry nodded and pointed a finger at Jarvis, shooting a stunner into him. Jarvis fell over, with his eyes open. Harry was shocked, but remembered that Jarvis was a machine and his physiology wasn't exactly the same as theirs. He quickly cast an enervate and Jarvis closed his eyes before he started moving. A moment later his eyes opened and he moaned, "A stunner? Really? Right off the bat and you knock me unconscious?"
"It was the best way to test that your system can handle the shock of directed magic. If you're still alive, then you've succeeded at making a mostly human body and mind." Harry explained with a shrug and a smile. "How was it to be unconscious?"
"Strange." Jarvis said as he got up. "I was both there and not there. Like I was aware of being unaware."
"Well, your mind is the first of its kind and you did put conscious thought into your subconscious, so it does make a certain amount of sense." Tony said. "Who knows what your brain can do, with its multiple connections per multiple connections, you have what is equivalent to the world's first true quantum processor." Then he smiled, "Man I can't wait to build my own and incorporate the technology to my systems."
"Wait, you didn't build one yet?" Harry asked. "How did you know Jarvis's brain would work?"
"Oh, we finished one of Hermione's projects and tested the way she theorised it would work. It was truly an inspired idea, even if she didn't have enough of a concept of the way processing worked." Tony said.
"Unfortunately, the best she'd be able to achieve would have been a magical calculator." Jarvis said. "Fortunately that was what she was aiming for, so given enough time we believe she would have achieved her goal."
"She would probably have had Harry enchant what she'd need to make a computer. From her notes, she had a lot of faith in his ability." Tony said to Jarvis. Then he turned to Harry, "For her contribution to this field of technology, we're naming the chip an HG CPU and every following advancement will have the same initials as a tribute to her."
Harry's eyes stung as he listened to Tony finish. Hermione had so much faith in him. He wished she could be here for this, even if he didn't feel he deserved to be there to see her happiness at the achievement of one of her many dreams. "Hermione, I'm so happy for you." he said to himself.
"Thank you, Harry." came a voice he never thought he'd hear again. "Whatever for?"
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