Chapter 4: Chapter 2.5
"Heimdall, of the all-seeing eye." Hermione said. She'd read about him. It was strange to think that there were such people around. She felt kind of exposed. She'd be asking Harry for a ward if she used the facilities on the Island.
As if reading her mind, the older Harry said, "The houses and facilities on the Island are protected from view. I don't like the idea of being watched either."
"The mirrors." younger Harry said, then. "Like Sirius's?"
"I figured out the enchantments." the older Harry agreed, after saying goodbye to Heimdall. "They've been quite useful. Universal instant communications."
"Really?" the younger asked. "In my world the void of space causes long range magics to break down. I had to resort to Einstein-Rosen Bridges, to connect long distance communications recently."
"You can make wormholes?" Tony asked. The best he could do was tiny portals, which they used for most of their advancements in the larger world. Including doing what it seemed this other Harry had figured out.
"Wait, we were talking about me." Loki interjected.
"No, that was another Loki." Pansy recalled. "He's a scientist in the Asgard from our reality. He's very smart when it comes to genetics."
"Tried to make a clone of Bill once." younger Harry agreed. "Nice enough to ask, though."
"Bill works with you?" the older asked.
"Yes, but he's purchased quite a bit of shares and could retire easily." younger Harry corrected. "He applies my magical technology. He's basically the head of R&D these days, while I work on private projects."
"Bill works for EPI as a ward specialist here." the older Harry said.
"Right." younger Harry said. That wouldn't be a matter of public record after all. EPI was quite mysterious, claiming all kinds of proprietary technology, including everything from flying cars to medical breakthroughs. "So EPI does what Marauders Inc. does, only you include the mundane world. That's pretty cool. We're not close to that yet."
"Getting there, though." Hermione said. "Just a few more years until things come out." She turned to her Harry then. "EPI?"
"Earth-" her Harry started.
"The Earth Protection Initiative." the older Harry said. "Let me tell my story, will you?"
"Fair enough." the younger Harry agreed, getting a new drink from the bar- Elf?
"I came to this reality a few years after the second wizarding war." the older Harry started. He knew they didn't have that, from what Harry had said earlier. "Tom arranged a nuclear fall-out using manipulation of government officials. I tracked him down and interrupted a ritual that sent his body and myself here.
"When I got here, I met some government people and started working for them using my skillset. Since there's no magical government-"
"Lucky." the younger Harry threw in there.
"-nobody could stop me from using magic to help people." the older continued, ignoring the younger. "I joined the Avengers, heroes with special abilities themselves, met my wife, and we saved the world a few times. A bit down the line there was an issue with bad guys infiltrating SHIELD, a world-wide peace-keeping organization, and we ended up needing to create a new one, which I funded and supplied magical means to. Thus EPI was formed. Instant global assistance, with portals enchanted permanently to go basically everywhere."
"He means that literally." Tony said. "It's not limited to Earth either."
"And then," the older Harry continued, "we saved the world another couple of times. That's basically it."
"The distribution centres." the younger Harry reminded him.
"Oh, right." the older one said. "Thanks. Yeah, we started helping rural populations and homeless people with magic too."
"And nearly wiped out the global drug trade." the younger Harry said. "I'd like to know how you did that. It looks like it was a huge amount of work, too."
"Like you wouldn't believe." Natasha said. "That was my mission for a long time. Fun, though, when it all came together."
"I'll be asking for some details later." the younger Harry said. "It will be nice to open up our doors with some good news. Maybe we can do something like the Distribution Centres too?" he asked looking at Daphne, who dutifully took out her own Comm and made a few notes, after enlarging the Comm until it looked like a modern tablet.
"We are on our honeymoon." Daphne reminded him. "But I'll put it on your list for now."
"You're right." the younger Harry said. "Let's stop with all the shop-talk. What's there to do on this island?"
"Can I just ask a few more questions?" Tony asked.
"Shoot." the younger Harry said.
"Thanks." Tony said, before pointing at the Comm. "What's that device? How does it work? What runes did you use on your ship? What's it made of? What's an Index? How are you in many places at once and functioning normally, I might add? Why is nobody interested in that!? And finally, how are you bigger and taller than our Harry?"
Harry took a deep breath. "A Comm. Trade Secret. Many. Naquadah-Trinium-Carbon Alloy. The basis of most of my communications technology. Trade Secret. Probably because they're listening and didn't want to miss something. I took many potions when I was younger to fix my stunted growth and I work out." he said, all in one breath and not skipping a beat. "Anything else?" he said with a smirk.
"Why did you slap me, if you knew I was reformed?" Loki threw in there. If he had been researching, he'd have found references to him helping the heroes on more than one occasion.
"I saw the video Mister Stark put on the internet and it looked fun." Harry said. He turned to Tony. "Were those all the occasions, or did you miss a few?" he asked.
"One or two, I missed, but most of them tend to happen here on the island and there's cameras here." Tony said, clearly not entirely sated, but not being able to help himself. "I'm still making a compilation of all the times he was kicked in the groin." he added, hopefully, and the new Harry looked off toward Loki, as if in contemplation.
"You may look like my brother, but I will defend myself next time." Loki threatened, not being affected.
"Oh, really?" younger Harry smirked.
"Don't start." the older Harry said. "You're on your honeymoon, right? Don't give him an excuse to start pranking you for the duration of your stay?"
"I'd like to see him try." the younger Harry said.
"Challenge accepted." Loki said instantly, just before turning blue and his arms falling off.
"That was a mistake." Pansy said. "Harry's wandless magic requires no movement or direction." Loki's arms reattached, the wrong way around.
"He's also basically a god of magic, with infinite power at his disposal." Susan added. Loki's head detached and reattached to his rear.
"Then there's the fact that he can keep an eye on you from a different dimension and know when you are even looking his way." Fleur said. Loki's hair fell out and his mouth became a duck's bill.
"And all that-" Hermione started.
"Okay stop." the older Harry said, trying to contain his own mirth. "Loki, take it back. I love you brother, but I don't think even I'd like to start something with him. He plays dirty."
"That wasn't me." Harry said, easily. "Ladies, stop playing."
"But it's so easy!" Padma said. "We haven't even started yet and I never got my turn."
Loki, in the meanwhile had been set to rights. "Harry Black. I concede. To your wives."
"Hell hath no fury." the younger Harry said.
"How do you keep so many women from attacking you?" Tony asked. He was starting to worry about the new guy's sanity.
Harry just smirked at him as seven other Harrys appeared next to his wives, one planning on leaving to go join Luna, wherever she had gone off to. They all kissed their counterpart and then they all looked at the Barman. Elf. Whatever. The elf just smirked, as he placed a tray with seven drinks on the table. Drinks he had been preparing beforehand.
"Okay, now that, is impressive." all the younger Harry's said, as they each levitated a drink to themselves.
"Seriously! What are you?" Tony asked. "And how do I become like you." he added. He could just imagine how much he could get done if he could do that.
"It might not seem like it, but there is a downside." the first one said softly, as the others hugged their girls and gave them a bit of attention. "When I developed this little trick, I became part of something so vast and powerful, it requires me to dedicate a whole part of my mind to staying human. Magic wants me to herself, and keeps on trying to draw me in, trying to feed me information and expand my mind so that all I want to do is stay there and leave my loved ones behind. Does that sound fun?"
Tony had to think about that, actually. "Well, no, not really." he admitted. "Still, you make it look pretty damn useful."
"The grass is always greener on the other side, Mister Stark." he said. "And there's always a price."
"We still want children." Pansy said. "If Harry ascends, that becomes impossible."
"Immortality was never in our plans." Fleur agreed. "Now Harry needs to figure out how to get others to join him, just so he doesn't have to let us grow old and die, leaving him alone."
"And with that there is the risk of us also changing." Hermione added sadly. "None of us wants that. We are a family. We love each other."
"We've met others who have gone to a similar place." the younger Harry said. "They can't imagine becoming mortal again, at least, not permanently."
"But there is a way for them to do it." Tony pointed out.
"Harry can't." Hermione said, for him. "He's worried what it would do to Magic. It's also possible that if he does leave it, that it could go to someone else, who may decide to use it for bad things."
"Harry may be a bit of a prankster on occasion and he loves his experiments that sometimes go awry, but he's a good man." Parvati said. "He'd not risk that, not for anything."
"Well, little brother." the older Harry said, after contemplating that. "It seems that you aren't quite as reckless as you seemed, when we met."
"Little?!" the younger scoffed. "I'm half a head taller than you."
"Well, I'm forty." the older one said. "You?" he asked.
"Just a little over twenty-one." Harry said. "That or a bit more than one hundred-thousand one-hundred and twenty-one, depending on if you count time spent in stasis."
"I knew it!" Tony said. "You'd have had to go back to make magic and have it reach across realities!"
"Or have it spread before the divide." Titania said, reminding them all that she was there. She'd been enraptured, listening to the story that the Founder had been telling. It was saddening to think that such a burden was upon his young shoulders, but she knew how these things went. The worthy are usually chosen. They don't get to choose.
"Well, that turned out to have been Magic's plan all along, and I have no idea what this divide is you're talking about, but I'm assuming it has to do with diverging timelines or something." the younger Harry said.
"It's definitely something." Titania said, mysteriously. "King Harry, perhaps now is a good time to have Eldrin pour some of your Firewhiskey?"
"That��s a fantastic idea." the older Harry said, just as Eldrin started placing tumblers with ice and whiskey in front of everyone.
That lifted all the spirits and soon everyone had forgotten about the troubling thoughts that they had been having. It didn't take long for word to spread either, and pretty soon more people started turning up, including even more Fae, followed by the Lunas and then a bunch of counterparts to people from the younger Harry's reality.
The Fae who saw him, all took a knee before Harry. Titania had explained it to him, by stating that Fae always had a connection to the in-between and through it always had at least a fleeting connection to the Source. They saw him and they felt his own connection, as if he was the Source itself, or at least, the only person they had ever met that could survive connecting to it.
Even Mab, the pale Queen of the Winter Fae, bent a knee to him, before shooting a scathing look at the Summer Queen for not immediately sending word of his presence. Then she started trying to get close to him. She was not flirting per-se, but she was definitely trying to get into his good books, not that he knew why. She was at least not her usual aloof self and she spoke to him in a tone that bordered on worship, until Harry's ladies explained to her that that was the last thing Harry wanted.
From there, she just stayed close-by, but still smiled at him, whenever he made eye-contact. It was actually freaking the older Harry out a bit. He did not envy his younger twin. That woman's eyes looked way too similar to his sister's servant.
Speaking of which, Amora, the Enchantress, the goddess of magic had merely looked at the younger Harry and had instantly looked away, a look of fear crossing her suddenly bleak face. If the older Harry had an ocean of power, next to her bucket, the younger one had an entire galaxy. She could feel it, and her body remembered the anguish it had suffered for her greed. Her mind shied away from the idea now, not being able to bear contemplating something like that ever again.
Hela had developed an evil grin at that, of course, and had insisted on introducing the two. Amora had all but fled to her room, directly after. The goddess of death had enjoyed that far too much.
During the partying, the new arrivals were introduced to the heroes, the magic the older Harry had created and shared and quite a few of their own allies and loved ones. Hell, even the spell storage wands and spell pills were revelations to them. Sure Harry could store spells in his storage disks, but he'd never been able to figure out how to work a proper delivery system for them, and it seemed he'd have to keep trying, since it was an enchantment only the older Harry could cast, having developed the magic himself.
During the night many things were discussed and Susan's Wolf made an appearance, just shortly before she arm-wrestled Steve to a stand-still, which surprised both sides. Susan's training and wandless magic would give her too much of an advantage in a fight, though she did admit she wanted to see how she'd fair against a super-soldier.
Thor had been interested in seeing if he could make a mark on the Sphere and Harry had just chuckled and had it levitate and enlarge itself, parking it off to the side. Pretty soon silencing spells were needed, as Thor repeatedly bashed the ship. Not a single scratch was gained. Even Tony, using both his normal and Magical Armour had been unable to mark it.
Thor had then asked his brother if he could borrow his sword, a weapon named Urubane. Supposedly it had been unstoppable in the past. While it was unable to damage the ship to any great degree, it did leave a few nasty scratches, which automatically repaired themselves, as the runes that were designed for that function kicked in.
It had taken quite some power, though, and Harry was glad he'd recently added the Battery, or the damage may have stayed there. Telling the people that the ship was built before his ascension was also impressive and Tony had soon started talking tech with him. Both were impressed with the other's achievements and Tony was impressed with Harry's design for an inertial dampening system. His was all based in runes, while Harry had used both runes and applied magic, with scientific principles.
Tony soon realised that while his tech was based in technology, supported by magic, the newcomer was the exact opposite. He used modern knowledge to make his magic more capable and then he built the modern conveniences based off his magical capabilities, often incorporating it to a degree where he could tap into modern technology, using his magical versions. His intelligence was definitely on a different level to his local counterpart, but that made sense too. His Harry had spent a large amount of time fighting and learning those skills, where the new Harry had started applying his mind from a young age.
When Harry learned about the wireless technology and connectivity available on the island, something not too common in his mundane world, or at least, to that extent, it took him only an hour to adapt his personal Comm, to connect onto the internet. Then he used what he called his 'Index', to roll-out those changes to all his wives' Comms. It was a revelation that magic could even do such a thing and Tony would definitely start working on trying to emulate that feat. Learning Harry had designed the basis of that technology when he was twelve, was just a bonus.
Tony was also excited to hear that there were many scientists in Harmony, all working on advancing magic and technology, and that the mundane people who lived there, were catered to for magical tools and technology as a matter of protocol. Everyone had access to everything. It sounded like heaven to him. Unfortunately the new Harry also confirmed that setting up a connection between their two universes would be difficult, due to the temporal difference.
Tony really wanted to meet this mad scientist mechanic, Doctor Samantha Pike. It sounded like she was a kindred spirit. A mundane with magical knowledge, building things that he could only dream of, due to the fact that she had access to Harry's own discoveries, things that he refused to divulge, due to it being considered trade secrets. Damn, he hated those, all of a sudden.
There was a moment, when Albus Dumbledore decided to introduce himself to the new Harry. Harry had looked at the old man and offered to kill him. That had a few people tense up for a bit, until Harry explained that his Dumbledore had needed to be killed and brought back to release him from some sort of large magical build-up, likely due to his long-term exposure to one of the Hallows.
That had had the older Harry take the younger one aside, to inform him that not everyone knew about those.
"So, you're the Master of Death?" the younger asked.
"Aren't you?" the older asked.
"Well, I don't think so." the younger said. "In my world the Hallows were connected to me when I made Magic and then they became inert. Just a stick, a stone and a cloak with no magical abilities."
"Huh." the older said. "Maybe that's the difference?" he offered. Death had told him he's the only one. Maybe he'd meant the only Master of Death?
"Maybe." the younger said. "So, Master of Death? What's that even mean?"
"As you guessed, apparently I can't die." the older said. "Death said that I could move on to the next universe at some point if I want, but I don't know if that means the afterlife or somewhere new to begin over."
"Can you make your wife and girlfriend immortal, or bring them back if they die?" the younger asked, slightly concerned. This was hitting him a little close to home. He'd ask about his apparent ability to speak to 'Death' later.
"Natasha's ageless." Harry confided. "She can live as long as I can keep her safe. Xera is a bit of a mystery to me. Her people can live for very long, but only as long as their trees."
"Can you put her tree in stasis, while she is out?" Harry asked.
"You know what? I never thought of that." the older said. He was also realising that his younger self seemed more intelligent than himself. "Maybe that's something to look into. It would at least extend her life for a very, very long time."
"I've got two different forms of stasis." the younger offered. "One is perfect and stops time indefinitely for the subject, but they are unaware for the duration, while the other allows for your mind and magic to be active while your body is suspended."
"How would that work?" the older asked. That seemed like the perfect solution.
"Well, I usually use a remote-controlled body, which has all the normal human capabilities and gives me the full experience of being human, while my real body stays the same." the younger said. "Either a clone or a golem body."
"How do you use magic away from your body then?" the older asked.
"Wormholes." Harry said, lifting his hand and letting his ring appear. "I have a few things built into this puppy. You want to give one of them a try?" he said, pulling the ring off.
The older Harry shrugged and put the ring on. Nothing happened. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Feed magic into the top of the ring, willing it to move in a clockwise spiral and allow the magic to flow into you again from the bottom." the younger instructed, showing him an illusion of the process. "It will benefit your wandless magic. For me, it gives me range and precision. For my girls, it allows them to add a bit more power, and some of them can do magic without gesturing."
The older focussed on doing as instructed and instantly felt his magical senses expand exponentially. He looked over at the beach, and without moving a muscle, a large portion of the sandy beach lifted up. Tons of sand easily suspended with just a thought. "Wow. That's so cool!" he exclaimed.
"Like it?" the younger asked, slightly smugly, as his counterpart allowed the sand to settle again. "I think I figured that one out in third year. Very useful to cast detection magic that way. I can usually sense quite a few miles, but be careful not to overdo it. The human mind is not meant to process too much information all at once. I use a spell with less accuracy, so that I get a general idea, before I focus in on specific areas to clarify."
The older nodded and decided to try doing just that, being careful not to look too deeply. Sure enough the entirety of New Atlantis was suddenly mapped out in his head and he could feel exactly where all the creatures were and even a bit into the Winter and Summer Arches, in real time. He'd not even needed to connect to the island to do it, like he normally did. "Damn. That's like cheating."
"Science is all about making the impossible, possible." the younger said. "To those who don't know, it's cheating. To those who do, it's just another capability. The only unfair advantage-"
"Is one you don't have." the older finished, with a smirk. Moody had apparently taught them both at some point. "Still, this would be useful to keep track of things. The little ones sometimes get it in their heads to explore."
"I'll see if I can make you one at some point." the younger said.
"Could I not just copy this?" the older asked, with a bit of a smug look.
"Can you?" the younger asked. The older just cast a duplication spell and then focussed his will on the copy. When it was done, the conjuration was permanent. The younger took the ring in hand and examined it with his senses. Sure enough, he'd made a perfect copy. He vanished what he didn't want the older to have and then handed it back. "Just had to remove the more protected of my secrets, if you don't mind."
"No, I get it." the older said, taking the ring back and placing it on his finger, before checking that it still worked, which it did.
"Still, permanent conjurations. That's like cheating, too." the younger said.
"Not something I can teach you, I'm afraid. It's Asgardian magic. Family secrets notwithstanding." the older said.
"So you've got more than just standard magic?" the younger asked.
"One or two little tricks, along with the Hallows' 'gifts'." the older confirmed.
"Yeah, my solid illusions is unique to me too." the younger said. "Useful trick, though." he added, as he looked back at the resort and let the illusion of a chair Dumbledore was sitting on dissipate. "People can usually not tell."
"That wasn't nice." the older said, even as he valiantly struggled to contain his own mirth. The old man was tougher than most.
"I softened his landing." the younger said. "A good prank brings laughter, not pain." True enough, the old man was shaking his head, but he was smiling too. The fact that he was looking right at the younger Harry where he and his older counterpart were chatting, a bit away from the rest of the people, meant he'd known who did it and realised it was just a bit of fun, even if it was at his expense.
"You're very subtle." the older said. "This ring makes things much easier, I take it?"
"Oh, I can cast spells though my illusions too." the younger said. "The chair cast the cushioning charm. I didn't do it from here."
"Wow." the older just repeated. "You're really overpowered, you know that?" he asked.
"Blame Magic." the younger said. "I just use what I've been given. I prefer to learn and apply science to magic. I usually only cheat when I am needed for bigger things."
"Like when you're making allies and defeating alien overlords." the older said.
"Nah. I've left that to the wolves. They've got a fleet of ships that are pretty much unstoppable with quite a few of my tricks built in." the younger said.
"I only ever made one large ship, but it packs quite a punch, if necessary." the older said.
"Lasers?" the younger asked.
"Magically supercharged plasma cannons, capable of blowing up moons, depending on how much power its fed." the older said. "Tony named it the BFG."
"Big Fucking Gun." the younger said with a nod, as he pulled out his comm and made a note to design a BFG. "Thanks for the idea. I only ever made one laser-based handgun, but I gave that to Hagrid." The wolves had their paintball guns, which worked well enough. There were a few other laser-based weapons, obviously, but never one as cool as the Problem Solver.
"What's your coolest weapon?" the older asked. "You've already seen Urubane."
"Well, if we're talking swords, I did make something quite nifty." the younger said with a smirk, as his instance with Susan whispered something in her ear and she instantly got up, with a vicious grin on her face and started jogging to them. "Care for a sparring match with my Susan? She's been training with the best. I doubt I would want to face her." he said.
The older Harry smirked, as he reached into storage and pulled out Urubane again, just as Susan arrived. "But you cheat." Susan added, having heard them.
"I didn't say I'd lose." the younger said with a grin. "Just that I wouldn't want to face you."
"So, you wanted to spar?" Susan asked, as she pulled out her very own lightsaber and activated it on the red setting.
"Wait!" Tony's voice was heard shouting as he ran at them in a dead sprint. "Lightsabers!? Really!? What can't you make?" he added as he reached them. "I want one. I'll pay whatever you want." he finished.
"This is just a force construct made mostly with runes." Harry said, indicating the glowing sword, having realised that the mundane man loved playing with Runes. "It's like a baton." Harry winked at Susan, who switched it over to the purple setting. "This is a real lightsaber. Well, it's not force-field-contained plasma blade, but it works like the ones from the movies."
"Need one. Want one. Who do I pay?" Tony said instantly, as Susan switched it back to the red blade.
"Spar?" she asked the older Harry again.
"Um, I'm not really a swordsman." the older Harry said, putting Urubane away again, when he realise he'd not be facing his counterpart. "Urubane moves at the speed of my thoughts, so it's pretty much a cheat."
"I'll face her." Sif said, as she walked up. "I'll warn you, however, that I've trained for quite a while."
Susan just smirked and took a few steps back from the suddenly growing crowd, and Sif followed suit.
Their first impact was when they tested each-other's strength and skill. Both had hit perfectly, but the Asgardian woman was still stronger and her Vindr was just as capable as Harry's sword at moving at the speed of thought, not that she used that at all times. She felt it gave her an unfair advantage in a sparring match. She'd been happily surprised that her opponent's sword survived contact, seemingly unaffected by the sharpness of her own weapon.
Susan, however, had been training with bigger and stronger opponents for a long time and she knew a trick or two herself. At their next meeting, she dodged the attack, even as she set her sword to practice mode for just a moment and then made it the baton again, hitting her opponent in the stomach, even as Sif was shocked that the blade had been insubstantial for a moment and had passed right through her own blade.
"That was well done." Sif said. "A good strategy to use an unknown ability to quickly defeat your enemy."
"You're stronger." Susan said, with a shrug. "I knew I needed to be faster and to use one of the advantages of this blade."
"In Asgard, we fight till first blood." Sif said, as she squared off again. "I have yet to use all my skills, or the full capabilities of Vindr."
Susan smiled a wolfish grin. "I'm going to like you." she predicted, as she jumped forward again.
As they fought, the Harrys were discussing what they were seeing. Neither of the girls were going for the kill, which was why Sif was still holding her blade, rather than using its ability to fly and move at her mental command. Susan could likewise turn her blade deadly. Neither Harry knew if the rapid moving force blade would be able to cut through Sif's weapon, but it was probably a good thing not to test that anyway.
"You do realise what this means, right?" the older Harry asked.
"Asgardians are warriors and there will be more challengers?" the younger asked.
"Yup." the older said.
"Susan loves a good scrap." the younger said. "She'll likely not mind the exercise either. It's a wolf thing."
"That was an impressive thing to hear about, by the way." the older said.
"Filius helped." the younger shrugged. "The ritual was supposed to cleanse the magic that enters the infected werewolf, so that it no longer contained the influence of the moon's magic, but somehow it just cured the madness of the wolf."
"However it happened, once I figure out how to make more magicals, I'm almost certain Fury will want some converts." the older said.
"Make magicals?" the younger asked.
"I had to do some things a while back and I ended up going back to my old world." the older said. "I'm thinking it is likely one of your alternate timelines, or something. Anyway, while I was there, I found out I can remove the magical core from magicals and transplant them into mundanes. Unfortunately the cores of all the Death Eaters were dark things, so I didn't want to use them. I've been using my enchantments to build new cores, but I'm missing something and I've not been able to make one that works."
"Oh, there it is." the younger said, looking skyward. "Yup. There's that tickle again."
"Tickle?" the older asked.
"Whenever Magic wants me to do something, there's this feeling at the back of my mind." the younger said. "I'm almost certain that that's why we're actually here."
"To make magicals?" the older asked. He never liked being forced into anything, but it seemed his younger counterpart wasn't quite as averse to it. He wanted to know, though. "Don't you hate being manipulated by fate?" he asked.
"Magic is like a dog, in its eagerness to have me do things, and to play with it." the younger said. "There's intelligence there, but most of the time it just wants me to do something that will end up helping people, so I don't really mind. I always learn something new in the process, so I go with it."
"So, you think you'll be learning how to help me make magicals?" the older asked. "It's dangerous stuff and a lot of it is based off my experience with enchanting. I can't just hand that information out."
"Sure you can." the younger scoffed. "But I don't like being handed the answers, so you can keep that secret. I'll figure out my own way to do what you do, likely when I help you to do what you're trying to."
The older Harry considered this. If he played along, he'd be jumping to fate's tune again. On the other hand, if he could do this, he could finally give his wife the gift of real magic. And his friends. "Fuck you." he finally said, smirking when the younger him smirked at him. He knew he'd done it on purpose, too.
"Cool." the younger said. "But let's wait till after the honeymoon is over." he suggested.
"Can't you just make another you?" the older Harry asked.
"This is difficult to explain, so I'll keep it in terms people can usually understand. Part of how I make more of myself is by assigning a part of my intelligence to the copies. They are all me, though." the younger said. "For them to exist, I had to expand my mind and assign the extra… capacity, to the others. I don't like doing that, so I haven't made more. I don't want to either, because I don't want to risk overusing the capability. If one of the copies dies, that intelligence will be shared between the others and I don't know if I could dumb myself down in time to stay myself."
"That sounds like something only Luna could understand." the older said.
"No, I really can't." the Lunas said together. They had decided to come hear what was being discussed. "The Superspace is not something that anyone can really understand, not unless it's someone that's ascended." the new Luna elaborated.
"Superspace?" the older Harry asked.
"Magic's realm." the younger Harry said. "I made a dimension for a project of mine. The idea behind it is still a secret, but the long and the short of it is that it's apparently Magic's home. It's both everywhere and nowhere. Infinitely big, but also very well contained."
"The Fae call it the source." the Lunas agreed.
"And apparently it can travel across time and realities." the older Harry said.
"That's how we got here, silly." the local Luna said. "Well, you paid for mine and her transport, that one time." she said, indicating her other self. "She just went back, rather than coming here."
"That's what all that power was for?" the local Harry asked, remembering that it had taken quite a bit of power to bring Luna to this reality. "I thought you made a deal with the Fae and they wanted the power?"
"Well, not these Fae, obviously." the local Luna said, indicating the Fae on his island. "And they just needed it to help her out too. We're family after all."
"Do you get headaches when she starts doing that?" the new Harry asked, as he held his head. He knew there was more being said here, than he knew about, but he didn't know if he wanted to know. He could already guess that this had something to do with his original return in time.
"Shots." the local Harry agreed. Suddenly two Dobbys appeared, each with a shot levitating before them from the bar. Apparently they'd met. The local Dobby was wearing some sort of large tropical shirt, while the new one was in some sort of formal-wear.
Shrugging, both Harrys took a shot and downed it.
"Damn, that's strong!" the new Harry said.
"Asgardian variety." the older Harry said, also wincing. "Strong as hell, but it gets you there real quick."
"Kills the offending brain-cells." the younger nodded, still wincing. "I think I'll allow it this time, but no more of those for me, please."
The Dobbys just grinned identical smirks and vanished again.
"The Asgardians drink this stuff like we drink normal firewhiskey." the older said. "They are a hardy people."
"One would hope." the younger said. "So, you can make firewhiskey?"
"My friends and I figured out the recipe." the older shrugged. "I had a couple of cases of the original stuff, but people were enjoying it so much that I was running out, so there was little choice."
"Any other cool discoveries?" the younger asked.
"Besides alcohol, the Asgardian magic and a few other protected secrets, there was one more recent development from Bruce, about how to extract magic from the very atoms of creation." the older smirked.
"Oh, you said that on purpose." the younger accused. Such a thing sounded like nuclear physics. No doubt there was something magical in the process. Bruce was the alchemist, though, so likely this had something to do with that. Still exchanging mass for power… "Bloody hell. This Bruce must be a real genius. Like Einstein level."
"Hey!" Tony objected, from a nearby table, where he'd been eavesdropping from.
"He hates it when people compliment Bruce and not him." the older said.
"I'm sure you're also a genius, Mister Stark." the younger allowed.
"Call me Tony, please." Tony said. "And why do you Harrys always react to Bruce's intelligence before mine?"
"I never got the chance, as you'll recall." the younger said. "You beat me to it. As for your intelligence, I've not missed the magic-based nanotech armoured suit you were wearing. That seems pretty damn impressive."
"It's already on the list." Daphne said to her Harry, when he remembered to ask her.
"How do all of your copies-" Tony said, having noticed the other Harry asking a question, directly after his original mentioned it.
"Instances." the younger Harry corrected.
"Fine. How do all your instances know what's being said at all times?" Tony asked.
"It's just how I am." the younger said. "I was busy building a system for it, before I was ascended, using learning crystals and a bit of automation, though."
"Learning crystals?" Tony asked, intrigued.
"One of my greatest achievements to date." the younger said. "Using a special form of legilimency, I extract information from willing donors and place that information in a specially charmed data crystal. When worn, and someone learns that subject, the information uses your own mind's unique structure as a storage medium, to help you learn more quickly. That's how most of my wives learned to type so quickly. Me too, for that matter."
"So you can just learn anything as quickly as your mind finds space to store things?" the older Harry asked. "Can normal humans benefit from this?"
"Sure." the younger said. "I've helped people become doctors in months, rather than years. Pansy is our most qualified healer and doctor, and our specialist when it comes to genetic disorders. She even helped the Asgard with a genetic issue they'd been having for thousands of years."
"Okay, I've changed my mind." Tony said. "I want one of those instead. I'm thinking I want to know everything you know about magical mechanical engineering."
"Sorry." the younger said. "Trade Secrets, I���m afraid."
"Hold on, you were talking about a system to use multiple bodies?" the older reminded him.
"Oh, right… Um, I think it would be easier to explain if you saw one of these interfaces yourself." the younger said. "Let's take a quick trip in the Sphere. I'll show you the gunner's position."
Tony was instantly up as he and the older Harry, along with Natasha, Bruce and Loki, all started moving to the Sphere, before simply appearing on the bridge, all at the same time.
"Did you just apparate us, without physical contact?" the older asked.
"Turned it into a spell." the younger said, as he went to stand next to the captains' seat, indicating it to his older self. "What do you think, Bro? Want to take her up?"
"Um." the older said. "Okay." he shrugged as he walked over and took a seat.
"Just make sure you don't affect these settings here." the younger said, as he pointed out the gravity control on the captain's hand rests, which was currently set to negate all g-forces. The others had taken seats and were already buckling in and the younger Harry smirked, as he just stood there.
The older Harry sat down and looked around for controls. "How do you do anything here?" he asked. His magical senses told him that the hand rests were magical, but it was so protected, he had no idea what would happen if he touched the flat surfaces.
"Just put your hands down on the pads." the younger confirmed. "The system is based off a learning crystal system. You'll understand the use, when the input starts feeding you the information."
"I'm next." Tony said, indignantly. He really wanted to get to know this tech.
"You'll be taking gunner." the younger said. "You look like the sort to enjoy that sort of thing."
"Oh, yeah." Tony almost purred, looking around and finally spotting what looked like a similar seat to the captain's seat, with pads on either side, but it was also connected to a rig, which looked like it might move. "That it?" he asked, pointing it out.
"Yup." the younger said, before turning back to the older, who had placed his hands on the pads. "You'll find that when you think of a control, you'll just know what you want to do with the pad. Think of moving us-"
He hadn't even finished the basic instruction, before the sphere shot skywards, without so much as a little change in gravity.
"Lame." Tony said. "Can't even feel yourself moving."
The younger Harry just sighed and took a seat, buckling in. "I'm strapped in. Show him what this baby can do." he instructed his older self, who was smiling in the exhilaration of such controlled flight. The system was made by someone that thought like himself, when it came to flight at least, and he was feeling like he was flying a new broom for the first time in a long time.
"Hold on." the older said, as he instantly knew how to allow the g-forces through. He gestured with his hand on the pad and suddenly they felt the movement, as the older Harry flew them around the island first and then shot skyward. "Any place you wanted to go specifically?" the older asked.
"Kuiper Belt." the younger said.
"Isn't that… oh, I see. Well that's cool." the older said, as an image of the solar system popped up before him and he manipulated the controls and selected a location where the younger had requested. The next moment, they were looking at millions of large bodies of rock. The ship swerved and ducked, turning and dodging as they flew easily and quickly through the asteroid field that circled their solar system.
"This is so cool." the older Harry said. "I want one." he added, as he watched the forward display, his hands already dancing over the control pad as they ducked and dodged.
"Come on, man." Tony whined. "When's it my turn?"
"Oh, sorry." the older said, cancelling the g-forces again. "G-forces countered. Feel free to move about."
The younger Harry had never been a passenger in his own Sphere. He understood now why people got upset at him for going so fast and dodging so close by things. He still had a smile on his face, as it was still a thrilling ride. If he couldn't trust his older twin, who was a bloody hero, who could he?
"Okay, Tony." the younger said, finally pulling his attention from the forward display. "Take the seat and place your hands on the pads, like he's doing. The controls on the one side affect your personal view and the other side has weapons control. The captain needs to allow you access to the more dangerous weapons, but that's also keyed to me. There's some really powerful stuff there, so I'll only be allowing standard lasers and compressed water cutters."
"Compressed water cutters?" Tony asked as he gingerly climbed into the rig and buckled up. "You use compressed water?"
"When it moves really fast, it's still bloody dangerous." the younger Harry said. "Just, see for yourself."
Tony was not impressed at first. He sat down and felt that the seat could definitely be more comfortable. The moment he touched the pads, however, he understood the reason. He started looking around the ship as an image of the surroundings of the ship went directly into his mind. "Okay, that's impressive." he said, with his eyes closed. As the older Harry flew about, he focussed on some of the asteroids they were flying around and his seat turned around in all directions and angles. He didn't feel a thing, even though he also knew what angle he was at, at all times.
When he locked onto a target, his fingers knew how to lock on and zoom in, so that he could strafe a shot or aim more accurately. "It's like a game, almost. The controls are so easy to understand and I've never used an interface like this, but I just know how to use it. Seriously, you need to help us make one of these. I need this tech."
"The system is proprietary." the younger Harry said with a smirk. "I can make you an interface, but it will be bound by security magics that unravel if you try to figure them out."
"But this could change so much!" Tony objected. He really hated the concept of proprietary information at that moment. "If you can control technology with your mind… Wait, this was how you were going to control multiple bodies!" he said in realization. He could imagine how simple it would be to control many iron man suits, all connected to him, using direct input.
"Suddenly forgetting that your own technology is protected knowledge?" Loki asked, with a smirk.
"While I can see the appeal, I'm sure that there's a whole lot to understand about such a system, before we could even begin to replicate it properly." Bruce mused, from his own seat. He could see himself brewing potions and being able to focus on multiple projects with something like this, but he wasn't sure he understood the human mind well enough to try and tamper with it. Not like this.
"My girls are asking me to come back." the younger Harry said.
"You've still got your other instances going, back there?" the older Harry asked. "I thought you said your magic breaks down through space."
"I'm thinking some things work differently here." the younger said. "But be that as it may, I'm there, so I know. I don't need magic for this. My other instances are me. They aren't separate beings, connected through magic. They're me. I'm always connected to me."
"You did say it was a difficult concept to explain." Natasha pointed out.
"I'd still like to understand how that works." Tony pointed out as he cut an asteroid in half with a powerful stream of quickly moving water. "And you were right, by the way. This water-beam thing is fantastic."
"It's really fast." the younger agreed. "Lasers don't do that much damage to things in space. They'd just heat the surface up, in some cases."
"But a physical stream of water has mass and can cut through things like lasers in the movies." Tony agreed. He'd have to consider something like that for himself. Lasers were not always ideal. He already had a plan to implement something like this forming in his head. "So, about this ascension thing?" he asked leadingly.
"In my universe, a few mundane humans, or creatures that looked like them, ascended a few million years ago." the younger Harry explained. "The ascended realm is like hyperspace or subspace, where the laws of physics work differently and a long distance can become a short one. The ascended could be anywhere and observe anything, moving at the speed of thought, since they have no bodies. They are beings of energy.
"As a result of them not giving us the information they knew, about threats to the planet, I decided to make my own ascended realm, to house the few of them who would help, but who had to follow the rules of their majority. Long story short, I went back in time, created a dimensional layer and had it powered through magic. Two-hundred million years later, magic is everywhere and wants me to join it in the Superspace." the younger Harry explained.
"That sounds like it took some doing." the older Harry said.
"There was no magic when I arrived, so I ended up needing to do some things, even if only to get back to my own time." the younger confirmed. He'd not be giving them specifics. "Fortunately I had a bit of power with me, so I had enough to get things started."
"Is that the large amount of energy I'm feeling through this system?" the older Harry asked.
"That would be my battery, yes." the younger said. "The Asgard from my universe came up with a way to store magical power, after I showed them a few tricks to defeat their enemies, who were spreading throughout their galaxies like a plague. I ended up making my own version. As far as I can tell theirs is limited to… well, it's limited to more power than all the magicals on my Earth could generate in all the lifetimes since they became magicals in the first place. Mine, however, is not so limited. It's currently at a few million times their original battery's capacity. They couldn't measure the power stored in it."
"And you've got all that power here?" the older Harry asked. He'd have to ensure Rocket didn't find out. He'd be trying to steal it in less than a minute.
"Nah, I just charged up another one with a small amount of power from my original. The original is stored in Superspace. I'm not allowing anyone near that one." the younger Harry said, as he continued watching the flight, while Tony was still having fun breaking through asteroids and melting some that were made mostly from ice.
"Could I have a chance at the Gunner's position?" Loki asked, in interest. It looked like fun.
"You're an alien, right?" the younger Harry asked.
"Their minds are comparable to ours." the older Harry said. "Mind magics work on theirs, just like ours."
"Oh, well-" the younger Harry started, about to point out that they really should get back to the resort.
"No." Tony interjected. "I'm still playing."
"Maybe next time." the younger Harry said, as he reached out with his magic and stopped the weapons from firing and overwrote the controls on the Captain's chair, before activating the StellarNet and going back to the resort, all in a matter of seconds. "I'm getting thirsty."
"Oh, come on!" Tony exclaimed, even as the older Harry grinned. He'd felt his younger counterpart taking control directly. It was actually quite interesting. It seemed that the current control mechanisms were built on-top of the actual controls, which his younger self had likely been using by manipulating the systems directly with his magic in the beginning. He'd likely added these new features afterward, to allow others access to his creations. It seemed they shared some of their motivations, even if he thought he'd never have as much control as his younger self. So many tiny adjustments and things that had happened in those few seconds. The younger Harry had a lot of finesse.
"Well done, little brother." the older Harry said to his younger self, even as the hatch opened, while the younger just walked to it. "This was very educational. Tony will likely not stop bothering me until I've figured something like this out for him to use."
"You can bet your ass." Tony said. "How long are you staying?" he asked eagerly of the younger Harry.
"Well, at least a week." the younger Harry said. "I do have a project I was just made aware of."
"He'll be helping me with my project to make magicals." the older Harry confirmed. "But first, you have a honeymoon to get back to. Consider New Atlantis your home for that time. If you want to explore our world, just let us know, so that we can arrange paperwork and stuff."
"Paperwork?" the younger Harry asked.
"We need to keep things legal." the older Harry said.
"He means that Fury will have his ass if there's a god-like magical running around on Earth doing as he sees fit, without telling him." Natasha said.
"She's not wrong." the older Harry said, as he hugged his wife to himself. When everyone was off the Sphere, it closed itself up.
"I like the design of the ship, by the way." Natasha said. "It's functional, but also cosy. Like a home."
"That would be my ladies' doing." the younger Harry said. "My first ship was a flying saucer, because I thought it was funny and it added the protection of nobody believing someone, if they saw it. The second ship was the Prometheus. It's a large long-distance vehicle, capable of much higher speeds and it could accommodate a large crew and carried everything we needed to terraform a bit of Mars, so that we could settle there."
"Prometheus was also the first ship to travel by a new magical network Harry had designed." Hermione said, as she joined them and hugged her Harry.
"Is that what we just used?" the older Harry asked.
"No." the younger Harry said. "We moved by StellarNet. It maps out whatever galaxy we are in and allows for instantaneous travel."
"And a few other features." Hermione pointed out.
Susan's fight with Sif had ended up with her getting a bloody nose, when Sif hit her in the face with the pommel of her sword. To be fair, without using the real blade, there was little chance for Susan to win. Asgardians were just too durable. That being said, Sif actually had a bruise forming on her calf, from a hit she had taken, in attaining her victory. The wolves were not weak by any stretch of the imagination.
After that, Molly Weasley had shown up and started preparing food, directing house-elves around as they set up places for people to eat. It had been a while for the younger Harry and he suddenly remembered with fondness how delicious her cooking was. He really should spend more time with his world's Weasleys, if only for that.
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