3 Chapter 3

Harry was sitting on the couch in the hotel room that was assigned to him. He had arrived early this morning and was showed to his door by the agent who he met at the beach. He had taken a shower, luxuriating in the feel of hot running water, as he hadn't felt in what felt like years. It's not like a cleaning charm doesn't do the trick, but it's just not the same.

Once he was clean he had some of the food that was sent up for him. It was warm and delicious. So many things you learn to do without when you have no way of getting them. Once again, magic can help, but transfiguring one thing to another will only last that long and you cannot eat a stone you made into a steak, since it will just turn back to stone. One of the primary rules of transfiguration. You can turn one kind of food into something more appetizing, but the taste is never quite right. Conjured food just disappears, so technically you lose energy. Nobody can afford that when you need said energy to survive. Except for him maybe the rules never applied to him and the ones that did were eventually nullified as well.

As he had learned over time, disease and age don't dare touch him and the killing curse just knocks him out, but he's never taken a bullet to the head and he might not die from starvation, but starving still feels like starving. Good food was definitely something he'd start looking forward to getting used to again.

So with his belly stuffed and having cleaned up, why was it that he couldn't sleep? He was tired and he'd been awake for the last 2 days. The only reason he'd been unable to sleep in the past was if someone was watching him. But there was nobody here, right? He walked to the window and let his mind wander.

This agent that escorted him seemed the type to have someone followed and watched. They knew he knew something and they want to find out what he knows, so they'd keep track of him by any means necessary. He wasn't looking for a person, he was looking for a device! That was simple enough to take care of though. Like the soldiers with their communication devices at the beach, he had sent out a wave of magic.

Here however, it would look suspect if all the devices simply stopped working and he just wanted to sleep, so he went to the bedroom and sent out a smaller, more directed wave. And that's when he heard it. A buzzing sound followed by a small POP! Right under the bedside lamp. Harry lifted it up to inspect the device. It was so small, he could fit it on his thumbnail.

Now that he knew what he was looking for he was soon able to find and disable all the devices in his room. That's when he was finally able to get some rest.

He woke up 6 hours later, when there was a knock on his door. He got up and went to the door, only to find agent Coulson looking at him expectantly.

"Yes?" he asked knowing what the agent wanted, but unwilling to volunteer anything.

"Good afternoon Harry. You wouldn't happen to have a last name would you? I'm not used to calling people by their first name like this." he said giving Harry a small smile, every bit the polite agent he always portrayed himself as.

"Is that all you're here for? My last name?" he asked knowing that the agent was fishing again, but enjoying the banter. It had been a while for him after all.

"Can't blame me for trying. I was actually wondering if I could interest you in a bit of lunch. There's a good place not far from here."

"Ah, I see." just at that moment his stomach let itself be known. "Well, I guess I could eat."

Coulson waited for him to get a jacket and then escorted him to a Mexican restaurant. He ordered some tacos for himself and Harry tried a burrito, having never tried them before.

As they were waiting on their waiter to place the order the agent asked him "So, have you heard from your people yet?"

"I'm still waiting to be contacted. I've left word for them to contact me and where I am staying currently." The agent's eyebrows raised minutely, but his face went back to a friendly blank before Harry could be sure what that meant. He was probably wondering when he'd contacted anyone, as chances are they were hoping to hear it on the devices Harry had discovered. Harry just smiled at this. "Is there a hurry that I should be aware of?"

"Well, we are still trying to find out what was happening on the beach. Are you authorised to trade for information?" he asked trying a new tack.

"I really can't give any information regarding the event itself. I can tell you that I arrived on the scene shortly after the event was caught by your sensors." This was true, but if the agent thought that Harry had better equipment or was expecting the event, that was his assumption to make.

"Are you saying you've got equipment that could predict these events before they happen?" Coulson asked.

"Could yours? I can guarantee you the event was a surprise to me when I was made aware of it and some parts of it is still outside of my area of expertise. At this point you probably know more about it than I do." Harry said still trying to skirt the truth. "What do you know of the event?"

Coulson looked at Harry like he was measuring his words carefully, before he decided to answer. Finally he said: "Are you aware of the event that happened in a small town outside of New Mexico last year?"

Harry kept his face impassive and decided a small mental probe would probably go a long way. "Are you talking about Puente Antiguo?"

This caused Coulson to freeze entirely for a moment. Then his eyes got a new sheen, as if the mystery of 'Harry' just got a little more interesting, or dangerous. "Very few agencies are privy to that information."

"Very few agencies know the full scope of all agencies." This was also true as most countries try to hoard and control as much information as they can. Either way, Coulson probably thinks he's narrowed it down some, Harry thought.

"Indeed. Well suffice it to say the readings we got were quite similar. Not exact, but similar."

"And you think this event has taken place again?" Harry asked getting excited at the prospect of this world somehow being the nexus of inter-dimensional travel. If he could speak to someone else who travelled this way, maybe he could find out why he was brought here of all places.

"Whether it's the same or not the implications are… diverse." Coulson was still holding back. But Harry would not invade a person's privacy without cause. There is a big difference between surface scans and in depth readings of the inner mind. The soldiers from the other night was necessary to protect himself. In this case he would need to find the information he wanted for himself.

"That is very interesting, indeed. I know it's not necessarily of similar value to you, but my surname is Potter. Harry Potter, at your service." he said with a smile.

And that's when the food arrived. Harry started working on the serious business of mastication (chewing). Suffice it to say, there was much less talking done. After the meal Coulson walked Harry back to the hotel and bid him a good evening. When Harry got back to his room, he found that his intruder ward had been tripped. Sure enough, he found more devices in his bedroom. Shorting those out will probably drive his watchers insane. Harry chuckled after he did just that. He set his proximity alarm again and went for another nap. He really did not get enough sleep earlier.

Harry awoke a few hours later and lay in bed considering his options.

He had yet to hear from any ministry official about his blatant use of magic in front of muggles. Frankly, that fact worried him. He had a suspicion, but he was loathe to prove it. At this point he'd normally give it a day or two and see if something happens, but he had a suspicion that the agents of Shield will not stop trying to pry into his life and he was not sure he knew enough about technology to keep finding all the devices. They may have other ways of monitoring him as well. It was time for him to go find the magical for himself, if there is such a thing in this world.