Chapter 4 : Aftermath and observations

Like in the books, Ministry workers started arriving just as the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort reached its climax. And like in the books, the Dark Lord started possessing Harry in order to force the old wizard's hand. In fact, from what Ned could remember his presence had not changed much… Maybe the group of teenagers were prevented a few injuries, and Sirius' life was saved, and Bellatrix figured among the captured…

Well, I guess I did have a bigger impact than I thought… He pondered. It's just that the most important parts of this whole debacle were the same as in the books… Is that weird ?

Looking to the side at the photographer and reporter pair from the Daily Prophet, Ned smirked under his armor. Just prior to coming here, the young squib had used two modified portkeys to send letters : one to Snape's office in Hogwarts, the other at the Daily Prophet. The first detailed what was happening while the other hinted that something news worthy was happening in the Ministry. And so, the photographer even managed to get a decent shot of Voldemort and Dumbledore facing off…

What Ned didn't notice was that he, too, had his picture taken. He wasn't exactly conspicuous decked out in his armor…

Dumbledore came and retrieved his precious chosen one, while the other members took care of the rest of the teens. Meanwhile, Sirius Black, now finally recognized innocent and pardoned by the Minister, was chatting with him :

« So… Silver Lad, is it ? Merlin, what kind of name is that ? »

« Codename, superhero name… take your pick. »

« Superhero ? You believe in those ? And you're even playing dress up to… what ? Be one ? Kid, how old are you ? »

« Well… Old man, I'm probably less than half your age ! And it's not about believing… I know they exist. The Justice Society of America was a hero group operating during World War II and even now, heroes are slowly reemerging. »

« So what ? You want to become one ? » Sirius considered the teen in front of him as he crossed his arms. « Harry told me a bit about you… You're a squib, right ? You really want to become a hero in the Wizarding world or are you planning to 'defend' the muggle side, too ? 'cause if you do, you'll probably have people here and in MACUSA screaming to take you down… In fact, the whole Wizarding society will take up arms to try and protect the Statute. »

« Yeah, I know. » Ned admitted and shrugged. Then, he predicted : « But, given how our society is, it's only a matter of time before the no-majs discover us. And for now, I'm not exactly trying to be a hero. I was here just to test the armor and my technomancy… Trying to see how it'd fare against a natural magic user. » With a smirk under his armor, he muttered to himself : « I have to say it's not too shabby ! »

At this, Sirius approached and lowering his voice, he asked :

« Are you really a squib ? I mean… No offense if you are, but I've never known or even heard of one creating something like… Well, this ! I'm pretty sure this armor isn't something even the muggles with their technology are anywhere near creating… »

This stroke Ned's ego, and pumping his chest, he bragged :

« Of course they aren't ! And yes, I'm a squib. I'm also so freaking brilliant and awesome that I'll probably bring the Wizarding world into the next era ! »

Sirius smiled wryly, seeing a little bit of his old friend in this cocky youth. He told him :

« Sure, you are, kid ! Now I think you should leave… unless you want the aurors to detain and question you too ? »

« Nope ! You're right ! » He talked to his AI, then : « Mel, would you be so kind at to activate the emergency portkey, please ? »

Ned experienced once more the puke inducing sensation of being teleported across the Atlantic…

* * * * *

« Ugh ! » Ned groaned a moment later, thousands of miles from his former location. With blurry vision, he looked around at his workshop, fumbling with the commands to open his faceplate. Once he finally managed to uncover his face, he took a deep breath before heaving. After a few times, he successfully managed to keep everything he ate inside him.

« Ugh ! » He reiterated. « This is… Just horrible ! How can wizards and witches get used to this ? »

« To be accurate, they don't have to acclimate to apparating over such distances. The most they can probably do is apparate to a neighboring country. According to my data, it is probably impossible for them to travel to another continent without a portkey. » Mel's voice sounded over the workshop's speaker.

« Yeah, well… » Ned struggled to remove his helmet. « I'm not sure we'll do a lot of those, either ! Imagine if I were to apparate in a war zone and remain defenseless because my guts are wrenching… Not to mention… How's the power situation in the workshop ? »

« Currently at 9.52% and slowly rising. However, I don't think you'd like to stay in the armor so… After using the machinery to remove it, there would be only 7.13%. »

« You're right ! Get me out of this, please. »

* * * * *

My first adventure was successful, I think. The armor performed well enough against the British nut-jobs and I even managed to avoid poor, little Harry to suffer another loss. Hm… That sounded a bit callous, didn't it ? I mean, the kid did go through a rather tough childhood, with having to lose his parents and be raised by abusive relatives… Not to mention he's been marked for death and has now repeatedly faced off against the Chief Nut-jobs with a severe head-case… That's probably due to generations of consanguinity… or because of the love potion his mommy had his daddy under.

Anyway, back to the battle. It also helped me identify a number of problems about the armor. Although I've made the command as intuitive as I could, there're still some glitches… Whether it's because the code is flawed or the software doesn't recognize the command operation is to be determined. Mel's such a sweetheart to help me with this ! Which is also the reason why I want a direct neurokinetic connection to my armor. Not only it would permit me to command it remotely, piloting it would also be much easier.

Besides, compared to freaks like Dumbledore and Voldemort, it's just not… powerful enough. And considering the fact that I'm not just in the Potterverse but in the Detective Comics reality too, I have to improve it. There are too many powerful threats out there : gods, aliens, metahumans and homo magi… and even worse ! Hence, the project for modular armor and modular androids and robots… I might even code a few dedicated artificial intelligences just for those since Mel's already busy as it is… Though I might still build her her own body if she's interested.

About Harry's group… My inner fan-boy and the excitement to see the characters from what I knew as fiction might have screwed me over… I didn't plan on showing my face to anyone there, much less the scarred main character and bad luck magnet. Still, I managed to not be overly familiar with them at least… Unfortunately, I gave one of my comms to Hermione for some reason. Well, she did look like Emma Watson… Maybe, that's why ! I really wouldn't mind having her become my 'Pepper' Potts. Though I don't know if I'd date her… Who am I kidding ? Ha ha !

In any case, since I plan to participate in the battle of Hogwarts in a couple of years, maybe it's not such a bad idea to have a connection with the Golden Trio and their cohorts. Who knows ? Maybe I'll build some kind of magic team to fight alongside in the future. And besides, Harry's supposed to become the Director of the Auror's department. Might be a good idea to have a few contacts in law enforcement…

As for whether or not I'll use the armor on the muggle side… As I said to Sirius, this side of the world is changing much faster than on the Wizarding side. The backward views, the loftiness and the laws restrict Wizards and Witches too much. Just the fact that Mister Weasley was fined for having a car he spelled and enchanted is proof of that… Though Harry and Ronald really screwed him over by not keeping it hidden. On a side note, he's another person I'd like to get in contact with. Although making a car fly isn't exactly that much of an achievement compared to my armor, it's still a very impressive feat. He might give me insight in some things or he might even reveal himself to be an interesting person to work with.

Hm… Actually, I'll try to hire him when my company grows a little bit. And since he works in the Ministry, it could even help with my reform plans. This is something I obviously didn't talk to Sirius about… Although what I told him was the truth, I was and still am preparing for the inevitable time when magic is revealed to the world. To me, it doesn't really matter whether we keep it a secret or not. In fact, keeping it secret, in addition to being near impossible, could prove detrimental in the long run.

After all, every able magic users (at least the human ones) are allowed and almost required to carry a weapon… If even half of these people were willing to fight when some of the threats the Justice League faces surfaces, we could prevent a lot of needless deaths.

Hm… I'm not sure what more to say, so for now… End recording, Mel !

* * * * *

Edmond Stark was cooking breakfast for his wife the following morning. Although it was a week day, Edmond wasn't in a rush this morning since he took the week off. And so, he had plans today to spend time with his family. Unfortunately, the eldest, Susan was still in Ilvermony for a few more months. Only Sarah, his wife and their little genius, Ned, were here.

When Sarah came down the stairs, drawn by the mouth watering scent of scrambled eggs and bacon, she saw her husband humming happily. Still groggy, she rubbed her eyelids as he pulled up a chair. She smiled as she remarked :

« I forgot you'd taken some leave ! What do you plan to do ? »

Moving around the table, he kissed her forehead and then her mouth before replying :

« I'll spend some time with my wife and then Ned and I planned on working on his power source. From what he told me, he was pretty close to a breakthrough… »

Sarah raised an eyebrow :

« I thought he didn't need our magic, now ? »

Ed smiled wryly and scratched the back of his head :

« He doesn't, really… I just like working with him. It's amazing what he's accomplished in his field of technomancy ! »

In response, she snorted and smiled fondly. The men of her family were 'nerds'. Nerd was a term Edgar explained to her characterizing someone passionate about something. Most of the time it was about 'computers' (something Sarah didn't understand the use of) but it could be about others subjects too. In any case, she felt it applied to Ed and Ned. Especially since Edmond was a MACUSA employee and should be frowning about Ned's work on machines. Nobody supervised, much less authorized his work, and yet Ed indulged their son. Was it because he was a squib and they felt pity ? Perhaps, at first… They never really thought he'd accomplish much in his endeavors. And he was young… Too young to find a job among muggles, no matter how smart he thought he was. So, they allowed his work…

When he managed to create his 'mana batteries' as he called them, however, that's when they should have stopped him. They were dumbfounded that he managed it to be honest. And when he had his 'Hey-Aye' cast a spell… Well, they were both awed and frightened. At least, she was. On the contrary, Ed seemed positively thrilled about it. Then he started talking excitedly about all the applications of his batteries with Ned… At this point, she'd lost them !

Edmond served breakfast, retrieved the newspaper before sitting beside her. He unrolled it while taking a sip of his coffee… and spat it out almost immediately. As he was coughing, Sarah asked him, surprised :

« What's wrong, Ed ? »

Still trying to clear his pipes, he showed her the newspaper. The title read : Attack on the British Ministry ! Return of the Dark Lord ! Although that was indeed alarming, it was the picture that drew her attention. In the background, it looked like…

« Is that ? »

« It is ! I didn't think it was ready. »

Sarah's gaze hardened as she got up. She promised :

« This kid's in for a world of pain ! »