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London[1998]
–Damian Hawthorne–
His eyes snapped open as the light shining through the tent woke him up. With a yawn, he got up and looked for any feedback from the enchantments and found none, to his satisfaction. It meant that this spot was safe.
Who knows, if things did not turn out great in the Magical District, he could just sleep here for one more night. Getting out of the tent, he squinted as the sun's rays and very chilly air hit him at the same time, which was a very pleasant experience.
Something told him that, like all other things, the sensations he could feel were all amped up to elven, allowing him to enjoy things he might have dismissed as being normal in his previous life. With that out of the way, he quickly checked his surroundings, and after finding nothing that would require him folding the tent up and stashing it away, he zipped out of the park/forest he had found himself in, and ran towards food.
Now, he had no currency to speak of, but he just wanted to eat real food after so long that he forgot about it, and as soon as he entered the city, the smell of something absolutely delicious tickled his nose.
Like a zombie possessed, he began following that smell. His enhanced sense of smell allowed him to pinpoint that exact smell from very far away, as he had no need to turn invisible, which was more risky than just walking around because of all the people walking on the same path as him.
He crashed into someone and the scream from the woman jolted him out of his hunger for food as he hastily apologised and moved on. The woman, an ordinary looking office worker, from the looks of her outfit, didn't pay much heed to why a child was able to knock her down and moved on with her day.
Meanwhile, he, now out of the slight daze that food had cast upon him, was faced with an important question, one that had two very easy answers, with varying times for completion.
How to get money?
The simplest answer was to steal it. He had already stolen some supplies last night, so what more would some cash do?
The important question regarding it was, from where?
He had no pickpocketing skills to speak of, and it would leave a bad taste in his mouth to steal from someone innocent. He needed a criminal to steal from. Ill-gotten wealth would suit him quite nicely.
The only problem with that was, where to look for them? Most criminals would not go around advertising that. Tattoos and shabbily dressed people just painted a stereotype on the lower rungs of criminals.
Most crime bosses did not look as if they had just woken up from a gutter, and as common as it might be in fiction, no, drug dealers were not lurking around every corner, every alley, just waiting to scoop up innocent looking teenagers, or to sell hard drugs to anyone who asked.
Supply was limited, and instead of bringing in the heat by selling their drugs to minors, most criminals would prefer selling to someone who had the money to be a regular client, unless drug dealing was just the side business and the main motive was human trafficking.
He shook his head and turned around the corner, finding a nice hot dog stand, handing out food to the masses, as the tantalising aroma entered his nose.
For just a moment, he was tempted to let go of the self imposed restraints and just grab the tasty food for himself, but after a deep exhale, he let that impulse go. If he couldn't even control himself when it came to food, how would he fare when faced with the real temptations that every adult faces?
Especially someone like him, with more power than most people alive, who would have every single temptation dangled in front of him, just so people could get access to his powers.
So, in a move that surprised even himself, he bit down on his tongue and left the place, walking deeper into the city, in search of either a criminal den, which was unlikely to be found, or the Leaky Cauldron, whichever came first.
From what little had been able to gather, it was November 1998, with holidays right around the corner. If he followed the MCU timeline, he still had ample time, over a decade in fact, which would be enough to prepare for basically anything.
But that left the Harry Potter part of the universe in question, along with anything else that might have slipped into the amalgamation of the universes he had found himself in.
___xx___
"Ohh! That's so guuud!" He gushed about the hot dog right in front of the cart owner, who looked at him as if he was an odd specimen.
It was noon now, and it had taken him well over 4 hours to actually find someone he could steal from, and find a hot dog stand. He had gone deeper into the city, using his powers on and off to use public and private transport, confusing the hell out of some poor cabbies whose car doors suddenly opened and closed on their own, all just to get some money.
"Another!" He ordered seconds after practically inhaling the first one, handing over the cash.
He was hungry, cranky and in a new place, so it took him a while to get his mind into thinking mode and when it did? It all clicked into place. While he could go around looking for criminals in shady places, he could just go to the place out in the open, that housed many criminals, lurking in plain sight.
The government.
Corruption by government employees was bound to happen and the first instance he found, he would just ransack the employee's valet for food money, which was honestly not a lot. It was kind of embarrassing that someone who actually made a Master of the Mystic Arts afraid for their life, was looking for a couple of pounds for food.
And that is how he found himself walking into a fancy looking old building, following a portly man who came here in a Rolls Royce. Safe to say that the man was filthy rich, making him an ideal target.
It was not the future of digital currency yet, so he expected to get quite a bit of cash from the man, and he did! Once in his office, the man loosened his tie, ordered some tea for himself and dozed off on his chair, with him in the office.
The bodyguard/driver stayed outside, so he took the opportunity to just take some money out of the wallet lying on the table, keeping a close eye on the man's snoring. He didn't use magic because who knows what kind of crime he would be committing by casting magic in government offices.
From the Ancient One's words, he had some family to speak of, magical from the looks of it but he had no idea about their political and moral inclinations, so he was only going to approach them from a position of absolute strength, which was quite a bit away right now.
Right now? "Another!" He was just focused on eating as much as he could, trying out all the combos they had on offer.
___xx__
Hogwarts
–Albus Dumbledore–
"Albus! The Unspeakables are here," He looked up to see Minvera entering his office, worry clear on his face as he tried to wave off her worries with a smile on his face, betraying the unease he felt on the inside.
"Now, Now, Minerva. No need to worry about it. I will handle them."
"Be careful, Albus." She warned him sternly before leaving, just before the Unspeakables passed the final test he had placed in their path, with the same contemptuous ease as they did the other puzzles.
Being connected to Hogwarts on his level afforded him quite a long list of perks, one of them being the instant rearrangement of matter inside the Academy, allowing him to create mazes, traps, stairs, holes and more, all with magical charms ready to be placed at any time.
He had worked on this particular trap for almost a year, before deeming it ready to be placed in front of the Unspeakables, for whom, any magic that can be unravelled, is unravelled with ease.
It was as if, for them, the Lumos charm and the Ancient Atlantean charms were of the same complexity, allowing them to see through the magic with ease.
It was one of life's greatest mysteries, for him anyway, so he continuously tried to get more information out of Unspeakables, to get any idea as to exactly who they are, what they do, how they select their members, and how in Merlin's name do they best him in terms of magic!
He…might have a slight obsession with the way they operate, out of the jurisdiction of any government entity, something that bothers him because he had gone to great lengths to accumulate as much influence as he could, to shape the way the world went forward with magic.
The doors to his office opened up, as three people, all dressed in black robes, with their faces darkened because of the inbuilt charms, entered his office.
"Welcome," He greeted them all with a smile, as two of them remained behind their presumed leader. He never knew who he was speaking to or if the person he was speaking to currently was someone he had spoken to before or not. It was…vexing, to say the least.
"What can I do for you gentlemen today?"
"Harry Potter." One word made him lose his smile as he leaned forward, the air in the room thickening as he brought forth his considerable magical might to bear, for in this conversation, he could not afford to bring anything but his best side.
All so that a single message could reach the Unspeakables. A message he was surprised he hadn't needed to send until now. He had expected a visit the same night Lily died, not nearly 9 years later.
"I am listening."
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