"By the way, Richie," the detective began, "you mentioned you had another assignment besides Weasley."
"Yes. I need wizard bodyguards—or at least one skilled wizard who can ensure my safety during visits to the magical community."
"We'll think of something," Scott muttered. "Boys, what are your plans?"
"Play something," Richard replied. "Actually, I was thinking Harry could stay overnight. You, Mr. Potter, can use the guest bedroom. It's quite a drive back to London."
The detective considered this and asked, "Harry, how do you feel about staying the night?"
"With pleasure, Uncle!"
"Then let's do this," Scott said. "I'll drive to London and visit the magical shopping district. Tomorrow afternoon, I'll come back for Harry."
"I have lessons with my tutor from morning till evening tomorrow," Richard noted. "If Harry doesn't mind waiting for you, that works. Otherwise, I suggest a slightly different plan—Steve can drive Harry home tomorrow. And you, Mr. Potter, shouldn't rush. I doubt you'll be able to gather all the necessary information in just one evening."
"Good. That's actually even more convenient for me," the detective replied. "Harry, you don't mind?"
"No, Uncle Scott," young Potter said, shaking his head.
"Then here are the apartment keys, and I'm off. Don't get bored, kids!"
Scott rose from the couch, handed his nephew the key ring, and headed toward the exit.
Richard turned to his guest.
"Harry, I have an interesting proposal."
"What is it?"
"Let's go to Chester and hit the bookstore. We'll buy up all the comic books!"
"Comics?!" Harry's green eyes lit up with excitement. "Dudley never let me read his comics. And I wanted to so badly…"
"Harry, I'll give you an entire collection of comics."
"Let's go!" young Potter exclaimed, springing to his feet.
Richard walked over to the wall, lifted the receiver from the telephone, and pressed the intercom button. Almost immediately, the maid's voice responded:
"Yes, Master Richie?"
"Lucy, tell Steve to bring the car around to the entrance. My friend and I are going to Chester."
"Very good, Master Richie. I'll pass along your instructions to Steve."
Richard hadn't come up with the comic-book shopping trip on a whim. He intended to use ideas from superhero stories to bring various useful devices into reality. Of course, as a transmigrator, he knew about many inventions from the future—but how could he explain what he wanted to, say, a wizard who would be tasked with making those ideas real? He could draw a schematic and list all technical specifications, but it would be much simpler to show a picture from a comic and say, "I want that."
Why simpler? Because Richard was a child. No one would be surprised if a boy wanted some super-cool gadget from a comic book.
And now he had the perfect opportunity to combine several useful objectives at once: strengthen his relationship with the future hero and savior of humanity, and at the same time acquire the necessary "literature."
An hour and a half later, the two boys were sprawled across the enormous bed in Richard's room. Stacks of comics lay scattered all around them. They flipped through the pages with genuine curiosity—though each had his own reasons for doing so. For the first time, Harry could do what any boy his age could. He felt like the happiest kid in the world. Richard, meanwhile, combed through the colorful pages in search of ideas for magical gadgets. He had even armed himself with a notebook and fountain pen, jotting down promising concepts.
"Harry, who are you reading about?"
"Spider-Man. Turns out he's got special devices on his wrists that shoot webs."
"Mm-hmm… Web-shooters from the hands… That's cool—and useful."
Richard wrote the first item in his notebook:
Web-shooting ejector.
"What are you writing?"
Harry leaned over curiously to peek at the notebook.
"Just making a list of different fantastic things I'd like to have in real life. Want to help?"
"Yes." Harry's eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. "Let's split the comics and look for stuff like that!"
"Deal. Whoever finds more gadgets wins."
Children—much like many adults—are prone to competitiveness. But in children, the spirit of rivalry burns especially bright. Give them even the illusion of a game with a goal to win, and they'll throw themselves into it wholeheartedly. And so Harry Potter caught fire with excitement—one might say he was blazing. He began flipping through comic after comic at breakneck speed.
"A glider, like the Green Goblin's in Spider-Man!" Harry blurted out.
"That'll do," Richard said, adding it to the notebook.
"And Doctor Octopus's steel tentacles!"
"Hm… Harry, you didn't get comics—you got a treasure trove of gadgets."
"In the Spider-Man comics, the villains have loads of awesome gear," Harry said brightly. "If I had things like that, I'd use them for good."
"Oh yeah? Like flying little old ladies across the street on a glider?" Richard asked sarcastically.
"No, but…" Potter faltered. "I mean, I'd fight criminals and stuff."
(End of Chapter)
P@treon: /SadRaven
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