Chapter 2 : Field test
« Recording saved under Logbook Man of Iron, entry 01 ! » A sultry french-accented female voice echoed in the room. « Do you require an update on the situation ? »
« Yes, please ! » A young man with brown curly hair said as the image of Widowmaker, clad in her skin-tight outfit and with her bluish skin and beautiful looks, appeared on his desk.
« Subject designated as Boy-Who-Lived along with companions have been confirmed leaving Hogwarts 37 seconds ago. You finished your little speech just in time, Ned, » The sassy voice of Chloe Hollings informed.
« Dear Mel, did you doubt me ? I've been waiting for this moment for years, now ! »
It was Harry Potter's fifth year at Hogwarts. A year after Voldemort's 'resurrection' and their little duel in the graveyard. Although he would have liked to save Cedric Diggory, neither the armor or the reactor were ready last year. And intervening across the ocean with only a limited number of mana batteries… It just wasn't feasible.
And now, the Boy-Who-Lived, along with his friends from DA were heading for the Ministry of Magic to retrieve the prophecy (unbeknownst to them, of course). Harry thought he was going to save his godfather… Only to fall into a trap laid by the Dark Lord.
« How far can we apparate with the armor ? »
« With the current output of the portable mana reactor alone ? We'll be able to cover about 754 miles… However, if we add the one built under the house, we could cover most of the distance without depleting the armor's reserve. I estimate we would apparate about 237 miles from the target. To put it in terms your mind could wrap around, we'd need a little less than two hours to cover the rest of the distance. »
Edgar Stark smirked at his AI's snark. He didn't really know how Amélie Lacroix AKA Widowmaker was supposed to be like, but he liked the coldness, sensuality and sass of his. She made him so~ proud to be her father !
« Alright ! Let's get this show on the road ! » He exclaimed as he entered a command on the computer. Soon, the armor opened…
* * * * *
« Woo~hoo ! » Ned yelled with excitement.
The scenery was passing by at such speed, it was exhilarating. Flying, unassisted by a vehicle and on his own like this… Priceless ! Well, not exactly priceless… He knew exactly how expensive all his equipment was ! His company being in its infancy, he'd mostly made money from his connections with the goblins by selling them prototypes and equipping their bank with his budding magi-tech.
He came to just as he almost collided with a tree.
« Woah ! I really shouldn't think of things like this while flying. It shoots my concentration ! »
« It's your flying that is shot, ned ! » Mel's voice echoed in his ear.
« Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! » Ned laughed with extreme sarcasm. « What's our ETA ? »
« We'll reach the Ministry of Magic supposed coordinated in 3 minutes and 22 seconds. »
« Thanks ! »
And for the remainder of his time, Ned decided to just enjoy the flight ! He was really glad that his gravity manipulation enchantment worked so well. It made flying much easier and intuitive that what Tony Stark had to go through with his Mk.II. In the first movie, Tony kept sending himself into the furniture, walls, ceiling and even one of his prized collector's cars. The gravity enchantment made it so he could either lower or even cancel the effect of gravity on the armor (and its contents). It was inspired and derived from two spells : Arresto Momentum and Wingardium Leviosa. The first was meant to stop the kinetic force of an object or person while the other made objects float.
As for how he propelled himself forward, similar to Tony's repulsors on his second armor, Ned had incorporated focus points on the sole of his boots and the palms of his hands where elemental enchantments were placed. With those, he could have the armor make use of the four elements. At the moment, he used a wind spell to push himself forward in the air. It was relatively silent, fast and didn't generate heat. Of course, he could also use fire to achieve the same effect, or even water. However, this was his first field test and for now, he decided to fly with only the wind element helping in his propulsion.
« The visitor's entrance for the Ministry of Magic is up ahead. I'll mark it on the HUD so that you don't miss it ! » Mel's voice sounded on the internal speaker.
« Thanks ! »
When he saw the old payphone, Ned felt an equal amount of excitement and dread. It would be his first real fight. And it was more than a fight even… The Death Eaters didn't mind using killing or crippling curses and the environment he'd be fighting in had its own dangers too !
He exhaled heavily before opening the door to the payphone and ask Mel :
« I'm guessing they've arrived already, right ? »
« Affirmative. Between the flight and you having to recover from the long distance apparition, they arrived approximately 14 minutes ago. »
« Alright… Show time, then ! »
And he punched the numbers to contact the Ministry.
* * * * *
« Is the B.A.R.F operational ? » Ned asked his on-board helper.
« 100 %. » Mel replied and then, with an audible sigh, she returned her own question : « What is your plan, now ? »
« He he ! I want to mess with those jerks. I was thinking of making an impressive entrance… »
* * * * *
Department of Mysteries, Hall of Prophecies.
As the group of teenagers were facing off a mixed band of masked and unmasked adults, a music suddenly started to play. One of the teenagers, a girl with a wild mane of hair, recognized the song :
« That's… Star Wars ? »
The reason why she wasn't sure was because of their location : the Ministry of Magic. There simply was no trace of the muggle world inside, either because they respected the Statute of Secrecy or some form of pride in the Wizarding culture, she didn't really know… However, this song, and the movie it came out of… There was no doubt it came from the muggle world !
Then, from the distance all-around, heavy clanking footsteps echoed, soon followed by the, at first faint and then gradually rising, sound of breathing. Rhythmic, deep and somewhat frightening breathing. Not only the children, even the adults were getting… apprehensive. Not really scared yet, more like curious and slightly anxious maybe. On the teenager's side however, a blond girl closed her eyes and started bobbing her head to the music :
« It's nice ! » She exclaimed.
A red-head, tall and lanky boy, whipped his head to her and looked at her like she was crazy. Before he could speak though, a form emerged from the darkness. It was tall and muscular and they could see the hems of a robe or a cape. It was obvious the breathing came from this… person.
As the wands of the adults pointed at it, the person seemed unbothered by it all. A red light emerge on its side with a whooshing and buzzing sound, and then the silhouette took another step forward… With a deep, modulated voice, the figure, now clearly male, said :
« This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of Riddle, once. It will soon see his end, again ! »
Silence for all but one second. Then, the spell was broken when a sultry voice with a foreign accent sassily commented :
« A bit on the nose, non ? » The woman then added : « Shall I set the armor on non-lethal mode ? »
The figure's head dropped, as did his shoulders. Meanwhile, everyone was exchanging glances, unsure about the situation. When the male voice sounded once more, it seemed… different. Not so intimidating anymore.
« Dammit, Mel ! » He paused, but eventually continued : « Riddle's people are garbage, but… I guess non-lethal, it is… »
And then, the figure wavered and disappeared. In its place stood a silver and blue armored figure. The armored man raised his hand toward the adult group and with a sound of wind blowing hard, a massive gust pushed the death eaters to the ground and into the shelves.
Without needed to be prompted, the group of teenagers ran for it…
* * * * *
A female red-head, Ginny cried as she ran :
« What, in the name of Merlin, was that ?! »
« Darth Vader, from the Star Wars movies… At least, the illusion was. No idea who or what the armored man at the end was… »
« Star Wars ! That's where I saw him… » Harry remarked. « My cousin watched it with my uncle last summer… I caught a little bit of it coming downstairs for water. Though Dudley decided it was boring and they didn't get to finish it. In any case, I wouldn't have had the right to watch it with them… »
« Star Wars… So, it's a muggle thing ? » Neville asked bewildered. « What's a muggle doing in the Ministry of Magic ? »
« No bloody idea ! But at least, he saved our bacon back there ! By the way, what did he say earlier ? Something about a riddle ? » Ron, panting slightly, yelled.
« Not A riddle. Riddle, as in the name. Tom Marvolo Riddle. I think he was talking about Voldemort… »
Even though they were running, you could see a shiver running done every member of the group except the one who spoke. Harry never learned to fear saying his name, unlike those who grew up hearing stories about him. Moreover, he was comforted in his habit by Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts. According to the old wizard, he shouldn't fear saying the name of someone… Though the man never did tell him why people were afraid to say it !
« So, he's not a muggle, then… » Hermione pointed out. « But how does he know his real name ? We only know because of the diary… Nobody else, except maybe Dumbledore, seems to know his real name. »
Harry shrugged, still clutching, the glass ball in his grasp.
« Maybe we'll find out later… » He said after a while.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, Ned Stark was experiencing his first battle, ever ! Although he was confident in his armor's defense, the fact of the matter was that it was rather frightening to fight, knowing you could lose your life. He was tense, and messing around was his way of coping.
Nevertheless, this field test proved to be a tremendous idea ! He quickly found out the limitations of his armor, especially in close combat. To be quick on his feet, he made the anti-gravity enchantment semi-permanent with the control available only to Mel, so she could lower or increase according to the situation. The problem was, like him, Mel had no experience fighting so when he punched or kicked a death eater, she didn't think to increase his gravity. Meaning that, he didn't have any weight behind his attacks and therefore did next to no damage. Thankfully, she was a rather quick study…
Still, this gave Ned an idea for a new project.
« Energy reserve at 56 %. I suggest a strategic retreat. »
« Alright, Mel ! Anyway, my goal is achieved for now. Let's try and find THE room. »
« Enabling pathfinding capabilities. »
Jumping backward and ducking to avoid a curse, Ned activated his flight function. Avoiding the shelves left and right, and frowning because of it, he ordered his AI :
« Mel, could you please open a folder with a reminder ? I need to create something to move around in tight spaces and building. Wonder why Iron Man never realized how annoying this was… »
« Acknowledged. Anything else ? »
« Yeah, actually ! Make another two. One for a lightsaber and the other for a form of neurokinetic control of the armor. »
« I would advise against making too many side projects. You're already busy as it is… »
« Thanks, Mel. I know. The lightsaber is more because I think they're cool but I won't focus too much of my attention on it. However, the other two could be… critical, in the future. »
Right now, his control over the armor was rather limited. He had to program how to use the armor's functions through the position of his limbs and gestures. For example, to use the wind propulsion system, he had to open his hand and spread his fingers or use a voice command. In a fight, the latter couldn't be really used or he'd give his opponent an idea on what he was doing. And although the other form of command worked relatively well, if not for a few bugs here and there, it was a bit awkward sometimes.
He thought of this as he kept track of his pursuers while looking for the location of the final battle.