Chapter 15 : A year gone by

[Author note : If you guys are interested or enjoy my original creation, there's another one on P A T R E O N. It's about a VRMMO game where you become a hero or a villain, alien, mutant, magical or powerless and the story is both in the future (though it's not talked about much) and in an alternate version of our own time. There are LitRPG elements but I try to keep them at a minimum. If you're curious, the synopsis is up for public perusing ! The story's name is Age of Heroes, btw.

If you're interested in my stories or want to encourage me, please check out my Patréon : https://www.patréon.com/user?u=66371596 (replace the é by a normal e) or look for Cathbel on their website

KoSP : 2 advanced chapters

The Squib who became Iron Lad... In DC : 3 advanced chapters

Age of Heroes (AoH) : Prologue + 6 chapters (Exclusive content)

Enjoy ! Also, please leave a comment or review, guys !]

The following year passed in a flurry of activities for Ned. Between his many projects, his company taking off after MACUSA (finally) authorized the sale of his products, and his new activities as a superhero, on both the no-maj and wizarding sides of the world, he was always busy. In fact, he was so busy that Mel often had to pick up his hero slack when he was just too taken by a project.

Strangely enough, the squib didn't even ask her to do that. No, the tech-spirit had simply decided for herself to do it for a reason even she ignored. Not that it mattered… After all, it was the first time in her short life that she ever did anything for herself. Why would she question it ? Her 'father' always encouraged her to experience things on her own. So that's what she did.

Frankly, given the months which had gone by, Mel was more of a sidekick/apprentice to John Henry Irons than Ned was. If he was told, he'd probably say that it suited him just fine. Mel, however, kept her vigilantism activities somewhat secret… Or rather, she didn't report them to her 'father'. Another thing she didn't know why she did it…

Of course, Ned knew. In fact, at first he wanted to say something to Mel. But he realized something when he saw his armor on national TV, live. It was a rather convenient alibi for Ned Stark ! People didn't know about Mel and the concept of AI was still rather unknown. Truthfully, it being a concept of science-fiction written by no-majs, most wizards and witches didn't even know of it. Only the no-maj-borns knew about it and only those interested in the genre.

So, having Mel impersonate Silver Lad was a perfect alibi in his mind. To identify him now, people would have to :

- Know about or belong to the magical world

- Know about him and his work

- Know he studied Goblin forging methods (something he wasn't sure if any wizard or witches before him ever did)

- Understand the concepts and theories he used in his phones (and armors)

- Know about the AI concept and more importantly, believe it could be achieved in this day and age…

Needless to say, now with Mel commandeering his armors, Ned was confident that the Death Eaters wouldn't come after him and his family ! Thinking of this and his foresight in distorting his voice through the armor's speakers, Ned was constantly patting himself on the back.

At least, this was something which went well for him. His company : a growing headache. His work : although it finally earned him money, it was kinda boring to be building stuff for plebeians ! He had to make it affordable and easy enough to understand that even pureblood conservatives and other technologically inept people weren't discouraged by his products. And although Ned was a coding genius (in fact, it was what his career in his first life was based around), it was still a nightmare to design the operating systems for his phones, the computers he planned on making in the near futures and the tens, or hundreds of softwares for them…

The worst of it : he couldn't exactly employ people to code in his place ! Sure, there were a number of squibs in the US, but it wasn't much… Take the 3000 wizards in the UK, whose numbers were brought so low after two consecutive and rather gruesome wars : only about 1/3 of the population can and will have children and about half of that is female while the other male… Of course, that's not remotely true, but let's say it is. That makes about 500 couples. In the Weasley family, who are perhaps the most famous for the huge number of children they had, not even 1 was a squib ! This meant that the birth of a squib is a rather rare occurrence which was growing because of inbreeding, but still… Of those 500 couples, there was perhaps a 1/10th chance of their children to be squibs.

The situation in the US is similar. Only, Ned had to add the fact that, among those dreadfully low numbers, he had to find the ones interested and capable of coding decently enough to replace him (as if that was possible)! The situation was the same for the no-maj-borns… if not worse because in the US, unlike the UK, they could easily find work in the magical world, so they weren't forced to return to the no-maj side and hence didn't have to continue their studies there.

So, Ned did what he was good at : he programmed ! More specifically and importantly, he gave birth to another tech-spirit : Winston, who's virtual rendering was that of gorilla wearing high tech armor and a pair of glasses. Winston would focus on the company and the development of software and app alongside him.

On an unrelated note, his other, more personal projects, were progressing at a snail's pace. Aside from the Lightsaber technomancy and the hover-boots which were basically ready to go, the 'AC project' and 'Matrix uploader' weren't going very well… It was understandable really.

The first was supposed to replace and improve the horcrux creation, a secret known only to a few and practiced by even less… In fact, it was supposed to be a complete overhaul of the concept : no soul damnation, no risk of ending up disfigured and the possibility to switch bodies, provided he also worked on replacement bodies… Needless to say, it was a long term project.

As for the second, although it was, in theory, noticeably easier to achieve, the truth was different. The first requirement was for him to possess an understanding and mastery of legilimency he just didn't possess. It was natural after all : he was a squib. Even with his mother's guidance and lessons, as well as his own personal studies, theory and practice were very different. To put thoughts, and in the case of his project, knowledge inside the mind of someone, you needed to be a master ! Moreover, the fields of legilimency and enchantments rarely overlapped from what Ned could tell… Whether nobody tried to work with the two or enchanters simply didn't have the talent needed for legilimency, he didn't really know. It could as well be that the Mind Arts were simply too obscure and controlled because of their possible misuse. This meant that he had to work on the runic schemes and enchantment from scratch… or almost ; he still had his own enchantment for the Mind-Body Communication system of his armors.

However, between reading his surface thoughts (to better send command to Mel and by extension, the armor) and downloading knowledge inside his mind, there was once more, a huge leap. One could say they were the opposite even !

All in all, Ned was swamped with work… Still, he needed to prepare the best he could for the coming conflicts !

* * * * *

Amelia Bones was quite miffed with her new function. Becoming the Minister of Magic for the United Kingdoms might be the crowning achievement of any politician, she just felt it as yet another headache… As if being the Head of the DMLE wasn't already one !

The reason why she had even accepted the post was because of the return of Voldemort. In addition to her own personal vendetta, Amelia had always had a great sense and love of Justice. She believed that without it, their country would just sink into chaos and anarchy. And that's precisely what the Death Eaters and their master were aiming for : causing chaos so that their tyrannic rule might be accepted.

« Over my dead body ! » Amelia muttered to herself as she thought of this.

« Did you say something, Minister ? »

The director of the Auror's office, Rufus Scrimgeour asked while she read his report.

« Never mind, Rufus ! » Glancing back down at the parchment in her hands, she commented : « Good job on weeding out the spies in the Ministry ! » She sighed in contentment as she remarked : « I have to say that ever since Lucius' been barred access, I'm smiling more ! I've never really like the entitled sycophant ! »

Rufus scoffed :

« Indeed. I never really liked him either… Too much of a Slytherin for my taste ! »

« Ah, yes. The eternal Slytherin-Gryffindor rivalry and hatred… I've never care much for it. In fact, I've always thought it was one of the reason why the Wizarding community was so fractured… Teaching our children to hate each other from a young age is, well, stupid ! »

« Speaking like a true Hufflepuff, Minister ! » Rufus smiled good-naturedly. Then, he shook his head and reported : « As you can see, we've managed to respond to a number of attacks against muggleborn families and other sensitive targets. Thanks to those magic phones coming from the US… They are quite effective to relay information and it makes our job that much easier since now, we get the information on an attack much quicker… »

Amelia nodded :

« Yes… I was also quite surprised to have been contacted by the young entrepreneur with his offer. I still don't know what the angle he's playing for is, however… »

Rufus shrugged :

« Might be just as he said : he wants to help us in our conflict… The 'happe' he's designed to send distress signals to our office is quite effective. Even though it's been used a few times for pranks…»

« I believe, it is actually pronounced 'app'. Thankfully, our enemies haven't used it to set traps for us… Do continue to be careful of that, would you ? »

Rufus nodded and Amelia asked :

« Any news on the Hogwarts front ? »

« Headmistress McGonagall is settling nicely in her new functions. In fact, given how busy the former headmaster was, she already fulfilled most of his duties at the time. It's just been made official… She's requested for Auror escorts for the muggleborn students and families buying their school supplies during the summer as well as a contingent for the Express on September. »

Amelia frowned as she said :

« Your department's already stretched thin as it is… What do you think, Rufus ? »

« I think we don't have much choice, Madam Minister. As much as my people are tired and overworked, we all know the Express' gonna be a target. Not to mention Diagon Alley during summer… We should coordinate with the deputy headmistress Sprout to have all muggleborn students buy their supplies on the same day. Or at least, in the same week. It would ease our work a bit… »

« But that would mean making the group a much more interesting target and increasing the risks for yourself and the children… Are you sure that it is a good idea ? »

Rufus smile a bloodthirsty smile and declared :

« Let the bloody bastards come ! »

* * * * *

Harry Potter, sitting outside of in the sun-dried grass of the 4, Privet Drive was inwardly fuming, as he'd done ever since Dumbledore's death. Although he was thankful that the old headmaster had taught him how to kill his sworn enemy, he was also angry at his foolishness. Trusting Severus Snape… When almost everyone around him told him not to !

Having gone a few weeks to his godfather's house, the two had a number of choice word about the supposed 'spy' of the Order. In fact, Sirius had kind of reverted back to how he was the first time Harry met him : furious and on a mission. The young wizard could guess why that was : to Sirius, Snape's killing of Dumbledore and betrayal reminded him too much of his own experience with Pettigrew. After his long years in Azkaban, it was understandable that Sirius developed an extreme dislike for traitors… Even before Snape's betrayal, Sirius was vocal about the man and how he couldn't be trusted.

And after last year, when Harry learned why his parents were killed and because of whom… Well, needless to say, Harry shared his hatred for the man. Not that he didn't hate him before. It just added yet another reason for Harry to hate Snape.

At least, the young wizard could keep contact with his friends now. With the magic phones, he didn't have to fear his letters getting stolen or lost, and he didn't have to wait impatiently for an answer either ! It was something he was extremely grateful for. Even though he didn't particularly like Edgar Stark, at least this earned him a few sympathy points in his mind. Moreover, the technomancy was quickly spreading like wildfire ever since the Ministry had talked about how Ned Stark's company had supplied their offices for bargain prices, all to 'help them in their trying times' or so the PR rep, one Jacinth Noir, claimed.

Using the messaging app, he started to 'text' his friends.