The air was thick with the nauseating reek of blood. Seeing the devastation all around them, Tony Stark and Yinsen both went pale, utterly stunned.
They had never imagined this could be man-made—that such overwhelming power could be wielded by a human being.
They suddenly remembered what Harry had said before: that whenever he mentioned his teacher's name, his teacher would sense it.
They'd thought he was joking at the time. Now, it seemed very likely he'd been serious.
If a mere disciple possessed this level of power, then the mysterious teacher behind him…
Did that mean Harry's teacher really could roam freely through an infinite multiverse?
Tony Stark felt his entire worldview being violently overturned.
Suddenly, Tony noticed that although Harry had landed back on the ground, the scarlet magic around him hadn't faded. On the contrary, it was only growing thicker.
Wrapped in that power, Harry looked to be in real pain. Tony asked anxiously, "Kid, what's wrong? Are you feeling okay?"
Yinsen stepped forward, wanting to examine Harry, but Harry stopped him. "No, don't come any closer. This magic is dangerous. Just leave me for a bit—I'll be fine soon."
Harry did his best to calm the rampaging magic inside him. In order to wipe out all of the terrorists in a single move just now, he'd drawn on more power than his own danger threshold allowed.
Now the magic in his body was even more chaotic, and there was a very real risk it could spiral out of control at any moment.
Even so, under his full suppression, the power inside him gradually began to settle.
Ever since he'd returned from the wizarding world, his control over his own magic seemed to have improved a great deal; otherwise there was no way he could have calmed this violent surge so easily.
With the level of control he'd had before, he probably would have lost it by now. At that point, his only option would have been to force himself into the Mirror Dimension to avoid harming Tony Stark and Yinsen.
But even that wouldn't be completely safe.
When he lost control, the Mirror Dimension could be a very fragile thing.
As time passed, the chaos magic sheathing Harry's body slowly withdrew back inside him, and Tony Stark and Yinsen both let out a long breath of relief.
The last thing they wanted was for something to happen to the man who'd just saved their lives.
"What do we do now?" Yinsen asked, staring in confusion at the endless desert in the distance.
"Walk. Just keep walking," Tony Stark said. Compared to Yinsen, he actually sounded excited. "I don't even know if the military's still looking for me. We need a car, drive deeper into the desert, find signs of life, and figure out how to get back to New York. Pajama Baby, what do you think?"
Harry's head throbbed at the nickname. This billionaire's personality really was awful; no wonder so many people disliked him.
Still, considering the guy was going to start throwing money around later, Harry decided to forgive him in advance.
"My name is Harry. Harry Potter. Don't call me Pajama anything. But your plan works for me. I think there's a perfectly good off-road vehicle over there." Harry pointed to a corner of the camp, where a sand-colored jeep was parked.
Now that they were out of immediate danger, Tony Stark's irreverent nature came flooding back.
He refused to drive on the grounds that, other than sports cars, he never touched steering wheels.
And as the main combat power in their little three-man team, Harry obviously couldn't be the one driving and risk splitting his focus.
In the end, it was the dependable Yinsen who took the front seat and drove them toward the depths of the desert.
After gulping down a few mouthfuls of bottled water they'd scavenged from the camp, Tony grumbled,
"Damn it, shame it's not soda. If only we had some cheeseburgers. When I get back, I'm eating two cheeseburgers… and maybe a donut."
Tony sniffed. He could have sworn he smelled fried chicken, but out here in an endless desert, where would fried chicken even come from?
He turned his head and froze, wondering if he was hallucinating.
Harry was happily eating, a drumstick in one hand and a cola in the other.
Baffled, Tony blurted, "What the fuck—where did you get that chicken?"
Harry transformed a bottle of mineral water into a spicy chicken-cheeseburger and handed it to Tony.
"Like this. Transfiguration."
Tony's eyes lit up. He grabbed the burger and took a huge bite; he'd never tasted a cheeseburger this good.
Chewing and swallowing, he mumbled around his mouthful, "Wizards are insanely convenient. You can just turn things into food? I should hire you as my personal chef."
Harry shook his head and explained, "Transfiguration can change an object's shape, appearance, even its fundamental properties, so of course you can turn it into food. But anything transformed like that will eventually turn back into what it was, so you're not supposed to eat it."
"Cough—cough—" Tony choked and stared at Harry in horror. He knew exactly what that meant. If you just swallowed it, maybe you'd be fine, but if your body actually digested it, there was a very real chance it would kill you outright.
He leaned forward, trying to force the burger back up. "Why didn't you say that first?!"
Watching Tony's misery, Harry finally laughed. "Relax. My Transfiguration is permanent. It won't turn back, so it's safe to eat."
Tony shot him a wounded look over his shoulder. You did that on purpose. You definitely did that on purpose.
The military took the disappearance of a billionaire like Tony very seriously. Even after three months, they had never stopped searching for him.
About an hour after Harry and the others set off, a helicopter finally spotted them.
Five fully armed soldiers disembarked from the helicopter. The black officer in the lead walked up to Tony and bumped fists with him.
"How was the ride in the fun-vee?"
Tony raised an eyebrow, unwilling to be outdone. "The three of us were just on a desert vacation—with delicious cheeseburgers. That jeep was a fantastic ride."
Colonel Rhodes shook his head and clapped Tony on the shoulder, then pulled him into a tight hug. "Next time, you ride in the same vehicle as me, okay?"
"Sure. Though preferably, there won't be a next time," Tony replied.
Seeing that Tony was safe, Rhodes finally relaxed. Tony was his best friend; the last thing he wanted was anything happening to him.
Then he turned to Harry and Yinsen, puzzled. "And they are…?"
Yinsen introduced himself first. "My name is Yinsen. I'm a doctor."
Harry answered politely, "I'm Harry. I'm… a high school student?"
"What?" Rhodes was momentarily baffled. Yinsen made sense—he was probably a doctor the Ten Rings had kidnapped.
But Harry was different. He was clean, his clothes were neat and intact. He didn't look like a prisoner who'd been mistreated by the Ten Rings at all.
Rhodes' guard went up, and he was just about to press for answers when Tony jumped in to cover for Harry.
"Relax, Rhodey. Harry's a great kid."
Rhodes glanced at Tony, then gave Harry another careful once-over and slowly relaxed. He trusted his brother.
The three of them boarded the helicopter and headed for the nearest military base.
There, they would transfer to a plane and fly back to New York.
On the helicopter, Tony kept waggling his eyebrows and making faces at Harry, looking incredibly conspiratorial.
Harry didn't understand and asked with concern, "Do you have facial muscle spasms? I might be able to treat that."
Harry's sincere concern backfired. Tony almost choked on his own breath and could only lean over and whisper,
"I know you wizards like to stay hidden in the shadows and not show yourselves. Don't worry—I won't tell anyone what you are."
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