8 Chapter 8: Under the Sea
Standing at the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, right at the coast of New Jersey, Harry stared out at the blue water. "I should really come here to take a holiday one day," he muttered as he observed the beautiful sandy beach in front of him before turning towards the water.
Harry doesn't have enough time to hang out at the beach today. He had things to do. As soon as he analyzed all the data his sensor array was picking up, he arranged an international portkey towards the U.S. after leaving a note for Pansy.
There was no time for him to waste right now; an actively used Stargate on Earth means that enemies could head for the planet at any time. And he had no idea about the status of the current galaxy.
The sooner he got his hands on some technology and access to the Stargate system, the sooner he was safe and could defend the planet if necessary. It was unlikely that any race in the Milky Way Galaxy had surpassed the Ancients technologically.
Unlike the Ancients, he wasn't foolish enough to be limited by ethics if the survival of his people was at stake. Neither would he purely rely on their limited designs, which might be highly advanced but limited in their concepts. Also, a large part of their downfall was their arrogance, which they always knew best.
Traps that could mean the end of a whole civilization Based on what he knew from the Ascended Knowledge Merlin put into the repository, he knew they still had the same shortcomings. But maybe it was also only him who was shortsighed and couldn't see their point.
Right now, his target is the two devices with a slight amount of naquadah in them before heading towards Egypt to get the spaceship, which hopefully is a spaceship.
Once he made sure that no one was close by to see him, Harry opened his Moleskin pouch and pulled a flat box out of it. This was a smaller portable sensor array he had put together to search for the precise location of the naquadah-based devices.
Besides the few parts he created for the sensor with transmutation, he put the rest together from the parts of another laptop he had at home; its LED screen served as a display for the location and direction he needed to go. It was basically a makeshift tablet. Of course, with such simple materials and a small size, the range of the device was only about 10 km, but it allowed the device to be more precise.
Of course, his control over zero-point energy gave him a few more possibilities to upgrade his devices even without better tools. The Impervius Charm made this portable sensor waterproof, so he could even use it safely underwater without any waterproofing techniques.
With it, he could confirm that his targets were right in front of him, just about 7 kilometers into the Atlantic Ocean but still close to the coast. Harry put the device away in his pouch and got ready for a swim.
He really wished the civilization on Earth was more advanced. If they had a more developed global information network, he could have just used it to access information about what he was dealing with here.
Although there is an internet on Earth, it has only been accessible to the public for less than 5 years. It is still in the beginning stages and didn't contain the information he needed. He looked after them all.
So he had no idea what he was searching for and would have to go in blind just with his sensor and magic. But he had already experienced magic underwater, thanks to the second task in the Triwizard Tournament. And this time, he wouldn't even need Gillyweed.
From a desolate part of the coast, Harry cast the Bubble-Head Charm on himself and the Impervius Charm on his clothes before walking into the ocean in the direction his portable sensor indicated his target was.
It was quite the distance to swim, but he manipulated his zero-point energy-based powers to propel himself telekinetically forward. This way, he saved a lot of his stamina. A few slightly modified Lumos that he made float around him gave him sight in the darkness of the ocean.
Soon he swam far enough to be close to his targets, according to the sensor. And it wasn't hard to find his target. With the light from his Lumos spheres, he could make out the shape of a ship on the floor of the ocean.
From the looks of it, this ship was quite old. Based on its design, it was around 60 to 70 years old. Based on its design, it was a steam-powered ship.
Harry dove closer to it, adjusting his bubble-head charm to the pressure of the ocean floor. It didn't take long for him to find a hatch in the ship. Based on the readings from his sensor, he could locate the devices where the freight room should be. Now that he was so close, he could also see that there was another smaller object with trace amounts of naquadah in it.
Having found the freight room, he soon found what he was looking for; there were several wooden boxes inside. He didn't know what was in the others, but the three devices he searched for were in two boxes. He quickly stored them in his Moleskin pouch before returning to the coast.
With the accomplishment of his target, he chose to return to Britain. The other two locations he found with his sensor were likely under the control of someone and too risky for him for now.
"You're back! What were you thinking when you abruptly left without telling me anything? Do you have any idea how worried I was?" Pansy said as she greeted him when she heard that he apparated into the entrance hall from the Ministry's International Portkey Department.
"Eh, I left a note," Harry answered.
"'Will be back in a few days' is not telling me anything," she replied with a deadpan.
"Well, okay. I get your point. I just didn't want to waste any time," Harry replied awkwardly. He had no idea why she was so agitated. Maybe she was scared that he wouldn't return and that she would live out there again. "Don't worry. You can stay here even if something happens to me."
She just looked offended at him and walked away. Now he had no idea what he had done. Well, it doesn't matter right now. "Kreacher, take these and unpack them carefully in the living room," he said to the elf, who proceeded with his request.
"Yes, half-blood master. You should apologize to Lady Parkinson," the elf said before disappearing with the wooden boxes.
Apologize for what? What did he do? He felt once again as if he were back in Hogwarts, where he said something to Hermione that made her upset with him, and he had no idea why. Just this time, with Pansy Parkinson, of all people...
Well, it doesn't matter right now. He needed a refreshing shower before he studied whatever he got from the remains of that freight ship.
He really needed that shower; even with the Impervius Charm protecting him from the water of the ocean, salt, sand, and dirt still stuck to him. So a bit of relaxation was what he deserved right now. After all, he would soon head out towards Egypt again.
Putting his dirty clothes into the laundry basket, he headed for the main bathroom connected to the master bedroom of the house—his room. While enjoying the warm water of his shower trickling down his body, he could hear how the door to his bedroom opened, which confused him.
Kreacher wouldn't enter this room without permission while he was here; he only came in when he was cleaning it, and that was when Harry wasn't present. After all, a good houseelf, according to them, operates unseen to not disrupt their masters. He tried to tell him that it really didn't matter to him, but the old elf was too stuck in his ways to even listen to him. And an order was a bad idea; that would only result in him hurting himself.
"Pansy, do you need something?" Harry asked loudly, unsure of what she could need. A short while ago, she was still upset with him for some reason. "I will be out soon. If it isn't anything important, could it wait until I am done?"
But he got no reply to his question. She wasn't saying anything. He decided that he must have misheard or that she was only waiting for him. Still, he was quite exhausted and decided not to rush; the next few days would be stressful enough. If there was something she needed urgently, she would tell him.
Not bothered, he focused on the warm feeling of the water trickling down while he cleaned himself with fresh-smelling soap until he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in the back of his neck.
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