The thing about being a Sorcerer is that getting knocked out is slightly less of an issue than it is for normal people, especially if you were able to Astral Project yourself and had a mental subroutine built through self-hypnosis to activate it once you lose consciousness unexpectedly.
In short, being a paranoid bastard helped.
Of course, there were also disadvantages of being an Astral Projection, not having a body to produce the Life Force for most Sorceries limited my skills to pure Psionics, but a telekinetic blade was as useful in removing a head, something that not even a Vampire could survive.
Now to see what these leeches were up to.
I observed as a second Vampire appeared out of thin air, a skill that I had not accounted for, one that managed to circumvent my Sensory skills.
The part of me that was a Scientist was curious. The part of me that was Doom was furious... and annoyed... and curious.
That power shall be Doom's by the time the sun sets.
Anyway.
Given the speed of the Vampires, I made a mental note to fix my reaction time and improve my constant vigilance, to quote another paranoid bastard.
For now, I have decided to use the opportunity to gain more intel on my opponents.
I observed my prey, as they grabbed my body and booked it, travelling through back alleys and into a passage that brought us to... Knockturn Alley, of all places, after going through a magical passage that I did not know about.
I made sure to memorize the path, as a backup for sneaking into Diagon Alley would be handy.
My projection tracked them until we ended up in the basement of one of the buildings, within an actual solid vault.
My hands were locked in chains above me, leaving me hanging. I felt the cold metal of something lock around my neck, while one of the vampires proceeded to take out the stuff that was on me. Soon, they were all laid on the table: my wand, my Shield Bracelet, and the Mokeskin pouch that contained the Luger and a few prototype explosives that contained stored dimensional energy, you know, stuff that is probably enough to level a Military Base or such... standard self-defense stuff, you know.
"I thought we were supposed to go for all four of them," said one of them. It was the one that I had chased. I mentally dubbed that one as Thing One.
"The others simply vanished when we tried to get them, Sire. We were promised that there would be no apparition from the Dark Lord," the other stooge said, Thing Two, that I had not even noticed in King's Cross.
That would be Alfie protecting them. I should get something nice for my House Elf, hmm... what did a House Elf liked other than being given chores to do?
"This one smells nice, like dragon, maybe a bite..." Thing Two said, only to recoil as if struck by something.
"Nein, nein, the bargain was for all four of them, even if the Hexennacht promised us that they wouldn't bolt. Der junge has clearly ruined their plan to recruit more. We'll have to renegotiate and deliver him unharmed for the blood they promised."
As for my enemy... Hexen Nacht... German for Witch's Night, aka Walpurgis Night... or Knights of Walpurgis, if you were in on the word play.
Voldemort had arranged this, if my guess is right... which was concerning. Did he know about the diary? Or was this more of a general act to curb our influence in Slytherin?
Most of those who had a survival instinct in Slytherin had noticed that I was a bit of a threat and did not want to take a hard line against me, as it were.
You know what, it was irrelevant. I was still going to drag out that fucker's death.
"Yesss, master, the sample blood from these Death Horses they provided is very useful. Alas, Sire, we know that they will just torture and kill him, so what is the harm in a small taste?" Thing Two spoke, clearly chastised.
Death Horses... Thestrals... that at least explained the unusual stealth.
"It does not matter; the wizards can always ask our guest where they vanished to when he wakes up," said the leader, before leaving. "Our part of the bargain is complete, and once we have the blood we want, we shall go back home."
Yep, that is my cue to wake up. Let's see if I can pull a Romanoff and make these idiots give more away.
I 'stirred' back into consciousness, using the time to take stock of what I could use.
My Chi was still there, cycling. When I tried using my own energies to see if I could open the locks, I felt the metal around my neck heat up.
"Witches Runes," said one of them, "Have a contact in Boston willing to make them in exchange for sending a few Witches in her direction to take some road or something."
I sighed... that sounded like Agatha... I was so going to punch Agatha in the face for that one... preferably with a steel gauntlet.
"But just to be certain, ja," said the Vamp in the Hat, pulling out a familiar-looking piece of wood... before snapping it. "Not that it will help you, Junge. These chains, old hexen, ja, stop your magic. Unbreakable."
I gave him a soft smile, "Good to know, I will try not to damage them so I can study them," I said coldly, as I started going through what I could use.
I got punched in the gut.
Luckily, I still could feel my Chi and use it to bleed out the damage, but it still stung.
Other than that, I could feel my connections to other dimensions, so Sorcery was still available, if a bit more rawer than I would have preferred, though I needed my hands free for that one.
Hmm... or maybe not. Before that, let's see if we can get some answers.
"Keep an eye on him, while the Hexennacht come for him," the vampire said after the silence stretched, adding, before walking away, and the large metal door closed behind him.
'Why was it that all these Nazi wannabes found me?' I thought to myself, as the vault was closed with the two other vampires left to guard me.
"So, how did you guys manage to be all sneaky?" I asked, going with the straight approach. "I mean, Vampires are all that, but I was pretty sure you vanished from any sense," I said to Thing One.
"Oh, ze boy is curious, ja," said Thing One, "How about a deal, some blood, it tastes so sweet when willingly given."
"Sure, I suppose you can have some dessert," I said with a smile.
"Well, it is this blood, you see," he said, holding a vial of something, "an invisible beast's blood, your lot call it a Thestral. We drink it, and it makes us vanish from all senses. We are promised more for our coven; it shall allow us to win the war."
I did not need to ask which war, mostly because the one who spoke had his jaw rearranged with a yell of "Stop speaking with the prey". It was either Riddle's plan to use the Vampires as an offensive force, or just the usual war that Vampires had. They usually had at least a dozen plots to enslave humanity... and Riddle's little temper tantrum was no exception in the long run for them.
At least it confirmed my theory that they were more Mercenary than actual.
Still, the information that magical animal blood was used by Vampires to gain the magic of the creature, including a Thestral, was new to me... making me question if it could be done for non-Vampires as well... maybe something to test in the future.
For now, I had to get out of here.
"Hmm," I said, "I suppose that is the best I will get, I suppose I did promise you your just desserts, right?"
"Hah, the little boy thinks he can fight, tied up as he is," said the second one.
While I was waiting, I was not just hanging uselessly.
I channelled my Chi, forming a Chakra before using Shape Manipulation to form the right Magical Circle with pure control and no shortcuts.
It was hard, it was tricky, it took a few seconds of my focus.
"I mean, I can always do something like this," I said, pulling power, closing my eyes and roaring, "BY SUNDERING SUNLIGHT OF CINNIBUS!!!"
The entire vault was filled with the light of a sun for just a moment as I leveraged the fact that I was not using my own power to cast the spell.
Sorcery was not Witchcraft, and the Witches' Runes only worked on one of those.
The dimension of Cinnibus was one that I had connected over hours of meditation, thanks to the book that was left by Crowley. It was rather handy to have a method that worked against Vampires that did not rely on a wand.
As I was blinking away the spots in my vision, I idly noted that the Wizarding version of the spell, Lumos Solem, was something taught to first years, ensuring that Vampires were nothing but common pests, rather than any threats.
The uncontrolled and undirected casting of the spell, however, was rather unpleasant.
At least it got the job done, and I was left alone with two piles of ash.
I sighed, pulling my body up the unbreakable chain slowly as I worked to reach the ceiling.
Flipping myself as I reached the ceiling, I planted my feet around where the chain was bolted into the ceiling.
Here is a trick: if a chain is unbreakable, it does not mean that what it is attached to is unbreakable as well.
Same logic with an unbreakable door, meaning that the best way through is through the wall.
I felt the Chi move through me as I pushed with my legs against the ceiling, putting my whole body into ripping off the anchoring to the concrete, making it break apart before I flipped and landed once more onto my two feet, bending it just enough to bleed out the force while countering it with the Chi that remained from my task.
Doom was above such trivialities as posing with a Superhero Landing.
And it was terrible on the knees.
I moved through, using the ash of one of the Vampires to create a hasty Transmutation Circle.
While their body was not really magical on its own, its contents had magic from what intel they revealed.
Then I reached my head and ripped a lock of my hair.
Witchcraft was out of the question at this moment, so I was stuck with a few options, one of which was Alchemy.
A quick Alchemical Transmutation using the residual magical energy from the Vampire Ash that made up the circle. Dumping Chi into the circle to power a quick Hair into Hairclip Transfiguration, I now had a way to pick the locks that were part of the manacles.
Only for them not to work.
Right...
I instead unlocked the Collar after a few tries, before channelling an Unlocking Spell through the Hairclip.
It did not lead to the chains around my wrist from unlocking.
Right... sorcerous chains from ye old times.
I did a quick inventory.
I had a steel knife from one of the Vampires, the Collar with Witches Runes that was easy to pick open, the chains that were not so, given they were still around my wrists, a lot of Vampire Ash, and nothing else... apart from a goblet with blood in it.
Thestral Blood, particularly.
Hmm, step one... counter their invisibility.
I dipped a finger in the Thestral Blood, smearing some on my forehead, right over the Third Eye, and moving through the right moves.
"By the All-Seeing Eye of Agamotto, reveal that which is hidden," I muttered, using the evocation to pierce through the invisibility that the Thestral Blood seemingly granted.
I could explain the theory behind the sympathetic bond between the blood and how it was used to unravel the unique form of magical protection developed by the Thestrals, but to be honest, I was just responsible for dumping about a decade's worth of life force in the direction of Agamotto and just letting him handle the rest.
I would delegate the studying when I actually had the time for it.
Next was some backup.
First things first, I palmed some of the Vampire ash and dumped it into the rest of the blood.
This was not ideal, though.
According to the research that Dumbledore made, an ideal source for the Alchemical Transmutation Circle was dragon's blood... something about higher levels of Chi leading to more stable results, but any magical blood could work in theory.
Vampire Ash was not what one would call a useful medium, being keyed to concepts of Absorption, it was Alchemically subpar as a material. The magic that lingered in the Vampire Ash, however, was useful, especially when mixed with said source of magic in the form of blood.
Still, the fact that it worked meant that I could do more with it, such as paint a more stable Sorcery Circle into my palm to use the Solarflare of Cinnibus Spell without delay or needing gestures, something extremely useful against faster opponents.
Hopefully, Cinnibus appreciated the irony of me using Vampire Ash... granted, Solar Deities overall had a hard-on when it came to destroying the undead, so there was that.
It was not going to be enough, though.
I could leave... I could just call Alfie and leave, but I needed my Bag of Holding, and I wanted to make that vampire hurt.
"Master Doomie appears healthy," said Alfie, "Alfie is glad. Master's friends were worried when Alfie pulled them to safety."
"Alfie, my armor," I said simply, as the House Elf popped holding the prototype Goblin Silver Armor, enchanted to high heaven with protections to keep my vulnerable insides safe.
While I could not forge Goblin Silver, I could transmute it.
The breastplate was made mostly as a challenge, transmuting individual pieces after mathematically calculating each individual curve and rivet hole, before assembling them with transmuted rivets of Goblin Silver, over a nice layer of Hungarian Horntail Leather.
I really needed a computer to handle the more complex parts, potentially to see if I can hook it up to a Transmutation Circle to handle the process without my input.
"Good elf," I responded, "Ah... could you let them know that I am fine, Alfie," I said, "And start on the dinner, I should be back in an hour or so."
"As you command, Master," said Alfie, popping away.
Right, for now, I had my armor.
I took the time to add another circle for a Shield to the back of both my hands, and a Banishing Bolt to my right palm would have to do.
Time to pull a page out of Blade's Handbook and kill some Fucking Vampires.
---
# New York City, Some Night Club
A dark skinned man with sunglasses and a black trenchcoat walked into what appeared to be a Disco, swinging his blade in an arc that ended up decapitating three Vampires at once, before he froze before sneezing.
Vampire Ash must have gone up his nose again.
The rest of the vampires hissed at him, like that would do anything.
It did not matter.
"Let's boogie," he said with a grin, his fangs gleaming. There were Vampires to hunt.
---
# Victor von Doom
I walked out of the vault... through the wall, since it was easier than trying to break open the locked vault door.
Whoever had put it there was an idiot... alas.
Following my imitation of the Kool-Aid Man, I was immediately greeted with a warehouse filled with dozens of vampires.
They did the proper vampire thing and hissed before attacking.
I held up my palm, causing the sunlight to flare and turn most of them into ash.
Not all, unfortunately, the vampire in charge was fast, jumping behind cover.
The Magical Circle in my palm vaporized, leaving no trace.
That, kids, is why you do not use experimental magical technology while picking a fight.
I pulled some of the energy from the Time Dimension into myself, my eyes gaining a verdant tint.
The surviving vampires attacked.
---
Here are the basics of how you fight a Vampire in hand-to-hand...
They are faster than you, stronger than you, both an inherent nature in their ability to control their blood.
They are, however, bound by the local laws of physics.
A Sorcerer is not... especially one with inherent mastery over both Time and their own Life Force.
I could not move fast enough to dodge, but the Chakra, that unique mix of Mental and Physical Energy, could move my body for me, so long as I could think fast enough.
'If I can fit time in a bottle...' the mental mnemonic continued, as I dodged, weaved, and smacked more than one vampire with the chains that were still bound to me.
The chains, now flowing with my Chakra, had a rather reddish glow to them, something that seemed to amplify the force they carried.
Still, they were useful, despite the fact that they were still limiting my mobility.
As I moved, I used my foot to trace another Magic Circle, clapping my hands to cycle the Chakra before stomping on the circle to activate it.
The room flashed one more time.
Leaving only a single vampire in the group.
He showed his existence by trying to put his hand through my torso.
The armor held, as I was launched off my feet.
'Fast...' my super-genius mind supplied as I pulled myself from the dent in the wall.
"Well, well, well, the prey has some bite to him, ja?" spoke the Vamp in the Hat... who did not really have a hat. You know, I am starting to think the analogy is not going anywhere.
I kept my focus on him, even as he moved.
"Oh, you have a means to see through the invisibility, how novel. This is where the road ends, child, you have harmed too many of mine for me to let you live for ze Hexen," he said, shadows starting to curl around him.
Fuck...
I brought up the Shield of the Seraphim on the back of my hand, forming a giant Magical Shield between me and the sudden rush of Shadows.
Could feel the strain on my body. The Life Force that I had cultivated through the last two years was running out very fast, and I had no way of keeping this up. The moment I cut off the spell, the circle itself would burn out, leaving me without the means to defend myself.
You know what, no one said I had to fight fairly...
I stood straight, looking at the vampire through the Sorcerous Shield. He had a grin on his face, of a man who knew he had won.
Then I opened my mouth and simply spoke the next evocation.
"Dumbledore, Dumbledore, Dumbledore," I called out, putting enough intent into it to be noticed.
Power had certain effects... in Sorcery, one of those was a form of Authority one gained through their mastery.
The Octessence, whose evocation called on elemental powers, was just one of them.
It was not, however, limited to Dimension Lords... some of whom themselves have ascended to that point from being Sorcerers.
Strange had once evoked Hawking and Einstein to survive a Black Hole.
In older Sorcerers, who had their own effect, such as that one time when Harry Potter defended Dumbledore and ended up summoning his phoenix.
It was not just me being wishful when the door to the warehouse was blasted open and in walked the older Wizard, clad in fire and fury.
Doom did not need to fight his fights like some common plebeian.
AN: Victor dabbles in Vampire Hunting, then decides that he should just call someone who can do it for him instead.
Blade will return, and all that.
As always, I am motivated by discussions, feedback, and criticism. If you wish to enable my coffee addiction, I made a ko-fi account here if you wish to support my work. I can only promise to spend the time drinking coffee, writing my stories, and you get absolutely nothing else in return.Last edited: Nov 16, 2025 Like ReplyReport Reactions:UndeadFlowerBoy, bddvil, shobi and 888 othersGuldsdoneNov 16, 2025Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 023: Unshackling of Doom View contentGuldsdoneWizarding WorksNov 22, 2025NewAdd bookmark#2,447# Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
There were days when Albus regretted getting out of bed.
Those days tended to be the same ones that would somehow end up in a disaster.
Like the day when his mother, Kendra, passed.
Or that other day when his sister, Arianna, passed... possibly by his hand.
Or that other day when he learned that Gellert would not stop his quest to lead Magicals into death.
Or that other day when he had the privilege of meeting with a boy by the name of Tom Riddle, who would grow up to be a murderer.
The last one had ended with the death of three students under his protection. Even if Albus could guess that there were other players involved, even if Albus knew that those three would have earned the Dementor's Kiss for their own actions of using a Dark Ritual, they were still his students, students he failed.
Needless to say, there were a lot of days that Albus just wished had not happened.
This one had certainly ended up being one of them.
He had been so hopeful that this would be another successful year, one that ended without anyone dying, a rarity for most cases, unlike what the rest of the Wizarding World would admit.
It was the unspoken part of being a teacher for the Magicals, little Witches and Wizards who lacked the judgment to use their power wisely, or experiment without understanding what they were doing.
Not that Albus himself was dissimilar at that age. Too curious, too driven.
They would learn patience in time, their brilliant minds tempered by age and experience, preferably after they enjoyed a nice and long childhood.
Among those brilliant minds, one had been standing out lately, Victor von Doom.
A prodigious mind, one of the rare few who seem to consider Magic in conjunction with the Mundane. That particular Cursed Generator he came up with was still enough to leave young Arthur Weasley baffled, once more sending another letter asking to meet Victor.
A shudder passed through his spine as Albus looked forward to and dreaded that those two would ever meet.
Which was why he was rather concerned when a letter got to him from one Lily Evans about how Victor was kidnapped after leaving Platform Nine and Three Quarters.
He had not wasted time, putting little effort into punching through the already frayed Anti-Apparition Jinx of Hogwarts, the one that would have to be renewed each year, after sending a Patronus for an old friend.
By the time he was in King's Cross, his friend was already there.
"Appare Vestigium," Auror Alastor Moody cast, like to have just finished putting up the Muggle Repelling Charms. The Tracking Charm took the form of Victor being carried by something invisible.
"The lad was knocked out by someone invisible, how is another question. You should get those kids of yours to study more vigilance, Albus," said Alastor, without turning.
"Yes, I will be sure to add that to their lesson plans for next year," responded Albus, having already gone through this before. "Have you checked the Trace? It should let us know if Disillusionment is used."
"First thing I checked before coming here, Mafalda did not find any Disillusionment Charm," responded the Auror, causing Albus to frown.
"So an item or something like that," responded Albus dryly. There were simply too many ways for a person to disappear with the aid of Magic.
"That will be hard to track," swore Alastor Moody, as Albus felt something shift in the air, before pulling out his trusty Deluminator from his pocket, catching someone speak 'Dumbledore, Dumbledore, Dumbledore.'
A smile formed on his face as he clicked the artifact he had made while studying Sorcery. The Deluminator was many things: a method of subtly putting off the lights or turning them back on, an anchor of Evocation, a variant of Sorcery that both Aberfort and he inherited that allowed him to track down anyone who spoke his name. It was a stopgap, a pressure valve, as the Muggles called it, a way to ensure that he was not mentally strained when people called out his name, once he started to reach the power and awareness under the tutelage of Nicholas Flamel.
Albus was no stranger to Sorcery. He had been trained by one of the most premier sorcerers to have ever lived, Nicolas Flamel. He was a superb Alchemist and a capable Sorcerer.
Albus, however, did not have the stomach for the art that involved bargains for power. Youthful indiscretions have soured him on seeking power, which in turn took something in turn, along with Blacklisting Albus from seeking knowledge from the Masters of the Mystic Arts, at least officially.
It was his penance, the cost of allowing Gellert to become what he had done.
That and becoming the Steward of the Elder Wand, a task that he had reluctantly accepted, meant that he would be having a quiet life, less adventurous than what a Sorcerer might be expected.
The truth was, Albus did not wish to fight, not since he learned the cost of paying it with the blood of his loved ones.
Nowadays, it was a complex calculus, as he had to weigh in the advantages of victory against the chance of losing the allegiance of the fickle artifact that allowed him to fight and surpass any other Sorcerer empowered by an Eldritch Horror, even if he had to shave off years from his own life to do so.
But that was what Albus preferred. He was not an Auror, like Alastor; he was a Teacher, and teaching was one of the few things that had been the balm to his soul after what he had done.
That did not mean, however, that when a student of his was under attack, he would not move to interfere.
He idly clicked the Deluminator, letting a ball of light hover and enter his chest, before he disappeared without a sound, leaving a frustrated Auror.
Appearing in a street that looked to be an offshoot of Knockturn Alley,
He noticed that shadows were longer than they ought to be, and as such pulled on the Power of the Lightforce Dimension into the form of a protective shield around himself while banishing away the shadows.
Contrary to what anyone else thought, Albus Dumbledore was not some Champion of the Light, or even the strongest Magic User in existence.
He was, however, at the cost of sounding like a braggart, very good. He may prefer the life of a teacher, but he was still the veteran of the War that Gellert had started, and he was still the Sorcerer who became the Keeper of the Wand of Destiny.
So he entered the warehouse, ready to face the hordes of Dark Creatures, Wizards, and even Demons.
And found himself facing only two.
One was a young Victor, hidden behind a rather spectacular Sorcerous Shield, or it would have been, had it not been currently in the process of being pushed back by a mass of shadows by the second figure, one that was cloaked in shadow.
"Vampire, Thestral Blood," Victor yelled out, as the shadows dissipated, once more leaving the second figure invisible.
Yet the three words that Victor had provided were sufficient for Albus to counter the method of hiding.
A flick of his wand had the dust in the warehouse get charged with static, sticking to the body of the invisible vampire.
That would have been sufficient, but Albus let his curiosity win out, adding a 'Sanguinum Revelio' with just a thought. A small smirk formed beneath his white beard as he leveraged the Thestral Hair within the Elder Wand to create the resonance that shattered the invisibility of the vampire.
One never stopped learning after all, even if they were reaching their first century.
The Ancient Vampire looked shocked, even as he was barely an inch away from Albus, ready to impale the older wizard with his nails.
Faster than a thought, a Shield blocked the strike as Albus unfurled his power, letting his magic sing.
The vampire went to strike again, but with experience and age. His speed testament to his mastery over Blood Magic, which had him move beyond normal perception.
Even without the Supersensory Charm, he was not a threat to the likes of Albus, however. The older wizard had long since worn away the barrier between himself and his magic, letting the magic work to protect him as he made his way to the boy.
A shield appeared to block a strike one second, a blast of kinetic energy following it next, even as Albus worked to put himself between the vampire and the young student that was under his protection.
Said student was busy pulling out some knick-knacks from a pouch he had managed to summon from the pocket of the vampire, his hands still bound by a long chain that reeked of some Sorcery.
The vampire tried to strike again, only for the ground to transform into a knight to fight against him at equal speed.
Then something slammed near the foot of the vampire, causing him to spasm and get impaled by the Knight. Vampire reacted quickly, however, a backhand shattering the statue before he jumped back from the stream of lightning that had left their mark, singing the pale skin.
Normally, Albus would move to ensure that Victor could not interfere, yet he could tell that Victor himself was not a stranger to this type of conflict, the boy's prodigious mind proving to be capable of complementing his own actions instead of interfering.
Victor's strike gave Albus enough time to form a whip of flame to try to ensnare the vampire so he could answer questions or incinerate it, as Albus was not too attached to that idea.
While being a big supporter of second chances, along with an unwillingness to kill another using the Elder Wand lest he draw the ire of the fickle focus, Albus simply went with the flow, as the youth would say.
The flaming whip missed, even as the vampire was stopped by his shield, before the shield was transformed into a Banishing Charm, launching the vampire to the side once more.
The vampire moved again, while Albus watched Victor kick that strange contraption of his that unleashed lightning.
The vampire noticed it, his eyes widening as he dodged, only to get slammed by the chain that Victor had swung behind him.
The chain wrapped around the vampire's neck before it went taut, followed by the sound of bones breaking.
Then the vampire lunged, bones of his neck repairing in an instant.
Albus prepared himself to finish the task, knowing without doubt that the vampire would heal in the next few seconds.
Before he could release the power he gathered, arcs of lightning bounced along the chain still bound to the vampire, and the severed head of the vampire fell off, turning into dust.
"Victor, was there something you wanted help with?" Albus asked with a smile, acknowledged the boy, before moving to sit on one of the crates, needing to catch his own breath. Not bad for a ninety-one-year-old, he sighed.
"Professor Dumbledore," responded the boy, breathing heavily. "Would you like a jelly baby?" the boy asked, holding a Muggle candy.
"I would love to," Albus said, eyes gleaming as he looked at the brilliant student before him, a foreign boy with talent and training in Sorcery.
Albus idly noted the armor that was beneath the green cloak that Victor wore, armor that sang of Goblin Steel to his magic.
'Doom of Man, huh,' he idly mused, 'Clad in Silver and Steel, clad in Emeralds Weaved…'
He was not a fool. He knew that Victor had been dabbling with the more esoteric of the Magical Arts.
His sources suggested a connection with late Aleister Crowley, his old 'friend' who had stuck into Albus' school like some delinquent.
Albus did not grudge Victor his knowledge, not of Sorcery.
Every Magical had a right to it, Albus believed, so long as they were cautious and smart enough to understand the dangers... and if Victor needed guidance, Albus was not foolish enough to shut that door to another brilliant mind like he had done with Tom the day he met him.
Albus sighed, enjoying the taste of sweet gelatinous candy.
Sometimes, getting out of bed was worth it.
---
# Victor
The cleanup after the Vampire Coven mess was rather quick.
"And they mentioned something about the Hexen Nacht," I said, telling them a modified version of the events that made me sound less competent than I really was.
"The Witches' Night in German," said the scarred-looking Auror Moody. It was weird, seeing the man with both his eyes and legs.
"Night of Walpurgis," responded Dumbledore, glimmering, meeting the eyes of the Auror. "Victor, may I bother you with the memory of the event?" he asked.
I shrugged, putting a finger to my temple, pulling only the conversations. I may not have trusted Dumbledore when it came to certain decisions of his, but intel on Riddle's operation was something the older wizard would be best suited to be aware of and work to undermine.
Better him than me, to be honest. I was far too busy.
To be frank, I could have probably handled the Elder Vampire, as Dumbledore identified the creature. That being said, it was an opportunity to see how Dumbledore operated. If he was not able to win, I would also be coming out on top, gaining an opportunity to claim the Elder Wand.
Either way, I would be winning.
"And how did you manage to escape?" asked Alastor Moody.
"Magic," I responded with a cheeky look. "They thought I would not be able to use wandless magic, so I destroyed two with a Lumos Solem, then the rest of the coven when they attacked me."
I conveniently did not mention the Collar etched with Witches' Runes. Spoils of War and all that, and in the world of Magic, intel was key, as it were, and I was not willing to let them know I could work around something like that.
"It is impressive that Victor has a very good theoretical grounding; not many are able to appreciate it, preferring to rely on their wands. Such Magic Circles are usually reserved for more esoteric and advanced applications nowadays," said Dumbledore, holding his wand up and forming a Magical Circle that would work as a barrier.
I filed that little information away. Wands were like computers in a sense, handling the more complex aspects of Weaving and powering the spell through Natural Energy.
What I had done with the Magic Circles made from blood could be explained as me pushing to the boundary of Ecocentric Sorcery, at least in theory. It was certainly rare for someone to use, but not impossible... just very old school.
"Could you guys unlock this now?" I asked, holding my hands.
Dumbledore nodded, waving the Elder Wand... only for nothing to happen.
"Performance issues?" asked Moody, curious.
"They do happen when you get to my age, I am sure you will find, Alastor," Dumbledore nodded sagely, showing the sarcastic troll that was beneath the image of the wise old wizard. "I am afraid this is slightly beyond my skill set."
I sighed, glad to at least get a close look at the Elder Wand, noticing something unique about the sigils around the band of what looked to be some sort of bone that stood out to my senses.
I was not even sure if the way that Dumbledore amped up his spells with what felt like Chi was him doing it himself, or if it was how the Wand operated.
Alas, I could not study it without revealing my own knowledge of it, and Dumbledore seemed not willing to share, as he noticed the way my focus shifted.
"And this little contraption?" asked Moody, holding the EMP Grenade of mine.
"An Item that works as a stunner," I said with a shrug.
"It is evidence is what it is," responded Moody.
"Do you confiscate wands as well, Auror?" I responded. "I am sure I got all the pieces."
I really was getting sick of having to buy a new wand each year.
Maybe, this year I could experiment a bit, see if I can make one for myself... maybe Yew and Basilisk Horn? I still had some fragments of the Basilisk that I did not sacrifice to Valthorr.
"Perhaps, this is not necessary," responded Dumbledore, eyes gleaming with interest that promised a future conversation. "I can attest that the item is nothing but a simple stunner of some sort from my observation, one that can be used repeatedly, if I am not mistaken."
"One off, unfortunately, not that the Vampire knew it," I said with a grin.
"Clearly the mind of a Slytherin," chuckled Dumbledore, passing me the grenade. "How brilliant. Well, if it is inert, I see no reason it should not be returned to its owner."
"Right, interfere with my investigation," grumbled Moody. "I will simply let Barty suffer the headache."
"I might take commissions if it interests you," I responded with a grin, getting the Auror to roll his eyes.
"Good to know, lad. Well, this investigation is..." started Moody, only to be interrupted.
"Over," someone said, walking in with hoods over their heads.
I noted that one had the distinct robes of Kamar Taj.
The one in the front held up his hand, forming the Seal of Vishanti, "This investigation is now under the purview of the Department of Mysteries, unless you have something against it, Supreme Warlock Dumbledore," he added.
I noted the sudden shift from everyone's perspective.
"None, so long as my student here shows up to the train on time in September," said Dumbledore, looking over his half-moon glasses.
"I am sure that will not be a problem," said the Unspeakable, "Mister von Doom, please follow me so we can get those chains off you. Hopefully without causing permanent damage to the item or maiming you."
That is how I ended up being brought to DoM, still having my hands chained.
Then a portal opened next to us and I walked into the London Sanctum, still following the Unspeakable... Sorcerer? I think they are the same thing, really.
"Do you have any idea what sort of a mess you caused?" asked the Unspeakable, pulling off his hood to reveal himself to be Sol Rama.
"Took out a Vampire Coven," I responded, "one linked to Riddle."
"Are you certain?" asked Master Sol, his mood shifting to serious.
"Hexen Nacht," I responded, "The Vampire could pull off the German better than me, but I believe it is The Knights of Walpurgis of his. They seem to be operating internationally, which is a key intelligence I needed."
"Potentially," responded Sol, "or it could be anyone in the Dark Faction, given that we tracked communication between them and certain members of House Black."
"Walburga Black?" I asked, taking a guess.
"What do you know of her?" asked Sol, his eyes boring through me.
"A schrew bitch of a witch," I suggested. "Probably one that I might accidentally blast into oblivion if I met her."
"That would be the day," muttered Sol.
"She is dangerous... and her supporting Riddle is already something we accounted for," said another voice, entering from a portal.
"Ancient One," the two of us greeted the new arrival.
Sol bowed. I did not.
"Thank you for your interference, Sol," she said, simply, eyes roaming through the chains around my wrists. "A new fashion choice, Victor?"
"You know, I wanted a bit more than a Rolex, needed something that would make a statement," I snarked back, getting a snort from Sol.
"I would go with something else; this comes off more as 'I belong in a prison, '" the Ancient One responded.
"I will make a note of that when I chronicle my descent into villainy," I shot back, "Now, could anyone here have a way of getting these things off... that does not involve cutting my wrists. I am rather attached to them, you see."
"Hah," said Sol, before turning and leaving.
"Don't take it wrong, Sol has been under a lot of pressure. London Sanctum has the misfortune of dealing with the Fae Courts recently, something about the disappearance of one Mister Crowley," responded Ancient One with a sigh, walking to the table by the side and preparing tea.
"Of course, that guy was involved with Fea. What are we talking about, Midsummer Dream, or Cannibal Elves?" I asked simply.
Knowledge of the Fae was rather rare, and Alfie was not willing to share.
"More Eldritch Horrors that inspired Howard Phillip," responded the Ancient One, handing me a cup.
"Damn," I responded, taking a sip.
"Indeed," the Ancient One stated simply, before sitting down. "Now, onto your problem. Were you able to identify the chains?"
"I am not familiar with the Energy Signature," I admit it, "I was thinking Chains of Krakkan, before they started glowing red. There is also the fact that they had bound the vampire until I killed it, so not what I would expect from Chains of Krakkan. I have heard of Bands of Cythorakk, but Chains of Cythrakk also has the alliteration going."
"Hmm... good guess. These are indeed the Chains of Cythorakk; they have a long and bloody history, even once belonging in the court of the Voivode of Wallachia, which explains how a vampire got his hands on them. They seemed to have bound themselves to you," the Ancient One said with a smile. I responded to the joke by staring at her. "We could, of course, destroy them, or you could pass this trial and gain them as a Relic of your own. I think I will let you decide."
"What does the trial entail?" I asked as the Ancient One opened a portal and pulled out a book.
"You have to unlock them," she said after a bit of reading... or pretending to read. Knowing her, she already saw the end of this conversation.
"So, I have to figure out a way to get out of them?" I asked, inspecting the item.
"A unique way to get out of them, to be specific," responded the Ancient One. "A way that was not done before, something unique and impressive enough to hold a metaphysical effect. Something that is already done would not work to open them, unfortunately."
"Right," I responded, thinking for a minute.
I suppose picking the lock or dislocating my thumb was too simple, even as I tried both.
"This is not working," I said, cycling Chi on my poor ligaments as I set my thumb back to where it was. The next step would be to cut my hands and reattach them, but I was not going to do that. "Fine... let's use the big guns."
"I am going to need to use the Rotunda," I said after a while, "And a portal, I cannot make the movements with my hands tied like this," I said, getting a chuckle from the Ancient One.
"Good, now finish your tea," she said simply, enjoying her tea.
It was really good tea.
---
Once our tea was finished and we made the short track to the New York Sanctum.
I was given a challenge to unlock the chains in a unique way.
And I had the most esoteric and complicated way imaginable.
All I needed was a portal to a particular lab underneath Camp Lahey, New Jersey.
Luckily, I had an image, the knowledge of approximately where the vault was, and I was able to open portals.
Yoink...
"Tada... Pym Particles," I said with a grin, holding a red tube that I had nicked through the Portal.
The Ancient One did not look particularly worried; rather, she was looking amused, seeing me at work.
I made sure to pull out a helmet, transmuted in pieces from Goblin Silver and assembled with rivets. It also contained a bubblehead enchantment to ensure I had proper ventilation when playing with experimental potions. In this case, I was using it to provide me with a dedicated air supply, just in case shrinking might lead to some issues and lead to brain damage. It was, as far as I could theorize was the reason for the mental instability of using Pym Particles.
For a Master of the Mind Arts, such an impact was trivial, but better safe than sorry.
I slowly flowed my Chi through the Exotic Particles, mixing it into my own energy before I felt a sudden rush.
Next moment, I was half my original height, the chains falling to the floor with a clang.
Given that I was thirteen, I was not very tall to start with.
I pulled the energy back, taking the time to attune myself to it in the process, as I undid the shrinking.
Pym Particles were invented by Hank Pym, and now I was certain that they involved studying the Tesseract. Pym Particles seemed to tap into the border between Space and Reality Dimensions, compressing space without changing the nature of the original. It explained the whole human's strength in the size of an ant, even as it explained how the Giant Man could become a thing without collapsing in on itself.
I slowly pulled back the energy, feeling my body grow back to its own size before letting the red energy drop back into the containment field within the tube, before putting it back to where it came from.
No need to spook an already paranoid scienties. I had a good idea what Pym Particles were, so I could just make my own later.
I pulled off my helmet, stashing them away just as the chains on the ground started twitching.
They leaped up, wrapping themselves around my torso this time, acting more like a puppy than a magical artifact that was virtually indestructible.
I sighed.
This was already starting to be a long summer.
---
Lily dropped a newspaper before me, one that had me held in chains, being escorted to the Ministry of Magic.
I pretended not to notice Alfie sneaking away after bringing her over from her house. How the redhead convinced my House Elf to act as her personal chauffeur, I will never understand.
"They made you sound like some sort of a criminal," the redhead said. "Something about you being sent to Azkaban for burning down a building in Knockturn Alley."
"Doom does not concern himself with the opinions of the sheep," I responded, not really caring. Daily Prophet was not worth the paper it was printed on. "And it was Dumbledore who nearly burned down that building, not me."
I instead went through my mail, magical and mundane mixed together. I was at the same time splitting my focus to maintain the small ball of nuclear fire hovering over my shoulder height, called The Sundering Sun of Cinnibus. Two weeks since the Vampires did not mean I could procrastinate, and I was working my way up to Seven Suns of Cinnibus in case any other Vampire came sniffing.
I threw away the one from the Ministry asking about my whereabouts. I made this plot of land unplottable for a reason after all.
The rest were rather mundane.
Invitation to a gala to get some drilling company to use one of my patents on cooling systems that I would ignore, invitation to a University about one of my patents that I would probably drop by and use the new Interrogation Elixir to boost my knowledge, Bobotuber Pus and a threat that went into the pile that would require me to contact DMLE... nothing of note.
"There we go," I said, reading through the letter by Ted Tonks.
"Something... something... something... purchase production rights..." I sped through, already not caring and willing to let the elder Tonks negotiate for it. "Something... something.. something a bloke named Edwyn Jarvis sent an invite to Stark Expo..." I froze.
Right... Stark Expo... Stark Expo of 1973, the original Stark Expo... the Stark Expo that was built in the form of a previously unknown element that could allow for stable operation of an Arc Reactor without the Neutron Decay, unlike Palladium. Arc Reactor invented by Howard Stark... and Anton Vanko.
The thing is... I knew nothing about the Arc Reactor.
And I knew someone within relatively easy reach whose knowledge was second to Stark himself.
"Right... I am going to have to shuffle some plans." A grin formed on my face, "I want that," I muttered.
I needed to spend my Summer in Siberia, it would seem.
AN: Dumbledore showing that he would win. Victor playing mind games as the Department of Mysteries is left with clean up, while Ancient One is just enjoying herself.
As always, I am motivated by discussions, feedback, and criticism. If you wish to enable my coffee addiction, I made a ko-fi account here if you wish to support my work. I can only promise to spend the time drinking coffee, writing my stories, and you get absolutely nothing else in return.Last edited: Nov 22, 2025 Like ReplyReport Reactions:bddvil, shobi, Don'tBeThatGuy and 905 othersGuldsdoneNov 22, 2025Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 024: The Arc of Doom View contentGuldsdoneWizarding WorksDec 1, 2025NewAdd bookmark#2,521As I tracked through the hills of Siberia, I let my mind wander.
The question of how to get Technology and Magic to work was one that I have been struggling with for a while.
I could get technology to work with Wizardry, enchanting a dynamo with an overpowered Knockback Jinx, creating a dynamo that could run until the bearings broke.
I could also use technology to make new spells... if you squinted.
I had already built a simple computer program to test the Arithmancy needed to create potential spells that had certain effects through a basic combination of Natural Language Processing and Search Algorithms. It was not able to produce the final result, but it could eliminate a lot of the dead ends through brute force.
I had even gone so far as to build a Graphic Calculator of sorts, one designed to verify or improve upon the Geometric Alchemy that could lead to more complex shapes.
But each of those approaches was limited; they involved using one to empower the other, without a way to transform one into the other.
There was no official way where I flipped a switch and magic came out... at least for now.
Instead, I focused on what interactions that I had observed that used a combination of Magic and Technology, one even standing out among all of them.
Observation one, the Arc Reactor of Stark was able to absorb Thor's Lightning.
Therefore, Magic in, energy out was a simple exchange that was possible.
It was a good start.
It made sense in a way.
Howard Stark and Anton Vanko had not come up with the Arc Reactor design from scratch.
They had access to the Tesseract, and studying it would have granted them more information about the nature of this universe than anyone else, allowing them to come up with the initial design of the Arc Reactor that was tapping into a common source.
Where Pym Particles were tapping into the border between Space and Reality, potentially some dimension that Pym stumbled into by accident, while the Arc Reactor was tapping into the border of Space and Power.
And that, I wanted that... I needed that.
Granted, there was also the case that I would have access to a reliable form of energy source for any other experiments, so I decided to track down the designs for the Arc Reactor, confident that I could recreate it and make it small enough to be of use to me.
I inspected the copies of the newspapers on the unveiling of the Arc Reactor in California, as I tracked down the events leading to Anton Vanko's deportation back to the USSR.
It would appear that I would have to sneak around in the USSR to find the actual location of the guy.
Who knew tracking down an alcoholic physicist would be so complicated?
---
It took me the rest of the break, and dodging what was either KGB or Hydra or both, before I found the exact location of Vanko.
I kept magic to the minimum, which was rather easy when I did not have a wand. Russian Ministry of Magic was not a variable I was familiar with, so I kept to potions and enchanted items, the bread and butter of the Artificers, to ensure that no active magic was used.
It took a while before I was able to find a piece of paper with Vanko's name written on it. Particularly, this was one that he had written himself, allowing me to come up with a tracking charm based on some of the same principles that the Goblet of Fire was known to use.
As I made my way through the Siberian Gulag, I considered my target.
I did not particularly care about Anton. I knew he was supposed to be a brilliant physicist, and that he sold potentially classified information to Russians after defecting to the US.
Particularly, information about the Arc Reactor, with the promise to make it work for them.
That implied a lack of loyalty, something that I could do without.
Given the behavior of the man against his own wife and son, he was really a waste, wasn't he?
I saw no net benefit to help a bitter old man... not when all I needed was his knowledge.
So I was going with stealth, my cloak woven with an Invisibility Enchantment.
Watching him for a few days, while camping in the woods, I waited for an opportunity when little Ivan and his mother were away.
A quick act of picking the locks with a pair of Lockpicks that I had enchanted with the Unlocking Charm, followed by placing the Cursed Sleeping Mask over the eyes of an Anton Vanko who was already passed out with an empty bottle of vodka by his side, and I had access to one of the two minds behind the Arc Reactor.
Four stones to the corners formed a small Muggle Repelling Charm, before I could get to work, in case anyone interrupted.
I pulled out a Memory Extraction Crystal, the transmuted form of the Interrogation Elixir that was reusable, sort of like a budget Penseive. Placing it over the temple of the drunken physicist, I was able to create a full copy of his memories, taking everything I could.
Once the Crystal was filled with the memories that contained everything related to both Arc Reactor and Vita Ray research, along with his knowledge of both science and tech, I went with the second objective, taking the actual blueprints and making copies of them on already prepared scrolls enchanted for this purpose.
Once done, I cleaned up anything I used, added a Forgetfulness Potion down Anton's throat, and took a long walk through the woods, followed by jumping through a chain of portals.
I dropped by Latveria for a quick checkup. Valeria was already gone to Switzerland, and the Zefiro were lying low, staying on the move.
After a day spent healing them and adding a few protections to the carriages and I was ready to go back to England on September the First.
As a precaution, I pulled out a small figure from my expanded bag before pulling out the Pym Particles infused into it.
Harnessing the Pym Particles from Quantum Fields took time; now that I had a spiritual link to the Dimension the power came from.
The statue grew, forming into a humanoid form wearing a metal armor... with a helmet that looked particularly like a variant of Doctor Doom Armor I had transmuted from steel as a test.
It was a proof of concept, a prototype meant to keep an eye on things.
It was running on the iteration of the Charms project from my second year, the one that I considered a failure. It was a regular old generator that I bought to experiment with electricity in Hogwarts. It burned fuel to create electricity, effectively by spinning a magnetic coil. I had skipped those steps and cursed with a Flippendo Charm to run perpetually... or until the bearings gave out and it blew up.
That last part was why it was deemed a failure and why I could show it off as a class project, so that I could get access to the more complex enchantments in the Restricted Section.
Given how finicky rotating energy sources were, it was not like anyone could replicate it from the general information without figuring out the reasons why it blew up after a few months.
I tapped the chest, activating the cursed dynamo that would run for about a year before exploding, and infusing it with a Patronus, before I left the Doombot to go into the woods, instructed to keep an eye on things in Zefiro.
I would drop by to check up on it every once in a while.
Once that was done, all it took was a single Portal Jump that was carefully calculated to take me from Latveria to England, and I was ready to start the third year of my education.
And boy did I have some studying to do.
---
The start of my Third Year found me on the train, as I poured over books on Physics, Thermonuclear Quantum Physics to be specific.
The memories of Anton Vanko had proven useful, as I had the third-best understanding of the theory behind the Arc Reactor, even if said theory was annoying. Now, I needed practice to become better than either Stark or Vanko.
Which was why I had my nose buried in a book at the moment.
Mostly because the Arc Reactor... yeah, it should not be possible.
On the outside, the Arc Reactor sounded like some energy source that could run a city as well as it could run a portable power armor.
This definition was not accurate.
The Arc Reactor was not some sort of a unique Room Temperature Fusion Reactor that could power a city for years.
It was more of a regular Fusion Reactor, one that used the best method of harnessing energy, heating water with it, and running something spinny thing using the steam that was rather fashionable for the last few centuries since the Steam Engine became a thing.
I needed to figure that problem out as well, maybe something like Vibranium to absorb the heat that was just the vibration of atoms?
Alas, the main problem with the Arc Reactor was not the Fusion Part, but rather the electromagnets that actually achieved the required Magnetic fields... the Electrical Arc used that gave it the name.
Turns out, if you could run electrons in a particular frequency and waveform through a conduit of Palladium, the Physics of this branch of the Multiverse would allow you to get a room-temperature superconductor. The superconductor, in turn, allowed you to run currents along the surface of the material that would allow for the running of the Fusion Reactor without too much effort.
It was this effect that made the Arc Reactor unique compared to the other approaches that I knew from my old world... and the name of this method that allowed the formation of Cooper Pairs out of the electrons was called a Repulsor Field Effect... more commonly referred to as Repulsor Tech that could create electromagnets with unequal Lorenz forces, enough to be used to force Fusion, enough to ionize and accelerate matter for jet propulsion.
Stark, Tony, not Howard, had already been on the way to working out the trick about Arc Reactors for his Jericho Missiles... he just had to pivot the technology for something more effective.
As for the Arc Reactor itself... well, it was more complicated than I initially thought.
At large scales, like the one in California, it was ineffective.
It could work in theory, but the Palladium itself was not an ideal material. The same quantum field caused Palladium to fuse with the electrons to form Rhodium.
That would have been fine for most of the cases, since the Rhodium would be captured in the reactor wall until it decayed back into the Palladium, but every once in a while, the decay was to Silver instead, a decay rate proportional to the power running through the system.
That decay explained the blue veins symptomatic of Silver poisoning that Stark had to go through. It also meant that the electrical field could not run for too long before you needed new Palladium, leading to a high cost in materials and upkeep that made it not worth the effort.
It was effectively 'a publicity stunt meant to shut the hippies up,' to quote Obidiah Stane, at least until Tony Stark could synthesize an element that did not have the decay that Palladium had.
It was also the reason that Vanko's overpromise had not worked with the Russians.
But Tony Stark was able to do it, in a cave, with a bunch of scraps.
In theory, I could think of only Vibranium that was able to harness the heat from the Fusion Reactor, converting the vibration of the atoms into electrical current, to actually get a Fusion Reactor to be small enough and safe enough to be placed in a chest cavity.
That being said, I did not think Stark had Vibranium in that bunch of scraps of his.
That meant that the Arc Reactor, as it was, could not be scaled down.
Or rather, in order to scale down, you had to remove the fusion reactor part entirely... which left you with the Repulsor Node.
A rather fancy electromagnet that could run electrons in a large spinning field.
The hint was in what I knew from the movies.
Tony Stark called it 'three gigajoules per second,' which did not really mean it produced that much energy, but rather, it could discharge that much energy in a second before running out.
Three gigajoules could indeed run an electromagnet for fifty lifetimes, or it could run something big for fifteen minutes... which was still the power that was needed to power a thousand or so homes.
At small scales, the Arc Reactor, or rather just the part that leveraged the Repulsor Tech within, could be made to work more like a battery than anything else.
It was the equivalent of capturing lightning in a bottle and keeping it there, making it chase its own tail. With an upkeep cost that was no more than the power needed to run a smartphone, it had a power-to-weight ratio that was mind-boggling.
It slowly made everything fit together.
It explained the need for the Iron Man Suit to be charged every once in a while.
The small-scale Arc Reactor was just a hyperefficient Electromagnetic Flywheel that could contain ridiculous amounts of electrons inside a cyclotron.
Which in turn explained how it could absorb Thor's Lightning, since the Repulsor Field would simply induce the same effect on the lightning, and make it join the contained electrons and recharge the damned thing.
Now, I just needed to figure out the math.
Luckily, I knew that Vanko's version of the Arc Reactor ran at a cycle per second of 38.3 kilohertz, which was commented to be low, giving me a lower bound on the Math parts.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the latest resident of Azkaban," one of the Slytherin nobodies piped in as I was working to understand why I was feeling frustrated.
I waved my hand, causing the unfortunate Wizard and his entourage to get blasted back without even a care.
"Which one was that?" I asked, noticing what I had done.
"Runcorn," responded Severus with a shrug, returning to the Chemistry book I had thrown at his head when he got snotty about how science could not teach him anything.
I nodded, ignoring it, before returning to my work.
---
The welcome feast was interrupted by a rain of water balloons.
I summoned one that did not explode after impacting the dome-like shield I conjured through my Shield Bracelet.
"Thanks, Victor," said Lily, as we watched the rest of the Slytherin House change color. "What are the odds of this being Peeves?" she asked curiously.
"Three in execution, Peeves has higher standards," I noted dryly, as I found two morons laughing like it is the funnies thing they had seen. James Potter and Sirius Black seemed to have started their 'pranking,' it would seem.
Even then, I looked at the water balloon in my hand, an idea forming.
Cycling my Chakra within the water balloon, I watched it cause the plastic to change shape and deform without popping.
"Peeves," I muttered, as the Poltergeist appeared beside me.
"Yes, your Doominess?" asked Peeves, clearly intimidated after I used a Chi-infused bat to break one of his knees for making a First Year girl cry.
"Acquire as many Water Balloons for me as possible," I commanded him, getting a solute in return.
"Still weird how Peeves is afraid of you," said Meggan, unbothered by the commotion that the rest of the Slytherins were going through.
I looked at the habitual elf cosplayer with a glare. "I am a scary guy," I responded.
"Maybe to others," she said, in a haughty tone.
"Do you think those two idiots will be punished?" asked Lily, watching McGonagall walk up to the Gryffindor Table in a tizzy, approaching the group that would call themselves the Mauraders.
"I would hope so," responded Severus, being far too competitive when it came to Potter and Black.
The more things I change, the more stuff remains the same, I suppose.
---
A few months later, I had the first prototype of my Arc Reactor.
The microwave-sized device glared at me, the measurements showing a power output of one point twenty-one Gigajoules per second.
Doom was not going to explain the reference, but, yes, it was on purpose.
So, the technology of the 70s meant that my box of scraps was of lower quality than what Tony Stark would have had in that Afghan Cave, surrounded by his own state-of-the-art weaponry that included rocket components that could, in fact, channel higher currents.
That meant that I could not, in fact, build a miniaturized Arc Reactor that was small enough to be placed into the chest of a grown adult. It also meant that I could not get it to store as much power as Stark had built since cycles per second was lower due to size.
I could still get it to a usable size, though, and yes, I did the math to make it just the dimensions to provide one point two one gigawatts... for reasons that Doom will not bother to explain.
Fuck it, Mark 2 will be smaller.
For now, the microwave-sized generator was enough to power most of my other research. Now, I just needed to get the reactor wrapped in a decently thick Lead sheeting in parts to pre-emptively take care of the Neutron Decay of the Palladium.
"Experiment One," I spoke to the recorder, beneath the enchanted armor carved with the Magical Circle that stored a Shield of the Seraphim that would be able to take a hit if needed. "Bolt of Baltrakk to substitute Lightning of Thor,"
I moved through the motions, unleashing a relatively weak bolt of Eldritch Lightning to the receptacles that fed directly into the cyclotron.
The active superconductor cycle absorbed the additional energy, causing the measurements to jump up to 2 Gigajoules before the emergency relays flipped and shunted the extra electricity into the ground.
I smiled.
I could use Magic to power technology now... I just needed more control... and better items.
Maybe get the Fusion Reactor part working once I have the Element that Stark came up with. I could use Pym Particles to get the size, and potentially use Vibranium to figure out how to convert heat to electricity with higher efficiency.
But before that, I needed to check how much damage the bolt caused to the reactor I built.
This meant full disassembly and a redesign to ensure it would be able to handle repetitive strikes from the Bolts of Baltrak.
Then, I would work to see how it can contain more energy.
And make it smaller, obviously.
---
"What did I miss?" I said, once the Halloween Feast started, idly catching a water balloon that Peeves threw in our direction. It had been months since I started training my fine control over my Chi to create a Rasengan replica, with the eventual goal of using it as a containment for Dimensional Energy.
Hmm... I shall call it the Fireball of the Faltine... once it is finished
"Professor McGonagall gave you detention until Christmas, something about sending a transfigured golem in your place... again," said Meggan.
"I will be sure to send another transfigured golem to attend the detention," I said with a grin, getting a snort from the blonde.
We both ignored how Lily looked rather angry about that. The miss goody two-shoes still believed in following the rules.
"She did look like she swallowed a lemon when the Golem started explaining the fine points of animation charms and demonstrating them," jumped in Severus, enjoying the show while helping distract Mount Evans from exploding.
"Yes, that... Victor, how did you get it to behave so..." jumped in Lily, now fully distracted.
"Independent?" I asked, while the balloon in my hand popped. Step two was to do it with a rubber ball, if I remembered correctly.
"Like you," responded Lily, answering my previous question. "It said something about 'bowing before the awesomeness of Doom.'"
"Put a Patronus into it, Arithmancy was a bit annoying for that," I said with a shrug.
The binding mechanics were a bastardized method of Horcrux creation ritual that Salazar was happy enough to provide, modified, of course, to handle the independent operation of the Patronus charm specifically.
Patronus was a weird spell. While it operated on willpower and emotions, it also carried a part of the soul. I knew for a fact that a person could make at least three Patroni at once, as was the case for McGonnagal during the Siege of Hogwarts, and I also knew that the soul could operate independently when split into pieces, thanks to the research that Riddle had done.
There were still parts of it that were... problematic. The personality tended to slip in terms of the superego, leaving the ego and id to duke it out.
The result was a Simulacrum that behaved very... Doom.
"Technically, it is me... well, a part of me at least." I defended.
"Well, a part of you is an egotist," piped in Severus, getting a glare in turn.
'No argument there,' I did not voice.
Granted, I had noticed how I was slowly sliding to become more Doom-like, if he was not alone, miserable, and capable of caring about only a single person other than himself.
A more well-adjusted Victor von Doom, if you will.
May the gods cower, and heavens tremble before the presence of Doom.
... or something like that.
"It was able to cast magic," said Lily, "which should be impossible."
"Transitive properties of Familiars," I stated simply, "Patronus is the basis of the Familiar, therefore I can cast spells through them."
And once I had the Arc Reactor, it would also be able to function long-term in my place as well.
Now, if only I could make them generate their own Chi... maybe run electricity through some dragon bone?
That sounded like something worthy of researching.
Oh, yes, Project Doombot was taking shape rather nicely, way better than the prototype I left in Latveria to keep an eye on things.
---
AN: It is always about those spinning things in the end.
Right, Arc Reactor getto. Victor is showing off that he is all that when it comes to Science as well as Sorcery.
I wanted to change things about the Arc Reactor a bit, make it actually make sense, even if it is pseudo-science. Doom had the benefit of working backwards from the result, something that Ivan Vanko was also able to do once he knew that the Arc Reactor could be miniaturized.
Short version: a smaller reactor is actually just a battery that can store energy. Larger version uses the way it rotates electrons as the electromagnet for a fusion reactor, which in turn empowers the magnets more. Palladium variant on a large scale does not work because it is not self-sustaining and costly, which is why Tony was only able to get the big one working with the new element.
As always, I am motivated by discussions, feedback, and criticism. If you wish to enable my coffee addiction, I made a ko-fi account here if you wish to support my work. I can only promise to spend the time drinking coffee, writing my stories, and you get absolutely nothing else in return.
A Systematic Analysis of the Chaoskampf Principle - Comparative Efficacy of Metallic Matrices in Stabilizing the Odic Emissions of Dragon Bone when exposed to Electrical Currents
Journal of Modern Alchemy, Vol. DLIV, No. 2, pp. 42–57, 1973
Victor von Doom, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Abstract
It is established herein that dragon bone (Draco gen.) functions as a room-temperature organic superconductor, a property intrinsically linked to a catastrophic vulnerability termed Vitae-Odic Nerst Decay (VOND) when exposed to high electrical currents. This approach provides a testable biophysical basis for the Chaoskampf archetype. Here we present the first quantitative comparison of such matrices under controlled enchantment, demonstrating not merely correlation but mechanistic hierarchy. We alchemically amalgamated each metal with pure Hungarian Horntail (Draco Horrendus Hungaricus) bone at concentrations of 1%, 10%, and 50%. The results demonstrate a clear hierarchy of thaumic stability. Our results indicate that noble metals, most notably gold, suppress Vitae-Odic Decay with high efficiency even at high draconic concentrations when subject to high currents. This work quantifies the Chaoskampf Principle and establishes a foundational methodology for creating practical and stable Vitae-Odic Emitters.
1. Introduction
The mythos of the dragon is defined by the duality of immense power and singular vulnerability. This is most acutely captured in the Chaoskampf archetype, the cosmic struggle between a thunder god and a serpentine beast, wherein lightning is the invariable agent of the dragon's demise. Traditional magical theory dismisses this archetype as an allegory without basis; however, we contend instead that Chaoskampf is a coded representation of a fundamental law of thaumic physics.
The central hypothesis is that dragon bone's room-temperature superconductivity is a critically fragile state. Sufficient electrical current overloads the bone's vital lattice, triggering Vitae-Odic Nerst Decay (VOND), a violent sublimation that releases thaumic radiation while destabilizing the chemical properties of the material. To move beyond mere theory, a systematic investigation into mitigating this decay is required. This study undertakes that task by analyzing the stabilizing effects of individual metallic matrices.
2. Related Works
This study rectifies the shortcomings of prior inquiries. Gunkel [1] correctly cataloged the Chaoskampf myth but lacked any scientific rigor, failing to seek the physical principles underlying the allegory. Conversely, von Reichenbach [2] attempted to measure what he termed "Odic force," a concept analogous to vital energy, or Chi (also called Qi and Ki), presented in ancient literature [3], but Reichenbach's methods were inconsistent and lacked a standard unit of measure for what this paper quantifies as VOND emissions. In parallel, Stark et al. [4] have categorized the Radiation Signature of energy classified as Vita Rays, that match the energy signature of VOND without access to mystical resources or understanding. This paper provides the empirical validation Gunkel lacked, and the rigorous standardization Reichenbach could not achieve, while accounting for the Mystical Analysis that Vanko and Stark could not provide.
3. Materials and Methods
Experiments were performed within a lead-lined, rune-warded containment chamber. A standard Muggle-sourced high-amperage direct current generator served as the electrical source.
3.1 Specimen Preparation
All specimens were sourced from a single, ethically procured adult male Hungarian Horntail¹. Standardized rods (10 cm×1 cm×1 cm) were prepared.
Sample A (Pure Bone): Control sample of polished femoral bone.Sample B (Carburized Steel): A carbon steel rod case-hardened with powdered dragon bone to test for non-structural esoteric transference.Sample Series C (Single-Metal Alchemical Amalgams): Four distinct sets of alchemical amalgams were created. For each set, a pure base metal, Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Silver (Ag), or Gold (Au), was amalgamated with powdered dragon bone, at three concentrations by mass: 1% (C1), 10% (C2), and 50% (C3). This yielded 12 distinct amalgam samples, designated Fe-C1 through Au-C3.3.2 Procedure
Each of the 14 samples was subjected to an incrementally increasing direct current (1 A to 1000 A) under 12 Volts. Four-terminal resistance was measured to confirm superconductivity. A calibrated Geiger-Müller counter measured VODE in thaums per second (Th/s).
4. Results
All samples except for B (Carburized Steel) exhibited zero electrical resistance at 293 K, confirming that the superconductive property is preserved in amalgamation. The critical difference emerged in their resistance to Vitae-Odic Decay, which showed a clear correlation with both the matrix metal and draconic concentration.
The results are summarized below. The decay threshold indicates the amperage at which VODE becomes detectable.
Table 1: Comprehensive Analysis of Decay Thresholds and Outcomes
[align=center]
SampleCompositionDecay Threshold (Idecay)Peak VODE (Vmax) @ 1000AOutcomeAPure Dragon Bone12 AN/ASublimated at 110 ABCarburized SteelN/A0 Th/sMelted at 980 AFe-C11% Dragon Bone / Iron150 A450 Th/sStable, minor pittingFe-C210% Dragon Bone / Iron70 AN/ASublimated at 400 AFe-C350% Dragon Bone / Iron25 AN/ASublimated at 150 ACu-C11% Dragon Bone / Copper210 A280 Th/sStableCu-C210% Dragon Bone / Copper110 A1200 Th/sSevere pittingCu-C350% Dragon Bone / Copper35 AN/ASublimated at 280 AAg-C11% Dragon Bone / Silver350 A90 Th/sStableAg-C210% Dragon Bone / Silver240 A550 Th/sStable, trace pittingAg-C350% Dragon Bone / Silver90 A>3500 Th/sUnstable, major erosionAu-C11% Dragon Bone / Gold420 A< 50 Th/sStableAu-C210% Dragon Bone / Gold310 A220 Th/sStableAu-C350% Dragon Bone / Gold150 A1800 Th/sStable, moderate pitting[/align]
5. Discussion
The data present a clear and undeniable hierarchy of thaumic stability among the tested metals.
Iron (Fe): As a mundane metal, iron provides the least protection. While the 1% amalgam (Fe-C1) is a marked improvement over pure bone, the matrix is quickly overwhelmed at higher concentrations, demonstrating its inadequacy as a primary stabilizer.Copper (Cu): Exhibiting superior performance to iron, copper's inherent affinity for conductivity seems to provide a better esoteric buffer. However, it still fails catastrophically at high current loads.Silver (Ag): The first of the noble metals tested, silver shows a profound ability to suppress Vitae-Odic Decay. Its legendary purifying properties appear to translate into a tangible dampening effect on the volatile Odic energies, maintaining stability even in the 10% amalgam (Ag-C2).Gold (Au): Alchemically, the most perfect metal, gold proved to be the supreme stabilizer. Its incorruptible nature creates the most resilient thaumic shield. Remarkably, even the 50% amalgam (Au-C3) did not sublimate, merely suffering structural damage. The Au-C2 sample remained almost perfectly stable under loads that would have vaporized any other amalgam.This hierarchy (Fe < Cu < Ag < Au) confirms that the stability of a draconic superconductor is not merely a question of physical admixture, but a complex interaction rooted in the intrinsic alchemical properties of the matrix material. The noble metals function as a thaumic ground, effectively diffusing the esoteric stress of the electron flow before it can rupture the vital lattice of the bone.
6. Conclusion
This work establishes the definitive physical foundation for the Chaoskampf Principle and, more importantly, demonstrates its mastery. A clear, quantifiable relationship between a metallic matrix and its ability to stabilize superconductive dragon bone has been proven. Gold provides the most robust shield against Vitae-Odic Decay, followed closely by silver. Further work is required to confirm characteristics under other species under the Draco genus.
While a pure gold matrix offers the highest stability, future work may investigate synergistic alloys. A composite matrix, leveraging the supreme stability of gold and silver with the structural and economic advantages of copper and iron, could produce the optimal material for practical application. The path from ancient myth to applied science is now clear, paving the way for revolutionary advances in power-intensive enchantments, warding schematics, and other applications.
Footnotes
¹ Respectful thanks are extended to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures for the acquisition permit, and to the Hogwarts Department of Potions for providing access to laboratory facilities and reagents.
References
[1] Gunkel, Hermann. Creation and Chaos in the Primeval Era and the Eschaton. 1895.
[2] von Reichenbach, Karl, Bart. Physico-Physiological Researches on the Dynamics of Magnetism, Heat, Light, Crystallization, and Chemism, in their relations to Vital Force. Translated by John Ashburner. London, 1851.
[3] Qiuming, Zuo. Guoyu (Discourses of the States), Zhou Yu section, c. 4th century BCE. Earliest extant reference to Qi 氣 as vital energy. Annotated translation by Burton Watson, British Department of Mysteries Eastern Philosophy Section, 1958.
[4] Stark, Howard, Vanko, Anton, Erskine, Abraham. Vita Rays, a Preliminary Characterization of High-Frequency Bioelectromagnetic Radiation for stabilization of complex molecular reagents. Journal of Applied Energetic Physics, 1949
"Vita Rays... Chi is Vita Rays. I sought Vanko for his knowledge of the Arc Reactor. I found his knowledge of Vita Rays served me more." - personal note written in the handwriting of Victor von Doom's original draft, classified by the order of the Monarch of Latveria.
AN: I got bored, so you get this with the help of the Machine Spirits. Erskine's initial contributions have led to him being posthumously credited for some of the research into Vita Rays.
As always, I am motivated by discussions, feedback, and criticism. If you wish to enable my coffee addiction, I made a ko-fi account here if you wish to support my work. I can only promise to spend the time drinking coffee, writing my stories, and you get absolutely nothing else in return.