Harry hadn't expected to be teased by the pure-hearted boy Peter of all people, and he couldn't help laughing. "I know. But you can't rush things when it comes to feelings. What about you, though? How are things with Winnie?"
Winnie was that hot girl who'd been clinging to Peter. They'd exchanged contact info at the party and had been calling each other a lot ever since.
Harry knew she'd gone for Peter mostly because she was money-hungry, but he didn't really mind. Aside from being greedy, Winnie was actually a pretty kind girl.
And if she'd been invited to one of Tony's parties, that meant Tony's standards said she wasn't bad at all.
At the mention of Winnie, Peter happily shared little stories about the two of them with Harry. "Winnie's great. I really like her. But when we go out shopping, we can only ride her motorcycle, and that's kind of lame.
"Of course, the bike has its own vibe, you know? Winnie gets to hug me from behind, which is pretty nice. But I still want a car of my own.
"My brother, help out poor Peter a bit, will you? I've been dreaming about that used Ford forever."
Harry was covered in metaphorical black lines. How was Peter still hung up on that used Ford at a time like this?
If he actually showed up to pick Winnie up in a beat-up Ford, she'd dump him on the spot. That wouldn't surprise Harry in the slightest.
Without realizing it, the two of them were almost home when Harry suddenly covered Peter's eyes. "Peter, stop thinking about your secondhand Ford. I've got a surprise for you. Take a guess."
Peter knew what Harry was worth now; any gift from him wouldn't be ordinary. It could very well be the car of his dreams. "A car? A Chevy? A Cadillac? Or maybe… a brand new Ford?"
Harry was even more speechless. Poor kid—could he not aim a little higher?
When the two of them reached the house, Uncle Ben and Aunt May were already waiting outside. Harry took his hand away from Peter's eyes and let him see the car wrapped under a red cloth out front. "It is a car, but probably not what you were thinking."
Uncle Ben and Aunt May both hid smiles behind their hands. "Peter, Harry picked this out especially for you," Aunt May said.
With his beloved car right in front of him, Peter had no patience left for guessing games.
Throwing all sense of ceremony to the wind, he yanked the red cloth away—and froze. "Oh my God. A Lamborghini! I'm not dreaming, am I?"
All he'd wanted was a used Ford. Instead, there in front of him was a Lamborghini.
The sleek, powerful lines of the body, the sharp, aggressive silhouette—it was actually a Lamborghini, the kind of luxury car Peter had never even dared to dream of.
He was shaking with excitement, not willing to believe it. "Harry, this is really for me? It's way too expensive."
"Of course it's for you. You do remember who I am, right? I'm a new shareholder of Stark Industries. A few hundred thousand dollars is nothing but a drop in the bucket to me."
Peter suddenly threw his arms around him, eyes brimming with tears of joy. "Thank you, Harry. Thank you."
Once he had his new car, Peter immediately drove off to cruise around town and show it off. Harry figured it would be a long time before he came back, so he went inside to sit in the living room with Uncle Ben and Aunt May and watch TV.
Harry turned to them and asked, "Aunt May, Uncle Ben, have you gotten used to casting spells yet?"
Aunt May stretched her hand out toward a cup on the table. The cup flew into the air toward her and landed neatly in her hand.
She shot Uncle Ben a sidelong glance and covered her mouth with a little laugh. "Of course I have. I'm already pretty good with telekinesis now. But your Uncle Ben still doesn't seem to be getting it."
Ben's face darkened. Some time ago Harry had said he might be able to let them use magic too, and had the three of them sign a contract.
Their progress afterward had proved that people really were different from one another. Even for spells that didn't require drawing magic circles—like telekinesis—the difference in control from one person to the next was huge.
Take him and Peter, for instance. After training for quite a while, they could still only manage basic telekinesis.
Aunt May, on the other hand, had already reached intermediate telekinesis. And the difference between basic and intermediate telekinesis was a full hundredfold. Basic telekinesis could only move ten kilograms; intermediate telekinesis could move a thousand.
That meant Aunt May alone could easily beat the two "big guys," Ben and Peter, without breaking a sweat.
Thinking that if they ever ran into a thug he'd better hurry up and hide behind May, Ben felt a headache coming on.
Unwilling to accept it, Ben asked, "Harry, isn't there any way to speed up our learning?"
Harry shook his head. "Sorry, Uncle Ben. That's all innate talent. At least for now, I have no way to change it.
"Don't worry so much. You and Peter have the kind of talent ordinary people are supposed to have. Aunt May's talent is already considered excellent.
"If she'd met my teacher when she was younger, she might have become a fully-fledged Kamar-Taj sorcerer."
Aunt May's talent came as a surprise to Harry too. He hadn't expected her to have such a good knack for magic.
As a longtime married couple, May didn't hold back at all—she ruthlessly made fun of him. "Ben, remember to hide behind me the next time we see a thug. Don't almost get yourself killed like last time. Hehehehehehe~"
"Don't get cocky," Ben shot back, unwilling to concede. "I'm going to catch up to you any day now!"
Watching Uncle Ben and Aunt May bicker like any other couple, Harry just shook his head, smiling. He knew Uncle Ben didn't really stand a chance of ever surpassing Aunt May.
A full day of practice for Uncle Ben was about the same as an hour of practice for Aunt May.
At most, Uncle Ben's limit would be barely managing intermediate telekinesis, while Aunt May had a real shot at mastering advanced telekinesis—or even going beyond that.
Lending magic to ordinary people like Uncle Ben and Peter was a seriously bad deal.
Thinking back on all the magic knowledge he'd been getting from Tony during this time—and how he'd gotten basically nothing from Peter and Uncle Ben—Harry shook his head again.
The wizarding world was better by far. Lending to young wizards had incredible value.
As long as his magic power was sufficient, he could lend to enough young wizards to constantly gain new insights into magic from them, and quickly increase the amount of magic he could control.
To him, the wizarding world was practically one giant treasure hoard.
Just then, the TV switched to a news report.
"Recently, a vehicle carrying a large amount of radioactive material leaked while in the area around Queens.
"According to experts, this radioactive material won't cause much harm to humans. At most, it may affect small creatures such as spiders, lizards, and turtles. There's no need for panic; everyone can go about their daily lives as usual."
After hearing this report, Harry suddenly felt the chaos magic inside him give a faint tremor, as if something bad was on its way.
It was a warning from his chaos magic—some kind of omen. Could it be that this radioactive leak was going to affect him?
How could spiders, lizards, or turtles possibly affect him?
Even so, Harry decided he should go check out the leak site.
The news broadcast continued, and the next report caught Harry's attention again.
A familiar figure was holding a press conference: Colonel Rhodes.
"Unfortunately, during a training exercise yesterday, an F-22 Raptor fighter jet crashed. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
"As for the incident that occurred in the Gulmira region, the origin of the forces that intervened remains unknown. But I can assure you, the government was not involved."
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