Steve's hand touched that familiar outline, and the tension in his nerves instantly melted away. He let out a long breath, and his whole body finally relaxed.
Then his expression abruptly darkened. He glared at the young doctor in front of him, face stern, and demanded, "Enough jokes. Where am I?"
Hearing that, Harry lifted an eyebrow slightly. He looked innocent, a faint smile hanging at the corner of his lips as he drawled,
"Good morning… no, wait, good afternoon. Steve, you're currently in a post-op recovery room in New York."
Steve stayed silent—neither confirming nor denying anything—only listening to the sports commentary playing by his ear.
That familiar commentary, that familiar stadium atmosphere, yanked his thoughts straight back to the past and made his suspicion even firmer.
His brows knitted tightly, a natural authority radiating from between them. The air around him turned sharply cold as he pressed again,
"This game is from May 1941. I know it perfectly well, because I was there! Don't try to fool me. Tell me—where am I, really?"
As he spoke, he rose to his feet. At 188 centimeters tall, his broad frame stood half a head taller than Harry.
With that movement, it was like a long-sleeping beast had just woken up—muscles subtly shifting, strength returning fast, an oppressive presence rolling outward.
Sharon Carter, standing off to the side, felt that invisible pressure crash into her and instinctively stumbled back two steps.
Steve's gaze was razor-sharp, his expression severe, every muscle coiled tight like he could strike at any moment.
His voice dropped lower, heavy and forceful, as he demanded one last time, "I'll ask again. Where am I?"
At that, Harry sighed and smiled mysteriously. "Congratulations, Steve. You time-traveled!"
"Time-traveled?" Since Harry had just left him with a bad impression of being completely unreliable, Steve obviously didn't believe him. "I'm not joking. Stop spouting nonsense and tell me the truth!"
Harry spread his hands, helpless.
"Hey, pal, don't rush into blowing up. Aside from that harmless little joke earlier, I haven't lied to you once.
"You are, in fact, in a recovery room we specially built. And I need to emphasize again—by your standards, the time right now is already several decades later.
"As for who I am… you actually guessed it right. I'm not a doctor. To be honest, I'm a sorcerer—a sorcerer who wields mysterious power."
Steve's brows twisted into a tight knot. He didn't buy it.
Time travel?
How could something that absurd be real?
Countless thoughts flashed through his head at lightning speed, until one grim conclusion took over—he suspected he'd fallen into HYDRA's hands, and that he was currently inside a hidden HYDRA facility!
Even though the situation looked dangerous, Steve showed no panic at all.
The super-soldier serum didn't just give him a stronger body—it also strengthened his confidence and courage.
He knew that as long as he could find his shield and put it in his hands, he'd have the nerve to face any threat.
Sitting here and waiting was not an option. Steve's eyes flicked between Harry and everyone around him, and he made his decision instantly.
First, take these two down, pry information out of them, then figure out the next move.
So Steve lunged forward without warning, arm shooting out in a straight line as he tried to grab Harry by the throat and subdue him!
He roared, "You don't need to feed me ridiculous lies like that. I'll find the answers myself!"
But as fast as Steve was, he didn't expect the "ordinary young doctor" in front of him to be even quicker.
The moment Steve moved, his pupils shrank, disbelief flooding his eyes.
In Harry's hand, the air suddenly twisted in a bizarre distortion—then, in the blink of an eye, a strange-looking club appeared out of nowhere.
Before Steve could react further, Harry had already snapped the club toward him.
The tip flashed with light, and a dazzling white beam shot out like lightning, swallowing Steve whole in an instant.
In that moment, Steve felt an overwhelming pressure slam down on him—like several tons of boulders crashing onto his body!
Even with the super-soldier serum's physique, he couldn't endure it. His legs buckled, his knees smashed into the ground, and then he collapsed face-first onto the cold floor, completely unable to move!
What the hell?!
Feeling that sudden weight, Steve realized in shock that it wasn't concentrated in one spot—it was evenly applied across his entire body, as if the gravity around him had suddenly intensified tenfold, pinning him to the ground.
Harry slowly crouched down until he was eye-level with Steve on the floor, then opened his hands and grinned.
"Captain, I'm your loyal fan. How can you lay hands on a fan? Now you believe what I said earlier, right?
"Come on—relax. Breathe slowly. Don't panic. Feeling dizzy is normal. You're just recovering from a serious condition. You can't fight right now. You need proper rest."
Steve forced his head up, staring at Harry, still stubborn. "Hmph. I could do this all day."
Harry: "…"
Harry hadn't expected Steve to be this hard-headed. He pressed a hand to his forehead, headache flaring.
"Steve, if I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't need all this trouble. One spell would be enough to take you down!"
Even though he was sprawled on the floor, limbs splayed, showing off the rear end fans loved to joke about as "America's ass," looking utterly miserable, Steve still refused to give up.
Hearing Harry's words, he denied it again.
"I don't believe you. Don't try to fool me with this garbage. There's no such thing as magic!
"You just used some kind of powerful gravity-tech device. You think I've never seen anything like that? Hmph—HYDRA has plenty of stuff like that!"
Harry felt like he'd heard that line before and chuckled. "A lot of people have said that to me. Maybe take a look at this."
As he spoke, Harry extended his wand and lightly tapped Steve's clothes. The loose T-shirt began changing at a visible speed—fabric twisting, warping, colors flowing and blending—until, in the blink of an eye, it became the uniform Steve knew better than anything: Captain America's suit.
That iconic stars-and-stripes pattern, those precise details—every bit of it hit Steve with a wave of familiarity.
Harry finished and lifted an eyebrow. "So? Do you believe me now?"
Steve hesitated for a moment, swallowed the "I could do this all day" that almost slipped out again, and after a brief silence, muttered,
"WTF? Fine. I kind of believe you. So what is going on?"
…
A short while later, inside Nick Fury's office, Steve stood silently by the window. His expression was complicated as his gaze fixed on Times Square in the distance.
Massive electronic billboards blazed to life, kaleidoscopic lights weaving and flickering together like a sea of surreal color.
It wasn't "time travel" the way Harry described it, but to Steve, it might as well have been.
This wasn't his era anymore.
Seeing Steve standing there, worn down by an indescribable loneliness, Harry worried the old soldier might not be able to take it and suddenly jump out the window, so he asked with concern, "You okay, Steve?"
At Harry's voice, Steve seemed to be pulled back from faraway memories. A dazed look crossed his face, and he answered absently, "I'm fine. I'm fine. It's just… I missed a date…"
Before Harry woke Steve, Nick Fury had mentioned Steve's love story with Peggy Carter, so Harry guessed Steve's regret was about her.
He couldn't stand regrets like that, so he smiled and said, "Soldier, don't forget—this isn't your era anymore. In this era, magic can do anything."
…
Harry performed a magical test on Steve, and the result surprised him even more than Pietro's time magic aptitude.
Steve actually had high-tier rune magic aptitude!
And it was the "Thor version."
Rune magic, built upon runes that contain extraordinary power, was brought to its peak by Odin, the All-Father.
If Steve devoted himself fully and pushed rune magic into the advanced stage, then it was extremely possible he could gain all the abilities Thor currently possessed.
Suddenly, Harry's eyes lit up. A bold idea surfaced in his mind.
Steve was absolutely a righteous, noble person—his character and courage were known to everyone.
So was it possible… that he met the conditions of the enchantment Odin placed on Mjolnir, and could easily lift that hammer, the symbol of power and justice?
The moment Harry thought of it, he got excited.
If Steve really could lift Mjolnir, and on top of that had this lightning-rune aptitude, then the combat power he could possess in the future might even surpass Thor before awakening the Odinforce.
What kind of reaction would Thor have after getting NTR'd right in front of his face twice?
After confirming Steve's talent, nobody wasted any time. They moved immediately, gathering their forces and preparing to launch an operation to destroy HYDRA's Sokovia branch.
Harry also took a moment to go to Bellevue Hospital, sign a contract with Steve's old love, Peggy Carter, and use Transfiguration to restore her outward appearance to youth. As for the lifespan issue, that would have to be solved slowly over time.
Peggy's magical aptitude wasn't particularly outstanding—she had the more common type: body enhancement magic.
But precisely because it was body enhancement magic, she gained the ability Steve desperately wanted.
She really could fight an enemy all day.
A few days later, all preparations were complete, and every force had assembled.
For this mission, Harry served as the leader, with Steve as deputy leader. Nearly all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had been deployed. Among them was also Jessica, whom Harry had introduced to Coulson not long ago.
Besides them, Harry also decided to bring Wanda and Quicksilver along, using this battle to train their combat skills.
However, what surprised Harry was that after hearing about the operation, even Tony temporarily stepped out of his lab and announced he was joining.
In his own words:
"My Magic No. 5 is ready to go. I've been waiting forever for a stage where it can shine. This battle will be Tony Stark's personal showcase!"
But just as everyone was about to depart, an unexpected incident happened—one that gave Harry an instant headache.
The moment Wanda, Quicksilver, and Tony met, the atmosphere turned explosive, and a serious clash broke out!
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