After making a brief move with Nick Fury, Ethan didn't give the director any chance to continue the conversation. Before Fury could open his mouth again, Ethan activated his teleportation ability and disappeared instantly, returning straight to the basement of his Long Island villa.
The quiet underground space welcomed him back with familiar stillness.
Ethan reached into the golden space of his system and retrieved the strand of hair he had secretly taken from Thor earlier. The blond strands were still clumped together and covered in dried mud from the earlier chaos around Mjolnir.
"Let's clean this up first," Ethan muttered.
He flicked his hand casually and cast a wandless cleaning spell. A thin ripple of magic washed over the hair, removing the dirt and grime instantly. The strands quickly returned to their natural golden color, smooth and shining under the basement lights.
In the magical traditions of the Harry Potter world, the number seven held special significance. It was widely considered a number deeply connected to magical balance and power.
Ethan carefully separated the cleaned hair, selecting the seven strands with the best color and strongest shine. Those strands were then twisted together into a single braided thread, forming the core material for his wand.
Next, he reached over to the nearby worktable and picked up the wand body he had prepared in advance.
The rod had been crafted from a piece of century-old peach wood that Ethan had purchased at an extremely high price. In certain magical traditions, lightning-struck wood possessed strong spiritual properties. Trees struck by lightning during storms were believed to carry powerful energy, and the wood was often used to ward off evil forces.
Peach wood shared similar attributes.
Combining lightning-touched peach wood as the body and Thor's hair as the core created a pairing that Ethan considered nearly perfect.
First, Ethan slowly infused the wand body with his own magical power, allowing the wood to absorb the familiar energy. Then he repeated the same process with Thor's braided hair core. By aligning both materials with his personal magical signature, the finished wand would resonate far more naturally with his magic.
Once the preparation was complete, Ethan used a delicate spell to guide the braided hair into the hollow core of the wand. The strands slid smoothly into place, guided by controlled magic rather than physical tools.
Afterward, he sealed the opening with another spell, fusing the wood seamlessly back together.
The wand was complete.
The moment Ethan grasped the finished wand in his hand, he immediately felt the connection.
It worked.
The resonance between the wand and his magic was exceptionally strong, almost as if the tool had been waiting for him.
"Lumos," Ethan said calmly.
As the spell left his lips, a bright white light burst from the tip of the wand, illuminating the entire basement instantly. The glow was stable and intense, casting sharp shadows across the walls.
To test the difference, Ethan performed the same spell again—this time without using the wand.
Another bright light appeared.
However, the difference was obvious.
After carefully sensing the magical energy consumed by both spells, Ethan quickly reached a conclusion. The wandless Lumos had consumed nearly five times the magical energy compared to the one cast using the wand.
In general, spells performed without a wand typically required around three times more magical power. Lumos was normally no exception.
Which meant something interesting.
This wand increased the efficiency of the Lumos spell by roughly sixty percent.
Ethan continued testing.
He raised the wand again and began casting spell after spell. One magical incantation after another shot from the wand's tip, filling the basement with flashes of light, gusts of energy, and shimmering waves of magic.
He completely ignored the cost of magical energy and focused only on testing the wand's performance.
More than half an hour passed before Ethan finally stopped.
By then, he had thoroughly completed the wand's testing.
The results left him extremely satisfied.
For dark curses and unforgivable spells, the wand's amplification effect was relatively small—less than twenty percent. However, for non-curse spells, the enhancement was extremely strong.
The weakest increase was around sixty percent, and certain spells even reached seventy or eighty percent amplification. In terms of boosting ordinary magic, the wand was already approaching the legendary level of the Elder Wand.
Ethan looked at the wand in his hand with clear satisfaction.
Afterward, he stored the remaining strands of Thor's hair back into the golden space. Those leftovers would be useful later when he had time to craft a backup wand.
"Reparo," Ethan said calmly.
Magic flowed out from the wand and spread across the basement.
The room had suffered considerable damage during Ethan's earlier spell testing. Cracks in the walls, broken furniture, and scattered debris quickly began repairing themselves under the influence of the spell.
Within moments, the entire basement returned to the exact condition it had been in just a few hours earlier.
Ethan nodded in approval.
In some ways, the magic system from the Harry Potter universe could almost be considered a cheat ability.
After thinking for a moment, Ethan decided to return to New Mexico.
After all, he had pulled Thor's hair and promised Odin that he would help guide the God of Thunder. Completely ignoring the situation would make him look unreliable.
More importantly, this was also a good opportunity to build a relationship with Thor.
If he could become friends with the future King of Asgard, the benefits in the long run would be enormous. Once Odin eventually passed away and Thor inherited the throne, Ethan wouldn't even need much in return.
Aside from Mjolnir and the treasures inside Odin's vault, he wouldn't ask for anything else.
…
Inside the interrogation room where Thor was being held.
"Thor."
A voice suddenly called out his name.
Thor looked up in surprise when he heard the familiar tone.
Standing before him was someone who had appeared without warning.
"Loki?" Thor said, shock filling his eyes. "Why are you here? Did you come to take me home?"
"I only came to see you," Loki replied calmly.
"What happened?" Thor asked quickly, noticing the serious expression on Loki's face. "Tell me. Is this about Jotunheim? Let me explain everything to Father."
Loki's expression darkened.
"Father is dead."
"What?!" Thor froze completely, disbelief written across his face.
"The stress of exiling you and the threat of another war became too much for him," Loki said in a sorrowful voice. "Don't blame yourself. I know you loved him deeply. I tried to persuade him, but he wouldn't listen."
He lowered his head slightly.
"Now the throne rests on my shoulders, Thor. I will bear that responsibility."
At that moment, Thor didn't care about the throne at all.
In his heart, his father's death had happened because of him. The weight of guilt crushed him so heavily that the idea of ruling Asgard felt meaningless.
"Can I come home?" Thor asked desperately.
"The truce with Jotunheim requires your permanent exile," Loki replied quietly.
"Is there no other way?" Thor asked, hope flickering in his eyes.
"My mother will not allow you to return either," Loki said softly. "I only came to say goodbye."
…
Meanwhile, inside the command center of the research camp.
Nick Fury stared at the surveillance monitor with a deep frown. On the screen, Thor appeared to be speaking to himself in the empty interrogation room.
But Fury's instincts told him something was wrong.
He had spent decades trusting his instincts, and they rarely failed him.
Thor wasn't talking to himself.
He was talking to someone.
Yet neither Fury, Captain America, nor Natasha Romanoff—who were watching the monitors—could see anyone else. Phil Coulson and Hawkeye, who were observing through the interrogation room window, also saw nothing unusual.
Even the thermal scanners showed only a single person inside the room.
"You're all still watching Thor?" Ethan's voice suddenly appeared behind them. "What's so interesting about a big guy like that—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Ethan's expression shifted slightly.
Through his advanced perception ability, he could clearly sense another presence standing beside Thor. The life force of that presence was powerful—easily comparable to Thor's own.
"Did you find something?" Nick Fury asked immediately.
He had already grown completely accustomed to Ethan's habit of appearing out of nowhere.
"There's an uninvited guest," Ethan said calmly. "If you want to meet him, come with me."
After saying that, he turned and walked out of the command room without waiting for a response.
Nick Fury exchanged a quick glance with the others before following immediately, with Captain America and Natasha Romanoff right behind him.
At that moment, Loki had already left Thor's interrogation room and was quietly walking toward the crater where Mjolnir rested.
He had concealed both his physical form and his body heat using magic.
To everyone around him, he was completely invisible.
....
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