Harry Potter : Bloodraven

Chapter 86 - 86: Winter Intervention (V) (CH - 106)

Howard Stark stared at the mysterious man before him, his mind still reeling from the absurdity of what he had just heard. Terraforming? It sounded like something straight out of science fiction, yet here he was, being told he would play a role in making it a reality.

"You're talking about reshaping an entire planet," Howard finally said in a low but firm voice. "Do you even understand the scale of what you're asking? And what if I can't make it happen? What then?"

Maverick remained unmoved. "With the science of this era alone? No, it wouldn't be possible. But with science and magic, I'm confident that we can make it work. You're the smartest man alive—apart from your son, perhaps. Don't underestimate your own genius."

Howard stared at him for a long moment,

"Желание. Ржавый. Семнадцать..."

As the words continued, Bucky's body tensed, his fingers curling into fists. The blankness deepened. His breathing slowed, mechanical.

Howard felt a pit form in his stomach. "Is this… how they brainwashed him?"

Maverick nodded. "This is how they broke him. They made him stare at a projection for days, bombarding his mind with commands—words, images, and subliminal messages, all reinforcing obedience and suppressing resistance."

"They started by exhausting him. Sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation... keeping him awake for days until his mind was too weak to fight back. The projections weren't just images... they were hypnotic patterns designed to break focus, to pull his consciousness into a haze where reality blurred and the only thing that remained clear was their voice, their commands."

Howard clenched his fists as Maverick continued.

"They stripped him of everything... memories, emotions, even his sense of self. Every time he resisted, they erased more of him. Not all at once—that would be too obvious, too ineffective. Instead, they rewrote his memories little by little, fragmenting his past, making him doubt what was real. They rewarded compliance with moments of relief and punished defiance with more erasure, conditioning his mind like a machine being reprogrammed."

Maverick continued.

"Eventually, resistance became painful—literally. They linked disobedience with suffering, rewiring his brain so that even thinking against their orders triggered agony. And once his mind associated submission with relief and rebellion with unbearable pain, they didn't need chains anymore. He was theirs."

Howard swallowed hard, his throat dry. The sheer cruelty of it made his skin crawl.

The memories continued—missions carried out without question. Assassinations. Operations that toppled governments.

One memory stood out.

A Hydra commander giving orders. Discussing a mission. The target's name was spoken.

"Howard Stark... Maria Stark. "

Howard stiffened. His name. His wife's name. Their deaths—planned in cold blood.

---

After some time, the vision collapsed into darkness, and once again, he found himself back in the room in reality.

But the echoes of Bucky's experiences lingered, like fading whispers in the air, refusing to disappear.

He saw the figure turned to him. "Do you see now? Hydra never died. They only went into hiding."

Howard's face turned pale, his hands trembling slightly. "Are we going to stop them?" he asked, his voice unsteady.

"They will be stopped," Maverick assured him. "Not right now, but they will be."

Then, his gaze shifted to Bucky's real, unconscious body—still strapped to the metal table in the safe house. His expression hardened with quiet determination.

"But first, we fix him."

Raising his hand, Maverick pressed his palm to Bucky's forehead.

A pulse of energy surged outward. Bucky's body convulsed, a sharp gasp tearing from his lips as his muscles tensed against the restraints. Then, his eyes snapped open—bloodshot, wild, and filled with something raw.

Maverick met the Winter Soldier's gaze, and spoke to him in steady and unwavering tone.

"I'm fixing the fragments of your memories," he told him. "Every word they burned into you, every command they forced upon you—I will erase them."

Bucky jerked violently, his breathing ragged. His metal arm strained against the bindings, his body writhing as if something inside was fighting back.

Howard stepped forward instinctively. "Is this… normal?"

Maverick held his gaze. "Yes. The conditioning was brutal, but in the end, it's just cause and effect—nothing magical, nothing supernatural. Hydra only used science."

He paused before adding, "Undoing it will be painful. But that pain also means he's still human."

Bucky let out a hoarse, guttural sound. Not a scream—but close.

Maverick pressed harder, his magic flowing through the super soldier's mind—unraveling the layers of control, peeling away the false obedience Hydra had forced upon him.

His master level proficiency of Magical Sense and Magical Energy Manipulation gave him precise control, and with Occlumency and Legilimency at an advanced level, the process wasn't too difficult for him.

Images flashed through Bucky's thoughts—missions, orders, faces of people he had killed.

Then—

Whatever was deemed harmful—commands, conditioning, the memories of torture—was erased.

At the same time, Bucky's past memories slowly pieced themselves back together.

However, Maverick didn't erase the actions Bucky had committed while brainwashed. Those memories, painful as they were, would define him—drive him. Maverick wanted Bucky to remember, not to punish him, but to give him the chance to rise above it.

Bucky's breath hitched. "Help... me..." It was a plea—weak but real. The words broke through the fog, through the conditioning.

And Maverick seized the moment to push his magic even deeper.

A final, shuddering breath left Bucky's lips—then he slumped forward, unconscious.

The room was silent.

Howard let out an exhale while running a hand through his hair. "Is… is he cured?"

Maverick studied Bucky's still form. "He's free. But recovery… that will take time."

Howard looked at the broken man before him whom he once called a friend. Perhaps, he'd get to call him that again.

"Then let's give him that time," he said after a moment of thought.

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Author's Note:

Just a quick update — up to Chapter 139 is already available on P AT r30n!

PAT r30n [.] com / RyanFic