-A school in London, 1982-
1981 was wild. I could even feel the mana disturbance from inside the orphanage. There must have been so many high-level wizards duking it out against each other. Not to mention the behemoths in both Dumbledore and Voldemort.
The conflict was raging on for a while. Casualties must be very high. I didn't watch the conflict in person but I can easily guess that the loss was mainly on Dumbledore's side. The dark wizards always try to use the unforgivables while the light faction normally would not go for the kill.
The disturbance got even wilder when the magical Britain community celebrated after the news of the Dark Lord's demise spread out. The ministry must've worked overtime to ensure the secrecy.
Even Creek has been in a more joyous mood ever since he heard the news. It seems like the house-elves have it hard too with this generation's dark lord. I've previously read that Voldemort loved to treat them horribly and use them as lab rats for his experiment.
If I didn't know this in advance, I might have celebrated too. However, knowing that Voldemort would "die" and knowing the real truth behind it made this situation lackluster to me.
I decided to stay out of that situation. I could try to play a part in that conflict and gain profit for myself. My magical knowledge and prowess might not be up to par with the powerhouse there. However, my future knowledge is still an asset that could turn the tides of war. I'm one of the people who know the prophecy and Voldemort's Horcruxes.
The risk outweighs the gain and so I never involved myself with their conflict. The world has meddled in his fate. To expose Voldemort's Horcrux now would turn the situation worse in the future. The Dark Lord commanded with fear, but few knew that he can be this strong because he's a paranoid person himself. Always in fear of death. The paranoid Voldemort would create more countermeasures if he knows that his Horcrux got exposed. He won't be truly defeated anyway. Not by someone other than the boy who lived. Not unless that someone has escaped the shackles of prophecy.
I stopped my musing when I noticed that it is my turn to introduce myself in front of the class.
I'm currently inside an elementary school classroom. My matron had registered me in this school so I can undergo my compulsory education.
As far as I know, the muggle-born wizards in magical Britain followed this process. They go to elementary school to complete their primary education. Then they go to a certain 'absolutely normal' boarding school for their secondary education. Cut off from their muggle friends and relatives unless it's a holiday. Very normal and nothing suspicious. And then after they finished their secondary education they can go back to the mundane world, either working or continuing their education in college. Or they can also vanish somewhere being some kind of government's secret agent or something.
It's hard to have a muggle connection outside of the wizarding community. Maybe only your spouse and direct family members can know your secrets. Imagine obliviating and tampering with your muggle friend's memories every time a leak happened. Yeah, I'll just continue to be my introverted self in this school.
"My name is Isaac Balthasar!" I said loudly, standing in front of the class.
"Hi, Isaac Baldesar!" The class greets me back with enthusiasm. Though my last name got butchered.
"Balthasar" I repeated slowly
My teacher smiled seeing this scene. A genuine smile. The children in front of me were also all excited to see new friends on their first day of the class.
Me? I'm also happy myself. I can continue updating my Pseudo Reality here. That means constantly training both my occlumency and legilimency. Also, I can read more muggle books here.
It is fortunate that my matron has registered me in this school. The school provides both primary and secondary education so it has an extensive library. Such a convenient situation for me.
The fact that I love to study magic doesn't mean that I want to neglect my muggle education. In a fantasy setting, science is not any less powerful than magic. Even my occlumency, the MULTIVAC, is based on science fiction, not a magical fantasy. Furthermore, with the presence of my supercomputer mind, I would be a fool if I don't hoard all the books here and integrate them with my magical knowledge.
The school subjects are the usual reading, writing, and math. And since it is the Year 1 class, I always spent my time in the classroom reading the Hogwarts school books instead. The ever-curious children besides me sometimes got confused that I often daydream, gazing at the empty chair.
The first time I try to learn those magic books it took me a very long time. At first, I was trying to prepare my occlumency before I read the Hogwarts' first-year subjects. After that, I also need to learn to cast wandless and chant-less magic to get some spell practice.
Now that all those groundworks have been done, and with my ever-growing mental prowess added to that, I was able to finish reading Hogwarts' 2nd-year subjects in less than a year. I also mastered casting the charms, DADA, and transfiguration spells too.
I could even go further too if I didn't have to do school homework and read muggle books now.
I always go to the school library and read the muggle books there every break or when the school hour ended.
"Isaac! Come let's play together!"
"No"
"What's wrong with him?"
"He's always been like that."
It was in the middle of my walk to the library that some kid asked me to join playing together. Which of course I rejected straight up.
First, I don't want to waste my time playing with kids. Second, the only people that I could become friends with are the magicals. It is incredibly taxing on one's mental health to tamper with their friend's memories.
The statute of secrecy compels me to do so. It ensures that the magical community remains secret. I'm not a fool who doesn't understand its purpose and make an exception for my close friend. If I do that, then sooner history will repeat itself. I've lived long enough to know about human nature.
It won't be just witch burnings. There will be war. And with the great minds of the politicians on modern earth, no not the stupid ones that appear in public but rather the ones working in the background, the magical community will be wiped out.
I need to avoid making friends with normal kids. However, the school also has some magicals as students. Unfortunately, I also cannot be friends with those kids either. Because then I have to interact with their muggle friends in their circle as well. And if I avoid the muggle ones in the group, there is a risk of them noticing.
Besides, I have better things to do. I need to catch up with my science study. I'm not a genius or a studious person in my past life. I've spent more of my time consuming fictive works. Reading novels and watching movies. That's why I need to read these books. I don't remember clearly what's in the periodic table, various physics formulas, and the advanced math to calculate them. I need to reread them all.
The long time I've spent in the void has eroded some of my memories. I didn't spend my time there remembering all those scientific formulas.
"Isaac. Your teacher has told me about your behavior"
One day, my orphanage matron brought up the subject. It seems that the teacher noticed and grew worried. They're good teachers, but this is going to be a problem. I need to reverse their concern. Rather than worrying about me making no friends, I need to give them a reason to worry if someone becomes my friend.
"Is this about me avoiding other kids? Matron, you know me. Besides, the books interest me more. Why should I waste my time doing something else?"
"I know you like to read books. How about talking about them with your friends?"
"They won't understand"
"I see… you've already been reading on the higher-grade books? But don't worry, look what I have here"
My matron showed me several books. The book's covers have a muscled man in a tight suit and cape. Some also have a woman with a hot body, also in a tight suit but with low cleavage showing their huge boobs. Is this really appropriate for children?
"Comic books?"
But that's for ki… brainstorming new ideas. Not bad. I think I might read some.
"I'm sure you will find friends with a similar hobby"
"Sure. But never mind that now. I noticed that sooner or later the teacher will notify you, so I also have come up with a solution. Here"
I handed my matron an application form
"What is this? Martial arts club"
"I want to join the extracurricular activity. I need you to sign it. This will put me in a situation where I have to interact with other students. They even have a foreign mentor. I want to learn about the culture there too."
One of the reasons the teacher will worry if someone becomes my friend is if they somehow perceive me as some delinquent. I've noticed the bullying problem in the school. The school has all the classes from the first grade to high school, so we have a wide age range. This makes it easier for them to bully the younger and smaller students.
Getting myself into fights with bullies will somewhat make me a delinquent in others' eyes. This will stop the teacher from worrying about me getting no friends. Hopefully, since I will only do it against the bullies, my matron won't be too harsh on me.
I don't like getting beaten up, and because I'm still small and young I need the excuse of how I could win the fights. And because of this, I joined the martial arts club.
