Realization

Victor's vision slowly cleared as he regained consciousness. It was morning and sunlight was peaking through the window blinds at the side of the bed. He blinked and began to recall his circumstances. He sat up abruptly and looked around the room. It was a small bedroom with a bed, a dresser, and a candle lamp on the bedside table. He was still wearing his ragged clothing from before he fell unconscious.

His gaze shifted back to his hands, reaffirming that what he had experienced was not a dream. He was in the body of a 5-year-old boy, a boy who died of abuse. That boy's name was Victor, but he had been known in the orphanage as Dumb Victor because he was a quiet kid. Victor quietly rubbed his forearm, comforting himself from the dark memories of his predecessor.

Whatever the reason, he had ended up here, back in time. Perhaps in another world where superpowers were a thing. Afterall, he had shown such abilities last night without any issue and the memories of the experiments those adults did on that poor kid lingered in his mind.

'I must not let others find out I have powers, I don't want to be a lab rat.'

*Creak*

The door to the bedroom opened and the old man from last night entered the room. He had a perpetual frown on his face, but it was hidden behind his scruffy beard. Victor tried to calm himself down and get a grasp of the situation first before anything else. He turned and tried to smile at the old man, but the man ignored his attempt and talked curtly.

"Boy, what the hell happened to you?" The old man jabbed his wrinkly finger in Victor's direction.

"I..." Victor opened his mouth, but he didn't know where he should start.

"Your story streams are dark boy, you are lucky you didn't turn into an obscure." The old man frowned and grabbed Victor's wrist abruptly.

He flipped it over, took out his wand, and cast a diagnosis spell. The tip of his wand glowed with light and scanned over his body. He withdrew his wand, closed his eyes, and began muttering to himself. He paced back and forth in a calm matter as if discussing with himself.

Victor was dumbfounded and his mouth hung open after seeing the old man produce a wand and perform what he imagined was magic. He looked at his hands and his mind raced, logically putting as much together as he could. Finally, his questions narrowed down to one and he asked it.

"Was that magic?"

The old man stopped his internal monologue and peered at the boy. He checked the time on his hand-held pocket watch.

"Yes, we are wizards. Of course, it was magic, boy." The old man answered before going back to muttering to himself some more.

Victor nodded and he felt many things have now made a lot of sense. He didn't just travel back in time, no he was in an entirely different world. He had magical powers and he was a wizard. He tried hard to listen to the old man's whispers and managed to catch a few keywords.

"Dark Lord... Alley... Hogwarts... Baribus.... no no no, ..."

Victor felt an epiphany. He was in the magical world from the books of the Harry Potter Series. He recalled as much as he could from when he watched the movies. He doesn't have any memories of reading books, but he remembered the movies. He organized everything in his mind to the background of the old man's pacing.

Firstly, he was a young wizard. A young abused wizard who had most likely awakened magic much earlier than others due to the experiments from the muggle people at the orphanage. Normally, children should awaken magic at this age when their personality was still forming, not to mention, the previous Victor was very talented in magic control.

Secondly, he was currently around 5 years old and it is 1973. The events of the Harry Potter series would not have started until 1991. He would not interact with the characters from the book during his schooling.

Thirdly, Voldemort was not killed yet. Well, perhaps he hasn't even started rising yet, but from the old man's muttering, perhaps he has started to get attention. Maybe, this old man could find me some books to help me control my magic powers. Or lead me to someone who would. He also mentioned something about 'story streams'? I don't remember this term in the movies. Is it a kind of magical talent?

Victor's thoughts were organized right as the old man stopped his pacing. The old man took out his wand and pointed it at Victor's head in a swift motion. Victor's eyes widened after seeing the sharp, determined, and cold look in the old man's eyes.

"Wait! Sir, don't do anything rash, please." Victor surrendered his arms in the air immediately.

The old man glanced up and down at the boy, he narrowed his eyes before setting down his wand.

"If you want to remain awake, then keep silent, follow me, and keep your head down." The old man turned and started walking out of the room. He paused after he opened the door, turned back, and yelled hoarsely.

"COME ON, BOY."

Victor jumped off the bed and followed after him. He remained behind him quietly as he asked and kept his head focused on his feet, sometimes sneaking a glance at the old man or at the house around him. He wanted to bide his time for now, till he could get more information about wizards from the old man. Or perhaps leave when he finds another person who can give him what he needs. For now, it's best to stick with someone who could answer questions about the magical world, even if they have an ambiguous attitude. Who knows what kind of mysterious curse might kill him if he knew none the wiser?

*Sigh*

'Today is going to be a long day.' Victor thought.