Kaiser's face brightened at the sight of his favorite train: The Hogwarts Express! Why is it his favorite train, you ask? Because of its significance. It means he's going back to Hogwarts, meaning he'd be able to perform magic again! MAGIC! One would think that after practicing spells relentlessly for a whole year, the excitement would decline, yet it only increased. The more he learned, the more he was looking forward to learning more. The possibilities are endless! Last year he learned how to make water of thin air, if that wasn't an incredible feat, he didn't know what was. It was probably the closest a mortal can come to saying: 'Let there be light!'.
He thanked the auror that accompanied him, before boarding the train, looking for an empty compartment. He settled down on the first one, sat down and closed his eyes. He had half an hour to kill, before the train started moving. In the meantime, he was focusing on what he read during the summer. Healing magic was a very tricky subject. Before you could perform it, you'd need a certain understanding of the human body (assuming the person you'd perform it on is a human). Kaiser made a few trips to a public library to get more information. He knew the No-Majs were a lot more advanced in the subjects than their magical counterparts. So, for anything not exclusively magical, he'd look at the No-Maj's view on the matter first, as they tended to be more thorough and more logical. He wanted to learn basic healing spells this year at least: fixing broken bones, dislocated joints, small cuts…
(A/N: I forgot to add this part in the previous chapter, so I'm adding it to this one.)
The silence didn't last for long, however, as his compartment opened and one auburn red-headed and one blonde girl entered the room.
"Hello Kaiser! How are you doing? We've heard you've been sent to St Mungo's, are you okay?" Susan shot in one breath, before realizing her blunder. Her light skinned cheeks turned bright red in embarrassment, while Hannah was doing her best to suppress the giggle that threatened to come out.
Kaiser smiled warmly at her worried expression. "I'm alright, thank you for asking. It was just an accident I've had while meditating, nothing serious."
They chatted for a while until the train started moving. The gleam in Kaiser's eyes came back in full force, while Hannah and Susan gave him a knowing smile.
"What? Am I that predictable?" Kaiser asked sheepishly.
"Yes!" they answered in unison.
Kaiser sighed, and began his spell rotation. He tried the Lumos, Levitation, and Repairing spell. The three most basic and easiest spells. Yet, as he performed them one after the other, his shock only increased at the ease he felt trying them. As if his body was heavily chained down, and all his shackles disappeared, and his whole life, all he could do was walk. Now, he could run! He knew for a fact something has changed. 'Is this related to that recent incident? Or is this simply my magical core growing during the summer?' He didn't know.
He tried the other first and second year charm, transfiguration, defense, general purposes and even some fourth-year energy hungry spells: they all felt different. Though he hated unanswered questions, this was a very welcome surprise. He could feel that the several spells he executed didn't drain his energy at all. He spent another ten minutes casting spell after spell, before feeling some exhaustion, so he stopped.
"Wow! I remember last year; you couldn't cast that much spells. Your magical core must have expanded during the summer! Congratulations!" Susan said with a big smile. There was something different about her. Her cheerful demeanor, you could see she wasn't faking it. At least, that was what you'd feel looking at her. If she was truly faking, then she was one hell of an actor.
"Yes, I think so too. Thank you." Kaiser answered with a smile. Hannah congratulated him as well.
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The trip back to the castle was uneventful. Kaiser met with his year mates, exchanged greetings and stories, though he was only listening most of the time, as he didn't have something exciting to tell, nor did he care for that matter. He wasn't going to entertain some twelve-year-old boys getting excited over stories of quidditch game they were telling each other, were they were all present, mind you.
His meeting with one Daphne Greengrass would've been the epitome of awkwardness if not for her friend Tracey Davis, who did like to talk. Daphne would only answer politely, and switch to her completely disinterested face. Kaiser did exactly the same with her. He wouldn't annoy her if she wasn't interested in having a conversation. She hangs out with him most of the year mostly because of his brilliance, not that he advertised it. He only answered her questions when asked. She was quite brilliant herself, but he knew she was exceedingly pragmatic. Too pragmatic for her own good, for that matter. She'd have trouble finding friends; then again, maybe she didn't need them, or she already had enough. What did he know? Those people at the top are some weird folks.
There was one incident that happened on his trip back from the train. Riding the boat was exclusive to first years. Seconds years rode the 'enchanted' carriages back. Seeing the Thestrals was an interesting experience; the others thought Kaiser was 'Bonkers', starring at inexistant creatures, until Susan pointed out that she actually read about them. They were supposed to be visible only to the people who have seen death, then came the question, one that shouldn't have been asked, but they were curious kids. One of the boys had the gal to ask: "When did you see someone die?" It was then that Kaiser snapped. He never thought about how his past life abruptly ended, how he was wrongfully murdered in cold blood, just because some companies would lose out in the long run, completely ignoring the impact his research would've had on humanity as a whole. It was a major turning point, yet they ruined it, for their small mindedness, and their inability to see past their individual benefits. Kaiser never thought about it, really. He considered himself being given a new life a fair exchange, even though, when he'd think about it later, it was completely uncanny: people don't just reincarnate to the body of an eleven-year-old boy, or do they? Kaiser was angry, not because the question was asked, but because of the memories it triggered, things that had been locked away in his mind for far too long. His hair and eyes glowed crimson, as he was lost in thoughts. The amount of hatred the last moments of his past life brought were phenomenal. The helplessness was the worst. He knew what was coming, yet he could do nothing about it. He couldn't scream, he couldn't reason with them, he could even hardly breath or think.
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The boy who asked the question was apologizing to him as the others berated him for his tact of a troll, but Kaiser was unresponsive. He drew quite a bit of attention to himself, that would later create all sorts of rumors about him, each more hilarious than the other. One even said that he was the sole survivor of an ancient hidden family of wizards, and how he vowed to take revenge upon those who wronged his family. The journey back to the castle was silent, and Kaiser came back to his senses when the carriage stopped. He made use of his occlumency training and brought back the cold façade.
Shortly after he sat down at the Ravenclaw table, the first years entered the Great Hall, ready to be sorted. He clapped politely every time someone got sorted to his house, like the rest of his house mate. The headmaster said the magical words, and the food was served. Kaiser cast his usual detection spells. It felt good being able to check his food again; he was practically defenseless against potions during the summer. While the older year students were familiar with his routine, the first years weren't, so they asked what he was doing.
"Don't mind him, you'll get used to it. He's just paranoid. He thinks people are out to poison him or something, so he checks his food for potions." One fourth year answered in amusement.
Kaiser didn't mind what people thought. They were all ignorant. They assumed Hogwarts was a safe heaven, when it truly wasn't. If someone was determined to hurt you, they could easily do so. Using your food against you is the easiest method. As long as you convince the house elves, have someone convince them for you, or have someone potion your food while you aren't looking, it was far too easy. Or, they could simply attack you once you're out of sight. Kaiser wouldn't take chances.
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"This is highly unusual. Did you take any special potions this summer?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"None. I didn't eat anything "magical" at the No-Maj orphanage I'm staying at." Kaiser answered.
"Well, your core has expanded by more than 130%. I don't think this has ever happened before in the course of one summer." While it was indeed a major power-up, he was only slightly above average, as he was quite lacking to begin with. "You are quite lucky. Did any notable event happen to you this summer?" Madam Pomfrey, of course, knew of his little accident. She was responsible for the health of all students, after all. So, she received information about anything that happened to them.
"Yes. I'm assuming that anything I say here wouldn't exit the room?" Kaiser asked, mainly because of the oaths she'd taken. He wanted to make sure no one received this particular piece of information. He didn't want it known.
She guided him to her office, threw privacy spells, before he added his own and began explaining the situation to her. He told her about his physical, magical and mind training. She deep in thought.
"I think it's a result of both your extensive practice and your achievements in the Mind Arts. Your magical core evolved to adapt. It happened to a lot of people before you. This isn't just your core maturing. Normally it's a lot more progressive than that. This is a huge leap. Congratulations."
"Thank you. I do have a little request, if you don't mind. I've read a bit about healing magic during my first year. I've spent this last summer reading a lot about the human body. I would like your help in learning minor healing spells, if possible. I don't think it would be safe for me to perform them without supervision." The last line was a bit tricky. He basically told her, that with or without her help, he'd perform them, seeing how curious he was about everything. But he did give her a chance to help him. If he got hurt during his trials, it'd be her responsibility to help him anyway, so it's better to prevent accidents, right? And, her oaths may or may not push her to help him in this case. He didn't know for certain, but he certain hoped so.
Surprisingly, the mediwitch smiled at him. She got up from her chair, fetched six books, shrunk them and presented them to Kaiser. "Memorize these by heart. Ask me again when you're done. I heard you have quite the impressive memory. I also heard about your phenomenal grades, by the way. Everyone is talking about them after all."
Kaiser might have overdone it last year. He's ranked first in every subject… even potions. Snape grudgingly gave him the highest note, even though he wasn't in Slytherin House. He always made the best potions, and gave the correct answers when asked. He never actively showed off, but he didn't shy away when the time came.
(A/N: there are a few things I need to clarify. Kaiser haven't used the Room of Lost Things yet for various reasons that I would be explained later in the story. Kaiser can't use rituals yet, he's a second year. They are a taboo for a reason: they are complex, exceedingly difficult, disastrous when done incorrectly, even the slightest mistakes is unacceptable. I'll explain them a bit later, but I hope you understand that the development needs to be progressive. If I make him a god in the first chapter, there'd be no story to tell. One interesting remark I got was why he didn't use the books in the Room of Requirement to their full potential, to read during the summer. Well, first of all, he needs a fresh perspective, or a different one. He reads from other sources as well, because that would help him have references later on when he does use the read the books in Rowena's library. Knowledge evolves after all. Don't forget that he also sells/exchanges the books he already read, so overall, he didn't lose that much money.)