For the past few months, Ben spent almost all this time learning and practising his skills. It had started to take a toll on his mental health. He had started to feel very burdened knowing that even after working so hard, there was so much more to learn and no end was in sight.

He was burning out. Ben hadn't been a very diligent or driven individual in the first place, even in his past life, he was just a regular guy who liked to take things easy.

He just wanted to live his life, doing the things that he loved. He didn't have any grand ambitions or long-term plans in life. Not that he didn't want to make money or buy nice things, he just didn't want ten Bugatti and seven mansions.

When he got sucked into this new world, his whole worldview got tumbled upside down. He lost his support structure; his asshole friends and his crazy family. He was scared and alone in this strange yet familiar world. He felt like he knew so much about this world yet nothing at all at the same time.

To cope with this new environment Ben had activated his fight mode and had been working crazily since then.

Ben's sudden and drastic shift in lifestyle from being an average joe to a sigma grind set Giga chad had left him drained and exhausted.

At first, the fear and novelty of the experience kept him engaged and going but as days passed, his routine became repetitive and boring. Where he used to love and enjoy magic, now his practice sessions started to feel like a series of endless chores. He also started to feel a bit lonely.

Even though it may not look like it, there was no one around him who he could truly call his friend. All his classmates were essentially kids in his eyes and because of that, he had not been able to engage with them fully.

Even if he was amused by their antics, at the end of the day he was only amused as if he was watching over his nieces and nephews.

Being a grown-up inside the body of a kid had a few problems of its own.

After spending a nice relaxing week at his home Ben had come up with a few possible solutions for his problems.

This New Year, just like everyone else, he too had made a few resolutions.

Not trying to carry the weight of the wizarding world on his shoulders was one of those resolutions. At first, Ben thought that he was going to work tirelessly day and night to become this mighty figure that hides behind the curtains to control the whole show.

He had failed to take his limitations into account, he was just a human after all and not a machine.

Ben had to calm down and accept that no one was coming after his life and he wasn't an accursed protagonist of a novel that would run into one life-threatening situation after another. Even if he was, he didn't want to become paranoid by letting fear cloud his vision.

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He also accepted the fact that he was a twelve-year-old kid, no matter how much he thought otherwise. There was no spell that could help him skip puberty, he might as well accept it. It might take some time, but he was working on it.

He was going to try harder to let down his walls and engage with the people of the wizarding world at a deeper level. Even now, he somehow saw the people here as characters instead of real people. He had to accept the fact that he was here and here to stay and for that, he had to find his own place in this world. Even if he felt that he couldn't relate to his peers, he should try his best. If all else fails, he could always have older friends.

There were other resolutions like the usual, wake up early, work out, pick a new hobby, learn a new language, learn to sing, focus on studies, eat healthily, get proper sleep, etc. But we all know that these are token resolutions, they are just there to occupy space.

---

In the courtyard, Ben and his friends made their way through the crowd to where Michael was. Cornfoot and Goldstein were already here, along with the rest of the Ravenclaw first-years.

"How's it going, mate? I hope we didn't miss anything," said Terry.

"Where have you been, I thought you said you've got my back?" said Michael, who looked a bit flustered.

"We've been looking around the castle for Ben, I thought you could use some help," said Entwhistle in a lower voice but Ben heard him clearly.

"What's going on here?" said a confused Ben.

"A-Ah, nothing mate. I'm glad you're here, you know, for support and all," said Michael Corner, straightening his posture and trying to hide his nervousness as best as he could.

At this point, Ben was certain that there was something going on here that he wasn't aware of. Before he could question the brats any further, he was interrupted by a croaking voice.

"Look here, ickle firstie has called for backup," said a gruff-looking boy who was significantly taller than anyone else around.

"Scared Corner? Wanna call any more of your pals?" he said in a croaking voice that reminded Ben of a horse. Poor guy, puberty can do things to you that even magic can't fix.

"I'm not s-scared," said Michael "you'll be the one losing."

"Oh-we'll see about that, I'll have those gobstones, no matter how many runts you gather," he said staring menacingly at the poor boy.

Ben had somewhat figured out what was going on here, Michael Corner, being the little scamp that he is, had somehow managed to piss off the biggest bully in the playground. Yes, he was the biggest as third years and older were busy chasing skirts or snogging in a broom closet.

Now Douglas Mccarthy (or Doug as he liked to be called) wasn't your average playground bully; he was a lot smarter. He just happened to be the first one to sprout whiskers and became the tallest bloke around. You can say that he was drunk on power, he liked to intimidate the little buggers with his towering physique but he hadn't gone completely bonkers yet.

His preferred method of bullying was psychological manipulation. With just the right amount of taunts aimed at the lad's ego, he had managed to make Corner bet his brand-new, limited edition Ballycastle Bats Gobstone set.

A particularly nasty piece of work that squirted a nasty liquid that smelled like a mixture of bat droppings and urine at the loser.

Ben finally realised why he had been called upon by runts, they were hoping that he would help them get out of this predicament; just like a dozen times before. This rag-tag group of Ravens was starting to act like wreckless lions under Ben's protection and Michael's leadership.

'Ah man, now I feel exploited by the little buggers,' he thought while acting a little hurt.

--Dreamscape--

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