(An enjoyable power fantasy, but the early first year will focus on proper world building first. I solemnly swear that I will type every word by hand without using AI to write a single character.)
1991, on a street in London.
The evening sunlight shone over the passing pedestrians.
Hermione hurried home after school, her little leather shoes clicking against the pavement.
Her brown curly hair rippled like waves with every step, while her delicate nose and brows were tightly furrowed on her rosy face.
Her bright black eyes were filled with worry and anxiety.
“Bang!”
She completely failed to notice that the flowers and plants outside the front door looked as though they had been scorched dry by fire.
The sound of the front door being pushed open forcefully echoed through the house.
Hermione kicked off her little leather shoes without even taking the time to change into slippers, leaving only a pair of black over the knee cotton socks on her feet.
Her soft feet raced up the stairs with hurried thumping footsteps.
“Mom, how’s Fel? Has his fever gone down?”
She rushed into a clean and tidy room decorated mostly in red.
The slightly breathless girl looked toward the black haired middle aged woman sitting beside the bed and asked anxiously.
“Hermione, you’re home from school? Fel’s fever has gone down, but I don’t know why he still hasn’t woken up.”
“When your father gets home, we’ll take another look. If he still doesn’t wake up, we’ll have to send him to the hospital.”
Mrs.
Granger wiped the sweat from her forehead and spoke with a worried expression.
Just then, the sound of the front door opening came from downstairs, and Mrs.
Granger stood up.
“You stay here and look after Fel. I’ll go talk to John.”
After saying that, Mrs.
Granger left the room, and the sound of her footsteps descending the stairs gradually faded outside the door.
Hermione looked worriedly at the boy lying on the bed.
His fair face still carried a trace of youthful softness, yet his features were already well defined.
His short black hair was damp with sweat, with a single strand stuck to his forehead.
His handsome face was tightly knitted into a frown, as though he were trapped in a nightmare.
Hermione reached out and brushed that strand of hair aside, and the slight coolness of her small hand awakened the sleeping boy.
The next moment, a pair of pitch black eyes suddenly opened and looked straight at the delighted Hermione.
His throat moved slightly before Fel spoke in a dry voice.
“Hermione…”
…
When the clock struck seven in the evening.
The family sat around the dining table, chatting and laughing while enjoying freshly baked apple pie and steak.
Mr.
John Granger smiled and asked Fel,
“Fel, are you sure you’re not feeling unwell at all?”
“I have a few friends who are pediatricians. We can visit them anytime.”
“No need, Mr. Granger. I feel great. I’m so hungry I could eat an entire cow!”
Fel stuffed a piece of sliced steak into his mouth with his knife and fork while answering through a mouthful of food.
Mrs.
Granger took a sip of orange juice and smiled.
“As long as you’re fine. I made an extra steak, so eat as much as you like.”
Hermione parted her rosy lips and took small bites of her steak, confusion showing between her brows.
“Fel, you were perfectly fine yesterday. How did you suddenly get such a high fever this morning?”
“I don’t think you’ve ever had a fever before.”
Fel stuffed another piece of beef into his mouth.
“Who knows? But I feel perfectly fine now.”
“Oh right, Mrs. Granger, did any owls or similar birds come near the house today?”
Mrs.
Granger looked puzzled.
“Owls? No, I didn’t see any. Why do you ask?”
Fel waved his hand.
“It’s nothing. I watched a television program about owls a few days ago and thought they were really cute. It would be nice if I could keep one.”
Mr.
Granger smiled.
“Owls aren’t as obedient as cats or dogs. Looking at them is enough.”
“Tomorrow is our day off. I think we can all go to the zoo.”
“Hey, Hermione, eat fewer sweets.”
Hermione put down her apple pie and excitedly raised her fair, slender left hand.
“I agree! Fel, I want to see the deer and look at the beautiful patterns on them.”
Fel nodded.
“And I want to visit Simba. I hope his mane is still as magnificent as before.”
Ever since watching The Lion King, Hermione had given the zoo’s male lion the name “Simba,” although only the Granger family acknowledged that name.
However, Fel had a different opinion about Simba’s situation.
“The king of beasts belongs on the savanna. A lion shouldn’t be locked inside a zoo. Battle and glory are what it truly deserves.”
…
That night, Fel leaned against the headboard of his bed, which now had fresh sheets and blankets.
He gazed at the bright moonlight outside, his eyes slightly unfocused.
‘Was it a dream?
Or something else?
I’m Fel, yet it also feels like I was someone else…’
‘No, that should only be a memory.
Did I…
awaken memories from a previous life?’
While unconscious, or perhaps while dreaming, Fel had awakened a set of memories.
It felt as though he had once been someone else who lived in a country filled with towering skyscrapers, although he could no longer remember most of it.
The clearest memory he retained was of a magnificent fantasy story about magic.
It was like a fairy tale, filled with wondrous magic, an evil villain, and a hero who saved the world.
But the most important thing was that the heroine of the story was named Hermione Granger!
In that story, Hermione was a clever and brilliant young witch who followed the main trio and defeated the evil Dark Lord.
During the brief scenes showing her family, Fel had seen Mr.
Granger and Mrs.
Granger, and they looked exactly the same as they did in reality.
Everything was the same except for Fel Hefis.
There was no Fel Hefis in that story.
Fel recalled his own past.
Mr.
Hefis and Mrs.
Hefis had been Mr.
Granger’s close neighbors.
Yes, he and Hermione had known each other since childhood, and the two families had always been very close.
But when he was six years old, a fire claimed both of his parents’ lives.
Why had Fel survived?
He didn’t know.
He couldn’t remember very clearly.
In fact, he remembered almost nothing from before he turned six.
That included the cause of the fire.
Perhaps he had simply been too young, or perhaps the injuries from losing consciousness had damaged his memory.
Fortunately, he still retained his common sense and remembered the Granger family.
Otherwise, even being adopted would have become a problem.
Of course, he still remembered how kind his parents had been to him, and the thought made him feel sad once again.
Afterward, Mr.
Granger recalled that the strange fire had mysteriously gone out on its own.
In the end, Fel, who had been lying unconscious in bed, survived without injury and was adopted by Mr.
and Mrs.
Granger.
They never asked him to change either his surname or the way he addressed them.
Mr.
Granger was a dentist, comfortably middle class, and raising two children was no burden at all.
Besides, they had always wanted a son.
‘If that story is real, then…
was I originally supposed to die in that fire?’
‘But among countless parallel worlds, perhaps there is always one beautiful accident where I survived.’
Fel analyzed the situation.
‘The fire mysteriously went out?
Could it be because I suddenly awakened magic?’
‘Young witches and wizards seem to experience accidental magic that causes all kinds of supernatural phenomena.’
‘In the movie, Harry even made the glass at the snake enclosure disappear.’
‘Maybe, just like my name, Fel, and Hefis, which comes from Hephaestus, the god of fire, I was reborn through flames.’
Fel shook his head and laughed softly.
‘Getting so worked up over a dream is pretty ridiculous.
Reality hasn’t shown me a single piece of evidence that these memories are real.’
‘I haven’t even seen an owl.’
Fel wriggled into a more comfortable position, closed his eyes, and lay back on the bed.
‘Whatever.
Time to sleep.’
However, when Fel woke up the next morning, he saw an owl perched on the railing outside his window.
It was carrying two letters in its beak.