A New World

'Huh...It's so dark. What the hell happened to me...' James' consciousness faded as the darkness enveloped him.

"Worry not little mortal, Truck-Kun has a special prize for those who delight under his tracks!! Haha, You will be reborn in a new world, and as a boon for surviving the initial impact, all your memories will remain. You will receive a one-time message explaining your new world, so don't forget!!"

With that, the garbage truck that had killed James Hastings disappeared before the emergency services could arrive.

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James awoke floating in the void with only the rhythmic beat of his heart, tell the passage of time. 'One beat, Two beats, Three,..., Six-Hundred. That's ten minutes if my heart rate is a constant one beat per second, so we'll go with that for now.' He tried to look around, but the void was all-encompassing. All he could do was count time and reflect on his life.

James had been a soldier in the United States Army before he was selected for additional training and allowed to attend graduate school for a Doctorate. He was to be transferred to the U.S. Cyber Command to help combat the rising threat of foreign interference with U.S. Infrastructure. 'I graduated and was walking back to my car. Why can't I remember anything after that?'

DING

[Congratulations!! You have died!!]

[As a victim of Truck-Kun's tender treads, this message will be shown to you only once! You were killed by a multi-dimensional being and given the gift of a new life in a new world. How exciting for you!! The world you now reside in is known to you. The Harry Potter Universe welcomes you and warns you that a young adult novel series isn't an accurate representation of an entire world. Good Luck!!]

'What the HELL!!! You're telling me that I died, and now I have to live in some fictional universe! Bullshit!' The mental ranting continued for several minutes until James had utterly exhausted himself and passed out.

When he woke again, James was calm and assessed his situation. 'So, I'm floating in a dark void with a heartbeat to keep me company. I think it's safe to say that I'm in my mother's womb. Probably the third trimester then since I'm conscious. I'll be born in 1-3 months, not much to do until then I'll have to meditate and maybe try creating one of those mind palaces. If I have a mind palace, I'll be able to relearn most of my previous skills and maybe even remember those Harry Potter books a bit. I wish I had finished that series; it would be beneficial now.' And so for the next two and a half months, James meditated. He would take deep belly breaths exhaling with slow, deliberate stillness. James pictured the ideal library filled with all his accumulated knowledge in the form of all manner of books, newspapers, and magazines. As if he had an eidetic memory of his previous life, every detail sprang to the pages filling the expanding shelves with every breath. The two and a half months came to a close just as he finished with the last book of his previous life.

'Damn, that was a lot of information! I can't believe I remembered all of it, and now it just takes a few breaths to dive into my mind and retrieve anything I want. Such a cool ability, I wonder if it has anything to do with magic.' James opened his eyes and smiled.

Soon, James felt intense pressure from the surrounding void, and he knew that his time in the womb was nearing its end. Going with the flow, he relaxed and waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel.

It was early morning on March 15, 1980, when he came into the world and first saw his mother. A young woman around 20 with pale skin and bright red hair, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and immediately, he loved her more than he ever had anyone else. Granted, he had only met her and the medical staff so far, but he knew that he would be the best son he could be for her.

"Congratulations, Miss Sterling! You have a healthy baby boy. We'll get him cleaned up for you and return in just a moment." A grey-haired kindly older man wearing a doctor's coat said in an English accent.

'At least I can understand them, that'll make adapting much easier.' Though James was fluent in 6 languages, he was a native English speaker and was glad that he didn't have to struggle with a foreign language. He was cleaned and swaddled by the nurse and returned to his smiling, exhausted mother. "My dear one, my baby boy," she cooed, "Your name with be August after my grandfather, named after an ancient emperor, and you are the king of my heart." She smiled and cuddled him close before they both drifted to sleep.

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After spending a day in the hospital, Eve Sterling and her son August Sterling were on their way home. The home was a small studio apartment above a rundown enchanter's shop off Diagon's Alley proper. Eve was a Witch, and August soon came to realize that his life here in this new world would be much different than he could have imagined. His mother had nothing to do with the troubles that Voldermort, and the Deatheaters stirred up. She lived a simple life selling trinkets from her family's shop. The sterlings were a magical family going back to the roman occupation of Londinium, but they had fallen on hard times after the second world war. Only Eve and August remained. Her father had run the shop until his death many years ago, leaving a young Eve just out of school to keep the business afloat.

Their flat was small and homely, with many centuries worth of family mementos to decorate the walls and shelves. August was introduced to his family's portraits and told that when he was old enough, his great grandfather's portrait would be his instructor in all things magical and mundane. This situation seemed the norm for the Sterling family, but August felt that he could benefit from modern teaching methods. He'd bring it up when he was older than a few days.

In the morning, his mother made breakfast with him strapped to her like a kangaroo. "Today, we're going to open the store back up, and you'll help Mommy make some cool toys!!" Eve said after feeding him. He smiled and cooed like a happy baby; it made her happy and cost him nothing to act his age. They went down into the shop to open for the day and begin making some toys and trinkets for magical children. The shop was like a time machine, on the shelves were automatons, self bouncing balls, and any number of varied magical creations. August felt this looked more like a victorian toy store than a modern magic shop.

Eve would stop working to feed August when he cried to get her attention, but mostly he kept busy watching her and reading in the mind palace. Like this, the day flew by.

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TWO YEARS LATER

August had finally managed to get his legs working correctly and spent his days running around the flat, talking with his mother about everything.

"Hey, Mom! What's it like to use magic? When can I use magic? How come people don't visit the shop more? Can I go to school? What makes magic work?" He would continuously ask questions and gave Eve very little time to answer them. 'It's so boring being a toddler; I can't wait to grow up. Thank God I have been able to read all of Mom's books on magic and enchanting. I finally felt my magic this morning!!'

Two years had gone by, and August hadn't been idle. He took every opportunity to read and meditate, trying to discover his magic.

'It's been a long road, but I can finally feel the power inside of me. It's a lot like mystics described Ki from my old world. A river of energy slowly circulating deep within. I'll have to test and see if meditating will allow me to grow my power, but that's likely to take a few years of work. Okay, list of priorities:

-Meditate and increase my magic

-Read every book Mom has on magic

-Learn to channel and cast wandless magic

-Check the current Information Technology

-Find a way to get some muggle equipment (I might need a gun and now's the time to get one The UK gets pretty liberal with its anti-gun policies)

-Find a way to make money and build up a safe-house.

-Hangout with Mom and Learn enough to help out around the shop.

That's a pretty good list. I'll stick it on a big screen in the Palace and set my time limit for five years.'

Eve looked to her son and smiled, "Honey, maybe it's time for you to start learning with Great Grandfather. What do you think?"

"I guess so, Mom, but can't I just work with you, and you'll teach me!?" August pouted.

"How about this: You spend the morning studying with Great Grandfather, and after lunch, you can come down, and I'll teach you what I can?"

"Mom!! You're the best! I'll study hard and learn everything so fast." August answered and ran off to sit next to the Portrait of Julian Sterling, Great Grandfather of Eve and Great Great Grandfather of August. Eve laughed and headed down the stairs to open the shop.

"Welcome young August. Today we will outline the history of magical society and the current system of Governance." Julian began his lecture.

"The Wizarding World, also known as the magical community, is the society in which wizards and witches live and interact. It is separate from Muggle society. You must remember that Muggles are known to be violent to Magical beings and must be kept in the dark when it comes to the Wizarding World. The two Societies are kept separate through the use of charms, spells, and secrecy. Everyone in the Wizarding World strictly enforces the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Each country has a form of wizarding government to oversee magical affairs, such as a Ministry of Magic or a Council of Magic. The International Confederation of Wizards serves as a wizarding intergovernmental organization."

As Julian continued, August began to zone out the history lesson. It was soon lunchtime and August scarfed down his PB&J sandwich so he could join his mother in the shop. "Mom, I'm ready to learn from you!" He bounced down the stairs and up to Eve.

"Alright, dear. Let's start with the basics. Enchanting isn't a separate branch of magic, but a continuation of charms. With that in mind, we'll be starting you out in the back; that's where I keep all my Charms textbooks. I want you to study these books, and I'll test you once in a while." Eve led him to a small study room with a large bookcase and small writing desk. She expected he'd get bored in an hour or so and left a few toys and coloring books for him to play.

'Score looks like Mom is leaving me to my own devices here. I'll have to study hard and take advantage of all this time before I start at Hogwarts. I've got nine years to master this stuff. I'll wait and figure out the Muggle side of things after I get some freedom to move about on my own.'