Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the original characters I make.
Chapter 126: Ancient One Template
---John Kennedy POV---
"Where am I?" asked John as his vision slowly cleared.
He blinked several times. The ceiling above him was old, cracked, and faintly yellowed with age. When he pushed himself up, the familiar smell of damp wood and cheap detergent hit him like a punch to the gut.
He knew this place, no it doesn't mean he knows where he is but he feels familiar.
Years of living in an orphanage had carved the scent, the creaking floorboards, and the layout into his memory. And this room… this was unmistakably an orphanage bedroom. But why was he here? Why would he is here to another orphanage after all these years?
The last thing he remembered was the alien, bald and pale, touching him. Then everything went dark. But now…
He froze, he noticed something happen when he try to stand up.
His legs were shorter. His arms were thin. His hands... small, tiny even. He scrambled toward the dusty mirror leaning against the wall, and when he saw his reflection, his jaw dropped.
A figure on a mirror clearly looked like someone who are just a kids who around 9 or 10 years old and this ten-year-old boy stared back through reflection.
"This… this is not possible," whispered John. He was already in his mid-twenties. He had a job. A house. A brother give him few years and he would have a wife. How could he suddenly become a child again?
Before he could panic further, a sudden metallic chime echoed in his skull.
[DING! INITIATION COMPLETE]
[SYSTEM 102385 SUCCESSFULLY INSTALLED]
[HELLO HOST. WELCOME TO A NEW WORLD]
John stumbled back. "Who are you? Are you that alien?"
[QUESTION DENIED]
"What.... denied? Then what is your purpose?" John demanded.
[MY PURPOSE IS TO GRANT YOU A TEMPLATE SYSTEM TO HELP YOU SURVIVE THIS WORLD. I WILL ALSO TRANSFER THE MEMORY BELONGING TO THIS BODY]
"Template…?" John's eyes lit up. He had read too many light novels to not understand what that meant. "Alright, show me. What are my options?"
[DRAWING COMPLETE]
[PLEASE CHOOSE FROM THE FOLLOWING TEMPLATES]
[1. ANCIENT ONE]
[2. S RANK MAGE]
[3. ROCKS D XEBEC]
John sucked in a breath. "I know the Ancient One… that bald woman. If I choose her, will I also go bald? And what about her magic? Do I need to borrow it?"
[NO HOST. YOU WILL OBTAIN HER KNOWLEDGE AND POWER DIRECTLY]
[THERE IS NO DARK DIMENSION HERE. YOUR POWER WILL COME FROM YOUR OWN BEING. YOU WILL NOT SUFFER THE HAIR LOSS AS A DRAWBACK]
"That's… reassuring," muttered John. "What about S Rank Mage?"
[S RANK MAGE ORIGINATES FROM A MANHWA WORLD WITH HUNTERS, DUNGEONS, AND MONSTERS. YOU WILL RECEIVE ONE ABILITY BELONGING TO AN S-RANK HERO-TIER INDIVIDUAL]
"Only one? Like only fire magic or only combat magic?"
[CORRECT. MOST S-RANK MAGES POSSESS ONLY ONE TYPE OF ABILITY. THE SYSTEM WILL RANDOMLY SELECT THE TYPE]
John groaned. "That's basically F-rank if I only get one spell…"
Then he glanced at the final option. "And who is Rocks D Xebec? I've never heard of him. I only know Monkey D Luffy."
[ROCKS D XEBEC IS THE STRONGEST PIRATE OF HIS ERA. THREE OF HIS CREW MEMBERS BECOME YONKO IN THE FUTURE, WHITEBEARD, KAIDO, AND BIG MOM]
"What? Really?" John was stunned. He stopped following One Piece after Ace died. Maybe he missed a lot more than he thought.
[YES HOST]
John remained silent for a long moment. He weighed the choices carefully. S Rank Mage was too limiting. Rocks D Xebec was strong, but his power... he only stopped reading until Ace dead, did he eat Devil fruit? No those two option are too weak. But the Ancient One…
Knowledge, versatility, magic, martial arts, dimensional understanding, mental training and more...
It was the ultimate survival template.
"I choose Ancient One," said John firmly.
[AFFIRMATIVE]
A surge of overwhelming knowledge crashed into him. Spells, martial arts, meditation techniques, dimensional theories.... centuries worth of experience flooded his brain. At moments, he felt as if he were seeing the world through the eyes of a calm, wise woman. The duality almost tore his mind apart.
He clutched his head and screamed.
[TRANSFER COMPLETE. HOST, DO YOU ACCEPT THE ORIGINAL MEMORY BELONGING TO THIS BODY?]
Even through the pain, he forced out, "Yes…"
Warm but faint memories drifted into him, compared to the memory from Ancient one,this one is more gentler than the Ancient One's knowledge.
This body's name was Steve Roger, a boy living in Kink Orphanage.
John inhaled sharply as both memories merged within him.
A new world, a new body, and the knowledge of the greatest sorcerer to ever exist.
---1 May 1996 - Death Eater Attack ---
It had been a few days since John, now living as Steve Roger arrived at the orphanage.
The place is similar to his past orphanage in other world, it was small, the walls cracked and the beds is very old, but the matron was very kind. Too kind compared to his past orphanage that make steve roger feel happy talking to her.
With the knowledge of the Ancient One now flowing through him, John began using his power to earn money.
Not illegally, he had no desire to attract attention from a government and traced it back to him but he gain money through loopholes only someone with advanced magic could exploit.
He would mask his face using simple illusion spells, change his voice, and approach wealthy businessmen discreetly. His offer was simple:
A portal. Why waste twelve painful hours on a flight when you could step through a doorway and arrive instantly in another country?
Most people who he found were stunned, of course. But when he explained it as "a new breakthrough teleportation technology," backed with demonstrations, and charged them half the price of a plane ticket, without baggage fees they accepted faster than he expected. In one day, he earned over $100,000.
A day later he did again but this time with a normal family who have a lot of baggage, they also accepted it. Of course after that there was a rumour that some country have technology that make people can travel to other country instantly.
But whatever they can't trace it back to him,
Magic in a world without magic? Easy way to make money
But even as he made money, his real priority was finding Zack. He believed his brother was also brought to this world and have a new face like him. So it makes it difficult for him to find his brother.
He can only living and keep a low profile at this orphanage and talks about the money he earned, John made anonymous donations to the orphanage. Within a few days, every child had new shoes, proper clothes, warm blankets, and healthy meals. The matron cried silently when the donation letter arrived, thinking it came from some a good rich man.
He live here peacefully, unfortunately the peace didn't last long.
The next morning, John sensed an odd ripple in the air.... it was magic, but crude and unstable. When he ran outside, he saw masked figures in dark cloaks firing bursts of fire and streaks of light from wands that looked disturbingly like weapons.
People screamed. Several children were almost hit.
Recognizing the danger instantly, John acted on instinct. With a twist of his wrist, the masked attackers were yanked into the Mirror Dimension.
This is the mirror dimension, Ancient one used when she wanted to fight with someone else.
The fleeing civilians suddenly vanished from sight as the real world folded away, leaving only the attackers and Steve inside a shifting geometric landscape.
"Who are you, and why are you attacking innocent people?" Steve asked sharply.
One of the masked men snarled, "Are you a wizard? Why are you helping muggles?"
Muggles.
The word hit him like lightning.
This wasn't Marvel.
This wasn't a generic magic world.
This was the Harry Potter world.
And these masked attackers?
Death Eaters.
John who is now Steve narrowed his eyes. There was one glaring issue bothering him:
Why hadn't the Ministry detected his magic for the past few days when he make money using magic.
Why weren't Aurors swarming the scene already?
Then it clicked. His magic did not behave like the magic of this world. The Mirror Dimension was not part of wizarding physics. His teleportation portals, illusions, and dimensional manipulation didn't register as spells the Ministry could track. He didn't carry a wand either, so the Trace couldn't apply to him.
His power existed outside the rules of this universe.
Which meant he had complete freedom.
But it also meant something else:
If Death Eaters were appearing in broad daylight…
This world might be even more dangerous than he expected.
......
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