Jonathan Doyle sat alone after breakfast, his half-eaten porridge crusting over in the bowl beside him. Other children laughed or shoved each other in the courtyard, but he had other plans.
He had a Book.
The Book of Lived Time hovered in his mind like an open command console. He knew instinctively he could pull it out, but left it where it was. Its pages still glowed faintly, awaiting input. He flipped mentally to the back, where blank parchment stretched out endlessly.
A prompt appeared.
Author's Declarations:
You may write truths about yourself here, provided they do not violate your memories. All entries will be retroactively "true" within the constraints of Lived Time.
He paused, heart racing. This was it. A cheat code.
He dipped into the glowing ink that didn't exist in the physical world and mentally wrote:
This world is the world of Harry Potter.
A beat passed.
Nothing exploded. No thunder, no owl flying through the window. Just a subtle ripple across the surface of the Book, like water disturbed by wind.
Then, one line of glowing text faded into view at the bottom of the page:
✅ Confirmed: The current world is congruent with the fictional Harry Potter universe as remembered by the Reader.
He grinned.
My real name is Hadrian Potter. I am the biological son of James Potter and Lily Evans Potter. I was hidden at birth and placed in an orphanage under the name Jonathan Doyle. No one in the orphanage knows my true identity.
Again, the ripple.
✅ Confirmed: Hadrian Potter's existence can be inserted into the known timeline.
His heart thumped like a jackhammer. One more detail.
I am a Metamorphmagus. My abilities were bound by my parents to prevent magical detection while I remained in hiding. My current appearance is a static default.
This time, the Book pulsed.
✅ Confirmed: Metamorphic inheritance accepted. Magical suppression is active but reversible.
Suddenly, he felt it—a pressure in his chest, like a coiled spring being acknowledged for the first time in years. Something within him responded to the recognition. Not unlocked yet, but seen.
A grin stretched across his face. For the first time since waking up in this tiny, drab world, he felt powerful.
He wasn't just a ten-year-old in a musty orphanage.
He was Hadrian Potter. Hidden son of the wizarding world's most famous couple. Reincarnated, with memories of what should happen. A secret player in a story that didn't know it had a new protagonist.
He closed the Book in his mind.
Time to wait for the owl.