BBS - Chapter 5 : 11th B'Day & meeting an Old Man..... (Patreon)

The Bat, The Billionaire & The Shenanigans [5]

Disclaimer - I don’t own anything. Disney does, Warner Bro does, and Rowling does.

London

–Bruce Wayne–

He sat between his parents, smiling as he watched them clap and gesture for him to cut the cake, which he did. It was his 11th birthday. 

17 July 1960. Years passed by so quickly, as he found himself rapidly approaching puberty, and with it, hopefully, a drastic increase in his power levels. It was not something he pursued to just have more power, but to see what his limits were. It stood to reason that someone else would have some other, or maybe even the same, power as well. So, in the worst case scenario, he wanted to be prepared. After all, by simple probability, it would be naive to assume that he was the only one with such a power. 

If he didn’t find anyone with such power, then fine, but he just wanted to be prepared for the worst. The flashes of seeing his parents’ dead bodies were getting less frequent, something he took as a welcome development.

He smiled as some of the frosting was put on his face, as he dutifully sat there and took the teasing. It was the least he could do after they repeatedly apologised on the phone to their many friends and acquaintances for not hosting yet another big party this year. He could tell that they were running out of excuses, especially since they even went a step further and stopped them from talking to him for some reason, so he resolved to let them host a big party next year.

It was—

His thoughts halted, as the sensory net he had laid in the background gave him quite the feedback, to the point that he barely managed to stop himself from flinching. Whatever the energy was, it was quite versatile, and only in recent times did he find that it was quite ubiquitous as well, just not inside people the same way it was inside him. The abundance of that energy was the reason he was sure that there was someone else with the same power as him, and it was only a matter of time before he met the other person or people with the same powerset.

He had to prepare not to fight a single person with the same power, but many others who might have had some kind of formalised education. It was something that did keep him up at night, but he managed to console himself by telling himself that he hadn’t found anyone so far, so maybe he wouldn’t find anyone else until he grew strong enough to influence an entire city on his lonesome.

By his conservative calculations, that should be done before he reached his 20s, accounting for a growth spurt during puberty, but it would seem that the universe was not going to grant him that reprieve.

“I’ll go cut it up,” His mother told him with a smile as both of them left for the kitchen. He was well aware of what they were doing inside the kitchen. First of all, Gross, and secondly, he had more or less grown indifferent to it.

No, what he had decidedly not grown indifferent to was the man currently outside their house, standing on the other side of the street, looking straight at their house. A man who had appeared out of nowhere, akin to teleportation, and currently had multiple times the same ubiquitous energy he had within his body. It was…horrifying.

The amount of energy he had within his body could allow him to blow up the entire block in a single blow if he so wished. He reflexively acted and scanned the entire sensory net to check if there was anyone else approaching as well, and unsurprisingly, the man reacted to the change in the sensory net, as previously, it was just done in the background. Right now, he was actively pumping his energy into it. 

His mind continued to run in panic, as he ignored his parents and, after a moment’s hesitation, made a decision and summoned the guns from the car trunks. The cars were parked inside the garage, which was closed, but the high calibre rifle was more than capable of shooting through the door and directly towards the man.

Guns were not his preferred weapon of choice, but his age, the fact that his parents were nearby and quite vulnerable, and the fact that he was not sure how it might unfold meant he had to take some precautions. Worst case scenario, they had to flee the city and maybe even the country. His parents had the resources to do that and more for years on end without running out of money. 

But that was thinking like a regular human. People with access to teleportation would not care about national borders. They could just as easily enter other countries as they came here. Shaking his head slightly, he took a deep breath and walked to the front door.

Thankfully, his parents were busy with their activities, so they did not notice the door opening and closing on its own as he got out and finally got a good look at the old man, who was now looking at him with naked interest on his face.

That could be good or bad, but the fact that he was not being attacked on sight meant the man wanted to talk. Good. That should give him ample opportunity to gather some information before he had to pull the trigger.

The man had many things that had the same energy imbued within them, some more so than others. His glasses, his shoes, his hair, the stick in his hand, and even his clothing had the energy in varying concentrations.

The man was dressed oddly as well, with contrasting colors as well as a large hat on his head. It was like looking at a halfway decent attempt at becoming a dignified clown for a children’s party.

Seeing that the man was not moving forward, he moved forward as well, eventually reaching the end of their driveway and looking at the man closely. The curiosity did not abate the entire time, and the gaze was locked on him. 

Good. It meant that he was the target. 

“Who are you?” he asked the man, his senses going haywire the closer he went to the man. It was like standing next to a nuclear reactor. The man simply had too much of that energy, and it was not even like the old man was actually using it. Alarm bells continued to ring inside his head, but he kept all his senses peeled to the maximum, just in case someone tried to ambush him.

He noticed that none of the private security they had hired came running after finding a strange man standing on the street, with no security clearance whatsoever. 

“Ah,” The man chuckled at his question, as if there was something funny about it, “My boy, I am Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Also, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

His eyes narrowed immediately as he caught on to the implications of that name. So, the energy he had been using was magic. He had his suspicions, but it did not behave like any kind of magic he had documented in his past life. It did not require any studying, no special artifact, or contract with some higher entity. It simply…was.

Also, the existence of a school suggested that there were enough people out there for a specialised learning course and institution to be made for the users. Which meant that he was not the only one with access to such energy. It…complicated things, but if the old man in front of him was just here to extend an invitation, then maybe things could still be salvaged.

Now, to see what the man was here for.

“I see.” He nodded and then asked the next question, “Why are you here? My parents told me it is considered rude to come to people’s homes unannounced.”

The man tipped his hat to him, without an ounce of sarcasm on his face. “My Apologies. I was told that a letter had reached your residence and it was returned unanswered.”

He made a confused face. “We did not receive any such letter.”

The man waved off his confusion, “No worries. Sometimes, the owls can get confused, especially when they encounter a field of magic so potent and dense.” The man looked at him pointedly, clearly telling him that he knew about the sensory net.

He nodded, acting as if he was aware of what the man was talking about, but did not retract his sensory net, indirectly telling the man it was non-negotiable. 

“I see. I assume you have some kind of message for me.”

“Ah, yes.” The old man perked up, but instead of taking out a letter that he clearly had on his person, the man began walking towards their house. “I do have it, but I must talk to your parents ab–”

The man’s words were cut off as he made the man halt, using his magic to create a solid wall in front of him. The man took his foot back, looking at him with the same laid back look on his face, which just worried him more.

Still, he told the man calmly, “I would strongly suggest talking to me instead of my parents. I can pass on your message, if it is important."

The man waited for him to finish speaking before smiling brightly, as if he had found something that made him giddy inside. “Ah, the passion of Youth! I remember how I was in my childhood. Still, I was nowhere near as strong as you are with wandless magic, my boy. This is simply marvellous. Now, while I would love to chat with you about your magic and how you managed to develop it without alerting anyone, I unfortunately can’t return without talking to your guardians.”

“Why?”

“Because, my boy, there are some decisions that can only be taken by adults. Your parents need to know about your heritage. They will ultimately be the ones who will have to sign off on your admission letter. You can’t simply keep them in the dark. You will be gone for most of the year, my boy. It is not logical.”

“I don’t believe you.” He tried one more time to keep his parents out of it. “Show me something that would prove your identity, position, and power.”

The old man raised an eyebrow at his demand. “That is a tall ask, my boy, especially in a muggle neighbourhood.”

When the old man saw that he wasn’t budging, the man sighed, grumbled about hasty youths before taking his stick out. The magic within it only surged forth as the man channeled his own internal energy into the stick.

Ah, so that’s what they call the wand. It was likely a focus of some kind, likely to amplify the effects of magic.

After all, if he could use magic just fine without the wand, then it would only serve to act as a crutch for him. No, he would much rather use his natural skills to use this magic. It would only give him an edge over—

His thoughts stuttered to a halt as the man flicked his wand, as a wave of energy, entirely unfamiliar to him, sprang forth and covered the entire neighbourhood. The energy simply did not interact with his sensory net, acting as if it wasn’t even there.

“Wouldn’t want other muggles to see magic now, would we?” The man winked at him before waving his wand, as a stream of fire bloomed forth from the wand.

He instinctively took a step back and took hold of the fire hydrant, but then watched as the man simply manipulated that fire, shape and size included.

A dragon, a horse, a house, and even a Giant Squid of some sort; the man did a full art show before he flicked his wand once more, summoning a torrent of water, dousing the flames and creating vapour all around them.

He did not panic as he had the man within his sensory net, but then his eyes widened as the vapour cleared up, revealing dozens of butterflies that flew around before dissipating into nothing.

He turned back to look at the old man, who looked at him with a self satisfied smile on his face. The same old man who, with a flick of his wand, had manipulated matter, conjured and controlled elements, and even conjured temporary life.

It was something that magicians from his past universe could do as well, but not this seamlessly, not without some conditions.  

“Well, my boy, have I proven my identity enough?”

……Damn.