BBS - Chapter 6 : I told you so.... (Patreon)

The Bat, The Billionaire & The Shenanigans [6]

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

Ireland

–Tony Stark–

“What?” He levelled a flat glare at the bespectacled woman who was looking at him with a pleasant smile on her face, as if he was supposed to immediately buy whatever she was selling him. Sure, he had his suspicions over the years, as no energy was supposed to be this versatile and beneficial to him, as if it was capable of warping reality around him in minute quantities, just so his wishes would come true.

He had his eleventh birthday just last week, and now he was capable of moving every single heavy thing on the farm without much effort. Hell, just last month, just for shits and giggles, he had juggled the absolute heavy stacks of hay. It was just something he did for fun, as it was quite fun to juggle stuff that was ten times as big as he was, with just a light touch of his arms. 

I told you it was magic. You just didn’t want to believe it.

He expertly ignored the voice inside his head as he looked at the woman for some further explanation.

“Oh, yes. This is your invitation letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You are a wizard, if that wasn’t already clear.”

“You mean to tell me that magic is real?”

“Quite real, yes.” The woman nodded. “You are a wizard, Tony Stark. You must have experienced unexplainable phenomena during moments of distress, happiness, or any extreme emotion.”

He nodded, agreeing with her, as he internally realised that his theory of this magic being able to do stuff based on his emotions and thoughts was correct. It seemed kind of nonsensical to think that there existed energy out there that could affect reality based on his thoughts, and to have an entire school for manipulating that energy. Meaning that there was a sizeable group of people out there with the same energy.

It must be a miracle that the world was still left standing if the energy capable of following people’s thoughts and turning it into reality was present in more than a thousand individuals at one point. Humanity was not really known to be peaceful in any era, no matter their overall population. The only way to truly unite even a small group of humans was to introduce an external variable and give them a common enemy. History has witnessed that that was the only way to unite humans.

If a fractured group of people existed on the planet with access to that magic, then it stood to reason that there must be some other group whose full-time job was to make sure that wizards did not end the world as they knew it.

“That is called accidental magic, Tony. Now, where are your guardians so I can meet them?”

He was instantly alarmed at that, not wanting to expose his deeply Christian Ma to a wizard. Who knows what kind of blood vessel she might burst when she was told that one of her sons was actually a wizard. Still, he saw no other way this could go smoothly.

He had asked her, and Hogwarts was apparently a full-time boarding school. He would not be able to commute at all, despite the fact that wizards could also teleport. That magic was apparently not accessible to him until his Seventh Year, which seemed so far away. He was going to learn that in the first year itself anyway. 

Anyway, on one hand, with the absolutely pathetic state of technology in this world, magic, loath as he was to admit it, seemed like the most interesting thing around, and he really wanted to go to this school. It would be a fun way to know more about this world, and see if he could replicate most of his tech. If he had reality warping energy on his side, then it stood to reason that he would not need to reinvent many basic things from his time to finally have his Suit back again. He had felt really naked without it at the beginning, but now that his body was stronger than any human out there, it was just for the sake of nostalgia and a desire to constantly push boundaries that he wanted to recreate his suit.

Plus, this time he could do that with magic. Double the fun. 

On the other hand, his Ma was a deeply religious god fearing woman. She would absolutely look at magic with the devil perspective, and he was not sure if he ever wanted to face an enraged Ma who was brainwashed to believe that anything beyond the standard human template was the work of the Anti-Christ. She might just kill him. 

Well, she would try anyway, and when she failed, she would ask Jerry to do it for her, and he was not sure he ever wanted to watch his brother’s conflicted face as he was stuck between following his Mother, and attacking his brother with the intent to kill. It would be horrible for both parties.

With that in mind, he looked at her with a smile on his face, trying to put on his charm that had since washed away as he was a brat right now, without any facial hair. “Now, I am sure we don’t need to talk to my Ma. If I agree and sign the letter, won’t that be enough? My Ma does not have magic, and she won’t care much about the boarding school anyway. I will talk to her.”

The woman waved off his worries, “Don’t you worry, Mr.Stark. I have been through the same situation before as well, so trust me. Also, I am sorry, but we need the consent of your guardian before we can whisk ya off to Hogwarts. Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to talk to your Ma, as you affectionately called her.”

“No!” He shouted before realising his mistake, the panic making him misstep. “I don't think you realise the situation. My Ma is a god fearing woman. She will just label me as a Devil, and despise how much pain it might cause her, she will evict me, and might even try to kill me. I don’t think you want that. So, why don’t we do this? I leave behind a letter that I am leaving for greener pastures, and you take me to the school. And then, Seven Years later, Bam! I am back home as an adult, with magic no less. I will be able to improve everyone’s lives! A nice plan, don’t you think?” His enthusiastic cheer died down as he saw that she was not going to budge from this.

She looked at him for a moment longer before sighing, “Look, Mr.Stark. I can’t return without meeting your guardian. While I have seen parents reject their children and much worse for simply having magic, I need to confirm that before we can induct you into one of our programs for exactly such kids.”

“So, a kid’s testimony is not enough?”

“No, it is enough, but not for permanent custody. We will need to confirm the situation ourselves before we can take you back to Hogwarts.”

He slumped, realising that he won't be able to dissuade her from talking to his Ma. Already resolved to being called many bad things to his face by Ma, he warned her one last time, “I am warning you. Ma can get pretty violent. Also, no matter what, do not teleport or leave in a way that screams magic. Just run out, and once they are far enough, then teleport. I would like to spare my family from being called mad by the rest of the town when they inevitably tell the rest of the town that their son and brother simply disappeared into thin air.”

She looked at him with a complicated look on her face before slowly nodding, “I think that is reasonable. Though, are you so sure about your mother that you know you have to leave? I assumed this would be a difficult decision for you.”

His mind flashed with all the chores he did. All the times he had to feed and take care of his elder and sick siblings. All the times his secret of reality warping internal energy came close to being exposed, and how many times he had to run interference to make sure that Ma or the others did not suspect him. Sure, he would have fond memories of this place, and Ma would always have a spot in his heart, but he was not sure if his place was here, in rural Ireland. 

Sure, this would be his home, but he could not remain in one place, even when he was a genius kid with a normal physique. Not when he knew there was something out there that would help him achieve far more interesting things. Things that he had not seen or felt before awaited him, and as such, he did not feel too bad about leaving behind his family for a small period of time.

Plus, once he became a fully fledged wizard and learned everything this school had to offer, he would become a far more powerful person, and then he could make sure that his family did not have to suffer through any more hardships.

He shook his head and flashed the McGonagall woman a smile. “Nah, I have always known in the back of my mind that I am meant for more. If I have to leave this place for that, even if for years, then that is fine. I can always come back and help them when I have become a wizard. Right now, though? It would just hurt me to see Ma kicking me out. So, is there any way….” His voice trailed off as he saw her sadly shaking her head at his unasked request.

“Fine.” He slumped and led her to their house, knowing full well where Ma was, thanks to his enhanced senses. Also, he wondered if every single wizard had those senses or if he was unique in the sense that he trained his body using this internal energy, and as such, the energy responded to his emotions and created the enhanced senses and physique for him. If that were true, then this energy truly is very overpowered. 

He couldn't wait to learn more about it!

….Now, if only Ma was chill and took it as a normal woman in the 21st century should. Alas, she was a rural  20th century single mother of nine, living in a poor country, with only the farm and the house to her name. He could practically see what was going to happen.

___xx___

As he ran off with the woman, he glanced at her and saw that despite her middle aged behavior, she was able to not just run smoothly, but match him for speed despite him running at full tilt. “I want to say I told you so.”

“I would advise you to continue running, Mr.Stark. I assume you already have your belongings with you?”

As they ran through the plains around his farm, they finally reached the forest, and after crossing a hundred or so meters without hearing the sound of his family running after him, they stopped and leaned on a tree. He patted the small bag he’d made for himself out of the sturdiest piece of clothing he could find. “Yup. All right here. Now, Professor, take me to magic school.”

Seeing the wild and excited grin on his face, Professor McGonagall smiled as well, before shaking her head and walking over to him. She gently took all his belongings from him before placing her hand on his shoulder.

He got kinda nervous seeing the obvious glint in her eye, beginning to wonder if he had just voluntarily handed himself over to some kind of magic cult, like an absolute moron, as she whispered to him, “Brace yourself.”

Brace? Brace for wh—