Rowan's reasoning was simple. Joining the England Quidditch team now would boost his fame, but it would also drain his time. Training, matches, travel. None of it aligned with his priorities. Delaying everything until fourth year solved the problem neatly.
By then, Voldemort would have returned. The wizarding world would be in chaos, and nobody would seriously expect a Hogwarts student to attend Quidditch training on weekends.
A perfect excuse, wrapped in inevitability.
"If that doesn't work for you," Rowan said calmly, lowering his eyes back to his book, "we can forget the whole thing."
Ludo Bagman froze.
Then nodded rapidly. "No, no, that's fine. Fourth year is fine. I'll speak with Dumbledore today and have the contract drawn up immediately."
Four years later was still better than never.
Bagman was already planning the headlines. Signing a once-in-a-generation talent would shut up every critic at the Ministry who'd been circling his position like vultures.
The next morning, owls flooded the Great Hall as usual.
Then the shouting started.
"Rowan! You've been signed by the England Quidditch team!"
"Look at this! The Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports says he's discovered a prodigy. First year. Thirty goals in a single match. Better than Viktor Krum!"
"There's a photo! Rowan, Bagman, Professor Snape, and Dumbledore!"
The Daily Prophet had done what it always did. Turned exaggeration into spectacle.
After enduring a relentless barrage of questions, Rowan finally escaped the Hall. He was grateful it was Sunday. On a weekday, he might never have made it out alive.
That afternoon, while the school buzzed with his name, the second attack happened.
Colin Creevey, a Muggle-born student, was found petrified and rushed to the hospital wing.
Panic spread immediately.
Students stopped walking alone. Corridors filled with whispered speculation. Fear took root.
Rowan visited Colin briefly, more out of courtesy than concern. With Dumbledore in the castle, no one was actually in danger. The basilisk was being tolerated, not ignored. A controlled threat, meant to harden Harry for what lay ahead.
Rowan had no doubt Dumbledore knew exactly what was happening.
Colin's attack only strengthened Harry, Ron, and Hermione's belief that Draco Malfoy was the Heir. To protect other Muggle-born students, Hermione officially moved her Polyjuice Potion operation into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
Rowan stayed out of it.
Magic study came first.
By the second week of December, Professor Snape visited the Slytherin common room to collect names of students staying for Christmas.
Rowan didn't sign.
He planned to spend the holidays in Diagon Alley, learning wandcraft.
He'd studied wand-making theory extensively in the library, but theory only went so far. Hogwarts had no true expert in the field. Ollivander did.
If it cost more, so be it.
Without a wand suited to combat, magic in the Marvel world would always be secondary. Wandless casting was simply too slow. Real fights didn't pause for gestures and incantations.
If Rowan wanted to unleash his full magical potential beyond Hogwarts, he needed a proper wand.
That night, something unexpected happened.
In another universe, Rowan was practicing the Freezing Charm inside the mutant academy's combat simulation room when pain exploded through his body.
Sharp. Familiar.
"Oh," he muttered. "So it happened again."
The pain faded, replaced by a sudden expansion of awareness. A new perspective opened.
Another life.
Another world.
Six years of memories flooded in.
This time, he wasn't human.
He was a cat.
Not an ordinary one.
His name was Jinjin, a small, golden-furred magical cat whose coat shimmered like a lion cub's. Jinjin could fly, speak, and wield magic innately.
And he had hatched from an egg.
His species wasn't mammalian at all. They were oviparous, born from eggs rather than wombs.
Jinjin hatched six years ago in a forest. Soon after birth, his racial magic awakened, granting him the spell Wings, allowing him to fly. That ability kept him alive.
At three years old, Jinjin left the forest in search of answers. He wanted to know where he came from. Who his parents were.
The world he discovered was called Earthland. A magic-saturated realm ruled by humans. Magic wasn't hidden here. It was everyday life. Even common citizens used enchanted tools. Streets were lined with magic shops.
Most distinctive of all were the mages and their guilds.
Mages fought with magic. Guilds functioned like mercenary organizations, accepting jobs for pay. Each guild operated independently, with its own culture and strength.
During his travels, Jinjin learned of a famous guild in the Kingdom of Fiore. Fairy Tail.
One of its strongest members was known as the Fire Dragon. And that mage had a flying, talking cat companion named Happy.
Jinjin believed they might be the same kind.
He set out for Magnolia City.
He never arrived.
On the road, he encountered members of a dark guild. They tried to capture him, seeing him as a rare magical pet.
Jinjin resisted.
He was killed.
And at that moment, Rowan's fractured soul took over.
A new world had opened.