Reborn As A Squib In Harry potter

"Hello, Edward. Right on time," Archibald said in greeting, smiling at me from a seat at the bar. The Leaky Cauldron was empty save for the older Squib, a couple other patrons grabbing a late lunch, and Tom himself, the elderly bar owner giving me a gap-toothed grin as I appeared.

"Good morning, Mr. Tarsworth. And good morning to you, Tom," I said, bobbing my head politely. Tom's grin widened and he gave me a nod as I went over to Archibald's side.

"Alright, let's get going," my guide to the Muggle world said, leading me out of the bar onto the streets of London. "I'll hail a cab."

"This is how Muggles get around for the most part," he said, explaining to me what the automobiles on the streets were for. "No brooms or floo or apparition. Just various makes and models of automobiles. Though be sure to call them 'cars' when they're the smaller models, and 'buses' for the larger, public transportation versions."

"Like the Knight Bus!" I said, excitedly, like a child would. I already knew about the Muggle world, probably better than Archibald did, but I had to play the role of starry-eyed Pureblood child who'd never seen so much as a TV, let alone an apartment building!

"Yes, exactly! Only the Knight Bus is an outlier. Most Muggle buses are slower and actually obey the rules of the road," Archibald chuckled. "Don't worry, though, you're a bit too young to have to worry about that. Only adults can drive in Muggle society."

I nodded, and when a taxi finally stopped for us, I didn't have to fake being awed by the sights of London as we drove towards our destination. Big Ben! The Eye! I saw so many amazing tourist sites. I had a feeling Archibald had paid the driver extra to take on a bit of a tour so I could see all the most notable sights in the city, since the Tower of London wasn't too close too Buckminster Palace.

After an hour and a half driving around and seeing all sorts of fun things (and reexperiencing the terrors of traffic) we finally arrived at a building that was plain and grey and not all that impressive. I assumed it was a government building, and was quickly taken inside, and then led into a room on the second floor that had a table, a chair, and not much else. It was rather barren. Archibald left me alone to speak with someone else, and I went over to see what I had to do.

There were workbooks on the table, similar to the ones I'd done at home, and looked them over. I was annoyed, as they were incredibly simple. But what did I expect from stuff kids were supposed to know? There was 3rd grade material at the minimum, up to 6th grade as far as I could guess. Which made sense. They wanted to know where I placed.

'History and Geography will be tricky… I don't as much about English stuff as I do about the US, but some of this international and world stuff isn't so bad,' I thought to myself as I filled out the workbooks. 'Hmm, this math and science stuff isn't too hard, though. Some multiplication and division problems? Easy-peasy. Describe the water cycle? Plain and simple!'

It was over in less than an hour, and I went over to the door and knocked on it. When Archibald answered, I handed over the completed workbooks, and he took them with a surprised look.

"I'll have these checked," he said. He gave me a look I couldn't identify, and went back to the table to wait and twiddle my thumbs. In the end, I just began scribbling some simple stuff on scrap paper, drawing dinosaurs and dragons and a bunch of knights.

Thirty minutes later, Archibald returned, a frown on his face.

"Edward, have you ever practiced Occlumency?" he asked out of the blue, and I blinked, surprised by the query.

"Err, yes," I admitted.

"Hmm, I thought so," he muttered, rubbing his chin. "That explains your high score."

I tilted my head to the side, confused, and then realization hit me.

'Oh, cripes, I did too well!' I realized! 'I'm a twenty-something in a kid's body! Those questions were a breeze for me, but what about normal children?'

I silently cursed myself, while also thanking my lucky stars I had indeed practiced some Occlumency in the past.

It was a mental discipline that, theoretically, anyone could learn. No magic required! It was, at its basic, a means of organizing a person's thoughts and emotions. It could be used to strengthen mental protections against foreign intrusion, such as Legilimency, but it was also a valuable aid for sorting and recalling memories.

I'd practiced it for a while when younger in the hopes of finding my magic within my mindscape. It didn't turn out like that in the end, but I did gain a stronger ability to remember things. It was the only reason I was able to remember so much about the Harry Potter world.

It wasn't quite a photographic memory that I now possessed, but it was close.

"Mmm, I should have guessed you'd have studied a little bit of Occlumency. Most Squibs have, at some point," Archibald said, continuing to speak as I remained silent. "It's a common story, actually. There are a lot of tales of magical folks finding and even communing with their magic via meditation, and Occlumency is basically meditation."

He shook his head. "This is my mistake, should have seen this coming. Occlumency makes it easier to recall things, and that's all a test is, in the end. Recalling information and applying it."

"So, what now?" I asked.