Two years before Edward's arrival, Britain Region, Knight Valor Magic University:
A young arcanist appeared to be sleeping on a pile of books inside a library. He had an ordinary black magic robe, and from the mana emanated from his body, the young lad was only a Tier 1 Arcanist.
In the current era, libraries should have become obsolete since all citizens can access knowledge or books directly from the web. However, libraries have a special meaning to people in a society that worships knowledge.
As such, there are even more of them across the Empire's territories, and many people spent their relaxing time in the library. This young Arcanist was one of the students who enjoyed studying in the library instead of using Skynet and virtual reality.
The young lad suddenly woke up from the pile of books, dropping many on the floor. Luckily, he was in an isolated booth. He had a look of confusion as he looked at his surroundings.
"Arghhh," he grunted as he held his head in terrible pain for a few minutes. Then, the confusion in his eyes was gone, replaced by shock and excitement.
"I'm not dead?" he muttered. "Better yet, I've been reincarnated in a world of sword and magic?"
The young lad rapidly calmed down as he analyzed the memories inside his mind. "My name is Charles Wentworth from a distant planet. My parents died in a recent catastrophe, and I'm a weak Arcanist studying in a third-rate magic university."
Charles took a moment to review the memory of the body he habited. He was once a commoner on a distant planet, trying every day to survive. Then, an undead legion invaded his planet, killing his family and friends. Luckily, the Arcane Empire arrived in time to conquer the planet and deal with the disaster.
Charles thought life would return to how it was, but his fate changed when he was detected to have above-average magical talents. Then, he went through an intense course study where he had to learn seven years of knowledge in just a year.
After he finished, he took a test to determine what magic university he could attend. Unfortunately, after a year of intense study, he could not participate in the best school in the Empire: Bones Advanced Magic School.
However, Charles was not discouraged since most of his peers could only attend schools on offshore planets of the Empire. And only he and a few could attend schools on the central planet: Earth.
After coming to the Knight Valor Magic University, Charles understood how competitive schools were in the central planet–even a third-grade one. So, he spent most of his time in the library studying until Charles Smith took over his body.
'It's a shame that my current self only has above-average magical talent. However, as long as I work hard enough, I should be able to become a powerful Arcanist.'
Charles remembered his previous course. He once saw a recording of Tier 7 using one spell to destroy an entire star that was millions of times the size of Earth. And he knew this was far from the limit of the magic.
'Compared to the boring Earth I was from, with no magic, this one is more interesting. I should take this chance to become one of the most powerful Arcanists in existence.'
Back on his Earth, Charles had read many Isekai novels, anime, and fanfiction from countries like Japan, Korea, China, and even English. So, he believed he could use his knowledge to make a difference in this world.
Excitedly, he reviewed his memories to determine how he would proceed in this world. Charles quickly noticed that he had a photographic memory as he checked all the information this body had.
The process took more than half an hour before Charles opened his eyes, his body trembling all over. It took him a while before he could calm down. In his review, he quickly figured out this was a very advanced world where magic had developed to the extreme. As such, his idea from back on Earth might be useless.
However, this was not what scared him. He was trembling because he learned this was the Harry Potter Universe.
Charles wanted to check whether he thought wrong. So, he used the watch on his wrist to access the web and search for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
And as expected, he saw it was one of the best schools for young arcanists before university or Advanced School. Charles searched the name Harry Potter and learned the latter was the Auror Governor General, responsible for all the Aurors of planet Earth.
He then searched Hermione and learned she was one of the Empress of the Empire. As for Ron Weasley, his result was that he was a newly promoted General in the Space Marine.
'What is going on? What is going on?' thought Charles repeatedly as he wanted to know the cause of all the changes. From what he knew, the Harry Potter Universe was a weak one; there should not be people powerful enough capable of destroying stars.
At first, Charles thought he had traveled to some parallel timelines where the power level of the Harry Potter Universe was simply monstrous. But after a brief search, he knew the reason for the anomaly:
Edward Bones, the Arcane Emperor.
Charles remembered reading the book. Edward Bones was only mentioned in a few sentences, and the only thing known about him was he died young during the First Wizard War.
His parents were members of the Order of Phoenix and died during that war. But now, he was alive and changed the world beyond recognition.
Charles stared at a holographic picture of Edward as he read about the latter's experience; it was simply a legendary tale. He often felt he was reading a high fantasy novel of a Gary Stu character as he read through the main's accomplishments.
'Extreme talent, extreme intelligence and ingenuity, legendary accomplishments, and a large Harem including original book characters; This Edward is totally someone who has reincarnated like me,' thought Charles, his face full of jealousy.
Somehow, he felt this Arcane Emperor was living the life he should have had. If he had the chance, he would create a harem with Hermione and Fleur.
Charles shook his head to focus as he needed to know what to do. No matter what, he had to hide his identity because he did not know his fate.
The Emperor might be happy to meet someone from the same place as him. Or, the latter might find him a threat or nuisance and eradicate him. He was only a weak Tier 1 Arcanist, while the Emperor was Tier 7–at the very least–if not more.
There appeared to be a significant disparity between their natural talent, Charles had a late start, and he did not have nearly as many resources as the Emperor. And since he did not want someone else to dictate his life.
'Should I flee the Empire?'
Charles shook his head to quickly eliminate this option. The entire galaxy was in the midst of an undead invasion. With his meager strength, he could never survive alone in this cruel universe. He probably could not even afford to buy a personal spaceship for a long time.
'*Sigh* My only option is to lay low and try everything possible to become powerful while not garnering any suspicions. Luckily, Charles Wentworth has a clean background.'
After making a decision, Charles looked at the pile of books before. Knowledge was the only for him to survive and prosper in this strange world.
"I'm a transmigrator, so where is my golden finger or cheat-like ability," Charles muttered. Then, he seemed to sense something and closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he opened them with great joy.
He knew his future in this world was guaranteed.