Chapter 2
August 1996
I didn't even wait a week. Turns out my name carried some weight with Starfleet too, because I only waited three days before they came for me. It wasn't something I expected. Not really.
But I was also glad it happened at all, because I left Zobí Street much sooner than I had hoped. Although after what my aunt said, I had no idea if she liked me leaving or not. She didn't seem thrilled that she would never see me again in her life, maybe one day I'll find out what changed her mind about me. Not that I ever hope so, but they're still the only family I have, no matter how they've treated me all this time. One day I might be able to forgive them all because it made me the person I am today, and I know very well that I could have been a much worse person.
Starfleet officers also explained why my application form disappeared immediately after I signed it. It was indeed what I thought. The forms were magical, and if filled out by a wizard, it was something akin to a magical contract if all the conditions were met. If it was filled out by a muggle, it would simply be a piece of paper with the necessary log-in information on it.
I could have sworn I saw my aunt crying when I said goodbye to them, even Dudley looked like he was sad to see me go, but no one said anything. Like I said, there wasn't enough power in the world to keep me here because there was nothing to keep me here.
They may have seemed sorry to see me go, but our family relationship was so badly strained that it would be a very long time before they would have the strength to keep me in the place I was supposed to call home.
All I asked them to do was send a letter to Hermione that was just waiting to be taken to the post office. They didn't have to worry about anything else, and I was really surprised that they agreed to ship.
They were also given some type of communicator to keep us in touch. I was going to keep my promise to let them know how I was doing at least once in a while, and even if I didn't say it out loud, I intended to mend our relationship at least a little, and I was going to write to them at least once a week, even if they never had to. reply to my messages.
But no one could tell me that I didn't try and that I didn't speak up.
And now I'm sitting here in my cabin with another roommate from Earth, specifically from Russia. I swear the guy speaks fluent English but has a very Russian accent. He reminds me a lot of Viktor Krum, who also knew English, but his Bulgarian was very noticeable in the accent. But we understood each other.
Anyway, Pavel Andreyevich Chekov is a very chatty boy a year younger than me, which makes him the youngest cadet at the Academy, he is described as the same child genius that I am, and when I heard how much he admires the work of Henry S. Evans, I had to laugh. I never thought anyone would ever find and admire my work, but it was very interesting to watch his expression when I told him that Henry S. Evans was actually me.
I have to admit the look of utter shock was priceless and after two hours of non-stop talking, which I didn't really mind, he finally stopped talking and it took almost ten minutes for his brain to accept the message.
Pavel Chekov is my complete opposite. So far it looks like we'll get along because we had a lot in common. I can even tell him about magic because Starfleet has special permission from the United Magical Nations and they are seen as an exception because magical abilities can help the fleet a lot, all the electronics on the planet including the ships themselves were designed to resist magic itself and some machines they were designed to be powered by magic itself. It's absolutely amazing, and my brain can't take in as much information as how magic and technology can work together in perfect harmony without one or the other being affected. It's something that no one in Britain has achieved at least, and it didn't even seem like the British were trying to move towards technology that could work with magic, or have the devices powered by magic itself.
My first day of school won't start until the third week of August. Until then, I have time to get used to the time difference, explore the Academy, get all the necessary textbooks and supplies, clothes and other things, the electronics were paid for by the Academy because we will need them during the lessons, PADDs were even distributed and stayed with us until that time until we decide to leave Starfleet, so practically for life if we wish to stay in the fleet that long.
I can even write a message to my aunt from PADD. That makes it easier. I don't have to worry unnecessarily about what I should get to keep my promise. What's even better is that none of the wizards can track me because they simply don't use electronics so there's just absolutely no chance of them finding me.
That is, unless, as I said, you find some scumbag who wants to report me to the proper authorities.
I just hope Hermione understands my reason for leaving and doesn't hold any grudges against me if I ever see her again. I have no doubt we'll never make it to Earth again, but I doubt I'll have enough time to get in touch with my only friend left on Earth.
But here I have a chance for a new beginning. Magical people here recognize me, but we are all bound by a non-disclosure agreement, because there are people in the Academy and in the fleet who are convicted murderers, but if they have not committed any crime in the Federation, the Academy had no problem accepting them and protecting them. So no one was allowed to report to anyone that I was somewhere other than Earth, and if that somehow happened, the Federation and the Academy were responsible for me by all means, and they were not allowed to hand me over unless I wanted to, or if I it is life threatening.
At least I don't have to worry about the Federation handing me over to Britain.
I can even finish my last two years of medicine, even though I applied for the position of helmsman and engineer, and I'm not talking about the fact that my SAO can also be completed. Since I am perfectly capable of completing my medical in half a year, they saw absolutely no problem with that. I ended up doing four majors at the same time and managed it in two years. It wasn't easy, and it won't be easy now, but I know I can do it just like I did before.
Harry loved it at the Academy. His school year started a few days ago and he honestly loved every second of it so far.
As he predicted, his teaching did not come easily. He had to get used to his schedule first, because he was technically doing three majors at once, only finishing one of them. He had to divide his week between helmsman training, engine room work, and medical practice, despite trying to finish his seventh year as quickly as possible, even though he should be starting his sixth. However, his brilliant mind and ability to remember everything helped a lot. Neither was easy as Harry decided he wasn't going to stick around for another four years at school.
But in such a short time Harry was able to easily find a friend.
Pavel Chekov was only a year younger than himself, and Harry took advantage of his offer of help, because the boy had perhaps as understanding a brain as Harry himself, and they were both in exactly the same classes, only Pavel did not have medicine. They easily complemented each other if one or the other did not understand something, which rarely happened so far.
They were a good pair so far, and Harry liked it. He never revealed himself, so he could never say that no one was catching up to Harry's thinking. Even Hermione was a far cry from what Harry could do. They quickly became an inseparable duo in the eyes of their classmates, and no one even tried.
But Harry's first task was to get used to the rigors of his schedule. It's still exhausting for him because it was different than what he was used to and he didn't have to go to three different classes because he was studying three different fields.
Now not only did he have to attend three different classes, but he also had to attend three different internships, and in medicine he even had to attend a different year. It was challenging, but not impossible. And Harry knew it. He was determined to take it as another challenge no matter how many people told him it was impossible. If nothing else, Harry didn't really have the word impossible in his vocabulary, because if it was even the least likely possibility, it always happened to Harry.
For the first time in years, Harry felt completely safe and confident that he would finally have a peaceful school year without anyone trying to kill him. He had long since forgotten what it was like to go to school normally and not worry about anything but homework. It was such a pleasant change that Harry got used to it very quickly.
In such a short time that Harry had known Pavel, he had entrusted him with perhaps half of his life. Harry warned him that his life might be interesting, but it's definitely not a story that has a happy ending, rather it's full of pain and hardship, and Pavel didn't believe him at first, but when he started and finished his story in his second year, you could see , that his roommate finally believed him, and he never expected to hug him afterwards. It didn't change their communication in any way, they were still two brilliant minds who both understood the sadness and longing for a true friend because no one else just could understand them. They were both total outcasts at some point in their lives, with no friends, no one but their own minds to turn to.
Harry could easily understand when Pavel confided in him that he didn't have many friends because he was the Russian genius that all the teachers were proud of and the bullying from his classmates was the main factor in why he went to Starfleet. He expressed his concerns about how he would be treated as the youngest student at the Academy, but after hearing that Harry was only a year older himself, he was no longer so worried and told Harry that he hoped for friendship, which he was Harry was willing to give it to him because he too needed someone close to his own age with whom he could freely talk about everything, and someone who could catch up with his thinking. Someone who would understand what it's like to be able to focus on everything and nothing at the same time.
It wasn't yet a life and death friendship, but they were definitely similar in some ways and there were similar events in their lives, though not all.
But that was okay. They couldn't be the same in all things.
The professors took a liking to the two in such a short time, especially because of their success at the schools they attended. In two weeks, they have proven that they are no strangers to hard work and that they can handle any challenge thrown at them. That they were not intimidated by anything that was presented to them and that they were not afraid of it when they were told that the simulations would begin in the second half of September. It made perfect sense to the two of them, knowing that they had to be prepared and learn a lot and every possible and impossible situation that could arise on the USS ships, including the possibility of taking command of the ship itself and the possibility of being the captain of the ship, even if only temporarily.
But that was okay too. It was what they wanted to do and they had to be ready for it even if they didn't become captains themselves. That's why they weren't there.
Thus began their studies.
They prepared for the trials that might arise, the Academy prepared them for their possible commands and how to behave in their positions, they were taught the rules of the Federation and Starfleet, they formed new friendships, they crossed the boundaries of the possible and the impossible, they prepared for situations that they may or may not happen, Harry kept in regular contact with his aunt and uncle, one day they even wrote to him and since then they answered him every time he wrote to them, what he was able to do, Pavel wrote home just like Harry, with the only difference that he no one ever wrote back, but that was only because his parents didn't like Pavel very much and instead preferred to focus on his siblings who were still on Earth.
Harry just couldn't understand it. Even his relatives tried to keep some level of contact with him and when they didn't love him much, and Paul's parents should be proud of their son if only because of how brilliant he was. According to the story, Pavel could easily skip two classes. But there was no one who could be proud of him. No one tried to let him know.
Then one day Pavel gave up.
One day he didn't write home anymore, and Harry wasn't surprised.
He didn't blame him for losing hope that his relationship with his family would be okay, and Harry didn't allow him to fall into any form of depression that might have occurred. Harry told him stories of situations he had experienced, he told him about a prophecy that Harry didn't believe in, he told him about his potions professor, his headmaster who he felt was trying to make a weapon out of him and he even talked about Voldemort who constantly threatened him tried to kill He finished the narrative of his life, and the moment he did so, he found himself a firm victim of his friend, which Pavel had become for him.
As incomprehensible as it may have been to anyone, their lives changed a lot that day and they weren't afraid to show it. They were in an environment that was good for them, they were in a society that accepted them easily, they surrounded themselves with people who liked them and no one judged them for being the way they are.
It was a new beginning for both of them, and they were determined to make the most of it.