Chapter 1: Transformation in 1960

  A little girl slowly walked out from behind on the stage of Lincoln Center.

  She looked like she was in her early teens, with a small face that was simply adorable, long golden hair tied up, and a pair of bright blue eyes that were extremely focused.

  She was wearing a black ballet performance dress, white tights and toe shoes, holding a tambourine in her hand.

  Then——

  The music starts.

  The little girl started dancing.

  Emma Edson and Bruce Edson sat excitedly in the audience watching their daughter's performance.

  "Oh, Kate." Emma exclaimed, covering her mouth excitedly.

  After all, this is already the final.

  At this time, the little girl did a high-difficulty backflip, her left leg kicked over her head and hit the right-hand cymbal, and the judges sitting in the front row nodded their heads in approval.

  The little girl performed a ballet drum dance called "Esmeralda", which lasted only over 80 seconds.

  A string of movements came down, the little girl circled half a circle on the court, then raised her hands over her head and started kicking. Her first kick shocked the audience, even professional ballet dancers' handling is from 90 degrees to higher and higher, finally reaching 180 degrees. However, this girl's kicks, from the first to the ninth, were all slightly above 180 degrees, and more precious was that she could maintain a stable force in each leg kick, with no change in height, which is rare and precious.

  "Bang Bang Bang Bang——"

  After the performance ended, there was a round of applause from the audience. The girl bowed to the audience and then walked off the stage.

  After all the performances were over, the little girl undoubtedly won the championship.

  ……

  If I had to choose between a beautiful woman and a handsome man after removing subjective gender factors, I would choose the beautiful woman.

  But if I had to choose, I would rather be reborn as a man.

  I yearn for the opposite sex and fantasize that a woman's beauty will stimulate my hormone secretion.

  To put it bluntly, many men who fantasize about becoming beautiful women are just driven by a morbid curiosity.

  I've probably seen too many of those things, but somehow I always feel that the woman is more enjoyable than the man, so I also think that women seem better than men.

  If it's really like that, then it doesn't matter anyway.

  But I'm not sure if I'll still have such impulses after becoming a woman.

  Besides, beautiful women are in the minority after all; even if one really did cross over, who can guarantee that they would become a beautiful woman?

  And then women turn forty and start to wither away, while men at this time are just reaching their peak of charm.

  If there were a beautiful woman and an ugly man, I would probably choose to be the beautiful woman. But if it were an ugly woman and an ugly man, or a beautiful woman and a handsome man, I think I would choose to be the man.

  When I was young, I hated growing up, and now that I've grown up, I also hate getting old.

  I don't wish to live forever, but I hate the feeling of aging. If it were possible for people to look like they're in their 30s or 40s when they pass away without changing human lifespan, that would be perfect.

  In fact, the so-called transmigration and rebirth, I just imagine it in my heart, because I am an atheist. Even if someone tells me that the Loch Ness monster is a pet raised by Martians, it's probably more real than Jehovah or Laozi.

  This idea of mine might have truly offended the gods, or perhaps some god wants to use a touching way to make me believe in their existence.

  It's clear they succeeded.

  I've started to doubt everything, when I go to the church, I will piously lower my head, seeing monks, I will put my palms together, if I can go to the Taoist temple, I probably will light incense and make a wish.

  It's also possible that it was the work of aliens, who saw me as a "faithful atheist" and gave me an experience. The Stargate in Somalia might really need to be closed to prevent those aliens from coming to Earth to play pranks - if such things really exist.

  ……

  Back home, Catherine casually placed the trophy on the table and then returned to her room with a tired face.

  Although she has been practicing in toe shoes for more than two years, she still finds it hard to bear with this kind of shoe.

  She fell onto the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

  It's been 12 years since I came here myself, right?

  The calendar says 1960, and if I calculate the time, I have already been studying ballet for 8 years. Alas, who made my mother a ballet dancer? Although she stopped performing after giving birth to me, she placed her hopes on me instead.

  Her parents were both immigrants and World War II orphans - they also met because of this. Her mother had British and Northern European ancestry, while her father was a mix of French and Jewish, the "hybrid advantage" is fully demonstrated on Catherine, who at 12 years old is already so lovely and beautiful.

  "Always doing something...hmm, speaking of which, 'that' should have arrived by now, right?"

  As a reborn person - uh, plus a sex change, Catherine thought she had to do something. Her family lived in the suburbs of New York City and was considered middle class. But this life couldn't be wasted like that, even if she was just a little loli now, there were still many things she could do.

  She lay for a while, then sat up again and began to massage her own feet.

  Although ballet looks beautiful, incorrect methods can make the calf thicker and cause O-legs, and frequent wearing of toe shoes can also lead to toe deformity. Although Emma was once a professional ballerina, and the New York City Ballet School she studied at is also a very professional place for learning ballet - the School of American Ballet (SAB), which is part of Lincoln Center and shares the same building with the famous Juilliard School of Music, has a strong artistic atmosphere.

  Although becoming a woman was terrible, Catherine did not give up. Being reborn in 1950s and 1960s America was really difficult to adapt to.

  Just then Emma knocked on Catherine's door.

  "Kate, there's a Mr. Robert looking for you, he says he's from the Paper Skin Book Company... Kate, what's going on?"

  "Kate", is a nickname for "Catherine", and at home Catherine was always called by this name.

  So soon?!

  Catherine's face was full of surprise, she didn't know she had a talent for writing too - although the vast majority of the plot was "referenced".

  "I've written something." She jumped down excitedly and opened the door.

  Charles Scribner's Sons is an American publisher based in New York City, which was originally founded in 1846.

  Logically speaking, the publisher should have sent a letter first and then made an appointment by phone before coming to the door. How could they come directly?

  As Catherine followed her mother into the drawing room, she saw a young man of about twenty-five years old sitting in a chair, looking awkward and uneasy.

  "Ah......Oh......You......You're Miss Catherine?" Robert looked at the little girl walking towards him, his face full of incredulity.

  This young man who seemed to have just debuted was intimidated by Catherine's age.

  Harry Potter

  That's right, Catherine "wrote" this one, and she wrote three at once and sent them all in together.

  After all, she was uncertain whether this would be popular in different eras and whether the other party really had that vision.

  But apparently, her plan seems feasible.

  After all, the magical wave of "The Lord of the Rings" had just started a few years ago, and it wasn't until ten years later that "The Lord of the Rings" would trigger another high tide.

  It can even be said that later Dragon and Dungeon series as well as various electronic games were influenced by The Lord of the Rings. Such as orcs, elves and so on.

  But the modern setting of "Harry Potter" made the editors at Paper Tiger Books sit up and take notice.

  Such a story obviously subverts Tolkien's fantasy world and opens up another new realm.

  Another reason why Catherine chose this book is that the "Harry Potter" series can also be considered a fairy tale, and at her age, writing it out doesn't feel too discordant.

  "You're right, sir."

  Catherine's words made Robert feel uneasy all over.

  Could it be that his first business deal was with a twelve-year-old little girl?

  Are you kidding me?

  He also thought that the author of this book was a middle-aged woman in her thirties who exuded maternal charm!

  "I think you must be here for me?" Catherine looked at his awkward appearance and couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him.

  "Uh...... Ah, right!"

  Robert pulled out a document from his briefcase.

  "We will offer 10% royalties and a fee of $50,000, but we hope to buy out the copyrights for all three books..."

  What is referred to as royalties is the share of retail book sales, for example, 10% royalty, a $50 book, every time a book is sold, the author gets $5.

  The 1960s were the golden age of American development, the Bretton Woods system had not yet collapsed, and the United States was still on the gold standard. That's where the US dollar came from, and that's why it's so strong.

  Catherine was really suspicious of how this silly boy had passed the interview, after all, the contract stated 7% royalties and $20,000, yet he immediately quoted the bottom line...

  After all, 10% royalties are already a lot for newcomers.

  Catherine couldn't help but laugh when she ran into such a silly young man.

  "Kate, oh God, Kate, you actually wrote a book?"

  Emma, Catherine's mother, stood by, staring blankly at her daughter.

  Emma had already confirmed that Catherine was a genius, and she had been admitted to Grier School for Girls, which is one of the top 100 high schools in the United States, with only over 300 students every year, and it's not easy to get in without certain abilities.

  As early as when Catherine was 7 years old and just entered school, Catherine showed an astonishing "talent", with AR (Accelerated Reader Test) scores reaching 120 points.

  The AR is a test that third-grade students can get around 20 points, which is the highest. Even for fifth grade and above, there are not many who can get 120 points.

  At that time Catherine chose "Children's Bible".

  In fact, if her English had been a little better at that time, he would have even considered reading "Das Kapital" to take a look.

  The teacher's advice to Emma was to transfer her to the TALEUDENT-SCHOOL, a school that specializes in providing education for students with an IQ of 145 or higher. Such schools were excellent and well-established until Bush cut funding for gifted students to spend on educating children like himself who are not as intelligent. Education in America is very responsible, at least in most places, especially during the sixties and seventies, which was America's golden decade when everything was booming and changing, and education was a top priority.

  But Catherine has self-awareness, she's just more aware than others, as for high IQ... haha.

  So Catherine refused this plan.

  It wasn't until she had finished talking with Robert and Emma had signed the contract as her guardian that it hit her.

  "What did you write?" Emma asked.

  "Harry Potter, a story about magic."

  Emma nodded, kids usually like to imagine some strange and weird things.

  "Uh-huh, I'm really looking forward to it, and when the time comes, I'll talk to your dad about it."

  Western education has some enlightening meaning, parents sometimes talk to children with a friend-like attitude, and then use encouraging words and expectant eyes to motivate the child.

  "Of course, I'm a genius." If one doesn't know more than 50 years of history, then one would be ashamed.

  In his previous life, Catherine was a college graduate, but what he studied was software engineering. However, this world was one where personal computers had not yet been born, and even the founder of Intel Corporation was still working at Fairchild Semiconductor Company. In such a world, what use were his professional skills?

  After coming to this world, Catherine never fell behind in her studies and with her precognitive abilities, she could be considered a small "genius".

  Catherine's goal is to earn enough family wealth before she turns 20 and then squander it all within 50 years.

  Anyway, I've become a woman myself, so why not try something "new and special"? Of course, men absolutely won't touch her.