If my guess is correct, this kid is (at least in part) responsible for the change in the school. He believed he was a prodigy, was "schooled" by someone with far superior power and control, and learned the wrong lesson... He assumed that only those with immediately obvious talent were worth teaching, and implemented policies to enact his beliefs.
However, I could very easily be wrong. I haven't read the source material so I don't know. Someone who has read it would actually know...
But my assumption would explain why we are getting history on this person after being introduced to the cruelty of the school.