Feeling old and stupid

I ended my wow classic subscription back in July ‘24 and now almost 2 years later I’m wanting to get back into it.
I saved a copy of my original install (-classic-. -classic era-, addons. Etc directories) when I quit.
So I did a new installation and paid my money and logged in.
I see 2 of my 7 characters at level 50 each. I thought they were at level 70 when I left them. Or was it 80. I’m old, I forget things.
Anyway, I tried making a new temp character cuz I was told that would prompt my old ones. It didn’t.
Anyone able to help me out?