Hogwarts; Virtual Magic
featuring
The Harry Potter character's by J.K Rowling
Disclaimer
I make NO money off this or any of my fan-fiction stories
Extra: I know I have another story I'm working on already called A Fucked Up Love Triangle, buuuut I've run into some mega writers block with that one and I've tried for months to get it going but I just end up sitting at my laptop unable to get anything for that story down. So i hoped maybe having something else to work on, this story, it might help...or something.
ANYWAYS! Enjoy and let me know what you think!
: D
P.Sthere might be some typos I missed when editing it over and the start might be a bit ehhh too.
A sudden deep intake of air filled the silent air of the barren rented bedroom located above the Leaky Cauldron
"It's good to be back..." muttered the young male laid out upon the bed with an almost lazy smile stretching his lips. He slowly set himself upright then moved to get off the bed. His left hand swept over the small square stool sized bedside table to pick up a slender smooth stick and with a practiced move, twisted his wrist joints in a motion that cause the point of the stick to sweep over his form from head to toe. Black messy hair with multiple strands sticking out suddenly became more manageable and the black pants they wore to bed lost their crumpled look for an almost freshly pressed state.
"Damn, I love magic…"
They made their way across the small room to the small desk and chair where a black cloak lay sloppily folded upon the chipped surface of the desk. The male slid the cloak on, which looked more like a robe then anything else, and promptly pushed up the sleeves to his elbows and clasped the cloak into place so it wouldn't flap open. They stepped back to the bed to slip into their shoes before turning on their heel and heading out of the quiet room and into the dimly noisy hallway of the upstairs flooring.
The noise gradually gained volume the further down the hall the dark haired male went until the only thing keeping the sound muffled was a single open archway that shimmered in the most oddest way but would remind many of rippled water. Not taking pause though, the male stepped through and felt a smile tugging on their lips at the sudden sounds of clear but overlapped conversations, chairs being shuffled about, objects touching down upon a surface and the countless foot falls of who knew how many sounded nice and crisp. He stepped down the creaking flights of stairs and entered the eating, drinking and lounging section of the pub where many gathered for different reasons. Some to find others, some to take a rest and gain some relaxation and some to do trading in either solid objects or verbal gossip of information.
It was the former this dark haired male was here for though.
Green eyes slid over the people splashed around the dingy looking pub looking for someone with unmistakable red hair and a maroon sweater that they had met the night before. The two were to meet here at 6 o'clock pm on the dot and by the mounted old schooled styled clock just above the bar table it was almost hitting 6:20. They finally located the redhead standing before two other redheads of taller stature and seemed to be in a easy flowing conversation with the unknown pair.
"-guess that'd be really cool actually. I didn't know there would be others but then again the guide did say something about family placements."
One of the taller redheads nodded to that before clamping a hand upon the other taller redhead' shoulders who stood right beside them. "It's to help form bonds and stuff. Like this guy right here, never met him before till we almost ran into each other cause we thought we were side-stepping a mirror."
"And what a shocker that was, eh brother?"
The smaller redhead looked between the two, tilting his head as if doing so would get him a better ideal of their actual background and what not; however before he could say anything more, a hand landed upon their shoulder making their head turn to look in the direction of where the limb was attached to.
Blue eyes met green.
"Ah Harry!" the redhead exclaimed while breaking out into a smile. "Ready to start the story mode of the game tonight?"
The darked haired male addressed as Harry nodded their nod before looking to the twin redheads that stood a good foot taller than himself and his friend. "Friends of Ron's?"
"Family it seems." The twin to the left of Harry answered. He noted they were also dressed in a uniform type outfit just like his own but with a grey vest that had a badge on it located on the right breast with a red and yellow symbol with something that looked like a roaring lion on it; all squished together upon a stitched outlining of a shield. "I'm Fred and the double is Gorge and we're Weasleys too."
Gorge gave a mock bow; his smile matching the one on his twin's face. "Nice to meet you, Harry."
"Anyways, these guys are ahead of us. Started their game a month before we did so they know a bit of what to expect. I reckon it wouldn't hurt to get some extra details before we leave for the station, ya know?" Ron's excited voice explained as he looked from Harry to the twins.
"I heard you have to be sorted once you get to Hogwarts and sometimes you don't always get into the same place as your gaming partner; is that true?" Harry asked.
Gorge answered this time. "Our group now all ended up in Gryffindor but one of our friends, Oliver, had a friend he made at the start of his game who got sorted into another house and now they don't get along because they take quidditch too seriously." The twins shared an amused chuckle at that. "So I guess it's true."
"You two should check out Diagon Alley before heading to the station though. Never know if you missed items or equipment you might just need." Fred stated as he gave a small head nod motion to the far side of the pub where a double archway was located; a few small groups of people already standing there and steadily walking through the archway into the known back area that led to the shopping district known as Diagon Alley.
The two younger boys exchanged a glance before nodding.
"Since we're family in this, alright if I add you?"
The older pair looked to the smaller redhead then to eacher and back again before nodding. And as if they practiced together, they both raised their hands and swiped two fingers down from shoulder level to waist level. A semi transparent screen suddenly came into view. Both older boys scrolled down a few options till they reached the Add Player option and a keyboard popped up in a new window a little to the left but still just as transparent as the first window screen. They typed in Ron Weasley and clicked the send request.
A bing sounded around Ron, who shot a grin at the two redheads, just as a slender transparent rectangular box showing the twins' name with the request to befriend popped up before his face. It was quickly accepted and the group disbanded with a plan to meet up back here whenever possible soon after. Harry and Ron headed to the passageway to the shopping alley and decided to go to the bank seeing as how they had spent a bit more money the night before cyber eating at the pub and getting to know each other better since they had been the only ones still at the Leaky Caldron at 3 am who happened to be the same age and at the same starting point.
Diagon Alley was lined with shops on either side the moment you stepped passed the brick barrier that had a combo of taps to open it; something you could only learn about after talking to the barkeeper Tom and doing a small quest for him that required new players to watch a short video on how to work their main screen menus and it's features. To the right of the entrance and a bit more further in was a shop selling writing tools such as parchment, quills, blank journals and their charmed counterparts, another that sold odd knick knacks and junk, a sweets shops, a loud pet store, a crowded book store with few other shops and stores that were too far away to read their labels or take a guess of what they contained from looking at the outside of the shops. On the left side however was a cauldron shop, a trunk selling store, a potion ingredients shop, an owlery, a clothing store and a quidditch supply shop with a few other stores and shops that were also too far away to make out clearly.
However the one place that was the easiest to make out no matter the distance was the Goblin run bank known as Gringotts where everyone within the Hogwarts game had their money, items and quest winning stored if they didn't have enough space in their personal inventory. It was also the place where you learned which family you'd be settled into and thus your starting placement of the game's story mode.
"Ah, Mr. Potter." a short but sharply dressed goblin drawled upon seeing their next in line costumer. "What can Gringotts do for you?"
Harry shifted a bit at seeing the unfriendly expression on the goblin's borderline scary face. "I'd like to withdraw some money, please." He opened up his menu to get to the inventory screen and selected the icon with a key that instantly materialized in the air before his chest and would have started to drop to the marble floor if Harry hadn't swiftly caught the golden item and passed it over to the awaiting goblin. "Is there a way to get more money into my vault by any chance? Or even a way get access to it without having to come back here?"
The goblin sent Harry an almost shrewd look as he ran his gnarled hand over the key. It glowed lightly yellow before ghost like letters of the same coloring floated up into the air above the key spelling out Harry Potter and the vault number assigned to the player. "Quest completions, Mr. Potter, along with selling objects from your inventory, completing parts of the game where money is given as a reward and learning new skills are a few of the main ways to gain money. Looting other players, dueling and odd favors for others can also increase your money gain." The goblin returned Harry is key along with a slip of paper that instantly turned into a pop-up screen the moment the dark haired teen took it. There was a question of how much the player wished to take out and the total amount currently within the vault. 5,000 galleons being the starting amount. "You can buy a bigger money pouch to keep more money on you, however you will still need to come to Gringotts once it empties, Mr. Potter."
"Er right, thank you." Harry gave a small incline of his head after typing in the number of money he wanted to be transferred into his inventory pouch. "May your gold over flow and your vaults never emp-."
"HARRY! You done yet, mate?"
Startled, the raven haired boy jerked around only to take a step back at the sudden appearance of his friend's face being so close. Ron leaned back, his body rocking a bit on his heels in a way that made Harry wonder how he wasn't tripping over yet since the redhead from what he could tell just by yesterday was a rather clumsy person.
"Hey Ron, and yeah I'm all set. What about you?"
"Yup! I even found this neat pet just outside the bookshop." The pair walked side by side to the double doors of the bank's entrance and down the late afternoon bathed marble steps. "Little guy almost fell into a sewer grate."
Harry raised a brow upon hearing bookstore and the fact his first made friend in this virtual world had willingly been near a bookstore; even a cyber one. The redhead had after all made it quite clear he wasn't of spending time in libraries let alone book shops."You actually went to the bookstore?"
"Oi!"
"Only teasing!"
Ron rolled his eyes but didn't lose his happy air at all. "Anyways, we should get going to the station. It's almost been an hour and the next train doesn't leave for another hour after."
They two picked up pace, heading back to the Leaky Cauldron where the portal that lead to the game's story line starting point of 9 and ¾ was located. The pub was more full now. New faces could be seen mingled with a few that had been there before the boys had left for the alley. There were even a few smaller groups of teenagers dressed similar to the Weasley twins but some had a their emblem badge in different colors; yellow, blue and green. More yellow and reds though as only a small handful of those with a blue badge on their robe's breast were around and an ever smaller amount of those with the green badge.
Harry silently wondered what those badges meant.
He didn't get a chance to ask however as Ron took him by the elbow and enthusiastically dragged him over to Tom the bartender who always seemed to be cleaning the same dark grey mug with the same ratty rag. The game made character looked up and offered a friendly smile that made their grey hair seem a bit more whiter than their smile revealed teeth. It made Harry subconsciously bring up his hand to use his index finger to rub at his own front teeth as if to make sure they were clean. The two boys gave a greeting that was promptly returned. Tom then asked them if they needed any help to which they said but Ron spoke about the Hogwart's Expression then motioned to Harry and himself.
"Ah I see, well you lads are just in time. Next train won't be for another hour after all." The man set the mug down and dipped his hands down under the bar table and extended them back out only they were palm up and glowing faintly thanks to the orbs hovering half an inch above. "Here, take this item before you go to the portal."
"Er….what is it?"
Harry stared at the glowing orb but before he could open his mouth to make a suggestion of what it could be, a pale hand reached over his shoulder and snatched up the orb. His head jerked to look over his shoulder as the arm the hand was attached to retracted. He scowled at the impassive boy with slicked back platinum blonde hair standing behind him and resisted the urge to growl when he realized the other boy wasn't even paying attention to him. Instead they were focused on their own hand which now had the orb hovering above their palam. Harry blinked as steel blue-grey eyes were suddenly staring at him. He idly wondered if whoever played this character had hacked into to the character designs somehow and altered their face cause there was no way someone could look well that damn pretty. Especially a boy.
"Oi!" Ron's voice snapped into air toward the thieving blonde. "That wasn't yours!"
However all the blonde did in response was simply flick his gaze to the angry redhead then back to Harry, a slow smirk forming on his lips just before he enclosed the orb into his fist. Squeezing til it burst into a small explosion of glitterly dust that reminded Harry of the time he had blew a handful of gold art glitter into his cousin Dudley's face when they were five. "Should of been quicker on the draw then, don't you think? Then again…" Ron bristled as the other boy eyed him up and down in distaste then brushed him off to focus on the screen that popped up before them; showing a train ticket for the Hogwart's Express. He added to his inventory as continued where he left off. "...doesn't seem like you put much thought into anything, more so toward your attire."
Harry was quick enough to wrap a hand around his friend's wrist before he could punch the git in the face. He felt utterly tempted to let Ron just go ahead and deck the blonde when they scoffed at them and turned on their heel and walked away toward the portal.
"What a son of a bitch!" Ron fisted his hand and almost jumped in surprise when his hand exploded some glittery dust as well. "Eh..when did I..?"
"If his mom is a bitch then I can get why he'd act like that." Harry crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head some at the already gone form of the blonde. He moved his gaze to the world clock and sighed. It was now 3 minutes after 7. They had missed the train thanks to that asshole but if Harry was right, the blonde might of missed the train too. "Come on, we might as well just get a table here."
"Yeah sure. This sucks though!"
The two made their way to one of few empty tables and slouched into their seats with the air of defeat. They lingered in a small silence for awhile before Ron slumped forward and took up half the table with his upper body resting upon it's surface. Harry just patted the redhead on the head in understanding. He had been looking forward to starting the story mode right away too. They hung out at the table for awhile until a kinda chubby brunette haired boy came up to their table asking if they had seen a toad; or at least that's what the two had thought the boy had said. It was a tad hard to tell with all the stammering.
"Sorry, mate, I haven't seen one." answered Ron while straightening before sloping back into his seat; head tilting backward against the backrest of the wooden chair.
"Oh….ok."
"I'm Harry, this is Ron." Harry motioned lazily to the empty third seat available. "Would you like to join us?"
"Um..are you sure? I wouldn't want to-"
"It's cool. Take a load off and if you're here you must be waiting to pass the time til the next train right?" Ron asked, watching the brunette with a tired stare that was more due to being hungry than actually being sleepy.
The boy took up a seat. "I'm Neville Longbottom." Both boys gave a wave. "Have you guys played this kinda game before?"
Ron shook his head while Harry nodded.
"I played something like it but it was more of a solo play throughout the whole thing. Couldn't really interact with anyone else but the game made characters."
"I uh...saved up for this game." The redhead mumbled, his blue eyes sliding away from the two other boys. The pub wasn't as full now, it was more like how it was before he had ran into the Twins. "My family got me the gaming system for it a week before Hogwarts's release."
"My gran got me the game." Neville added. "She hopes it'll boost m , um confidence, and make me less, I guess, shy."
Harry frowned a bit at hearing that. He glanced to Ron and the other was giving Neville an odd look. He lightly kicked the redhead under the table for his blunt expression. Ron gave a smile and spread his arms out, posing the ultimate seated lazy guy pose. Harry snorted at his friend's attempt to seem utterly disarming. The now trio group sat in a comfortable silence; occasionally making small talk about anything that didn't relate to their real world lives. A good 20 minutes passed before a warning beep sounded on repeated coming from the area around Harry's head.
"Er...should I call a medic for you, mate?" asked Ron in a mixed tone of good humor and is there a screw loose with you.
"No, it's just an alarm I set for myself for when it's almost time for dinner. My mom likes to come up and warn me personally but she doesn't like me to be on the system before dinner cause she thinks all the cyber food is gonna confuse my brain into tricking my stomach that it's full."
"That, was a mouthful."
Neville nodded eyes a bit wide.
Green eyes rolled in amusement. "I'll met you guys back here tomorrow if you're gonna be on." Those eyes turned onto Neville. "It was nice meeting you, Nev; you're welcome to meet up here too with us."
Ron nodded when the brunette turned to look at him as well. "Yup yup, I'll be on tomorrow. No point in starting the story tonight without your buddies around."
"T-Thank you…"
The two boys nodded back. Harry swiped his index and middle fingers downward to open up the menu screen for the logout button. Ron saluted to Neville and Harry before he stood up from the table and headed upstairs for one of the rooms. Harry gave a small lazy wave to Neville before hitting the log out button on his menu screen and glitching out of existence.
A/N: Annnnd there you have it! Read & Review, let me know if you'd be interested in reading more or you have some constructive criticism.
THANKS FOR READING! : D