While I decide what to do with my other story, I wanted to upload this piece of fiction here - Harry Potter's life as a video game.
If you've played video games before, you already know that some of them have absolutely ridiculous level requirements, quests or items that are absolutely useless and situations (may it be the behaviour of a character or other things that would never work in real life) that make you shake your head. The list is long, something Harry will also find out in this story...
This has been done before, I am aware of that and want to emphasise that I have no intentions of copying or stealing other people's fanfictions! I haven't read or borrowed any content of other stories, any similarities are simply coincidental and unintentional! If you feel that I have wronged someone, please pm me and we'll sort this out together.
That said, I have borrowed some ideas from Dragon Age: Inquisition, The Sims, Fallout and Bioshock.
J. K. Rowling still owns Harry Potter, I haven't managed to change that yet. ;)
I hope you like what I did here - reviews are welcome, criticism is accepted and considered in future works! :)
Somehow, Harry had known that his fate was sealed the moment Voldemort sent forth his most faithful servant to verify his death. Bellatrix Lestrange's footsteps were quick and determined as she approached him, kneeling down beside him to feel his pulse with surprisingly gentle fingers.
For a brief moment, the clearing in the Forbidden Forest was dead silent, the air filled with anticipation but Harry knew that Bellatrix would feel the slight beating of his heart, knew that she would betray him to her master. The fingers on his pulse froze and withdrew completely as the woman scrambled back to her feet.
"My Lord…," she breathed and Harry could imagine the horror and hatred in her eyes. "My Lord, the boy… he's alive... do you want me to –"
"No!" Voldemort bellowed coldly. More movement as several people retreated from the same spot. "Harry Potter is mine, nobody shall lay hand on him unless I say so. AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Harry didn't have time to heave his aching body off the ground and defend himself. The second Killing Curse hit him square in the back, silencing him once and for all.
This time, there was no light around him, no indications that he was anywhere at all; no smell, no sound, no feeling or taste – just darkness. Then, fine lines of silvery mist appeared before him that slowly but surely danced around each other to form two words: Game Over.
Harry frowned. Game Over? It was something he'd once seen on Dudley's computer screen when his cousin had failed to kill an alien while playing one of his video games. This, however, was Harry's own life, there was no option for him to start anew and try until he finally figured out how to defeated Lord Voldemort. He was dead, there was no turning back.
The words vanished as the silvery threads swirled around him once more, just like a newly forming patronus. Harry blinked, taking a step back.
Do you wish to try again?
"Try again?" Harry asked bewildered. "Try what again? Where am I?"
Please select your Character.
There was only one name written there and it was his own.
What is this place?
This was neither what Harry had experienced after being hit by the Killing Curse the first time, meeting Dumbledore at what had looked like an alternative version of King's Cross, nor how he'd always imagined dying. Had he accidentally performed magic and landed in one of Dudley's old video games? Was he damned to play until he defeated the final boss?
It sounded so absurd, even to his own ears, that he almost laughed out loud. If he told anyone about this, they probably wouldn't believe him – they'd send him to a mental asylum and declare him insane.
How does this even work? Do I simply select myself, are there even other options?
Options. Unavailable.
Apparently, all he had to do was think about where he wanted to go and the game, or whatever this was, would take him there.
Harry hesitated. Should he really do it? Did he even have a choice? Probably not, considering the lack of an exit option.
Harry Potter, he thought and his name lit up before the mist around him moved again, shaping and changing his surroundings to –
Character Creation. Please choose an appearance.
Choose an appearance? But I already have one! I can't possibly change my hair colour – never mind.
Harry had never felt so utterly dumbfounded in his entire life. Here he was, theoretically dead, standing in front of a mirror with a number of silvery words floating in the darkness to his right, allowing him to apparently change his appearance.
Upon closer inspection, however, he found that his options were pretty much limited to two outfits (a red sweater with beige trousers or a white t-shirt with a pair of baggy jeans), two hair colours (red or black), two eye colours (hazel or green) and the generous offer to wear glasses or not.
That just makes it so much easier…
Designing his own self, how he would appear to other people – or so he imagined – was a weird kind of feeling. Seeing himself with flaming red hair, no glasses and hazel eyes made him look like a Weasley and Harry quickly discarded the idea of a different hair colour; he'd rather stick with his unruly black one and his mother's eyes. And while he'd actually never been fond of his glasses, the game's note of getting an additional bonus for wearing one made him reconsider his initial choice.
Note: Glasses reduce your Perception, Agility and Luck when broken, but give you the chance to see your opponent's stats – can be upgraded.
Err, okay… I'll take the glasses then, I guess… How do I continue?
Are you sure you want to continue?
Yes, otherwise I wouldn't have asked.
Character Attributes. Please allocate your available attribute points to the following attributes:
Strength – Strength affects the power of your spells, physical damage, how much you can carry and your overall health.
Perception – Perception affects your attention to detail and how well your aim is when firing a spell.
Endurance – Endurance affects your overall resilience against spell and physical damage as well as the amount of magic at your disposal. High Endurance enables you to use more spells before you are exhausted.
Charisma – Charisma measures your ability to speak eloquently and form relationships with other characters. High Charisma opens up more dialogue options and the chance to get information others would normally hold back.
Intelligence – Intelligence measures your overall ability to learn new information and how quickly you can solve problems. Higher Intelligence allows you to read more advanced books, gather experience points faster and increases the amount of information gathered.
Agility – Agility affects the fluidity of your movements, how quickly you are able to dodge and how well your sneaking abilities are. High Agility especially comes in handy in duels as it also measures how quickly you can cast spells.
Luck – Luck defines how easily and often you find special objects in your environment or get out of a tricky situation relatively unscratched. High Luck also gives you a greater amount of galleons earned from completing quests.
Points available: 11
Note: You're starting off each year with an amount of attribute points equal to your age.
Harry blinked, reading through the text once again to make sure he didn't miss anything important. Apparently, he now had to decide how to best distribute the points to start the game.
The only problem was that he had absolutely no idea whether he should allocate them equally or put an emphasis on a certain attribute.
Tipp: Sometimes it's easier to talk your way out of a situation than trying to solve the problem with brute force!
Okay, so you're telling me Charisma is important, is that what you're saying?
The game, however, remained silent. Apparently, these pieces of advice were either given randomly or there was no accurate answer to his question… or maybe both, who knew.
Eleven points, seven attributes…
Strength, Endurance and Agility would help him a lot in duels and Luck would probably safe him from dying once or twice – if he understood the meaning of these attributes correctly. They would be of great importance once Voldemort returned to his full power but as far as Harry could remember, his first three years consisted mainly of learning and familiarising himself with the magical world. There was no real duelling Deatheaters – okay, there'd been the Basilisk in his second year that he'd killed with the Sword of Gryffindor but that had been about it…
Okay, let's make that five points for Charisma, four for Intelligence… No, wait – four for Charisma, three for Intelligence, and one each for Perception, Agility, Luck and Endurance.
That left him with zero Strength but as of right now, his spells didn't have to be very powerful and apart from Quidditch, there wasn't really anything that could hurt him.
Harry Potter Stats:
Strength – 0
Perception – 1
Endurance – 1
Charisma – 4
Intelligence – 3
Agility – 1
Luck – 1
Do you want to continue?
Well, there wasn't really anything else for him to do, was there?
Yes.
The mist around him dissolved once again, before reforming to new words that now read: Loading Screen.
Tipp: Spell Mastery is important for successfully learning and firing more difficult spells. The higher your level, the more powerful your spells become and the likelihood of failure decreases, giving you a potentially higher success-rate and better grades.
That is actually good to know. Maybe I should have spent more points on Intelligence to get more advanced spells?
He was sure to remember that for the next time he would get to distribute skill points. Right now, he was still standing in the middle of nowhere with the mist being his only point of orientation, which was slightly unnerving.
Tipp: Relationships are important – you should better think twice about making enemies! The better your relationship to another person, the more likely they are to help you out.
Relationships, something Harry had never considered himself very good at. Sure, he'd had his fair share of friends, Ron and Hermione being his closest, but most of the people had only followed him because he was the Chosen One, the Boy Who Lived. Maybe this time, he would actually be able to see what people really thought of him and not make himself a picture only based on the way they acted around him.
Let's see, if I could use my glasses to my advantage. If they really show information about other people's stats, they should also be able to tell me their relationship status.
It felt weird, knowing that his second chance at life was nothing but a game; a very realistic one where choices probably had a grave impact on the outcome. Would it be possible to make the Dursleys like him? Harry seriously doubted it but thought that, maybe, it was worth a try. Dudley had even been nice to him when he'd told them to leave so Voldemort couldn't find them.
He sighed and began tapping his foot while the words Loading Screen still glowed in the darkness before him. At least the tipps changed from time to time, which made all the waiting slightly more bearable.
Tipp: Explore new areas to obtain rare items, unlock new quests and characters!
Then, finally, the words dissolved and the world around him grew dark again before a bright flash of light threw him backwards and against a semi-soft wall.
"Ouch!" Harry groaned and rubbed his aching neck, which had taken almost the full brunt of the impact. "Could have warned me before trying to kill me again!"
Slowly, he opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times to adjust to his surroundings. Fortunately, it was almost as dark around him as in the main menu of the game but he could make out the blurry silhouettes of what looked like his old cupboard under the stairs.
Great, back to the beginning. Maybe I should get up before Aunt Petunia starts screeching my head off – where the heck are my glasses?
He found them a few seconds later lying neatly on the small nightstand next to his bed, switched on the light and found the white t-shirt and baggy jeans he'd chosen in the character creation neatly folded at the foot of his bed.
Better than nothing…
As soon as he was fully dressed, a small window popped up at the lower left-hand corner of his eye that read:
Dressed For The Day: + 20 XP, + 20 Galleons
TUTORIAL
For every completed quest, you gain experience points and galleons that you can use to level-up your character and buy equipment. You can view all available and completed quests in your Diary. To open your Diary, simply think the word 'Diary'. The game will be paused while accessing the Menu.
Next Quest: Make Breakfast!
Harry groaned. He hadn't made breakfast since his third year at Hogwarts! He'd probably burn the bacon and mess up Uncle Vernon's scrambled egg.
I thought I'd be getting interesting quests like "Defeat the Boggart in your Uncle's closet" or "Rescue Mrs. Figg from the Dementors". Instead, I'm back to being my relatives' servant…
Before he ventured out into the known unknown, however, Harry wanted to familiarise himself with all the new features that came with playing a game – a real-life Harry Potter simulator…
There had to be a way to view his stats, right? In case he wanted to check his health bar or experience points or whatever was important for him in his current situation.
TUTORIAL
You can permanently display your character stats by thinking 'display stats'.
The red bar shows your current health – if it reaches zero, you die and have to start again from your last saving point. Use medpacks, potions or healing spells to refill your health bar.
The blue bar below shows how much Endurance you have left – if it reaches zero, you are exhausted and can no longer perform magic. Your Endurance recharges on its own after some time but can also be refilled by resting or consuming food and potions.
The golden bar shows your current amount of experience points earned and how much are still needed to reach the next level. The number next to it shows your current player level.
Harry Potter Stats:
Level: 1
XP: 20 / 500
Health: 68 / 100
Endurance: 100 / 100
Display stats, Harry thought and three different bars popped up before his eyes. They were neatly placed on the right side so they wouldn't obscure his sight and he was slightly taken aback to see that his health wasn't at one hundred percent but roughly around seventy.
I'm neither feeling sick nor do I have any injuries…
TIPP: Eat and sleep regularly. Otherwise, your health will suffer!
At least, this answered the mysterious decrease of his health. While Harry was sure that he'd always gotten sufficient sleep, the Dursleys had never particularly cared whether he'd had enough to eat.
While being able to permanently view his stats, the additional bars in front of his face were something he'd have to get used to. For the sake of being a character in a game, however, Harry decided to keep it that way – he could very likely change it at a later point anyway.
Just as he was about to open the door of his cupboard, he could hear a set of light footsteps hastily descending the stairs.
Probably Aunt Petunia who doesn't want to wake Uncle Vernon and Dudley while she prepares breakfast. Maybe I should go and help her…
Since his current quest was to make breakfast and he didn't really have a lot of experience playing video games, Harry decided to follow the instructions and hesitantly left the safety of his cupboard.
His Aunt Petunia came to a sudden halt at seeing her nephew already awake at this hour of the day and disapprovingly pursed her lips.
"Why are you up?" she snapped in a whisper. "Go back to your cupboard!"
TUTORIAL
Relationships play an important role in your life. They affect your social status, how many enemies your character has and how many people are willing to follow and help you. The more friends you have, the better your connections to the outside world are and you stand a great chance of finding a helpful hand during time of turmoil.
But be careful – relationships have to be fostered! Spending too much time networking will have a negative impact on other aspects of your life!
Harry stared at his aunt who was still frozen while the tutorial text was on display, as was the rest of the world. Apparently, their relationship left a lot to be desired at only 100 out of 1000 points.
TUTORIAL
Relationships change over time depending on how your reactions are and whether you make an effort to maintain a positive connection to your friends. Some characters need a higher Charisma Level than others and are naturally more distrustful toward you.
Each response affects your personality, the way other perceive you and your relationships.
Unlocked: Personality Traits
Be careful – it is a lot easier to make enemies than to establish a long-lasting friendship!
Relationship Status Petunia Dursley: 100 / 1000
Difficulty: 20
Note: The level of difficulty is equal to the amount of Charisma points needed to successfully gain additional information, lie, barter or use persuasion.
Harry currently had four Charisma points, not nearly enough to apparently manipulate his aunt in any way. He still didn't have any idea how this whole dialogue thingy worked – would he be able to freely say whatever he thought was suitable or would the game offer him a handful of options?
Less than five seconds later, he had his answer as another tutorial text popped up right in front of him.
This is getting rather exhausting… I'm spending more time reading through explanations and advices than actually playing…
TUTORIAL
The dialogue wheel is a game mechanic used during conversations that opens up special dialogues for characters. Instead of choosing the exact dialogue lines, you choose between short paraphrases of the fully voiced dialogue that will follow.
Unlocked: Dialogue Wheel
Note: To view the full dialogue wheel, enter your menu and to go 'dialogue wheel'.
Harry, who as still in control of most of his movements except for his legs, sighed exasperatedly. If this was what it was like to play a video game, he'd be in his late nineties by the time he reached his seventh year at Hogwarts!
To make things worse, there was an overload of new information about all the things he'd have to pay attention to from now on that he was sure to mess up in the near future. How on earth was he supposed to keep note of everything while on his quest to defeated Voldemort? His life hadn't been this hard, had it?
For a moment, Harry considered skipping this part of the tutorial but seeing how low his current relationship status with his aunt was, he decided to endure the torture of having to read yet another novel-length text about dialogues.
Who knows what this is good for…
DIALOGUE WHEEL
Note that some dialogue options are unavailable until you reach a certain Charisma level. Some options may not be available for a certain character.
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Investigate: make inquiries to learn more about the current conversation.
Special: this option is rare and may only appear for certain characters, be based on past circumstances or newly gained information and depends on your Charisma level.
Payment: barter or bribe someone.
Politics: display your understanding of how the political system works.
History: put your knowledge of history and ancient lore to use.
Arcane: if you understand magic and magical theory, use this information to your advantage.
Underworld: showcase your knowledge of the criminal world with this special dialogue option.
Sly: trick or lie to a character.
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Okay, this is certainly less difficult than I imagined. I can freely choose what to say as long as it isn't any of the special dialogue stuff… Sounds easy enough…
There was another tab in the menu called Personality Traits which apparently showed his own characteristics and Harry was surprised to see that some of his traits weren't at all what he would have expected:
Ambitious: 10 / 100
Adventurous: 20 / 100
Brave: 20 / 100
Cunning: 10 / 100
Confidence: 5 / 100
Dark: 5 / 100
Diplomatic: 5 / 100
Fair: 10 / 100
Funny: 5 / 100
Hard-Working: 30 / 100
Helpful: 30 / 100
Honest: 25 / 100
Intelligent: 10 / 100
Kind: 30 / 100
Loyal: 10 / 100
Polite: 30 / 100
Rebellious: 15 / 100
Respectful: 30 / 100
Selfless: 30 / 100
Sensitive: 10 / 100
Tolerant: 20 / 100
Temperamental: 40 / 100
As of right now, his traits were pretty low and the fact that his intelligence was down to only ten points didn't really boost his confidence a lot.
Harry sighed. There was so much to be considered and if every reaction truly changed his personality, he was already afraid of being a different character altogether after every conversation!
Right now, however, he had to face his aunt; difficulty level 20 with a great chance of failure…
He closed the menu and Petunia awoke from her frozen state, her eyes looking down on him sharply as if he'd already ruined her day by showing up before breakfast.
To stay on the safe side, Harry opted for offering to help her. "I woke up early and thought I could help you prepare breakfast."
Hoping to have chosen the right reply – he didn't necessarily want to make an enemy out of the people he'd be living with for the next six years – Harry watched her eyes narrow suspiciously.
"Fine," she finally snapped and pushed him toward the kitchen with more force than necessary. "Take care of the bacon – but don't you dare burn it! – while I set the table. Go on!"
Harry nodded and hurried to get a frying pan, some margarine and the bacon from the refrigerator. He'd actually expected his relationship with Petunia to go up but so far, he hadn't gotten any indication that anything had happened at all.
While Harry reluctantly but obediently watched over the food, Aunt Petunia hurried around the kitchen and placed three dozen neatly-wrapped presents next to Dudley's empty chair.
Harry bit back a groan. While he was eternally grateful for getting another chance at life – albeit a very weird one – they could at least have spared him the torment of having to repeat a visit to the London Zoo. Putting it mildly, neither his cousin nor Piers Polkiss were fond of him and vice versa and while they had pretty much left him in peace, the incident with the boa constrictor had earned him the longest cupboard arrest in his entire life.
Harry's only hope was that the game would give him a little bit of freedom regarding his choices so he'd at least have the option not to talk to the snake.
"Stop daydreaming and watch the bacon, boy!" Aunt Petunia screeched at him, before adding with tears in her eyes: "I want everything to be perfect on Diddy's birthday!"
"Yes, Aunt Petunia," Harry replied mechanically, which apparently had been the wrong thing to say because he got an immediate notice from the game that his relationship to his aunt had worsened by one point.
Shit. Note to myself: watch your tone, Harry.
Taking a peek at his personality traits, he noticed that his politeness had also slightly decreased and was now down to 28 points.
On the positive side, Harry now had an understanding of how his reactions impacted his traits and relationships. All he had to do now was figure out how to improve his standing with his relatives; a task that was much harder than it first appeared.
By the time he was sandwiched between Piers Polkiss and Dudley at the backseat of Uncle Vernon's new car, he'd gained another 40 XP for helping in the kitchen but worsened his relationships by giving the wrong answers.
If he continued this way, Harry'd have more enemies upon his arrival at Hogwarts than he'd had before Voldemort's Killing Curse had ended his life.
HARRY POTTER
Level: 1
XP: 60 / 500
Health: 75 / 100
Endurance: 100 / 100
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ATTRIBUTES
Strength – 0
Perception – 1
Endurance – 1
Charisma – 4
Intelligence – 3
Agility – 1
Luck – 1
.
PERSONALITY TRAITS
Ambitious: 10 / 100
Adventurous: 20 / 100
Brave: 20 / 100
Cunning: 10 / 100
Confidence: 5 / 100
Dark: 5 / 100
Diplomatic: 3 / 100
Fair: 10 / 100
Funny: 5 / 100
Hard-Working: 30 / 100
Helpful: 35 / 100
Honest: 25 / 100
Intelligent: 10 / 100
Kind: 29 / 100
Loyal: 10 / 100
Polite: 28 / 100
Rebellious: 20 / 100
Respectful: 28 / 100
Selfless: 30 / 100
Sensitive: 8 / 100
Tolerant: 20 / 100
Temperamental: 40 / 100
.
RELATIONSHIP STATS
Petunia Dursley: 97 / 1000
Vernon Dursley: 80 / 1000
Dudley Dursley: 95 / 1000
Piers Polkiss: 60 / 1000
Wisely, Harry remained silent throughout the entire car ride to the zoo, during which Uncle Vernon loudly complained about motorcyclists and their "Constant disregard of traffic regulations!" while almost running a red light.
He'd never considered how important relationships were until they'd suddenly gotten a rating and Charisma was a set-in-stone indicator of how successful his social skills were. Sure, people had repeatedly warned him to keep his temperament in check but now that everything was displayed in numbers, Harry realised how unpopular he actually was with some parties. Additionally, he now had his personality traits to worry about and being so low in what was commonly attributed to a well-respected member of society in most parts of the world, especially considering who he was, had dampened his mood a little bit.
They got out the car.
Silent As The Grave – You managed to remain silent for an hour while in the presence of other characters: + 10 XP, + 10 Galleons
Harry blinked. Huh? That certainly gives the phrase 'speech is silver, but silence is golden' a whole new meaning… Now I only have to survive an entire day at the zoo…
Waiting in line outside the large, dark-green gates while Dudley and Piers pressed their faces against the fence to get a better glimpse at the crowd lingering on the other side, looking cluelessly at their maps or setting off in different directions with their cameras and children in tow, was certainly testing his patience.
"I want them to move faster!" Dudley complained ten minutes later.
There were only six people in front of them now, a family of three among them and Harry refrained from rolling his eyes, afraid that Uncle Vernon would catch the gesture and punish him for it.
The last thing I need is worsening my relationship with the Dursleys. Until I'm a higher level, my options of doing anything apart from doing what I'm told will only give me a disadvantage.
Considering the fact that he didn't have the necessary attribute levels to achieve anything without failing the missions, he was pretty much stuck – just like his old self. That was what frustrated him more than having to re-live every aspect of his life – some parts of which he'd rather not go through a second time – and that, albeit getting a second chance, he was yet unable to change the direction his life was currently taking.
Having paid for their tickets, Aunt Petunia handed them each a map of the zoo just in case one of them got lost – she even had one for Harry, much to his surprise.
Since when does she care about me getting lost? Wouldn't it be a relief for them to be rid of me?
New area unlocked: London Zoo! + 1000 XP
Level up! + 1 Attribute Point, + 100 Galleons
Note: Access your stats in the Menu to allocate your available attribute points!
One attribute point!? How am I ever going to get more powerful, if I only get a single point each time I level up?
This probably was life's way of spitting him in the face. Wasn't levelling up a sort of thing to be celebrated? Instead, he had seven attributes he needed to increase and only one point to distribute!
"Thanks for the generous help, whoever you are," Harry muttered under his breath as he entered the Menu screen where his stats were displayed and increased his Charisma to five.
A moment later, he already regretted having acted on impulse rather than using his brains because Intelligence would have given him more XP for completing quests, enabling him to level up faster.
But maybe I would have needed a higher Intelligence to begin with to think before I jump to conclusions, Harry thought bitterly. Note to myself: use your brains, Harry!
At least his health had increased by fifty points without him doing anything, but since Endurance was an attribute, this number remained at exactly 100 points.
New Quest: Explore the London Zoo!
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TUTORIAL
Exploring new areas is an essential part of the game. In many cases, you'll find hidden items, new quests, creatures or characters and a whole new environment! Is your level too low to complete an assignment or obtain a special object? No problem, return at a later time to finish your exploration! Once you've reached 100 percent, you'll receive a bonus card (common, uncommon, rare, ultra-rare or legendary)!
Unlocked: Inventory!
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TUTORIAL
Want to store away an item but don't always want to run back to your room to retrieve it? Simply put it in your inventory, which you can access at any time! Just keep in mind that your carrying capacity is limited – once you're overloaded, your movements will slow down drastically!
Taking a look at his inventory, he found it to be mostly empty; the only items in his possession were the clothes he was currently wearing and his newly acquired map.
Closing the Menu, Harry went back to reality, where a large group of excitedly chattering students walked past them while their teacher warned them to stay close together.
"I expect everyone back at the entrance by six o'clock sharp," Uncle Vernon said matter-of-factly, his watery eyes resting warningly on Harry. "No funny business, boy – none at all, or you'll spend the rest of the year in your cupboard, am I clear?"
"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Harry replied, keeping the annoyed tone out of his voice this time and was promptly rewarded with the message:
Your relationship with Vernon Dursley has increased!
While Dudley and Piers snickered at him from behind his uncle's back, Harry was relieved to see that he could improve his relationship with his relatives. All those years he'd waved them off as a lost cause and here he was, learning that he'd been too narrow-minded to see that the opposite was actually the case!
Wait a second – did he just give me permission to take off on my own?
"Splendid! Off you go, Diddy-dums!" Aunt Petunia chirped happily and shooed her son and his best friend away to explore the zoo on their own.
"What are you waiting for, boy!" Uncle Vernon bellowed when Harry didn't immediately react. "An extra invitation? Get lost!"
Harry didn't need to be told twice – he was free to explore the zoo and go wherever he wanted to go, not Dudley or Piers!
"Thanks, Uncle Vernon!" he cried over his shoulder before hurrying away in case his relatives changed their minds.
He didn't know why he was suddenly allowed so much freedom but Harry had learned not to question some things ever since starting to play this ridiculous game. What did he care about the whys of such sudden changes, if they were to his complete advantage and had no negative consequences?
The less-interesting animals were located near the entrance to lure the visitor further into the zoo but Harry didn't get very far as he found his first side-quest less than five minutes into his Dursley-free time.
New Side-Quest: Help the old lady at the kiosk with her money!
Harry turned to search for the person in question and found her fumbling with her purse while the young man behind the counter impatiently tapped his fingers against the glass.
He shrugged and casually walked over to her. If this was his chance to gain more XP, he'd gladly take it – who knew which level requirements would be awaiting him in the magical world. Besides, he really needed to upgrade his Intelligence in order to grow faster, even if he had to help old women with their purchases.
"Excuse me, ma'am," he said politely, smiling at her. "I saw you having trouble with that purse of yours - do you need help with it by any chance?"
The woman paused, a look of sheer relief passing over her features as she thankfully handed him her purse. The fact that a total stranger, an eleven-year-old boy nonetheless – okay, basically, he was still only ten years old but his birthday wasn't too far away anymore so that didn't count – without an adult chaperone was approaching her, didn't seem to bother her in the slightest.
"Oh, yes, yes, thank you very much, young man," she replied with a smile. "My sight hasn't been the best for the last couple of years – you'll get to that point, too, once you're my age!"
She laughed shakily, while Harry retrieved the five pounds for the hot dog she'd ordered and handed it to the man behind the counter.
"Very considerate of you, young man, you don't see that sort of behaviour anymore these days," she sighed, then handed him a ten pounds bill. "Here, take this as a reward for helping an old lady. Buy yourself some sweets or whatever young people your age like to eat nowadays."
With that, she turned away from him with a nod and vanished into the crowd of chattering people, leaving behind a somewhat perplexed Harry holding a crumpled ten-pound bill in his right hand.
Quest completed: Help the old lady at the kiosk with her money: + 20 XP, + 20 Galleons
He was now missing only 440 XP until he reached level three and all he had to do was keep his eyes open for other side-quests – his only restriction: he had to be back at the entrance by 6 pm.
A lopsided smile made its way onto his features. Harry Potter had a mission and he'd be a fool not to take advantage of a full day alone in the zoo. Maybe this whole video game stuff wasn't as bad as he'd originally believed it to be…
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.
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Five hours later, Harry had been to almost every place imaginable: Land Of The Lions, In With The Spiders, In With The Lemurs, Meet The Monkeys, Tiger Territory, Blackburn Pavilion, Gorilla Kingdom, Snowdon Aviary, Penguin Beach, Fruit Bat Forest, Aquarium, Rainforest Life, Butterfly Paradise, Bird Safari, Attenborough Komodo Dragon House (which hadn't really hosted a dragon, much to his relief), Gibbons, Animal Adventure, Into Africa, B.U.G.S, Otters, Meerkats, Galapagos Tortoises and Pygmy Hippos. Every major attraction the zoo had to offer and he'd been generously rewarded for his patience and endurance after even visiting several toilets, two restaurants and the Amphitheatre.
Harry had made it half way through level three, was 440 Galleons and 20 pounds richer (the ample lunch and ice cream he'd treated himself to already deducted) and was now the proud owner of an, albeit common, bonus card called Keen Explorer, which awarded him an extra five percent XP for every discovered location.
Happily, with a slight bounce to his step, he wandered back to their meeting point at the entrance of the zoo. This had probably been the best day in his young life – no Dursleys, no Dudley or his gang to chase him around and beat him up, and nobody to shout at him for blinking the wrong way.
Due to the time limit, Harry hadn't gotten the chance to visit the reptile house but considering past experiences with a certain boa constrictor, maybe this wasn't so bad after all. According to the game, he could always return to the zoo at a later point and finish exploring this map.
It was five minutes past six o'clock when Dudley and Piers finally managed to join him, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia who'd looked a tad bit sour at seeing their nephew already waiting for them with a smile on his face. Apparently, there hadn't been any complaints regarding Harry, because none of the Dursleys yelled at or threatened him with punishments.
"Get in the car!" his uncle bellowed when they were back at the parking lot.
Harry complied. He'd just had an almost perfect day and he'd loved it.
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HARRY POTTER
Level: 3
XP: 2300 / 3000
Health: 80 / 200
Endurance: 100 / 100
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ATTRIBUTES
Strength – 0
Perception – 1
Endurance – 1
Charisma – 5
Intelligence – 4
Agility – 1
Luck – 1
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PERSONALITY TRAITS
Ambitious: 10 / 100
Adventurous: 25 / 100
Brave: 20 / 100
Cunning: 10 / 100
Confidence: 8 / 100
Dark: 5 / 100
Diplomatic: 5 / 100
Fair: 11 / 100
Funny: 5 / 100
Hard-Working: 30 / 100
Helpful: 50 / 100
Honest: 25 / 100
Intelligent: 10 / 100
Kind: 35 / 100
Loyal: 10 / 100
Polite: 32 / 100
Rebellious: 20 / 100
Respectful: 30 / 100
Selfless: 30 / 100
Sensitive: 10 / 100
Tolerant: 20 / 100
Temperamental: 40 / 100
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RELATIONSHIP STATS
Petunia Dursley: 99 / 1000
Vernon Dursley: 85 / 1000
Dudley Dursley: 95 / 1000
Piers Polkiss: 60 / 1000
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BONUS ITEMS
Keen Explorer: + 5% XP for each discovered location
If you've found any mistakes regarding grammar, content or calculations you want to point out, mention them in your review and I'll correct them! :)
Ideas or criticism regarding the levelling system as well as skills or character traits can also be posted in the reviews and if you have had a really annoying experience playing a video game, feel free to tell me about it - maybe I'll include it in my story (with your permission, of course)! :)