Chapter One
There were words hovering above her parents' heads.
Hermione blinked, then blinked again when they didn't disappear. They were quite certainly there, not inconspicuously at all. They never left their position. Where her parents went, there went their floating entourage.
Carol Granger. Lv. 10. Dentist
Robert Granger. Lv. 12. Dentist
It made absolutely no sense, not in any way she could imagine. Unless- her eyes widened. It simply must be some side-effect from being a witch. The truth behind her formerly never-to-be-spoken-off episodes where she made the telly short-circuit and turned her mum's dress from blue to a horrid pink, had been revealed to her five days ago. This couldn't be anything but an unmentioned and thus quite probably very normal part of being a magical person. A person with magic. A witch, she though giddily. Not some freak of nature, but perfectly normal. Maybe all witches and wizards could see things like this. It probably wasn't something she should bother her parents with.
The sudden disappearance of sound, motion and colour startled Hermione out of her contemplation. Her dad had been frozen mid-stride. Her mum was still sitting at the dining table with the newspaper in her hands. She wasn't turning any of the pages, and when Hermione looked closely she saw that her eyes weren't moving either. In fact, the whole world seemed to be stuck. A quick peek outside showed that even the birds had been caught while they were flying. What scared her the most, however, was how everything but her had gone grey. Her dad's brown hair? Grey. The lawn outside? Grey. Her own hands though, were thankfully still flesh-coloured. As were her red jumper and her jeans.
[Welcome, PLAYER #4]
Hermione Granger. Lv. 1. Player #4.
SPECIAL: Witch (+5 INT)
SKILLS:
PLAYER (Lv. max.), Reading (Lv. 5)
Thick, black block letters hung in the air in front of her. Another series of quick blinks and a tentative touch with her left hand (she wasn't going to risk her right hand and possibly not be able to do her homework anymore, thank you) proved that these too were quite real.
"Odd," she muttered, "why would it say reading-"
Reading
The ability to process works of text. The higher this skill the faster one can process the words.
"Wicked," her eyes shot back to greedily look at the other listed skill. "What would the player skill do?"
Player
The player skill allows the owner to experience the game to its fullest.
That explained just about nothing. She sat down on the couch, folding her legs under her. This was weird, but in a good way. She'd simply have to get started on her new magical history books a bit sooner than planned. While she pondered, the world around her slowly seemed to come back to life again. Her mum turned to the page of the newspaper, and her dad walked over to the staircase. Hermione, glad that today was a Saturday, clambered up to her bedroom as soon as she had finished her breakfast. There she settled on her bed with a book.
[READING has levelled up]
[READING has levelled up]
By the time Hermione went down for dinner she thought she had gotten the hang of her new situation. Saying things like 'skills', 'abilities' and her own full name out loud would make the world freeze and summon the specific floating blocks of text. Also, she had gotten her reading skill up to eight, and actually did notice an increase in her reading speed.
She liked this new development.
Walking into Hogwarts for the first time was everything and nothing she had ever imagined it would be. She could almost feel the magic. What interested her the most, though, were the people. The ridiculously big, hairy man that had collected them from the platform had been the first.
Rubeus Hagrid. Lv. 45. Keeper of the Keys
Mister Hagrid had been the first person she had seen that had a number over 40 listed as their level. She had spotted some upper-years on the train who had been in the twenties or thirties, but none had crossed the threshold. That was until Professor McGonagall came to take her and her peers into the castle proper. She hadn't been able to see the names and levels the first time she'd seen the professor, so she regarded at the space above her head expectantly.
Minerva McGonagall. Lv. ? Transfiguration Professor
Her eyes narrowed. This was weird. This shouldn't, no, this hadn't happened before. Not once had she seen a question mark. Her brows drew together.
[EXAMINE FAILED]
This wasn't what was supposed to happen either. She glanced at a boy some feet away from her, regarding him carefully.
Draco Malfoy. lv. 5. Student
{Draco Malfoy is a first-year student at Hogwarts. He is the son of Lucius Malfoy, a well-known wizard. He enjoys sweets, and playing quidditch.}
The skill still worked as it should. She had discovered it on accident after staring at someone for a bit too long. First it would only give them their names but the more she used it the more it disclosed. It had, until now, worked on everyone. Everyone but professor McGonagall.
They were led into the hall at last, after being scared to death by the appearance of real-life ghosts, and Hermione's breath left her in a rush. The hall was gorgeous. It was difficult to find something that wasn't subtly magical in a way. Her eyes caught on a student sitting at one of the four tables. He was older than her, that much she saw, but what caught her attention was something different. Something she had previously thought was unique.
Cedric Diggory. Lv. 7. Player #2
Up till now she had been the only person with player as a title. It seemed Hogwarts was throwing her off her game within less than an hour of actually being there. Yet, something was off. Hermione narrowed her eyes and pondered. She was player number four, and the boy named Cedric was player number two. Thus, there should logically be a number one and a number three, if not more. Her eyes roamed the hall again, this time not bothering with the fine architecture or the floating candles. Instead she was looking for the titles that accompanied a person's name and level.\
There!
One was an older girl with long, curly hair. She was listed as Penelope Clearwater, and was apparently the same level as she was now, a mere five. The other she found at the very last table, sitting amidst the silver and green she now knew belonged to Slytherin. His name was Terence Higgs and he came in at level 12. Penelope had player #1 behind her name and Terence was player number three.
[HIDDEN QUEST 'The four unite' COMPLETE]
[+2500 exp]
[HERMIONE GRANGER levelled up]
[Skills unlocked]
[PARTY mode unlocked]
The onslaught of messages was startling, as was the realisation that she had apparently finished a quest she had no idea she had even been involved with. She had found out about quests shortly after finding herself in this whole ordeal, when her mum asked her to take out the trash. It had netted a measly five experience points, as did most of the other 'quests' that were truly more chores than actual adventures. But twenty-five-hundred experience points for doing nothing? That was a big boost.
She spared a moment to dump her newly gained 5 attribute points in het intelligence trait, which was starting to get nice and high at 47 points. She could almost feel herself growing more intelligent with every additional point she put into it. A quick glance around her showed that the previously singing hat had been sorting people in their houses for a while now, though they were still at surnames starting with a C.
"Granger, Hermione!" called Professor McGonagall from the centre of the Great Hall a short while later.
At the sound of her name being called she eagerly walked over to the stool with the sorting hat on it. The moment the hat's brim went over her head she felt the familiar sensation of the world going silent and grey.
[MINIQUEST 'Sorting' STARTED]
Welcome, Hermione Granger, to your sorting! Here you will choose which house and the accompanying traits best suit you. Will you go for gutsy Gryffindor, hardworking Hufflepuff, sophisticated Slytherin or revered Ravenclaw?
GRYFFINDOR
The house of the brave, first to charge into whatever is thrown at them. Though, beware of their prejudice.
STR +5, VIT +5, unlock GRYFFINDOR specific quests and skills.
HUFFLEPUFF
There where the most diligent dwell. Often overshadowed by their fellow houses, the Hufflepuffs are regarded as dull, yet they hide the best traits of the other three.
VIT +5, WIS +5, unlock HUFFLEPUFF specific quests and skills.
RAVENCLAW
Here roost those in pursuit of knowledge for knowledge's sake. Clever and inquisitive sums up what they value most, but short-sighted they can be.
INT +5, WIS +5, unlock RAVENCLAW specific quests and skills.
SLYTHERIN
Ambition, cunning and a healthy disregard of the rules is what makes you a Slytherin. A house for those who dream big, and are willing to fight against the stigma that clouds their kind.
DEX +5, LUK +5, unlock SLYTHERIN specific quests and skills.
Each option was accentuated by an image. She saw an older version of herself, wearing armour of all things, standing on top of a hill. At the wave of her wand (which wasn't her wand but a different one from the one she had on her now) fire came forth in the shape of a lion rampant. Another flick and lightning crackled forth from a cloudless sky, followed by the splitting of a distant mountain. Afterwards came three other images. One had her standing in a library unlike any other, with books and rolls of parchment that she somehow knew were amongst the most rare. The other two were a bit odd, being almost the same, as they both had her picture in a newspaper as the main feature.
One headline, however, read 'MINISTER GRANGER REVEALS MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN THE FIELD OF TIME-TRAVEL' and the other said 'MINISTER GRANGER EXECUTES REBELS IN WAR AGAINST THOSE PROTESTING HER SUPREME REIGN'.
The first picture had been of her smiling from a podium with a couple of others behind her, it looked nice and friendly. The other had a picture of her that was, well, pretty scary. She looked a bit mad, to be honest. But she had already made up her mind, she had known where she wanted to be sorted from the moment she read about the four houses in Hogwarts: a History. She wanted Gryffindor and thus she would pick Gryffindor.
[You have picked {GRYFFINDOR}. Is this your final choice?]
[YES] / [NO]
She picked yes.
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat roared, and the hall erupted into wild clapping and joyful shouts.
{Penelope Clearwater, PLAYER #1} Hello, can anyone hear me?
The voice cut through her own thoughts about halfway through the most magical dinner in her life. It was a girl's voice, that much she could gather. It was silent for about a minute after that, but then the voice spoke again.
{Penelope Clearwater, PLAYER #1} I'm Penelope Clearwater, fourth year Ravenclaw. I've been fiddling around with this whole thing and if you go to SKILLS there should now be an addition to the PLAYER skill. It should allow those of us who are affected to talk in what they say is a 'private chat'. Can you try and activate it for me before I think I've completely lost my faculties?
Hermione blinked. She accessed the SKILLS menu quickly and, to her surprise, found that where before the PLAYER skill had shown her one block of text it now summoned not only the description but also a screen vaguely reminiscent of a family tree.
Player
The player skill allows the owner to experience the game to its fullest. Upon meeting the other players this unlocks the further skill tree.
A few lines went from the base skill to empty blocks where she assumed new skills would show. Empty, except for one.
Keeping it private
Allows the players to talk to one another in a private chat without others overhearing.
Just like the main skill this one too was at the maximum level.
{Cedric Diggory, PLAYER #2}Hullo, I'm Cedric. Cedric Diggory. I'm a third year Hufflepuff. I can hear you, can you hear me?
{Penelope Clearwater, PLAYER #1} Yes, thank God, I can hear you Cedric!
{Terence Higgs, PLAYER #3}I can hear you lot too, my name's Terence Higgs. Does any of you know just what this whole Merlin-forsaken thing is on about?
{Hermione Granger, PLAYER #4} It reminds me a bit of some muggle games, to be honest. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, I was just sorted into Gryffindor. So this isn't a normal magical occurrence? I thought it was, despite there not being any references in any of the books I've read.
{Penelope Clearwater, PLAYER #1} Welcome to the club, Hermione. It reminded me of some of our games too, I babysit a boy who plays Dungeons and Dragons and it's the first thing that came to mind when this all .. happened.
{Terence Higgs, PLAYER #3} Are there going to be dragons? If so, I'm out.
{Penelope Clearwater, PLAYER #1} That is just the name of the game. It is a muggle game, no real dragons are involved.
{Terence Higgs, PLAYER #3} Even so, why aren't we freaking out? My life now resembles a muggle game, I apparently own a private pocket dimension and we are casually using legilimency on one another. Using legilimency on minors is illegal, let alone minors using it on other minors! We're all going to Azkaban!
Azkaban, Azkaban. Hermione wrecked her brain. She had read about it before, she knew she had. There hadn't been a whole section about it, it had been mentioned only in passing. But where? Ah! She remembered it now. Convicted Death Eaters had been sent to Azkaban. It had been the wizarding equivalent of a prison, apparently.
{Cedric Diggory, PLAYER #2} What do you mean you have a pocket dimension? I haven't found one yet.
{Terence Higgs, PLAYER #3} It's called the inventory, just call it up like you do any other screen. You can put items in it like it's got an undetectable extension charm on it but then without the ensuing chaos. It's quite neat, it's actually one of the few things I like about this whole situation.
{Hermione Granger, PLAYER #4} What is legilimency? Also, the inventory holds more than just items. I got some gold coins there too, from quests, but they aren't galleons.
{Penelope Clearwater, PLAYER #1} I'll explain about legilimency later, suffice to say it boils down to reading minds. I think we aren't freaking out about our apparent game-like lifestyle because of the PLAYER skill. The description states literally that is allows us 'to experience the game to its fullest'. It not only mentions 'game' specifically, which is a clue for our current hypothesis of us being in a game, but is also wants us to be able to experience it without any drawbacks. I suppose it helps us keep calm about it. Any rational person would be freaking out.
{Terence Higgs, PLAYER #3} I am freaking out. I am going to be disowned for this whole happenstance. Can you see the future Lord Higgs talking in his head to two muggleborns and a duffer, and pulling items out of his magical, invisible inventory? I'm going to be the laughingstock of polite society everywhere.
{Cedric Diggory, PLAYER #2} Thank you, Terence.
{Penelope Clearwater, PLAYER #1} I think we have got more important things to worry about than being laughed at by others. How does this affect our ability to cast spells? I for one can't practice magic over the summer and I doubt that nothing has changed. I can't even make my homework without getting a notice that my intelligence has gone up. I mean, I've even had a discussion with my dad and it gave me additional wisdom.
{Cedric Diggory, PLAYER #2} I tried some spells that first day. I couldn't cast any of them, really. It just didn't work. Then I started reading through my old first-year charms book to see if I somehow skipped something. I had browsed to the part about the lumos charm when I got a message saying if I wanted to learn the charm. I choose yes, the chapter completely disappeared from my book and I could cast lumos again. It was weak at first but the skill levels up with use, much like most others.
{Terence Higgs, PLAYER #3} Diggory is right. I had the same problem and solved it the same way. I can reliably cast all the second-year spells now and it took me less than an hour in total. The only thing it doesn't do is teach you the theory, though. I would recommend buying your books in pairs. Every spell that is added to your skill list vanishes from the book until you have nothing left but a cover and a few chapters on magical theory.
Really? That hadn't happened to her when she had browsed through her books. Weird. Deciding not to waste a moment to test their method she called up the inventory and pulled out her copy of The standard book of spells. Skipping the introduction in chapter one, she went straight to chapter two instead. The wand-lighting charm.
[Do you want to learn the skill 'Lumos'?]
[YES] / [NO]
Another no-brainer. She chose yes, again.
[Skill added]
[LUMOS lv. 1]
[+10 exp]
Hermione watched with wide eyes as a chapter from her book vanished into thin air. A good thirty-three pages, gone before her very own eyes. No one else seemed to have noticed, most of them still to engrossed in their dinner and those that weren't paid her very little attention. It was one of the weird things about her situation (it was their situation now, she wasn't alone anymore). Even her parents hadn't truly noticed how sometimes she would spend minutes staring at what they perceived as nothing. Nor did they remark about her sometimes whispering 'skills', or 'traits' to access a menu.
This whole situation was weird. Very, very weird. But something about it was also very, very awesome.