Getting into the game
…
Sleep was highly overrated, thought Harry Potter as he skulked down the hall. Who needed to sleep, not him, why he hadn't had a decent night's sleep since that disaster in the graveyard and he was doing just fine.
*STUMBLE*
"Gah!"
Okay so maybe his coordination wasn't what it used to be he guessed as he picked himself up. He began to dust himself off when he froze, finding his personal space suddenly and unexpectedly invaded.
"Good evening Harry Potter."
"Uh, good evening Luna" he stuttered as his mind raced to catch up.
"What are you doing out so late?" the quirky blonde inquired.
"Uum" tell the truth or lie? Oh who was he kidding he couldn't lie to save his life, "tripping over invisible dust motes."
…
"You sure you told him where to meet us?"
"For the tenth time Ron, yes" said Hermione, trying not to grind her teeth at the aggravation caused by the ginger idiot.
"I'm just sayin, you'd think he'd be here by now."
Ready to fire of a heated retort the life of Ronald Bilius Weasley was saved by a knock at the door.
The door opened revealing, much to their relief, a messy haired green eyed Gryffindor.
"Harry" exclaimed Hermione with relief, "and… Luna" she said with confusion.
"Hullo" Luna greeted.
"Uh, Harry, what's she doing here?" asked Hermione trying not to let her general uneasiness towards the "atypical" young woman show through.
"Honestly, I have no idea" he admitted.
"I just came along to keep the invisible dust motes away from Harry" she said as though this solved the mystery of her presence and required no further questioning.
"Um, yeah, okay, I guess" it just wasn't fair thought Hermione, one sentence and she was completely off her game.
"So, what are you doing Hermione?" inquired Luna chirpily, completely ignoring Ron and the various gestures he was making which questioned the stability of her mental state.
"Uh, well we were just going to play a game" she said dumbly, immediately wishing she hadn't.
"Really?" asked Harry.
"May I play?" asked Luna.
"Wha, but you don't even know what we're going to play?" protested Hermione.
"Do you?" Luna wondered innocently.
"Wha, bu, I, you, AAGH…"
…One small breakdown later…
"So you're dad sent you all this?" said Harry, looking at the intricate board and stack of books in wonder.
"Apparently he was really into D&D when he was in college and when he saw this he thought I might enjoy it" she said, "Or so he claims", her mother's part of the letter suggesting otherwise.
"What's D and D" asked Ron, eyeing the books skeptically.
"Dungeons and Dragons, it's a role playing game."
The blank expression which followed her answer prompted a five minute lecture on the history and importance of role playing games by the end of which Ron only looked more confounded and Harry and Luna had begun paging through the source books.
Several overly simplified explanations later Ron finished with his character sheet and looking very pleased with himself while the others were still working.
"Done already?" said Hermione.
"Yep" he declared proudly.
Hermione took the page, gave it a quick look over then returned it with a sigh of disgust.
"What, what's wrong with it" demanded Ron defensively.
"Technically nothing, though you're really not getting into the spirit of the game."
"Picked 'Wizard' for his class?" said Harry not even looking up from his source book.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Ron, the whole idea of the game is to be something you're not. You could have been a barbarian or a knight or a ranger" exclaimed Hermione.
"Can they do magic?"
"No" she admitted.
"Then why would I want to be any of those" he said smugly.
Looking at her ginger friend in bafflement she went back to her own character sheet, remembering the futility of trying to reason with Ron Weasley.
…
"Alright, let's have a look" said Hermione, taking the sheets from Harry and Luna.
Harry smiled proudly as Hermione hemmed and hummed over his sheet.
"A ranger, that's good, and you traded your starter level equipment for an enchanted item, interesting choice" she said handing the sheet back to him.
"Best chance to get it, I'll be getting new equipment as we play anyway."
"That's true" she agreed, "and, Luna's… huh, minstrel, interesting choice I… oh, I see" she said with a repressed groan, handing the sheet back to Luna.
Harry looked oddly at Hermione's reaction then looked to Luna for explanation.
"I'm a fairy" she said dreamily.
Harry just nodded his head as though he understood while doing his level best to stifle his chuckles.
"Alright then let's play already" declared Ron.
"Right" agreed Hermione shaking of her mood and turning her attention to the game board, "Normally we'd have one person serving as dungeon master but the board actually does most of that on its own so I'll just be making the dice roles for whatever creatures we come across."
"It's a really nice board" said Harry, admiring the well-crafted piece.
The others readily agreed with this assessment. While old looking it was a well preserved sort of old, clearly hand crafted from real wood, expertly painted and with a strange half orb in the center giving the whole thing a very enchanted effect.
Given the ones playing were wielders of magic they never for a second thought the orb anything more than decoration as Hermione picked up the dice to make the opening roll.
"Down here, that one" came a voice from the hallway.
The four of them froze.
"Your certain it's this one" came a familiarly repugnant voice.
"Umbridge" Harry nearly growled.
Startled, Hermione dropped the dice which landed with a much too loud clicking sound against the board. Her hand flew to her mouth to stifle a gasp.
"Did you here that?"
"Oh dear, this doesn't bode well" said Luna.
"We have to get out of here, we have to go" whispered Hermione making to put action to word.
It was Harry however that pointed out a strange twist to their predicament, "Hermione, I can't move."
It was true, though his muscles clearly strained he couldn't budge so much as an inch. Upon this revelation Hermione and Ron discovered they too were trapped by some unseen force.
"Blimey, what're we gonna do?" panicked Ron.
"Hang on to your lunch box" said Luna.
Before any of them could process what had just been said they felt themselves sucked forward, seeing the orb at the center of the game board glowing before passing through it and vanishing into the light.
…
Consciousness returned slowly, even with the insistent prodding at his face it was not swift to return. It came back faster when he absently swatted at the prodding and got zapped for his trouble.
Harry Potter jolted upright, alert and awake and… incredibly confused.
He took in his surroundings quickly, a dirt path with trees and bushes on either side, and not a castle or classroom in sight. This alone would have been strange enough but what left him marveling was at how clear everything was. It was like he'd been seeing the world through fogged lenses all his life only to see clearly for the first time. It was a breathtaking experience.
It was at about this point that the prodding returned and he turned his head to face it. He was completely unprepared for what he saw.
"Luna?" roughly twelve inches tall hovering on translucent white butterfly wings right in front of his face.
Also, completely naked.
"Uh, Luna, what" managed to stumble out.
He watched as she tried to speak yet all he could hear was a high sound like the ringing of a bell. It quickly became evident to Luna as well that she was not getting through.
"I'm sorry Luna, I can't understand a thing you're saying."
She huffed indignantly, which given her diminutive size was rather cute, then pointed to the two mostly familiar figures lying nearby.
Hermione and Ron lay nearby, each adorned in unfamiliar clothing and each holding some sort of staff. Upon closer inspection, Harry realized he too was dressed differently, and holding a simple short bow in one hand.
Rushing to his friends side he tried to wake Hermione first who responded much the same way he had though making the cutest noises as she swatted at him in her sleep. The startled yelp from Ron ended his observation and proved enough to rouse his bushy haired friend who came around much slower than he had.
"What's going on?" was the second thing out of her mouth, a jaw cracking yawn having been the first.
"I was hoping you could tell me" replied Harry.
She looked at him oddly, and then looked around.
"Where are we?"
"I don't know" he admitted, "Last thing I remember was being sucked into the crystal on the game board."
"The game. No, you don't suppose we're…"
Luna's tinkling interrupted them as she tried to interject her opinion on the matter.
"You think we're inside the game"
"Wass goin on" slurred Ron, who also didn't recover from his nap as quickly as Harry.
"Looks like we've been sucked into the game, literally" said Harry.
"Well, isn't that just shite" groused Ron.
"Is that a goblin?"
The apparent non-sequitur drew both boys attention to the road where, as indicated, stood what appeared to be a goblin. It was probably a foot taller than any goblin they had ever seen and much greener as well. The facial features and general ugliness however screamed goblin, even to someone who had never seen one before.
"Say, maybe he can tell us what's goin on" Ron thought out loud, "OY, YOU!"
The goblin, realizing it was being addressed, drew a dagger, or possibly a small sword given their respective sizes, from his belt and thrust it into the air giving a terrible sounding scream in the process.
The three grew pale as three more goblins emerged from the underbrush, similarly attired and each sporting a crude yet painful looking weapon.
"Ron, I don't believe that was the wisest course of action" said Hermione shakily.
"You got a better idea" he shot back, fighting to keep his lip from quivering.
"I vote run" said Harry.
The tinkling from Luna seemed to indicate she agreed.
"Works for me" said Ron who took off like a shot when he saw the goblins begin to charge.
Making a rash decision Harry clumsily drew an arrow and just managed to nock it before the first goblin was right on top of him. Without even the time to aim he pulled back and let it go. Given it was pointed in the right direction and barely had to travel three feet the arrow hit home right smack into the goblins skull.
The two momentums traveling in conflicting directions sent the corpse into a head over heels flip before gravity got hold of him and promptly deposited him back on the ground with a solid thud.
The other three goblins came to a dead halt as their leader hit the ground. The stared at the corpse, then at Harry, then at the corpse again. Harry, unsure what to do just waited, hoping that maybe with one of them dead they might turn and run.
The furious glares that were turned on him moments later indicated this would not be the case and Harry swiftly made to follow his friends. His longer legs and years of practice in this particular sport allowed him to quickly outpace his pursuers as well as catch up with his friends whom he found panting barely a minute later.
"Harry…your… okay" Hermione managed between gasps.
"Not for long" he said, barely winded, "I killed one of them."
"And?" asked Ron, still doubled over wheezing.
"I think I made them mad."
"Oh great, now what" whined Ron.
"We've no choice, we'll have to fight them" declared Hermione, standing tall.
"What, how" cried Ron.
"You're a wizard, how do you think?"
"But I don't have a wand" he whined.
"Use your staff then" commanded Hermione.
"Quickly please" said Harry as the goblins came round the bend and spotted them.
"What spell should I use? How do I do it?"
"What do mean what spell, didn't you check to see what your character could do?"
"Not really" he admitted sheepishly.
"Guys" warned Harry, drawing an arrow and preparing to fire.
"Your spell is called 'magic dart', honestly Ronald."
"Magic dart, right… so how do I do it?"
Hermione groaned in aggravation and looked ready to use her own staff on the gingers head, "Guys, immediate danger."
"Just, just, point the stick at them and yell magic dart, I don't know" she screamed, beyond exasperated.
"Right right, I knew that" he said, fooling no one but pointing his staff at the center goblin, "MAGIC DART."
To the surprise of all, the spell worked. A small blast of magic shot from the tip of the staff and impacted the goblin, knocking it of its feet.
"Hey, lookit that."
"Do it again" shouted Harry, loosing his arrow at one of the remaining goblins and cursing when it sailed wide to the left.
"MAGIC DART" he intoned again, scoring another hit though this one non-fatal as the goblin started to pick itself up.
"Ha, yeah you just try and get back up" taunted Ron, firing off another spell which finished it off.
Harry in the meantime had fired off two more arrows and managed to miss both times, giving the last goblin time to close to striking distance. Readying to swing his bow like a club the goblin suddenly fell sideways clutching his ear. It was only then that Harry notice Luna, tiny, naked and looking very smug.
"Thanks Luna, I owe you one."
Luna chimed in her little bell voice and made several gestures at the obviously not dead goblin.
"Oh right, better take care of that" said Harry, drawing one last arrow and standing directly over the goblin before putting it in his head.
"Is that all of them?" asked Hermione.
"I think so" said Harry.
YOU HAVE ATTAINED LEVEL 2
The sudden appearance of the gold shiny lettering over Harry and Ron shocked all of them for a moment. Hermione was the first to recover.
"I guess the two of you gained enough experience fighting those goblins to level up" she stated matter-of-factly.
"Wicked" declared Ron before wandering over to one of the dead goblins.
"So, we really are inside the game" said Harry.
"It certainly looks that way" agreed Hermione.
"Well, what now?"
"Hey you guys, look" shouted Ron, holding up a pair of gold coins, "look what I found. This guy had 'em in his pouch."
"I guess we loot the bodies" said Hermione looking queasy at the prospect.
"Oh, joy" said Harry.