Level Two: "The Tutorial"
Harry opened his eyes, and was less than pleased with what he saw. Understatement.
"What the *fuck*! I'm in the bloody cupboard under the bloody fucking stairs?! Are you fucking shitting me?! What the bloody hell is this fucking shit?!" he screamed, sitting up in the bed there under the stairs. He instantly noticed three things with that single motion.
Number one, he did not his his head. Given his height, and the last time he'd seen this small piece of shit stain his relatives forced him to grow up in, this should have been impossible. Number two, his voice just now had been the voice of a child. Still his voice, but his voice when he was eleven years old, not seventeen. And the real kicker; he didn't curse like this. So why was he now?
Before he could consider what to do next, the door was swung open and a big meaty hand reached in and grabbed him, pulling him out and to his feet. His Uncle Vernon then throttled him, yelling profanities in return for that which Harry had already let slip. He tried to get a word in edgewise, but every attempt made the walrus angrier until finally something snapped. It was rather loud and hard to miss, seeing as it was Harry's own neck that had snapped. Everything went black...
*ERROR*
-Incorrect Avatar (Angry Harry) Loaded-
Loading...
And then he opened his eyes and was back in the cupboard. He blinked and kept his mouth shut. As quietly as he could, he whispered, "What the bloody hell just happened?"
The same clear screen that had been there before appeared, this time with a different message in a slightly different format, like somebody had typed it out on a computer rather than painted it with a graphics program.
"Hint #1: If you die or fail an objective, you will begin from your last Save or Checkpoint."
"Hint #2: Character progress is permanent. This means that even if you die you will keep all experience, items, skills, medals, etc. that you have collected. Note: Key Items and Unique Items are not retained."
"Hint #3: Character interactions can vary based upon both your responses as well as the avatar you are using at the moment. Different avatars have different responses to situations and familiar NPCs."
"Hint #4: Some features are unavailable until you unlock them in gameplay. Such as casting spells."
"Hint #5: Experience points are awarded for defeating enemies, mastering spells and skills, learning abilities, and overcoming challenges."
"Hint #6: ..."
"Stop!" Harry growled, and the screen finally stopped scrolling and disappeared when he said, "Enough!"
Well, he thought to himself, that explains a little bit. The him that cursed every other word apparently was a demonstration of whatever this avatar thing was. Vernon killing him was to shove it in his face without having to wait till he got to Hogwarts that if he died, he just started over, exactly like a video game. And just like a new character in said video game, he was more or less at level one with zero experience and no powers or abilities at all. Which meant no magic, at least not until he got his wand back. Also, the thing seemed to be voice controlled. Recalling a feature that had been a part of every video game he'd ever heard of, he decided to try something.
"Pause," he said outloud. The world, such as it was being the cupboard under the stairs, went black, white and gray. Mostly gray. The clear screen reappeared with the words;
*Pause Menu*
"Hints"
"Objectives"
"Level"
"Skills & Abilities"
"Challenges"
"Unlocked Features"
"Save/Load Game"
"Hints," he said and the same list began to scroll. This time he didn't stop it. The hints went all the way to one hundred and one, and was extremely helpful. He hoped. Especially Hint #101, which informed him that to get out of the Pause menu, he didn't say 'Unpause', but 'Start'. Since he hadn't even started to 'play' yet, he didn't bother checking on saving the game and he recalled that he didn't have anything unlocked yet. So, he got out of Pause and waited for his relatives to 'wake him up'. Thankfully he didn't have long to wait.
This time, rather than him cursing like a maladjusted sailor, or Vernon throttling him until his neck snapped, it was just like every other day of his young life before Hogwarts. Aunt Petunia unlocking and rapping on the door, telling him to get breakfast ready. Dudley pounding on the stairs with every step so dust and splinters came loose with every bound, then slamming his door shut in his face before he could properly get out.
There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.
"What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.
"Your new school uniform," she said.
Harry took a moment to remember when and what this was exactly. Oh, right. Originally his relatives had planned to ship him off to some criminal school for boy or something like that. Knowing what was really going to happen, and having long forgotten the way the rest of this conversation went, he just shrugged and went, "Oh." and continued to prepare the rest of breakfast.
He also recalled that this was the day that his School Letter, well first school letter arrived. Even as he sat down to his meager helping of breakfast, he was on pins and needles for its arrival. Thankfully, a short while later, they heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.
"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.
"Make Harry get it."
"Get the mail, Harry." This much, Harry did remember, and he couldn't stop himself from continuing the conversation as he recalled it.
"Make Dudley get it."
"Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."
Harry was already up and gone, having left his seat even as he'd spoken to the distracted Vernon. He was also somewhat looking forward to his aunt and uncle going through the hilarious efforts to prevent him from getting his letter. Even moreso, he was looking forward to seeing Hagrid again.
Briefly sorting through it to confirm the letter was indeed there, Harry separated it out from the rest and went to put the rest in front of Vernon at the breakfast table. Same as before, just as Harry was sitting down, Dudley's chubby hand suddenly reached out and snatched it from his hands.
"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"
Harry watched as the piglike boy waved it around, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.
"That's mine!" yelled Harry, if only to keep up appearances.
"Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge.
"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.
Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.
"Vernon! Oh my goodness—Vernon!"
Harry was too distracted from their further antics however, as a big notice had appeared just behind the Dursleys, the same kind of error screen that came up when he selected game options that were not yet available. Originally, he'd just keep trying to get his letter until Vernon banished him and then for the entire rest of the month the Dursleys would be harrassed by owls and Hogwarts letters appearing in every nook and craney of the house! According to the message that had appeared, apparently that was no longer the case.
*GAME OVER*
"You failed to acquire your Hogwarts Letter and now will have to go to St. Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys and never get to Hogwarts."
*Restart From Last Checkpoint?*
YES/NO
"Uh, yes?" Harry said out loud and before the Dursley's could look up from his letter, the world faded to white and then black and then he was back in the cupboard.
"Wait a second here," he said to himself out loud. "I have to actually... get my first letter, or I don't go at all? That isn't how it happened!"
Harry had lost count of how many times he'd gone through 'breakfast with the Dursleys' now. It kept forcing him to start over every time he failed to keep his letter out of their hands. Once, he'd even chosen no, and all that had happened was he found himself back on the main menu with nothing else to do. It hadn't even allowed him to go back to that arcade place. Stupid video game!
He'd tried hiding the letter on his person, with the baggy clothing he was sporting it should have been easy enough. Petunia spotted it after he tried to leave the table to do the dishes—Game Over. He tried slipping it under his cupboard door on his way back to the kitchen. Vernon found it when he'd put Harry in there for some imagined slight of Dudley's—Game Over. He tried hiding it in every possible place imagineable in the house in the amount of time he had between being told to get the mail and them all shouting about how long it was taking him. Dudley found it within minutes of finishing his breakfast, no matter where it was hidden, and turned it over to his parents for a reward—Game Over.
"This is getting ridiculous," he grumbled to himself as he got the mail, again. Then he stopped. Since the game wasn't doing it like it was done the first time around, why should he play by the old rules?
He know what this letter was, he knew about magic. He knew about Diagon Alley and several different ways of getting there, albeit most of them required the use of a wand. The Game probably wouldn't let him Apparate, but he knew about the Floo and... and he knew about Mrs. Figg! She was Dumbledore's spy on him at Privet Drive, a member of the Order of the Phoenix!
Harry dropped the rest of the mail on the end table next to the door and then unlocked said door and walked right out it. He tore open the seal on the back of the envelope, after taking a moment to once again appreciate the elaborate Hogwarts seal, and then quickly opened the letter and began to read.
"Dear Mister Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted
at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress."
"You know," he mumbled to himself as he walked quickly down to Mrs. Figg's house, "I kept forgetting that Professor McGonagall was the Deputy Headmistress. She should have been the Headmaster if Fifth Year, not Umbit... Umbridge. Oh, don't tell me I'm still in some other kind of avatar!"
Recalling that Mrs. Figg had a lot of cats, and likewise remembering that most of them were probably kneazles or kneazle cross-breeds, he decided to see what brutal honesty got him and go from there. Not like it mattered. Worst case scenario, he loses his letter all over again and everything starts over. Again!
He knocked on the door and waited. A few moments after, he knocked again. Still no sounds from inside, he knocked a third time. He waited, just not patiently. Eventually, after the tenth time knocking, Mrs. Figgs answered her door, the cats at her feet struggling to get out.
"Yes, what is it boy? Your aunt and uncle needing something again?" she asked.
Seeing her in crutches, he vaguely recalled her being injured by one of her cats recently. Knowing what he did about her, he asked without thinking, "Why not just have Madam Pomphrey come by and heal that for you? I'm sure Professor Dumbledore wouldn't mind."
The squib spy for the Order of the Phoenix blinked and did a double-take. "Excuse me?" she shrieked. "What did you just say boy?"
"Don't you mean 'Boy-Who-Lived'?" Harry grinned cheekily at her. "I just got my Hogwarts letter. Mind if I use your Floo? I'd like to get my wand before my relatives find me missing. Oh, but I'll need gold for that, won't I? And Hagrid has my key. Huh, didn't think this out as much as I'd thought. Eh, planning is for losers. Need to be able to adapt to situations on the fly. Part of what... I'm rambling, aren't I? More of a Hermione thing that is. Mrs. Figgs? Would you mind if I used your Floo? I promise to reimburse you as soon as I am able."
"I have no idea what you are talking about! Go away!" she then slammed the door in his face, startling him somewhat.
Harry blinked, then looked down at his letter. "OK, that didn't work. What else can I try? Knight Bus? No, need a wand to flag them down. Hm, how'd we get there in the first place? London Underground, of course! Now, where is the nearest station?"
Harry got another Game Over the moment Vernon ran him down with his car. Didn't help that nobody was around, probably leading the walrus to believe he could get away with it. Next three tries, Harry left the moment the mail arrived with the letter, and spent the rest of the time looking for the nearest entrance to the London Underground. He finally found it on the third try, only to run into a new set of problems.
He had no money. He had no idea which stop or line was nearest the Leaky Cauldron. And worst of all, apparently he was on some kind of time limit as he discovered on his next attempt the moment the sun set, and he'd neither been caught nor killed by the Dursleys, he got a Game Over message just the same. This one, at least, was somewhat beneficial.
*GAME OVER*
"You failed to successfully complete the Objective to enroll in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You failed to successfully complete the Objective to get to Diagon Alley. You failed to successfully complete the Objective to acquire Gringotts Key."
*Restart From Last Checkpoint?*
YES/NO
"Objectives?" he read.
Next turn, the moment Harry had the letter in hand, he said, "Pause." The world turned gray and the same clear menu from his cupboard appeared on the door in front of him.
*Pause Menu*
"Hints"
"Objectives"
"Level"
"Skills & Abilities"
"Challenges"
"Unlocked Features"
"Save/Load Game"
"Objectives," he selected. The screen instantly changed.
*Objectives*
COMPLETE - Acquire and maintain possession of Hogwarts Letter.
- Read Hogwarts Letter
- Reply back with either confirmation to enroll, or decline to pursue other goals.
- Locate and access Diagon Alley.
- Acquire Gringotts Key in order to purchase school supplies.
- Purchase school supplies *(Read Letter for list)
- Meet and befriend at least one magical person or creature.
"Hint #23: All Objectives must be completed within (1 Day), unless they specifically state they are Long-Term Objectives."
"Oh. Right. That," he grumbled. "OK, back to Mrs. Figg then."
He tried to open the door to leave, but it wouldn't budge, not even the doorknob would turn. He soon realized what that meant, seeing that the menu was still there on the door. "Oh. Start," he said and was finally allowed to leave. He ran to Mrs. Figg's house.
He knocked on the door once and waited. And waited. And waited. And did not knock on the door again. Finally, after a more than five minute wait, the door finally opened and a surprised looking Mrs. Figg was standing there. "Yes?" she spoke hesitantly, "What can I do for you Mr. Potter?"
Harry smiled genially at her. It would seem patience could be rewarded after all. "Mrs. Figg," he spoke as politely as he could. "I think we got a letter meant for you by mistake. The address is kinda funny and I'm not supposed to get mail. Here." He handed her his Hogwarts letter. Though he held it out, she did not take it.
"Come in, Mr. Potter," she hurried him inside. "I think there is something that needs to be explained to you. One moment please." She ushered him into her sitting room, where Harry found a clear screen there waiting.
*CONGRATULATIONS!*
*SECRET AREA FOUND!*
"Mrs. Figg's House: Mrs. Figg is a non-magical member of the Order of the Phoenix. This Secret Area has (4) Hidden Items/Secrets. Discover them all for extra Rewards!"
Given an actual challenge for once, rather than having to figure it all out on his own, Harry started to look forward to this a bit. Looking around the room he was in, he tried to see if anything stood out from his memories of the place. At first, the only thing that stood out was the fact that the room wasn't filled with cats, but then he noticed some thing, one thing, that was more unusual than what his half-forgotten memories could tell him. There was an urn over the mantle of her fireplace, which was currently cold and held no fire. It was glowing, the urn that is. It was glowing a flickering green color, like there was a lit flame inside of it, colored green. Going over to it, he smiled when he opened it up to find Floo powder there. It stopped glowing as an alert, something the Hints had warned him about, went off. Unlike the screens, the alerts only appeared as ghostly afterimages and more often than not just inside of his peripheral vision, but not in a way that would distract him.
*You have found (1 of 4) Hidden Secrets!
Now knowing what to look for, Harry quickly identified the only other glowing object in the room. It was a small box next to a well worn chair. Going to it, he opened the box and three things flashed up in his face. Startled, he jumped back. Getting a good look at them now, he was stumped for a moment. There was a giant Chocolate Frog card hanging in mid-air, gold sparks falling from it, an equally large box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and what could have been a wingless snitch. Regardless of what it actually was, all he could say it was a gold glowing ball hovering there.
Seeker instincts taking control, briefly, Harry's hand reached out and snatched the wingless snitch out of the air. He got an alert and a screen at the same time in the next moment.
*You have found (2 of 4) Hiddent Secrets!
*Skill Point*
"Hint #13: Skill Points are used to either augment or level up unlocked Skills and Abilities."
"So that's what they look like," he said to himself, while recalling what other hints had said about the Skill Points. Such as they can be applied to spells as well in the Skills and Abilities menu. Whats more, once acquired, the Skill Points stay with him, even if he restarts or dies, until they are either used or reassigned. The hints were unfortunately rather vague about what they meant with the whole reassigning thing. He reached out and grabbed the Chocolate Frog card. It spun around suddenly, and then shrunk and was suddenly in his hand. It was Merlin!
"Blimey," he said as another screen came up. No alert accompanied it this time.
*Chocolate Frog Card*
"Chocolate Frog Cards give you Experience toward Leveling up. They can also be used for Trading and certain Quests. Collected (1 of 100) Cards."
"I'm not even sure I want to know," he mumbled as he reached for the box of beans. No screen came up, but the entire box vanished and he felt... better. Like his health or energy had improved or something.
Right at that moment, Mrs. Figg came back in. In her hand was a hand held mirror, similar to the one Sirius had once given him. It was glowing an incadescent white. Which explained how she kept in touch with Professor Dumbledore with her Floo banked. As she began speaking, he got an alert.
*You have found (3 of 4) Hidden Secrets!"
"If you don't mind waiting a bit, Mr. Potter, someone will be along shortly to explain that letter to you. Hang on to it for now, will you?" she said.
"Uh, sure, not a problem," he shrugged. "Would you mind if I looked around for a bit? Restless legs."
"No, not at all, just don't break anything please," she gave him permission.
Smiling innocently, Harry started his search for the final secret by going down the same hallway Mrs. Figgs had. Nothing jumped out at him, nor was glowing when he passed. He found her kitchen, but even looking in the refridgerator and all the cabinets revealed no glowing objects. He found the stairs to her second floor, but it was looking as glow-free as the downstairs now was. Until, just out of the corner of one eye, he caught a flash of movement. And whatever it was, it had been brighter than its surroundings.
Turning to follow it, whatever it was, he raced through the upstairs, always just catching sight of it just out of the corner of his eye whenever it moved, until he saw it go downstairs and saw it long enough to recognize one of Mrs. Figg's cats. Bounding down the stairs, he finally caught up with the glowing cat in the sitting room. Oddly, Mrs. Figg was nowhere to be found.
Walking up to the cat, he realized that description didn't really fit. The feline, which was quite clearly a pure blooded kneazle, was more similar to a lion or tiger cub rather than a fully grown tabby cat. Reaching out with one hand, he hesitated briefly when it looked ready to bolt, so instead he changed the motion of trying to pet it into just holding out his hand in greeting, nothing more, nothing less. The kneazle sniffed his fingertips. Apparently liking what it smelled, it licked him with its rough tongue and after annointing each of his fingers, butted his hand with the back of its head. Taking the invitation for what it was, Harry slowly began to pet and make nice with the feline magical creature.
Hm, speaking of magical creatures...
"Pause," he said while still petting the cat. He was only mildly surprised when it did not freeze and turn gray with everything else, but he quickly got over it. "Objectives."
*Objectives*
COMPLETE - Acquire and maintain possession of Hogwarts Letter.
COMPLETE - Read Hogwarts Letter
- Reply back with either confirmation to enroll, or decline to pursue other goals.
- Locate and access Diagon Alley.
- Acquire Gringotts Key in order to purchase school supplies.
- Purchase school supplies *(Read Letter for list)
COMPLETE - Meet and befriend at least one magical person or creature.
"Huh," he grunted his acknowledgement of what had happened. "Start."
The moment he unpaused the world, the front door opened and Mrs. Figg walked in alongside... Hagrid? OK, that was both unexpected and unsurprising at the same time. The large half-giant had to squeeze through the doorway for a bit, but he managed to get in just fine.
He looked the same, Harry realized once he was fully inside, his head just an inch shy of scraping the ceiling. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.
"An' here's Harry!" Hagrid said with a giant smile. "Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby. Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes."
Harry smiled in return and tried not to roll his eyes. Different as things were now, he could still remember the actual first words he said to Hagrid upon their first meeting. "Who are you?" he asked, innocent smile perfectly in place.
The giant chuckled. "True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of
Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm. "What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."
"None of that, now Hagrid," Mrs. Figg chastised. "We have quite a bit to explain to the poor boy. You have no idea how many times I've wanted to tell him, but with no way to prove any of it... But now that he has his Hogwarts Letter!"
"Aye," Hagrid agreed.
"Sorry," Harry interrupted them, having learned from earlier mistakes that if he appeared to know too much, he risked a Game Over and he was starting to get tired of it already, "But I still don't know exactly who you are, or what this is about."
"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts—yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."
"Er—no," said Harry.
Hagrid had the same shocked expression on his face the first time they'd had this conversation. Harry felt that was a good thing. What followed was a slightly altered, and far less angry (no shouting for starters) conversation where Hagrid and Mrs. Figg explained about the Wizarding World and how Harry was a wizard and pretty much everything. Harry avoided asking Mrs. Figg if she was a witch as he already knew she was a Squib and he likewise knew from experience that most Squibs found talk of their status to be a rather sensitive subject.
"Oh my, would you look at that," Mrs. Figg said as the conversation between the half-giant and the child came to a lull. "Midnight has never taken a shine to someone like that before."
"Midnight?" Harry asked, then looked down at his lap where the kneazle he'd been petting for the past few minutes had settled. He'd completely forgotten about it and had barely noticed continuing to pet it... him. "So that's your name, huh? Midnight. Mine is Harry Potter. Nice to meet you."
"Meow!" the kneazle returned the greeting, and suddenly the glow around him seemed to spread and move into Harry's body. The world paused yet again as a new screen and Alert came up simultaneously.
*Familiar: Midnight (Kneazle) Acquired!
*You have found (4 of 4) Hidden Secrets!
*CONGRATULATIONS!*
"You have found all (4) Hidden Items/Secrets of this Area!"
+50 EXP, +10HP, +5MP
BONUS: +5 STAMINA, +1 CHARISMA, +3 STEALTH, +1 INTELLIGENCE
Before he could say or do anything, let alone before he was prepared for it, another screen came up over top of the last one.
*FAMILIAR ACQUIRED!*
"Familiars are non-human creatures that can enhance your stats and/or give you additional Skills or Abilities. You may have more than one Familiar, but can only Equip(!) 1 at a time, though there are some Familiars and Skills that allow you to Equip additional Familiars."
(!)"Hint #99: To change your Equipment or what you have Equipped, you first need a Trunk or Home."
"OK," he said while looking down at Midnight, his new Familiar. "I only ever had experience with Hedwig, though it is good to know I don't have to pick and choose between the two of you. So... uh, what exactly do you do? I mean, what its talking about there about enhancing stats and abilities and stuff."
In answer, sort of, Midnight turned to the open screen and, "Meow!" at it. To Harry's surprise, it changed instantly to an abreviated stats sheet.
Familiar: Kneazle
Name - Midnight
HP - 20
MP - 25
Skill - Language (English), Truthscent (Can detect truth and lies via smell), Camoflauge (Stealth +10 to Familiar, Stealth +5 to Character), Battle Companion (Can join Character in battle and defeat enemies.)
Abilities - +5 Intelligence, +5 Stealth (Camoflauge), 10% Bonus to Attack Rating, 5% Bonus to Critical Rating.
Harry blinked at the stats and did a double-take between the cat in his lap and the screen. "I am definitely keeping you Midnight. You are awesome!"
"Meow!" Midnight agreed wholeheartedly. Then the world started up again.
"Well, I can see that he's going to be impossible to live with now," Mrs. Figg said with a suffering sigh. "Why don't you take him, Mr. Potter? They certainly allow pets at Hogwarts, and Midnight will be far happier with you than here."
Feigning surprise, Harry exclaimed, "Are you sure, Mrs. Figg? Isn't Midnight your cat?"
"Not at all," she shook her head. "Who do you think it was that injured me in the first place?" she gestured to her leg, still in a cast. "He only stayed around because he fathered so many of my cats and probably just had nowhere better to be after they were able to fend for themselves. He is all yours, Mr. Potter."
"Well, all right then," Harry grinned and resumed petting his new Familiar. Now he just had to hope that Hedwig (he was really looking forward to seeing her again!) wouldn't be too jealous.
"Aye, we'd best be going, Harry," Hagrid said suddenly. "Don't want the stores to close on us."
"All right, Hagrid," Harry nodded happily. "Midnight?" The kneazle jumped down and dutifully followed Harry as he headed for the door and then out it.
They walked outside and after discretely looking around to make sure the coast was clear, Hagrid raised his pink umbrella and within moments there was a loud bang and before them was a bright purple triple-decker bus. From the steps at the back of it, the young man Harry knew to be Stan Shunpike stepped down and waved at them in his uniform.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard," he recited, same as the first time Harry had heard it. "Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this afternoon. Oh, 'ello there 'Agrid! New student then? Diagon Alley it is!"
"Thanks Stan!" Hagrid stepped into the Knight Bus, Harry following behind. "Ernie! Good to see you!" The moment the half giant sat down, Harry could finally make out the screen that had appeared between the benches and the driver and read it.
*Discovered Knight Bus!*
"The Knight Bus is one of the primary methods of getting around the Wizarding World, and means of accessing other Areas. To access and use the Knight Bus, you must first have a wand and be at least Level 10 or higher."
+5 EXP
As was standard for the Knight Bus when running in the day, the beds had been replaced by park benches and other random bits of furniture, which unfortunately still moved around with every bump of the bus. It took them a couple of hours, but eventually they managed to make it to the Leaky Cauldron without almost dying, or Hagrid losing his breakfast.
And of course, Hagrid really couldn't help taking him through the magical pub to show him off, rather than around the back straight to the alley. It was largely the same as when Hagrid had taken him on his birthday originally, even Professor Quirrell was there!
When they finally got through, Hagrid took him out back and then opened the path to Diagon Alley. Instantly, there was a chime echoing throughout the alley as a new screen appeared in the opened archway.
*DIAGON ALLEY*
*New Location Discovered!*
"Diagon Alley: Diagon Alley is an Open Area where commerce and Trading by Wizard Britain is largely done. This Area has (100) Hidden Items/Secrets. Discover them all for extra Rewards!"
Harry's eyebrows raised at the new information. "Ohhh-kaaayyy," he said with a deep breath. With a shrug, he stepped forward into the Alley and said to himself, "Let's get started."
END Level Two.
