Description: After his self-sacrifice Harry is faced with a choice, stay in limbo or play a RPG game about himself. Enough to say that stories about a character that actually chose to stay in limbo would not be a popular one... Video-game fic.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter related, except the 7 books on my shelf. I also don't own any rights to GURPS, I own a lot of game books of it tough. No profit is being made from this piece of fiction.
A.N.: I like to ask for forgiveness to anyone who ever spoke English, it's not my first language and that is why you'll probably find lots of errors in my writing. This story is much an exercise for my writing in English skills as anything else.
A.N.2: The rules described on this story are an adaptation of Steve Jackson's GURPS system. It has lots of house rules and changes to adapt to HP and "video-game" setting.
A.N.3: If you liked the story and are up for Betaing it, please make contact. I admit that a Beta would be a dream-come-true at this point.
A.N.4: Guests reviews are fine and all, but it's a little frustrating not being able to respond them. If you guys want me answering your reviews, please log in before leaving them.
Harry Potter: The RPG
CHAPTER 4:
"Enabling simple quests allow the engagement and completion of said simple quests. They consist of a simple test of a specific skill giving in return a small reward. However this rewards could potentially add up, generating a huge boost to a determined player. Because of their simple nature and large opportunity for abuse, only two simple quests can be engaged per day."
'That explains it.' Harry just looked again to Mrs Dawson house and at it's glowing door. The glow however was faded, almost non-existent in contrast with what he had seen this morning, involving his aunt or Mr. Pershkein.
'Here goes my plan to do as much quests as I could possible fit in my schedule.' He should had seen that coming. If he was allowed to keep doing quests non-stop, when September first came again, he would be so powerful that he probably would give Dumbledore and Voldemort a run for their money.
The option description was correct. Just doing a very quick calculation he was looking at possibility of 300 characters free points until the end of the year. He had about 365 days till the Hogwarts Express. If he could do 2 quests per day on 300 of the 365 days, at half a point rewards, he get his 300 character points. That if you ignore the other 300 points he will gain on the skills he used.
That was a lot. A huge amount of points. According with was written in the manual, a 600 point character would be some kind of superhero. Sure, he would have a lot of points on skill that he doesn't really care much about, but nevertheless the character points gained would be a huge asset for any future conflict with the bad guys.
Deciding that there was not that he could about this limitation, the boy resumes his walking. 'Maybe that is for the best. This way I will have more time to do other things around here.' What exactly he would do to fill up his time was something he still had to figure out.
Wandering about Little Winging brought a sense of peace that he didn't have since the start of Horcrux hunt. He was on this new life, this life inside a game, for less than a day but everything back there appeared to have happened so long ago that he didn't even wanted to remember. All of it in just about 8 hours of playtime.
It was difficult not to get immersed. He could feel the soles of his shoes while he walked around. He could smell the somewhat fresh air of Surrey. He could hear the sounds of the neighborhood going on around him. And he could see that everything looked exactly as he remembered.
All his worries and considerations where put on halt when he looked at Nº18 Wisteria Walk because at 10 years of age, 17 mentally, Harry fell in love.
Going out of a blue minivan was a vision straight out of heaven. She was tall, easily one of the tallest women of Little Whinging, and fit. Her skin was tanned and shinny, her brunette hair fell down on perfect waves over her naked shoulders. Her lips were red and full appearing to be really moist and ready to be kissed. She was wearing sunglasses, but these couldn't possible hide her striking Latina features.
Mrs Consuelo Aguilar was a real woman. Harry remembers her from the previous life, she was a constant gossip target to his aunt and her friends. He never though about that before, but it was perfect clear to him now why that happened. They were simply jealous of her.
Mrs Aguilar was a thirty four year old, divorced single mom. She also owned her own business, having a shoe store somewhere in London. She was young, tall, tanned, beautiful and independent woman. What they could possible be jealous for?
He was entranced by her strapless dress. This one piece of floral patterned fabric hugged her forms showing everyone how fit she really was. The cleavage showed the upper part of what was probably the most beautiful bosom that Harry ever contemplated.
"Will Check – Failed."
Harry crossed the street without even noticing.
"Skill unlocked: Sex Appeal."
"Skill Check: Sex Appeal – Failed."
- Mrs Aguilar, you are so beautiful. I want to made love with you. I want to put my hand around you and squeeze you marvelous ass. I want to hold and massage this huge melons you got. I want to stick my... AAARrrrghh!
And, in the middle of this tirade Mrs Aguilar grabbed Harry's ear and twisted it. The woman was really not amused and looked down on him really upset.
"Reputation with Little Whinging -1."
- You're that Potter boy, right? Petunia and Vernon's delinquent nephew. You have no manners at all, have you? Let's call your aunt and see what she thinks about it.
Holding the boy by it's twisted ear, the woman dragged the boy inside the house. Before he has any time to think about consequences, a message appeared.
"Auto-saved."
'Nooooooo!'
Harry sat on a chair in the dinning room. In other circumstances he would probably a little curious about his surroundings, but right now he was tensely waiting for his aunt. Every few minutes, Mrs Aguilar appeared at the doorway and glared at him.
He had opened his manual and looked at his saving files and, as he expected, he really was screwed. Harry learned the hard way what any video-game player already know: You always save your game in different files, never trusting a single safe file. Especially the auto-save one. Silently he vowed to himself that he would always save when he could. Right now, he couldn't do it. He couldn't save at Mrs Aguilar house. When he tried at this morning, in nº4 Privet Drive, everything worked just fine. But now...
Maybe he could only save there? He hoped not, he really hoped to be able to save at Hogwarts and other important locations at later dates. He would have to explore his options and try to save in several places to see what he could do.
He could see Mrs Aguilar working in the kitchen right now. The door was left open so she could keep an eye on him. This way he could see her moving around. He didn't know what came after him, well, to be honest, he knew. But surely he didn't understand. Obviously he had been affected by the disadvantage that he chosen.
Lecherousness. Maybe there was a reason it gives 15 points, the same as having only one eye or hand. He could, of course, load his other save game, the one that he created on the first 2 minutes of play-through. But he really wanted to do everything again? And what other disadvantage he would chose?
The worst part, if you want to call it that way, was that he really wanted to go on and try his luck with Mrs Aguilar again. He just received the biggest lecture on improper behavior ever and he still just wanted to kiss those juice red lips. Hug her and fondle with...
Shaking his head he looked away from the woman and to the room around him. Looking at the photograph over the fireplace he looked at Mrs Aguilar and daughter. She was not much younger than him, and looked like her mom. Sure, not as beautiful, but she was only about 7 or 8 years old. Hum, maybe he has a shot with the daughter, if not the mom. Maybe the picture is old, and she is not so little anymore. She could be his age, or maybe even older. Maybe she is old enough to have breasts and...
'What is wrong with me?!' Had he turned himself in some kind of pedophile? Well, he still thought that Mrs Aguilar is much more attractive than her daughter so, maybe, not a pedophile. But sure he was a pervert. A pervert who lusts after a much older woman while simultaneously considering if her daughter is worthy of equal lustful thoughts.
'Maybe Mrs Aguilar is a pedophile. I wouldn't mind being seduced by her...' And his mind went back to the beginning of the circle. It was a really vicious circle.
And them his aunt arrived.
"Reputation with Petunia Dursley -5"
Mrs Aguilar explained everything that happened, and she sure remembered every word he had said. Aunt Petunia listened everything silently, only turning to Harry to glare in his direction.
- I'm so sorry Consuelo but you know how the boy is. This one has always been a menace, ever since he started walking. There was always one problem after another. I think the boy is incorrigible and I'll be surprised if didn't end in prison someday...
'And this is the aunt Petunia that I know.' Harry remained quiet, just listening to the conversation. It was awful to hear now, when he was mentally 17, but when he was 10 this would devastate him.
- Well Petunia, you sure are trying your best. I hope you can fix him. For his own sake.
"Auto-Saved."
And with that he and his aunt left Mrs Aguilar house. They walked in silence alongside Wisteria Walk. About half the way home, his aunt decided to break the silence.
- What is wrong with you boy? Saying this things to a woman more than 3 times your age? How precocious can you be?
Harry looked at his aunt a little surprised. She was still hostile but there was something else behind that look. Maybe he could fix part of this. At least straight things up with his aunt? 'Aunt Petunia loves gossip and flattery, if I play on this angle, don't lie and don't screw up I'm sure I can do it.'
It took three tries.
The first one he screwed up after trying to go too far with his compliments. He recovered 3 reputation points before losing 4 more. Reloading back to the door of Mrs Aguilar was a good option at the time.
The second one he blew just at the start, when he didn't wait for the prompt from his aunt before start talking.
The third he did everything right. And appealed to the obvious jealousy that his aunt felt for the gorgeous Mrs Aguilar. He almost didn't thought that he would make it in the end, but them he mentioned that his uncle never even mentioned Mrs Aguilar, or any other woman in any way that resembled that he was less than happy with his aunt.
And that had made him recover the fifth point of reputation back. He ended up eating a small sandwich of leftovers for dinner, instead of the lasagna she prepared, but at least the damage was minimized.
Lying in his cot the boy though about all the occurrences of his long day. It wasn't perfect, but he made some progress. If he keep this going he would surely change Little Whinging opinion of him. It may not be important on the big picture, but it was important for him. Deep down he was still the little boy that was searching for affection and acceptance.
'And I unlocked the Sex-appeal skill...'
Smiling he closed his eyes. Certain mistakes are worth making.
"SAVE & LOAD MENU:
- Auto-save – 18:37 – September 01 – 1990 – Nº4 Privet Drive.
- 06:58 – September 02 – 1990 – Nº4 Privet Drive.
- 07:02 – September 01 – 1990 – Nº4 Privet Drive.
- Free Save Slot"
'Well, here we go. Saved in a new slot. Maybe I should save every time I come back for privet Drive and don't make any mistake.' And them the boy resumed his game.
He encountered his aunt when he was leaving the bathroom. She was glowing and, as the day before, sent the boy on his quest to prepare the breakfast.
"Simple quest accepted."
"Lucky used. Skill check: Cooking – Success."
"Quest Completed. Reputation with Petunia Dursley +2 points."
Everything occurred very similarly to what happened in the day before. Receive quest, do breakfast using lucky advantage, be successful on the skill check, then complete quest and receive ridiculous low reputation bonus.
"Reward claimed: ½ character point gained. ½ pointed invested on the skill: Cooking."
He claimed his reward before his other relatives arrived for breakfast.
After everyone has eaten, Harry's uncle, aunt and cousin went to prepare themselves for church. As a freak, Harry didn't have to go to church and was locked outside the house with instructions to make himself scarce and don't do anything stupid. It was one of the few times Dudley was jealous of Harry.
"Auto-saved."
As the message disappeared, so did the Dursleys car. Harry was all alone on the front yard of the Nº4. 'No time like the present!'
On Mrs Dawson house there was no glow present. Probably because Mrs Dawson herself was at the church. Little Whinging was really quiet on Sunday mornings, and Harry used to enjoy that, but today was the opposite. Where would he find quests when everyone was asleep or at the church?
The answer came in the form of Mrs. Figg. The old woman was walking down the street with a very concerned expression, very distressed, if that was not enough of a clue, the shining silver aura around her was a giveaway.
'This is what I'm talking! A real quest!' With firm steps the boy went in the direction of the old lady.
- Good morning Mrs Figg.
- Oh! Hello Mr. Potter! You startled me. I was so preoccupied with my current problem that I didn't see you coming.
A question mark appeared at the edge of his view, denouncing the presence of a hint. Nodding and smiling the boy discretely opened the hint.
- Oh, is there something that I can do to help you out, Mrs Figg?
"Mrs Figg is a character worth of note. As such she has her own entry on the reputation page and cannot be grouped."
'Fair enough. Let me focus on my quest then.'
- You know Mr. Potter, maybe you could help. You see my dear cat, Half-moon, is missing since yesterday. I haven't seen her all of yesterday and she didn't came back last night. I'm worried sick about her and can't find her anywhere. Could you help me find her?
Okay, that sounded simple enough.
- Sure Mrs Figg, I'll help you. Do you know where she could be?
- No, I'm sorry Mr. Potter I don't know. She used to roam everywhere. I don't know even where to start looking.
- Well, no time like the present. I'll bring her back!
"Quest accepted."
Leaving Mrs Figg behind, Harry started looking around for any sign of the missing cat. He didn't even finished turned around when he noticed something on the ground.
Around him there was silver ring. It looked like someone had used some kind of glowing silver paint and drawn a circle with it around him. On one side, the circle was thicker and formed some kind of pointy edge in one direction.
'It appears that this is pointing thing is indicating a direction... Well, hopefully everything will be this easy on this quest.' Not really complaining about the assist, the boy start following the pointy edge. 'It appears to be pointing to the park.'
While he walked he remembered the options menu, when he enabled every single option, one of them mentioned something about tracking quests. 'This colorful ring must be the result of enabling that option.'
However, as soon as he arrived in the park the glowing circle, and it's pointy thing, disappeared. Instead of complaining the boy mentally thanked the help and started looking around for the stray cat.
- Half-moon? Half-mooooonn? Where are you girl?
Little Whinging Park was a big place. There was the play area, with its swings and other equipment to entertain the kids, but also there was the small pond and the running track. The pond was not that big, but the track stretched all around the park. It also had a wooded area and as such it would take a fair amount of effort to search.
Not shy of a challenge, the boy went to work. In short time he searched the open areas and, after a long walk, the running track. With no options left he entered the wooded area.
- Half-moon? Come on girl! Give me some help here!
Without any hint of where to go, the boy searched around at random, looking on the top and bottom of the trees before moving forward. 'This is not as easy as I have thought.'
"Skill unlocked: Tracking"
"Skill check: Tracking – Failed."
'Damn, another skill that I probably suck at.' Sighting the boy stooped his search. He really would need to spent his points on this skill if he wanted to succeed. If it was like the other he probably had only the default level on it, and that was 4 or less. 'This way I will never save enough points to buy anything I want.'
"Hearing check – Success."
In the quiet of the Sunday morning, only interrupted by the occasional bird, Harry heard something. He heard barking. A dog was making a lot of noise not too far from here.
'I should probably investigate. Better than spend my points on a skill that I don't need.' Trying to keep himself as quiet as possible, and stopping several times to better hear, the boy found his way between the trees.
As the barks grow louder the boy tried to be quieter, after all, by the type of the sound the dog was probably a big one.
"Skill unlocked: Stealth"
"Skill check: Stealth – Critical Failed."
'Oh Shit...'
WHAM, CRACK! Harry tripped on some root and fell in a bunch of sticks. The noise was loud and the dog stopped barking. When the boy raised himself he was face to face with a growling dog.
- Eh... nice doggie?
"Skill unlocked: Animal Handling"
"Skill check: Animal Handling – Failed."
- Oh, crap, I should had seen that coming...
Harry didn't have the time to deeply study the dog. He was a mix between German Shepherd and... something else. Not as big as Sirius on his hound form, but a real threat to a 10 years old boy.
And the animal certainly wasn't shy. Baring his fangs he attacked the boy.
"Dodge failed. Damage 0"
Instead of finding the boys meat, the dog only found his oversized t-shirt.
'Crap! I need to do something.' Flaying around the boy tried to punch the dog.
"Attack check: Punch, failed."
"Skill unlocked: Brawling"
- STOP YOUR CRAZY DOG!
Panicking the boy brought the manual up. While looking at the main menu the boy tried to calm down and think things through.
'Holy crap, that didn't went as I imagined.' If Harry could breath right now he would be panting.
The boy's thoughts were spinning very fast. What should he do? Should he continue the fight? Should he load and go back with a weapon? Should he run? Maybe he should try to climb a tree and throw things at the beast?
Calming down a little he used his paused time to think. With a simple mental command his Character sheet was displayed.
'I'm a 3 points character. I'm so weak that isn't even funny...' As he studied his sheet he had to concede that comparatively he was not that weak, sure, he was a 3 points character, and all his skill points were applied in ways that don't help in any way in this situation. But, when faced with another kid of his age he would probably be well matched.
Now, against the dog was another history...
'Whatever I try, I'll have to spent my only remaining point. I really doubt that this dog can kill me with a single bite so, I could try fighting with him. If that doesn't work, I can always load and try again later.'
Using his unspent point on brawling, Harry readied himself and resumed the game.
The dog immediately tried biting Harry's face but wasn't very successful. In response the boy tried punching the animal. He hit it but the dog didn't appear to feel it.
The messages keep replacing one another, our hero simply was too busy to pay any attention to it. The dog strikes and the boy try to parry with his hands, sometimes the dog misses, sometimes the boy succeeds on his attempt to parry and sometimes the boy strikes the animal.
To someone watching from outside, the fight was rather pathetic. The dog is not that big and his bites don't do that much. On the other hand, the boy is not skilled also and his punches are too weak to actually do anything.
The first blood came out of a bite. The boy screamed a little at it and the dog tried unsuccessfully bring the adversary down. Changing tactics the boy ran from the animal, looking for an upper hand.
The animal followed for a little while but then jumped on the boy's back. Had he been as big and heavy as Dudley, maybe he could remain standing. Being who he is, he came down.
Desperate the boy was looking for anything that could help him on the situation, but the dog, once again sunk his teeth on him, this time on his right leg. Groping for something on the ground, the boys fingers grabbed something hard.
Raising again the boy readied his new found weapon, a single misshapen rock. A little too big and somewhat difficult to handle, it was still a little better than his bare hands.
It took several swings until Harry was able to hit the dog with the stone and, with sudden inspiration, the boy called his luck advantage on the damage resolution roll.
It worked, the dog whined and backed off the young man. Both human and animal watched each other in a staring contest. The dog lowered his head and bared it's fangs. The boy answered by tilting his body forward and raising his stone.
- You know what dog? I won't leave without the damn cat. You can bet your life on it.
It was not clear if the animal understood. Both fighters circled each other looking for weakness. The dog was fixed on the boy, the boy not so much. Green eyes moved around looking for something to help him with this situation.
And them the boy sneered. Moving slowly the boy put himself a little further and positioned himself over some small rocks.
- See if you like that, dog!
And he threw the rock at his adversary. He missed, but the dog moved anyway. Not giving a rest, the boy grabbed another rock from the ground and launched it too.
"Skill unlocked: Throwing."
And the boy missed, and missed, and missed, he kept missing for a long string of throws. But some of them hit, and one of it caused some whining from the dog.
At the end the dog gave up and ran. The battered boy simply was too tired to do much more than look while it left.
'I'm hurt and bleeding. My clothes are reduced to shreds and I'm dirty and sweaty. But God is my witness that I won this fight!' What the boy haven't admitted was that he just barely scared away a half-starved mongrel.
- Now, where is the damn cat?
Harry was not finished yet. He found the black and white cat on the top of a tree. The stupid feline climbed there, probably to escape the dog, and now he couldn't go down.
When Harry tried to climb up and failed he once again cursed to the heavens whoever designed this damn game.
"Skill unlocked: Climbing"
"Skill check: Climbing – Fail."
The cat was so close, and at the same time so far away... And the boy tried again, and again, and again... Every time, he failed.
Consulting the role log the boy found that he had a default skill of 4 to climb, but climbing a simple tree apparently gave him a +5 bonus. The problem is that at every try, this bonus goes down by 1. By the last try he had only a +1 bonus. Too bad that he didn't wait for his luck advantage to refresh...
'Well, that will be my last try, after that I'll look someone to help me.'
"Skill check: Climbing – Critical success"
And the boy climbed the tree like he was born to do it.
He finally got the cat only to fall on his way down. He also received a scratch from the cat for his trouble.
He now could add to his list of great achievements. Right next to being the boy-who-lived, triwizard champion and basilisk slayer, he now could also say that he was the conqueror of the dog and savior of Half-moon.
- Let's go Half-moon. Let's find Mrs Figg.
"Character: Harry Potter Age: 10 Total Points: 4 Unspent: 0
ST: 7 (0) Fatigue: (7) 4 Parry: 7
DX: 9 (0) Hit Points: (7) 2 Block: -
IQ: 8 (0) Magic Points: (30) 30 Dodge: 5
HT: 7 (0) Mov. Speed 4
Damage: Thrust: 1d-3 Swing: 1d-3
Advantages: (+65)
Magic Aptitude +3 +0
Reputation: The-boy-who-lived +3 (hero, Magical society, All the time) +0
Alertness 2 +10
Combat Reflexes +15
Danger Sense +15
High Pain Threshold +10
Luck +15
Disadvantages: (-65)
10 years old (-3 ST, -1 DX, -2 IQ, -3 HT) -0
Curse Scar -0
Enemy: The Dark Lord -0
Reputation -2 (delinquent, Little Whinging, All the time) -5
Bad Sight -10
Skinny -5
Bad Temper -10
Impulsiveness -10
Lecherousness -15
Sense of duty (Hero Complex) -10
Skills:*
Brawling (P/E) 1 9
Cooking (M/E) 2 9
Gardening (M/E) 1 8
Inventory:
Worn summer clothes. 1Kg 0 RD, 0 PD.
Mended Glasses. 0kg.
0 Galleons
0 Pounds"
* I removed all the skills that Harry has unlocked but haven't spent character point in from the list. I keep track of them on my notes though.