School was... Problematic.

Too many children, not enough adults. And yes, I get that school is a place for children, but if the government would just give the teachers more pay- no... I suppose not, then people would come for the pay and wouldn't care about the students. Perhaps give pay equal to the grades the students get in your class. Yes, that would be better.

It's the first day and since I'm quiet, the teacher honest to Merlin, forgot I was there. Sure she had to deal with kids like Dudley who would hit someone else every five minutes, but to forget a student existed? That's kinda... No, that just isn't right for a teacher, who should at least know all the names of their students.

Thankfully, it worked out for me as I could do all my work quietly in the back quickly before pulling out a book, completely too mature for my supposed age, and spend the rest of my time reading.

[Int 1]

I smiled slightly as I placed down a math textbook on one of the library shelves. You know, I never really learned much when it came to muggle studies. No, not muggle studies at Hogwarts but math and science, even English isn't taught much at Hogwarts compared to at muggle schools.

I remembered the way I neglected my studies when I was younger. I never got praised for being smart, nor did I get punished for getting bad grades, so I just... Didn't care.

That's not going to be the same this time. This time, I'm going about this the Hermione way... Ugh. Just thinking about it like that makes me cringe. She abandoned me. She and Ron agreed with the headmaster to send me off to my death when the time came. They were all for it.

"But harry! Are you really so selfish to ignore your duties and place the entirety of magical England and possibly the entire world at risk!?"

"Mate, you gotta admit, one knight compared to the rest of our side of the board is a pretty good deal."

I clench my tiny fist tightly before sighing. They were ok to let me go off to my death. Maybe they didn't necessarily want me to, but they didn't defend me either. Can't I be selfish for once? I didn't want to die. Would either of them have done it? Would either of them have even considered it?

A ping rang out and I looked up to the map displayed on the top right corner of my vision. A red dot came within the map, which was rare because red meant they were an enemy. And enemies were relatively hard to come by at school where the map cut itself off around. Apparently, the map only shows a specific area at a time. I could check back to number 4 Privet drive any time I wanted, or the uncompleted part of the street outside of the house, but I can't look at the bigger picture.

Enemies are also strange. My aunt, uncle, and cousin, don't seem to pass as an enemy, but rats do, and so do rabbits and birds. I assume animals are my enemy because I can get materials off of them... But not snakes. Never snakes. They seemed to like being around me now. I found one once in my cupboard with me, asleep at my side when I woke up one morning. And didn't that freak me out. But luckily, I didn't scream as I was about to do.

There are also question marks over some people and exclamation points over others. The question marks mean that there's an optional quest available and the exclamation marks mean you've finished their quest and it will only end once you've spoken to them again.

I've been here for a week now. It was... Kinda anticlimactic. I mean, there are quests and stuff to take up my time, but that's usually to help garden or carry some books to the library, or even to mow someone's yard. I get money and an abysmal amount of exp. That's it. Kinda thankful for the money though. No idea If I'll be able to access my vault at Gringotts without my key. Then again, I'm pretty sure I remember something about an inheritance test...

Anyway, back to the issue at hand. I walk out of the library, it was after hours at school, but I got a pass from the librarian since I helped her sort some books. Yeah, not all of the quests were for money, thankfully.

I walked down the darkened hallways, light streaming through the windows. Before I entered my classroom where the red dot was residing. I paused, blinking as I saw a medium-sized injured lizard behind a stack of books.

We don't get very many lizards around here nor snakes, but I just have to find every single one don't I?

A quick decision later, and I had in hand a potion of Remedia. It was basically an antiseptic potion. It was purple and had smoke rising off of it. Looked like poison, but Madam Pomfrey used it on me quite a lot. It stings and smokes, but it works.

{Remedia}

Adder's fork, Hermit crab shell, Alcohol, Avocado, Beetle eye, and Dittany are the ingredients in this healing potion.

70 hp per dose. Also cleans wounds.

I've, of course, tried this on a plant before using any more of it to make sure it doesn't kill anyone. I'm the one who usually goes shopping and I know quite a few strange places that sell strange things. Now I realize they were magical places that sell right beneath muggle noses. That's where I got a hermit crab shell and Dittany. Of course, they couldn't sell anything magical in case muggles happened to stumble inside but there are a lot of ingredients that muggles can see.

I barely scraped by in Potions, but I've written down everything I could remember and made a few potions. This one is one of them. This particular potion didn't use to have Dittany, but it's a powerful healing factor that I added. It didn't react well at first with the alcohol, so I put in three beetle eyes for a stabilizer as it's used in most potions. Now I have four bottles left. I used to have six but... Dudley.

Gently, I dripped five drops on the lizard's back left leg where there was a large gash amongst the scales. After a moment of it struggling, I took a deep breath.

"Calm yourself" The lizard passed as if it recognized the language for what it was before hesitantly hissing back.

"Slytta spick." I blinked. I had never actively tried to speak to a lizard. It appears their speak is similar, but not the same. I can just make out the words "slither speak."

"I am a slither speaker, yes. I'm trying to help." After a moment of trying to process the words, the lizard relaxed slightly, realizing that his leg stopped bleeding and the skin was sealing and knitting itself back together. Albeit, rather painfully.

"Gud slytta spicka" "good slither speaker" Yes, I suppose I am being rather nice to waste a bottle of remedia on a lizard. But this will help me, hopefully. I'm gathering connections. Reptiles will make for excellent guards within Hogwarts.

[Due to unforeseen actions of the player, a reward has been gifted accordingly.]

I pause and bring up my inventory. Only to pause, wide-eyed. A Mokeskin pouch. This pouch can shrink at will and I had one in my last life. Hagrid gave it to me... For my 17nth birthday. A moke is a lizard that can shrink at will. It's a green color and I pause as I looked at the lizard in front of me. Green, about ten inches long, elongated head with small spines on its sides... This is a Moke... Holy shit, what are the chances?

"Are you alright now?" The little guy looked physically alright, but I pulled up his stats just to make sure.

{Moke}

Age: 5

Aliases: none

Lv: 7

Hp: 190/200

Status: Sore

"It ok. Tank ou." I smile without teeth and nod. Thinking for a moment before reaching out to gently pet the head of the lizard.

"Would you like to be my summon? It means that I will protect and feed you as long as you do as I ask when the time comes." The creature watched me for a moment before nodded slowly, tilting it's head slightly. I remember the eating habits of mokes, but not what their preferred habitat is... I doubt I'd be able to emulate their exact need when winter hits, but I can try. If I must, I'll practice an anti-muggle charm around my cupboard if need be and place him in there with me.

I stand, placing the lizard on my shoulder as I made my way back to the library, realizing a little late that the red dot on the map turned green to represent an ally.