Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any other references you might notice in this fanfic.
A/N: Lets start off by answering some questions.
One of the major concerns I received last chapter was about Charles' height. Some said that 5'6'' was to big for an 11-year-old which I agree. However, what most of you failed to remember is that Charles isn't 11, he is 12. Halloween was his birthday remember :)
Another thing I would like to clarify is that Charles is going to be tall as an adult. In my mind I always pictured him as Claude from Black Butler who I think is 6'4'' or something. It might help if you thought of him as such too.
First, 1Batman4u: Unfortunately I just looked up Tonks school years and found out that she already graduated before Harry entered Hogwarts. Thought I still plan to make an appearance, but it will have to be during summer vacation.
Second, Sorry but no Ravenclaw heir or something similar like him being from some important lost noble wizarding house. He is straight up muggle-born, what he wants he will have to take by himself.
Third, I agree that his strength might call attention but I doubt anyone in their right mind would think a first year muggle-born who sucked at magic during his first month at school would be able to get his hands on strengthening potions or be advanced enough for strengthening rituals. I'm also sure that the school teams aren't as strict as professional teams that would warrant them to take drug tests or something. Or maybe they do, but either way all their test would show up negative.
Fourth, coldblue52: to your first question, yes. Charles and Daphne will form an alliance with each other though it will be small at first. More on that in the next chapter. Arcane mirror will be explained in this chapter. And finally, werewolf transformation? I have thought about it but I'm still on the fence, we will just have to wait and see.
Fifth, pairings are still undecided. Romance right now isn't my main concern, sorry.
Chapter 10
The days blurred as we quickly made it into frosty December.
With the holidays only a few days away, all the students were too excited to focus on the lessons. Even the teachers couldn't wait for the break as they made very little attempt to rein the rowdier students and just assigned busy work for the final week.
The next Quidditch match wouldn't be until February so practice had been much lighter.
With so much free time on my hands I decided to take a break from fighting to strengthen my relationship with my housemates before the break. Which was why we were currently having a snowball fight against the Hufflepuffs.
Grabbing a handful of tightly packed snow, I jumped over the barricade and sent a snowball at a Third Year Hufflepuff.
[You sense danger.]
I rolled out of the way of a barrage of snowballs, curtesy of a young witch that was waving around her wand. If I didn't know any better, I'd think the Puffs were still angry over their recent loss, as a majority of their attacks were 'accidentally' sent my way.
"I got your back," Terry shouted as he jumped over the snow fort waving his wand and sent his own set of snowballs at the enemy.
Slowly more and more people began to take out their wands.
Looks like Hufflepuff was determined to payback Ravenclaw for the match, as things started to rapidly escalate with both sides slowly drawing in more people.
What had at first become a friendly fight had descended into full blown war. The older students began to animate snowmen to charge at the enemy. Ice fortresses were built in an instant with cannons mounted on the walls. Eagles made out of snow would swoop down releasing snow 'eggs' on top of the Puffs, while snow badgers would dig pitfalls under unsuspecting Ravens.
Everyone was laughing as they dodged the various attacks, or at least they were until a large snow rabbit was summoned and started attacking everyone indiscriminately. If the ensuing chaos gave me enough time to escape, then it was just a happy coincidence.
Deserting the battle, I half dragged Terry into the Great Hall.
"I can still fight," he muttered a little woozy from being kicked 15ft in the air by the giant rabbit.
"Sure you can soldier," I told him as I retrieved two mugs from a tray which magically filled up with hot cocoa. Giving him one I took the other, only for it to snatched from my fingers by Padma who was shivering from the cold.
She was followed closely the rest of the First Year Ravenclaws.
"What? Had enough fun already?" I said after standing up and getting a cup for everyone.
Antony was the one that answered as he shook his head, "That's not it, things were getting to intense. Flitwick and Sprout joined the battle along with the older students."
Taking a sip from the cup I gave wince, "Oooh. Then it's a good thing we left when we did."
"I'll say, I happened to see one of the snowballs hit a passing McGonagall," Lisa commented.
No sooner that she had said that did a group of students walk into the Great Hall looking like they were on a mission. They went over to the Gryffindor table and gathered everyone there before heading back out again.
"Looks like things are just getting started," I told them with a sly smile.
Antony sipped from his cup and looked at them, "How much do you want to bet that the Slytherin will get involved now?"
"No need to bet," Padma said pointing to the Slytherin table whose members were getting up one by one and heading to the exit.
Giving them a look I asked, "…So, anyone ready for round two?"
They looked between each other before grinning,
"Well Ravenclaws stick together right?" Terry said with a smirk, "Birds of a feather and all that."
"Here! Here!" we chorused as we raised our mugs and downed the last of our drinks before running to the entrance.
-Break-
Packing the last of my clothes, I sat at the foot of my bed and went over my plans for the holidays.
Tomorrow I would be going back to the orphanage, or rather, for the first time.
I had already sent the caretaker a letter earlier that week so that they could pick me up. The address was thankfully written down on some of my belongings.
Seeing as I had no prior memory of this life, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to act. The few pictures and belongings I had were not enough for me to fill in the gaps, but luckily, I had a plan for that.
I admit that I was curious what my home situation was like, as it was such a stark difference to my previous life. Though honestly, I was more interested to see what the 1990s were like in this world. Just to what extent had the involvement of magic affect the world?
I was also hoping to stock up on certain items while I was there. Maybe get a burger or two.
Either way, I was ready. There was only one last thing I had to do.
-Break-
"Happy birthday!"
"Well, well, color me impressed. You did remember?" Daphne said with a poorly concealed smile as she took the large square box from my hands, only to nearly drop it, surprised by the weight.
She gave me a questioning look before taking the box to a nearby desk and opening the lid. "Augh?"
Reaching inside she pulled out puzzle box that was a cubic foot in size. It was beautifully crafted with each side having the face of a different animal. A ring of six keys sat at the bottom of the present box.
"Originally, I was planning to give you a necklace, but thought this might be more useful," I informed her.
"O-oh, I s-see?" she said with a brittle smile, "How thoughtful."
I gave a snort, as I took the puzzle box from her hands and then retrieved the keys, "Here, I'll start you off." I turned it so that the face with the eagle head was facing upwards, then I fiddled with some of the decorations before grabbing the eagle and twisting it a full 360 degree, where its mouth opened to reveal a keyhole.
"Your real present is inside. I don't want to spoil the surprise but it's something that you want," I said purposely being vague.
"It's just like a Ravenclaw to give homework for a birthday present," she said mockingly.
"Oh, don't be like that Princess. I'll tell you what, if you still haven't figured it out by the time the holidays end, I'll show the solution when we get back. If you do manage to solve it, then I promise you another favor. Deal?"
I could see her biting her lip carefully thinking it over before she finally responding, "…Oh fine!" She took the puzzle box and held it experimentally, "I do like a challenge."
"I know."
(Hogwarts' Express)
"Oh good, I was hoping to get to talk to you one last time," I said spotting the bushy haired Gryffindor after opening the compartment door.
"Well I'm here," Hermione said closing her book.
Putting my trunk away I turned to her and began to make small talk, "Have you finished your Holiday assignments yet?"
"Obviously?"
"Me too. Do you want to go over each other's papers?" I offered, giving her a challenging look.
With a haughty laugh she began to rummage through her trunk, "Where do you want to start?"
"Let's start with transfiguration essays."
For the next hour we graded each other's paper, Hermione giving a triumphed cheer whenever she found one of the mistakes I had purposely left in. We took turns debating over the topics we had chosen to write about, trying to convince the other over who was more right.
Once we were finished, we started to search for new topics to talk about that ranged from past homework assignments to movies we had seen. I could tell that she was happy to finally have someone intelligent to talk too.
"All I'm saying is you could have been nicer to the Hufflepuff team," she said crossing her arms.
"And I keep telling you that Quidditch, isn't a nice sport," I countered causing her to huff.
I took this moment to check how far she had advanced.
Hermione Jean Granger LV 13
Title: Rival
HP: 410/430
MP: 480/480
STR: 5
DEX: 6
VIT: 38
INT: 43
WIS: 9
LUK: 10
Her stats were very well for her level, and despite INT not directly correlating with overall intelligence for us wizards it did manage to paint her in a favorable light.
She also had the highest level among the first years, not including me, and was a good five levels higher than both Harry and Ronald.
The rest of the trip passed by in a breeze, with the train finally docking into the station a couple hours later.
Looking out of the window we spotted a number of parents already anxiously waiting on the platform.
"Here let me help you with that," I offered, taking her luggage in one hand, not giving her time to protest.
Walking through the reuniting families we scanned the crowd for our respective guardians.
"Hermione! Over here sweetie," a voice yelled a distance away.
"Looks like we found your parents," I told her, pointing to the two adults that looked very out of place among the wizards.
"Zip it," she ordered as she ran to meet her parents and was quickly embraced by them.
Strange. For some reason the scene left me feeling cold inside.
After they broke apart, I took that as my cue to step forward still carrying the heavy luggage.
Emma Granger LV 5
Dan Granger LV 5
Well I'll be damned, the fans actually got it right. Either that, or God grew incredibly lazy.
"Oh? And who might this be," Mrs. Granger asked, turning to her daughter with a mischievous look.
"Ah, this is Charles, he's a …friend?" she said the last part hesitantly.
I rolled my eyes good naturedly, as I placed the trunks on the ground and stuck out my hand, "Hello, I'm Charles Bell, a fellow muggle-born. Your daughter and I study together."
Mr. Granger gave me a look filled with suspicion but ultimately shook my hand.
"Nice to meet you Charles."
"Well anyways, it's been a pleasure, but I have to go now. I can see my guardian over there. Hermione, I guess I'll be seeing you around."
I bid my farewells to the Granger family, walking over to a woman I recognized from one of the photographs.
Emily Taylor LV 5
Title: Matron
She looked to be a woman in her late 40's with a small plump build, not unlike Professor Sprout. She had prominent smile lines around her mouth and eyes. The eyebags and grey strands of hair were clear signs of early aging, likely due to the stress of having to take care of so many children.
"Hello, Dear. Are you ready to go? Have everything?" she said as I walked toward her.
Using my best smile, I held up my luggage, "All here Ma'am."
"Wonderful, well we better get back now. Still have to make dinner after all," she said with a good-natured laugh.
The drive back was relatively peaceful, as she asked small questions about my stay at Hogwarts. In return I did my best to explain certain concept to her in a way she could understand, trying to link it to the more ordinary subjects found in a normal school. Her attempts to seem interested where admirable but it was clear to me that she was clearly tired from overwork.
After about an hour-long drive, we finally reached Hampstead Orphanage. It was a brown three-story building surrounded by a black iron fence. The entire place looked like it had been in need of repairs for a long time. Standing guard on the front yard was a small, partially-melted snowman with rocks for eyes and mouth, twig arms, and a zucchini for a nose.
Pulling into the parking lot she put the old beat-up van into park and was about to turn it off, when I took out a makeup compact from my pocket. I opened it, showing it to be filled with a pink colored powder that sparkled in the light.
"Ma'am?" I said getting her attention.
"Ye-"
The second she turned to face me I blew the powder in her face.
She looked taken aback by the sudden attack, coughing and covering her mouth for sever seconds, before her eyes glossed over and she gained a dopey look.
The pink powder was actually pollen that I had collected from a carnivorous flower in the Plant Dungeon. It would spray its victims and place them in a hypnotic state, which usually led to their death.
Hypno Pollen-Rank: Special
Description: A pollen taken from the Red Cloud Lily, capable of placing those that inhale it in a temporary hypnotic trance making them susceptible to orders. It gives off a pleasant odor of violets and baby powder.
Closing the compact I turned to her, "Now then, let's talk about my living arrangements."
Ten minutes later I opened the door to my newly assigned room. It was only about 120 ft squared but at least I had it all to myself. The only things inside were a bed and a wardrobe that looked to be fairly old.
Seeing as I've never been one to share if I could help it, this was the only logical solution.
This was just one of the many suggestions I had implanted in Ms. Taylor's mind. The best part was that she would think it was all her idea.
The pollen only lasted a few minutes, but with careful wording it could have permanent effects. It was less powerful than the Imperious curse but what it lacked in power, it made up with subtlety. Better still was that it should in theory pass most magical detection tests as the mind tampering effects were closer to a drug trip rather than magic.
The only real downside that I could see was that it only worked on squibs and non-magical people. The target also had to understand the command, so animals or people that spoke a different language were out. Filch and Mrs. Norris had both been perfect test dummies for this.
I was quick to make myself at home as I organizing the few belongings I had. I made a mental note to go shopping later. In reality there was no need for me to have a big room as I kept most of my things in my inventory.
*Knock* *Knock*
"Come in," I called out, already knowing who it was.
Ms. Taylor appeared carrying a list of names, "Here's the list you wanted. I've noted down information you might find useful next to each one."
"Perfect," I said looking over the list of 50+ people that were currently living in the orphanage, I hid the list under my mattress for now and turned back to her. Snapping my fingers four times, the old matron gave a jolt as she looked around the room.
"Huh?"
"Ahem. Ma'am are you okay? You just stopped all of a sudden. Perhaps you should get some rest. You can finish telling me about my parents another time."
She looked confused for a second before she gave a pleasant smile, her mind already in the process of fabricating a memory, "Yes, silly me. I guess I have been working a tad harder than usual."
"That's not good. You're like a mother to us, we can't have you getting sick on us now," I told her gently guiding her by the arm to where her room was.
She sighed and patted my cheek in an affectionate manner, "You're such a good boy."
"I'm really not."
"Oh, but I still need to get dinner ready."
"Don't you worry about that ma'am, I'll help them out," I reassured her with the kindest face I could muster.
-Break-
[A skill has been created through a special action.]
[Cooking] has been created.
[Cooking] (Passive) LV 1 EXP: 0.0%
Description: Food you make is now more delicious. There is also an additional chance that they might carry certain buffs or effects. Recipes: 1
'About time,' I thought as I looked at the long-awaited skill.
All skills apparently had some hidden requirement that needed to be met before I could gain them. For cooking, I needed to cook at least one meal that was passable. Skill books could ignore these requirements, however.
Problem was that ever since I had earned the title of Overlord, the house elves at school had been extremely wary of me. Little buggers hadn't even let me step one foot inside their kitchen.
I had tried to cook in the dungeons but seeing as I had no prior experience of ever having to cook for myself, everything would end up being burnt to a crisp. There was also the matter of finding suitable material, as most of the monsters I hunted would only leave behind money or crafting equipment, rarely if ever would they give meat.
"All done Charles? Then help me by setting the table," said the plump caretaker, holding a stack of plates.
I turned to her, tucking the compact back into my pocket, "Of course, Miss Susan."
(December 22)
"Will that be all?"
"Yes, how much will it be?" I asked the post owl employee, placing the last of the presents on the counter.
The wizard tapped on his old-style register and a slip of paper emerged from one end, "2 Galleons, 5 Sickles, and 4 Knuts."
I handed him the exact amount and bid my farewell.
Seeing as I still had some time before I needed to go home, I decided to explore a bit more of Diagon Alley.
My first stop was of course Flourish and Blotts.
Stepping inside of the bookstore, I was awed. Never in my life have I witnessed a scene that looked like it came straight out of the nightmare fueled mind of a person suffering from an extreme case of OCD. As someone who liked to keep things tidy, the entire place filled me with discomfort.
Books of varying size and shape were stacked on top of each other, tall enough to touch the ceiling. Quills and ink wells were all over the place, either floating in the air or just lying on the ground. The scattered books would flap their covers like birds and fly around the room making me wonder how anyone was supposed to ever find anything.
Perhaps they used the summoning charm?
Then again, that would be giving wizards too much credit as it would require them to have memorized every single book in the store.
Looking through the stacks of books I had to hold back a snarl of disgust as I spotted a potions book, a romance novel, and a book about owl care all in the same pile. Did they seriously never hear of the Dewey Decimal System?
Walking down one of the rows I used [Observe] on the books to get a brief overview of what they were about.
Book of Extinct Plants Vol. 1
Nightingale: The Story of the Raven Prince
1001 Household charms
How to make your own ink.
Most of them were utter nonsense, but there were some gems mixed into the batch like one book depicting old dueling techniques, or another that showed you how to build a house from scratch, and there was even one that taught you how to make basic armor.
After about half an hour of searching I had a stack of 30 books, many of which were theory based with a few skill books mixed in. Including the books I had bought from Daphne and the ones I had stolen from Hogwarts, my personally library had already exceeded 200 with over a quarter of them being skill books that I had yet to absorb.
"The total comes to 109 Galleon, 1 Sickle, and 18 Knuts," the cashier said, "Would you like them shrunken down and wrapped? It only cost an extra 5 Sickles."
"Sure," I responded with a shrug as I reached into my 'wallet' and began to stack columns of coins on the counter.
It still amazed me just how open knowledge was in the wizarding world. These books literally had the knowledge to change the very laws of nature and here they were, being sold to an underage child for less than a used car.
Walking out of the store, I placed the books inside of my top hat and take a look at some of the other street stalls.
My next stop was the pet shop, Magical Menagerie.
The first thing to hit me was the horrible smell of compost. Luckily, I was well used to smell of rotting flesh, so I was able to ignore it for the most part.
Inside, the store resembled more of a petting zoo than a place of business, with stacks of cages covering almost the entire area. The cries and odors coming from the agitated animals also told me they weren't happy with their current situation.
Huh, my mind couldn't help but draw a parallel to the orphanage.
Anyways, I was here for a reason, it was finally time for me to get a familiar. After all, in most RPG's there was usually a pet system, right?
With that in mind I began to inspect the various creatures.
Frog?
No, too undignified.
Cat?
No, there was only room for one sociopath after all.
Owl?
Good heaven's no.
Rat?
What am I, poor?
Snake?
Interesting, but better to stay clear of those for now.
Nothing really called my attention.
Going to the counter I began to ask the clerk, "Hey, are these all the pets you have?"
Placing down the newspaper the saleswoman gave me an irritated look, "Well we do have one more, though he is a feisty one."
"Can I still see him?"
Getting out of chair with a sigh, the saleswoman went into the back room for a second and came back with a cage.
Immediately I recognized the ginger cat. Crookshanks huh?
I smiled as I reached out a hand to pet him.
As soon as I was in range, I received a claw swipe for my efforts. I pulled back my hand to see four lines of blood drawn on the back even if the wound had already healed. Looks like his ability to sense bad people was true after all.
We locked eyes for several seconds before I finally conceded defeat.
Smiling pleasantly at the witch, who looked like she had been expecting this result, I spoke again, "Hmm, I'm actually more of a dog person. You wouldn't happen to have any here, would you?"
The woman chuckled as she shook her head, "Sorry boy, nothing like that here."
"Oh well. In that case can you sell me a couple of those raven eggs and a cage?"
"Sure, you're in luck too, that batch is close to hatching. Do you want a book on raising birds too?"
"Why not, it's better to be prepared, right?"
After a brief exchanging of money, I left the pigsty of a shop with a dozen raven eggs and a cage charmed to function as an incubation chamber.
Seeing as it was getting late, I decided it was time to finally retrieve Ms. Taylor from the café across the street from the Leakey Cauldron where I had last left her.
However, as I was beginning to walk to the pub, I caught a curious store from the corner of my eye.
Stopping, I noticed that it was a puppet shop.
Walking closer, I spotted a pair of troll marionets dancing ballet in the shop's window.
That reminded me, I had recently gotten two new skills.
[Arcane Mirror] (Active) LV 1 EXP: 0.00%
Description: You have innate knowledge of how to craft enchanted mirrors, which can have a wide array of effects.
Effect: You can create a mirror from thin air.
Cost: 100 MP
[Puppetry] (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
Description: This skill allows you to temporarily imbue your will into an object. You will have a sense of their location at all times and be able to control them telepathically even from a distance.
Limitation: 30 Minutes
Cost: 50 MP
I've mostly been focused on other things, so I haven't really had a time to test them out, though seeing as I was already there, I might as well investigate.
Walking into the store I began to casually use [Observe] to look at the various items in the store.
So far, this store had the best impression. It was clean, didn't smell, and most importantly it was tidy.
It looked like a basic toy shop that specialized in dolls and other sculptures with an almost hippie vibe to it.
A doll house was set up on one side of the room that had little 6-inch people going around doing different activities. Coming closer I was surprised to see just how life like they looked, almost as if people had actually been shrunken down.
Looking up, I could see miniature toy dragon gliding between the rafters. I even managed to spot a Hungarian Horntail, just like the one they used in the movie.
On another part of a shop were a variety of stuffed animals that looked to be having a tea part, a griffin pouring imaginary tea for a purple unicorn.
Attending the counter was a hunchback old man with receding grey hair and large round glasses. Hanging above him from black strings was a wooden, life-sized mannequin dressed in a jester outfit. Behind them were several books on puppeteering as well as different materials and tools one could use to make a puppet.
Going straight to the counter I was greeted by the old man, "Hello there lad, what might you be looking for today?"
"Hello, I was hoping to get some information on puppets."
"Well then, I think you've come to the right place. Always happy to help those looking to learn the craft. What would you like to know?"
"For starters can you explain how it differs from muggle puppetry? I'm a muggle-born so I'm still very new to everything," I asked.
"Yes, yes, I see," the old man nodded in understand as he reached under the counter and grabbed a hand puppet that looked like a clown.
Placing the puppet on his right hand, he began to talk, "Allow me to explain. While similar in scope muggle and magical puppeteering differs greatly in execution. Take for example this puppet. Even without magic it is possible to bring this simple cloth doll to life."
"What do you mean life, I'm already alive you dingus," the puppet said turning to man. Looking back at me it spoke in a high pitch voice, "Don't listen to this old bag of bones kid. He's more dust than flesh at this point."
"Alright that's enough out of you," the old man said ripping it off his hand and laying it down on the desk. Looking at my lack of reaction the old man took out his wand, "Ahem, moving on. As I was saying, normally it takes many years of practice to master this craft many of which will be spent disciplining yourself in order to multitask. Magical puppeteering on the other hand relies less on yourself and more on the doll. Depending on the structure and the material used to make the doll you can get a wide range of effects. For example, when you make marionettes the type of wood you use can effect the personality of the doll. The same holds true for stuffed animals with cloth," the old man explained before waving his wand over the hand puppet.
"Urk," the clown puppet said groggily as it moved to sit up only to stop as it looked at its legs or rather lack thereof, "Aaaaaaaaahhhh! My legs! What happened to my legs!"
Okay, was not expecting that.
It looked hysterically around the room then saw the old man and pointed accusingly, "You! What did you do to my legs?!"
The old man ignored the puppet and went on, "As you can see, with magic it is possible to temporarily give them life."
"Hey don't ignore me you old fuck!" it yelled waving it's fist menacingly.
"With practice it is possible to craft different personalities and such."
"There you go ignoring me again! Fine you old coot, lets see how you like being without legs," the small puppet said slowly crawling toward the old man, who did nothing to stop it.
It got about halfway before its arms seemed to lose strength and it plopped down lifelessly.
"Unfortunately, the effects don't last forever. The less complicated the personality, the more time it has to operate," he said pointing to the dragon sculptures flying above us then pointed to the clown doll, "The opposite also holds true."
Nodding, I began to understand a little bit more, "I see, this is very interesting. Do you happen to have any beginner books on the subject?"
The old man gave me a wide smile as he reached under the counter and took out a stack of books, "These here set has everything you might want to know. It contain instructions on how to make different types of puppets as well as how to crafting their personalities. It even has a few neat spells you can use to prank your friends."
"Great. How much for the set?" I said taking off my top hat.
"15 Gallons for the set. For 25, I'll throw in a starter kit and enough material to craft your first 2 puppets."
Handing over the 25 gold coins I began to look around the shop, with the old man explain what the different tools were used for. By the end, I had spent close to 50 Gallons in both the books and materials. I also got several dragon figurines to study.
"Well it was nice meeting you old man," I said giving the jester marionette one last look, "I'll be sure to drop by for more material."
"I'll hold you to that," the old man said waving his hand.
Old-Man Marionette- Rank: Special
Description: A wooden doll brought to life by the Puppeteer Tom Little. Made out of Willow wood, this crafty puppet acts as the owner of the store.
Back at the Leaky Cauldron I rented out a room so that I could absorb the skill books. With it being so densely packed with other wizards it also gave me chance to practice a bit of magic as well. The ministry would ignore it since they would just assume it came from an adult wizard using magic nearby.
You've obtained the skill [Doll Creation]
[Doll Creation] (Active) LV 1 EXP: 0.00%
Description: You specialize in the magical crafting of the race known as golems. You can breathe life into different materials to give them a form of quasi life. With enough practice you can program different orders into your dolls.
Effect: The doll's abilities will be based on the caster's stats and the material used. Using a soul stone will allow you to extend the time limit of the dolls.
Limit: 1
Cost: 1000 MP
Finally! At long last I had a use for those Soul Stones I got gotten from the zombie dungeon. I must have over 3,000 sitting in my inventory by now.
(Christmas Eve)
While everyone was asleep, I stood alert in my room, watching the clock tic closer to midnight.
Special Holiday Quest: Christmas Royal
Have you been a good boy this year? Probably not, but that's no reason to frown. Rare and special prizes await you in this limited time battle royal.
Objective: Beat the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge.
Failure: None
Prizes vary.
Countdown: 3:15
In the meantime, I went over my equipment.
First was my main weapon, the Elemental Rapier I had received as a prize for clearing the Mirror Dungeon. It was an elegant sword made entirely out of white silver with the protective handle shaped to look like a rose in full bloom. The blade was 38 inches long with a width close to an inch. Near the handle were runic engravings that had the meaning for: Fire, Wind, Earth, Water, Lightning, and Ice.
Next, I took out a handyman's belt and attached 5 pouches with easy access openings. The bags were filled with useful items that could be used in a pinch in case I was unable to use my Inventory.
The last of my equipment was a small metal lunchbox that was rattling. I attached it to my hip with the lid facing outward.
For today's event I had chosen to wear a white sweater and some loose pants for mobility, along with some army boots I had bought from a thrift shop. I had also fixed some of the armor from the Room of Requirements so in addition I had a leather vest over the sweater, a pair of iron shin guards and a single steel gauntlet on my left hand. The right was left unprotected since it was the hand with the rapier, and therefore needed more dexterity, a thing that a gauntlet would only get in the way of.
As the countdown reached zero, I felt myself growing tired all of sudden, and before I knew it, I was falling backwards on my bed.
When I opened my eyes again, I was lying face down on a snow-covered ground. The roar of a crowd could be heard coming from all around me.
Turning myself over, I stared up at a grey snowy sky, which explained why my breath was now visable.
Getting to my feet I noticed that I was at the bottom of some type of arena that resembled that one colosseum found Rome, only made out of ice.
The stand was filled with hundreds of spectators all cheering wildly. The audiences however was far from normal as it was made out of a collection of snowmen, reindeers, yetis, and small people with green hats and pointed ears that could only be called elves.
What really caught my attention however was the man sitting in the place where the Emperor was usually expected to sit. He was wearing a lavish red cloak over a set of expensive looking clothes that wouldn't be out of place for a king, a crown of holly gently sitting on top of his snow-white hair. He was surprisingly clean shaven and fit, looking like a man in his mid-40s.
It was obvious who this was.
I didn't get a chance to wonder more as a new message appeared in front of me.
[You have chosen to undergo the trial known as the: 12 Days of Christmas. You have until sunrise to complete all 12 challenges. If you are unable to complete all 12 task or you deplete the last of your health, then it will be considered as a failed quest and you will be returned to your room immediately. Rest assure that you will not die if you lose all of your HP. Good Luck!]
That was all the warning I got as I received a new message telling me of danger before I jumped away from growing shadow under me.
I had just barely cleared the area as a large explosion rocked the earth, in the place I had just been in, throwing a wave of snow in my direction.
Once the snow settle, I was able to see my opponent.
It was a 50-foot pear tree with a trunk several feet long. A ghastly face looked to have been growing out of the trunk with the two eye holes giving off a sinister yellow light. It kind of reminded me of the Great Deku Tree from the Legend of Zelda franchise.
From the branches came out a small bird that flew around in a circle several times before entering the mouth of the tree. It gave a shudder as if coming to life.
Trent LV 40
HP: 20,000/20,000
MP: 4,000/4,000
As the tree gave a ghostly wail, sharp roots grew out of the ground lashing at the air poised to strike. Some of the pears managed to fall out of the branches, exploding violently when they hit the ground. It was an imposing sight alright.
"…A partridge in a Trent tree. Clever," I commented with a roll of my eyes before jumping away as tree roots threatening to spear me from behind.
I used [Double Jump] to give me some altitude as I observed my opponent.
"It seems to have a decent defense and magical resistance. Weakness include cutting attacks and fire, with its main weak point being the bird. Alright then."
Opening the latch on the lunchbox letting loose a swarm of dragon figurines.
As they flew around me, cast [Puppetry] on them taking control of them momentarily.
With a mental command I made them climb higher into the air before diving towards the Trent.
The tree not being a fool spotted them and used its branches to flick some of its explosive fruit in their direction.
The dolls however were undeterred by the volley of projectile, gracefully flying between the gaps with amazing agility.
Once they were in range I gave the order and they all opened their tiny mouth letting loose cones of fire 10 ft in length.
The flames were quick to set the top of the tree on fire, the Trent giving off a painfilled roar as it tried to swat at the living flamethrowers out of the sky.
I watched from a distance as the dragons were easily winning over the large monster.
Normally these dragon figurines were designed to only give off a small puff of smoke or maybe a gout of flame strong enough to roast chestnuts, but I was unsatisfied with just that. That was why I had taken them apart and installed a Fire Shard into each of them, giving them a boost to their fire power.
Unfortunately, the one-sided battle couldn't continue any longer.
The tree gave mighty yell and raised its roots to cover itself in a makeshift cage. It wasn't done yet as it slowly began to spin, picking up speed with every rotation.
"Wow," I subconsciously let out.
The tree was now spinning so fast that it was only a blur. Who knew a tree could be so fast?
Around me I noticed an increase in air flow. The snow was slowly being drawn toward the center of the whirling vortex that even now was going faster.
I almost couldn't believe my eyes as I say the snow twister in front of me.
I called back some of the dragons for fear of losing them to the crushing force of the roots.
Taking out an acid bomb I threw it at the cyclone only for it to be sent right back at me.
"That's a pretty good defense," I thought before stabbing my rapier firmly in the ground when I notice that I too was slowly being drawn in by force of the wind.
Despite its seemingly impenetrable defense I knew there had to be a weakness.
Unfortunately for it, I had already seen through it as I took control of the dragons I left perched on its branches. Using their claws and talons to cling to the bark the trio of dragons made their way into the mouth and eye holes of the living tree.
With a snap of my fingers they detonated their Fire Shard.
The wind immediately stopped as the tree exploded with the force of a whole stack of dynamite.
I shielded my face and body as best as I could from the debris, but a thick branch was still able to pierce my upper thigh.
Once the snow had settled I saw that the only thing left of the Trent was a wide stump, the partridge miraculously still alive, even if it was badly burnt by the blast.
Without a sound I took the stake and pulled it out of my leg, no wound was left behind thanks to [Gamer's Body].
Momentarily using [Observe] on it, I casually tossing the wood aside as I reached into my inventory and took out a dozen teddy bears, each with a zipper going horizontally across their stomachs. I casted [Puppetry] on each one and made them hid in the snow.
Trent LV 40
HP: 3,000/20,000
MP: 2,700/4,000
With skeptical eyes I took another acid bomb from my pouch and loped it toward the injured bird, only for it to be smashed by a root that shot out of the ground.
As I thought, it was a trap.
Seeing as its plan had failed, the bird gave an injured cry, causing the stump to glow green. It was using magic to reform its destroyed body.
That however was not something I could let happen, so I charged forward. I touched the fire rune on the base of my rapier and ran my finger all along the flat of the blade, causing flames to spring forth.
Using a combination of [Charge] and [Double Jump] I weaved between the on slaughter of roots threatening to impale me.
Breaking through the last of its defenses, the partridge tried to fly away but it was too late as the tip of my sword pierce its chest.
The heat of the flames reducing its body to ash in a matter of seconds.
With it gone the last of the Trent's health also disappeared, the snake like roots falling to the ground lifeless.
The audience exploded with applause.
I glanced toward the white-haired man for his reaction and all I saw was cold indifference.
With a wave of his hand the crowd quieted down and a gong rung twice, signaling the second challenge.
Going by the theme the next challenge should be turtle doves but somehow, I doubted that.
Two doors on opposite sides of the arena were opened and I readied myself for what was to come next.
Instinct forced me to jump into the air.
Crash!
Below me were two spinning tops colliding against each other causing sparks to shoot out.
Jumping away I put some distance between us.
The 'tops' finally slowed themselves down long enough for me to have a good look. The tops were in fact two green turtle shells with foot long spikes growing along the side and back. I almost expect for Bowser head to pop out from one of the holes.
Spiked Turtle Shells LV 30
HP: 1,000/1,000
MP: 10,000/10,000
Momentarily surprised by their low HP I quickly skimmed through their bio and got a brief understanding of their skills.
[Sense Danger.]
I jumped to a safe distance as another Trent crashed into the ground.
"…right, it was two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree."
Well things just suddenly got significantly harder.
The turtle shells had also apparently gotten their second wind as they began to spin again shooting off to opposite sides of the ring and ricocheting off the walls quickly becoming blurs as they reached their top speed of 140 mph.
I scanned the arena for anything of use.
My eyes landed on the tree stump that had yet to disappear and the beginnings of a plan began to form in my mind. I ran towards it, avoiding the spinning shells and cutting any tree roots that appeared in front of me with my blade.
Reaching the stump, I jumped on it and used the last of my mana to cast [Puppetry] on it.
The tree roots quickly came to life.
Unleashing my dragons once more I took out small poches for each of the to carry and sent them off to deal with the Trent.
Meanwhile I focused on the spiked turtle shells.
I sheathed my sword and took out my potions crossbow and a quiver of potion bolts.
Tracing their trajectory, I began to fire bolts seemingly at random.
Each time one exploded an ice wall five feet tall would spring out of the ground.
The turtles bounced off the walls like pinballs until they finally crashed into each other breaking off some of the spikes.
Taking the chance, I made the trunk move towards them by using its roots like legs not unlike an octopus.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see the dolls flying over the Trent dropping potion bomb from their bags, causing pieces of wood to be blown off only to quickly regrow a second later. Each time it tried to spin one of the dragons would drop an ice bomb causing it's it roots to freeze over and break.
Once I was close enough to the shells, I had the roots lash towards them hoping to flip them over.
The shells however noticed this as they seemed to grow momentarily before shooting out their spikes in every direction.
The spiked projectile were powerful enough to destroy the roots with ease.
Batting away a spike heading toward my chest with the back of my armored gauntlet I shot off an explosive bolt into one off the newly opened holes on its back.
An agonizing shirk was heard as the bolt exploded and green alchemic fire shot from every hole on its body.
As it slowly roasted from the inside, I sent another bolt toward the second turtle shell.
Unfortunately, the shell was faster as it sprouted new spikes, the liquid fire falling off harmlessly.
"Tch."
I switch to an ice bolt, but the turtle shell was already moving away.
A look at my mana I noticed that it was at 25% percent.
With a last cry the burning turtle shell became silent.
Spiked Turtle Shells LV 30
HP: 0/1,000
MP: 0/10,000
The remain shell looked to be serious now as it used its magic to launch blue energy balls from its opening, the scene scarcely reminding me of those 'bullet hell' games that were so popular in games.
The balls were more powerful than they seemed too, making quick work of the ice walls.
And so the game continued as I divided my attention between controlling my dragon puppets from a distance and dodging the on slaughter of bullets.
It wasn't until several minutes of this that I was finally able to see an opening once it ran out of mana. My health was blinking red from the bullets that managed to graze me when I got distracted.
Grabbing an Ice Shard in one hand and my wand in the other I send a slashing curse at the turtle shell prompting it to charge at me.
It crossed half the distance in the blink of an eye, but I was ready as I pointed my wand and mentally called out the name of my spell, 'Flippendo.'
The spell met its mark as the turtle shell was flipped on its back still heading in my direction.
Channeling my mana into the shard I formed a curved ramp behind me in the shape of a 'u'.
Jumping, I landed on its belly and used it as a snow sled. I had to cast [Puppetry] on my boots to stop me from simply falling off.
Sliding across the side of the ice ramp I steered the shell by creating more arcs until I had managed to aim it in the direction of the Trent that looked to be on its last leg.
The tree saw us coming however as it sprouted a wooden fence in front of it and send a barrage of bombs our way.
Using up the remainder of the Ice Shard I crafted an inclining ramp in front of me. I cut the root barrier with a spell and used my now free hand to take a shield from my inventory.
Flying off the end of the ramp I crashed the turtle shell into the Trent.
The last of its health disappeared as the turtle shell's spikes pierced it with ease.
Jumping to the side I rolled into a crouching position.
Unsheathing my rapier, I touched the fire rune and charged at the turtle shell which was still stuck to the bark of the Trent. I stabbed at one of the limb openings feeling the blade hit something and with a twist I sent a supply of mana into the blade causing an explosion inside the shell that incinerated whatever was in there.
With that the second round came to an end.
The crowd exploded into cheers again.
I took this chance to down a healing potion and some homemade food that restored mana.
After five minutes, it was time for the next round.
Taking a page from my last opponents I had used this brief break to prepare accordingly.
I summoned all manner of weaponry from my inventory that ranged from swords, maces, war hammers, spears, and even a few axes before using [Puppetry] to place them under my control. I had them float in the air just behind me while I had shields circle around me protectively.
It might have seemed overkill, but the Trent had managed to destroy the rest of my dragons last round so I needed everything if I hoped to make till the end.
The next opponent should be 'Three French hens' but knowing Emperor Claus they would probably be 12 ft tall and would be able to breath fire. Either that or he might just send a cockatrice.
The side gate opened and out from the darkness stepped out…
Three complete normal looking chickens.
(Scene Change)
"Urggg…"
With an undignified groan I turned over in my bed.
The window for a failed quest blankly staring me in the face.
This was the first quest that I had failed since my time in this world.
The last image I had before blacking out was that of a chicken pecking out my eyes.
I was right when thought that the chickens weren't normal.
Unlike the previous monsters the chickens were more suited for support than combat. They had an outrages amount of health and whenever I managed to hit one, it would glow a rainbow color and gain invulnerability for 1 minute. It could also heal its comrades erasing any progress I had made. Life drain was also useless as they healed faster than I could take.
After half an hour of this routine, I was unable to keep up, collapsing to the ground. The chickens then activated their last skill, summoning a brood of over a hundred chickens to their aide and I got to experience the joy of being pecked to death.
It was a humiliating defeat for sure, but I didn't dwell on it for much as my mind went to another place.
With sore arms I opened up my inventory and took out my squad of teddy bears.
I opened up the zipper and reached inside the pouch, pulling out a piece of wood.
Trent Wood-Rank: Rare
Description: Wood taken from a tree that is inhabited by a forest spirit. Years of absorbing ambient magic has given it mystical properties making it an ideal material for magical foci. Wands and staffs made from this wood will be many times more powerful than others.
"Hmph, Merry Christmas to me," I thought out loud.
While I was fighting, I had the bears hid in the snow and collect any broken material in the area. Their pouches had a magical expansion charm cast on them, by a shop that specialized in charming trunks, so they could hold a long of things many times their own size inside them.
What they couldn't fit inside themselves like the turtle shells and the Trent stump I had collected myself minutes prior to my death.
Sometimes you need to force a win from a losing situation.
Still, the entire quest served as a valuable learning experience. It had given me plenty of new ideas, but more than that it reminded me that I wasn't invincible, that I was still just one man, and if I hoped to stand on top, I first needed an army at my back.
It was finally time to put that [Territory Management Mode] to use.
-Break-
Taking a bite from a cheeseburger I stood watch outside of the back entrance to a grocery store.
I was halfway into the delicious fatty meal when the doors opened and I took that as my cue to walk inside where a 17-year-old boy stood in front of a line of 20+ workers, all of whom sported glassy looks.
The youth handed me my compact before stepping back into line.
"Good, now all of you listen. From this day forward you will all do as I command. You will think of me as your Lord and Master. You will not question any actions you do under my control. You will think everything is normal during this time but will have no recollection afterwards. When I speak the code word 'Blue Armadillo' you will fall into a trance like state where you will wait for further orders from me. When I snap my finger 4 times in rapid succession you will wake up from your trance, and do as I have instructed, having no recollection of the events and replacing it with a likely memory."
I made sure to repeat the command a couple more times so that it would really stick before snapping my fingers.
They all looked confused before looking at the obvious manager, "Why did you call us here boss?"
The manager looked confused for a second before he clapped his hands as if he remembered, "Right, I wanted to talk about all-"
"Blue Armadillo," I interrupted.
Immediately they all stood straight and looked at me, waiting to listen to my next set of orders. I let off a small smile.
Walking out of the store a few minutes later I took out a list from my sweater pocket.
Territories
Gas Station [X]
Convenience Store [X]
Pharmacy [X]
Clothing Store [X]
Restaurant [X]
Grocery Store []
Hardware Store []
Library []
Police Station []
Gangs []
Accountant []
Lawyers []
Construction []
City Hall []
I placed an X next to grocery store and put the list away.
Only a couple of days had passed, but I was already busy at work expanding my territory.
[Territory Management Mode: Allows the Gamer to control the different territory remotely without having to physically be there. You are able to collect resources from various business, upgrade buildings, and more.]
Group: 13 Ravens
Members: 113
Buildings: 1 Main Base, 12 Lower Level Buildings
Facilities: 3 Gas Stations, 4 Convenience Stores, 1 Pharmacy, 1 Clothing Store, 2 Restaurants, 1 Grocery Store
Funds: 0
Special Skills: Businesses pay 5% of total store income and 1% of items to Charles Bell. Goods are collected on a biweekly basis.
Functions: Cannot give orders.
Situation: None.
The entire thing reminded me of those idle city building games that you could download on your phone. I even had a 3D map I could call up to check on their progress.
My goal was to have absolute control of Hampstead by the time I returned to Hogwarts. Not because I generally cared about ruling over people, but because it would be less troublesome if I did. I wanted to enjoy my summertime unbothered after all.
Still, I'd like to think that I was helping them out by giving them a greater purpose than what their ordinary lives would entitle.
The best part was that since this place was so close to London, there was hardly any wizard surveillance, at least from what I had seen. However, that didn't mean I let my guard down, always checking the map to see if I was being followed and never using magic.
Speaking of which, I noticed someone tailing me now.
Acting as if I hadn't noticed I continued my normal pace and lead them toward a secluded alley that had no exit.
They were patient I'll give them that as I was able to eat another burger on the way and stuff the wrapper into my pocket.
Turning around I saw a pimply faced 15-year-old shivering from the cold trying to look imposing as he pulled out a switch blade from his pocket. In a nasally voice he brandished his weapon in my direction, "Jacket and wallet now!"
Raising an incredulous eyebrow, I gave my reply, "No."
They walked forward in a threatening manner and I took notice of our similar heights.
Once he was within spitting distance he waved the knife around once more, "I said-"
"I know what you said, the answer is still no."
His face quickly took an enrage look as he charged forward, trying to plunge the blade into my abdomen.
With an almost lazy movement I caught his wrist just as the knife was an inch from my sweater. I didn't really feel like cleaning or repairing it later.
With a simple twist I broke his wrist and pushed the blade into his leg making him to fall to one knee. He tried to scream but I took the burger wrapper and stuffed it in his mouth causing him to gag. Despite trying to rob me in plain daylight, I didn't extend his suffering, as I took the sides of his head and gave it a sharp twist.
He was dead before he hit the snow-covered ground.
I stuffed the body into my inventory until I could dispose of it properly.
One of the few restrictions that Inventory unfortunately had was that it couldn't carry living beings. That however could easily be fixed by killing them first, since corpses counted as objects and not beings. Well except zombies of course.
And it wasn't as if I took a pleasure out of killing, it was just a permanent solution to an otherwise pesky problem.
One of the few great things of being a sociopath was that I wasn't blinded by the normal prejudice that people had. Black, white, rich, poor, male, female, human, monster. To me they were all equal. One random person walking on the street held the same value as a zombie, maybe even less since at least zombies gave me loot.
Even before my reincarnation, I was in full support of the death penalty. Some people deserved to die if you wanted to make the world a better place, it was as simple as that.
Though of course that didn't mean I would just start killing people randomly but I had already unofficial claimed this town as my own, and as such I saw it as my responsibility to make sure it prospered, even if that meant getting rid of the rotten elements inside it.
Take that boy for example. Obviously, he was well aware of his actions, no matter how stupid they might be. If I hadn't stopped his attack in time, then his attempted at robbery would have become murder. If I had simply let him go, then what was to assure me that he wouldn't just do it to someone else, one that wouldn't be so lucky.
Worse, what if by pardoning him it somehow came back to bite me in the butt. I wasn't looking for a Spider-man origin story after all. No, it was better to take care of the small things before they became problems.
After all this town contained a very important asset, one who I currently went to school with, and no doubt wracking her brain trying to figure out who Nicolaus Flamel is.
Not to mention, I've already killed a number of people since I arrived here. Most of the time they had to do with local quests. Kill these gang members, stop this crime, pick some flowers, you know normal quests.
Just two days ago, I helped an abused girl escape her terrible homelife. To summaries, I killed the abusive drunk father and framed the negligent drug addicted mother that was planning to sell her. She would arrive at the orphanage later today in fact. Once there she could finally get the help she needed from her new family.
Not to toot my own horn, but the orphanage had certainly gotten better after my *ahem* acquisition of it.
The residents no longer fought amongst themselves over every little thing for one, as there was now plenty to go around. The older orphans would watch over the younger ones without complaint, and many would even volunteer to do the chores without being asked. Those still going to school had started to take their studies more seriously, suddenly motivated to get into a good university and get well-paying jobs. The caretakers would also run more thorough background checks on those looking to adopt to make sure that the children would go to good families.
Additionally, thanks to a few anonymous donations, the orphanage could now afford to repair some of its broken parts, with enough still left over to buy additional food and clothes. There might even be enough money to replace some of the worn-down toys.
Yep, the orphanage couldn't be better off.
Hearing the ringing of a bell, I walked out of the alley and noticed a chapel a few blocks away.
Taking out my list I added 'Chapel' and continued on my way, whistling a catchy tone all the while.
A/N: Ta-da! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It took me a while. Sleepless night and all that.
Originally the Christmas challenge was to rob Santa Claus but I thought this might be better.
Okay moving on, I know some of you will wonder why Hermione's health is so high again, and all I'll say is that wizards are tougher than normal humans. Not stronger, but more durable as they can survive dangerous wounds and even normally fatal poisons.
Next point is the hypno-pollen. Think geass except in powder form. Also it doesn't work on beings that have magic.
We also finally got to see his Territory Management Mode, a necessity for all overlords and idle gamers. It also ties up with the artifact crafting facility blueprints nicely.
I also figured that wizards tend to either stick to the countryside or be at Diagon Alley, but avoid places densely packed with muggles like cities and the towns.
Quick question: If you wanted to take over a town, what would be the first place you want to take control over?
And finally, I'm sure some will complain about Charles lack of reaction to killing? Well what do you expect, he is a sociopath even more so with the gamer ability. My point is that he is very callous about the lives of others as most game characters tend to do.
Well anyways this is it for now, I'm gonna take a nap.