A.N. Alright ladies and gentlemen, chapter seven is here! Please enjoy!
To date, I am afraid no-one successfully guessed Harry's house, but I only got one guess; so if you guessed and I didn't get it, PM me and I will take a look. Also, I am still willing to take ideas for the Gatcha, but whether or not I use it is up in the air, and whether or not he gets it is up to the dice.
Oh, and for those of you that will get angry at the schism I added between what usually are two friends in most stories, don't worry, it won't be permanent. After a bit, I am going to clean it up, but in a different way than normal.
I also update ch 0 and 1, as well as the stat sheet, BTW.
Fic rec will be The Game Must go on by crossedge. Harry Potter SI gamer (playing as Harry), bad Dumbledore, and major DxD crossover. Has some adult content, but is quite good.
And now, we return to your regularly scheduled story.
--
…The sorting was rather disinteresting up until Harry's turn. As soon as his name was called, the whole place descended into whispers and muttering. Which Harry ignored. Idiots.
As soon as the hat was set on his head, however, things got interesting for everyone. For one, the hat entered his mind, something that should have been impossible. For another, Harry could see and feel the enchantments on it, enchantments far better than anything that he, or any human, really, could make.
What made it really odd, however, was what the hat said. As was normal, the hat was placed on Harry's head. As was normal, there was a minute of confused silence, where the kid (Harry) looked constipated, and the hat looked like a hat. What was quite odd, however, was what the hat said.
"Mr. Potter, what the HELL are you doing in school?"
Harry gave a disgruntled glance upwards (not actually at the hat, of course. Ya can't stare at a hat that is on your head without a mirror, after all. But he did look in its direction). "F*cking international law passed this year by the ICW made me. Basically, due to the war… blah, blah, blah… for the sake of the betterment of the country (garbage), any member if an ancient OR noble, but not both, which makes so much sense, whose power is economic in nature and they are down to one member, must send their scion, regardless of achievement, to school, in order that he might not leave this world and take his money with him. Which is hi-f*cking-larious because I am the ONLY such person in the WHOLE of ENGLAND!!! So, yay! I got my own law that makes me go back to preschool."
"No need to get snippy. Imagine MY life! Day after day sitting on a fucking shelf, listing to crotchety old men go on about snot-nosed brats for three-hundred and sixty-five days a year, only to be brought down, for one night only; and what do I get to do?! Get set on a series of random, prepubescent, and generally MASSIVELY cerebrally impaired heads to choose which of the four available stereotypes is the best one to sort them into, so they can use it to begin figuring out who to discriminate against, that's what! My WHOLE PURPOSE is to help kids become bigots! And you think YOU have a bad life because you have to spend, at MOST, ten years of your life LEARNING!?!"
"Oh," Harry rebutted, "I'm not saying my life sucks the worst; but you are an overpowered genius magic hat! Just because you can't share secrets, doesn't mean you can't use 'em! I, however, got the job of janitor for the rest of my time here, and if I blow it? I DIE!!!! So, you don't have a monopoly on suck-all living!"
"WELL, EXCUUUUUUUUUUUUUSE MEEEE!!! Mr. High-and-Mighty Boy-Who-Lived gets a warning from his OP magical talents, and, because of this, has to clean his own FUCKING ROOM!!!! BOO-HOO!!! Get over yourself!"
Silence lasted for thirty seconds, until a confusing noise started to come from the platform. Harry, and the Hat, were laughing.
"Bwa-hahaha. Have to… haha… clean… ha… your room?!? HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"I liked it." the Hat said while its chuckles started to wind down. "I stand by my statement, you are far to advanced for school to do you much good, but you still don't know everything. For example, how am I, a hat, supposed to make use of his knowledge? Use this time wisely, and you may come out of it MUCH more powerful!"
Harr sat there for a minute, thinking. Then, hesitantly, he began to speak again. "What if… what if you had a body?"
Hat started, then (as best as it could) stared down at him. "A body, you say?"
"Yes… a body… Hmmmm. Tell you what, let's meet for tea in, say, a week. I have some research to do, and would need to gather materials. No, wait; that won't work. I am at school now, and I have some… projects to complete."
The Hat raised an eyebrow. "Ah, yes. The… ahem, 'projects'. Very interesting. We will need to discuss that as well. How about we meet over Yule. The others will be gone, so we can choose just about anywhere, and you will be able to get whatever you need done, done, and whatever you need here, here. How about that?"
Harry nodded. "That sounds fine by me. It should be more than enough time! In the meantime, try and decided who you are, and who you want to be. The basis of an identity will be essential for this to work, and some idea of what you want to look like would be good. Other than that…"
At the hanging sentence, the hat got intrigued. What else was there to deal with? "Yes?"
"You should probably sort me."
That Hat did its best impression of looking up in surprise, and Harry followed its 'gaze'.
The Great Hall was frozen. The Boy-Who-Lived, defeater of Voldemort, had not been planning to attend Hogwarts due to being beyond its education abilities, and when he does, he gets involved in a massive argument with an artifact that has been around since the time of the Founders? In the middle of his SORTING!?! This wasn't like ANY of the books! What were they supposed to do?
Also, since when did the Sorting Hat curse? And was Harry Potter getting CENSORED?!?
"Ah," Hat said sheepishly, "yes, the sorting. Eh, let's see; automatic no on Ravenclaw. You know enough, and you are decently found of study, but you don't have the drive for it, and they would drive you NUTS with questions and such. I don't think you would fit well in Hufflepuff. Again, you have the loyalty, but it is too specific, to careful, for their 'all in' ways. Then what will we go with: Slytherin or Gryffindor? You would fit well in either… Hmmmm, tough call. You are brave, but you aren't fond of the limelight; have the combat ability, but can't cut it in the recklessness department; you are definitely strong enough, but you favor cunning and circumnavigation, not direct attacks; and, while we are at it, Slytherin is harder to get into, physically speaking, and needs more 'cleaning' both physically and otherwise. As such, how does the Snake-Pit sound?"
Harry pulled a face. "Hissy. Fine, I just want to go home, anyway. One bigot den is as bad as the other… Actually, do either of them NOT have private quarters?"
The Hat chuckled. "Finally, I can reveal a secret. You would not BELIEVE how long I have waited for the opportunity to blab on SOMETHING to ANYONE other than the headmaster! The four dorms are unique, actually! The Hufflepuff has both a communal area, AND private rooms. The beds are equally comfortable in either, so it comes down to preference. The 'Claws have no actual 'bedrooms', per se; instead, they have nooks with beds and private storage space, making it easier to spend long hours toiling away in study. I don't recommend the quarters for you, as you are a private person while you sleep, but the library is MAGNIFICENT! Second-best in the building, and the best is NOT the Hogwarts' Library! Griffs have a boys' side/girls' side shtick, very blah; but the Slytherins actually DO have private rooms! Be warned, however! The quality of your room is decided by where the teacher decides to put you! It could be anything from a sixty-foot-square room with a vaulted and frescoed ceiling and an emperor-sized bed to a broom-cupboard with a throw rug!"
Hearing this, Harry made a face. "Meh, they all sound like a pain. Ok, lets go Snake. After all, I can handle the accoutrements with magic, worst case scenario, but I can't just go magicking up a whole new room; that is far to unsecure!"
"Very well, lad. I look forward to our holiday talk, and have fun in SLYTHERIN!"
With that, Harry's robe's trim turned green with silver edging (at his personal command, of course), he got up and handed off the Hat to McGonagall, and pandemonium reigned in the Great Hall.
--
As Harry made his way to the Snake Pit after dinner (by himself; his classmates left him behind), anyone who didn't know him would say that he looked like he was marching to his execution. Anyone who DID know him, however, would say he was dragging his heels.
On thing that the hat failed to mention, when sorting him, was that Harry had an issue: procrastination. As often as he had a job or study that he wanted to do, he would get on it immediately. However, if the task was the slightest bit distasteful to him, he lived by the 'three D's' of management: disregard, deny, and delegate. Sadly, in this case, he had to cleanse the castle to live, no amount of ignoring the problem would make it go away, and he had no underlings. This was unacceptable! He would start recruitment AT ONCE!
PING!
Quest Alert!
The Path of the King! (Pt. 1)
Life gave you lemons! It is time to start selling lemonade! As of yet, you are one of the youngest business tycoons alive, and you have access to a whole new market; the only problem is, you don't have any foothold in your generation! As a magnate, you can't let that stand! It is essential that you perform at your best form the very beginning. Tonight is the night to start your legend!
Objectives:
] Recruit at least one ally tonight.
] Teach people in Slytherin not to mess with you.
] Do not break ANY rules.
Bonus Objectives:
] Defend one person, at cost to yourself.
] Teach an important lesson about the power of friendship.
] Prove your magical knowledge.
] Establish possible future contact(s).
] Prove your influence obliquely.
] Humiliate one ponce.
] Humiliate one bully.
] Suffer no damage.
] Repeatedly show your powerful magic in a way others can easily recognize.
[X] Repeatedly show your combat power in a way others can easily recognize.
Rewards for reg. objectives:
Contact, Foothold in the magical world, and The Path of the King! (Pt. 2) (unlock time TBD).
Skill: Gift Giver
Skill: Teacher of Secrets
Title: True Slytherin (1).
Upgrade Ally token.
Book of Magical Potential Unlocking.
Rewards for bonus objectives:
] Title: True Gryffindor (1).
] Title: True Hufflepuff (1).
] Title: True Ravenclaw (1).
] Increased ease of future quests.
] Seal of the Follower.
] Skill Token: Regal Air.
] Skill Token: Calm Heart.
] Skill Token: Adamant Skin.
] X1 Skill Token: Mage Upgrade per time.
[X] X1 Skill Token: Warrior Upgrade per time.
TIME LIMIT: Tonight only!
Harry was shocked at this quest. This was the first time his ability had offered him something like this! He guessed that the system had knowledge of magic (it gave him magical knowledge, and had access to enough information of the magical world to send Harry towards convenient work forces), but this was new! It must be time to really get started! Whatever he was given this power for, had to be connected to the magical world!
Then again, it was a magical power, so that really shouldn't be too surprising. That being said, this had to be the first step, of the true purpose of Harry Potter!
With a firm nod at this thought, he looked up, ready to march to the Snake Pit at top speed; only to notice something important; something he had been too wrapped up in his own world to notice. There were half a dozen students attacking him with fists, some sort of bat, and magic! Harry snorted, then shot a quick glance at his stats and the relevant sections of certain skills.
HP: 311,750/311,750
HP regen per sec: 29,469
[Ki] (Legendary (Passive/toggleable)):
Your life-force is dense enough to shield you from minor damage.
Any attack that is less than your HPR is ignored.
[Untouchable] (Legendary (Passive)):
As long as you can sense a physical attack coming your way, you cannot be hit by it.
[Breath of the World] (Mythic (Passive / active)):
Passively grants you knowledge of the world around you, within ten feet, at all times.
[Lord of the Night] (Legendary (Passive))
Passive gifts from vampire form:
No attack under Special can harm you.
So, yeah. His attackers (Dark Wizard's Minion's Fanatical Minion LVL 13, Dark Wizard's Minion's Common Minion LVL 9, Dark Wizard's Minion's Pathetic Tag-Along Minion LVL 5, Dark Wizard's Minion's Thuggish Minion LVL 17, Wannabe Dark Wizard Minion LVL 13, and Dark Wizard's Common Minion (Mind Controlled) LVL 21) were not even drawing his attention, never mind slowing him down, and the physical attacks always missed. Ain't it nice, when passive skills come through?
Chuckling, and ignoring the magically and physically exhausted (not to mention, mentally traumatized) attackers, Harry just… kept on walking. Thankfully, he had a mini-map of the castle (due to his position as owner claimant), even if the only places marked on it for now were his dorm, his classrooms, and the Great Hall. Apparently, in order to upgrade it, he needed to explore and conquer the various locations in the castle that were on his quest, or complete the quest. He would probably clear the Slytherin Dorm one, tonight. Just for fun and research, of course. But first, he had work to do.
Making his way past the blank stretch of wall that turned into the Slytherin Common Room's (at least, if you knew the password, Sophia Est Potentus {A.N. Dog Latin for 'wisdom is strength'. I did this by memory, so sorry if it is wrong}), he paused in the doorway and looked around with bright eyes. Slytherin was the home of bigoted idiot kids; ergo, there was bound to be a 'lower class'. As a student of the House of Cunning, it was time to show these nitwits what cunning actually meant. He didn't have to look long. A group of three older were actively beating up a firstie, who was staring incredulously at her friend that was standing back and letting it happen with a cold look on her face that, to any skilled face-reader, was obviously hiding VAST conflict. Harry started paying attention. Wisdom may be power, but it was knowledge that powered wisdom.
"You are such an idiot, Davis! How dare you bring your half-blood filth into the pure House of Slytherin?!" Yelled a sixth-year boy as he punched her in the stomach. Thankfully, he was weak for a normie (STR: 14) so it didn't really hurt her much (DMG: 12, and that was WITH a critical).
"Yeah, you ugly bitch. What can you possibly offer here? Your family is NOTHING but weak, money-grubbing merchants. You will ALWAYS be lower-class than us." Said one of the UGLIEST teen-age girls Harry had ever seen as she shoved Davis. Was it something Davis, or Davis something? Because, honestly, no parent should name a baby GIRL Davis.
"Look at Greengrass. She knows when to cut her losses and run." The probable instigator, a harsh-looking, snaggle-toothed fifteen-year-old taunted. "Even she wouldn't stand up for your worthless ass, Tracy. Well, right NOW it is worthless. Give it a few years, though, and you can start carrying on the family legacy with it. After all, you have to have SOMETHING to sell. You and I both know that the only person here who is going to have worse magic than you is that scum Potter, not that he will make it here. It's actually a good thing for you, though, that he got sorted here. You see, every year Slytherin makes an example of one of our firsties, the LOWEST first; and, as a half-blood, that was going to be you. Now, however, you get a BRIEF reprieve. Soon enough, though, you will be used as a powerplay by someone, and then you'll end up just like he is gonna."
Seeing his cue, Harry finally spoke up. "You mean, she'll end up perfectly fine, waltzing away from her exhausted and traumatized attackers?"
The whole room, which had, up to that point, been watching the humiliation going on with varying degrees of pity, disgust, fear, or evil glee, jolted as if a lightning bolt had just passed through and every head swiveled to the entrance where Harry still stood. Different expressions of awe, hate, and confusion were in abundance.
The ringleader jerked like he had been bit. "Potter!?! How did you escape? You should be in the infirmary!!!"
"Ah, yes. The attackers that were arranged for me. I am sad to say that they failed to even damage my clothes, never mind hurt me. As such… pathetic insects, I did what any ordinary person with a sense of self-worth would do… I completely ignored them. Let's be honest, their magic was crap and they put no power behind the physical attacks. Now, what is this I hear about you doing something stupid?"
The troll-faced teen sneered, further marring his feature. "You might have been able to avoid them, but let's see if you can avoid this. Diable Infernus!"
As soon as the spell left his lips, everyone over year four gasped in horror and ran away. Everyone else, except the two girls (the bullied and her 'friend') were already hunkered down under cover.
The spell that leapt from the boy's wand however, caused Harry to raise an eyebrow. A fire as hot as lighting and filled with the shapes of various beast, magical and not, came out of his wand with a mighty 'pthhbt'. Really, it was hot, but the brat barely got a five-inch-long, two-inch-wide bit of the stuff out. Harry sighed.
"It would seem that you can't even attack me right. In the sake of making this even more embarrassing, let me help you not hurt me. Engorgio! Accio Fiendfyre!"
When Harry started talking, various heads began to reappear. As soon as he cast, however, everyone rushed to hit the deck. The second the two spells clashed, the tiny evil flame became twelve times its original size, and started to rush at Harry. Many of the more… dubiously affiliated students of the House looked on in morbid fascination, hoping to see the death of the Boy-Who-Lived. The rest watched in fear, either for his life, or theirs; and those that watched were not disappointed. Confused, but not disappointed.
The Fiendfyre spell, crafted in Iceland and one of the few spells that possess a variable incantation, is famous for three definitive traits. First, it is the foremost destructive of the common fire spells, capable of destroying, well, anything, as long as you have the power to keep it going long enough. Second, it is, by far, one of the most magically resistive spells, making it a pain to cast, and an even bigger pain to control. The most important fact about this spell, though, is that it is willful, in a literal way. Each face in the flames is an imitation of an enraged beast that is on fire, making it so the spell itself has the will, and the desire, to fight against its caster. As such, when Harry cast magic ON the Fiendfyre spell, and it worked, then managed to make it sit still with a literal GESTURE OF HIS HAND, everyone kind of just… froze. They would have been even more effected if they realized that annoying pings were going off in his ear during most of his performance.
"You see, the Fiendfyre spell is vastly regarded as one of the most dangerous of the basic magic spells. In fact, it is the at the very tip-top of its tier, and is the strongest flame-summoning charms the average witch of wizard with little to no flame affinity will ever safely have access to; at least, as long as they don't want to go into spell creation or enchanting. HOWEVER, it is NOT a proper flame spell. That why many people have trouble controlling it. It is, in fact, a combination of a chimera summoning-slash-creation spell, a minor familiar contract, and a flame spell. As such, the way to control it is to combine animal taming magic with fire control, and it help to add in an anesthetic charm to help calm the beast(s) down."
During this lecture Harry was waving his had up and down, and the magic was following it, drifting back and forth and practically purring under his control. With a final gesture, he dismissed it, and it vanished without a fight.
"Another point is: when most people try to dismiss it, they normally use flame-ending charms. These charms, in essence, kill the flames. The problem is, as an ashwinder is an actual snake made from magical fire, so Fiendfyre is an amorphous chimera made from magical fire, making it so such spells actually kill it; and what kind of animal DOESN'T fight against dying? It's just a natural reaction! Instead of these spells to dismiss it, you want a transportation spell, one that teleports items to a fiery plane of existence. A common document vanishing and burning spell, used by most magical businessmen to eliminate sensitive business paperwork, does the job perfectly. Now, I reiterate: what is this I hear about you doing something stupid? PLEASE tell me you aren't disregarding a potential resource, inducing divisiveness in Slytherin, and causing mental trauma to one of your classmates, lowering her chances of performing well in class and at social functions? After all, that would REFLECT POORLY ON THE WHOLE OF SLYTHERIN HOUSE BY DROPPING HER PERFORMANCE!!!!"
At the looks of confusion on the faces of the people around him, he sighed and covered his face with his hand, and his voice dropped to near a whisper. "Are you all idiots? Our reputation in Slytherin House is threefold. First, we are seen as untrustworthy; second, as bigots; third, we are called bullies. But this, this is unacceptable. What part of cunning rejects a potential resource due to the F*CKING NATURE OF ITS BIRTH?!? Goblins are nasty buggers, but they are skilled enough with gold that we cannot afford to anger them; yet, due to wizarding bigotry, they raise prices and skim money off the top because we give them reason to HATE us! At any moment, they could just… take the gold and feed it to a dragon. Did you know dragons can eat gold?
If they did that, they would have to go back to pillaging; but if they hate us enough, they could break our economy. As such, you should be honorable and kind to goblins so they DON'T F*CKING ROB YOU BLIND. AND IF THAT IS WHAT A SINGLE GOBLIN COULD DO, WHY HE F*CK WOULD YOU KNOWINGLY ANTAGONIZE A WITCH, WHO CAN DO SO MANY WORSE THINGS TO YOU IF SHE SNAPS!!!! And if that is the case, WHO THE H*LL gives a D*MN about the nature of her birth?!? That is you just BEGGING for castration.
And I know what you are thinking. You are thinking: 'But Harry, of course she wouldn't do that. After all, she would be executed for it.' And you would be right, except for two things. One, you could push her to the point that she could actually WANT to die; then there is this thing called magic, and this other thing called subtlety. Mix 'em together, and it is hard to prove who did what!
And being seen as untrustworthy? How the HELL are we supposed to trick people, if they don't believe us AT ALL. They would always be on their guard! It would be like those Weasley twins offering you candy. What kind of idiot would you have to be to accept it? Telling the truth is ALWAYS preferable! After all, as long as you know how to spin it, no-one can prove you wrong, because you aren't! Lies, however, ALWAYS get seen through in the end.
Finally, where they H*LL is the cunning or ambition is bullying? It is just a sign of weakness! If those that you bully are actually weaker than you, why the F*CK would you bother giving them the time of day? If they aren't, what kind of idiot are you to antagonize them? It is just plain stupid!
I am glad to be in the house of the cunning! I only wish there seemed to be cunning people in this house, as opposed to being such… sophomores."
Winding down his rant, he made his way over to where Tracy lay on the floor and knelt down next to her. He gently touched where she had been hit while casting a minor first aid spell on her, then gently grabbed her chin and made her look at him.
"Finally, how on earth could you not see the potential of Miss Davis, here. She has a vast degree of untapped potential, and, honestly, seems like she would be perfect for Slytherin. Isn't that right, my dear?"
Harry wasn't just spewing, either. Hidden deep in her red-rimmed eyes was anger, hate, and desperation. On her face, covered up by minor bruising and some baby fat, was evidence of great potential for beauty and an aristocratic face, and hidden touches of bitterness and a grudge blooming. Not to mention her stats, which, while below average in physical areas, had a WIS of 75 and an INT of 47. All this, however, was only at the age of eleven, when she was weak, malleable, and untapped as of yet.
After a few minutes of staring at each other, Harry's face changed like he just came to a decision. "You, my dear, seem to be in need of a patron, someone powerful to pay for your growth and protect you as you grow. As it just so happens, I appear to be in need of help as well; a local, if you will, to point me in the right direction and help me get the lay of the land as far as the wizarding community is concerned. How about this: I will guard you and help you develop for the next, oh, four years; three for teaching, and one where I start letting you do things on your own. In exchange, you can help me get a feel for the nature of the wizarding world, and point me in the direction of the essential knowledge. At the end of the four years, we can… renegotiate as necessary. Sound good? Or do you not need an… assistant for other, similar problems? I won't be actively defending you, of course; that is far too short-term. Instead, I will teach you how to do it for yourself."
Tracy Davis's thought were whirling. Was this a trick? Could he be serious? And would she be willing to walk beside him, to help him? Could she afford it? Could he? Did she really have the potential he said she did?
In the end, however, it wasn't these things that made up her mind. She was, after all, an almost-teenager, and it was something personal that tipped the balance. Her friend, her ONLY friend, her dearest friend, the one who she helped through the loss of her mother, was staring at Harry's back with a hateful expression. This made her want to refuse. Right next to her, standing close enough to indicate familiarity, was the girl who had pushed her and called her worthless. That changed things.
"I thought I had someone like that. I guess I was wrong. I would be pleased to accept, Mr. Potter, at least as far as I am able."
The look of shock and betrayal, of hurt and confusion, on Daphne's face made it all worth it, even if she would be crying herself to sleep over being abandoned by her friend. Still, she had a new friend now, and it… didn't make her feel any better at all.
"Very good, my dear. I am glad we could come to an arrangement. Now, I am afraid I have some business to take care of for tonight, so how about we meet for breakfast tomorrow to discuss it. Say, around eight?" Harry said, straightening up and offering her a hand.
"That would be lovely. Thank you for your help, Mr. Potter."
"No problem, Miss Davis. Ladies, gentlemen, please think on what I said, and goodnight." So saying, Harry turned to walk away, but found his path blocked by four boys, one skinny, pale, and blonde, two thuggish, a decently noble-looking one, who looked nervous, and a skinny and somewhat ill-favored girl with an upturned nose.
The pale boy spoke up. "Look, Potter, I don't know who you think you are, but I am Draco Malfoy, and I am the one who calls the shots in our year group, got it?"
Harry stared at him blankly for a minute, then grinned. "Absolutely, my dear boy. I have NO interest whatsoever in dealing with most of these… children, only those with potential. As such, you can be certain I will leave you, your friends, and a majority of your allies alone."
Draco grinned smugly at this, then froze as the words sunk in and started stuttering. Before he could respond to Harry, however, he had moved on to the nervous youth.
"My, my, Mr. Nott. I am surprised to see you standing against me; after all, your father and I are currently in the middle of some… delicate negotiations, and it would be a pity if something broke down our discussion, don't you think?"
Theo Nott looked confused. "What do you mean? My father only has one deal going on right now, and it is for…"
"… the farmlands, yes." Harry interrupted, causing the other boy to turn chalk-white, "and my question stands."
"Yes… um, sir… it would be a shame. I am SO sorry for my rudeness, I had NO idea that you were the person he was bargaining with!"
Harry nodded understandingly. "I get it, you were never around when I was meeting with him. Still, perhaps a little more decorum from you, in future? You never know when a thoughtless word or a careless action can cause… trouble, eh?"
"Yes, sir!" Theo said with a boy, and he quickly grabbed all four of his compatriots (impressing Harry, as it was no small feat to grab ahold of four people at once) and dragging them out of Harry's way. Harry gave them a nod, moved over to a specific section of wall, and walked right through it, much to the shock of the room. A sixth-year who was sitting nearby jumped up and started examining the wall, but found that it was just as hard as every other piece of wall in the common room. At this, the room broke out into muttering and chatter, while a greasy-headed teacher, who no-one had noticed was there, glowered at where the pre-teen had vanished, the spun around, his cape flaring, and stalked out.
Meanwhile, Daphne Greengrass ran up to her friend Tracy Davis. "Tracy, what are you doing? I was supposed to protect you in Slytherin! We agreed on that. We have been planning this since we were eight!"
"Yes, Daphne, you were supposed to defend me; but you didn't. HE did. And you seemed AWFULLY chummy with the girl who was pushing me around." Tracy said as she straitened her clothes. "If you can't deliver, I have no reason to make a deal with you. Now, if you will excuse me, I need some sleep. I have had a rough night that included more than one emotional shock, a minor beating, and a friend betraying me." With that, she stalked off to her room to cry herself to sleep.
Daphne stood there staring after her friend, unsure what went wrong. She did exactly what her father told her to, saw to it the Tracy would have a minor reminder of her place, and, instead of shoring up their weakening relationship, it looked like she lost her only friend and ally! She needed advice.
With that thought in mind, she ran off to send a letter to her father. He understood how people worked, and he would ALWAYS provide her with good advice. After all, he had been grooming her to take over for him since she was six, and he knew that she was better than everyone else. He said so every night!
--
Completely unaware of the turmoil he was causing, Harry made his was through the 'Cleaning Slytherin Tower' dungeon, a rather easy thing to do, as it turns out. The only really interesting thing was, the enemies were all odd magical monsters made from mutated familiars and pest, and magic elementals. That is to say, they were elementals, but the element was 'magic' or 'dark magic' (mostly the latter), not fire or water or anything like that. As such, beating those things involved dispelling charms, cleansing rituals, and magic-absorbing runes. The boss was… vaguely interesting. 'Hydric Chimera Abomination LVL 67' proved hard to beat due to its magical and physical regeneration, which surpassed Harry's. In the end, however, its own twisted physique dropped its agility to less than twenty, and it wasn't actually powerful enough to hurt Harry, as its attacks were mostly poison-based.
The loot was just as disappointing. One-hundred and thirty-four wands, most of them broken and none of them very good, a massive junk-grade grimoire called 'long-forgotten, mostly ungraded homework notes of past Slytherin students', about twenty-thousand galleons (almost entirely in small change) and a MOUNTAIN of clothes, mostly socks. Harry burnt everything except the usable wands, the grimoire, and the gold.
Mentally exhausted, he made his way to his dorm room (a broom cupboard with a bed. It was larger than his cupboard at home, and the bed, while hard, was WAY better quality than the ripped rug he normally slept on) and flopped down on his bed to go over his gains for today.
PING!
Quest Complete!
The Path of the King! (Pt. 1)
Life gave you lemons! It is time to start selling lemonade! As of yet, you are one of the youngest business tycoons alive, and you have access to a whole new market; the only problem is, you don't have any foothold in your generation! As a magnate, you can't let that stand! It is essential that you perform at your best form the very beginning. Tonight is the night to start your legend!
Objectives:
[X] Recruit at least one ally tonight. (0/1)
[X] Teach people in Slytherin not to mess with you.
[X] Do not break ANY rules.
Bonus Objectives:
[X] Defend one person, at cost to yourself.
[X] Teach an important lesson about the power of friendship.
[X] Prove your magical knowledge.
[X] Establish possible future contact(s).
[X] Prove your influence obliquely.
[X] Humiliate one ponce.
[X] Humiliate one bully.
[X] Suffer no damage.
[X] Repeatedly show your powerful magic in a way others can easily recognize. (8/3)
[X] Repeatedly show your combat power in a way others can easily recognize. (6/3)
Rewards for reg. objectives:
Contact, Foothold in the magical world, and The Path of the King! (Pt. 2) (unlock time TBD).
Skills: Gift Giver and Teacher of Secrets
Title: True Slytherin (1).
Upgrade Ally token.
Book of Magical Potential Unlocking.
Rewards for bonus objectives:
[X] Title: True Gryffindor (1).
[X] Title: True Hufflepuff (1).
[X] Title: True Ravenclaw (1).
[X] Increased ease of future quests.
[X] Seal of the Follower.
[X] Skill Token: Regal Air.
[X] Skill Token: Calm Heart.
[X] Skill Token: Adamant Skin.
[X] X1 Skill Token: Mage Upgrade per time. (8)
[X] X1 Skill Token: Warrior Upgrade per time. (6)
TIME LIMIT: Tonight only!
Titles: True Ravenclaw (1), True Gryffindor (1), True Hufflepuff (1), and True Slytherin (1) have combined into Title: True Hogwarts Student (1).
Title: True Hogwarts Student (1)
You are recognized as a true student of Hogwarts by anyone at Hogwarts.
Easier access around Hogwarts.
No-one at, associated with, or an alumni of Hogwarts will be able to think of you as NOT a Hogwarts student.
[Teacher of Secrets] (Unique (Passive)):
You can teach anyone the things the System teaches you.
You can teach anything you have learned.
Success of teaching is based off preparedness and the INT, WIS, PER, and CHA of teacher AND student.
[Gift Giver] (Unique (Passive)):
Allows you to give anything the System gives you, to others, in a way they can use.
WARNING! SOME ITEMS MY HAVE A NEGATIVE EFFECT ON OTHERS, THAT THE GAMER WOULD NOT FEEL!!!
Loot moved to inventory.
PING!
Hidden Quest Complete!
Everybody Clean Up! (Pt. 1)
You have a house to clean. Get to work ASAP!
Objectives:
[X] Enter a Hogwarts Cleaning Dungeon on your first night.
Bonus Objectives:
[X] Clear a Hogwarts Cleaning Dungeon on your first night.
[X] Clear a Hogwarts Cleaning Dungeon in under one hour. (32 minutes)
] Find a Secret Passage. (Failed)
Rewards for reg. objectives:
100 Assorted Common (5) Stat boost crystals.
Rewards for bonus objectives:
[X] 100 Assorted Uncommon (10) Stat boost crystals.
[X] 10 Assorted Rare (25) Stat boost crystals per minute under (280).
Loot moved to inventory.
Most of the loot was pretty blah. The Seal of the Follower let him create an insignia that he could use to mark his followers, permitting him to know where they were, call them remotely, and boost their stats and stat gains at the cost of my own. The Regal Air skill just gave you a better presence and boosted CHA to 250, the Adamant Skin boosted your basic defense (magical and otherwise) and VIT to 500, and Calm Heart helped you keep your temper and boosted WIS, SPR and PER by 75, so he already had more and better. The ally upgrade token, the mage upgrade tokens, and the warrior upgrade tokens were interesting. The first only let you boost the stat gains and leveling of an ally for one month, kind of like Harry's rush week only not quite as good, but for longer. The tier upgrade tokes, however, provided an ally all the information they need to bump their knowledge up to the next tier, as long as their relevant stats were at 25 X (2 Tier) (so fifty for tier one, one hundred for two, two hundred for three, four for four, etc.), which was OP as H*LL. Plus the assorted stat crystals were pretty nice. If Harry used them all, he could boost each stat by 290, which was… ok. So it was… ok.
It was just… Harry didn't get it. It was a new place, all was going well, he had new things to do; so why did he feel so… displaced and bored.
Pondering this, he, like many of the people he affected tonight, started to drift off into a troubled sleep.