Content Warning: Threat of sexual assault as a consequence of quest failure.
The outside world was so very different to the cloistering air of her cupboard, Harriet mused, sighing as the wind blew through the trees, whipping her hair about almost playfully. It was just too bad that being outside meant danger no matter how light and airy it was compared to the safety of her cupboard. The invisible man was lurking around, and she could only comfort herself through using Detect Enemies and Observation.
Harriet closed her eyes, listening to the wind and the rustling of trees which made her snap her eyes back open as she sat in the little grove of trees. She hadn't been back to her beloved park in weeks, far too nervous of the thought of seeing those red markings over thin air.
"Here goes nothing," she mumbled, pulling out the seeds she'd stolen from the garden shed – the same sorts of seeds her aunt sometimes made her plant when she wanted flowers for her garden. There was something known as the 'Little Whinging's Lawn Competition', and Aunt Petunia had always been hungry for victory in it. Not, Harriet mused darkly, that she ever really got her hands dirty. That was Harriet's job.
Nature Magic – her skill – was heavily involved in growing things according to its definition. There was more to it than simply regrowing plants, but that was the main aspect she wanted to focus on right there and then. How better to level up that skill she needed to go to Elvenguard than by practicing growing things? A smile curled at her lips as she dug into the soft ground with her fingers, planting the flower seeds in the earth after carefully reading the instructions.
"Nature Magic," she said, activating her skill – one of her lowest levelled ones. Though admittedly she hadn't had much time to practice with it. Magic, after all, wasn't something which could be used at home, lest she wish to earn the ire of her aunt and uncle. Or, at least, worsen it in any case. Harriet was fairly certain she had long since earned their ire for daring to even exist. That was what it felt like, anyway.
[ALERT! Nature Magic (Novice) has levelled up to Lvl.4!]
A smile curled at her lips, even as she focused on the seeds she had just planted, willing them silently to come into bloom. It was a slow process, but Harriet supposed that was to be expected with such a low level of Nature Magic.
Novice, she had come to realise, was the very lowest level of mastery for a skill. Evidently the help functions which came with her status of being a player were of some use, because they had told her that much. Novice was the lowest mastery level, and once one reached level one-hundred, they reached the next stage of mastery of that skill. For her, that would be Apprentice.
Which meant that she had quite a ways to go to complete her first preparation quest for Elvenguard. Stealth and Archery had to be at level fifty of the Apprentice mastery level. Harriet let out a sigh at the thought, watching as little green stalks sprung from the ground, buds swirling and opening to reveal an assortment of coloured blooms.
[ALERT! Nature Magic (Novice) has levelled up to Lvl.5!]
"Huh?" Harriet blinked, staring at the blue box which was already declaring that she had levelled up the Nature Magic skill – the same one she had activated before for a couple of hours before she received results. Her brow furrowed, and she stared at the assortment of flowers which had bloomed beneath the trees. Was growing flowers more efficient or something? Harriet could only ponder on that thought. Though she supposed when she'd had Nature Magic activated before, she hadn't really intended to do much with it. It was just something she had thought she could level up by being in and around nature with the skill active.
[Your problem solving improves your application of knowledge +1 WIS!]
She blinked again. "Oh," she mumbled, dimly noting that it was the first time her WIS had ever improved without her assigning it stat points. It was pretty much the same with her intelligence stat and her charisma stat. She'd always had to assign them points.
Harriet wondered if that only proved her aunt's point that she was a stupid girl who was far too foolish to improve on her own – without the aid of The Player and the stat points that system granted her. Her fingers twitched, and she pulled out more of the seed packets she had found when she had raided the garden shed.
Truly, she wasn't certain why there were vegetable and fruit seeds alongside the flower seeds – because Aunt Petunia had never planted a vegetable patch or grown a strawberry bush in her life. Uncle Vernon had once said that such activities were for poor people who couldn't afford to buy good produce in the grocery aisle. Not that Aunt Petunia seemed to buy much fruit whenever she went to do the grocery shopping at the local Tesco. Vegetables were a different story entirely, not that her uncle or her cousin ever seemed to like or bother eating them.
Harriet tilted her head, peering at the pack of strawberry seeds in her hands, wondering exactly how long they had been hidden in the shed. It couldn't have been that long. Otherwise they probably would have been thrown out when her Uncle decided to do the annual clear-out of the shed.
Humming to herself, she moved from the shade of the grove, feeling ever so slightly exposed as she moved slightly closer to the road – and out from under the shade of the trees. It was a better spot for the strawberries, since they liked the sun. Tilting her head once again, she pondered on how exactly she knew that. Maybe she had read it on the packet? She chewed on her lip, dirty fingers digging into the dirt once more as she wondered about the consequences of improving her Nature Magic skill. Though admittedly, growing strawberries would have been a lot more work without that particular skill. She could bring a plant to full bloom in quite a few minutes. Part of her wondered if that would grow shorter as she improved that skill. Probably.
A smile curled at her lips, even as she worked, planting a long line of what would soon be strawberry plants in full bloom. There was something ever so satisfying to her about growing plants with her own two hands. Harriet wondered if that was her elvish nature showing, or whether it was to do with her subclass of Druid. That was, after all, the subclass which had given her those skills, just like how her mystery subclass had given her those mysterious skills.
"Detect Enemies," she muttered, as had become her habit, relaxing when yet another negative message appeared. There were no enemies near her – no red letters hovering angrily in the air above someone or above a mysterious space of supposed emptiness.
Sprouts sprung up from beneath the ground, growing thicker and stronger as she wished. Leaves emerged, thick and dark green, glimmering beneath the sun as perfect strawberry plants emerged in a long line. Bright red fruits dangled from thick stems, ripe and ready for picking, and Harriet could only go and pluck one from the nearest bush. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had strawberries, what with most of her family seemingly having an aversion to fruits and vegetables in favour of meats and cheeses.
It tasted deliciously sweet, curbing the pangs of hunger which were beginning to start up as it drew close to lunchtime. Harriet glanced down at her dirty hands, pondering on how she probably ought to have washed them before eating a strawberry. Her aunt certainly wouldn't like it if she went home with hands like those.
Yet there was still time before she needed to go back, and there were plenty more seed packets waiting for her use. A smile curled at her lips, the excitement of growing plants and levelling up a skill overtaking her as she delved back into the earth with her dirt-caked fingers. The feeling was terrifyingly addictive, terror of her family's reaction and excitement from ever so slowly creeping closer to completing part of that preparation quest mixing as she continued with her small rebellion against her uncle and aunt's view of magic.
Another blue box popped up, declaring one of many jumps in level of her Nature Magic skill. Her teeth bared themselves in an approximation of a grin, and she let that skill flow through her, watching as the plants she had grown came into bloom.
Red against green was so very vibrant, or so Harriet mused to herself, wondering why so many of the flowers she had planted held red blooms. There was even a rose bush which had grown to partially block off the access to the pavement, hiding her really rather red grove from the road. Trees, red fruits, and red flowers. The combination was delightful to her eyes, and a sigh escaped her, even as a blue box popped up in front of her.
[ALERT! Nature Magic (Novice) has levelled up to Lvl.10!]
A yawn escaped her, and Harriet stretched out her arms, turning off her skill as she realised exactly what had caused her to become ever so slightly tired. "Profile," she said, watching as the familiar blue box materialised for her perusal.
Harriet Lily Potter – Lvl.8 – Age: 7
Race: ElfSponsor:?
Class: Arcane ArcherSubclasses: Druid, ?
Title(s): The Last Druid (Other Titles Available)
HP: 100/100MP: 150/150
Exhaustion: 75/500
"So it increases exhaustion like with exercise," she said, peering at the values of her HP and MP for a few moments before she called up another box. "Stats."
VIT: 10, STR: 6, DEX: 12, INT: 15, WIS: 16, CHA: 30
Unallotted Stat Points: 5
"INT is connected to MP then – not WIS," she mumbled, "and HP is related to VIT." Vaguely, she recalled there being an explanation for HP at least in regards to her Vitality Stat. Yet is also affected Exhaustion as well, she remembered, chewing on her lip as she looked at those five stat points which still went unused. Dimly, she realised she was saving them for an emergency. Part of her was already, silently, preparing for yet another emergency quest – what with her mysterious enemy lurking about.
As if reminded of the possibility of those red letters hovering above thin air, Harriet leapt to her feet, wiping off as much dirt from her hands as possible before she started making the trip back, listening as the trees bid her farewell once more.
Her feet pounded against the pavement, breaths coming heavily as she ran back towards Privet Drive, hot and sweaty and slightly terrified as the light hovered on the horizon. She needed to head back, the bitterness of how close she had come to at least completing the running requirement eating at her.
[DAILY QUEST: PREPARATIONS FOR ELVENGUARD]
•Run: 4.7/5km
•Squats: 0/100
•Push-Ups: 0/100
[Note: As the Player progresses more challenges may be added to the daily quest!]
[REWARDS: +100 EXP, +1 STAT POINT, +Cursed/Blessed Random Box]
Number Four loomed before her, and Harriet felt her shoulders sink. If she'd had more time then she would have definitely managed to run the five kilometres needed for her preparations. If she had more time she'd be able to fit in the other exercises too. Silently, Harriet wondered what sort of place Elvenguard was for her to need to prepare like that. Didn't the requirement to strengthen herself basically imply it was more dangerous than Little Whinging? The same Little Whinging which had at least one person who would take her life. She swallowed at the morbid thought, shaking her head as she snuck in through the garden gate and around the back of the house.
Aunt Petunia side-eyed her as she came in, her gaze narrowing and her nose wrinkling in disgust as she stepped in, shutting the door behind her with a soft clunk. "Upstairs," she ordered, gesturing at her to take her dirty shoes off before setting foot further in the house. "Shower – and don't you dare waste the hot water. I won't have you stinking up the house."
"Yes, Aunt Petunia," she said softly, words lacking the enthusiasm she would have injected into them perhaps just over a month ago. Had it really been that long since she'd become a 'Player'? Harriet could only ponder on the thought as sock-clad feet made their way upstairs.
Once showered and dressed in a change of clothes, she made her way to the kitchen, ready to help and improve her cooking skill. Then there was the added fact that Aunt Petunia was starting to leave her alone more often than not in the kitchen when she was making meals – a consequence of her improving cooking.
Harriet didn't mind though.
She liked the peace and quiet more than her aunt's vocal nit-picking, after all.
She had taken to planting purple and then blue flowers the further into the little grove she delved into. Red went into purple, which then went into blue blooms. Part of her mourned the fact that she was almost out of seeds and an easy method of growing things and thereby levelling up her Nature Magic Skill. Unless, that was, she wheedled her aunt into getting some more seeds – and even then, it would only probably be flowers rather than anything else.
It was coming up to the time of the Little Whinging's Lawn Competition, after all, which meant Aunt Petunia would be popping down to the local Squire's Garden Centre to pick out what she wanted in an effort to try and win the competition that year. Harriet could scarcely believe the idea that she was looking forwards to the same competition she had dreaded coming back around after the year previous.
Slaving away under her aunt's watchful eye as she ordered her to move the pansies to the left a bit and then back to the right a bit had been an exercise in patience. One which she had failed miserably and earnt cupboard time for.
Somehow she doubted the same would happen that year. Well, unless she got caught using her magic… Harriet swallowed at the thought, even as she sat there, debating on whether or not to pay the library a visit in lieu of worrying about the approaching gardening competition. She hadn't gone there since becoming a Player, what with her having so much to do and figure out.
Or maybe she would start going there again once summer came around in full force? Harriet didn't know. All she knew right then was that she wanted to lie in her grove and relax as best she could while hiding away from all her enemies. Not that she really knew that much about one Mr Strange, or about the mysterious figure who had chased her through the woods.
Trees whispered in her ears, the skill for that slowly levelling itself up as she sat there, watching the world go by. She was too tired after the day previous to try and do her preparations quest – the close completion of her running part leaving her, oddly enough, with less motivation than before. A sigh escaped her, a muttered Detect Enemies telling her she was safely away from all of her enemies.
The Summer Holidays were closing in fast when everything finally came to a head. Nature Magic had reached level twenty-five from constant gardening work, and the Voices of Trees had reached a similar level when that blue box finally appeared in front of her. She had been sitting in class until only moments ago, and then Miss Chenhelm had gone and told her that she was being called into the Headmaster's Office to discuss her so-called conduct as of late. It was something she didn't quite understand, given how she was doing homework and participating in class as best as she could. It was hardly her fault that her teacher didn't really like her. Evidently the headmaster liked her as much as Miss Chenhelm did, or maybe her teacher was just that convincing in persuading others to dislike and distrust her.
A sigh escaped her, even as she made her way out of class and towards the third floor of the main building – to the office beside the tall oak tree she liked to speak to during breaks.
Yet when she finally reached the office of the Headmaster of St Grogory's, her blood ran cold. Perhaps if she hadn't had her gaming life then she might have been completely oblivious to the danger that a simple office posed. Or maybe she would never have ended up in that situation, because she would have been plain, boring Harriet.
But she had been sponsored and had been welcomed to the game.
So the office of Headmaster Ian Strange was dangerous territory to her – so much so that she wanted to run away. And yet she'd still have to go to his office even if she ran away right there and then. She was a student there, and students had to listen to teachers – especially when they told them to go to the Headmaster's Office. It wasn't like anyone would believe her if she told them that Ian Strange was her enemy – of the child predator persuasion.
People would probably laugh at her if she claimed that Mr Strange ate children.
Harriet didn't like being laughed at.
Her legs shook, breath catching in her throat as she stared at the door and the plaque declaring his name. She wasn't sure how long she stood there for, part of her wanting nothing more than to flee like she had fled her last enemy who had chased her through the woods.
The door clicked open, the sound making her stomach drop to her toes as she finally caught sight of Ian Strange. He looked like an ordinary man with greying salt-pepper hair, laugh lines, and warm brown eyes. He looked harmless, and Harriet learnt then that looks could be very, very deceiving. "Harriet," he greeted, smiling invitingly. Harriet wondered why it looked so predatory to her all of a sudden. Like a wolf dressed up as a sheep inviting a lamb to its den. "I've been expecting you."
The blue box appeared then, an ode to the approaching terror she felt which almost reached fever pitch right then and there.
[ALERT! AN EMERGENCY QUEST HAS BEEN ACTIVATED!]
[AN EMERGENCY QUEST HAS BEEN ISSUED!]
[EMERGENCY QUEST]
[There is someone nearby who intends to harm the player!]
•Evade your enemy successfully. Run, hide, or fight – the choice is yours!
•[BONUS QUEST] Eliminate your enemy!
[REWARDS: +1000 EXP, +5000 EXP in 'Nature Magic' Skill, +5 STAT POINTS]
[BONUS QUEST REWARDS: ?]
[FAILURE: SEXUAL ASSAULT]
Harriet blinked, staring at the different rewards and the different threat she was under should she fail. Somehow she didn't think sexual assault was synonymous with death. She knew roughly what assault was, but sexual assault? Harriet could only frown.
It couldn't be worse than the threat of death.