September 3 thirty minutes before midnight of September 4
"Rin? Rin wake up, or I'm gonna hold your nose."
A voice begins beckoning me from my sleep. Rolling over and shuffling the covers off my face I come face to face with a smirking Tracey.
"What?" I say tiredly. My voice soft and quiet with exhaustion, feeling as if I've barely gotten any sleep.
"Gotta get up and changed, we've got Astronomy in about 30 mins and wouldn't wanna be late now would ya?" Traceys infuriatingly smug smirk irking me just enough to grab my pillow and chuck it at her, eliciting a squeak of surprise from her to my pleasure as I arise and groggily begin changing.
Tracey off to the side tosses my pillow back onto my bed and sticks her tongue out at me causing a laugh from the background and as I look over I see that Daphne was the one laughing at us.
"So unfair, why aren't you two as tired as me?" I ask, wondering if it was some kind of magical secret that muggleborns wouldn't have been privy to. The two of them share a glance and Daphne answers, "We remembered that Astronomy was tonight and knew not to go for a deep sleep like you did, instead we just prepared for a small nap and we can fit a better sleep later after class." Daphne says with a confident voice as she walks up and begins brushing my hair straight like it was before I went to bed. "Honestly Rin, I thought you were more prepared then that, I guess even you can be fallible."
I merely sit there with an embarrassed look on my face at her explanation, not expecting such a simple answer as well as the closeness of Daphne to me. Her hand touching along my shoulders and neck as her other hand uses the brush to undo all the knots in my hair.
"W-well thank you for doing this Daphne. I'll be sure to be prepared next time." I manage to stammer out, my face seemingly even redder then before, much to Daphne and Traceys confusion. I then hurriedly stand back up and make my way through the door and begin heading towards the Astronomy Tower, the two of them hurrying after me.
We climb the stairs into the Astronomy Tower and take our seats, apparently the last ones to do so as all the other seats are filled leaving the room packed in with all of the first years attending with a tall dark-skinned woman present at the front next to a large telescope. Unfortunately I couldn't tell what kind of telescope it is since Astronomy was never something I was interested in with my previous life but oh well.
"Welcome all of you new students! I am Professor Sinistra and I will be your Astronomy Professor for the next 5 or more years, depending on your alls aptitude and interest in my subject." She says in a blank and uninterested tone, as if speaking to a bunch of statues. I wonder if no one has ever shown interest in Astronomy and so she's given up on expecting anything different with new students. Interesting, maybe I can make use of that to get even better teaching from her.
[Quest Alert]
[Quest: Show genuine interest in Astronomy to earn Professor Sinistra's favor and attention. Gain 20 Affection with Professor Sinistra]
[Quest Reward: 500 EXP, 50 Affection with Professor Sinistra, 100% increase in Astronomy EXP gain]
[Accept/Decline]
Not seeing any real downside to this I hit Accept with my mind and begin focusing intently on her words.
"In this class you'll be learning the names, meanings, movements, and compositions of the stars and planets orbiting our solar system. I trust that you all will take good care of the equipment in here and be sure to take plenty of notes, otherwise once you get behind you'll be stranded and unable to effectively continue." She says, yikes, not even gonna help a student that gets behind? Definitely tired of no one showing interest in her subject so I'm gonna have to really get her interest.
"Now then, the majority of this year will be spent studying the Jupiter and its moons. The topography, orbiting pattern, and meaning of it and its moons." She turns around and waves her wand, causing a massive orrery featuring Jupiter and its moons to descend from the ceiling, settling above us. Professor Sinistra waves her wand once more and Jupiter begins slowly spinning with the moons orbiting it at different speeds, I assume the ones that the actual moons orbit at, as I then hear a familiar ping.
[Skill Acquired]
[Beginner Astronomy Master: Rank Troll(T): Passive Skill: Grants 5 Int & 5 Wis and 10% effectiveness to all Astrology knowledge]
Nice! The more of these passives I can get the better. And if I can get the quest done I'll be able to rank this up even quicker.
"This is Jupiter and its 79 moons, I truly hope that you will all be able to name them all by the end of the year." She begins naming each of them for us causing a flurry of papers shuffling in each students hands as we all begin trying to write them all down to study later, especially since Professor Sinistra doesn't seem to be slowing down or willing to repeat any of them for us. Though as I work to write them down and commit them to memory I can feel the tickle of my Astronomy skill very slowly gaining exp and it is glorious.
Once she's done listing them she begins explaining other facets of Astronomy and what is possible using it and by the time she's done and class is over I can feel my Astronomy skill already a third of the way to the next rank which is incredible.
Maybe the reason people don't show interest in her subject is because she's too good at it? Seems odd but its the only thing I've got right now and will need to factor that in for getting her quest completed.
"Hey Daph, Tracey, go on without me. I wanna talk to Professor Sinistra for a bit and ask a couple questions." I tell the both of them much to their confusion and worry.
"Umm are you sure Rin?" Asks Tracey, worry evident on her face as she watches the other Slytherins leaving, primarily Malfoy and his friends. Daphne on the other hand just looks me in the eye and nods slowly. "Ok then Rin. We'll save you a seat at the table for breakfast when you're done ok?" She says as she loops her arm through Traceys and pulls her away and out the classroom before I even answer.
"Heh Daph knows me so well already," I say to myself as I approach Professor Sinistra as she's waving her wand once more and causing the orrery to recede back into the ceiling. She notices me as I get closer and asks, "Yes Miss Fraener? Was there something you needed?"
I stop before her and look up at the ceiling where the orrery is now hidden and ask her," Umm sorry to bother Professor, but would it be ok to for me to study more of the diorama you have of Jupiter? I think its really cool and wanna try and learn as much as I can." I hope my voice contains enough of an innocent and curious tone to it so as not to arouse suspicion. For once my new body actually seems to be beneficial to me as Professor Sinistra seems to fall for it. That or she really is just that attention starved.
[ 5 Affection with Professor Sinistra]
Called it.
"Oh, well yes. Yes you can Miss Fraener." She hurriedly waves her wand and the entire orrery comes back down, noticeably lower then before allowing for a closer look at each moon orbiting Jupiter. I begin taking closer steps towards it and once I'm right next to it I ask the Professor, "Professor, can you tell me about this spot on Jupiter? It seems odd that there'd be something like that on a gas giant."
[ 5 Affection with Professor Sinistra]
Professor Sinistra looks at me startled as if I asked something crazy before answering, "I'm surprised you knew Jupiter is a gas giant Miss Fraener. Not many your age would know that or think to ask about the Great Red Spot in particular." She gains a more lecturing tone as she uses her wand to light up the Great Red Spot. "Well to answer your question we don't know for sure but I've heard that the centaurs use its position on Jupiter to help them determine the future. Other them that not much has been learned about it even in the muggle world."
I hum lightly in understanding and comment, "I see, I'll have a lot of studying to do then, wouldn't wanna be outdone before the class even begins to get going." I state to Professor Sinistra, her eyes widening slightly as she then says, "If you want... you can come and study the material in class with me whenever you'd want Miss Fraener."
I inwardly smirk at how easy that was to get from her and accept her proposal, "Of course Professor, I'd be happy to do so! The stars and planets seem really interesting, so the more I can learn about them I will. Though... I don't think I can come every day or anything." I say with a slightly sad tone at the end.
Professor Sinistra doesn't seem to mind and is sure to tell me as such, "Thats no worry Miss Fraener, come by as often as you want or feel you need. I wouldn't want you to get behind in any other class just to focus on mine." She says with a surprisingly warm smile on her face before continuing, "I'll be sure to have something available for us to go over during each visit if there isn't anything you need help with ok?"
"Of course Professor." I say happily, ecstatic at how easily I was able to earn her trust like this. I quickly say my goodbyes and exit the classroom.
[ 1 Affection with Professor Sinistra]
Already over halfway to completing that quest after a single day, suuuper easy if I do say so myself.
"Well if it isn't the mudblood," As I turn the corner away from the Astronomy Tower I run into Malfoy with Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him. I groan at having my fun ruined already before answering back, "And what is a mudblood Malfoy?"
"Tsk. So Daphne hasn't told you, I expected better of her but oh well. A Mudblood is those of your kind, those with muggle parents." He says with a sneer on his face, Crabbe and Goyle making disgusted faces as well afterwards like they ate something foul. "Creatures like you are the problem with our world you know? If you mudbloods would just die off or be thrown into Azkaban for the crime of stealing our magic then things would be so much better."
I simply blink at him, my mouth agape at just how blatant he really is with his racist ideals. "Wow Malfoy, just when I thought you couldn't get any worse you really go and prove me wrong. Good job buddy." I say mockingly, prepping my wand beneath my robe as my words begin to anger Malfoy and his goons.
"I thought we spoke of this already Malfoy?" A voice says from behind Malfoy, revealing Daphne and Tracey as they walk out from around another corner. Their wands already out and pointing at Malfoy and his goons who then look decently fearful.
"Didn't I say to leave my friends alone Malfoy? Or otherwise I would inform your mother that you desire a feud between our houses. Is that truly what you want your parents to hear about you getting into at Hogwarts?" Daphne's words scathing at Malfoy, who swallows audibly at her threats.
"Well Malfoy? Answer me or walk away with your tail between your legs." She gives him an ultimatum to which you can basically see the gears turning in his head as Crabbe and Goyle begin looking back towards Malfoy for answers as he slowly turns and begins making his way over and around to leave our space.
"My father will hear about this," he says just as he leaves, his goons scampering after him, their footsteps petering off down the halls.
Daphne and Tracey make their way over to me and look me over before asking, "You all right Rin? We had a feeling Malfoy and his buddies were coming to find you when they left breakfast early." She says taking one last look at the hall they ran down.
"Ya no worries. He was kind enough to inform me of something though." I say with a small smirk on my face as I continue. "Apparently I'm a mudblood and should be either in some place called Azkaban for 'stealing' magic or even dead to fix the problems in the wizarding world."
As soon as the word mudblood left my lips both Daphne and Traceys faces got harder and they scoffed at how bad things had gotten in just three days.
"Don't listen to them Rin," says Tracey as she loops an arm through mine and begins pulling me down the hall, Daphne following along as we make our way towards the Great Hall so I can get something to eat with the rest of the day ahead of us.
September 5
The day of Transfiguration class finally comes and I, along with Daphne make our way into the classroom, apparently one of the few that have made it by now as hardly anyone is here yet.
As we walk in though I notice a cat sitting at the Professors desk, immediately realizing that the cat is Professor McGonagall I stop and stare at it for a moment, debating on whether or not I should say something or leave it.
"Rin?" Daphne says quizzically, wondering why I stopped and am staring at a cat.
"Sorry, its just a pretty cat and I was amazed by it." I say instead, resuming following Daphne over to our seats.
[ 2 Affection with Professor McGonagall]
Good, very good. Always fun to see things going up like that.
We take our seats and wait for the class to start and once it does both Harry and Ron barge through the doors.
"Phew, we made it. Can you imagine the look on McGonagall's face if we were late?" Says Ron as him and Harry begin making their way to their seats.
Suddenly the 'cat' jumps from the desk and rapidly transforms back in Professor McGonagall, much to Harry and Ron's confused and downtrodden faces.
"Is that so Mr Weasley? Perhaps if I were to transfigure Mr. Potter and yourself into a pocketwatch, that way one of you might be on time." Professor McGonagall admonishes the two of them, her voice stern and she hurriedly directs the two of them to their seats.
"Transfiguration is the art of changing the form and appearance of object or person. It is the most complex and dangerous of spellwork you will all deal with during your time here at Hogwarts." Her voice ringing out loudly and proud as she describes her subject to us.
"I am Professor McGonagall and I will be your instructor is this dangerous art for your time here at Hogwarts. I expect all of you to take this class seriously and if you have any questions to bring it up to me immediately and I will answer as well as I can." She says before waving her wand behind her at her desk, causing it to turn into a pig which begins wandering around the room, oinking at different students along the way.
Professor McGonagall calls the pig back over to her and transfigures it back into her desk and begins to lecture us on the dangers and technicalities of Transfiguration and how it can be used, causing another ding to hit me.
[Skill Acquired]
[Beginner Transfiguration Mastery: Rank Troll(T): Passive Skill: Grants 5 Int & 5 Wis and 10% effectiveness to all Transfiguration spells]
Even more stats for me it seems, not many of these passives left to get for each class though so I'm gonna have to hunker down and train them as quickly as possible to make up for lack of skills available to me right now.
Shaking those thoughts from my head I focus more intently on Professor McGonagall's lecture, intent of becoming skilled at Transfiguration above all else.
[ 1 Wis Gained]
The class eventually ends and as me and Daphne prepare to leave Professor McGonagall stops me and calls me over to her.
"Miss Fraener, how have you been doing so far here at Hogwarts?" She asks, looking at me fondly as she does so.
"Its been amazing Professor!" Being sure to put a good enough of amount of emphasis in my voice. "Everything's been so awesome and interesting to learn, especially Transfiguration if the things you were saying are true." I deliberately bring in her subject to earn more points with her and ingratiate myself to her more.
[ 1 Affection with Professor McGonagall]
"Thats very good to hear Miss Fraener, I do hope to see you doing your best in my class alright?" She asks as she begins to usher me out of the room for the next class.
"Of course Professor," I agree and leave, catching up with Daphne who then asks, "Why was Professor McGonagall wanting to talk to you?"
"Well she was the one that took me to Diagon Alley to get my supplies and while we did I kept asking questions about Hogwarts," I explain to her. "She was just wanting to catch up and see how things were going for me with the year so far."
"I see." Daphne says as we hurry to the Great Hall and seat ourselves next to Tracey and begin eating.
'Gosh this food here is stupendously good.' I think to myself as I eat more then would be thought possible for someone my size, much to Daphne and Traceys amusement.
Once we finish lunch we make it our final class for the day, History of Magic with Professor Binns, the ghost Professor.
Immediately upon entering the classroom I act amazed alongside the other students at our teacher being a ghost, though knowing how this is going to go I'm sure to keep my excitement tempered.
Immediately upon the Professor opening his mouth and his voice droning out, "Take your seats students, I don't have all day." Everyone now realizing that this class wasn't going to be terribly enjoyable.
Professor Binns' voice begins droning on and on about a Goblin Rebellion that happened in the eighteenth century at which point most of the other students begin to taper off from writing notes and start to either rest their heads on the desks or talk to one another blatantly.
[Skill Acquired]
[Beginner History of Magic: Rank Troll(T): Passive Skill: Grants 5 End & 5 Wis and 10% effectiveness to all History of Magic understanding]
At least I got this outta this boring class, wait, actually could I also get a Quest for staying attentive through the whole lesson?
[Quest Alert]
[Quest: Stay fully attentive throughout Professor Binns' History of Magic lecture]
[Quest Reward: 100 EXP, 1 Affection with Professor Binns]
So I can set my own quests for just about anything it seems. Definitely gonna be making use of this later to farm as many quests as possible.
[ 1 Wis Gained]
I then focus everything I have on Professor Binns' lesson and work on absorbing every word he says, much to the confusion of other nearby students who had started talking to each other. My hand rushing to write down as many bullet points as I can with every notable fact the Professor gives us.
The class finally ends and I walk to the front of the class before Professor Binns. "Thank you for the lesson today Professor, it was incredibly informative."
[Quest Cleared]
[Rewards Received: 100 EXP, 1 Affection with Professor Binns]
"You're very welcome Miss Franny, now off to your next class before you're late." He says in slight acknowledgement before floating off and into the wall. Seems he doesn't realize the days almost over and there won't be any other classes for the day. Ah well, just proves how out of touch he's become as a ghost.
"Are you interested in History Rin?" Asks Daphne as we leave, her seemingly wondering how I was able to pay attention so well in class without being bored.
"Hmm not particularly, but I also don't wanna be behind in any of my classes so I figured I'd get as much info as possible now and study ahead." I explain to her, obviously not gonna be able to tell her about the Game thats giving me these quests for odd things.
Daphne looks contemplative for a moment before answering, "I see. Would you be willing to let me study with you on it? Could make it easier for us both if we work together." The question both does and doesn't surprise me as I kinda figured she'd want to be ahead when possible as well.
"Of course not Daph. We can hang out and study all the time if you'd like, though Tracey might get jealous at this rate if we don't include her~." I say with a slightly worried yet teasing tone.
"I'll let Tracey know about our plan and see if she wants to join us or not so don't worry." Daphne says in response with a smile on her face as we finally make it to the Great Hall for dinner. Tracey having some sort of weird animated conversation with another female Slytherin I don't recognize who wonders off as we make our approach.
I resume eating my delicious feast as Daphne and Tracey talk about our studying plan and before I know it we're back in our dorm room preparing for bed.
"You two wanna go do that studying thing first thing in the morning?" Asks Tracey, seemingly on board with getting ahead in an incredibly boring class like History of Magic.
"Yeah its probably best with the time we have till class tomorrow, you good to join us Tracey?" I ask in return as I climb onto my bed and prepare for sleep.
"You betchas~ You two won't be showing me up that easily," she comments. Well if thats how she wants to see it then so be it.
"Then I wish you the best of luck Tracey dear~" I tease back, a smirk playing on my lips as I then tell them both goodnight and pull my curtains closed, the both of them doing the same.
Unknown to both of them though I stay awake, messing around with my menu and clicking on the [Quest] tab to see its description again.
[Quests]
[Quests are created through specific goals set by the Player, through the System itself, or set by others in the world such as teachers, friends or family]
[Rewards can be Currency, Items, Weapons, Affection boosts, or on rare occasions stats]
So I can create Quests through setting specific goals myself eh? Then how about this.
[Quest Alert]
[Quest: Study History of Magic with Daphne and Tracey in the Library tomorrow]
[Quest Reward: 50 EXP, Slightly better understanding of History of Magic]
This Game's getting easier and easier.
Well, it seems Rin is learning quite a bit about the Game they're dealt with, wonder what else can be done with this Quest system.
Anyways how have you all been? Enjoying things so far? Questions, concerns? Let me know and I'll answer however possible.
Stay cooked you freakish degenerates~ Caenis out~