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Harry Potter And The Game of Death

Level 1

Chapter Twenty-Two: Training and Tickets

Harry grunted as he dodged a flash of brown light. The unknown spell narrowly missed hitting his head, instead splashing harmlessly upon the stone wall behind him.

Raising his holly wand, Harry pointed it at the fiery haired woman who stood before him. "Stupefy!"

A jet of red light shot towards Harry's opponent.

But any hope of winning the mock duel by scoring a knockout were immediately dashed when Dora blocked the spell with a lazy flick of her wand. "Nice one, Harry. I'm impressed that you can already use the stunning spell. It's not one most people your age could do.

Harry glowered at the young woman. "Don't patronize me. You handled that like it was nothing."

"Yeah, but that's because I'm super awesome. I'm sure that you'll get there in time as well. As for now…" Dora let the words hang as a massive grin grew on her face, "let me show you show it's supposed to be done."

With a quick swish of her wand, three red blasts of light shot towards Harry.

Saying a quick curse in his head at the unfairness of silent spellcasting, Harry snapped his wand into a circular motion and cast a spell Remus and Sirius had recently taught him.

"Protego!"

A hazy, semi-transparent shield of magical energy sprung into being in front of Harry's body. The shimmering white light shuddered when Dora's three stunners slammed into it. But the shield held firm and blocked the woman's attack.

Still, Harry had no time to feel relieved as Dora's wand continue to spit out flashes of light at his position.

Green spells, magenta spells, gold spells and silver spells. An entire rainbow's worth of different coloured spells hit Harry's shield as Dora cast non-stop.

The shield weakened under the assault, only holding thanks to the massive amount of magic Harry was pouring into it. But eventually, the shield collapsed with a loud bang when a decidedly familiar pink hued spell hit.

It caused Harry to stagger backwards as he reeled from the backlash. Then something slammed into his chest, hard, and the next thing Harry knew he was staring up into Dora's smiling face.

"Wotcher Harry," the red-haired devil in a woman's form chirped as she offered him a helping hand. "Did ya have a nice nap?"

Not one to show anger over losing to a better opponent, even if he was embarrassed over how easily she had done it, Harry gripped Dora's forearm and used it to haul himself upright. He gave a grunt as a familiar twinging pain from being stunned began to spread throughout his body.

Dora stepped back and gave him some room to stretch, not even bothering to hide her cheeky grin at his expense. She even twirled her wand and blew him a kiss when he shot her a scowl.

"I didn't even see you cast that stunner," Harry said as he rolled newly stiff shoulders. The stunning spell might not cause permanent physical damage, but it always him feeling groggy and achy once he was revived. "That was a stunner, right? And not some other sort of spell like the one you suckered me with this morning?"

Dora laughed as she swept a short fringe of hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, it was a stunner alright. No need to worry your pretty little head, Harry. I did say I'd show you how the spell was used, right?"

"Right. Though I'm not sure how it helps me if I have no idea how to go about doing that myself."

"Ooh, that's easy to answer. It helps you because, if what I've heard about your time at Hogwarts from your godfather is right, then sooner or later you'll probably face an opponent who can do that same little trick." The young woman changed her upbeat tone to a more official sounding one. "As my Auror instructors like to say, 'Training is serious business. Treat it like it's your life on the line.' Or 'You can have fun before or after you train, but you should always keep things serious and professional while you train.'"

Then, as if unable to stand the solemn atmosphere that she had created, Dora gave Harry a saucy wink. "Unless, of course, it's a different type of training… but that's something you probably won't be interested in doing for at least another year. And while you're much too young for my tastes, I'm certain that there'll be at least one or two good looking girls at Hogwarts interested in taking you under their wing for some… extracurricular education, as one might call it. I could even point a few of the older girls your way if you don't have your eye set on someone special."

Harry flushed at her words. This was not the first time she had made such an offer; since he had come to know her, Dora teased him like this whenever she came to visit. Her open and constant teasing was able to penetrate his seemingly divine ability to ignore the romantic advances of those around him – if the Game's description of Harry's Oblivious trait could be believed – and he hoped to the powers above that the young woman was as uninterested in him as she claimed.

"I, uh, you know, but, um, not like –" Harry fumbled with his words as thoughts of Cho and a few other girls danced inside his mind. "I mean, I don't think that you could – erm, what I mean to say, is that I think that I'm okay and don't need any help in that department. Really."

Dora's saucy grin widened at Harry's stammered response. His heart sank at the sight, and he knew that he had slipped up.

The woman's fiery red hair morphed into its usual hot pink colour as she sauntered over to him. "Oh? What's this? Unless my ears deceive me, it sounds like you really do have your eye on a certain young miss. Eh, my cute little Harrykins?"

Hoping that he could get away and avoid discussing the subject, which he did not want to do with anyone, let alone her, Harry began to back away. But Dora did not allow him to escape and quickly boxed him in with the stone wall at his back.

The young woman's eyes twinkled as she continued sway her shapely hips while pursuing him. "There's no need to be so shy with me, Harry. C'mon, you can tell me all about her. I promise not to tell anyone else her name. Heck, I might even be able to help you out in getting her attention! You couldn't ask for a better wingman."

Harry gulped. "Nope, not at all. I, uh, I misspoke just now. I don't have a crush on anyone. Honest!"

"Hmm… now, why don't I believe that?" Dora's full on grin faded as she peered into his eyes with the gaze of a hunting predator. The smell of her, spicy and sweaty, filled Harry's nose as she leaned in close. "It looks like I'll need to get… persuasive… in order to loosen that uncooperative tongue of yours, Mr. Potter. The question is should I be gentle in my efforts? Or perhaps… forceful?"

Harry's mind went blank at her words. And when the incredibly beautiful and oh so dangerous woman flicked a finger against his chest, his traitorous brain conjured mental images of what the two options might possibly look like. And then proceeded to fill Cho in beside her for some reason. Along with several other girls. All of which overloaded his brain and left Harry completely unable to resist Dora as she gently grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

The moment, though, was broken by the sound of a clap.

Harry's head swivelled to find the source, and he saw Remus making his way over to where Dora had pinned him. "Alright Dora, that's enough teasing of the kid for one day. I think that Harry's entitled to a little privacy in that particular area."

"Awww… but I was having so much fun. And I swear, Harry would've had some fun as well!"

"That may be, but we're not yet done with today's training session." When Dora opened her mouth to argue with him, the older man levelled a stern professorial look at her. "It's time to for a breakdown of what happened. Remember, it's part of our agreement for letting you participate in Harry's training in the first place. Break it, and you won't be invited back again."

Dora muttered what sounded like various threats at Remus under her breath and stepped back with a pout. "Fine, fine. Way to take the fun out of everything, spoilsport."

"Indeed," Remus said with the ghost of a smile on his lips. Then, Dora having seemingly given into him, the Hogwarts professor turned his attention to Harry. "Now, what do you think that you did right during the mock duel, and what do you think that you did wrong?

Harry sighed. Going over his mistakes in detail was not something he enjoyed… but handling Dora when she put some effort into flirting was downright impossible for him. If offered a choice between the two, he would gladly take the former.

"I'm not sure what I did right," Harry said glumly. "Dora seemed to have me on the defensive from the second we started the match. I managed to stave her off for a bit, but I wasn't able to take the initiative against her for even an instant."

Remus nodded. "That fits with my own observations. But try to be a little more specific. Which of your actions were most effective? And which ones were ineffective?"

Harry pondered Remus' questions before replying. "Um, if anything I'd say that dodging and using trees to block to her spells seemed to work best. And while Dora clipped me a couple of times, I was only bludgeoned over the head by her when she pinned me down at the end."

"Wonderful! An excellent analysis, Harry," Remus said with a smile. "I hope that you will bring such clear thinking with you into the classroom this coming year."

Harry blushed at Remus' praise. "Thanks."

After a gentle pat on Harry's shoulder, Remus looked at Dora. "And what are your thoughts?"

After giving a sigh, the young woman rubbed a hand through her sweat damp hair. "Harry was spot on with what he said. Maybe it's his Quidditch training, but the boy shows an exceptional ability to weave in and out of cover; he's good at reading the terrain and using it to his advantage. I actually had to put some effort into flushing him out when he ran into the stand of trees that border the property."

Harry winced at the memory of being 'flushed out'. The trees and bushes which had proven so effective against Dora's single target spells had been far less effective against spells which had large areas of effect. Explosions of scalding water and clouds of noxious gas had driven Harry from the forest's protection and back towards the Cottage, which is where she had eventually pinned him against the wall and taken him down.

Dora tapped her wand against her chin in a thoughtful manner. "As for what Harry did wrong, well, that's a much longer list. His arsenal of both offensive and defensive spells is abysmally low. He also gave away his intentions on a regular basis; looking at a location and then running there or looking straight at a place and then casting at it make for obvious tells. Then there's his tendency to stake everything on one final stand like he did at the end. That only works if you're desperate, have an ambush planned, or are stronger than your opponent. And if you're relying on the first one, then you're likely to lose nine times out of ten."

Ding!

The young woman's brutal assessment caused Harry to wince, perfectly covering up his start from receiving an unexpected notification from the Game.

Remus gave Dora a bemused look. "An accurate summation from a certain point of view. Though now that we have the professional Auror's assessment of a recruit in training out of the way, how would you grade Harry for someone of his age."

"Ooh! In that case I'd have to say he did a bloody good job, with top marks for creative thinking during combat; most people his age wouldn't think to use the terrain to their advantage, and driving him out of there took some effort on my part. Harry's way ahead of where I was when I was his age, that's for sure." Dora leaned over and rubbed Harry's head affectionately. "Given a few more years of training like this and he'll grow up to be a powerhouse."

"Gee, thanks," Harry muttered. He tried to move Dora's hand from his head but found himself unable to so much as budge it; the woman's arms packed way more muscle than they seemed to at first glance. "That makes me feel loads better."

"My pleasure!" Dora replied in a chipper tone as she continued to rub his head. "Chasing you around today was fun. Loads more entertaining than chasing one of Moody's toy mannequins in a battle simulation; those things aren't nearly so cute as you and usually pack some nasty hexes to boot."

Harry rolled his eyes. Hearing her say that made him feel like he was a Snitch and she the Seeker, a reversal of roles which he did not approve of in the slightest.

Remus gave a gentle cough into a closed fist to recapture their attention. "In any case, Harry, Dora was right in both of her assessments. You are certainly far ahead for someone in your age bracket. But you do have several areas in which you can improve. To solve your lack of spells, Sirius and I will be introducing you to a number of useful ones in the coming weeks. But the other parts will need to be worked on over time."

"Like what, Remus?" Harry asked. Getting some more clarification could not hurt, and once Dora left for the day he could also see what the Game might offer in terms of assistance.

"Mainly how you think and react when in combat. Your tells, as well as your tendency to try and stake it all on one final gambit, could end up getting you killed if we don't take steps to fix them. And working on those two things will take you both time and effort to overcome."

Harry sighed. Great. More work to do added on top of everything else he was already doing. And this time it sounded like the steps he would need to take to improve himself would be harder than just learning a spell or teaching himself a new trick on the broom.

"But we can start working on that tomorrow. I believe that Andromeda was able to make it here for her usual visit after all, so we'll be ending today's training session here."

"Woohoo! Three cheers for the end of training!" Dora yelled out in glee. "Off we go to tea and biscuits! I need fuel to keep this rockin body in tip top shape."

Remus held his head and sighed. But the older man let a jubilant Dora grab his arm and pull him towards the Cottage while Harry followed close behind.

While they walked, Harry opened the notification the Game of Death had sent him after Dora's first assessment of his skills.

Quest Alert Notification

Auror Training

You Have Begun to Receive Training on Combat from an Auror

Complete the Training to Become One of Magical Britain's Finest

Quest Rewards:

+15 Levels

Auror Trained Trait

+5000 Reputation with Current or Former Aurors

'Auror' Title If You Choose to Join the Auror Corps

Please Select

Yes or No

Harry could not help but give a low whistle of appreciation. He saw no downside to accepting the quest and selected the 'yes' option immediately.

After getting rid of the resulting 'thank you for accepting' screen, Harry used another of the Game's features to look up the trait and title the quest mentioned.

Auror Trained:

Anyone bearing this trait has gone through, and passed, the necessary training to become an Auror. Gives an automatic +5 to all attribute stats, +1000 reputation with ordinary citizens, +5000 points with law enforcement individuals, and -50000 reputation with any follower of the Dark Arts. This trait can be removed or changed over time.

Auror

Anyone bearing this title is an active duty Auror. Automatically gives the same attribute stats as Auror trained (attribute gains do not stack), access to secure facilities throughout Magical Britain, and access to special equipment and spells not available to the general public.

Both the trait and the title were pretty good. Good enough that gaining them would be worth putting up with Dora's special brand of insanity on a daily basis for the foreseeable future.

Or so Harry hoped. Because if turned out that Dora was currently going easy on him with the teasing, he might have to re-evaluate that assessment.


Andromeda Tonks sighed as she lowered herself into a chair. Its comfortable embrace calmed her tense muscles while she waited for the steaming pot of tea to finish steeping.

"So, 'Dromeda, what brings you here so early?" Sirius asked as he placed two empty cups next to the kettle. "Dora told us you'd probably be busy for the next few hours."

Andromeda closed her eyes and let her head lean back while she composed her response. It was less a matter of what she wanted to say, and more a matter of not wanting to take her simmering frustration out on her well-meaning cousin.

"Dora's words should have been right," Andromeda said in an acerbic tone. "The Board of Directors for the Daily Prophet had a meeting scheduled for the afternoon, and it should have gone deep into the evening. However, things changed when the Chairman of the Board decided to make a bit of a power play."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Well, that sounds like loads of fun. Nothing better than some Slytherin style backstabbing to start a morning, eh?"

Andromeda gave a soft chuckle of dark amusement at the man's wry observation. "Hardly. It all began early in the morning shortly after Dora left to come here. An emergency owl arrived with a message stating that the scheduled hour for the meeting had been changed. Then a second owl arrived which further stated that any who arrived late would find the doors shut and sealed."

"Ooh, I was right. Definitely a classic Slytherin power gambit. And let me guess; the new meeting time was set to happen earlier rather than later, right?"

"Correct. The new time was set to begin five minutes after the first owl reached me. Gregory, that old bastard, knew that more than half of the board was out for his blood and were planning on calling for a vote of no confidence in his leadership. He had warned his partners in crime about the manoeuvrer well in advance and tried to catch the rest of us off-guard; if he had succeeded, then that bloodsucking prick of a man probably would have called for our removal instead of his own."

Sirius nodded at her statement and poured the steaming tea into two delicate cups. He handed one over to her, which she accepted gratefully. "But from the sound of things he didn't succeed. Right?"

"Of course he didn't! My allies and I were ready for him. And instead of catching us off-guard with his little trick, he managed to infuriate those who had yet to take a stand in either direction." This time she allowed a note of victory to bleed into her voice. "As a result, things went very well, and you are looking at the new Chairwoman for the Daily Prophet's Board of Directors."

"Oho! Congratulations, oh dear cousin of mine." Smiling broadly, Sirius gave her a mock salute as he leaned back into his own chair. "May your reign be long and prosperous!"

A small smile graced Andromeda's features at his words. She took a sip of her tea to hide it while the man continued to prattle on about the glorious future of her impending reign. Though her efforts were most likely rendered moot when she gave an amused snort at his rather descriptive description of what she could do to Rita Skeeter and a few other troublesome reporters.

The man had such a flamboyant and seemingly self-absorbed personality that it was easy for others to forget how kind and caring he could be at times like this. To witness it once again brought a pleasant warmth of nostalgia to Andromeda's heart.

She only spoke up when he began saying that he could never do something similar.

"I would dare say that you are wrong about that, dear Sirius." Andromeda said in a fond yet exasperated tone of voice. "You are far more capable than your words suggest. You always have been."

"Psh! Lies and slander my good lady," Sirius replied with an exaggerated wave of his hand. "Since my release I've worked hard at crafting a certain genteel image. One of a rich and cavalier dandy, if you will. Becoming some sort of clerk would not fit into it at all. So while I thank you for the kind thought, oh wondrous vision of beauty, please allow my brittle bones to rest in peace while I embark on becoming the greatest dilettante the magical world has ever seen."

Andromeda rolled her eyes. The notion of Sirius ever settling for being a rich playboy was as absurd as Lucius Malfoy coming out in support of Muggle rights. Once Harry went off to school, she was certain that the man would do more than just dabble on the party scene. He was too much a man of action to sit by and do nothing for the rest of his life.

Though seeing as he had only been free from Azkaban for a few short months, Andromeda figured that she might as well let the man have his momentary delusions.

She cleared her throat and returned to the main thrust of their talk. "In any case, Sirius, this new position means that I will be a mite bit busier in the near future. I will not be able to come over as often as I might wish. I will also have to apologize to both Remus and Harry when I see them today, for I shall greatly miss our conversations."

"But not me? I don't get a weepy apology or a fond farewell? Oh, how you wound me sorely, my dear 'Dromeda." Sirius mimed a dagger digging deep into his chest and slumped into his chair in dramatic fashion. "Mortally so, and I shan't ever recover from thy terrible blow."

Andromeda reached over to give his arm a light slap. "Oh hush! If that were truly the case, then you would have been dead long ago. I know for a fact that Lily did far worse to you, and I still remember what happened to you that night Minerva caught you and James sneaking near the Slytherin quarters."

Sirius' playful expression shuttered at her words while a shudder ran through his entire body. "Nope, nope. It never happened. James and I never did anything like that, and Minerva absolutely never caught us doing it. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Certainly," Andromeda drawled with a slight curve of her lips.

Satisfied at having finally quieted Sirius's antics for the moment, Andromeda allowed the topic to drop. The two of them began talking instead about lighter subjects as they whiled away the time. Andromeda brought Sirius up to date on the latest political news and social gossip; just the soft items, like which Pureblood was caught in an affair or which Ministry official had made a foolish quote to a reporter. Sirius also gave her some tips on how she could change her look for her new position. And against her better judgment, Andromeda found herself thinking that his suggestions made sense.

Laughing more than she could remember doing since her beloved husband had passed away, Andromeda felt the remaining tension in her body drain away as she and Sirius simply enjoyed each other's company.

The two of them had just finished making an appointment by owl for her to use Sirius' new stylist when Harry and the others walked into the room.


Harry looked at the seated Andromeda and smiled widely. The kind brunette, stunningly dressed in fancy wizarding robes, returned his smile and rose from her chair in greeting.

"Harry, Remus, it is a pleasure as always," she said with a regal nod of her head. She then paused before turning a somewhat disapproving eye to her daughter as Harry moved past. "And while it is always a pleasure to see you as well, Nymphadora, you forgot to close the door on your way out this morning. Again."

Dora winced. "Oops! Um, yeah, sorry about that mum. I kind of tripped when I walked outside for my morning run. I guess that I forgot to turn around and make sure that the door was closed properly."

"Quite," Andromeda said in clipped tones. "Please remember that I am not a fan of allowing flies to possess unfettered access to our home, Nymphadora. Should it happen again then worrying about Mad Eye's latest test will be the least of your issues. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, mum," the young woman said glumly. Her bright pink hair morphed into a rather plain shade of brown as she replied in a contrite manner. "I promise that it won't happen again, mum."

"Good. Then sit down and join us for a spot of tea. I have some news to share with all of you."

Harry made no effort to hide the grin he shot at Dora from behind her mother's back. The annoyed scowl Dora shot Harry's way in reply, as well as the way her hair changed colour to a vivid orange, was well worth whatever mischief she might visit upon him later. He poured himself a hot cuppa from the steaming pot of tea while Dora continued to silently fume.

"Who's Mad Eye?" Harry asked after taking a sip from his tea. "I think that I've heard of him before, but I can't remember where. Is he one of Dora's teacher's at Auror training?"

Sirius gave his signature barking laugh as he answered. "Kiddo, that's not even the half of it. Alastor Moody is more than just one of Dora's teachers. Old Mad Eye is the Master Auror; one of only two in living memory to hold the title, and from I hear Amelia Bones still has a way to go before she's quite on his level. The man's fought more Dark wizards and witches than Dumbledore, survived a pitched fight with the Dark Lord himself, and has trained more Aurors than any other person in the history of the department. Including yours truly."

Harry's jaw dropped as he looked at Sirius' face. Sirius had to be having him on, because there was no way all of what he said could be true. Especially the part about the man having fought against more Dark magic users than Dumbledore himself.

"Bull." Harry stated in a blunt tone.

"It's not a joke, Harry," Remus chimed in from the side. "Alastor really is that amazing. I patterned part of your final exam, the obstacle course, after one of his own tests, and I consulted with him throughout the whole of last year. The man is as crazy as his title would suggest, but it doesn't change the fact that he is also utterly brilliant."

"Besides, you should already be familiar with some of his work," Sirius said. "He and Dumbledore combined to leave you all that cool stuff in your room. I'm not sure about all of it, but I know for a fact that the Polyjuice and Sneakoscope were Mad Eye's ideas."

Oh. Now that Sirius mentioned it, Harry did remember those items. In all the craziness that had been going on, he had completely forgotten about them.

"Wait wait wait! Hold on a moment." Dora yelled out incredulously. "Are you telling me that Mad Eye Moody, Mr. 'I'm so paranoid that I'll blow up a fly because it might be an Animagus', voluntarily gave Harry a batch of Polyjuice potion?"

Harry nodded. "Yep."

"Seriously?" The young woman's voice was tinged with disbelief as she gave Remus and Sirius a sceptical stare. "Was it already keyed to people Moody had preselected?"

"Nope! The stuff was completely blank when he gave it away." Sirius replied smugly. Harry's godfather wore a look like that of a little kid who had gotten away with stealing a cookie from the cookie jar and was now daring an adult to call him out on his behaviour.

"B-b-but that's illegal! It's a class three felony!" A stricken looking Dora stuttered. The woman's hair had turned into a striking canary yellow as she tried to make sense of Sirius was telling her. "And he's the one who always goes on about 'Constant Vigilance' and how you should never trust someone who has a batch of unregistered and unkeyed Polyjuice potion in their possession."

"True. But tell me, Dora, when was the last time that Alastor said that you, or any of the other Auror hopefuls, should ever trust him?" Andromeda spoke quietly as she stirred her tea. "If I were to make a wager, then I would place my money on the man having never told you that in a single one of his lessons."

Harry watched as Dora's hair went through a riot of colours. From yellow, to pink, to green, to red, and even to a mousy shade of brown. The colours seemed to shift with the expressions on her face as the young woman went from embarrassed shock to anger, from anger to horror, and passed what looked like jealousy before finally settling on a glum look of resignation.

"That's the final test he's been hinting at all this time," Dora mumbled to herself. Harry poured the poor woman a fresh cuppa to calm her nerves, but she did not seem to notice. "It all makes sense, now. That crazy bastard is going to throw us to the wolves during the exam, see how we react, and then try to ambush us right when we think we're in the clear. And I'll bet that the person who's not caught off-guard by it is the person most likely to end up becoming his student."

After saying that last bit, Dora's hair turned back into its usual hot-pink colour. A decidedly nasty gleam entered the young woman's eyes and Harry made sure to place Andromeda in between them. He did not want that gleam focused in his direction in revenge for his earlier misdeed against her.

"Well, now that I know what's coming, I'll definitely become his apprentice. And I'll make sure to give the old codger a taste of his own medicine during that final test or my name isn't Nymphadora Cassiopeia Tonks!"

"That's the ticket, girl!" Sirius held up his teacup in toast as he cheered her on. "Show him what a daughter of the House of Black can do!"

"Hey! I might be related to you, but I ain't no daughter of the House of Black, you fussy little aristocratic twat."

And with that little bit of levity the gathering settled into a comfortable atmosphere. Sirius squabbled with Dora regarding her lineage. Harry's godfather apparently wanted to formally accept both Dora and her mother back into the Black family when he was officially sworn in as the Family Head after the school year began, with Andromeda pressing him to include Narcissa as well. Dora, however, was not interested in the slightest, and shot down every attempt from both her mother and Sirius to get her permission.

Afterwards the discussion turned to Andromeda's new position. Harry was excited for her but found that he was also a bit wistful as well. Although she had not been around for long periods of time, Harry had grown rather attached to the time he was able to spend with the older woman.

Andromeda provided a warm, stabilizing influence on the chaos that Sirius wrought daily, and had shown herself to be both kind and thoughtful. And though Harry had not told her any of his deepest secrets, such as the Game of Death, Andromeda had helped him sort through some of the lesser problems that had been facing him ever since he came to the magical world. Such as what terms like Pureblood and Half-Blood really meant, and a whole host of things that some of Harry's classmates like Ron and Draco took as a matter of course.

As Harry was talking with her regarding what exactly her new position entailed, Sirius tapped his teacup with a golden spoon to gather everyone's attention.

All eyes in the room turned to face the dark-haired man as he cleared his throat. "Before it gets to be too late and our guests have to be off, I would like to share a little bit of news with everyone. Although it's somewhat of an early birthday present to Harry, it's something which I hope we can all enjoy together."

Sirius reached into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a fistful of official looking tickets. Harry's eyes went wide in excitement as he read the lettering stamped all over the thin strips of paper.

"In celebration of starting a new life together, and to honour our wonderful country, etcetera, etcetera, I went out and purchased a private booth for the duration of the World Cup!" Sirius' eyes sparkled with good cheer as he raised the tickets for the room to see. "We'll have first rate seats, a fully stocked bar, and complimentary food service at all times. And best of all, we can invite anyone we want and ignore anyone we don't! Ha!"

Ding!

Harry ignored the Game's notification as he bounded out of his chair and gave his godfather a crushing hug. "Oh, thank you Sirius! This is awesome! I can't wait to go!"

Sirius patted Harry's head and chuckled. "It's my pleasure, kiddo. And while I know that it doesn't make up for all of the birthdays and special events that I've missed over the years, I hope that we can use it as a way to begin making new happy memories together. As a family."

Several hours later, Harry's excitement at knowing he would soon be able to see Quidditch being played at the highest level still had yet to wear off. Not even two hours of intense flying against Dora and his godfather had managed to dull his giddiness. Because if there was one thing about the magical world that Harry truly adored, it was the sport of Quidditch.

It was only when Harry opened the Game's notification screen shortly before bedtime that his mood dampened.

Quest Alert Notification

Attack on the World Cup

Dark Forces Currently Plan to Attack the World Quidditch Cup

Foil their Plans and Save the Day

Quest Rewards:

25 Levels

+5000 Reputation Points with the General Public

Please Select

Yes or No

A/N: With this chapter I was finally able to get in a training scene. One which had a little bit of action and had Harry putting both his brains and one of his Gaming abilities into practical use.

Additionally, the main sources of level gains for Harry et al in this story will be from the following: completing quests and either surviving against or defeating powerful enemies. I'm going old-school D&D and RPG on ya'll with it, so MMO style grinding (kill the same mob 100 times, run the same dungeon over and over again, etc…) will have a rather low usage in this particular area.

Until Next Time,

Elsil