Harry Potter: The Mage's Path Chapter 23, a harry potter fanfic

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Here's the next chapter. Harry enters the new dungeon and discovers an exploit that will earn him a lot of experience.

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23rd July

Harry made his way out of the common room with his familiars on his shoulders. He paused when Hermione called out to him from her seat on a comfortable-looking sofa near the fireplace. As usual, she had a stack of books surrounding her as it looked like she was settling in for another long reading session.

"What is it, Hermione? I have to meet the team in Dumbledore's office for a briefing before we head to Aberdeen."

Hermione ran over and hugged him again. Harry sighed and returned the hug. It was impossible to remain unmoved in the face of her enthusiasm.

"Hey, what is with the strange armour?" Hermione asked, releasing him. "It feels rough."

She was referring to the Shadow Aspen Armour set he wore. He would not enter the dungeon without it, even if he had to make up a story about how he had obtained it. From what he understood, treasure chests and monster drops were a feature of Gaia and not something others could obtain. They could still find resources like ingredients and valuable ores and harvest monsters for parts. Also, some equipment may be lying around in a dungeon, depending on its location and thematic design. But for the most part, Harry was the one who benefited the most from the dungeons.

"It's weird, right?" Celeste said. "His taste in fashion is horrible."

"I found it in my family vault," Harry said, ignoring the fairy. "One of my ancestors' bizarre creations. I'm only using it because it's the only thing that fits me and offers some protection."

"Oh, I wonder what they were smoking when they made it?" Hermione mused.

Harry laughed, surprised by her words. As he got to know her better, she revealed different aspects of herself. Most people would have written her off as an annoying know-it-all in the first ten minutes of meeting her. He was glad that he had the patience to see her true personality emerge.

"I want you to be careful," Hermione said. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I will be fine," Harry said, patting her head like she was a dog, causing her to glare at him. "The team Amelia has assembled is formidable, I'm sure. Besides, Dumbledore will be there as well."

"That is true," Hermione said before she brightened. "By the way, did you know that my Aunt Julia had her injuries treated by Andromeda? Thank you for making that suggestion. I can't believe I didn't think of that before."

"It's fine," Harry smiled. "I'm glad that she is okay now. Maybe you will have a niece or nephew to boss around in the future."

Hermione huffed, "I'm not that bad."

Harry raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Not that bad anymore," she added sheepishly.

"Well, I never thought you were so bad in the first place. Look, I've got to get moving. I'll see you later."

Harry exited the common room and made his way up to Dumbedore's office. He felt excitement in the pit of his stomach when he thought about embarking on a new adventure, despite the fact that it might be extremely dangerous. There may be something wrong with him if he was looking forward to the excursion. It was probably best not to think about it too much.

"What a pain. You get to explore the Dungeon while Hedwig and I are stuck outside twiddling our thumbs."

Celeste and Hedwig would not be joining him in the dungeon, which upset them greatly. He couldn't justify putting them at risk like that. Sure, Celeste's invisibility could be useful, but it wasn't omnipotent. If something happened to her, he would be crushed.

However, he had come up with a plan that would appease them somewhat. He solved the problem of relaying information to the outside from within the dungeon. As long as his familiars were in the vicinity of the gate, he could communicate with them over the bond. This meant that they could stay in contact with someone on the outside through Celeste. She was the only one who could speak, although he was sure Hedwig would be able to communicate with people if she had the ability to write.

Harry had made some excellent progress over the last few days as he had spent a lot of time grinding in preparation for today. The only time that he ventured out was to attend dinner with the Tonks. Ted was now his lawyer, and the first thing that he would be working on was to get his property back from the thieves at the Ministry of Magic. Considering that they had the courage to do it in the first place, he didn't expect it to be easy.

He would also prepare a defence for Sirius in anticipation of him getting a trial. It should be an obvious outcome since Amelia already had his statement on record. However, when judicial matters were ultimately decided by a vote in the Wizengamot, there was no guarantee of success. It was an archaic system that should have been removed centuries ago. A system like this allows for so much corruption that Harry was surprised that it could still function at all.

Before starting his grind in the dungeon, he decided to spend most of the AP that he had been accumulating for so long. He chose to increase his Willpower to fifty. It was his best option to have access to more mana and increase his levelling efficiency. Willpower didn't affect his control as the Magic attribute did. But it got even better because he received a perk after raising the attribute to fifty.

Willpower: Mana Regeneration +

Description: Doubles the player's natural mana regeneration.

It was such a basic description, but its effect was huge. It meant that with meditation, he could regenerate his current mana in just under four hours. That would only increase if he levelled meditation further.

He could have focused his attention on increasing his Potion skill and creating some Mana Potions, but they only restored fifty mana. Until he found a better recipe, it would not be a viable method to restore his mana. Besides, it would take a lot of ingredients to satisfy his requirements, and some of them were more difficult to obtain than others. Unless he could farm all of the ingredients like the Witch's Caps, they would be a finite resource.

With the issue of his mana reserves partially solved, he turned his attention to increasing the skills that would help him in the upcoming dungeon. They were Warp, the Exploding Charm and the Shield Charm.

Warp was an obvious choice. It would save him in desperate situations. It was still cost-prohibitive, so he couldn't use it with impunity, but it was a valuable tool nonetheless. He managed to increase the skill to fifteen and increase the range substantially.

The Exploding Charm was an excellent choice as an offensive option simply because it was enhanced by Charms Mastery. As he learned more charm spells, his skill level increased. Harry had searched the library for basic spells he could learn to level the skill. He learned dozens of useless spells that he might never use, like household charms. Even then, he only levelled the skill to seven. But it still gave a substantial boost to the Exploding Charm.

Description: The Exploding Charm is a very effective offensive spell as it causes a small explosion that may cause a significant amount of damage. Additionally, it can also be used to remove minor obstacles, such as sealed doors or some flimsy walls. As the skill level increases, the skill will become more powerful and explosive.

• Non-elemental Damage: 25-30 [Modification: Magic; Charms Mastery].

• + 50% damage dealt to magical shields like the Shield Charm.

• May cause splash damage if others are within range of the spell effect.

He had levelled the spell in the Wandering Aspen Horror dungeon. He earned no experience, but it didn't stop him from levelling his spells. The Exploding Charm's only weakness was that it didn't have any damage over time effects. Additionally, it caused non-elemental damage, which meant that he couldn't exploit any potential weaknesses. However, it could also be an advantage as no monster would be strong against it.

It was still not as fast as his wandless magic, but for slow targets, it would be effective. Another downside of the spell, however, was that he couldn't dual-cast it, which was a major letdown.

To get the most out of wanded spells, he would have to increase them to max level. Then he could cast them silently and without a wand movement. It sucked that he had to level spells individually to get the benefit, but he couldn't have everything go his way.

The Shield Charm was the other spell that he paid attention to. It was much cheaper than Warp, so as long as it could hold up against an attack, he would use it instead to preserve mana.

Description: The Shield Charm (Protego) is a defensive spell that raises a shield in front of the caster and protects them from a certain amount of damage. The shield may be broken more easily by specific spells, and some may bypass the shield altogether. As the skill level increases, the skill will be able to absorb more damage.

• Damage Mitigation: 43 [Modification: Magic; Charms Mastery].

• +12% speed to counter with a spell after the shield is destroyed.

In addition to levelling those, he also focused on improving his Occlumency and Observation skills. For the former, its importance became more apparent as time passed. Harry had increased it by another five levels, but that had been a slog. To truly master the skill would take a lot of time. He also levelled his Observation skill to level eighteen, which increased his ability to examine higher-level targets.

The one area he had been lax in was his daily quests. To be fair, he had spent so much time in the dungeon that it reduced the time to fix his malnutrition significantly. Without doing any daily quests, he would only need a week to remove it completely.

Harry stepped into the office to find that it was crowded with people. The only ones he recognised were Dumbledore, Amelia, and Moody. There were five others, three men and two women, and they stared at him curiously. Their surprised faces indicated that they had not been informed of his participation.

"Perfect timing, Harry," Dumbledore said. "There are a few things that we need to talk about before we leave for Aberdeen. Take a seat."

His attire raised some eyebrows, but no one said anything. Harry sat next to Moody, who gave him a quick grin before turning his attention to Dumbledore. Harry truly felt like a little boy surrounded by these hardened individuals. He was certain that all of them were powerful and experienced warriors, judging by the grim expressions on their faces.

"Now," Dumbledore turned serious. "Amelia is in charge of this operation, so I will hand the reins over to her momentarily. But first, I will need a magical oath from the newcomers not to reveal the information that I am about to share with you."

There were a few grumbles, but the five strangers complied with Dumbledore's request. The man nodded in thanks before continuing. "Quite simply, Harry will be joining us on this mission."

"Are you crazy?" one of the men shouted. "The situation is dangerous enough, and now we have to babysit a boy?"

Harry mentally poked his tongue at the man. Talk about assuming too much.

"Hey, idiot, why don't you shut up and listen as the adults speak?" Celeste said rudely, causing some of them to laugh.

Dumbledore held up his hands. "If you would let me finish, Isaac, I will tell you why we need his help."

Isaac subsided, looking a bit embarrassed by his outburst. Although he did send a glare in Celeste's direction.

"Harry has an extraordinary ability to escape dungeons," Dumbledore explained. "Unlike apparition, he is able to teleport out without any restrictions. Moreover, he is also capable of taking passengers along with him as well."

That got them interested, Harry could tell. One of the women that he was unfamiliar with commented, "Well, that is an invaluable ability in this situation. If we can find any survivors, or if things turn pear-shaped for us, then we will be able to escape. That gives me more confidence to venture inside."

"Indeed," one of the other men said, scrutinising Harry closely. "I don't know how such a thing is possible, but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth."

Dumbledore nodded to Amelia, and she took over the conversation.

"First of all, some quick introductions for Harry's sake," Amelia said. "These five are hit wizards and are some of the most experienced that the Auror department has to offer. Their names are Isaac, Michael, Paul, Laura and Darcy."

She pointed them out as she said their names, and Harry greeted them politely.

Amelia continued, "There are two main objectives for this mission. The first task is to find out what happened to the teams that entered the dungeon before us and to rescue them if they are still alive. If we do find them, Harry will pull them out of the dungeon while we continue on with the other objective. To defeat the boss to prevent the dungeon from erupting."

"The likelihood that they are still alive is remote," Moody said bluntly. "The gate remains open until the dungeon is conquered, so if they could simply walk out, they would have done so by now."

"I admit that the chances are slim," Amelia acknowledged, looking upset. "However, there are a bunch of scenarios that could have played out that prevented them from leaving."

Moody grunted, not looking like he agreed with her statement, but didn't say anything.

"Dumbledore will protect Harry," Amelia said. "However, don't be surprised if he can protect himself from danger. He certainly proved that during the invasion of Azkaban. Moody will be on point, and I will cover the rear. The rest of you will be located at the sides to give us the best defensive coverage possible. Are there any questions before we leave?"

"Do we have any information on what to expect inside?" Laura asked.

"Not really," Amelia grimaced. "It is one of the newer dungeons that hasn't been completed yet. The teams didn't have an opportunity to leave the dungeon and report any information before they disappeared."

"Are they coming with us?" Isaac pointed at Celeste and Hedwig.

"Actually, I was about to ask that as well," Dumbledore looked at Harry.

"No, they will stay outside the gate," Harry replied before looking at Amelia. "I have solved your problem with communication. I can contact my familiars over the bond, so Celeste can relay information to someone on the outside."

Amelia was speechless for a moment. "I had never considered this solution before. It is so simple."

"To be fair," Micheal said. "There are not a lot of familiars out there who can communicate with other people. In fact, I can't think of one. At least not in the UK."

Ten minutes later, the briefing was finished. Amelia handed out Mokeskin pouches to every member, including Harry. They were filled with plenty of supplies just in case they encountered a dangerous situation or were stuck in the dungeon for any length of time. Harry already had his Mokeskin pouch prepared, along with what was already in his inventory, but more is always better.

"Harry and I will follow you shortly," Dumbledore said. "I need to have a word with him before we leave."

The others nodded and left. They would floo straight to Aberdeen, to a location close to the entrance of the dungeon.

"Harry, there is something I must give you before we leave," Dumbledore said. "It belonged to your father. It may be of use to you in the dungeon if something goes wrong."

"Are you talking about the invisibility cloak?" Harry asked. He had forgotten to ask the Headmaster to return it, but he was getting it now.

Dumbledore seemed surprised at first before he realised what had happened. "James must have left you correspondence informing you of the Peverell family matters. That saves an explanation."

Dumbledore reached into his drawer and removed a shimmering black cloak, and handed it over to him. Harry ran his hands through the fabric, amazed at how silky it felt. In order to get a better understanding of it, he used observation.

[Sealed] Deathly Hallows: The Cloak of Invisibility | Equipment | Heroic | Grade: 1

Description: One of the three Deathly Hallows created by the Peverell family. Unlike other invisibility cloaks, their enchantments never lose their magic. It can conceal the user from most forms of magical detection. The cloak is currently in its sealed state, so it cannot show off its true abilities.

• Invisibility

• Everlasting Enchantments

• ?

There is no doubt that the cloak was special. Sadly, it wasn't fully functional at the moment. It must have been the Peverell family who sealed its true abilities. If he were to get his hands on the inheritance, he might be able to discover the method to remove the seal.

"Well, try it on," Dumbledore urged.

Harry wrapped the cloak around his body and watched as his body vanished. The feeling was certainly odd. "This is so cool. Now I only need to find the two remaining Deathly Hallows."

Dumbledore hesitated, looking like he was about to say something. Harry looked at him curiously, but the man didn't say anything in the end. "So, what happened to John? I haven't seen him around in a while."

"John is out gathering information for me. He still has some contacts in the Abyss," Dumbledore said. "I need to know more about our enemies."

"Why do you trust him so much? And why is he helping us?"

"I don't know his true reasons," Dumbledore said. "But he gave me a magical vow that he meant no harm to you or to the people in this castle."

"That still leaves room for exploitation," Harry observed.

"Yes, but the information is significant enough to take that risk. In return for his help, he gets sanctuary at Hogwarts. I have the feeling that he has some trouble that he is not telling us about."

Harry placed the cloak in his Mokeskin pouch, and they walked over to the fireplace and grabbed some floo powder. He threw some into the flames. After they turned green, he stepped through and called out his destination. His momentum almost caused him to fly out of the fireplace on the other side. Thankfully, he managed to keep his feet, sparing him embarrassment from the adults waiting for him.

"We will apparate from here," Amelia said. "The dungeon's location is on the Kings Link Golf Course, just east of a populated area and next to the sea. If it erupts, there would be no hiding it from the muggles, and it would result in a lot of deaths. The gate is being concealed and guarded, so no muggles should come across it."

"Grab my arm, Harry," Dumbledore said. Harry was side-apparated to a small clearing among a grove of trees. A huge circular gate stood before him, almost rising above the surrounding trees. Earlier on, Amelia had told him that the size of the gate directly correlated with how large and dangerous the dungeon was. Therefore, it was no surprise that it was considered the most dangerous in the UK, judging by its size.

A couple of Aurors were guarding it, and they greeted the party as they arrived. Beyond the trees, Harry spotted a fairway. There was even a person playing golf on it, unaware of the danger they were in by being so close to the gate.

"Right," Amelia said briskly. "Everyone get into formation. We are not going to waste any more time."

With Moody in front, they stepped through the gate. Harry was in the middle beside Dumbledore, so he was the sixth person to enter. After passing through, he immediately received a notification but didn't immediately read it, distracted by the view in front of him. Their clearing was exactly the same as the one they had just left, except the trees were much taller, looming over them like a giant shadow.

The atmosphere was unsettling, and everyone looked around with uneasiness, even though there was nothing that appeared to be amiss from what they could see. Harry listened closely, but there was nothing but an eerie silence.

"Right," Moody barked. "Stay alert. The surroundings may seem strange, but they are only stage props. The real problem is the beasties, and as far as I am aware, they will bleed just like any other creature we have encountered before."

Before they left, Harry quickly checked his notifications.

You have entered a Dungeon.

The Nuckelavee Fairways (Level: 30-35)

The player has received a new quest!

Rescue the survivors!

Description: There are still some survivors located in the Instant Dungeon, barely surviving amidst the horrors that roam the fairways. You need to find them and get them out of there before they are killed.

Objective: Find the survivors [0/8]

Rewards: 3 Skill Points for every person found.

Time Limit: 24 hours

What the hell is a Nuckelavee? Whatever it was, it was certainly beyond his level. He thought that he would have a chance to contribute to a fight, but it seemed like he had been naive. The level was higher than he expected.

At least the quest confirmed that there were survivors, and the reward was amazing. He didn't know that he could get skill points as a reward for completing quests. There were twenty-four up for grabs, which was a lot, especially if he focused on one skill.

Harry opened his mini-map as they passed through the trees and onto one of the fairways. Since he had the opportunity to come here with all the protection surrounding him, he was definitely planning to keep an eye out for treasure and ingredients he could harvest. It was not just for selfish reasons. If he could find a treasure chest with the map of the dungeon, then it would be easier to navigate.

"Be careful of the pools of water," Dumbledore warned. "We don't know what lurks within them.

The fairway itself was a lot more expansive than the one in the real world. The most startling difference, however, was the fact that the fairway now had scattered pools of water scattered throughout it. Each pool varied in size, and there were some strange-looking plants floating on top of the surface.

Unfortunately, they would have to venture past them to continue traversing the fairway. Since they didn't know the scope of this place and had no map to guide them, it was easier to follow the most obvious path. The adults looked nervously at the nearby pool of water as they passed it, expecting something to emerge from their depths and attack them.

Harry kept his focus on the mini-map to see if there was anything lurking below the surface of the water. Thankfully, there was nothing there. However, he couldn't completely rely on the map. When he first explored a dungeon, he was tricked by a monster that could conceal its presence.

Harry briefly considered the flora floating on the surface of the water. They were harvestable ingredients, but there was no way he was crazy enough to enter the water just for them.

They continued down the fairway. Harry suddenly realised that he hadn't eaten a cottage pie in order to boost his attributes. Harry took a portion out of his Mokeskin pouch. It was stored in a bowl with food wrapping. He grabbed a spoon and began shovelling it down.

This drew the stares of everyone. They looked at him as if he had a screw loose.

"What?" Harry asked innocently, licking the spoon clean.

"This is not a bloody picnic," Moody growled.

It was just past the halfway point that Michael noticed something on the ground nearby, so they took a closer look. They gathered around the object, which turned out to be a torn piece of clothing, and there was some blood on it.

"One of the people was injured at least," Isaac grimaced. "The question is, by what?"

In response to his question, they heard something approaching, causing them to raise their wands. They gathered in a tight-knit circle around Harry as the sounds became more distinct. It sounded like a horse galloping towards them, and they heard an unearthly scream before the thing appeared in their vision.

"By the gods," someone whispered.

Harry peered through the gap between his protectors and spotted the thing for the first time. He froze in horror at the nightmarish visage that was galloping towards them. If you were to spot the thing from afar, in low visibility, it may be mistaken for someone riding a horse. That misconception would soon be corrected, however.

The monster looked like a man whose upper body had been fused to the top of a horse. The most disgusting thing about it was that it didn't have any skin, so its entire fleshy body was on display in all of its horrifying glory. Its arms were long, almost dragging along the ground as it moved. On the horse's head, there was a single giant red eyeball, and its mouth tapered to a point similar to a bird's beak.

Harry tried to examine it, but his attempt failed. No surprise there, as level thirty and above targets were beyond his skill level at the moment. He assumed that this thing was the Nuckelavee.

The formation moved like a well-oiled machine under Moody's leadership, and the adults began firing spells at the thing when it got within range. The monster screamed, soundly like a distorted version of what a horse would sound like, and avoided the first volley aimed at it. The monster galloped around them, with surprising speed and agility, looking to penetrate a gap in their ranks. It was unable to do so.

One of its legs collapsed beneath it as it was struck by a bone-breaking curse, and the thing collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"Don't approach it," Moody said. "Finish it off from here. We are not taking any chances."

The adults nodded, and they began firing Cutting Spells at the Nuckelavee. Harry looked away, feeling the urge to throw up as its flesh was sliced open, and it began bleeding profusely. It was a very simple but disturbing way of ending its life, but they had valid reasons for doing so. The adults must know that the monsters in the dungeons were resistant to damage. Therefore, they were using the loss of blood to quickly whittle away its life. The spell wasn't that labour-intensive, so why use something that took more magical power when you had to preserve your magic as much as possible?

"That should be enough," Dumbledore said, looking disturbed. The Headmaster did not take part in the brief fight. In fairness, they didn't need his help with a single enemy. His magic should be kept in reserve just in case they run into something much more dangerous down the road.

The thing was slowly dying from the numerous open wounds on its body. Harry stared at the thing with a greedy expression now that he had gotten over his initial squeamishness. In normal circumstances, he wouldn't be able to defeat such a monster at his current level, but now it lay helpless before him. If he managed to deal some damage to it, would that mean he would receive some experience? Harry stepped forward and aimed his wand at the monster.

"What are you doing, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"This thing scared the hell out of me," Harry said. "This is my way of overcoming my fear."

It was a load of rubbish, but the adults seemed to swallow it, and even Moody nodded with approval.

Harry now had a free license to take a shot. He sent an Exploding Curse at its body. There was a muffled explosion, and a fountain of blood erupted from its body, causing them to retreat quickly to avoid the spray.

5 damage dealt to the Nuckelavee.

"A little warning next time, please," Darcy complained.

"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly, but he was already feeling ecstatic that he was able to do some damage at least. Now he had to wait for the thing to die before he found out how much experience he would receive.

"Let's get moving," Mooday said, and they resumed their trek down the fairway.

Half a minute later, Harry received a notification, and he opened it immediately.

The Nuckelavee has died.

Battle Report:

Harry Potter: 100% (780 exp)

Nucklelavee added to the Bestiary: Data + 10%

Harry had to swallow his shout of elation after seeing the report. He had received the full amount of experience, even though it was usually divided among the participants depending on their contribution to the battle. But it seems that he has discovered an exploit. Since the others couldn't receive any experience, it meant that all of it defaulted to him.

It was a considerable amount. His progress to level twelve had increased by about fifty per cent from just one fight. If he could land a hit in every fight from now on, he would gain at least a few levels from this dungeon. He would not be able to make the same lame excuse for his actions next time, so he would have to land a hit during the fight. It would still be noticed, but hopefully, the adults wouldn't mind too much about it.

It seemed like an oversight on Gaia's part, and he expected her to remove it fairly quickly. So he might as well take advantage of it while he can.

They reached the end of the fairway. Funnily enough, there was a hole and flag on the green, even though it had expanded to be much bigger than usual. It would be a glorious achievement to sink a putt on this green. Harry was starting to get a sense of the scale of the dungeon. The fairway seemed at least three times more expansive than its real-life counterpart. If the dungeon encompassed the entire course, it would be massive. However, it was a rough estimate as he was not sure if everything remained the same. He expected some new areas to appear, and other locations may have changed substantially.

They were crossing the green when a rumbling sound made them pause. In the distance, there was a herd of Nuckelavee heading in their direction. As far as Harry could see, there must have been at least fifty of them. It was a terrifying moment that would cause the most hardened individual to mess up their pants.

Judging by the adult's expression, that may have come true for some.

"All aboard the Harry Potter express," Harry said. "Let's retreat for the moment. We need a better plan."

So, what do you think? Next chapter, Harry encounters a team from the Crown's Magical Task Force.

Thanks for reading.