Death's Game Chapter 6: A Full English Breakfast, a harry potter fanfic

I do not own Harry Potter, The Gamer, or Fallout which are the inspirations for this fanfic.

A/N: I have had several requests to lengthen my chapters. To that, I respond that I don't have a set length on how long I am going to make a chapter. I simply write until the story tells me "Hey, this is a good stopping point!" However, as an avid reader myself I admit that my chapters have been a bit short compared to what I like to see in others' work, so I can understand why some might be frustrated. I will try and do a better job with my length in the future. That said, one with the show!

Chapter 6: A Full English Breakfast With Something SPECIAL on the Side

It was a very different Harry that crawled out of the cupboard that morning. At first, he went about his day like usual. He used the bathroom and took a shower with cold water to avoid being yelled at for using up all the hot water, even though his showers never took more than five minutes.

He then dressed himself in Dudley's hand-me-downs, which were so baggy he had to use some rope to keep the pants on. He used rope, because he was never given a belt. He then went about preparing a full English breakfast. He fried up the eggs and sausage, flipped some pancakes, and sautéed some mushrooms.

*ping*

+1 Cooking

Harry negligently dispersed the screen with a wave of his hand without even acknowledging its existence. The fact of the matter is, all of this was done absentmindedly as Harry barely registered anything going on in the world around him.

Ever since he had read through the Status Effects he was under, Harry had been unable to muster up the will to care about anything else. The drive he had been developing to push himself to new heights seemed to have died in its infancy. Neutered, before it could achieve anything worthwhile. All Harry felt at that moment was a numb shock and an overwhelming apathy that told him that nothing really mattered anymore. His current mindset was that anything he did would be worthless in the end. After all, in the game of life, the deck was so stacked against him that it was beyond ridiculous.

His relatives starved him making him a sickly child that gets permanently weaker every five years, some evil wizard got a part of themselves stuck inside of him and was sucking up all his energy, another evil wizard felt that wasn't enough and bound his magic, and when something good actually happened, like becoming a metamorph, it made him a clumsy idiot!

Ssssss

"Ouch!"

Harry slipped off the stool he was standing on to cook after he accidentally burned himself on the hot stove top. Banging his head on the way down didn't improve his temperament any.

Harry held his head in pain for a moment, then, with a sigh, he stood back up. Fetching the pan of sautéed mushrooms off of the stove, he finished preparing the Dursleys' breakfast. He could already hear the thunderous steps of Vernon as he went about getting ready for the morning in his room, so he knew the family would be at the table shortly.

Not that he really cared.

He didn't even care that he had leveled up. After reading the status effect screen, he couldn't even muster up the will to distribute his points, so he simply closed the window and after a moment of staring at the wall in silence, left his cupboard to begin the day.

And now, there he was. Staring at the table he had just set up. A full English breakfast laid out in front of three seats, with a full pitcher of orange juice at the table's center. A proper English breakfast set out in a proper English dining room. Set up for a proper English family, in a proper English neighborhood, in a proper English town, in good old jolly England.

It's too bad he wasn't included in that. Proper breakfasts were for proper people after all. And he was anything but proper. He was the Freak. He was the aberration. The unwanted nephew that should have died with his parents. As would have been proper.

A burning heat gripped his heart. Consuming the tundra his apathy had created, a white hot rage began to build inside of him. It was all too much. He had to leave. If he didn't leave he was going to do something. He didn't know what, but he knew it would be violent. He had to leave NOW.

*pop*

*Ping*

Apparition skill has been created. 1/100
Through a burst of accidental magic, the skill of apparition has been created. Now you can apparate anywhere you have been previously! Be careful, those with an apparition skill below 20 have a significant chance of splinching.

And just like that, his rage was gone. Not because he had dealt with it, but because for the second time that day he had been struck dumb. For the second time that day he was overcome by shock. However, this time it was not a bad shock. Something good had happened. At least, he thought it was good. Admittedly, he had trouble understanding exactly what it was that had happened.

All he knew was that one moment he was staring at the breakfast he had made, and the next he was standing in front of his school with a pop-up telling him he had done something called apparition.

'Wait…school!? I don't have any of my stuff with me!'

*ping*

Quest Notice:
French Friday:
In response to the Education Reform Act 1988 that came into effect this year, St. Grogory's Primary School has hired a part time French teacher to teach lessons every Friday. Impress the new teacher and begin down the path to being multilingual!
Quest Details:
Impress the new French teacher during your first lesson.
Time Limit:
Quest ends September 9th, 1988.
Completion Reward:
+50 exp.
+20 influence with the new French teacher.
+5 French
+1 French to English translation dictionary.
Completion Failure:
-20 influence with the new French teacher.

"That's right…quests. Quests have always been a good thing as long I do them right. Maybe this thing isn't a total loss…I mean, I can get rid of my malnutrition if I eat right. I have no idea how I am going to do that while living at the Dursleys', but I have almost three years to figure it out. That horcrux thing…okay that's just bad. But it did say there might be ways to get rid of it…besides killing myself…okay that one just sucks. But for the bound magic, all I have to do is see a specialist! A specialist…in… magic…and I have no idea how to find one. Again, that just sucks. But…but…the clumsiness! I just have to be a better metamorphitswhatever and that goes away! That's something at least! I…I…okay, I am trying way too hard to convince myself this whole situation doesn't suck. Hmm…though, no matter how much this crap hurts me, if I make myself strong enough, I can still get by just fine. That's a lot of effort just to be normal, but I suppose it beats being a freak. And I still have those points! I can get started right now! If I can open that menu back up again…how does that work anyways?"

Harry began pacing back and forth as he tried to psyche himself up. The spike of rage he felt had disappeared and, thankfully, it took his crippling apathy with it. It even rekindled his desire to improve in the process. So, now he was stoking those embers to help them gain new life.

"Hmm…if I remember right, the Status Effect Menu,"

*ping*

Status Effects
Malnutrition
Due to years of improper diet, you are a scrawny little git.
-50% to all S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats.
Permanently lose 10% of all S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats every 5th year after malnutrition began.
Malnutrition began November 1, 1981.
To remove this status effect, eat a proper diet every day for six months.

Human Horcrux
Due to an accident of magic you have a portion of a dark wizard's soul stuck to your own. This requires a constant use of magic and mental power to prevent being possessed.
- 25% max MP, -25% max SP if the dark wizard is disembodied.
-40% max MP, -40% max SP if the dark wizard is corporeal.
Gain Human Horcrux heritage trait.Automatically receive 10 points in Occlumency to shield against the Horcrux's influence.
Requires 20 points in Occlumency shields to protect against the soul fragment's owner if they become corporeal.
Method to remove Horcrux is suicide.
Other methods may exist.

Bound Magic
Someone has bound your magic!
-50% max SP
To remove this see a specialist.
Other methods of removal include entering into high stress situations where your magic is forced to break the binding to save your life. This may have the side effect of turning you into a human bomb and destroying the local wildlife.

Clumsiness
Your Metamorph ability is throwing off your balance!
-10% Agility
Gain Lv.3 in the Metamorph skill to counter this effect.

"Cancel! Cancel! Okay, I did not need to see that again right now. But, it's obvious that these menus are voice activated, so…Player Menu!"

Harry looked forward expectantly with an excited look on his face. He could feel a gentle breeze blow through his hair and the early morning mist tingle against his skin. As the crickets chirped a soft symphony, Harry beheld the glorious sight of,

"Nothing. Okay those obviously weren't the right words. Maybe…Character Sheet? Stats? Status?"

*ping*

"No! No! No! Not that menu again!"

With a quick punch of his fist, Harry was able to dispel the horror before it fully manifested on his plane of existence. After his brief panic attack, he wiped the sweat from his brow and continued his experimentation.

"Okay, maybe it's that acronym the stats made! What was it again…SPECIAL!"

*ping*

Henry James Potter
Class: Gamer
Title: Pariah
Lv. 6 – Exp: 150/600
HP= 59/59
MP=27/27 (-25%)
SP= 12/12 (-75%)

S = 9.9 (-50%) = 5.0 + -
P = 6.3 (-50%) = 3.2 + -
E =11.7 (-50%) =5.9 + -
C = 3.6 (-50%) = 1.8 + -
I = 8.1 (-50%) = 4.1 + -
A = 9.9 (-60%) = 4.0 + -
L =13.5 (-50%) =6.8 + -
Points to distribute:(25)

"Niiiiice. Alright. So…now…what do I do?"

Harry began to closely inspect his S.P.E.C.I.A.L. menu to figure out what he should do. In doing this, however, he took notice of something he had not paid attention to before. Namely, his class and title. Out of curiosity, he touched them to find out what they were.

Gamer
You live your life like a game. This class grants the talents Gamers Mind, and Gamers Body.

Pariah
Automatically fail all Charisma checks.
You are incapable of making friends and are more likely to be bullied by children.
Because adults don't want to touch or be near you, they are more likely to ignore you and will never physically abuse you just to avoid having to touch you.

"Interesting. Now that I think about it, the Gamer class is pretty obvious in what it does. And the Pariah title, while it seems bad, actually might be pretty useful for me. I bet it's the only reason why Vernon hasn't beaten me into an early grave. I suppose it is kind of a necessary evil as long I live at the Dursleys'. But, it will probably make that quest I got earlier impossible. I wonder if I can change my title?"

*ping*

Please select your title:
Pariah
-none-

"Perfect! Now, as long as I remember to turn it back on before going to the Durleys, I will be set!"

With a quick tap of his finger, Harry returned to the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. menu.

Henry James Potter
Class: Gamer
Title: -none-
Lv. 6 – Exp: 150/600
HP= 59/59
MP=27/27 (-25%)
SP= 12/12 (-75%)

"Hmm…now for the stats. My Charisma is horrible, but frankly, people suck so I don't really care. Next lowest stats are Perception, Intelligence, and Agility. All of those seem pretty important. Especially Perception and Intelligence if I want to impress that French teacher. And, it will take a lot of points to have a decent score with those crappy Status Effects dragging me down. Oh well. I guess I will focus on Perception and Intelligence for now, to help out with my quest."

With that, Harry put 15 points in Intelligence, and 10 points in Perception. He noticed how his stats changed, and how the (25) at the bottom of the menu decreased as he assigned his points. Just to see if he could, he pressed the minus besides Charisma, but nothing happened. He was interested to see he could decrease his Intelligence or Perception, but not below their starting values. It was obvious this meant he was only allowed to change his mind before finalizing the distribution. With a shrug he pressed the "Okay" button as he accepted his new stats.

Henry James Potter
Class: Gamer
Title: -none-
Lv. 6 – Exp: 150/600
HP= 59/59
MP=74/74 (-25%)
SP= 22/22 (-75%)

S = 9.9 (-50%) = 5.0 + -
P =16.3 (-50%) =8.2 + -
E = 11.7 (-50%)=5.9 + -
C = 3.6 (-50%) = 1.8 + -
I =23.1 (-50%)=11.6 + -
A = 9.9 (-60%) = 4.0 + -
L =13.5 (-50%) = 6.8 + -
Points to distribute: (0)

Harry was interested to note the increase in his MP and SP. He noticed his MP increased a lot more than his SP, but figured that it made sense. MP stands for mental power, so it is obvious intelligence would effect that. He mused that it also stood to reason that intelligence would increase his SP, a.k.a. magic. He wondered if the (-75%) had something to do with it not increasing as much. He could not be sure since he had not studied percentages yet in math, but it made sense to him.

Satisfied with his changes, Harry prepared to head into the school, when he was surprised by another,

*ping*

You have 84 skill points to distribute:

General Magic
Apparition: 1/100
Observe: 1/100
Occlumency: 10/100

Combat Skills
Physical Damage Resistance: 12/100
Stealth: 15/100

Languages, Sciences, and the Arts
Cooking: 26/100
English: 13/100
Math: 6/100
Science: 4/100

Social Skills
Social Aptitude: 6/100
Speech: 2/100

General Skills
Cleaning: 20/100
Climbing: 11/100
Gardening: 24/100
Jumping: 13/100
Running: 17/100

Today just seemed to be full of Surprises for Harry. He had simply closed all of the windows in his funk that morning, so he had completely missed this. But he found himself getting extremely excited. Not only could he improve his base stats, but he could improve specific skills too! And it seemed that his status effects didn't hurt his skills. Maybe it was still possible for him to be a superhero! Or villain. Whichever really.

The skills seemed to be self- explanatory on what they do, but he figured he should be sure anyways, and began to cycle through his skills to see if they matched up with what he figured.

General Magic
Apparition: 1/100
Warping reality since 1612.
The ability to fold space in order to instantaneously move from one point to another as long as a solid mental picture of the two points are maintained.
At level 20, the risk of splinching decreases significantly.
Costs 20 SP and 5 MP.

Observe: 1/100
A stalker's best friend.
A skill to observe objects, situations, and people that allows information to be gathered. More data is revealed at higher skill levels.
Costs 1 SP and 1 MP.

Occlumency: 10/100
To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.
Your ability to organize your mind and form shields against intrusion.
During a legilimency assault, if the legilimencer's skill is equal or less than your Occlumency skill, they are automatically blocked. If their skill is greater, x MP per second is consumed to shield your mind until eye contact is broken or the assault ends. In this, "x" is the difference between their Legilimency skill level and your Occlumency skill level. If you fall below 10 MP, your Occlumency shields will fail.

Combat Skills
Physical Damage Resistance: 12/100
Thank you sir! May I have another?
The body's durability increases and takes less damage.
-1% damage from physical attacks per point in this skill

Stealth: 15/100
Sneaky, sneaky!
Your natural ability to go unnoticed.

Languages, Sciences, and the Arts
Cooking: 26/100
Just put a little hot sauce on it.
The ability to prepare ingredients and cook meals.

English: 13/100
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.
The ability to speak, read, and write the English language.

Math: 6/100
√(-1) 2³ ∑ π
The ability to understand and utilize mathematical skills from the elementary level to advanced algebraic concepts.

Science: 4/100
1.21 Gigawatts?!
The ability to understand and utilize science and technology on a general level.

Social Skills
Social Aptitude: 6/100
It is what it is.
The ability to understand and interact with people and society as a whole.

Speech: 2/100
Your tongue is silver and your words are silk.
The ability to captivate an audience with your words.

General Skills
Cleaning: 20/100
OCD is where it's at.
The ability to dust, polish, remove stains, and just clean in general.

Climbing: 11/100
Reach farther.

Gardening: 24/100
How green is your thumb?
The ability to identify, plant, grow, prune, and keep plants healthy.

Jumping: 13/100
Jump higher.

Running: 17/100
Run faster.

"It seems like the game has a sense of humor. Or at least it thinks it does. Whatever, the skills are pretty much what I figured. Occlumency and Apparition were the only weird ones. Useful though. Now, what should I do with these points? Well, I definitely want to get Apparition and Occlumency up to level 20. I don't know what splinching is, but it sounds bad, so best avoid that. And I remember 20 was good for dealing with that horcrux too. As for the rest…might as well save them. I can use some to help on my French quest once I learn that skill, and maybe I'll get some other good skills eventually."

So, Harry distributed 19 points to Apparition, and 10 points to Occlumency, leaving him with 55 points to save for later. Confirming his choices, Harry watched the menu disappear and prepared once again to enter the school.

*ping*

"Again?!"

You have 3 talent points to spend. Please select your talents:

Lady Killer
You sexy thing.
+10% damage to the opposite sex, unlocks unique dialogue options with the opposite sex.

Thief: 1/3
Because purse snatching is a healthy hobby.
+5 Lockpick, +5 Pickpocket, +5 Stealth.

Swift Learner: 1/3
Better than methamphetamines.
+10% XP whenever XP is earned.

Intense Training: 1/10
Get pumped up!
+1 to any SPECIAL stat.

Prodigy
So special, the short bus can't handle you.
Gain a talent point every level instead of every other level.

Educated
U be smurt.
+3 skill points per level.

Iron Fist: 1/3
Sandbag punching 101.
+5 points of Unarmed Damage.

Toughness:
I ain't got time to bleed.
+10% Damage Resistance permanently.

Fortune Finder
I'm rich, biatch!
Increases the likelihood of randomly finding lost money.

Metamorph: 2/5
Man of a thousand faces.
Your ability to manipulate your physical appearance.
Maintains Clumsiness status effect.
+0.5 to transfiguration skill gain multiplier.
SP cost variable to initiate, No cost to maintain altered appearance.
Requires 10 Intelligence and 10 Agility.

Parsel Bloodline: 2/5
Who wouldn't want a vibrating tongue?
The ability to communicate with snakes and subjugate them to your will. When two parseltongue users attempt to dominate the same serpent, the more skilled will prevail.
Requires 10 Intelligence and 10 Charisma.

"Now this is interesting. Metamorph and Parsel Bloodline are greyed out, but I guess that's because of the stat requirements. Huh, I guess Charisma is useful for something after all. Maybe I'll look into that on my next level up. Whatever, for now I'll deal with what I've got. And speaking of what I've got…Parsel Bloodline: 2/5? That means I must already have level one. I will definitely have to find a snake to try that out sometime. I bet I could scare the crap out of Dudley with this."

A smirk spread across Harry's face as he daydreamed about some long desired revenge.

"Heheh. My first act as a supervillain will be awesome! Muhah-!" *Cough* *Cough* "…I definitely have to work on my evil laugh. Moving on! Which of these talents do I want? Oooh. Prodigy is a definite. Educated too. But what about the third? I can always use more stat points, so maybe Intense training. But then again I receive them anyways when I level, so maybe Swift Learner so I can level quicker. Yeah, I am going to have to go with Swift Learner."

With his choices chosen, the Talent Menu disappeared, and this time, no new screens popped up.

"About time."

Harry's entire crisis had happened on the first day of his third grade year. It had been September 1, 1988 and a Thursday. That meant he had a little over a week before the time limit for his quest expired.

He was determined to become as prepared as possible so that he would succeed. To that end, he spent all of his available time in the library studying. Unfortunately, all his school library had that would help him in his quest was a French to English translation dictionary. He could see how this would be useful if he had a baseline to work with. However, since he had no knowledge in French to begin with, none of the information stuck with him. The fact that he hadn't learned the French skill by the end of Friday proved to him that he was going about things the wrong way.

Besides his study, he also tried to run, jump, and climb everywhere he went. If there was a shortcut through a backyard that required jumping over bushes and climbing over fences, he took it. If he could get away with running at any time, he did. In fact, during mandatory recess, he spent the entire time running and jumping in circles around the playground, with an occasional break to climb on the jungle gym. He received a few odd looks for his behavior, but most just chocked it up to the weird kid being weird, and ignored it. He figured that any chance he had to improve his skills was worth taking, and most people didn't care about what he did anyways as long as he didn't bother them, so why not?

At the Dursley residence, Harry still kept his head down. However, it was not out of fear and a desire to eventually please the Dursleys like he had before. He no longer cared what they thought about him, and although some fear still remained, it was not enough to influence his actions. No, the reason he kept his head down and performed all of the tasks they gave him was to avoid attention. He knew that the game would let him become strong, but he also knew he was not there yet. His main worry was that if the Dursleys noticed him becoming stronger, or smarter, they would actively try and stop him. But, as long as he did his chores and stayed out of their way, they paid little attention to him. So, for now he did what he was told and otherwise avoided the house as much as possible by running around town to improve his skills.

As Saturday dawned, Harry decided to try the local library in the hope that they would have more material on learning French than his school library had. He had gained 2 points in running and 1 in both climbing and jumping, but as far as French went, the last two days had been rather unproductive.

So, after finishing his morning chores, he turned off his Pariah title and headed to the public library for a better variety of books. It was two miles to his public library, and for a normal 8 year old that may seem like a lot. However, Harry's 19/100 running skill was nothing to scoff at, and he made the trip with ease.

Arriving, only slightly out of breath, Harry took a moment to take in the sight of the building. It was a squat, single story, red brick building with a sign to the right of its double door entrance stating, "Little Whinging Public Library." An uninvolved observer might state that it was a wholly unimpressive site that highlighted how little the locals cared about learning. To Harry, however, it was a beacon of hope. A place where he could improve all of his educational skills with little to no interruption. He knew that Dudley, or any of the Dursleys for that matter, would never be caught dead at the library, so he knew that this place could become a safe haven for him. It was with great trepidation that Harry stepped up to the entrance and with a reverent push upon the doors, crossed the threshold into realm of Athena.

*ping*

Quest Notice:
Permission to Learn:
Children under the age of 11 are not allowed in the public library without the supervision of a parent or guardian unless they have a signed permission slip to allow their presence.
Quest Details:
1. Get a signed permission slip bearing Petunia or Vernon Dursley's signature.
Or,
2. Forge Petunia or Vernon Dursley's signature on a permission slip.
Time Limit:
None.
Completion Reward:
Method 1:
+50 exp
+5 Social Aptitude
+5 Speech
+1 library card
Method 2:
+50 exp
+5 Calligraphy
+5 Forging
+1 Library Card
Quest Acceptance:
To accept quest, speak with a librarian and receive a permission slip.

Harry's first step into the library turned into a stumble.

"Bugger. There is no way I can talk those two into signing a permission slip. Looks like forgery it is!"

And with that, Harry walked up to the nearest Library attendant and asked for a permission slip. She was an older lady with her greying hair tied up into a bun and glasses very similar to his own. The only difference being that her glasses were in better shape and had a delicate chain attached to their end that went around her neck. She looked stern, but was very kind to him as she explained the rules of the library and how he would need to get his permission slip signed before he could come inside.

Afterwards, he left and headed to the park. He knew it would be suspicious if he returned too soon since he came there on his own, so he had to find a way to pass the rest of the morning.

The first thing he did was find an old lady sitting on a bench to borrow a pen from. Then with pen in hand, he signed "V" followed by some scribbles, then "D" followed by more scribbles. He had seen Vernon's signature before and all it looked like was a bunch of scribbles anyways. Also, Vernon had likely never been to the library in his life, so the librarian would not know the difference.

With that taken care of, he pocketed the slip, returned the pen, and started his running, jumping, and climbing routine to pass the time. After four hours, and a few painful falls thanks to his clumsiness Status Effect, he gained a point in all three skills. He also gained one in Physical Damage Resistance from his constant stumbling, and one in Stealth when he successfully hid from Dudley's gang. It was time to return to the library.

Doing so, he found the librarian from earlier and handed her the permission slip. He put on his best innocent smile and waited nervously as she looked it over. She put on her best stern face, which Harry had to admit was pretty impressive, and looked down at him as if inspecting Harry for any deceit. Harry did not falter and kept his angelic smile plastered across his face.

"Very well then." She stated, as she turned away and walked to a desk in the corner. "Follow me and we'll get you a library card."

With that said, they did exactly that. Soon, Harry was holding a new library card, fresh off the type writer, that bore his full name and address along with a library member number that was all his own.

Something that was well and truly his. Not cast offs from someone else, begrudgingly given to him. This was fresh. New. And his. Even better, it said he belonged to something. Sure it was just to a library, but he was now an honest (sort of), card carrying member. He truly belonged to something.

Harry reverently ran his finger across the card. A gentle warmth filled his heart and with a true smile on his face he looked back up at the librarian and whispered a heartfelt "Thank you," before turning around and heading to look for books on learning French.

With a smile on her face, the librarian returned with a, "Your welcome," that went unheard as Harry was already gone on his hunt through the stacks.

*ping*

Quest Details
Permission to Learn:
Children under the age of 11 are not allowed in the public library without the supervision of a parent or guardian unless they have a signed permission slip to allow their presence.
Quest Details:
1. Get a signed permission slip bearing Petunia or Vernon Dursley's signature.
Or,
2. Forge Petunia or Vernon Dursley's signature on a permission slip.
Completion Reward:
+55 exp
+5 Calligraphy
+5 Forging
+1 Library Card
Bonus Reward:
+5 Deception
10 influence with Mrs. Pierre, the librarian

The smile that had been glued to his face since receiving his library card softened as he read about the +5 influence. Knowing that Mrs. Pierre, the librarian, liked him somewhat made this occasion precious to him on a whole other level.

"I really think I am going to like the library."

*ping*

Deception skill has been created: 5/100
Through lying and trickery, you have learned the art of Deception. Higher levels makes it easier for you to successfully deceive people.

Forging skill has been created: 5/100
Through falsifying documents, you have learned the art of forgery. This skill must be combined with others to be used. For example, when combined with Calligraphy you can forge signatures, and when combined with painting, you can forge a fake Rembrandt. A high skill in both are required to be successful in more difficult forgeries.

Calligraphy skill has been created: 5/100
The art of penmanship. A higher skill allows for a more elegant and legible script.

"Bonjour, tout le monde! That means, Hello Everyone! Je m'appelle Mademoiselle Fowler. And that means, my name is Miss Fowler. Now everyone, please repeat after me. Bonjour Mademoiselle Fowler."

Everyone in the class mumbled out a "Bonjour Mademoiselle Fowler" but the teacher didn't seem to mind the lackluster greeting. With a bright smile, she happily chirped back "Très bien!"

Harry could already tell he would enjoy this class. It had been a grueling week of grinding his skills, but the Little Whinging Public Library had come through for him and after earning 5 points and adding another 5 from his remaining skill points, he was sitting on top of a healthy 10/100 French skill. Perhaps that might not seem like much, but for someone who was not expected to know any French, he felt it was more than enough. In fact, it was almost as high as his skill in English, and that was his native language! Unfortunately, skillful usage of the language did not equate to a memorized vocabulary, so he still was much more proficient in English.

Besides being happy with his preparation, he genuinely liked Mlle. Fowler. For one, Mlle. Fowler didn't scowl whenever she saw him like every other teacher did. For another, her upbeat attitude just made the class seem like it would be fun. He couldn't understand why his classmates didn't seem as excited about this new teacher as he was, but he didn't care about their opinions anyways, so in the end, it didn't matter.

Now, he only had to hope that his study was enough to suitably impress Mlle. Fowler. He didn't want her to become like all the others just because he failed a quest. For a while now, he had been treating quests just like amusing little adventures. But this quest really brought home their importance. This one quest would shape his interactions for the foreseeable future in this class. This single quest would determine whether or not this teacher treated him fairly or like pond scum. In that moment, Harry realized that quests could either significantly help or hurt him, and in the process, they would shape the very course of his life.

This was a profound realization for an 8 year old to make in the middle of his first French lesson, but he didn't let it distract him. To him, impressing this French teacher had just become the single most important thing in his life. He doubted anything could ever be more important than this single class, and he wasn't going to screw it up.

"So, does anyone know what très bien means?"

Harry swore under his breath. He knew that he had read that, but he simply couldn't remember. The words were in his mind, but they were jumbled up with so many other words that he couldn't recall their meaning.

Mlle. Fowler's lips turned slightly downwards. "No? Well, it is our first class after all. Those words mean very good. Now, does anyone know any French before we get started?"

Harry's hand shot up like a rocket. This was his chance!

"Yes, Monsieur…?"

"Harry Potter, Mademoiselle Fowler."

Mlle. Fowler's bright smile returned to her face as she replied, "Bon! Now, what words do you know Monsieur Potter?"

"Well, other than the words you just taught us, I know the words: Oui, non, petit, amour, noir, blanc, bleu, rouge, vert, jaune, un, deux, trois, quatre, and cinq. I learned some others, but I've gotten them all mixed up, but I can at least remember what these words mean."

"Incroyable! For everyone else, the words Monsier Potter used were: Oui, which means yes…"

As Mlle. Fowler continued explaining his words to the class, Harry was distracted by a sudden sound.

*ping*

Quest Complete!
French Friday
In response to the Education Reform Act 1988 that came into effect this year, St. Grogory's Primary School has hired a part time French teacher to teach lessons every Friday. Impress the new teacher and begin down the path to being multilingual!
Quest Details:
Impress the new French teacher during your first lesson.
Completion Reward:
+55 exp.
+20 influence with the new French teacher.
+5 French
+1 French to English translation dictionary.

Harry smiled softly as a weight he hadn't noticed fell off his shoulders. 'That's how things should be,' he thought to himself. As he relaxed into his seat, he turned his attention back to the teacher.

'Things are going to change from now on…this is only the beginning.'

A/N: I used some quotes in this one for my skills. Below are the quotes and credit is given.

1. To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.
–Lao Tzu
2. Thank you sir! May I have another?
-Chip (Played by Kevin Bacon) in Animal House
3. The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.
- My Fair Lady
4. √(-1) 2³ ∑ π
-Not sure who came up with this one, so I will say anonymous unless someone can help me with this. And if you don't get the joke, ask a friend who knows math.
5. 1.21 Gigawatts?!
-Doc (played by Christopher Lloyd) in Back to the Future
6. It is what it is.
-A thousand sources on this one. So, true origin is likely unknown.
7. Run faster, jump higher, reach farther.
-Jerry Garcia
8. You sexy Thing.
-Title of a song by "Hot Chocolate"
9. I ain't got time to bleed.
-Blain (played by Jesse Ventura) Predator
10. I'm rich, biatch!
-Dave Chapelle
11. Man of a thousand faces
-Title of the 1957 film, Man of a Thousand Faces

And here is Harry's current stats and skills!

Henry James Potter
Class: Gamer
Title: -none-
Lv. 6 – Exp: 260/600
HP= 59/59
MP=74/74 (-25%)
SP= 22/22 (-75%)

You have 50 skill points to distribute:

General Magic
Apparition: 20/100
Observe: 1/100
Occlumency: 20/100

Combat Skills
Physical Damage Resistance: 13/100
Stealth: 16/100

Languages, Sciences, and the Arts
Cooking: 26/100
English: 13/100
Forging: 5/100
French: 15/100
Math: 6/100
Science: 4/100

Social Skills
Deception: 5/100
Social Aptitude: 6/100
Speech: 2/100

General Skills
Calligraphy: 5/100
Cleaning: 20/100
Climbing: 13/100
Gardening: 24/100
Jumping: 15/100
Running: 20/100

If anyone notices, Harry's skill with French is now greater than his skill with English. This does not necessarily mean he is better at French. His skill shows how good he is at using the language. This means: sentence structure, spelling, grammar, punctuation when writing, pronunciation, etc. Of course if he only knows a dozen French words, this does not help him much. It still falls on Harry to learn the words, as gaining the skill will not make the words simply appear in his brain. However, a high skill in French will mean that his retention of French words will improve as well.

Another point where languages are concerned. Harry has used English his whole life, but there is a reason the skill is not higher. Just speaking a language does not necessarily make someone better at it. People use bad grammar and speak bastardized English all of the time. This does not contribute to them becoming linguists. For Harry, it is the effort to learn proper English that will raise his English skill points, not the everyday usage of the language. The only reason his skill in English is higher than his other scholastic skills, such as Math, is because of prior learning. He obviously had to learn how to speak English before he went to school, whereas he did not learn math before attending primary.

Please R/R