"Boy, wake up now! Me, Petunia, and Dudders are hungry," came the booming voice of Uncle Vernon, pounding on the staircase door in a hurry.
Harry awoke with a start, barely missing the low ceiling with his head when he sat up. He grabbed blindly for the spot where he put his glasses and found it, putting it on quickly when he noticed something amiss: There was a floating green text box in front of his vision. It said:
Congratulations, Harry Potter! You've been given [The Gamer] ability as an early birthday present.
How lucky of you!
[Continue] or [Remind You Later (3 Hours Wait)]
"Uh, remind me later?" Harry asked hesitantly, not entirely trusting what he was seeing; the screen immediately disappeared right afterwards. He shook his head, believing he was still half-sleeping to have seen the text as he got out from underneath the stairs, going straight towards the kitchen. He quickly took out the eggs, milk, butter, bacon, and sausage, and then brought down the bread from on top of the fridge. He started the stove and got to work making french toast, over-easy eggs, toast, bacon, and sausage, working on each of them at the same time.
Shit, he forgot to make the coffee.
He started the hot brew in a rush just before Dudley came stumbling in, tired as it was early in the morning. He yawned, his mouth stretching to an obscene degree before going back into its place. He waddled his stocky body to the fridge, where he then proceeded to drink straight from the carton of orange juice. His teeth was saturated with pulp as he wiped his mouth with his bare arm, belching loudly afterwards. "Smells good, cousin," he complimented, before aptly adding on, "for a horse!"
"Ha ha, Dudley," the Potter child commented, working hard on the food he wouldn't be allowed to eat.
It took another ten minutes but he was done cooking, finished with everything. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia came inside and sat down at the dining room table, getting served promptly before he could be berated, yelled at, and/or get hit. Harry watched them eat with hungry eyes, wanting to join them but knowing he didn't have a place at the dinner table.
"Boy," Uncle Vernon began, his great mustache moving as his mouth moved. "Since next week is your…birthday," he said the last word with disgust, as if it personally offended him, "I…we decided to order pepperoni pizza, and we're allowing you a slice. Just a slice, mind you," he informed.
Harry suppressed his desire to celebrate that he was eating tonight, saying in a much more formal tone, "Thank you, Uncle Vernon."
"Good. Now, make sure you take out the trash before you do any yard work, understand, boy?"
Harry Potter was exhausted after working all day outside. He trimmed the hedges, cut the grass, deweeded the garden, he weed wacked, and watered the flowers in all of 2 hours and 45 minutes.
He was physically tired, sweaty from all the workout he had done. Harry decided to take a quick 15 minute shower, thinking that Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would be slightly more lenient than usual. He undressed his scrawny, malnourished body and got into the warm but not too hot shower and simply relaxed. The warm water felt godly against his skin.
Deciding to be daring today, he sneakily poured some conditioner into his hand after he scrubbed his head of hair of shampoo. He thoroughly massaged the conditioner into his unruly hair and just went at it. After he was sure that there was nothing more in his hair he opened his eyes to see a familiar-looking green textbox in his face:
[Continue] or [Remind You Later (6 Hours)]
"'Continue?'" Harry said, unsure of what his actions will do.
Please say [Profile] to access your profile, which will show you a list of your abilities. Say the word "close" to close the frontmost screen.
"Uh, close?" Harry spoke aloud. Immediately the screen disappeared, leaving Harry naked and alone in the shower, with the cascade of water making background noise. "'Profile?'" Harry tried, before being awarded with another green wall of text:
Harry Potter - Lvl. 9 - Age: 11
HP: 90/90
MP: 150/150
Class: None
Exhaustion: 50/250
Title: None
Active Buff: Nothing
[Stats] [Skills] [Inventory] [Relationships] [Quest Log]
Alert! New achievement unlocked: Baby Steps.
Unlocked under the following conditions: Take a look at your profile for the first time.
"What's an 'inventory?'" Harry asked nobody.
Alert! [Inventory] is locked until Lvl. 20.
"Okay…what about skills?" he tried again, wondering why his inventory was locked.
Skill List:
English [Lvl. 60]: Speaking the English language.
Literacy [Lvl. 40]: Reading and writing [Language = English]
Cooking [Lvl. 30]: Ability to make food.
Observe [Lvl. 1]: Gaining information when the player states the word "observe" while looking at a person or thing.
"Close, stats."
VIT: 9, STR: 5, DEX: 6, INT: 15, WIS: 13, CHA: 8
Unallotted stat points: 0
"Close. 'Relationships?'"
Relationships:
Vernon Dursley: Rep -60. Enemy (Petty Type).
Petunia Dursley: Rep -55. Enemy (Petty Type).
Dudley Dursley: Rep -37. Enemy (Petty Type).
Tom Marvolo Riddle (Voldemort): Rep -100. Unconditional hatred.
Who the hell is "Tom Marvolo Riddle (Voldemort)," and why the hell did he hate him so damn much? He's never even met the guy and he was only eleven, so what could Harry have done to earn his ire?
Nevermind that, [The Gamer] ability that he gained as an early birthday gift (from who he did not know) was quite accurate, as he wasn't very physically strong and didn't have the best relationship with the Dursleys.
And what was this [Observe] skill he had? Rereading over the description for said skill, he decided to test it on Dudley, who he knew was playing with a boy named Piers Polkiss, a scrawny boy with a face like a rat, and a couple other boys (them being Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon) who helped Dudley beat up kids on the block/or in school. Harry dried himself off as best as he could before he got on a set of clothes and went to the front door window; peering outside, the Potter child quietly followed the instructions in the skill description and whispered, "Observe," at Dudley and Piers.
Dudley Dursley - Lvl. 12 - Age: 11
HP: ?/?
MP: ?/?
Class: ?
Exhaustion: ?/?
Title: Unknown
Active Buff: Unknown
Piers Polkiss - Lvl. 12 - Age: 12
HP: ?/?
MP: ?/?
Class: ?
Exhaustion: ?/?
Title: Unknown
Active Buff: Unknown
Why was Dudley and Piers both a whole three levels higher than him? They were the same age (he and Dudley were only five weeks apart birthday-wise) but had totally different levels. Maybe because Dudley was stockier? But that didn't explain Piers, who was scrawny like Harry was (but not as skinny). Perhaps it was because the two of them played more with their friends?
Alert! The skill [Observe] has leveled up to Lvl. 2.
Thinking has improved your problem-solving ability! +1 WIS
Sweet, he leveled up and got a +1 to his WIS stat.
That was a good thing, right?
It was official: Harry loved [The Gamer] ability, if nothing for it passed the time. He could look at anyone in the world, say a single word, and then get a wall of text saying their name, level, and age (he wasn't counting the unknown data given to him). He looked towards his uncle, (he had ordered three large pepperoni pizzas for all three of them), and was stuffing his face full of it, whispering the word, "Observe," under his breath.
Vernon Dursley - Lvl. 24 - Age: 36
HP: ?/?
MP: ?/?
Class: ?
Exhaustion: ?/?
Title: Unknown
Active Buff: Unknown
Next, Harry decided to [Observe] his aunt, who was similarly stuffing her face.
Petunia Dursley - Lvl. 22 - Age: 34
HP: ?/?
MP: ?/?
Class: ?
Exhaustion: ?/?
Title: Unknown
Active Buff: Unknown
Alert! The skill [Observe] has leveled up to Lvl. 3.
"Mum, Harry's whispering under his breath!" Dudley called him out, talking with a mouth full of pizza.
"What are you whispering about, boy?" Uncle Vernon questioned, slamming his hands down onto the table. "You inconsiderate brat, think you can bad-mouth us without any consequences, do you?! Go the hell back to your room now!"
Harry nodded his head meekly before making his way back to his "room," which was really the compartment underneath the staircase. It was cramped inside, and Harry had to adjust himself several times until he was the least uncomfortable laying down. "Profile."
Harry Potter - Lvl. 9 - Age: 11
HP: 90/90
MP: 150/150
Class: None
Exhaustion: 30/250
Title: None
Active Buff: Nothing
[Stats] [Skills] [Inventory] [Relationships] [Quest Log]
"Quest Log."
Outstanding Quests:
Tutorial Quest (Part 1)
What the hell was the "tutorial quest?" Was it important? "Tutorial Quest (Part 1)," Harry whispered, trying not to sound like a crazy person nor get caught by his Aunt or Uncle.
Tutorial Quest (Part 1)
Explore Each Section of Your Profile: Completed.
Ask for [Explanation: Stats]: Uncompleted.
Ask for [Explanation: Relationships]: Uncompleted.
Rewards: ?
Sounded easy enough, he supposed. He had explored everything, even the locked inventory he had. "Explanation: Stats."
BASE STATS
Vitality: Your physical wellbeing in regards to health and constitution [affects HP].
Strength: How strong you are [affects attack power and exhaustion threshold].
Dexterity: The ability to move quickly and easily; to be nimble and quick [affects dodging, and base speed].
Intelligence: The ability to learn new things quickly [affects time spent learning skills].
Wisdom: The ability to properly apply knowledge to situations [affects problem-solving].
Charisma: The ability to charm people and win them over [affects conversation and relationship statuses].
"Close. Explanation: Relationships."
The relationship section shows how much people like or dislike you, and what type of acquaintance they are. If you want someone to be added or removed from the list, please say "add [name] to relationships" for the former and for the latter say "remove [name] from relationships."
Alert! The quest [Tutorial Quest (Part 1)] has been completed. Collect rewards?
That's right, it did mention a reward if he did all that stuff. Harry mentally filed away the information he'd been given and said, "Collect rewards."
Tutorial Quest (Part 1) Complete!
Rewards [Hidden]: +500 XP, +5 Stat Points
Alert! You have leveled up! You are now Lvl. 10!
Congratulations on finishing the tutorial quest! You're on your own (for now).
Wait wait wait! He barely understood everything that was being thrust onto him! Harry sat up quickly, again barely missing colliding his head with the ceiling. Did anything change in his profile? "Profile."
Harry Potter - Lvl. 10 - Age: 11
HP: 90/90
MP: 250/250
Class: None
Exhaustion: 20/250
Title: None
Active Buff: Nothing
[Stats] [Skills] [Inventory] [Relationships] [Quest Log]
Nothing changed except his MP (whatever that was) and his exhaustion. "Stats?" he tried next.
VIT: 9, STR: 5, DEX: 6, INT: 15, WIS: 14, CHA: 8
Unallotted stat points: 10
Finally, something was different than from before. His unallotted stat points now had an extra ten points unspent. Thinking for a little bit, he hypothesized that since it was unallotted it meant he could put it anywhere he liked. The only conundrum was that he was awarded only five points for his reward, not ten. Maybe leveling gave an automatic five unallotted skill points?
Who knows?
Anyways, Harry had the strongest urge to put half and half into his INT and WIS, as he always valued brains over brawn. But his VIT was stupidly low as well, so maybe he should divvy between the three?
"Three points to vitality, four points to intelligence, and three points to wisdom," Harry said, and he saw the text change in response.
VIT: 12, STR: 5, DEX: 6, INT: 19, WIS: 17, CHA: 8
Unallotted stat points: 0
"Close. Profile."
Harry Potter - Lvl. 10 - Age: 11
HP: 120/120
MP: 290/290
Class: None
Exhaustion: 10/250
Title: None
Active Buff: Nothing
[Stats] [Skills] [Inventory] [Relationships] [Quest Log]
It seemed like his INT was tied to his MP counter. But besides that, how was he going to test if he was smarter? He'd let his future self deal with that problem, as he was tired from all the work he had done outside. Harry Potter took off his glasses and set them aside at their usual place, before closing his eyes to go to bed early.
He was reading/doing his summer math homework, and it was going far easier than it used to be. He was understanding the problem in seconds instead of taking his time and rereading the problem over and over again. His pencil flew over as he solved it within a minute.
Math used to be a slight struggle to him, but now it was a breeze.
Your problem-solving activity increased your Wisdom! +1 WIS
"Stats."
VIT: 12, STR: 5, DEX: 6, INT: 19, WIS: 18, CHA: 8
Unallotted stat points: 0
Hmm, interesting. It appeared that if he did an activity that was based on one of the six stats that he had, he could increase it manually by doing said activity. Which gave him an idea.
He was really out of shape, as only five minutes into the jog he was out of breath, tired from all the running he did. He had jogged around the entire neighborhood, trying his best to increase his DEX stat.
Practicing has made you faster! +1 DEX.
Finally, his DEX stat was raised. He fell backwards onto the front lawn of his Aunt's and Uncle's house, taking a quick breather as he tried to catch his breath. The nicely trimmed grass (which he mowed himself) felt nice and cold against his hot and flush skin. After taking a five-minute break he decided to jog his way to the local park, intent on increasing his strength by doing the monkey bars. Once he got there Harry noticed that there was five kids, no more than eight years old, were already playing there.
He decided to [Observe] each and every kid to level up the aforementioned skill.
Alert! The skill [Observe] has leveled up to Lvl. 4.
Alert! The skill [Observe] has leveled up to Lvl. 5.
Alert! The skill [Observe] has leveled up to Lvl. 6.
Sweet, his skill [Observe] was now strong enough to view the target's HP (whatever that was).
Harry stepped up to the monkey bars and grabbed ahold, using his arms to hold himself aloft. He didn't realize how heavy or weak he was because he fell down onto his ass after five seconds in. He tried again, this time making his way to the second monkey bar before letting go in exhaustion.
God was he weak.
Practicing has made you stronger! +1 STR
At least he was getting stronger, Harry thought before trying again on the monkey bars. It went on like this for an entire hour before he called it quits and went back to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's house.
Author's Note: I'll be basing [The Gamer] ability heavily against Midoriya Izuku's version in Player One by alohaflower, so expect some overlap in our words.
So, what do you guys think? I checked AO3 for Harry Potter/The Gamer crossovers and only found one good one, so I'm making this fic for fun.