Harry woke up to an aching body. He groaned when he sat up to check on his injuries from yesterday. It seemed that the gash from yesterday had yet to heal. 'Have I been overworking my magic too much? Crap, this will be a problem.' Harry sighed in frustration. His hand landed on something pointed, which made him remember the knife he hid in his pocket. He quickly took out the bloody knife and inspected his leg for any cuts in panic.

'Oh, thank Merlin, I didn't get stabbed in my sleep!' Harry glanced at the bloody knife and hid it under the blanket.

"Freak! Hurry up and get yer ass ready for school!" Vernon yelled from the living room, presumably with Petunia, who was readying Dudley for school. Harry sighed and went out of the cupboard, which was opened prior by imposter Vernon. 'How did I not notice…?' Harry shrugged it off and readied himself for the day.

'School huh… so the scenarios I might encounter consists of teachers punishing me for lying, getting bullied by everyone, orrr… Harry hunting. Great, just great.' Harry suppressed his forming migraine just from thinking about what will happen today. He once again examined his body when he entered the bathroom. He is now 8 years old, skin free from blemishes and injuries except for the stitched cut on his arm. 'It's not as bad as yesterday, but it might leave a scar.' Harry thought to himself while he checked on his injury for signs of infection.

Harry wore his most decent clothing which is usually what he wore for school, still, it could've been less baggy. Maybe he should buy better clothes once he gets out of the door, he does have enough money in his wizarding vault– he added that to his mental to-do list. He returned to the cupboard to get his old school bag and knife. After a lot of consideration, Harry tucked the knife into his bag and then took off.

Harry found the Dursleys getting into the car, so he got in the car before he gets left behind. Just like yesterday, the car ride had been quiet, if not unnerving. It didn't take long before the blurry streets revealed a clear image of Harry's and Dudley's old elementary school. Harry had to stop himself from frowning openly when he saw the building. He hated the school as much as he hated the Dursley household for giving him unfavorable childhood. The multiple times he imagined the school burning to the ground did not help quell the intrusive thoughts he harbored. He shook it off when he heard Dudley getting out of the car without him, as usual.

Before Harry could get out Vernon called him. "I'm warning you now boy, if I get a call regarding any of your freakishness… you'll see what will happen." Vernon threatened in a low voice. Harry nodded to the warning, knowing how troublesome it could get if he ignored it. Harry got out of the car in a hurry to catch up with Dudley and the other children who are going into the school building.

Harry turned to see the car become blurred in the distance before he went inside the building. The school is portrayed exactly as he could remember, loud and chaotic. Harry heard the school bell ring, signifying that the students should get in their classroom for homeroom period.

Harry lost sight of Dudley when he inspected the building so Harry rushed to the classroom alone– not wanting to face any detentions or horrifying punishment for being late. The moment Harry entered the classroom the second bell rang, signifying the start of classes.

'Phew, just in time. I nearly forgot what classroom I was in.' Harry thought as he approached his assigned desk. He heard other students entering the classroom and getting reprimanded by the teacher but he paid them no mind as he stopped by his chair. He didn't sit down, or couldn't sit down because of the thumbtacks scattered on it. 'Of course, I should've expected this.'

"What's wrong Potter? Hurry up and sit down so we can start the class." His homeroom teacher chided Harry. Harry heard other children giggling– he looked up and saw creepy smiling faces plastered on his teacher's and classmates' faces instead of mosaic blurs. Harry bit down his lower lip and frowned at them.

'Merlin, I hate school so much.' He thought bitterly. He swiped the thumbtacks away, placed his bag down, and sat on the chair as if nothing happened. He could care less if the thumbtacks are scattered on the floor. He readied for any other hostile scenarios to happen but mosaic returned to the faces of his teacher and classmates. Despite the mosaics covering their faces, Harry could feel that they were upset by the unclimactic turn of events.

Classes were unexpectedly normal, except for the minor bullying that occurred now and then, but Harry knew better than to be provoked. As much as Harry wished this day to be peaceful, he knows that the door will do anything in its power to make him suffer– it didn't help that he was starving and tired. Later on, the minor bullying evolved into something more harmful and malicious, which Harry had expected.

When Harry excused himself from class to use the bathroom, a bucket of ice water fell on him. He was sure there was nothing when he entered the bathroom stall– which meant that someone or something had followed him and placed the bucket without his knowledge. His hair stood up at that thought since he made sure to check every nook and cranny of the bathroom before using the stall. Harry ended up using a bit of his magic to dry himself up, he does not want to have a fever while inside a dangerous setting.

*childish giggles echoed in the stalls*

During lunch time he managed to get hold of food that he knows he can eat– scavenging skills came in handy. He took his time eating, not wanting the needle incident to happen again. While waiting for the lunch break to end, he sensed something coming at him. A fork, flying at a high velocity, was aimed at his left eye. Had it not been for his quick reflexes and quidditch skills then he'd have to say goodbye to his left eye. His left palm, however, had not been fortunate since he used it to block the fork. He had to go to the school clinic to bandage up his stab wound afterward.

*childish giggles echoed in the halls*

If that wasn't enough, he nearly got locked in the janitor's office after some students pushed him into it. Luckily he was quick enough to stop the brats from closing the door on him. He was quite tempted to hit them with a broom he found in the janitor's office but refrained himself– he did not need Vernon to be called to the school. By the time he knew it, the kids disappeared like there weren't even there, followed by creepy giggling that he heard back in the bathroom and cafetorium.

Harry couldn't suppress the chills he got when he heard the echoing giggles getting louder as he ran back to his classroom. He found the classroom empty, which is unusual since classes should've started by now. Then he heard multiple scratching and thudding noises on the door.

Then he heard the familiar bell chime that he associated with death.

Harry instinctively knew that he needed to keep the door closed at all costs. Harry immediately slammed his body to the door and pushed all his weight to keep it from opening. The thudding and scratching got louder and persisted for so long that Harry was not able to stop the tiny black hands that slipped through the door slit. He knew that he had to do something before the situation gets worse. Harry's sweat trickled down his forehead while he gathered his magic.

'Merlin, I hope this works or I'm dead.' Harry thought. "It's now or never, magic please cooperate with me." Harry opened the door, quickly turned around, and opened his palm to the shadow-like entity.

"Incendio!"

SHRIEK!

The entity struggled as it was engulfed by flames. Harry did not expect the flames to be this strong, and he especially did not expect the fire to spread everywhere. Before Harry could think of a solution for the catastrophe he had created, the dark entity tried to grab him with its large blazing hand. Harry ducked and back to the farthest corner of the classroom.

"Why won't you just give up already!" Harry yelled, frustrated. Just as he said that the shadow entity slowly dispersed into ashes. Harry covered his head with his arms to avoid getting ashes all over his face. "Goddamn it! what to do, what to do." Harry's eyes roamed around the burning room, but he found that the room was also dispersing into nothingness. "What..?" Harry raised his eyebrows until they disappeared under his bangs.

"P..ter.." Something whispers into his ears.

"-Ot..er!" Harry turned to see where it was coming from– only to see the dispersing room turn to black.

"POTTER! Wake up!" Harry jolted when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "About time you wake up Potter. I know it's tempting to sleep but please refrain from doing so while we are in class." His teacher said in a reprimanding tone. The other students laughed at him but were shushed by the teacher. Classes resumed as if nothing had happened, leaving Harry disoriented and confused.

'Wasn't I in a burning classroom? It was all a dream? How?!' Harry massaged his forehead and sighed. He was about to pass it off as paranoia and hallucinations but found that his palm had ashes. 'It must've been the door's doing.' He concluded with a frown.

Half an hour later the school bell rang. The teacher then led the kids out for an hour of playtime before they can go home. Harry clicked his tongue irritatedly when he realized that his suffering is yet to end. Dudley's cronies already gave away their intentions the moment they chuckled at the sight of him.

'Harry hunting... Oh how much that brings memories.' Harry thought sourly as he headed to the playground. Just like in his original memory, the other kids ignored him and avoided him like a plague.'Dudley sure does like isolating me. That prick.'

With no one to defend him, Harry was approached by Dudley's goons.

"Hey, freak!" Piers started, one of Dudley's close friends from what Harry remembered. "Heard from Dudley that you can do a lot of freaky things. Why not show us?" With that, the boys surrounded Harry and forcefully dragged him to an isolated area. "Hah, the freak can't even do anything. What a loser." Harry did not bother retorting or escaping, he knew that it was inevitable.

They threw Harry into the mud and laughed at him. "Well, well, if it isn't my freak of a cousin. Being a mutt now are we?" Dudley's voice is filled with malice, Harry noted. "What are we gonna do with him today boss?" Malcolm asked.

While they were talking, Harry pushed himself off the ground and wiped the mud off his face. He peeked at everyone in the area, there are six of them– Harry included. He doesn't remember the other two kids, the mosaic on their faces doesn't help either.

"We're gonna play a game of course!" Dudley said enthusiastically. Dudley moved and revealed multiple metal pipes hidden behind him. Mosaics melted off their faces and each of the goons took a pipe for their own. Dudley looked exactly like Petunia and Vernon, unnerving grin and a glint in his eyes that spells trouble.

"So what game are we gonna play that we'll be needing these pipes boss?" One of the goons said.

"Idiot! We're playing Harry hunting, duh." Piers sassed.

"Exactly what he said–" Dudley piped in, "But this time we have pipes to beat him up!" He cheerfully finished. 'Wretched brats, I guess this is where I should run.' Harry thought to himself and started looking for an opening.

"What an awesome plan boss! We'll teach this freak a lesson!" Right after Malcolm said that Harry bolted away. "What are you waiting for?! Catch him!?" Harry heard Dudley screech from behind

"Wait up you freak!"

"That's cheating!"

Harry didn't care what else they had to say as he went inside the building. Harry circled the building to lose his chasers and headed out again to get his bag. 'Where is it… THERE!' Harry skidded stop to his bag and took out his knife. 'I hope I don't have to use this.' He tucked the knife into his pocket. Harry heard shouting from behind so he started running again. Thank's to Harry's experience with Harry hunting, he could easily outrun Dudley and the others. 'But… experience won't be enough once I'm out of stamina. I'm too tired for this.' Harry clicked his tongue.

After half an hour of running and chasing Harry had to stop and catch his breath. A minute later he heard heavy footsteps coming his way, it was Dudley and two of his goons. They were panting and gasping for air, clearly not expecting the hunt to last this long.

"Y-you stop running..!" The goon wheezed.

"How d-dare you! That was not fair!" Dudley shouted, clearly enraged by the turn of events so far.

"How was it unfair? All I did was run like I'm supposed to. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" Harry mocked them in return. He would've laughed at their infuriated faces had it not been for his bad temper at the moment. Harry had let his guard down that he did not notice Piers and Malcolm creeping up behind him.

"Finally caught you freak!" Malcolm cheered. Harry found himself held in a chokehold, he immediately struggled to break free. Harry cursed himself for his incompetence and for letting his guard down. "Good job Malcolm and Piers." Dudley praised them, then he fixed his grip on the metal pipe. "It's about time we teach this freak a lesson." Harry saw Dudley raise the metal rod and swung it down to his head with full force. Harry's glasses fell off, leaving him vulnerable and unable to see who kicked him in the stomach.

Harry couldn't hear anything from the loud ringing in his ear, but he knows that Dudley and the others were laughing at him. A second later Harry felt himself drop to the ground, Malcolm must've let him go. He tried to get up but was kicked back down, again and again. "Teach them a lesson… that sounds nice." Harry mumbled to himself. Everything felt so loud and red…Harry mused.

"Huh, that freak can still talk?" Piers said, quite disgruntled.

"Go hit him more till he can't speak then," Dudley ordered gleefully while he watched Harry struggle to get up.

"No, wait, let him get up. Let's see if this freak can even stand." Malcolm suggested.

Harry heard none of the comments, solely focused on standing up– even if his muscles and bones protested his every move. Harry staggered in his place, and the goons laughed at his pitiful state.

"Would ya look at that! He can stand!" Dudley said and tapped Harry multiple times with his bloody pipe. Everyone laughed at Harry again.

"He looks so dirty now, then again a mutt is a mutt." Piers added. Dudley and the goons were having a good time spouting harsh words at Harry, but Harry heard none of them. He reached for the knife hidden in his pocket and he stared at Malcolm who had his back exposed.

"..."

"Hah! I bet his parents left him because he's a disappoint–" Malcolm's comment was cut off when he coughed blood. "W-what..?" Malcolm felt something on his stomach and saw that there was blood and a protruding knife on his stomach. The bells had chimed.

"AAAHHHHH!"

"WHAT THE HELL!"

"HURRY GET A TEACHER!"

Harry pulled out the knife and Malcolm collapsed to the ground– left to bleed out. Harry picked his glasses off the ground before it gets soiled by blood– there were cracks on them but it's still usable. He saw two of the nameless goons running so he took Malcolm's pipe and threw it with precision on the head of the farthest goon– the kid tripped and fell unconscious from the impact. The last goon turned around in shock at what he saw. Harry then threw his knife, and just like the last, the knife landed on the goon's head. The nameless goon dropped to his knees and died with horrified eyes that stared at Harry. The second bell chime.

"Y-y-you m-monster!" Harry's magic had healed his impaired hearing so Harry got to hear Dudley's words. Harry tilted his head and stared at Dudley with his cold tired eyes. "Eek!" Both Dudley and Pier squeaked. Dudley ran, leaving Piers behind to defend himself. Harry raised a brow and then went to get his knife back. He glanced at the unconscious goon and slowly limped to the body. Harry took the goon's pipe and used it to bash the goon's head– he threw away the bloodied pipe afterward. The third bell chime.

'For extra precaution… I don't know if he'll do anything if he wakes up after all.' Harry nodded to himself then turned to Piers. Piers started hiccuping as tears fell from his eyes. Harry felt his magic slowly heal his legs so he managed to approach Pier without limping.

Piers stared at the cold emerald eyes and felt his legs weaken from fear. His legs were shaking so much that they gave up on him when Harry approached. Harry could smell the urine from Piers, he nearly pitied the fool but other than that he felt apathetic.

"Don't worry… it'll be quick. I think." Harry whispered as he grabbed Piers' hair and pulled it back to expose his neck. Piers whimpered one last time before Harry delivered one clean swipe to the throat and kicked Piers to the ground. He could hear Pier wheezing for air while he choked on his blood. The fourth bell chime.

He did not let himself linger any longer and started his search for Dudley. The school was oddly quiet and empty compared to the morning– where the air was filled with bustling noises and laughter. 'Most likely been the door's doing as well.'

"M..m..my.." Harry heard someone wail in the playground, near the slide. Avada Kedavra eyes started swirling– knife clutched tight while it dripped blood to the floor. "Mo..ommy... Go.. home…" The wailing and sniveling grew louder when Harry neared the slide.

"Mommy... I want to go home *hiccup* wahhh…" It was Dudley, he was crying, "I don't want to be here anymore Mommy… there's a monster. *hiccup*"

He felt so human, as human as he can be in this twisted world inside the door. Harry's steps halted at that thought– as if he felt his heart got stabbed by sudden guilt. Harry dropped his head and stared at the bloodied knife he was holding. Did he just kill humans? Were they even human?

He heard Dudley squeal in fright when he saw the sight of Harry. "M-MONSTER!" Dudley pointed accusingly at Harry– as if his eyes and mouth weren't hollow and dripping with blood, as if he too was not a monster. "Oh right… you're a monster too, just like me." Harry chuckled to himself and pointed the knife at Dudley– with a broken grin. With newfound strength, Harry appeared in front of Dudley and kicked him to the ground. He felt magic enhance his strength so he accidentally created a small crater with Dudley's body.

"No..no.. don't kill me..I-I don't want to die…" Dudley whimpered under Harry's foot.

"Neither do I." Harry said, with a sad smile on his lip. With one last kick to Dudley's head, Harry stabbed the knife into Dudley's nape. He heard Dudley gurgle and choke with his blood, so he stabbed him, again and again, to make Dudley's death quicker. Harry stopped when Dudley stopped struggling and moving.

Harry finally heard the familiar bell chime of death. He doesn't know whether he hated the sound or liked it. He stood up and sat on an empty swing. Harry sighed and felt tear drops fall from his eyes– he allowed himself to cry. After what felt like hours, a black screen popped up.

[Congratulations! Prepare for the next memory, player.]

"Say… are you sentient? Can you tell me what you are?" Harry curiously asked the screen. He was desperate for any form of company at the moment. Was it foolish of him to want that?

[I am a system, created by the divine beings, to guide players inside the door.]

Harry was amazed that this 'system' actually answered him. He had never seen anything like it, even in the world of magic. Then something hit him, maybe he can fish out information from it.

"Can you tell me how many stages are left?" Harry is desperate to know this, he doesn't know how long his sanity will last inside the door.

[There are two stages left for the player to clear.]

"Two huh, not so bad. I'll just need to live until then." Harry nodded in satisfaction. Harry remembered a question he often asked in the first few stages. "System, can you tell me why I have to go through this?"

['Players' are individuals that 'Sponsors' deemed worthy to be invited to the 'Door of Trials'. Players are encouraged to grow stronger inside the door and clear stages as efficiently as possible to gain rewards from their 'Sponsors'.]

"What's a–"

['Sponsors' can be divine beings, players, or otherworldly entities that invite 'players' like you for a purpose. Their purpose of sponsoring players may vary.]

The answers brought more questions than answers, but Harry was happy to get answers nonetheless. "Though, how come this is the first time I've heard of the 'Door of Trials' before?"

[That is because 'Players' are unable to share any information about the Door of Trials unless it's a fellow player. Outsiders will die if they ever hear of the Door of Trials.]

[Simply because non-players brains cannot handle the information regarding the Doors.] the system added.

"I see, I have three more questions."

[I will answer to the best of my abilities.]

"Who is my sponsor? Why did they invite me to the 'Door of Trials'? And what is the purpose of the doors?" Harry questioned, one after another.

[System requesting permission to answer.]

Harry clutched his fist in anticipation.

[System permitted to answer two questions.]

Harry frowned, but he sighed it away. 'Better than nothing I guess.'

[Player Harry James Potter is sponsored by the 'Reaper', also known as the God of Death]

"The God of Death?!" That was not what Harry was expecting, at all. Then again maybe he should've, after all, he can feel that death is near through bell chimes.

[System cannot answer the second question, the 'Sponsor' will answer it in time.]

"Now that's just a cliffhanger.."

[The 'Door of Trials' is created by the Gods to prevent the tragic future of this world.]

"That's all?" The system did not answer, "That was extremely vague…"

[Teleporting player to safe zone]

Harry was engulfed by light and then appeared in his cupboard. Harry began to form a headache just from thinking about the answers he got from the 'system'. He rubbed his head with a bloody palm and groaned.

"What the hell did I get myself into? God of Death, end of the world, what else?!" Harry sighed for the umpteenth time and flopped on his ratty mattress. He threw a locking charm at his door and placed the knife on his shelf. After one last look at the knife, Harry laid down and wrapped himself with a blanket.

"It'll be okay Harry, just two more stages to go." Harry told himself before he drifted to sleep.

A/N: So last week I have written drafts for the next few chapters, but it seems that I'll be discarding them since this chapter ended up straying away from the initial idea. I originally didn't add the 'system' interaction since I wanted that in that to happen somewhere in the future instead, but I feel like I'm depriving you guys of information as to what is happening so decided to screw it and add some pinch of information. I'll be taking longer to upload chapters, then again I never followed my schedule, since I want to properly plan how things will turn out in the future. This fic will certainly be long, lore-heavy, and divergent from canon. I will try to utilize as much canon information and characters as I can in this fic, but be warned that I will be straying away sooner or later. I will also be adding a LOT of original characters since most of the cannon chara won't fit the plot, though I'll try to not go overboard.

Anyways, thank you for reading my fanfic3