A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters

This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Sci fi September

Books and videogames have both been replaced by interactive virtual worlds filled with fascinating characters

Word Count: 660

Hershal knew it was all just a game. He's programmed the blasted thing after all. The whole world was collapsing around him. He'd lost his job with the ministry, war was starting again, and he felt as though he'd never fit in to begin with. He was from a Zorkack bloodline, his family having immigrated to Earth nearly three decades ago. It still set him apart from his peers. Hershal looked wholly human, the only difference was how intelligent he was. He constantly had to downplay his thoughts, his ideas. He was tired of it. That's why he created Prize. It was an interactive virtual world where he felt like he fit in. He'd created the characters to be similar to him and up until yesterday, he'd never had any problems with it.

Yesterday, there had been a power surge, a side affect of the roaming blackouts that plagued the city. Prize had glitched, but come back online quick enough. Hershal hadn't noticed the different, too busy working on yet another prize winning paper that no one would ever be able to understand.

"What are you writing?"

"A thesis on the cryogenetic mutations of fruit flies," Hershal had answered without even looking at the speaker. He's programmed people to talk to him, to ask him questions.

"Why? Why fruit flies? They're extinct, aren't they?" she asked. Hershal blinked. He was sure he'd never programmed anyone to question his work. He looked up from the mounds of parchment, he loved the smell of parchment, ink, and old books – yet another thing that set him apart in this tech evolving world. The speaker had a female appearance and Hershal was certain she wasn't one of his creations.

"How did you get in here? Prize is a closed circuit world. There shouldn't be anyone here but me."

"I have no idea! I went to log into my chemistry lab and there was Prize. I was curious. Wait, closed circuit? Does that mean you built this whole place?"

"Yes, I did," Herhsal stated, a bit proud of himself. "I needed a place where I could work without," he started to say. The woman was smiling.

"Without dunderheads saying your research is stupid, that it doesn't make sense because they're minds are too small to comprehend the brilliance of your ideas?" she suggested.

"Exactly. I'm Hershal Granger by the way."

"Severina Snape, call me Sev, though, please!"

"Alright, Sev. You said you had a chemistry lab world?"

"The best. Well, the best in virtual worlds anyway. The Slytherin Lab Corp. was my brainchild, but since those idiots saw fit to take it from me. I built my own."

"As to your previous question, yes, fruit flies are extinct but their DNA shows potential to combat the cryosickness most people feel upon waking."

"If we could figure out why, the exact sequence of DNA, extract it, replicate it," Sev whispered, looking down at Herhsal's notes.

"I think, I would be interested in working with you, Sev, if you're interested in working with me. I think, both of us, might have been alone a bit too long."

"I like the idea of a collaboration. Not that anyone would ever understand it unless we put it in simple terms, otherwise it'd be like trying to teach a toddler advanced physics," Sev muttered. Hershal laughed.

"You have a way with words, Sev. Partners then?" he asked, putting out a hand. Sev nodded shaking it.

"And what should call our greatest work once we finish it, Herhsal?"

"Prize, since it is the place that brought our brilliant minds together," he said.

"Prize it is then," she agreed, giving Hershal a brilliant smile. Hershal returned it pulling up another seat at the table for Sev. Maybe he was right, maybe he'd been alone too long, but right here, right now, working with a mind as brilliant as his, Hershal felt as though maybe, for once, the world was completely right.