I've read a few gamer fics, and while I like the concept, it is rarely done well in my opinion. The reason being lots of them get started, mash lots of stats on the screen, and then get lost wandering around the grinding levels/skills phase and just peter out and leave the fic hanging.
So I'm not even going to try my hand at a true gamer fic. (I don't really consider Red Running Fool a gamer fic, for reasons I won't spoil here) But if I were to try my hand, I figured I'd start it coming from an unusual direction. Because novelty is king, baby.
A young auburn haired housewife in her mid twenties woke up early on the morning of November 3rd, 1981. Her husband of a few years was still asleep next to her. Careful not to wake him up, she slipped out from the bed quietly.
She spent some time in the bathroom, taking care of business and freshening up for the day. She took a short time to look in the mirror. The best that could be said about her looks was that she was average looking. She was self aware enough to know she would never be counted as a beauty. But she was content in her life, and happy, which added a point to her attractiveness.
Humming to herself she made her way to her baby boy's room. Looking in, she saw him sprawled on his stomach, still asleep. He was big for his age, always ahead of the curve. Even when he was in her womb, he'd been big, which had made for a very difficult delivery. The complications due to his size almost killed her and her baby boy. It was a miracle they had both lived. He was her miracle.
The doctors warned her that if she got pregnant again, there would be a high likely hood of her not surviving. Her husband took it well. He said that one child was more than enough, and that they would make sure to pour all their love into him, to make the most of their complete family. They would work on quality over quantity, he'd jokingly stated. She loved him for that, for not taking it hard. For making her feel better.
She moved into the kitchen, starting to get breakfast ready. Her husband would be up soon, and he would need a hearty meal to keep him going at work. He worked hard to provide for his small, quality little family. That was another thing that she loved him for. He never made her feel bad about not having a job to supplement the income. He just got on with being the man of the house, and always appreciated what she did at home to keep their house looking lovely. He was always happy to return home to her and their rambunctious little miracle. Life was good.
With the preparation work for breakfast done, she made her way to the front door to gather up the newspaper so her husband could read it while sitting at the breakfast table. Just last week he'd shared a story with her at dinner about how, after reading an article in the paper that morning, he'd been able to have a very good conversation with a prospective client. He'd so impressed that client, that the client decided to go with Grunnings instead of their competition. And it was all because she had made it possible for him to be able to read the current events everyday at the table.
So imagine her surprise when she opened the front door, expecting to see only a paper on the front porch, and instead she sees a little one year old toddler. She was shocked! Where did this baby come from?
In another life this woman, one Petunia Dursley, might have been slightly less content, less happy, and less secure in her family life. She may have spent the next decade being overly worried about what the neighbors would think about her family. She would have been especially worried that they would see the sorts of magical accidents that she remembered her sister Lily having. In a different life she would have spent all her time worrying about what the neighbor would think and so she would have worried herself into being a pinch faced sour woman that only her husband and son could stand.
But in this life, at this time, all she could think about was that some daft moron had left a toddler out on a cold November morning in nothing but a blanket. She hurriedly gathered the boy and the paper, and brought them in from the cold. She brought him into the kitchen, and made sure to warm him up.
Her husband, her baby boy, and her sister's boy all woke up at the same time, and she busied herself with cooking breakfast after fetching her boy. She set her boy, Dudley, down in the living room play pen with her sister's boy, Harry, and kept an eye on them while she cooked.
Her husband, Vernon, soon joined her at the breakfast table, doing a double take at seeing two boys at the table. "They're multiplying now, love?" He joked when he got over the shock. In a different life, a life where Petunia was less content with what she had, she may have ranted out of jealousy from time to time about the freakiness of the world her sister lived in. It would have soured Vernon's outlook and made him wary of this little boy, Harry Potter, and the dangers he would bring to their family. But in this life, he had no such prejudice implanted by jealousy driven rants from his beloved wife.
After breakfast was served, Petunia finally had time to read the letter that was tucked in with young Harry. Vernon first noticed something was wrong when tears started spilling from Petunia's eyes.
"What's wrong, dear?" He asked as he got up from the table to hug Petunia as he began sobbing.
"My s-sister is dead, Vernon. This is her boy, Harry." She sobbed. "My sister is dead, and they deliver the news in a letter and cruelly leave her boy on the porch like unwanted goods. What is wrong with those people!" She cried even more as Vernon does his best to comfort her.
"There, there, Pet." Vernon muttered more nonsense, while hugging her and letting her get it all out of her system. When she finally settled down, he sat her down, and put a cup of tea in her hands. "Take a sip there, love. I'm sorry you had to find out that way. We'll of course take him in, he's your nephew. Our nephew."
"Oh, Vernon, it's not that simple. My sister was…different. I'm sure it'll be hard to believe, but magic is real. My sister had magic. And I remember all kinds of magical accidents she had as a kid. Turning people's hair different colors. Floating things she wanted to her. Opening doors that were locked. Her boy is sure to be like that too."
"Well, that doesn't sound too bad, love." Vernon stoicly stated. "If worse comes to worse, we can always go and find some of these magic people to help us cope. But he's your sister's only child, and I know if anything were to happen to us, I'd hope someone would take good care of Dudley, instead of chucking him in one of those orphanages. Ruddy nightmares, those are."
Petunia sadly nodded in agreement with Vernon. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she remembered it was as a girl. And she had Vernon to help her cope. She nodded again, more firmly as her decision solidified. "You're right Vernon. Thank you, for being here for me."
"Anytime, love. Anytime."
And the Dursley family settled down with their new addition. In another life, Vernon and Petunia would have been more resentful of the presence of Harry Potter, and would have let him know in small, subtle ways that he wasn't welcome. And as a result, a young and unhappy Harry would have had little cases of accidental magic. Nothing big, but enough to cause Petunia and Vernon to dislike him even more for not being normal. Which would have started a vicious cycle that would continue to snowball and make the situation worse, since they couldn't get away from each other until Harry turned 11.
But in this life, Petunia and Vernon made sure to welcome him to the family. Over the next three years he would become a slightly younger brother to Dudley, and a second son to Petunia and Vernon. And the only signs of accidental magic was summoning a toy that was out of reach to either Harry or Dudley.
One time shortly after taking in Harry, Petunia noticed that while playing together Dudley accidently threw one of his toys out of the play area, and was very upset that he couldn't reach it. Harry noticed, and suddenly, the toy was in Harry's hands. He then handed it to Dudley, thus ending his little tantrum.
That little bit of accidental magic and selfless sharing was the final piece that cemented Harry's place in her heart and in their family. Seeing her nephew use his magic to make Dudley happy made her realize, deep down, that magic could also be a decent thing.
That particular day, three years after taking in Harry, Vernon came home from work. He was in a good mood, having landed another lucrative sell just that day. So he was somewhat taken aback at seeing no dinner prepared. Something must be wrong. In the seven years of marriage, Petunia had never not had dinner prepared. It was something she prided herself on. So seeing his wife seated at the table staring at something in her hands blankly, made Vernon worried.
"Petunia, dear?" Vernon said as he laid his hand on her shoulder. She startled, as if only now noticing he was there.
"Vernon? What are you doing home so early?" She peered up at him in confusion.
"Love, I'm home at the time I usually am." He gently stated.
She blankly blinked a few times. Then she looked around the kitchen. "Oh, no! Dinner's not ready!" And she got up, as if to start cooking right there, slipping whatever it was in her hands into her pocket.
Vernon thought about stopping her to sit her down and ask what was wrong, but one look at her determined face made him rethink. She was so determined and resolute, he thought it was better to let this run its course. She prided herself on taking care of the household, and heaven help him if he got in her way. The discussion could wait until she'd calmed down.
Later that night after dinner, and the boys were sent to bed, Vernon decided it was time to find out what had happened that day. "Petunia, dear, the meal was delicious, as always." Her beaming smile let Vernon know he'd been right to complement her meal. It really was delicious, and he had the extra few pounds from the years of good cooking to attest to it. "So, dear, what had you so distracted earlier?"
Petunia's expression changed to worry. She hesitated a moment while putting her hand in her pocket and clutching whatever it was that had her in a daze earlier. Finally, Petunia decided it was best to go ahead and get it out in the open.
"Harry had another accidental magic incident earlier" Petunia whispered. "It was so very strange, though. He and Dudley were just running in from playing in the yard. I had just come in to warn them not to run, when Harry stumbled into one of my potted plants. He knocked it off the bench and it shattered on the floor."
Petunia paused for a moment, bringing her hand out from her pocket clutching the item in a fist. "When the pot shattered, I didn't notice anything strange at first. After warning the boys not to run in the house, I sent them to wash up, and moved to clean up the mess. But instead of finding a mess of a smashed pot, I found this." She opened her hand, and in her hand were two gold coins.
"Gold?" Vernon queried, flabbergasted.
"Yes. Specifically gold galleons. It is the wizarding currency. I saw it when I went to Diagon Alley with my sister to get her supplies. But that's not the weirdest thing. An hour later, the potted plant that fell, shattered, and then disappeared was back. As if it never broke in the first place."
"That is strange." Vernon stated while picking up the gold to weigh it in his hand. "Well, no one was hurt, that's good. Best just put this out of your mind, dear." He stated while putting the gold back in her hands. "Might as well set that aside for now. Maybe take it to the pawn shop later, or keep it for when Harry has to do his shopping. Up to you, dear."
"You're right. We'll be holding on to this. From what I remember of what my father said, the exchange rate from pounds to galleons was absolutely horrendous. My sister's wand ended up costing 2100 pounds, or seven galleons."
"300 pounds per galleon? Back in 1970? That is bad. Well, nothing we can do about it now. Let's go to bed dear."
"Yes, Vernon."
Five year old Harry Potter knew he wasn't like other kids. He knew he was different. The first clue he got that he was different was discovering that no one else could hear the music that was always playing. He was the only one that heard it.
There was always music playing, but it was a different song at different times. In the morning when it was time to get up it would be a lively tune to give him energy to start the day. When he did something wrong, it would turn ominous until he was caught. When it was time to go to sleep, the music would soften and turn into a lullaby.
The other thing he noticed that made him different was the blue boxes. No one he asked had ever mentioned seeing the blue boxes that would pop up in his vision from time to time. Only he ever saw them. But for the longest time he couldn't read them. So he would just wave them away.
But, now, finally, he'd spent enough time learning to read all so that he could read what the blue boxes were saying. It was finally time to clear up this mystery. While he was practicing his reading in his room, another blue box popped up in his vision.
[Skill up! Through effort and persistence, reading skill increased by 1. To take the undone tutorial, think "tutorial"]
"What's a tutorial?" The precocious five year-old asked aloud.
[Tutorial loading…]
The world dissolved around Harry, and then reformed into a giant room. The walls and ceiling looked to be made of wood, the ground was stone. Although there was no discernable source of light, Harry could clearly see the room. In front of him appeared another blue box.
[Welcome to the tutorial of the Harry Potter Game]
[You have been gifted with the Gamer Aspect. You can interact with the real world like a game character. The first step is being aware of your character. To view your character information, say or think the word "Status"]
Harry looked around the room, wondering about what this "tutorial" was. There were no doors on the walls, and the room was totally empty. Seeing as he had no other ideas for how to get back to his room, he said aloud "Status".
Another blue box with information showed up in his vision, covering about a fourth of what he could see.
Name: Harry Potter
Age: 5
Level: 1
XP: 0/100
Race: Wizard
HP: 130
MP: 130
SP: 100
[Attributes]
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 3
Agility: 4
Stamina: 3
Intellect: 5
Wisdom: 3
Charisma: 4
Perception: 3
Luck: 5
Attribute Points: 5
After looking at the status screen for a moment, further text in blue boxes appeared.
[Your status screen tracks your character progression. As you do quests or defeat enemies, you will gain experience points, or XP. When you gain enough XP you will level up. Each level you will gain 5 attribute points. These points can be assigned to whichever attribute you choose.]
[Strength determines how much weight you can carry and how much damage you do in physical attacks.]
[Dexterity determines your skills and abilities success in performing physical tasks.]
[Agility determines your reaction speed, your speed, and your ability to physically move, or dodge.]
[Stamina determines your physical ability to continually perform physical feats, as well as determining your Health Points, or HP.]
[Intellect determines your speed of learning as well as magic power, or how much effect your spells have.]
[Wisdom determines how well you understand and can utilize your knowledge, as well as the size of your mana pool.]
[Charisma determines your people skills and how engaging people find you.]
[Perception determines your insight, your ability to catch all the little things like a person's motive behind their actions, as well as being able to see fast movements, clues, and hidden areas.]
[Luck determines special encounters, drop rates, and all other things related to 'fortune'.]
Little five year old Harry Potter didn't fully understand everything he'd read. There were a lot of words that he'd have to look up later. But he did understand that he was like those heroes from the cartoons he and Dudley sometimes watched. He could get stronger and he could go on adventures. He wondered if Dudley could join him in the adventure too?
Another box popped up when Harry was still in the midst of his daydream.
[To view the list of your skills, say or think the word "Skills". Skills is the quantified measure of your skill level in an action. The higher your skill level, the higher bonus you have to the quality of the results of your actions. For example, if you have a high cleaning skill, it will take you less time and effort to clean your room.]
Harry figured out the only way he'd get through this "tutorial" was to quickly finish doing what it told him to. "Skills" he said out loud.
[Skills]
Cleaning: 5/100
Language [English]: 25/100
Language [Parseltongue]: 50/100
Reading: 9/100
Running: 16/100
Writing: 6/100
[If you select a skill, you will get a more detailed account of the skills and bonuses.]
They were all pretty self explanatory except for the Parseltongue one, so Harry clicked on it. He then discovered that he had the magical ability to speak to serpents. He had a 25% bonus to the ability to convince a snake to do what he tells them to do. And if he maxes out his Parseltongue ability, it will unlock the ability to talk to other reptiles. That sounded cool, being able to talk to different animals!
[To view your inventory and equipment screen, simply say or think the word "Inventory". Be sure to equip the beginner's knife you have been provided for the final part of the tutorial.]
"Inventory" Harry said out loud while wondering why he would need a knife. His inventory opened, showing a little model of himself. There were different slots for equipment, armor, bags, accessories, etc. The tutorial told him how to put things in his inventory by touching them and willing it to happen, and the same for taking things out. Finally he had the beginner's knife in his hand that he found sitting in his inventory.
[Final part of the tutorial, combat. Attack and defeat one enemy to finish the tutorial.]
"What?" Harry mumbled to himself as a rat materialized in front of him. It was a huge rat, even more so due to Harry being only 5 years old. It easily reached the height of his knees, and it looked fierce, glaring at Harry with hate in its eyes.
[Combat beginning in 5]
Harry started backing away in fear. He wasn't ready for this.
[4]
Harry frantically looked around for anything to help him with.
[3]
[2]
There was nothing but his knife in hand. Harry clutched it tighter.
[1]
[Combat begins]
The rat screeched as it ran at him. Harry stumbled back and tripped on his own legs in his fear. The rat closed the distance and latched onto his leg, savaging his calf with its teeth and claws. Harry felt the pain of the rat's teeth sinking into his leg muscles. He yelled in pain, instinctively slashing out with the knife to end the thing causing him pain.
His blow connected with the rat's shoulder, throwing it off him. As it was thrown away from him its claws dragged along his leg, doing more damage and causing more pain.
Angry now at the pain, Harry got to his feet, crouching down, just as the rat got back up too. This time Harry wasn't frozen in panic and instead he propelled himself towards the rat, slashing and stabbing with the knife.
He sliced across the rats face, blinding it in one eye. This knocked the rat off balance, so the rat wasn't able to attack. While it was down again, Harry stabbed it in the neck, causing it to freeze up for a moment. The rats body gradually relaxed and fell down in death.
After stabbing it a few more times, Harry finally realized the rat was dead. Sobbing in pain, relief, fear, and hysterical at his near death and the pain, Harry dropped the knife, falling to his knees.
[Congratulations at completing the tutorial]
[100 XP awarded]
[Level Up!]
[Learned Basic Knife skill]
[All wounds healed, all energy restored, all status ailments healed at level up]
Harry felt a wave of comfortable energy flow through him. When it passed, he felt decent, physically. Looking at his legs, there were no more wounds. His pants were still ripped and stained with blood, but he was no longer injured. The rat carcass was gone. In its place were 10 silver coins. Harry picked up the knife and the silver coins, putting them in his inventory.
[Defeated enemies will drop items and currency. Thank you for playing the tutorial.]
The tutorial room dissolved around him. Harry found himself back in his room.
That was not the fun adventure he was hoping for. Harry shuddered at the remembered fear and pain. But if he understood the game right, then he would probably encounter enemies like the rat again.
Harry shuddered at the thought of rats. He absolutely hated the creatures now. If he ever sees a rat again, he's going to stab it first, before it can sink its disgusting teeth into him!
But if he's going to be forced to fighting enemies like that, or worse enemies, then he needs to get stronger and faster. He remembered seeing shows on the telly about doing exercises to get stronger and faster. He'll have to start doing that, and practicing with his knife.
Looking in his inventory at his knife, he once again saw the silver coins. He still wasn't sure why he got silver and not pounds to drop from the enemy.
Changing his pants so he wasn't wearing ripped and bloody clothes, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen. He knew his aunt would be there. When he arrived, he saw she was baking some cookies. Harry immediately opened his mouth to tell her about his new game like abilities, but found he couldn't say a word.
[Gamer user, the game is to be kept a secret]
If young Harry Potter knew any curse words beyond darn he would be cursing a blue streak in his mind right then. He tried all kinds of ways over the next couple of hours to tell his aunt about his abilities. Any time he tried to communicate about the game, through writing, drawing, speaking, or singing, he found his ability to communicate blocked, and the simple message to keep it a secret popping up in his eyes.
So Harry resigned himself to keeping the game to himself, while using it to work at getting stronger. Best to be prepared in case he found any more rats attacking him.