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I WANT TO PLAY A GAME

CHAPTER 2:

WHEN HARRY MET RIAS

In the last few years, Harry Potter had learned to trust the Toyshop. For want of a better term, it was alive, intelligent (even if that intelligence was an alien one), and had rather keen instincts. If the Toyshop was hostile towards someone who entered the Players store that acted as an atrium for it, then it was with good reason. Its wariness meant he should be cautious, though not necessarily hostile.

Yet while the Toyshop indicated towards him that this Rias girl was a potential danger, it only seemed wary, not hostile. She seemed to have oodles of magical energy, and something else. The Toyshop seemed almost coy in its attitude in communicating with him here, which was odd. But she wasn't a threat, or at least was only a potential threat.

He did note that she recognised him, even if she covered herself clearly. Her accent sounded British, but he had never heard of the family name of Gremory. And what kind of first name is Rias?

So, he decided to make the first move, even as he began opening up the parcel of Gunpla boxes. Remus had said she had wanted it, so he began taking out the boxes. "So…you recognised my name?"

After a moment, Rias shrugged. "My family is aware of the wizarding world, but we are not wizards. We use a different kind of magic. But we're not based in Britain."

"Your English is very good, though. Very RP."

Rias giggled. "Thank you, guv'nor," she said, slipping into a cod Cockney accent temporarily. "But in all seriousness, my family had tutors from England, though our dealings are throughout Europe, and indeed most of the world. I just came to Japan because I am something of a Japanophile, partly because an employee of my brother's is Japanese. In any case, I'm surprised to see Harry Potter opening up a toyshop in this pokey little town. Then again, given your fame, or rather, your infamy, I'm not surprised."

"I'd prefer to keep my presence here relatively quiet," Harry said pointedly.

"Of course. As I said, I came to Japan to get away from my own troubles, so I'd rather not turn around and do the same thing to you." She chuckled. "Especially as I intend to patronise your shop. It would be bad form for me to do something like that if I want to purchase things."

"I'm glad to hear that," Harry said, hoping she was sincere. The weird thing was, her attitude reminded him of a more friendly version of the Purebloods back home, the ones who acted all noble and stuff, the ones Slytherin was infested with. But there seemed to be no artifice to her friendliness either. That didn't mean he would let his guard down around her.

Though honestly, he had to wonder if she was part-Veela or something. Rias seemed to rival Fleur Delacour in terms of looks, though she was at least more approachable than Fleur. Hell, he was having a hard time keeping his eyes on her face, and not her bust.

"So, did any of these catch your eye?" Harry asked, indicating the Gunpla boxes.

The redhead looked, and hummed thoughtfully, before she smiled, plucking one from the counter. "This one, please. How much?"

He cited the price, and she handed over the money. "Incidentally, do you do deliveries?" she asked.

"…I could. I'd have to bring them over myself, so it can't be anything too heavy. Don't want to use magic in front of the Muggles, I'm already on thin ice with the local Ministry. Why?"

"I have a friend. My family adopted him some years back after he was left for dead by an abusive household," Rias said. "He's actually a Dhampir, half-vampire, but you wouldn't know it to look at him. He's a real sweetheart, but he's also skittish and reclusive, thanks to his family's abuse, so he stays cooped up in his room. He also has dangerous powers that he lacks control over, so it helps, especially to avoid questions with the local No-Majs, what the Japanese and Americans call Muggles. I have a small circle of friends who might be interested in this shop, but he's the only one who'd have about as much interest as I do. I'd ask you to deliver to the Occult Research Club building at Kuoh Academy if he does want something from here. I'll make sure it gets to him. I can even pick it up myself if need be, or send someone, depending on what is more convenient."

"Sure, it'll depend on the items. I could shrink them and unshrink them at your…Occult Research Club? And where is that, exactly? I've seen the school before, but I don't know where the particular clubs are."

"You can't miss it. It's based in the old school building, which was built in the style of a European mansion. I'll notify the faculty and the Student Council to keep an eye out for you if that's needed. The president of the Student Council, Souna Shitori, is an old friend of mine. Actually, now that I think about it, do you have novelty chess sets?"

"We have all manner of chess sets, yes. Why?"

"Souna is an expert chess player, and she may want to get a new set from you. In addition, I'm something of a player myself. Not remotely near her level, but, well, do you play chess?"

"Not that well. My friend Ron is a far better chess player than I am. It's one of his best talents, really," Harry said. "But if you'd like to see them and tell your friend about them, go ahead."

Rias smiled. "Thank you, Harry…"

After Rias was gone, Harry looked to Remus. "So, what do you think?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure she's wholly human, though. Her scent doesn't seem human. Not a Veela either, despite those looks. Then again, she didn't have the same aura as a Veela," Remus noted. "What did the Toyshop tell you?"

Harry looked down at his arm briefly. "Wary, but there was no malice coming from her. That surname, though, Gremory, I've never heard of it."

"It rings a bell with me, though I'm not sure why," Remus said. "Something I read while studying my DADA mastery, I think. Probably only in passing, though. Honestly, I think she's telling the truth, just lying by omission. I dunno whether she is doing that because what she is has a bad reputation, or maybe she just wants to get to know you better, and vice versa. Or maybe it's both."

"…Well, I hope she'll be all right. I really want a quiet life, and maybe some new friends," Harry muttered.

It wasn't like Hermione or the Weasleys had stopped being his friends. But while Harry wasn't exactly persona non grata in Magical Britain, he was already being considered a new Dark Lord on the rise, thanks in no small part to the way he dealt with Voldemort and his underlings. He needed to get away from things, and using one of the Black family's real estate investments as a base helped. Plus, he admitted to some schadenfreude in using such an investment, given how insular and xenophobic the Black family were for the most part. The fact that Harry, as Sirius' heir, had reinstated Andromeda Tonks and her daughter 'Don't Call Me Nymphadora', was another middle finger raised at them.

It felt good, albeit in a somewhat vicious way, to hold some power over Narcissa and Draco. As Sirius' heir, he could ensure they didn't get a penny of the Black estate, and while Lucius hadn't exactly wasted money, he had been forced to fund Voldemort's ventures. Narcissa and Draco would have to keep their heads down and be prudent with their finances for now, though Harry knew Draco wouldn't be able to resist trying his luck sooner rather than later.

And Harry, hopefully, would be ready.

Sona looked up at Rias when the redhead relayed the news. Sona Sitri was not often surprised, at least not in situations where her older sister Serafall Leviathan wasn't involved. But she soon became thoughtful.

Eventually, she said, "That at least explains where Potter is. His whereabouts have been something of a secret for the past few years. Rumours were flying around everywhere, that he had been shipped off to Azkaban, that he was undertaking training in secret…there was so much speculation as to what had happened."

"And what did happen?" Rias asked. "I only know that there was apparently some sort of conflict in the British Ministry of Magic, and that Voldemort and the Death Eaters were defeated."

"That's the gist of it. I only know a few more details than that, Rias." Sona rubbed her chin in thought. "Potter and a small group of his friends left Hogwarts for the Ministry of Magic. I don't know why, exactly, only that it somehow involved the Department of Mysteries. Now, Potter and Dumbledore claimed that, only a year before, Harry barely survived a confrontation with Voldemort when he and the late Cedric Diggory disappeared during the Third Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Assuming they were telling the truth, how, then, did Harry defeat the Death Eaters and Voldemort? Especially as Voldemort is one of the strongest wizards? Harry was credited with Voldemort's defeat."

"But you have some idea, Sona. Do you think he found something in the Department of Mysteries that allowed him to defeat Voldemort?"

"That's my leading hypothesis, as well as anyone who follows his story seriously, yes," Sona said. "The Unspeakables are notorious for their secrecy, hence their name. They no doubt had many powerful magical artifacts, artifacts Voldemort could have had an interest in. Harry stumbled across one, and used it to deal with Voldemort and his forces. That being said, Rias, I would not try to pry too much. Harry remained in seclusion for a reason."

"I don't intend to pry, not until I get to know him better. If anything, speaking to him is quite refreshing, and I'd rather get to know him before I pry, let alone try recruiting him into my Peerage."

"Good. I feel the same way, but Harry Potter is a notoriously disruptive and iconoclastic person. Even without knowing our true nature, he may end up disrupting our duties here. Still, your strategy of getting to know him better before revealing your true nature is sound."

"It's not exactly a strategy, Sona. He is like us, in some ways, hating having to live up to the expectations of others. He's just not Devil nobility, that's all."

"True. Still, I have to wonder…how did he beat Voldemort and the Death Eaters?"

That night, Harry was descending into the depths of the Toyshop. It had become a regular occurrence of late. For all that Dumbledore worried this habit was the sign of an increasing darkness in Harry, Harry found this therapeutic.

After all, he was coming to gloat over his vanquished enemies.

That sounded like something a villain would do. Voldemort did so, Bellatrix did so. Harry had caught the bad habit, like one would catch a flu.

But these were the people responsible for making his childhood a living hell. The Dursleys may have been the ones to mistreat him, but Voldemort had murdered his parents, Bellatrix had murdered Sirius, and while Harry hadn't managed to catch the literal rat bastard yet, Pettigrew had not only betrayed his parents, but had murdered Cedric Diggory. And the other Death Eaters were intending to wage war on everyone who didn't agree with them, even their fellow Purebloods, despite their continually citing their creed of Blood Purity.

So, it was a good thing he had them here, as his prisoners.

Even now, he could scarcely believe the power he had, a power he was still learning to wield. A power he had stumbled across in the Department of Mysteries. A mysterious gauntlet that he had donned in desperation during the battle, not knowing what it would do, but not caring, not when he had seen Ron being attacked by those brain things, and Hermione felled by a curse. They survived, but he didn't know that at the time.

But when Bellatrix sent Sirius flying through the Veil of Death, as he later learned what it was, something inside him snapped. And he challenged the deranged bitch to a game. A game of tag. She was It. And she lost.

The other Death Eaters fell to him, in simple games made up on the spot. Almost all of them tried to cheat. All of them lost the game, and became his prizes.

He found Voldemort in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic, and challenged him to a simple game of Grandma's Footsteps, with the Death Eaters as a hazard. He knew that Voldemort would cheat, and soon enough, the second time his back was turned, Voldemort fired a Killing Curse at said back. Harry showed him the consequences of his cheating, in front of that stupid oaf Fudge, as well as Dumbledore.

What happened next was a mess of epic proportions. Eventually, between the Unspeakables and Amelia Bones, they managed to browbeat Fudge into accepting what had happened. The Unspeakables even had a name for the gauntlet thing. It was something called a Sacred Gear.

And its name was Hazard Ludus.

Long ago, according to the Unspeakables, the God of the Bible created Sacred Gears, to empower selected humans or their hybrids against the supernatural world. Some of these Sacred Gears had the souls of powerful beings, even fragments of other gods, inside them. The Boosted Gear and the Divine Dividing, for example, held the souls of ancient and powerful Dragons inside them.

Hazard Ludus held the power of an ancient and powerful god, and an evil one at that. One who had many names, but the most common was Elzevir. According to the little lore known on Elzevir, he loved embroiling mortals in games, games with the odds stacked against them, and often in his home territory, the Toyshop, a vast pocket dimension that also had a degree of intelligence, even self-awareness. It was, in a word, alive.

He attempted to embroil God in his games. But God was too powerful, and simply stripped Elzevir of almost all of his powers. These powers could be used for great evil, or great good, so God placed them into a Sacred Gear. What happened to Elzevir, the legends did not say.

Unfortunately, many of the wielders of Hazard Ludus were evil. Not all of them, but the last wielder was so bad, the Unspeakables used him as a guinea pig for a process that extracted the Sacred Gear, killing the wielder in the process. They'd studied it in the decades since.

And in nearly three years since Harry gained its power, they'd studied its powers as well. Harry was linked to the Toyshop, effectively giving him a pocket dimension the size of a city at the bare minimum. He was now, if a couple of previous wielders were any indication, long-lived, his lifespan now being measured in centuries, even if he was far from invincible. And he had power over games, and those who played them. If he wished, he could enforce people into playing games, and if they lost…

Hermione, on hearing that for the first time, had dubbed Harry the Celestial Toymaker in a shocked kind of facetiousness, after the villain from an old serial of Doctor Who. In fact, Brian Hayles, the original writer of the serial The Celestial Toymaker(1), had actually heard of one of the legends about a previous wielder of Hazard Ludus, and had, ironically, turned said wielder into a near-god for his story. He'd even turned the Toyshop into the Celestial Toyroom. Hermione'd also compared Hazard Ludus to the Millennium Items from Yu-Gi-Oh!, and the games he could enforce like the Shadow Games from that series.

But Harry was not like the Toymaker, nor did he intend to be anything like the more malevolent previous wielders. Those he would use its full powers on would be those who deserved it, and any who became embroiled in his games who weren't the worst, or who would forfeit and surrender, he would let go. The power of Hazard Ludus was not inherently malevolent, with the Toyshop actually being eager to please him, almost like a loyal dog. He'd even helped people, having them win games for prizes.

Besides, it wasn't like he killed those who lost or cheated at his games.

Hence why he was here, in the Vault. A chamber that only he could access, filled with display cabinets. Amelia Bones had thought it a fitting prison for them, as had Rufus Scrimgeour. Even Dumbledore, for all his disquiet, and for all Harry's relationship was strained after learning about the prophecy and Snape's role in leaking it, found this a fitting end for the Death Eaters.

Harry went up to one display cabinet in particular, and smiled, rather cruelly. "Hello, Tom. Did you miss me? But you can't be that lonely. You've got all your snake-sucking friends with you." After a moment of silence, he said, "Yeah, that joke's getting old, I'm sure. But it's honestly fun gloating. I see why you do it, even if for me, it's more of a therapy thing."

More silence, though those red eyes glared at him murderously. If looks could kill, then the collective glares of the Death Eaters and their leader would turn him into a smoking spot on the floor. But they couldn't.

"I'm sure you're thinking that the power he knows not, the one the prophecy told you about, is Hazard Ludus. Now, I was so pissed at Dumbledore when he told me about the prophecy, and about Snape. But at least Snape died getting rid of your Horcruxes. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about that. Aside from the one that used to be in my scar, we got all six of your Horcruxes. I even managed to remove the one from Nagini, along with the brainwashing you forced on her. She's doing some sightseeing, actually. The Toyshop actually gave her the ability to become human again, even if her default form is still a snake, thanks to the Maledictus curse. As for Snape…I don't care what Dumbledore said. Snape was a sad, pathetic and selfish man who made a choice between you and her long before he realised what he had lost. But…he died putting an end to you for once and for all, so I'll give him that much. The Cup, the Diadem, the Locket, the Gaunt Family Ring…oh, and let's not forget that damned Diary of yours."

If Voldemort had a proper mouth, he'd be screaming, in rage and hatred and fear, Harry knew. They all would be, and trying to use spells on him. But Harry stood amongst them without any fear.

"The thing is, you claimed there was nothing worse than death, whereas Dumbledore thinks there's fates worse than death. I'd ask whether you've changed your mind, but I don't want to listen to any of that vile shit that spews out of that anal sphincter you confused with your mouth. I'm just leaving that with you as food for thought."

With that, he waved at the dozens of dolls and toys and action figures of the Death Eaters, sitting in display cabinets. "I'd say good night, sleep tight, but firstly, you can't sleep anymore, and secondly…I don't want any of you to have good nights ever again. So, I'll just say, be seeing you!"

With that cheerful parting remark, he left his captives, his prizes, in there, in the now darkened room, letting them scream silently and impotently. It was more mercy than they deserved. They had inflicted death, pain and misery on hundreds of lives if not thousands, and they would have cheerfully done so to millions more. He had no sympathy for them, not at all…

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

…Dark.

Now, finally, the meat and potatoes of Harry's powers have been revealed. So, allow me to explain them.

While many of you will probably be comparing Harry's powers to those from Yu-Gi-Oh! or No Game, No Life, in fact, the basis of these powers is from, as mentioned above, the Celestial Toymaker from Doctor Who (and before people ask, some people connect the term 'celestial' with an un-PC term for the Chinese, and the original version of the Toymaker wore Chinese robes, but I mean it in the more literal sense, that the Toymaker comes from the stars). The Toymaker recently made a comeback in the recent new series story The Giggle, played wonderfully by Neil Patrick Harris (who is a worthy successor to the late, great Michael Gough, as well as David Bailey, who played the Toymaker in the Big Finish audios), but I am also basing this skillset on the elements seen in the Toymaker's classic series debut, as well as expanded universe elements.

For those unfamiliar with Doctor Who, the Toymaker is a being of immense, god-like power. Think of him as being like Q or Trelane from Star Trek, Gaunter O'Dimm from The Witcher 3, Ehit from Arifureta, or 'D' from So I'm a Spider, So What? The Toymaker loves to entrap mortals in high-stakes games. If they lose, they become his playthings for eternity. If the Toymaker loses, well, he's a bad loser. If someone beats the Toymaker within his realm, the Celestial Toyroom, it is destroyed, and the Toymaker is forced to start anew. Normally, anyone who beats him in the Toyroom is taken down in the destruction of the Toyroom, but the First Doctor takes advantage of a voice-activation system in the Toymaker's Trilogic Game (basically a Towers of Hanoi game) to make the last move from within the TARDIS while piloting the TARDIS away.

The Toymaker was originally intended to return for a classic series story, The Nightmare Fair, set at Blackpool, and having the Toymaker engineer a lethal video game. But The Nightmare Fair was one of the casualties of the cancellation of what was the original lineup for Season 23, thanks to Michael Grade putting the show on hiatus. The Nightmare Fair would eventually be novelised, as well as adapted to a Big Finish audio, with David Bailey (aka Cotton from Pirates of the Caribbean: yes, he can speak!) playing the Toymaker. The Toymaker also appeared in an earlier audio, The Magic Mousetrap, played by Paul Antony-Barber, and Bailey would return for the Companion Chronicles story Solitaire. A novel, Divided Loyalties, gave a possible origin story for the Toymaker, as well as how the Doctor met him for the first time.

Of course, it isn't just the Toymaker who is an influence on this Sacred Gear. Harry quoted Jigsaw from the Saw films in the first chapter, and while Harry is nowhere near as vicious and cruel as Jigsaw, that's of cold comfort to his enemies. Yu-Gi-Oh! is also a major influence, especially the original manga and its dark initial story arcs, where Yami was actually a pretty nasty piece of work.

Finally, in trying to find a name for my Toymaker expy for the background lore, I settled on the name of Elzevir. Elzevir was a creepy toymaker from the first Legacy of Kain game, Blood Omen. He basically stole the soul of King Ottmar's daughter, binding it to a doll that he had a creepy, possibly paedophilic obsession with. And it is implied Ottmar's daughter is far from the first of his victims. Though if Elzevir makes an appearance, he'll be closer in characterisation to the Toymaker from Doctor Who, with maybe a touch of Gaunter O'Dimm, as well as Bakura and Yami Malik from Yu-Gi-Oh!

1. It's worth pointing out that, while Brian Hayles is the credited author for Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker, it was actually heavily rewritten from Hayles' original scripts. Hayles originally had permission from then-Head of Serials Gerald Savory, to use Savory's titular (but perpetually unseen) characters from his play George & Margaret. Savory, however, got cold feet, and ordered them removed. The scripts were re-written by Donald Tosh, the outgoing script editor, but after the budget was reduced (thanks in part to outgoing producer John Wiles deliberately overspending on the previous story, The Ark, after being fired, according to the Doctor Who wiki), Tosh's successor, Gerry Davis, rewrote the scripts again. Because Tosh refused to take credit anymore, and Gerry Davis couldn't, being the current script editor, Brian Hayles' name remains on the credits. And the sad thing is, The Ark, IMO, was shit, whereas The Celestial Toymaker, judging by the novelisation and the surviving episode, was good, despite the low budget.