Harry Potter had lived through many miserable mornings.
Waking up to the smell of burning bacon—his own, unfortunately—was the norm. Being kicked awake by Dudley was an expected Tuesday event. On particularly exciting days, Uncle Vernon's fist would be the first thing he saw upon opening his eyes.
So when he woke up on his eleventh birthday to silence, his first thought was: Oh no. Something's wrong.
Then he saw it.
[Welcome, Player! You have been granted Gamer Powers.]
[Press 'OK' to continue.]
Harry blinked. Then he blinked again. He rubbed his eyes, pinched himself, and even waved a hand through the glowing blue box hovering in front of him. Nothing changed.
"…Huh."
For a moment, he considered that he had finally snapped. It had been a long time coming. Most kids who grew up in cupboards probably weren't mentally stable. But something about the floating text felt real.
He reached out. Hesitated. And then, with the weary acceptance of someone who had long since stopped questioning life, he tapped 'OK.'
[Congratulations! You have gained access to the Gamer System.]
[You now have stats, skills, levels, and a quest system to optimize your life.]
[Good luck, Player One.]
There was a long silence.
Then Harry muttered, "Well, that's certainly an upgrade."
--
Tutorial Mode: Understanding the Stats
With a soft chime, another window popped up.
Name: Harry James Potter
Title: The Gamer
Race: Human (Wizard)
Level: 1
HP: 100/100
MP: 50/50
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 3
Vitality: 4
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 5
Charisma: 6
Luck: 10
Harry stared at the numbers. "Alright, let's break this down."
Strength: 2. He supposed that made sense. Being half-starved most of his life didn't exactly build muscle.
Dexterity: 3. Decent. Probably from dodging Dudley's punches.
Vitality: 4. That was a little insulting. He'd survived an actual murder attempt as a baby. Shouldn't that have given him some bonus health?
Intelligence: 7. "Well, at least I have something going for me."
Wisdom: 5. He wasn't sure what this meant in a magical game, but it was probably better than zero.
Charisma: 6. "That's a lie."
And then there was Luck: 10.
Harry squinted. "Why is my Luck so high? My entire life has been one long series of unfortunate events!"
Trait Unlocked: Child of Chaos
You exist in a constant state of probability manipulation. Things will either go spectacularly well or disastrously wrong—never in between.
Harry exhaled. "That… actually explains so much."
--
Breaking the Game
The more Harry examined his new system, the more he realized that the world was a horribly unbalanced game.
For example:
He had an Inventory that could store physical objects, meaning he could finally steal food without being caught.
He had a Quest System, which implied reward-based incentives for doing things.
And most importantly—he had Skills.
New Skill Unlocked: Observe (LVL 1)
Allows the user to gather information about people, objects, and magic.
Harry grinned. "Oh, I like this one."
Just to test it, he activated Observe on himself.
Harry Potter – Level 1
Title: The Boy Who Lived (More like The Boy Who Survived by Luck)
Status: Malnourished, Sleep Deprived, Destined for Unnecessary Drama
Threat Level: Pathetically Low
Harry scowled. "Rude."
--
New Quest: Escape the Tutorial (a.k.a The Dursleys)
With another chime, a new notification appeared.
New Quest: Escape the Tutorial
Objective: Get out of this hellhole.
Reward: 100 EXP, 1 Skill Point, Freedom.
Failure: A lifetime of Aunt Petunia's cooking.
That was motivation if he'd ever seen it.
"Alright," Harry muttered, "let's break this game."
Step one: Level up.
--
The Grind Begins
Harry spent the next few hours figuring out how to game the system.
Strength Training: He did sit-ups, push-ups, and dodged Dudley's punches until his Dexterity increased.
1 Dexterity!
Mental Training: He tried reading, but the Dursleys only owned magazines about drills and diets. Still, the effort counted.
1 Intelligence!
Stealth Training: He practiced sneaking around without making a sound. Eventually, the system rewarded him.
New Skill Unlocked: Stealth (LVL 1)
By the time breakfast came around, Harry had gained three levels just by existing more intelligently than usual.
He was beginning to like this system.
--
Day One of Gaming Life: Conclusions
The Wizarding World is probably broken.
The Dursleys are not worth wasting EXP on.
Hogwarts is going to be a free EXP farm.
Harry cracked his knuckles. Time to speedrun life.
LEVEL UP!