2 A Dream Or A Leap

Nathan POV:

When people described the idea of lucid dreaming, I thought it would be more esoteric or grand and not a warehouse that looks emptier than my chances at winning BINGO games. 

I will always hate that game as it held more bait than those female Vtubers that my nephews and nieces watch. One time, I even found Rodney ordering a body pillow of some Vtuber named Watame.

But such thoughts are for later as the console at the center of the warehouse lights up, beckoning me toward it, and as I approach it I see that it resembles my old Commodore 64. That thing was a trial and a half to move, but it was revolutionary. 

The screen itself shows a variety of titles, from shows called Tensura to Warhammer 40k. The latter gave me chills for some reason, but with the title having war in it, I assume it is not a nice place. So I continued to scroll down the list, and I saw one called Generic Harry Potter Fanfiction. My eyes lit up as the idea of magic has always appealed to me.

"Well, I will probably wake up from this soon, so let us see what this option does." I then click on the option, and I find a list with various labels for perks, drawbacks, items, and origins. This reminds me of a character sheet from DND when I tried getting into that.

One thousand choice points to use and many avenues to create and build such intricate things always give me a small amount of satisfaction. So, as I scroll down the list, I focus on getting some drawbacks first to increase my initial point gain. I noticed that one of the drawbacks is called Squib, and it locks any powers from previous jumps.

I have no idea what a jump is, but I assume it is some type of challenge or quest, and since, from my knowledge, I had not gone on any jumps, this was just a free four hundred points. Some of the other drawbacks simply make sense to take as the Dark Lord Target is an easy three hundred points.

Specifically because, from what I remember from reading that novel series, the dark lord basically targets anyone that disagrees with them, and as such, it makes sense for us to be at odds. I mean, Voldemort was basically a magical Nazi, and I just thought a war against Nazis, so our clash is inevitable.

Some of the other drawbacks included being hounded by a criminal, and the thought of him actually harming me in Hogwarts was slim, and even then, I had magic! Or I use my favorite spell fist, of course, but other than that, I take the evil Weasley family drawback as while I hold no enmity against them, Ron was very useless after the first book.

"I apologize to all gingers if anyone can hear me," I mutter to myself as I then take the drawback called Prophesized One, which, with the scenario I plan to take, is a free four hundred points.

What scenario am I taking? Well, to be in the action while having some form of presence, I will become Harry Potter through the scenario Jumper Who Lived, and as such, I will be in the prime place to enact any changes to the story, and as such, five hundred more points are mine.

Finally, I decided to take Dumbledore's troubles, which is another free four hundred points, as that man never really appealed to me as he seemingly had many opportunities to save people or stop Voldemort but was either a non presence or a martyr. Maybe I am biased, but I never had a soft spot for anyone but myself and the Cassidy's.

For now, though, I smile to myself as I now had three thousand nine hundred points in total, and I then set about choosing a time to insert Harry Potter and an origin towards Dark. The reason I did this was because of the perks Dark Lord gave me: master-level dueling skills and the ability to use large-scale war magics.

I also will gain knowledge on how to act with nobility with Pureblood Etiquette and Modern Day Alexander, which, in addition to knowledge of manners, makes me proficient in political maneuvering and war planning. 

"Okay, what else is there?" I think to myself as I scroll upwards and as I lay eyes on the Merlin Returned perk. My eyes widened as I read the gains word for word, which gave me limitless talent in every single branch of magic, even magic not available in this world. The drawback is that I need to come in contact with other magic systems.

Harmony was amazing as it allowed me to use conflicting powers as easily as I would use anything else. Although the harem part was odd, I put that thought in the back of my mind.

"For now, though, I need to think of what to use my other points for, but I am definitely going to take Friend Maker and the Great Redeemer because having the ability to convince others of my perspective is definitely going to be a plus. I should show the family this when I wake up." 

After saying this, I follow up on perks with Mudblood Pride and Work Ethic, which increase my overall drive and work ethic as well as my ability to affect society as a whole, if I need to mind you.

In all honesty, what has me the most excited is just being able to use magic as well as visiting various places, as I want to collect items from across this world like the Deathly Hallows and various magical creatures. It would be fun to have a pet too. I can already see it now.

I did notice a perk that would make me more in tune with magical creatures, but with the buffs from friend maker as well as supernaturally attractive, I would be able to get closer to some magical creatures. 

I do admit to taking the perks supernaturally attractive as a means of looking more attractive, as while I have no issues with my current looks, there is always room for improvement.

"For now, though, I should invest in other perks and items." Scrolling down, I grab Building Bridges for increased efficiency in forming business relations and Hyphenated Name for an increase in overall potential and the ability to hold to lordships. Other than that, I use my last remaining points for the perk Luck Of The Devil, as my life is a testament to what good luck can do.

Other than that, I make sure that the gifted disciplines I choose will be useful., Specifically, I picked wandless magic as well as mind magic in case I find myself without a wand as well as the fact that I do not want my mind read by old men, but that is a personal gripe, and I will probably read other's minds. 

But life is the definition of hypocrisy anyway. Finally, I choose magical resistance to help myself in case I am somehow hit with a spell barring the killing curse, but now my points are reduced to a couple hundred.

The thought sends shivers down my spine as I remember the war and my ailing health as keeping in shape and being smart played their roles. Luck was always there, invisible yet a close companion. Also, the thought of finding some uber-powerful artifact out of nowhere sounds hilarious.

Jim would want me to find the option for cigs or guns, but I don't think tech works well considering that even in the early 1990s, Hogwarts still used fire-lit lamps and lanterns, so guns will not exactly fit the setting. I thought of bringing guns to Hogwarts to bring some chuckles to my throat as Jim would just take shots at Voldemort until something stuck. 

That man really was a one-trick pony, but he was the best. Although a part of me is happy, he does not have magic as he would use it to make infinite cigs and guns.

His wife did manage to curb the smoking problem, but the damage was done, and while the withdrawal did hit him pretty hard, he was tougher than the tobacco. I lent a bit of help myself, and it was probably one of the few times his wife actually liked my presence, but that stubbornness was a blessing as Jim would live life shooting and smoking if not for her. For now, though, with my last couple hundred points, I grabbed a wand, a suitcase for my stuff, and a basilisk hide coat, which I hope changed in size to fit me.

The very thought of looking like an 11-year-old walking with a large trench coat does not sound very intimidating. But if not, I can grow into it, and with the suitcase, I can put all my stuff in it and rob the Room Of Requirement blind. 

I mean, borrow the necessary items needed to save magical Britain. While a part of me does feel a bit forced, it actually works out for me because once I defeat the dark lord, I can end this so-called jump right then and there. 

Well, I looked over the rules, and it seemed like these jumps last ten years normally, and if I want to explore the world, I can simply magic a holder for a part of Voldemort and delete all his other parts. Once I have sufficiently done what I wanted, I can eliminate the soul piece and, boom, jump over. But for now, for a dream, this was quite fun. 

I should write this down and ask my aid to copy it and send it to the family. Heard that the kids have gotten into these things called choose your own adventures.

But before I can close the build, another screen appears, which shows my body supplement, but instead of another screen, it's another jump screen called Generic First Jump. Sighing to myself, I look over my options with the drawbacks limited to my current setting as a fantasy/slice-of-life story. The drawbacks I take are Bandits, Archmages Interest, and Amnesia, but similarly to Squib, I have not been on any other jumps, so the memory loss is nonexistent.

In total, I have one thousand four hundred points, and I grab any free things such as the basic jumper body, mind, and necessities for the first level. Regarding terms of origin, I am stuck between tourist and collector, but as I look over both perk trees, I choose tourist as the ability to force a story to play out normally will take a massive weight off my shoulders.

Not to mention having a perfect memory and immunity to memory tampering from external forces. It is not mental immunity, but it is a start, and with Occulemency, my journey to create a mind vault is on the way.

"Boredom immunity is a definite must-grab in addition to Universal Translator, and a skill that makes sure my abilities never degrade is a score and a half. But that Life Skills perk will be perfect for ensuring any blanks in my mundane abilities." As I think that, I grab the catalog and security pass for information and stealth. 

Specifically, the catalog will give me basic information on the worlds I go to, and the security pass will give me the supposed credentials if I show it to someone.

It's kind of like that paper Dr. Who uses that shows the person looking at the paper what they want or expect to see.

Finally, I see the last item I can grab for free with my tourist origin, and it's a camera, which I find ironic yet unlike the other items. I find the old camera Jim gave me in my hands, and as my hands begin to shake holding it, I look at the various pictures stored on it, and I begin to reminisce on the memories this camera has made. 

Even star-spangled Tuesday, he called it. I am not above admitting that I shed a couple of tears, but Jim would not want me to wallow.

I can hear him saying, "Nate, stop being a stick in the mud and move! But make sure the camera is okay. Mom will kill me if she finds out we broke it." 

I then placed the camera on the table and finalized the supplement as it was called, and as I closed my eyes for a moment, another screen appeared to set up this warehouse. I was a bit annoyed at all the math I'm having to do I truck on and in comparison to the others, this one is a lot more basic on what I can get.

Seems that I am stuck on what's called incremental point mode. I'm going to get 50 points for every jump, and I have a total of 550 points, so I spend them on getting basic amenities such as plumbing, electricity, and food, as well as water and basic bed space. Intricate devices I buy include a Med Bay and a couple of other things. 

What I found strange was that some of the items were free, and on the side, it said they were paid for by someone else, but all I see are question marks. 

"I should be finished, and wow, that was a lot of numbers. I have not dealt with that many calculations in a while. I really should start doing those brain teasers and crossword puzzles on my newspapers. Gotta stay sharp after all." Yet as I say this, the screen goes dark, and before I can do anything, I fall through a hole in the floor as I see one last message.

[Have Fun Jumper!]