Chapter 29

AN: This chapter was beta'd by Lord Shiva. Major thanks to him.

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2nd September, 2007

Gryffindor Dorm, Hogwarts Castle,

Harry's first night in Hogwarts passed in a fit of surreality, as he discovered the new wondrous abilities his system now provided.

The first thing he uncovered was simple: Sleep was no longer a requirement for him. It was simply a tool to fasten his stamina recovery.

Which meant that as long as his physical body was sufficiently well-rested, he could work continuously without worrying about his mental fatigue. In other words, as long as he had stamina he will never need to sleep.

This was most likely an upgrade from his Gamer's Mind and Body improving.

The second thing he uncovered, as soon as 12:00 hit the clock and a new day started, was the upgrade in his daily quest.

Quest [The Daily Grind] in Progress–

· Running (0/10 Km)

· Push-ups (0/100)

· Sit-ups (0/100)

· Squats (0/100)

· Magical lifting (0/100)

Rewards:

· 40 XP

· 40 XP

· 40 XP

· 40 XP

· 40 XP

Not only had the total XP gone from 50 to 200, the way these rewards were presented meant that even if he does not complete one of these requirements, he will still gain XP for the ones completed.

For him, that was a massive level up. He couldn't even begin counting the number of times he'd failed the quest just because he couldn't complete the tiniest bit of a single remaining task.

That won't be an issue now. And he couldn't be more glad.

The next thing he discovered were the changes made in his resistances. For a long while now, Harry knew his Gamer Body enabled him to adapt to the most extreme of situations. Sooner or later, his body gained resistance against things that harmed him.

He'd gotten the system notifications many times, either of him gaining a resistance or leveling one up. But never had his system given him a complete list of resistances he'd gained, always keeping it as some hidden ability not meant for the Gamer.

Well, that seemed to have changed now.

Resistances:

Pain (6/10)

Poison (5/10)

Heat (2/10)

Cold (3/10)

Magic (1/10)

He could now view his resistances whenever he wanted, as they now occupied their own tab just below Skills.

The second to last thing he witnessed that night was another jubilant news: His bonus stats upgrade.

Harry Potter

Age: 11

Race: Wizard

Level: 44

Mana: 760/760

Health: 610/610

Stamina: 560/560

Stats

Strength: 45 (15)

Speed: 47 (15)

Dexterity: 47 (15)

Vitality: 46 (15)

Endurance: 41 (15)

Intelligence: 61 (15)

Wisdom: 50 (15)

Points: 24

He'd leveled up 5 times from the most recent quest reward. But while the levels increased all his stats by 1 as usual, they'd given him a total of 15 bonus points instead of the usual 5. Which meant each level now provided him 3 bonus points, on top of the usual stats increase.

The upgrades might feel small but for Harry, who valued his every single stat, it was a large level-up.

But the most interesting, and rewarding, of his system upgrades were the new Perks.

[Int Threshold reached (50): Perk Unlocked]–

Choose one of the three options presented:

[Eidetic Memory: A picturesque memory all for the user's viewing pleasure. Users can recall any memory from the past with perfect accuracy.]

—1 point to Wisdom and Intelligence per level.

[Empathy: Ability to sense other human's emotions and accurately predict their thoughts.]

—2 points to Wisdom per level.

[Savant: User will have an almost prodigious talent in any one field.]

—1.5X experience gain to skills in a field of user's selection, 1 point to Intelligence and Wisdom per level.

This had put a smile on his face for the rest of the night.

Considering how well his Super Soldier perk turned out to be, he knew exactly what the value of a Perk was. Or at least, he thought he knew.

These perks that the system presented seemed to give him bonus stats every time he leveled up. And this was on top of the ability they will already provide him.

'With abilities like these, how long will it be until I completely surpass the Winter Soldier?'

Not too long, that was for sure.

He'd pondered upon the three options presented to him long and hard, trying to judge which of them was the most suitable for him currently.

All the three provided with some unique and vital abilities of course, and he could think up a number of situations where he might need them. Alas, he could only select one, and his mind quickly settled on the most obvious answer: Savant.

Considering his current objective to out-level the wizarding world while cramming all the magical knowledge in his brain, the Savant perk seemed the most helpful for him.

He may have once considered Eidetic Memory, to help him in his quest for knowledge, but the new system upgrade that let him consume books to gain skills completely made it unnecessary. At least, for his current objective.

So, with no further ado, he selected Savant, adding it to his starting collection of perks.

[Select the field you wish to have enhanced talent in]:

Charms

Potions

Dark Arts

Transfigurations

...

...

The list went on, naming every type of skill he possessed, from Unarmed Combat to Cooking.

Harry was a little disappointed on how specific and small the field options were. He'd hoped for his system to group up all his subjects as...well, as 'Magical skills'. That way he could've enjoyed the bonus in all of the magical streams instead of a single subject.

But that was hoping for too much. His greed will need to be controlled, to avoid further disappointment.

After some thinking, Harry decided to select Transfigurations. From what he'd studied in Potter Manor, this subject was the most difficult out of all his current ones.

[Field Selected: Transfigurations]

Perks-

Super Soldier (5/10): 5 to all stats

Enhanced Growth: Faster Physical growth

Savant (Transfiguration): 1.5X experience gain in all Transfiguration Skills...

But the Perks weren't done with him yet.

If he understood correctly, he will get the option to choose one new perk each time his stats meet a specific threshold. The first threshold was 50, and thanks to his recent level-ups, his Wis stats has reached this threshold as well, presenting him with another trio of choices.

Choose one of the three options presented:

[Work Smarter, Not Harder: Enables the user to come up with wiser plans in a short period of time.]

—2 points to Intelligence per level

[Magic Resistance I: User shall gain increased resistance against Magic.]

—1 Lvl to Magical Resistance

[Sage I: User shall understand the concepts of the world much faster.]

—1 point to Wisdom and Intelligence per level.

His choice was made much faster this time, simply because it was quite easy to eliminate the other two options.

The first perk, while no doubt useful, would not provide any immediate benefits for him. Hydra had done their best to instill enhanced cognitive thinking inside him, training him in all scenarios of combative situations. The perk wouldn't be too much help for him.

The second perk, while the most valuable of three, was currently unneeded. From his experience with resistances, he knew the first couple of levels were easy to gain. He planned to level up magic Resistance on his own until they reached their limit before selecting this perk.

Now, this left the third, and the last, perk. Also the most useful right now.

His ignorance with the common world was not a foreign subject to him. He knew he still had a lot to learn if he wished to go out in the outside world, and one of them was common sense and wisdom.

Perhaps this perk may help him on the path of ultimate knowledge.

And thus, he selected his last perk for the day with no more preamble.

Finally done with the perk selections, Harry sighed, stretching his limbs as he sat up on his bed.

His attention briefly turned to the lone letter on his desk, sitting just beside his nightstand. It was sent to him by Lily through Hedwig, who had delivered it around midnight.

The letter asked if he would be willing to join Lily tomorrow evening for some tea. He'd been in such a good mood when the letter had arrived, that he'd sent a response instantly, gladly accepting her offer.

Not that he regretted it now either. Lily was a massive source of information and he was willing to make use of her knowledge to progress his current system quest further.

Quest [Dungeon Hunter] in progress!

· Find and clear the Gryffindor Dungeon

Rewards:

· 10 Levels

· Common Stat Crystals

As far as he knew, the only house that had Dungeons was Slytherin. Which meant the 'finding' part of the quest would not be as easy as he'd been imagining. He could only hope Lily had some answers for him.

Apart from these, one of the more surreal things that he'd unlocked was the Inventory.

The fact that he now had his own storage space that surpassed space and time to protect his items was truly a thing of dreams.

The way it worked was quite simple; He simply needed to Will, and whatever item he wished to store would disappear from his hands, or the entire body for that matter, and appear in an untraceable space whose presence Harry could only feel through instincts.

Now, his wand occupied a permanent spot in his inventory, letting him equip it with a single thought. If he still had access to guns, he could've been armed to the teeth currently with no one the wiser.

Had he received this ability in his times with Hydra, he could've escaped way more earlier than he had, and all that without needing to come in contact with Shield.

Then again, had he received any of these abilities, they would've helped him against Hydra.

Still, better late than never.

Finally done with assessing his gains, Harry turned his attention to the lone window of their room. While the other boys were still asleep, the night was starting to end now.

The air was still cold, but the birds were starting to chirp. While the Gryffindor dorms were on the 7th floor, quite a long way above the ground, Harry could still see the slight glow as their part of the world turned towards the sun.

'A new day, a new beginning.' His lips curved up slightly, the anticipation of what awaited him spreading precious feelings of excitement throughout his body.

Filled up with a new energy, Harry decided to start the day by completing his new daily quest for the first time.

'Today, 2nd of September 2007, shall mark the beginning of my true path to supremacy.'

Soon, his survival shall no longer be in question. And just as importantly...

Soon, he would be ready to experience the world in full.

Of course, first, he will also need to deal with the useless obstacles on his path.

Namely, the Hogwarts students and its staff...

---------------------------------

"Is that him?..."

"Harry Potter..."

"The-Boy-Who-Lived?..."

"Do you think he'll like me?..."

"Where is..."

"The tall boy with dark hair..."

"He doesn't look like a firstie..."

"He's so pretty!"

The whispers followed him the whole day. He hadn't expected his first day in Hogwarts to be so deeply embroiled in fame and stardom, but there was nothing to be done.

While normally he would try to make use of his higher status to gain some advantage, that couldn't have been further from his mind.

His current goals and objectives were clear in his mind and he would allow himself no distractions. Thus, his stardom simply made things needlessly difficult for him; may it be in his quest to find the dungeon, or in his attempt to find the classes.

The whispers didn't leave him for a second.

Then there was the castle itself.

He'd been quite looking forward to experiencing a magical castle, but that excitement had quickly soured when he came to understand the truth of the castle.

It was a trap.

There was no other explanation than that. It must've been some fortified trap meant for the enemies of the founders.

Why else would it be so difficult for students to even find their classes? Harry didn't even try asking some teacher for a map. What use could a map be when nothing stays in the same position!?

The moving staircases were already a nuisance but vanishing doors and shifting corridors introduced a whole new level of difficulty. Worse, the people in the pictures kept going to visit each other and he was sure that those suits of armors could walk. So he couldn't even mark someplace to remember the way.

The ghosts didn't help either. They kept gliding through solid doors and windows, and unintentionally ruin his sense of direction. Though that was quite intentional in the case of one poltergeist: Peeves.

Friendly ghosts like Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point the new Gryffindors in the right direction but Peeves? That nasty Poltergeist could be an irritating headcase if you meet him when late for class. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"

Worse, there was nothing one could do when the ghost could become completely intangible at Will. And while Harry's Wandless magical shield worked well against the creature, even he couldn't do anything against ambushes that involved the ghost popping out of a wall or under their feet.

Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch, and his ruddy cat. Both of them patrolled the entire castle on their lonesome and seemed to know each and every one of the secret passageways throughout the castle. They could pop out of any door or wall as suddenly as a ghost and catch you in even the slightest of offenses.

Then there were the classes themselves. Harry soon came to realize that Magic was just as diversified a subject as science.

For instance, every Wednesday they had to be present at midnight on top of one of the towers to study Astrology, where they spent the next couple of hours observing the night skies through their telescopes, learning the names of different stars and movements of the planets.

Then there was Herbology. Three times a week they went out to the Greenhouses to learn from Professor Sprout about a multitude of magical plants, their functions, and how to take care of them properly.

History of magic, on the other hand, was taught by Sara Lupin. He never would've believed someone, had they claimed that a subject like history could be interesting, but Sara somehow made it work. She spoke animatedly, waving her hands a lot, and tried to make the lessons fun by always pointing out something humorous buried between even the most boring of goblin wars.

One of the most important magical subjects for Harry was Charms, taught to them by Professor Flitwick, a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took a roll call, and upon reaching Harry's name gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight. Though Harry was almost entirely certain that he did it intentionally to put the nervous kids at ease. Quite a considerate teacher Flitwick was.

Harry was surprised to note that Transfiguration was taught by the Headmistress herself.

Headmistress McGonagall was a no-nonsense teacher, her face always set in a severe and strict expression that demanded respect and utmost attention.

The moment they'd arrived for the class, she'd started by giving them a vital warning.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

She then proceeded to change the desk in front of her into a pig and back again.

Their task was much smaller in comparison; changing the matchstick on their desk into a needle.

Harry soaked up all of her lectures on the subject like a sponge. He'd already tried the basic tasks like this at Potter manor with great success, but her words gave him a much better understanding.

Or perhaps it was his new perk at work.

Whatever the case, Harry quickly sorted the subject in his own words.

To him, Transfiguration seemed quite similar to science, with its own formulas and a shit-ton of theory.

The main formula that they learned that day had 5 variables on which the general transfigurations depended on. The intended transformation (t) was directly influenced by body weight (a), viciousness (v), wand power (w), concentration (c), and a fifth unknown variable (Z).

Harry understood every single variable except the last one.

First, bodyweight he knew due to studying science in Hydra.

Second, Viciousness was simply the degree of his malicious intent.

Third, the Wand power was something he had solid control over, not just because of the 97% compatibility with his wand, but also due to Lvl 43 Mana Manipulation.

Fourth, his concentration was supreme, especially with Gamer's mind active.

The only thing that caused him any sort of challenge was the unknown variable..

...Well, there was a reason it was called unknown.

The last variable was also the reason that Transfiguration needed absolutely perfect calculations: To negate the uncertain aspect of this subject. Another thing that Harry was very good at.

By the end of the lesson, only he had managed to completely transform the match into a needle. Hermione came close as her match had gone silver and slightly pointy at the end, netting them a total of 15 points.

The headmistress also cracked a rare smile at Harry, proclaiming him to have inherited his father's talent.

The class that everyone was excited for though, was Defense against dark arts and dueling. Harry was looking forward to dueling but defense on the other hand...Well, it was taught by Professor Snape. And Harry had no doubt it will be a shit lesson...