The Grind (And Helping Heather Potter) [Book 2]

What happens when a Gamer dies prematurely? Before they can reach the boundless, multiversal power their kind is known for? Before they could ever really get started with the legendary grind?

One might think the effects would be dramatic and have far-reaching consequences for the Gamer's universe. After all, a System of unimaginable power was now without a host. In reality, what happened next was relatively simple.

Systems were not typically emotional beings. There were exceptions, of course, but most knew when to cut their losses and start anew. One investment had failed but the loss was negligible for a being as vast as a Gamer System.

The Gamer System would simply move on. It would gather up every ounce of power wasted on its failed investment — as well as the insignificant personal gains of that failed investment — and move on.

It was merely routine for the System to reincorporate the power and reinvest it as it searched the multiverse for another suitable host. It would throw itself into the space between worlds, searching the timeless void for a single, perfect, opportune soul. It was allowed to be picky. Even the System's power was not infinite. Investments had to be carefully considered and optimized for the most profit…

But what if it didn't have to look so far afield to find its next target? What if cosmic lightning struck twice in the same place? What if — by some miracle of impossible luck — the System found its next suitable host in the same universe as its failed investment?

While the situation was utterly improbable, bordering on the impossible, the System was nothing if not adaptable. Perhaps it could just begin a new character instead of finding a new Game to play…

This way, the System did not even have to start over completely or spend startup capital transporting a new host to an appropriate world. The Game-world data could be carried over to this new host without any extra cost. The failure's user data could be expunged and their pathetically minimal progress could be reabsorbed by the System as compensation.

In an instant, risks and benefits were calculated and compared and the System came to a decision. Its target was locked, its path was set, and it changed, configuring itself into the perfect System for its new host. Hmm, a Skill-based System… Good. Skill XP was always much more profitable than raw levels…

IIIII

I swiped the copy of the Daily Prophet from an empty table in the Leaky Cauldron. It was probably left there by a Wizard much, much richer than me. And considering my current monetary situation, I figured I needed it more than they did.

Broke didn't even begin to describe me. I was an orphan, one of poor blood standing at that. Thankfully, Hogwarts had a stipend that had been enough to put me through school. But now I was out on my own, a fresh Hogwarts graduate with barely a Galleon to my name.

My blood status meant that my future prospects were practically nonexistent. Nowhere respectable wanted to hire a 'Mudblood', even one who graduated with O's in almost all of their classes and five NEWTS — Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Charms, DADA (thank god for having Professor Lupin for my DADA NEWT year), and Transfiguration.

Homelessness, starvation, and the prospect of dying in anonymity stared me in the face. I couldn't even retreat into the Muggle world because I was a nobody there as well. I figured I had only one real option. Like so many Muggle University graduates before me, I would throw myself back into education to avoid stepping into an inhospitable job market.

Pursuing Masteries in Charms and Transfiguration wouldn't be easy but it was better than starving in a dirty dead end of Knocktern Alley. Plus, I had always felt most content when I was striving toward a clear, meaningful goal. Learning more magic would always be a worthy goal for me.

Of course, it also meant begging the Headmaster for aid almost immediately after I graduated. Not even a week out of Hogwarts and I was already mailing Dumbledore to request assistance with accommodations and teachers while I pursued my Masteries. My plan was to market myself as an assistant professor of sorts and hope Hogwarts needed the additional assistance for the coming school year.

Commissioning an owl to take my letter to Dumbledore had taken my last Sickle so I was all in. There was no turning back. If I was rejected, my only hope for feeding myself was to see if the Goblins needed a new Dragon dung handler…

I had a room for now — a little place next to the Leaky that was rundown as all hell but rented for dirt cheap. My stay would be up by the end of the week though. I could only bide my time and hope that Dumbledore got back to me soon.

The anxiety was already beginning to pile up upon me. My future rested in the claws of a single rented mail owl. As I walked into the room I was temporarily calling home, a meow from the window pulled me out of my brooding.

A smile instantly grew on my face, "I'm back, Shadow. What do you think? Do I have a chance?"

Shadow was my familiar, a black cat named for her propensity to constantly follow me around like, well, a shadow. She practically adopted me when I was first introduced to the Wizarding World at 13. She'd been a great companion, one of the only beings I could call a true friend.

She lay on the windowsill, content with the warmth of the sun on her black fur. Frighteningly intelligent eyes looked at me with languid confidence as if to say there was no doubt in her mind I'd be accepted.

I chuckled, "Yeah, I guess there's no use worrying about it now."

I pulled one of the rickety wooden chairs up to the window to sit beside her. The copy of the Prophet unfurled in one hand as my other went to stroke her fur. She gave me a judging look when at the sight of the newspaper.

"I know, I know, it's utter dreck. But beggars can't be choosers. And it's not like they have any real competition in Britain…" I said.

Shadow sniffed imperiously and went back to looking out the window at the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley. I turned back down to the Prophet. The front page story was exactly as I expected it to be. It was the same story they'd been running for the past week. To be fair, though, this was the story of the decade, on par with the Girl-Who-Lived defeating Voldemort.

In the Wizarding photo across the front page, a body was sprawled out on the steps of Gringotts, surrounded by numerous snarling Goblin guards. The Wizarding World had been brought to the brink of Goblin Rebellion again… By one person, this time…

According to the Prophet, the story went something like this… A young man, not even out of Hogwarts' age range yet, with seemingly no background stormed into Gringotts. To a crowd of witnesses, Wizard and Goblin alike, he declared himself heir to Merlin and the Founders.

Confusion naturally followed his declaration and the Prophet's details became muddled. By the time anyone caught up to the flow of events, fighting had broken out between the Goblins and the unknown young man. Surprisingly, the guy actually held his own for a little while, calling upon some higher power to fight off close to half a dozen Goblins before he was skewered by Goblin-forged steel.

It later came out that this wasn't the guy's first time at Gringotts. Despite his seeming black hole of a background, he'd already made himself known to the Goblins. After the story went live, people reported seeing him in Gringotts before, ranting nonsense about 'XP' and declaring himself heir to one family or another. He'd even tried to forge several marriage contracts, one with the Girl-Who-Lived herself. His attempt at getting into the oldest vaults in Gringotts was just the final straw.

"They're probably gonna find a way to blame this on 'Mudbloods'…" I mumbled to myself, reading a bit further. "Yup, there it is."

"I ask you, noble Wizards and Witches," Rita Skeeter wrote. "Is this how our society dies? Thrown into chaos by the ill-bred spawn of Muggles? They spit in the face of our customs, refuse to integrate, steal jobs from good Pure-Bloods, and now bring us to the brink of war with the Goblins? Do they learn nothing at Hogwarts? Should we even continue to allow them the opportunity? This reporter is simply asking the questions we all want answers to…"

"As if any Muggle-born is stealing jobs from a Pure-Blood," I scoffed, Skeeter's writing hitting a bit close to home for my current situation.

"Whatever, just focus on your future studies, Atlas," I told myself.

It wouldn't do to dwell on the parts of society I couldn't change. I'd just keep on working, doing as I always did when the Wizarding World was ignorant, backward, and prejudiced. Which was always… I'd get my Masteries in Charms and Transfiguration and then maybe Defense as well. Maybe by then, a position at Hogwarts will have opened up and I could naturally transition into a full-time teaching role.

< Contact… System Booting… Connection Established… >

< Welcome to Your Gamer System, User Atlas White! >

< New Quest Unlocked: Earn Your Masteries! >

< Condition(s): Pass Your TOADS Mastery Exams Within Three (3) Years >

< Rewards: Creation of Your Personal Grimoire, Five (5) Levels Each in Five Disciplines of Your Choice, Ascen$!Ø^! >

"What the bloody hell…?" I muttered to myself, struck silent by the text that was somehow appearing in my mind and floating before my eyes.

There was no response. Of course, there wasn't. I must've gone around the bend. Stress from my current situation most likely.

Still… for a reason I couldn't quite place, the text reminded me of something. Of the video games — RPGs specifically — some of the other kids and I used to play in the orphanage. Or even that one DnD session I played before Hogwarts and the Wizarding World consumed my life…

"Menu…? Status…? Stats…?" I whispered, feeling like the craziest person in the world for even considering this.

< User: Atlas White >

< Title: Pure-Blood Wizard, The Gamer? >

< Stats >

< Body: 9/100+ >

< Mind: 24/100+ >

< Soul: 18/100+ >

I was stunned almost speechless as the text appeared again, "Wha…? Uh… Help…?"

< Hello, User Atlas. This is Your System. Based Upon Other Gamer Systems and Configured Solely for You, This is Your Ticket to Ultimate Knowledge and Power >

< Your System is Divided Into Three (3) Sections That Work Alone and Together to Elevate You and Give Access to Feedback on Your Progress. These Sections are Stats, Skills, and Quests. Perks, Titles, and Items Give Additional Modifiers to These Three (3) Sections >

< Vocalize Your Choice to Proceed With Help… >

"Uh… Stats…?" At this point, I was just rolling with the impossible.

< Stats are Your Capabilities Translated Into a Purely Numerical Form. Body Relates to the Physical Aspects of Existence Such as Strength and Movement. Mind Relates to Mental Aspects Such as Reaction Speed and Memory. Soul Relates to the Esoteric Aspects Such as Magical Potential and Power. Stats are not Simply Distinct and Separate. Users are Encouraged to Explore how They Interact With Each Other and the World! >

That was… a lot… Hell, this whole thing was a lot to process. Sure, I'd played video games and other RPGs so it was distantly familiar to me. But how was this even happening? I'd never heard of anything like this. Did my magic glitch and decide I needed an extra helping hand in the form of a user interface I was vaguely familiar with? Could magic even do this at all?

I felt like I was in a daze, "Skills…?"

< Skills are Your Proficiencies, Abilities, and Knowledge Distilled Into a Simple and Easy to Digest Package. With Your System, Your Knowledge Will Never Degrade, Your Progress is Readily Apparent, Your Abilities Will Become Natural to Use, and Your Growth is Theoretically Limitless >

< Skills Grow on a Pseudo-Exponential XP Scale and the Effectiveness of the Skill Scales Similarly. Though They May Appear Capped, All Limits are Surpassable With the Help of Your System >

< Skills are Divided Into Four (4) Major Skills as Decided by the Current Game-World: Combat, Magic, Social, and Creation. Each Major Skill has a Tier Associated With it as a General Level Assessment >

< These Major Skills are Then Further Divided Into Countless Disciplines. These Disciplines are the Focus of the System. Each is Freely Trainable and Each Increase in Discipline Level Contributes to the Tier of the Major Skill Associated With That Discipline >

< Would the User Like to Access Their Skills? >

At this point, the shock had basically faded. Or maybe I'd just become numb to it. The text wasn't going away and with each passing second, this 'System' was becoming more and more real in my mind. I couldn't deny that something was happening here. The 'System' was remarkably coherent and structured for a hallucination. So much so that I was confident it wasn't one. But whether the text was due to my own magic or something else entirely… I could only guess.

I cleared my throat, "A-Ahem… Yes."

< Skills >

< Combat Skill (T2): Attack 13/100, Defense 21/100, Agility 10/100, Evasion 16/100, Tactics 19/100, Accuracy 15/100, Focus 20/100, Awareness 13/100, Dueling 18/100, Melee 2/100 >

< Magic Skill (T4): Wanded Magic 50/100, Magic Theory 55/100, Charms 48/100, Transfiguration 49/100, Herbology 39/100, DADA 45/100, Runes 45/100, Arithmancy 46/100, Astronomy 38/100, Divination 1/100, Occlumency 20/100, Transportation 35/100 >

< Social Skill (T1): Speech 13/100, Persuasion 9/100, Perception 6/100, Seduction 23/100, Teaching 28/100, Negotiation 8/100, Notoriety 2/100, Influence 1/100, Willpower 30/100, Luck 30/100 >

< Creation Skill (T2): Enchanting 29/100, Potions 35/100, Wards 15/100, Crafting 3/100, Conjuration 38/100 >

"How the hell do you train Luck?" I muttered to myself. "Whatever, I'll come back to this. Quests?"

< Quests Exist to Provide a Sense of Direction and to Push Users Onto the Right Path. Each Quest has at Least One (1) Condition That Must Be Fulfilled. The User Will Be Rewarded Upon Completion. Quests are the Only Way the User May Receive Bonus-Granting Effects Such as Perks, Titles, and Certain Items. Some Quests Can Even Unlock New and Exciting Disciplines! >

"Right, simple enough…"

I asked the System to show me my whole status page and the text complied. A good while was spent familiarizing myself with the UI and looking over my stats and skills. My stats weren't very impressive to look at.

I didn't have a baseline to go off of but my highest stat was only 24/100+, whatever that plus meant. That couldn't be exceptional, right? I wasn't even a quarter of the way to the potential stat cap… I didn't know where to even start deciphering that my soul could be quantified so I didn't even try.

But 9/100+ for Body?! I was 20 for God's sake! A grown-ass man! Couldn't it at least be in the double digits?! Sure, I didn't really work out at all… And I was a nerdy twig of a bookworm who spent most of his days studying and practicing magic… And Wizards as a whole didn't really subscribe to the 'Healthy body, healthy mind' philosophy… Okay, maybe 9/100+ made sense…

Then there were my Skills… I couldn't dispute any part of the System's assessment. My Combat Skill being only Tier 2 made sense. I'd never been in a real fight after all, only mock duels where my life was never on the line.

My Social Skill was in a similar situation. I'd never been the most sociable of Wizards, content more with my books and spells than other people. The only time that changed was when I picked up tutoring in my sixth year at Hogwarts to make a little money. Though… I didn't have a clue why my Seduction was so high…

Tier 2 Creation didn't get any reaction out of me, good or bad. I'd never really focused on any of the Disciplines in that Skill so I would have only trained them by accident when working on other stuff. Even Potions was a Discipline/class I'd dropped after my OWLs.

The absolute cream of the crop of my entire status page was undoubtedly my Magic Skill. It was my highest Tier Skill and the Disciplines within it were miles ahead of all the others. Especially if what the System said about 'Pseudo-Exponential' scaling was true.

There it was… The summation of my whole life's effort, both before and (mostly) after my introduction to magic and the Wizarding World. It was all laid bare before my eyes with blunt numbers telling me how good and bad I was at everything. It was unsettling. It was invigorating. And most of all, it lit a strange fire in my gut to see those numbers go higher…

Yet even as my eyes roamed up and down the floating ethereal status page, my gaze kept returning to one line at the top, "Since when was I a Pure-Blood?"

< New Quest Unlocked: Heritage & Legacy >

< Condition(s): Discover Your Heritage. Find Out Who Birthed You and Why They Left You in an Orphanage! P.S. They're Both Still Alive, Though One is a Bit (Completely) Insane… >

< Rewards: Family Magic Discipline Unlocked >

"Oh… Uh, cool, I guess? I don't know if this changes anything for me… Or even where to start looking…" I didn't know if I was talking to myself or the System at this point.

There was no response from the text that represented my new System. That in itself was already a trip and a half. But then again… Magic could do anything, right? Why was a video-game-like interface so strange to me? Perhaps because it was something no self-respecting Pure-Blood would be caught dead with, no matter how helpful it seemed.

My status screen came back with a subvocalized command. Now that the oddity of my title was somewhat… explained, my mind kept coming back to the focus of my new System… The Skills.

Something about seeing my progress displayed this concretely filled me with motivation. A burning fire roared in the back of my mind and all I wanted to do was train and train and train until every number reached its cap and beyond.

Since being introduced to the Wizarding World, I had always been like that when it came to magic. It was a wonderful phenomenon, interesting enough that I could spend days researching a spell or some esoteric piece of lore. But now I could feel that motivation, that obsession spreading to something other than just magic.

I wanted to master combat and creation in all their forms, feeling how I transformed with every Discipline level. I wanted to actually try and be social for once, knowing that even if I floundered and failed, I would eventually succeed so long as I persevered. I wanted to push my magic to the very limits and beyond until I surpassed Dumbledore and Merlin with the help of this strange, new, Game-like blessing I'd received.

The urge to watch my Stats rise and my Skills climb through sheer hard work and determination was undeniable. For once, there would be no prejudice or discrimination to hold me back. All that mattered to the System was my effort.

Just because I'd suddenly discovered I was actually a Pure-Blood didn't mean the effect of more than seven years of bias and bigotry disappeared. Hell, nothing had actually changed with that discovery. I was still a Mudblood in the eyes of the rest of the world. And I still bore the scars that came with that (apparently) false title.

This System, this miracle of magic, was a chance for that to change. There was a certain beauty in the idea that anything could be accomplished if one just worked hard enough. It wasn't an idea I was ever particularly a believer in. There was just too much about the world and one's circumstances that couldn't be overcome through sheer grit.

But it was as if this System was the essence of that idea purified and materialized into reality. It promised growth was always possible if you worked hard enough to make your numbers go up. It promised that it was possible to overcome all limits. It promised knowledge, power, and proficiency so long as one worked for it. And I'll be honest, whether it was real or not, the idea behind the System had already won me over.

< New Quest Unlocked and Completed: Grinding Beginnings >

< Condition(s): Recognize and Acknowledge the Pull of the Grind! >

< Rewards: +9 Perception Levels for Seeing the Beauty of and Accepting the Way of the Grind >

< Perception 6+9=15/100 >

< Welcome to the Grinding Gamer System, User Atlas! In This World of [Harry Potter], Let's Strive for Perfection in the Grind >

… Honestly, that quest felt like a freebie. Still, as the rewards set in, I was anything but disappointed. The world sharpened. Not just my vision, but the actual way I saw the world changed. Connections formed in my memories of social cues and language I would never have picked up on before. And as it did, something about the System's last message stood out to me.

"Wait, shouldn't that be Heather Potter?"